Wasabimon!

Guest Post: Making the Most of your RSS Link

2008-10-30T17:27:46Z

Again it’s not food related, but I wrote another post over the the Writer’s Technology Companion about making the most of the RSS link on your blog. Check it out here and leave a comment to say what you think!

Fleur de Sel Caramels

2008-10-28T02:51:46Z

Last year I made a pact with myself to not indulge my consumeristic tendencies by buying my loved ones a ton of stuff they don’t need, and instead opted to make my gifts. After much back and forth on what I should make, I finally decided on fleur de sel caramels.

If you’ve never had a salted caramel, you’re missing out. The salt creates an amazingly savory layer just beneath the customary sweetness of the candy, making them ridiculously addicting. Can you tell by my proliferation of cheesy adjectives that I’m a fan? Actually, scratch that - I’m hooked.

Word to the wise: making candy is a serious undertaking. It’s a commitment and you need to pay attention, lest you overcook your caramels and end up with burnt glop. Seriously, folks - all it takes is two minutes of not stirring and your caramel will acquire an icky charred taste. Unless you like that (some people do like the smokiness of slightly burnt caramel), in which case, go for it!

Also, hot caramel is dangerous and has a consistency not unlike napalm. If it splatters, spits, or spills, you’ll be glad that you’re wearing long pants and closed-toed shoes, so be sure to put them on. Also, make sure that any free-roaming tots are stowed safely in your overhead compartment (read: far, far away from your work area). Babies and boiling syrup don’t mix.

Now that I’ve sufficiently frightened you off, I have to say that making caramel really isn’t that difficult. It’s a lot of fun, and the end result is ridiculously satisfying. When your loved ones pop these little gems in their mouth, the look on their faces will be gratifying enough to fuel your candy-making urges for years to come.

A note on wrapping: do you see those pretty wrappers that I used in the photo up top? That shiny plastic is called cellophane. Cellophane is the only thing, besides parchment, that your candies will not stick to. Caramel will stick to glassine, ceramic, plastic wrap, and those cute little mini foil and paper cups you buy at the baking store. Learn from my mistakes and just buy a roll of cellophane, cut it up into 4″x4″ squares, and wrap up your caramels by hand. It’s a really fast process with two people and a system in place.

Finally - make sure not to eat them all yourself. I gained eight pounds and 39 cholesterol points during the month I spent making these as “gifts.”

Fleur de Sel (Salted) Caramels

2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups whipping cream, separated into two 1 cup portions
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel
1 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup butter, cut into 3/4″ slices
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons fleur de sel, separated into two 1 teaspoon portions

Line an 8 or 9 inch square pan with parchment.

In a large, heavy bottomed saucepan combine sugar, 1 cup of cream, 1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat, making sure to stir the mixture constantly. Slowly add the remaining cream, making sure the caramel keeps boiling. Reduce heat to low and cook for five minutes, stirring constantly.

Stir in butter, one slice at a time, making sure it keeps bubbling. Stir in first half of fleur de sel. Keep at a low boil, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometer registers 250°F (firm ball stage), which should take about 20-30 minutes. If you stop stirring your caramel will bubble up and burn.

Once the correct temperature has been reached, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Be careful, it will splatter and make a lot of noise. Stir in remaining fleur de sel.

Pour into parchment lined pan and set on an even surface to cool. After about half an hour, score the top of the caramel to mark where you’ll slice it. Once it’s fully cooled two or three hours later, cut into squares and wrap.

Here they are wrapped in cellophane and gathered into a little star-shaped glass box, ready for gifting:

Guest Post on Writer’s Technology Companion

2008-10-25T08:02:01Z

I know this isn’t food related, but I thought I’d give myself a quick plug since, you know, this is MY blog. Heh.

I wrote a few guest posts over at Dustin Wax’s writing blog, The Writer’s Technology Companion. My first post is about adding printing functionality to WordPress blogs, and I’ll post about the others as they’re published.

Enjoy!

Cashew Butter Dates

2008-10-24T22:20:04Z

It’s no secret: I like to eat. A lot. But in my case I have to eat frequently, lest I get lightheaded, start talking gibberish, and have a panic attack.

When you’re concerned about the quality of the food you’re putting into your body, having to eat five to eight times a day becomes a real problem. It’s easy to ignore the warning signs of your crashing blood sugar until it’s too late, and suddenly you’re reaching for the nearest edible object, whether it be a Snickers, a donut, or a bag of chips. Clearly, this happening many times in a single 24-hour span in a bad thing.

Why not chow down on a salad or a piece of fruit, you ask? Well, my dear reader, when you’re already struggling with digestive malaise, oftentimes fresh produce isn’t the best thing to introduce to a weary gut. Sadly, my past go-to foods, such as peaches, apples, and grapes, have been given the month off for bad behavior.

So what do I eat in a pinch? I’ve gotten creative lately, throwing together lovely little snacks in the evening so that I have something to munch the next day when those low blood sugar moment set in. Here is one such munchie:

Meet my friend, the nut butter filled date.

These little guys keep overnight on the counter as long as they’re well covered - I wouldn’t recommend refrigerating them, as they’ll get quite hard and sticky. They’re a much more nutritional snack than a bag of Fritos, and if you’re looking for something sweet, these are better for you than a cookie. Six of these dates will give you a full serving of fruit and a good dose of healthy fiber and protein.

I pick up medjool dates (or any other kind of dates) from the farmer’s market, but they’re becoming readily available at most grocery stores. In this recipe you can use any kind of nut butter you like, as long as it’s of the thicker variety, otherwise you’ll end up with it everywhere. At the end, a light sprinkling of sea salt adds a little bit of crunch to the finished product while creating a contrast to the sweet dates and nuts.

These dates are rich and addicting. You’ll almost feel guilty for indulging… almost.

Cashew Nut Butter Dates

6 medjool dates
3 tablespoons of your favorite nut butter
Chunky sea salt

Slice open one side of the date, removing the pit. With a spoon, fill the inside of the date with about half a tablespoon of nut butter. Be careful - too much nut butter will make a huge mess, and will make the dates extremely rich. Once all of the dates are filled, arrange them on a plate and sprinkle sparingly with a flavorful sea salt.

Italian Hazelnut Cookies

2008-10-13T04:54:09Z

A few weeks ago I was flipping through the newest issue of EatingWell and came upon an article by an author whose father grew up in the Piedmont region of Italy. Also an Italian longing for connection to my roots, I was suddenly compelled to prepare almost every recipe said author provided. Reason finally caught up with me and I selected a few dishes that fit into my schedule and pocketbook, one of which was a simple hazelnut cookie recipe.

These cookies are so easy to prepare that you can almost make them while blindfolded. The ingredients are simple: hazelnuts, sugar, egg white, vanilla, and salt. They contain no grain or oil, so they’re probably the healthiest cookies you’ll run across this side of the Mediterranean. The no-grain thing fits well to my current gluten-free diet, and they’ve also got a good crunch, making them ideal for enjoying with a cup of coffee or tea. It’s been ages since I’ve been able to enjoy a cookie with my morning tea!

The recipe was posted on EatingWell’s website, so I’ve gone ahead and reposted it here with a link back to the original.

Italian Hazelnut Cookies
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies
Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: 2 hours

2 cups hazelnuts, toasted and skinned*
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Position 2 racks as close to the center of the oven as possible; preheat to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

Pulse nuts and sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Scrape into a large bowl. NOTE: Do not process nuts for longer than necessary to get them to a fine consistency. When they heat up, the oil will separate from the nut matter and you’ll end up with an awful mess. If this happens, you have to toss them (or continue processing to turn them into nut butter) and start with a new portion of nuts. Watch carefully for darkening down near the bottom of the food processor bowl!

Beat egg whites and salt in another large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the nut mixture. Add vanilla and gently but thoroughly mix until combined.

Drop the batter by the tablespoonful 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. The runny batter will spread quickly, so make sure you leave space!

Bake the cookies until golden brown, switching the pans back to front and top to bottom halfway through, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Gently transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. When the baking sheets are thoroughly cooled, repeat with the remaining batter.

*Toast whole hazelnuts on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, 7 to 9 minutes. Let the nuts cool for a few minutes, then rub together in a clean kitchen towel to remove most of the papery skins. The skin won’t come off of all of them… don’t even both trying if a few resist. The dark skin won’t harm the cookies if you blend them well,

Homemade Vanilla Extract

2008-10-13T03:56:52Z

I’m a big fan of Elise Bauer’s Simply Recipes blog. And how could I not be? Elise’s site is hands down one of the most reputable cooking blogs I’ve yet to run across. So far, every recipe I’ve made from Simply Recipes has turned out just as expected, with minimal futzing with times, temperatures, and amounts. Dependable recipes from internet cooking sites are rare, let me tell you!

The other day Elise’s post for making your own vanilla extract showed up in my RSS reader. I had a 200ml bottle of Absolut vodka sitting in my cupboard from a chai white russian experiment that never happened, so I thought that this would be the perfect project for it. I also have a ridiculous number of vanilla beans languishing in my freezer due to a crazy internet sale that I’d found a few months ago, and this would put them to good use as well. Trust me when I tell you that one pound of vanilla is a lot of beans.

The directions are pretty straightforward: cut three vanilla beans in half and slice them down the middle lengthwise, leaving the last half an inch in tact at the end to keep the slices connected:

(Elise’s photo, not mine)

In an airtight glass container, add the beans to one cup of high quality vodka. Place the container in a dark place for a few months and shake it every few days. This stuff will keep forever, so you may never need to buy vanilla extract again.

Can you guess what people will be getting for Christmas this year?

Herbes de Provence Roasted Potatoes and Zucchini

2008-10-05T23:16:29Z

Continuing with my toaster oven love from last week, I’ve been baking, roasting, and toasting things for almost every meal. Being autumn (yes, we do experience a vernal season here in California), the farmer’s markets have been rife with all sorts of wonderful squash and potato varieties. On my last trip I picked up a few zucchinis and half a pound of yukon golds, planning a mega-roast fest for dinner.

I returned from the market and set to work chopping like a madwoman. I love cutting summer squash with my Shun - something about the texture of the zucchini coupled with the feel of the knife’s hilt makes for a really gratifying experience.

Anyways, I digress. After chopping my bounty, I grabbed the jar of Herbes de Provence I’d dried a few weeks ago and threw the whole mess of produce and seasoning into my trusty Cuisinart oven. A preview:

I was really excited with how easy this dish was, as in the past I’d only fried potatoes in a skillet and never actually roasted them flat in a pan. After making this, I’m really curious to try roasting beets and rutabagas in a similar fashion. Prep time was literally ten minutes, cooking takes less than an hour. I prefer my potatoes less crispy and more tender, so I cooked them at lower than the normal roasting temperature to avoid over browning. Feel free to increase the temperature and cooking time slightly to suit your own tastes.

Herbes de Provence Roasted Potatoes and Zucchini
Serves six as a side.

Six good sized yukon gold or other waxy variety potato
Three medium sized yellow zucchinis
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fleur de sel or kosher sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons dried Herbes de Provence

Preheat oven (toaster or otherwise) to 400 degrees. Chop potatoes and zucchini into large cubes, setting zucchini aside until later. Spread potatoes into a sheet pan/jelly roll pan, and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and herbs. Slide pan into oven and let cook for 40 minutes.

Check potatoes for tenderness with a fork - they should be soft through the middle. Distribute zucchini cubes among cooked potatoes, and give the whole thing a good shake with two hands to coat squash with oil. You may want to sprinkle a little more seasoning here and there if you like a really intense dish. Place pan back in oven and cook for another 10 minutes. Once that time has passed, turn the oven off and let the pan sit in the hot oven for another five minutes.

Serve up hot as a side for any meal of the day. The morning after I made this recipe my husband took the remainder of the potatoes and zucchini, scrambled them with eggs and turkey mango sausage, and made himself one hell of an epic breakfast:

Toaster Oven Love, and Parmesan Zucchini with Balsamico

2008-10-12T22:00:31Z

I bought a toaster oven last week, but it’s oooooh so much more than that. I’ve been drooling over the new Cuisinart brick oven even since Eric Ripert launched his Avec Eric site with a series of short videos on how to make quick gourmet meals, using this very model of oven. Am I a sucker for brand propaganda? Nah - I’ve just got a weak spot for sexy kitchenware.

There are several brick ovens in the BRK series, the 100, 200, and 300. The BRK-100, which is a basic toaster oven with brick wall inserts; the BRK-200 that includes the convection feature; and then the BRK-300, which has all of that and a rotisserie. Of course I ended up going with the rotisserie model, with visions of all sorts of yummy goodness dancing in my little gastronautical head:

The first thing I made in my new baby? Ripert’s Parmesan Zucchini with Balsamico. I used a particularly good aged balsamic, and this was the perfect place for it to shine. I’ve included the recipe below, along with the tutorial video from Eric’s site. Watch the video first, as his cooking manner is all about smooth.

I hope he doesn’t mind my advertising his most excellent recipe.

Parmesan Zucchini with Balsamico
From Eric Ripert: AvecEric.com
Serves 2

1 large zucchini
1/4 cup olive oil
fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan
aged balsamic vinegar

1. Heat the toaster oven to Broil.
2. Line the toaster oven tray with foil and brush with olive oil.
3. Peel a few slices of the zucchini skin off, trim the ends and slice crosswise into very thin slices.
4. Arrange the zucchini slices on the tray, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil.
5. Bake for 3-4 minutes until just tender.
6. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.
7. Arrange roasted zucchini on a platter. Sprinkle parsley and more parmesan on top and drizzle with a little aged balsamic vinegar. Serve warm.

Dark Chocolate = A Healthier Heart?

2008-10-01T05:46:33Z

An Italian study recently discovered that 6.7 grams of dark chocolate a day may reduce your risk of heart attack by as much as 17%. Researchers found that people who consume a small amount of dark chocolate a day were proven to have lower levels of C-reactive protein, a chemical that indicates inflammation in the system.

While this is good news for chocolate lovers, don’t go overboard - a standard chocolate bar is roughly 100 grams, and that much sugar and fat (among other things) will most certainly outweigh the health benefits of the chocolate. Instead of diving into a Milky Way Midnight, consider having a few pieces of something more pure like Dagoba or Endangered Species chocolate. Both company take steps to make sure that their manufacturing practices are ecologically responsible, and both donate a portion of their profits to environmental and humanitarian charities.

More here from Science Daily.

Baked Falafel Balls

2008-10-12T22:00:51Z

I have a love affair with falafel, but I’m trying to cut back on the fried foods. To make them healthier I decided to bake them, which, if done right, will still give you a nice crunchy ball that’s tender inside.

I pilfered this recipe from Sooo Good, and made a few modifications. Enjoy these spicy bad boys in pita bread with chopped tomatoes, cucumber slices, and a yogurt sauce of your choice.

This recipe takes several hours to complete, or as long as overnight if you are using dried chickpeas. Plan ahead!

(photo credit)

Baked Falafel
Makes about 20 balls

1 cup dry chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
1 small onion, sliced
5 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons flour (I used brown rice flour)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
Hot pepper flakes to taste
Oil for brushing

First, soak the chickpeas in plenty of water overnight. If you haven’t got the time, use canned chickpeas (for this recipe one 15-oz can, drained, should do).

Toast cumin and coriander by heating them in a dry pan about two minutes, until they become fragrant, being sure to shake them around a bit as they warm. Once toasted, grind in a coffee mill and set aside.

In a food processor, finely chop the onions, garlic, parsley and cilantro. If your food processor is large, you can then add the chickpeas as well. Otherwise, mash the chickpeas up in a large bowl and then throw in the onion/herb mixture. Add salt, cumin, and coriander, then 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes, or more if you like it really spicy. Finally, mix in the flour and baking powder, which will make the mix into more of a dough. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 3 hours (this is important).

After waiting three hours, preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a large cookie sheet with parchment. Remove dough from refrigerator and form patties by using two tablespoons to make a ball, then use your hands to pack them together a bit. Place balls on parchment about an inch apart, gently patting them down to flatten them slightly so they cook faster (and don’t roll around!). Brush balls lightly with oil to help the crisp up on the outside.

Bake at 450 for about 30 minutes, longer if you like them darker. They should be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.