The other day I volunteered in a kitchen and made Mac and Cheese for the first time. I didn't get to try our creation as our volunteer shift ended before the meal was baked. So I tried it at home.
I thought it lacked a bit of salt, maybe I didn't put enough of it in the boiling water of the elbow macaroni, maybe I didn't use the right kind of cheese. I'll experiment some more with this recipe in the future!
Ingredients:
elbow macaroni
1/4 cup of butter
1/8 cup of flour
1.5-2 cups of milk
0.5-1 cup of stock
0.7 lb of cheese (I used medium cheddar)
turmeric
white pepper
Cook the elbow macaroni in salty water until they are not quite done. Submerge in ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain.
Melt butter in a skillet, stir in the flour on low heat until the color becomes a light brown. Add the milk and keep stirring. Then add spices, stock and cheese. The cheese does not have to melt all they way.
Measure an equal amount of macaroni and cheese sauce (e.g. 2 cups) and mix them together in an oven proof dish. Bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes.
I also tried adding mushrooms and served the Mac and Cheese with broccoli.
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Montag, 22. Juni 2015
Freitag, 22. Mai 2015
Banana Chocolate Bread
I really enjoy reading the book BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher and there are tons of recipes that I want to try out. Most of the ones that I have tried out so far have been incredible so I was exited to try the banana bread recipe. As always I used coconut sugar instead of white sugar and I added 1 cup of chocolate chips because. The original recipe uses baking powder as well as baking soda, so I substituted the baking powder with more baking soda (not one to one as baking soda is 4 times more powerful).
1 3/4 cups of flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups coconut sugar
1/2 cups canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 mashed very ripe bananas (about 2 cups)
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup whipping cream
Mix together flour, baking soda, salt and sugar.
In a second bowl, mix together canola oil, vanilla extract, eggs, buttermilk and bananas until well combined. Then add chocolate chips and roasted nuts.
Make a mold in the dry ingredients and add the banana mix.
In a third bowl whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Then fold the cream into the batter.
Bake in a 8 x 4.5 x 2.5 inch (20 x 11 x 6 cm) loaf pan at 375F / 190C for about 35 minutes until the center springs back when touched and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
As I didn't have a loaf pan I used an 8 x 8 inches square baking pan. The result was disastrous. After 35 minutes the batter was still very liquid and after another 30 hour the outside began to burn while a knife inserted in the center still came out smeared with uncooked batter.
So I took it out of the oven, cut it in half and tried saving it by frying it on the stove. The result looked very sad.
On the plus side it did taste quite good and was happily received as a sweet breakfast addition on our camping trip.
Next time I would still use my square baking pan but only make half of the batter. I don't know how all this batter can fit in a loaf pan and not overflow when it rises during baking!
1 3/4 cups of flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups coconut sugar
1/2 cups canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 mashed very ripe bananas (about 2 cups)
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup whipping cream
Mix together flour, baking soda, salt and sugar.
In a second bowl, mix together canola oil, vanilla extract, eggs, buttermilk and bananas until well combined. Then add chocolate chips and roasted nuts.
Make a mold in the dry ingredients and add the banana mix.
In a third bowl whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Then fold the cream into the batter.
Bake in a 8 x 4.5 x 2.5 inch (20 x 11 x 6 cm) loaf pan at 375F / 190C for about 35 minutes until the center springs back when touched and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
As I didn't have a loaf pan I used an 8 x 8 inches square baking pan. The result was disastrous. After 35 minutes the batter was still very liquid and after another 30 hour the outside began to burn while a knife inserted in the center still came out smeared with uncooked batter.
So I took it out of the oven, cut it in half and tried saving it by frying it on the stove. The result looked very sad.
On the plus side it did taste quite good and was happily received as a sweet breakfast addition on our camping trip.
Next time I would still use my square baking pan but only make half of the batter. I don't know how all this batter can fit in a loaf pan and not overflow when it rises during baking!
Sonntag, 3. Mai 2015
Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
This recipe is another one that I have learned at the community kitchen. The recipe we made at the community kitchen was adapted from this chocolate cake recipe. We used less garbanzo beans and less sugar.
The result was a very light and fluffy chocolate cake that had a little, not altogether unpleasant, garbanzo bean taste.
So I changed the recipe yet again. Instead of garbanzo beans I used lima beans (thanks to Sarah for this idea!) and instead of white sugar I used ...coconut sugar! As coconut sugar has a more distinct taste than white sugar, I hoped it would help mask the taste of beans even more.
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
15 oz cooked baby lima beans
4 eggs
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
powdered sugar for dusting
Meld chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave.
Combine beans and eggs in a blender until smooth. Add sugar, baking powder and blend again. Then add melted chocolate.
Make for 40-45 minutes at 350F / 180C until knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Dust with powdered sugar after cooling.
The result was a very light and fluffy chocolate cake that had a little, not altogether unpleasant, garbanzo bean taste.
So I changed the recipe yet again. Instead of garbanzo beans I used lima beans (thanks to Sarah for this idea!) and instead of white sugar I used ...coconut sugar! As coconut sugar has a more distinct taste than white sugar, I hoped it would help mask the taste of beans even more.
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
15 oz cooked baby lima beans
4 eggs
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
powdered sugar for dusting
Meld chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave.
Combine beans and eggs in a blender until smooth. Add sugar, baking powder and blend again. Then add melted chocolate.
Make for 40-45 minutes at 350F / 180C until knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Dust with powdered sugar after cooling.
Montag, 27. April 2015
Vegetarian Bulgur Burgers
We made flavorful and moist vegetarian/vegan burger at the community kitchen. It is adapted from The Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home cookbook.
These burger patties are faster to prepare than most vegetarian burgers and we ate them with home made preserved carrots (left overs from last months community kitchen preserved in vinegar!) and salad.
3 cups boiling water
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups bulgur
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/2 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup tahini
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 cup mashed pinto beans (e.g. from a can)
(optional) 1 egg
salt and pepper
Sauté garlic and bulgur in a pan for about 2 min. Add boiling water and simmer for 15-18 minutes until the bulgur is soft.
Stir in the remaining ingredients.
With wet hands, form 8 burger patties.
Either bake the patties for 20 min at 375F / 190C, or fry them for about 5 minutes from each side.
Serve on a bun with tomatoes, mayonnaise, mustard, cheese, pickled carrots or other additions.
These burger patties are faster to prepare than most vegetarian burgers and we ate them with home made preserved carrots (left overs from last months community kitchen preserved in vinegar!) and salad.
3 cups boiling water
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups bulgur
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/2 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup tahini
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 cup mashed pinto beans (e.g. from a can)
(optional) 1 egg
salt and pepper
Sauté garlic and bulgur in a pan for about 2 min. Add boiling water and simmer for 15-18 minutes until the bulgur is soft.
Stir in the remaining ingredients.
With wet hands, form 8 burger patties.
Either bake the patties for 20 min at 375F / 190C, or fry them for about 5 minutes from each side.
Serve on a bun with tomatoes, mayonnaise, mustard, cheese, pickled carrots or other additions.
Pound Cake
After the muffins from BakeWise turned out so incredibly well, I wanted to try more recipes. One of the first recipes in the book is the Great American Pound Cake. This cake gets so much attention that there are 4 different recipes. The one that caught my attention was the recipe that called for whipped cream to be mixed gently into the dough just before baking. Clearly any cake that gets whipped cream is going to be a good one! One of the important things for this recipe is the bundt cake as the cake will not rise properly in a normal cake pan (or fall back in after baking and look sad). So I got a beautiful bundt cake pan and tried the recipe to bring to game night.
2 cups butter
2 3/4 cups coconut sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
6 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup whipping cream
butter for the bundt pan
Combine butter and coconut sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and one egg at a time. Add flour bit by bit.
In a separate bowl, whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the dough. Pour the batter into a buttered bundt cake pan and bake for 40 min at 350F / 180C.
I was shocked to find that 2 cups of butter are 1 pound of butter and 2 3/4 cups of coconut sugar are 1 pound of coconut sugar! A scary suspicion about the name of the cake crept up on me..
When I took the cake out of the oven and out of the bundt pan, it seemed quite dark and I was afraid it was burned (it turned out not to be the case), so I quickly made a batch of the delicious and quick Apple-Cinnamon-Muffins to bring to game night as well. To my utter surprise the muffins paled next to the pound cake! Everyone loved moist and sweet pound cake and we got the take most of the muffins back home.
It surely wasn't the last time I made this cake but it won't become a regular one for me, the pound of butter and pound of sugar scare me a little bit.
2 cups butter
2 3/4 cups coconut sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
6 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup whipping cream
butter for the bundt pan
Combine butter and coconut sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and one egg at a time. Add flour bit by bit.
In a separate bowl, whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the dough. Pour the batter into a buttered bundt cake pan and bake for 40 min at 350F / 180C.
I was shocked to find that 2 cups of butter are 1 pound of butter and 2 3/4 cups of coconut sugar are 1 pound of coconut sugar! A scary suspicion about the name of the cake crept up on me..
When I took the cake out of the oven and out of the bundt pan, it seemed quite dark and I was afraid it was burned (it turned out not to be the case), so I quickly made a batch of the delicious and quick Apple-Cinnamon-Muffins to bring to game night as well. To my utter surprise the muffins paled next to the pound cake! Everyone loved moist and sweet pound cake and we got the take most of the muffins back home.
It surely wasn't the last time I made this cake but it won't become a regular one for me, the pound of butter and pound of sugar scare me a little bit.
Savory Corn Bread
What I didn't know before I made this: Corn bread in the US is usually sweet.
This recipe from BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher is the second corn bread recipe I tried and, as the first one, it is not sweet. So I was quite surprised to find out that this is not the "normal" corn bread.
1 cup cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups milk, hot
4 tbsp butter
3 eggs
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp baking soda or 2 tsp baking powder
1 cup grated Parmesan
Mix cornmeal, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne pepper. Add hot milk while stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add the remaining ingredients.
Bake at 350F / 180C for
This particular recipe has way too much nutmeg for my taste and if I make it again I will probably leave it out all together. Apart from that I liked it with stew and soup!
This recipe from BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher is the second corn bread recipe I tried and, as the first one, it is not sweet. So I was quite surprised to find out that this is not the "normal" corn bread.
1 cup cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups milk, hot
4 tbsp butter
3 eggs
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp baking soda or 2 tsp baking powder
1 cup grated Parmesan
Mix cornmeal, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne pepper. Add hot milk while stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add the remaining ingredients.
Bake at 350F / 180C for
This particular recipe has way too much nutmeg for my taste and if I make it again I will probably leave it out all together. Apart from that I liked it with stew and soup!
Sonntag, 26. April 2015
Apple Cinnamon Muffin
Until I found this recipe I have mostly used my muffin pan to bake mini quiches, mini corn bread and other mini things that were not muffins.
Then I stumbled upon the following recipe in the book "BakeWise" by Shirley O. Corriher. It promised that the muffins would be deliciously moist and flavorful and I decided to finally make muffins with my muffin pan!
I mostly stuck to the recipe, although I used baking soda instead of baking powder and dried coconut instead of frozen coconut. And as always, I used coconut sugar instead of white sugar.
1 cup pecans
1 tbsp butter
salt
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda or 2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup coconut sugar
3 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cored and peeled apple, cut into chunks
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup coconut shreds
Roast pecans in the oven, add some butter and salt.
Mix flour and baking soda (make sure that the baking soda is well distributed), add cinnamon and coconut sugar.
In a second bowl mis eggs, canola oil and vanilla extract. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and combine well.
Add apples, carrots, raisins and coconut shreds.
Bake for 18 min at 400F / 200C, then cool an a cooling rack.
The muffins were indeed deliciously moist and very yummy! I made them a couple of times since the first try. Once, I ran out of coconut and made the muffins without it. Surprisingly that had a huge influence on the taste, they are much better with the coconut shreds!
Then I stumbled upon the following recipe in the book "BakeWise" by Shirley O. Corriher. It promised that the muffins would be deliciously moist and flavorful and I decided to finally make muffins with my muffin pan!
I mostly stuck to the recipe, although I used baking soda instead of baking powder and dried coconut instead of frozen coconut. And as always, I used coconut sugar instead of white sugar.
1 cup pecans
1 tbsp butter
salt
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda or 2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup coconut sugar
3 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cored and peeled apple, cut into chunks
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup coconut shreds
Roast pecans in the oven, add some butter and salt.
Mix flour and baking soda (make sure that the baking soda is well distributed), add cinnamon and coconut sugar.
In a second bowl mis eggs, canola oil and vanilla extract. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and combine well.
Add apples, carrots, raisins and coconut shreds.
Bake for 18 min at 400F / 200C, then cool an a cooling rack.
The muffins were indeed deliciously moist and very yummy! I made them a couple of times since the first try. Once, I ran out of coconut and made the muffins without it. Surprisingly that had a huge influence on the taste, they are much better with the coconut shreds!
Dienstag, 10. Februar 2015
Salmon Quiche
I tried this recipe once in a big pie form and then again in my muffin form.
It features cheese and almond meal in the pie crust and refreshingly little instructions. I changed it a little bit, adding more cheese and baking the crust at a lower temperature. Despite the crust being so brittle before baking it comes out great and is quite easy to get out of the pan.
Crust:
1 cup flour
1 cup cheddar, grated
1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 tsp paprika
6 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients and set aside 1/2 cup. Press the rest of crust into bottom and sides of 9 inch pan, bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
Quiche:
1/2 lb frozen salmon
3 beaten eggs (I used 1 egg and 1/2 cup of egg whites to get rid of some of the egg whites that had piled up in our fridge after all the Tiramisu we enjoyed)
1/4 tsp dill weed and/or other herbs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cheddar, grated
1/2 chopped onion
chives
paprika, salt and pepper
Thaw, fry and flake the salmon. Add all other ingredients. Put in baked shell. Sprinkle reserved 1/2 cup crust over top. Bake at 325 F for 45 minutes (or less when using the muffin form) until the tops are golden.
It features cheese and almond meal in the pie crust and refreshingly little instructions. I changed it a little bit, adding more cheese and baking the crust at a lower temperature. Despite the crust being so brittle before baking it comes out great and is quite easy to get out of the pan.
Crust:
1 cup flour
1 cup cheddar, grated
1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 tsp paprika
6 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients and set aside 1/2 cup. Press the rest of crust into bottom and sides of 9 inch pan, bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
Quiche:
1/2 lb frozen salmon
3 beaten eggs (I used 1 egg and 1/2 cup of egg whites to get rid of some of the egg whites that had piled up in our fridge after all the Tiramisu we enjoyed)
1/4 tsp dill weed and/or other herbs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cheddar, grated
1/2 chopped onion
chives
paprika, salt and pepper
Thaw, fry and flake the salmon. Add all other ingredients. Put in baked shell. Sprinkle reserved 1/2 cup crust over top. Bake at 325 F for 45 minutes (or less when using the muffin form) until the tops are golden.
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