Beer Bread

It's been snowing a lot lately. And I think, cold and snowy calls for warm and doughy! Feast your eyes on my weekend snow day treat...

Beer Bread!

I first made beer bread in the foods lab at Penn State. It is so easy and tastes amazing. I have seen some pretty extravagant recipes with chocolate, cherries, cheddar, cider, onions, you name it. This one is completely basic, and is ready in 1 hour. Don't mind if I do...

Beer Bread
Mix 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 4-1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/3 cup brown sugar, and 12 oz. beer. (I used Harpoon IPA... yummy!)
Plop into a lightly greased loaf pan.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 50 minutes.

It's even easier to EAT!

Persimmon. Muffins?

Hey, look, these are persimmons!

Oh hey, we're persimmons.

I myself had no idea what a persimmon was less than 1 year ago. Once, my friend Victoria asked me to identify one in a photo, and I could not do so without cheating. A persimmon is a fruit, grown in the wintertime, resembling (in my opinion) an heirloom tomato topped with a shitake mushroom. Size and texture are similar to tomatoes, but fewer seeds. Cooking Light Magazine tells me they have long been part of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cuisines, and are commonly used by American cooks in "holiday puddings." (Really? Okay.)

A few days ago, another intern and I were going through cookbooks looking for recipes for a breakfast event we're doing in the community next month. We came upon several using this weird orange fruit! I narrowed it down to one and gave it a shot- Spiced Persimmon Muffins.

I stuck to the recipe for the most part, but I left out the pecans (on purpose- texture thing) and the fresh ginger (by accident- #oopsIforgot). I also substituted "flax eggs" for the real eggs. What? Why?

Flax Egg- Ok so, I don't really like eggs, and when I buy them for a recipe, the leftover eggs just sit in my fridge for months. Enter, flax egg. Developed by vegan bakers, a "flax egg" is 1 tablespoon ground flax seed mixed with 2 tablespoons warm water. Let that sit in a bowl for a few minutes to congeal and get a little goopy. It supposedly mimics the properties of an egg in a baked good! And the best part is, I am left with delicious flax instead of leftover eggs! I have had success with flax eggs in muffins before, and they turned out great with my persimmon muffins. (Tip- I just get a bit of whole flax seed from the bulk bins at the store and grind them fresh in my coffee grinder. I store the remaining meal in the freezer to preserve those precious omega-3 oils.)

Pretty rainbow-colored silicon muffin wrappers... no sticking here!

The muffins were delightful! Chewy cranberries, sweet honey and nutty whole wheat made for a great flavor and texture (also, my perfect muffin-method-mixing technique made for proper crumb formation and gluten development, thanks food science). The persimmons don't have a strong flavor, but it was fun to try baking with them. These are some other recipes that looked good- Persimmon Gingerbread, Ricotta Cheese Crepes with Persimmon-Apricot Glaze, and Arugula, Hazlenut, Persimmon, and Fennel Salad.

Morning Muesli: One of the muffin ingredients is yogurt, which I don't usually buy (texture thing... wow, I am really revealing my food jags today), but used my leftovers to make one of my favorite European breakfasts... Muesli! Muesli is a cereal mix developed in Switzerland, usually containing oats, wheat, spelt, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. It's traditionally eaten by soaking overnight in milk and yogurt! I love museli, and had it several times for breakfast in and around Germany. I bought a muesli mix from Bob's Red Mill, and found it just delicious.

Happy Breakfast!

Give Beets a Chance

Tonight's post will come much to Mark's dismay.

I have come to love his most hated food of all time. BEETS!

Beets are a root I seldom cook with, mainly because we didn't eat them much growing up... besides pickled beets... to which I will still say- no thanks. But I recently saw a beautiful photo of sliced beets in a health magazine, which was enough to convince me to buy them last week.

The lowly beet. Just wants to be eaten. Even comes with an emotional tag.

Beets are a bargain. Not only do you get the beet root itself, but the greens on top are edible too, and quite delicious when sauteed! If the colors of the leaves look familiar, it's because baby beet greens are often found in your favorite salad blend, Spring Mix. Beautiful bright, purpley-red beets contain a powerful pigment. It's powerful for many reasons...

1. It helps protect against cancer.
2. It's a great source of iron and folate.
3. It stains your hands and makes it appear as if you have committed murder.
4. It can cause something called beeturia... or so I hear.

The last time I had beets was in the summer at a fantastic restaurant called The Skinny Pancake in Burlington, VT. I had a crepe filled with beets, caramelized onions, and goat cheese. It was memorable! Beets and goat cheese are a trendy combo these days, and one that I know I like... so this is the direction I took with my own.

I chopped 'em up with some onion and coated them with the most fantastic oil you will ever taste. It's simply called "Basting Oil," and it's made by Wegmans. It's garlicky, herby, and just awesome.

Run, don't walk, to the nearest Wegmans and BUY THIS! I roast EVERYTHING in it!

I roasted the beets and onion with a little salt and pepper at 375 for about 30 minutes. Just out of the oven, I tossed it all with some goat cheese. It was warm, sweet, salty, creamy, tangy... it was just plain good. I also sauteed the greens in the same garlic oil. I didn't intend on taking another photo, but I had to mid-bite, because it was too yummy.

I ate my beets and greens with some brown rice and lentils, cooked in garlic and red wine.

The very next day, I saw someone on TV make a beet and quinoa salad. It's like this week was destined for BEETS! I couldn't find the actual recipe, but it did inspire me to create something similar of my own.

I roasted beets and onions the same way described above. (I actually turned the heat down to 350... sometimes little pieces of onion burn easily, and I didn't have that problem this time.) I added those veggies to some quinoa cooked in salt, pepper and garlic. Quinoa is a high-protein grain with a nutty flavor. It cooks up in just 20 minutes on the stove top. I fluffed in some lemon juice, honey, olive oil, chopped cilantro, pumpkin seeds, and yes... goat cheese! It was pink and delicious... I currently can't stop eating it.

I hope you will try this beautiful root for yourself. If not, at least buy yourself some goat cheese!

I can't wait to make this for my future husband! I'm sure he'll come around... after all, when he first met me, he didn't like... mushrooms, asparagus, peppers, beans, vinegar, or curry. Now he can't get enough. Let's hope he falls in love with beets soon!

New Year, New SOUP!

Last night's meal was a bit of a retaliation against Christmas vacation... translation=holiday food. As much as I love cookies, chocolate, chips, and basically anything else with carbs and sugar... enough is enough! I am back in Keene now, after sadly saying goodbye to my sweet fiancé... but not-so-sad was my parting with the carbs! I knew I wanted to make a specific recipe I had tasted last winter, deep in the heart of Kansas... an Asian Veggie Soup made by Nurse Mom- that is, the mother of my dear friend Victoria. (Shout out to Nurse Mom on graduating with her BS in Nursing this month! You rock!)

The soup is simple to make, big on flavor, and easy on the tummy. The perfect meal after you've eaten too many Christmas cookies. (Note- If any cookie binge was brought about by my last post and recipe, I apologize.) It is broth-based, which means it is a volumetric food; research at Penn State has shown that starting a meal with a low-calorie salad or broth-based soup can decrease a person's total food intake at a meal... helping with weight loss! So grab your German carrot shredder and let's get cooking!

My fancy German swirly carrot shredder... these too thick? Flip it over for a smaller shred! Zo zimple!

My fancy German swirly carrot shredder... these too thick? Flip it over for a smaller shred!

Zo zimple!

My parents gave me this top-of-the-line, award-winning, German-engineered vegetable shredder for Christmas last year. The first few times I used it, I couldn't get the hang of it. (I probably should have just watched this video.) But after a few tries, I now find it pretty fun and functional! It involves twists and metal things and slick side handles. The soup calls for "shredded" carrot (matchstick cut are fun to use, too) but I thought I'd use my Gefu tool, and it worked out pretty nicely... like long, thick, carrot-spaghettis.
 

My prep bowl- carrot curly-q's, bok choy and scallions

My prep bowl- carrot curly-q's, bok choy and scallions

So here's how you make Asian-Style Vegetable Soup:


Take 6 cups vegetable broth to a simmer with 2 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar. Add in 1 cup shredded carrot, 2 cups sliced bok choy (whites AND greens), 2 tbsp sliced scallions, 2 thick slices fresh ginger root (which you will not actually eat... but you certainly can... okay I did!), 1 minced serrano chili (note- serranos are twice as hot as jalapeños... proceed with caution if you can't take the heat!), and 2 cloves minced garlic. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup sliced mushrooms (I used baby portobellos... if I had a limitless budget I would use shitake!) and simmer for 5 more. Turn off the heat and add chopped CILANTRO! I am in love with this herb... (Lauren Martin, I am not mocking you. But I do love cilantro even though you hate it.)

So rustic. (Rustic is the word you use to describe something that looks haphazardly thrown in a bowl.)

So rustic. (Rustic is the word you use to describe something that looks haphazardly thrown in a bowl.)

It's the perfect light meal. I hope you enjoy! Happy cooking... here's to getting through my first winter in New England!

The Best Christmas Cookie You Aren't Baking

The cookie swap is a cool new thing to do with a bunch of ladies. Everyone brings a ton of cookies and their recipes to a party, and then you divide up the cookies amongst yourselves! And you go home with even MORE cookies than you brought (miracle), and you eat them uncontrollably for days, putting yourself in a prolonged state of hyperglycemia! (Nutrition term for... back away from the cookies.)

Anyway... there were PLENTY of fantastic cookies to choose from (and I did, multiple times). Here were some of my favorites:

• Peppermint Bark Chocolate Chip
• No-Bake Oatmeal PB Chocolate
• Chewy Molasses Crinkles
• Snickerdoodles
• Classic Sugar
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls (NOT Buckeyes)
• Chocolate Mint
• Oatmeal M&M
• Pretzel Snaps with a Hershey's Kiss and an M&M (especially addicting)

 The cookies I baked for the swap are a recent favorite in my family. We love them for three reasons:

1. They only take about 30 minutes, start-to-finish.
2. They are SO DELICIOUS!!!
3. They are wheat-free... for the glutard in your life- love ya Mom!

 So do something wonderful for you and your loved ones this holiday season... bake Flourless Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies (affectionately known as Peanut Butter Bombs). You probably have all of the ingredients already in your house!

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Flourless Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter, smooth or crunchy

1 egg

1 1/3 cup sugar, divided

1 tsp vanilla

Hershey’s Kisses, unwrapped (dark chocolate is best!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet.
2. Combine peanut butter, egg, 1 cup sugar, and vanilla in mixing bowl and stir well.
3. Roll small dough balls in remaining sugar to coat. Place on baking sheet and bake 12 minutes.
4. When removed from oven, immediately top each with a Kiss. Wait 4-5 minutes until Kiss is melted, then smooth down with a knife or back of a spoon.

Yield: 18 cookies

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You simply MUST bake these! (Unless you are allergic. Duh.)

Special thanks to Mrs. Karen Bassett for hosting the Cookie Swap! Your Molasses Crinkles were to-die-for!

The Making of a Bagel Snob

Last weekend I took a very necessary get-away to one of my favorite local resorts... the home of my favorite New Hampshire residents- Reuben, Karen, and Josie. R & K are my brother and sister-in-law's best friends from college, and now they are my "fam away from fam" here in New England. These two are quite the foodies, with Reuben co-owning a happenin' burrito joint, and Karen roasting her own coffee, baking homemade breads, and canning food like it's going out of style. Spending time with Reuben, Karen, and their 6-month-old, Josie, is always relaxing and delicious, and this past weekend was no exception.

"I wish I had teeth so I could eat bagels!"

 Karen decided to wow me once again with her baking skills... she made homemade bagels! (Who does that?!) Lots of commercial bagels are nothing more than circular bread, and there really isn't anything exciting about that. True bagels are boiled before they are baked in the oven, creating that nice, shiny, chewy outside. Karen followed this recipe, which I will highlight below...

All of the hard work was already done... just like magic!

Because Karen is awesome, two days prior to my arrival, she made the homemade dough and let these bagel beauties rise. (I honestly don't know exactly what she did to make the dough, and I don't really care to know, because leaving it a mystery is much more intriguing.) So the bagel dough lying neatly on this tray is what I saw on Saturday morning, ready to go! Next, we boiled them in a magical potion for a minute!

Boil the bagels in water and baking soda. Because it's magic.

During boiling, the bagels puffed up a little, and then we pulled 'em outta the water and topped them with fun things... like kosher salt, cinnamon and sugar, and a great grainy mix. Dog Moose (one of the Top Three Best Dogs in the World) wanted in on the action, too...

Even Moose was excited for Bagel Saturday!

"Seriously, give me a bagel. Staring and smelling is just annoying."

 After we topped them, we stuck them in the oven for about 10 minutes. That's it. And when that oven door opened, out came the most fantastically chewy, tender, flavorful bagels I've ever tasted! I LOVED THESE BAGELS! Our unanimous favorite flavor was topped with cinnamon, sugar and salt... and we spread them with some homemade cream cheese. It tasted a bit like a yogurt. (Serious points to Reub and Karen for attempting a homemade cheesy spread of their very own!)

I don't want you anymore, Panera. Not with these in town.

So, it's official... I'm now a bagel snob. I will never again eat another bagel unless it is freshly boiled and baked minutes prior to me eating it. Don't waste my time, Panera... I don't need you!
I really can't say I will try this recipe on my own... I worry it might be too challenging for a baking non-enthusiast to do alone (without Karen) and it just won't be as good... so this bagel moment remains a delicious memory. A chewy, sweet, salty, warm memory. I'm okay with keeping it that way!

Empty Bowls- A Community Food Event

Lunch on Saturday made me feel good from the inside out. The concept was simple: students, artists, and everyone in between donated handmade bowls to The Community Kitchen, a local soup kitchen in Keene... local restaurants and chefs donated big batches of their best soups... the public was welcome to purchase a bowl and partake in an all-you-care-to-enjoy scrumptious soup lunch. The sweetest ending is that all of the proceeds from the lunch will go to the hungry and needy in our local community!

Step 1: Choose a bowl.

Some bowls cost $5... some cost $70!

Mine's the blue one in the front... made by Cam, grade 7.

Step 2. Go through the soup line and taste all the soup!

Step 3. Go back for a bowl of your favorite... and don't forget dessert!

My taste buds were too overwhelmed to remember to vote for my favorite soup. No soup was boring... the selection included:

• Vermont Cheddar Ale (Winner of People's Choice Award... tasted like fondue!)
• Pumpkin Cider Bisque
• Butternut Squash with Ginger (2nd place Overall Winner... made by Luca's restaurant)
• White Bean and Fennel
• Vegan Cream of Corn (this one was actually one of my faves... it had a very fresh, light, corny taste)
• Roasted Eggplant and Potato Leek
• Corn Chowder with Bacon (personal favorite of Emily, Kelly, and Heather) 
• Chicken Tortilla (1st Place Overall) 

Fresh bread was served to every table, along with apple cider or pomegranate tea to drink and your choice of a killer cake; Pumpkin (pictured above), Apple Spice with Chocolate Chips (aka "War Cake"), or Banana.

I just loved this event. It was wonderful to see people of all ages and walks of life gathering together over fabulous food for a good cause!