Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Broccoli Slaw
2 heads of broccoli
1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds, toasted
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
Buttermilk Dressing
1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shaken
1/3 cup mayonaise (this is more than is in the original, to thicken the dressing further)
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot (or, you could just use a little extra red onion to simplify it)
Trim broccoli and cut it into large chunks. From here, you can either feed it through your food processor’s slicing blade, use a mandoline to cut it into thin slices, or simply had chop it into smaller pieces. I used the steam and the flowerets, but if you have a broccoli stem aversion you can just use the tops.
Toss the sliced broccoli with the almonds, craberries and red onion in a large bowl. Meanwhile, whisk the dressing ingredients in a smaller one, with a good pinch of salt and black pepper. Pour the dressing over the broccoli (if you’ve skipped the stems, you might not want it all; I otherwise found this to be the perfect amount) and toss it well. Season well with salt and pepper to taste.
One Bowl Chocolate Cake
From Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two round 9-inch cake pans or one 9x13 pan; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla; mix batter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to ensure batter is well mixed. Divide batter evenly among pans. (If I have any extra batter I like to make a few mini cupcakes.) Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.
Frost as desired.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Blueberry Muffins
Lemon-Sugar Topping
1/3 cup (21/3 ounces) sugar
1½ teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon
Muffins
2 cups (about 10 ounces) fresh blueberries, picked over
1 1/8 cups (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 cups (12½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk (see note)
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Note: If buttermilk is unavailable, substitute 3/4 cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk.
1. FOR THE TOPPING: Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; set aside.
2. FOR THE MUFFINS: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining 11/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)
4. Following photos above, use ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.
5. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.
BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS WITH FROZEN BLUEBERRIES
Note: Our preferred brands of frozen blueberries are Wyman’s and Cascadian Farm.Follow recipe for Best Blueberry Muffins, substituting 2 cups frozen berries for fresh. Cook 1 cup berries as directed in step 2. Rinse remaining cup berries under cold water and dry well. In step 3, toss dried berries in flour mixture before adding egg mixture. Proceed with recipe from step 4 as directed.
Crustless Quiche
1 cup milk, whole
1 cup heavy cream
6 oz swiss cheese, grated
1 lb asparagus, sliced at an angle into pieces
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1 dried chili, crunched
grey sea salt, to taste
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Heat oven to 425. Spray quiche pan with olive oil and set on a cookie sheet. Heat butter and olive oil in a frying pan, add shallots and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about 20 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Drain back any olive oil/butter mixture into the frying pan and add the asparagus, chilie, and sea salt, cook until bright green and just slightly cooked but crunchy, about 5 minutes. Add shallots and toss, just to coat. Remove from heat and spread into the quiche pan. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until blended, add the milk and cream and blend until mixed. Fold in the cheese. Pour over the asparagus. Bake for about 30 - 40 minutes, until set in the middle and lightly golden on top. Serve. Eat.
Berry Crumble
For the filling:
1 ½ lbs (4 to 5 cups) berries (I used raspberries and blueberries)
¾ oz (3 tbs) cornstarch
5 ½ oz (2/3 cup) granulated sugar
2 tbs lemon juice
For the topping:
4 ½ oz (1 cup) all purpose flour
2 3/8 oz (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
2 1/8 oz (1/3 cup packed) brown sugar
pinch of salt
8 oz (1 stick) cold butter, diced
1 5/8 oz (½ cup) quick-cooking or regular rolled oats
1 5/8 oz (1/2 cup) sliced almonds
Begin by making the topping. In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, brown sugar, salt and butter until you get a coarse mixture. I like to add the oats and pulse a couple of times to break them up a little. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the almonds. Mix in the almonds making clumps (although it will still be pretty loose).
In another large bowl, combine the granulated sugar and cornstarch and mix until all the cornstarch is mixed in with the sugar. Add the fruit and lemon juice and carefully mix, trying not to mash the fruit. Transfer the fruit into a large baking dish (or ramekins) and press the topping on. I like to make sure the fruit is completely covered. Bake in a 350F oven (on a sheet pan to catch the juices) until bubbly and the topping is golden.
Serve warm, with a scoop of ice cream.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Fresh Strawberry Muffins
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix well.
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to butter mixture. Add vanilla. Gently stir in strawberries.
Spoon batter into muffin pans.
Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over muffins.
Bake at 400ยบ for 20-25 minutes.
Makes one dozen muffins. (Make sure you eat them the day you bake them. They aren't so great the next day.)
Brownie pudding cake
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 3/4 cups boiling water
powdered sugar, for serving
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch square baking dish or round souffle dish. Combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and 1/3 cup cocoa in medium bowl. Add milk, butter and vanilla, stir until just blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared dish.
Combine brown sugar and remaining 1/4 cup cocoa in small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over batter. Pour boiling water over entire mixture; do not stir.
Bake 35 to 38 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the top layer comes out clean. Cool at least 10 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.