Who Wants Seconds?

Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins

One of my favourite cookbooks ever is Feeding the Healthy Vegetarian Family by Ken Haedrich. From soup to nuts, it's really an amazing resource for vegetarians, of course, but also for those of us that like to dip our toe (or maybe even all the way up to our hip?) into meatless meals.

At least once a month, we make our version of Ken's fantastic muffins. Nobody around here likes poppy seeds, and frozen blueberries are easier (and cheaper, natch) to have on hand, but otherwise we follow it to a T. If you're looking for a not-too-sweet, fairly healthy and easy-peasy recipe that will fast become a fave, look no further. And if you want to knock them out really quickly (on a Sunday morning, say?), set up the dry ingredients in a bowl the night before and whip the wet ingredients up and in as the oven's warming. And the Pretty-Good-For-You Butterless Streusel? Make a double batch and throw it in the freezer, 'cuz you're going to want to use it ON EVERYTHING. I kid, of course, but it is pretty awesome. Without further ado:

Stina's Blueberry-Cornmeal Muffins

1 1/2 large very ripe bananas
1 large egg
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1/4 flavorless vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c. yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. poppy seeds (optional)
1 c. fresh blueberries

Butter or lightly oil 12 muffin cups and dust them with flour (I oftentimes use liners instead). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the banana, egg, and brown sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process to a smooth puree. Blend in the oil and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the poppy seeds if you're using them. Make a well in the dry mixture, add the liquid, and stir until the batter is uniformly mixed, folding in the blueberries at the end.

Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups and sprinkle each one with a little of the toppping if you're using it. Bake the muffins for 22 to 25 minutes, until done; the tops will be resistant to gentle finger pressure. Cool the muffins in the cups for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove them and transfer to a cooling rack. Serve at any temperature.

Pretty-Good-For-You Butterless Streusel

1/3 c. packed light brown sugar
1/4 c. instant or noninstant rolled oats
1 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 1/2 c. walnuts
1 1/2 tbsp. flavorless vegetable or canola oil

Put the brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process for about 10 seconds to chop up the oats. Add the walnuts and process for 5 to 10 seconds, until finely chopped but not clumpy. Finally, pulse the machine several times as your drizzle in the oil; don't overmix. Transfer the mixture to a plastic bag and freeze until needed.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

When my original plan for the EBBP package going to Zabeena went awry, I took a fall-back position to a tried-and-true theme of all-American favourites, and the cookies you see above were part of that.

When I was growing up, one of the favourite desserts that my mother made on a regular basis were Toll House chocolate chip cookies.  Over the years, as I became more interested in baking and made batch after batch of  my own cookies, I found that I was looking for a bit more texture and chew, which led to the inclusion of oatmeal.

Edited 30 October 2005: I'm sure there are about a thousand versions of these cookies out there, and mine probably isn't so different (or different at all!), but no matter. If you're looking to try a different variation of an old favourite, this ought to do the trick. but this one from Cook's Illustrated is absolutely perfect. If you're looking for the quintessential oatmeal chocolate-chip cookie, this is most definitely it.

Oatmeal Chocolate-Chip Cookies
Yields 18 large cookies

1 1/2 cups FLOUR
1/2 teaspoon SALT
1/2 teaspoon BAKING POWDER
8 ounces (2 sticks) UNSALTED BUTTER, softened
1 cup LIGHT BROWN SUGAR, packed
1 cup GRANULATED SUGAR
2 large EGGS
3 cups OATS
1 1/2 cups CHOCOLATE CHIPS

1. Preaheat oven to 350 degrees, and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk flour, salt and baking powder together in a medium bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, by hand or by mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars and beat the mixture until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.

4. Stir dry ingredients into butter-sugar mixture with a wooden spoon or a large rubber spatula. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

5. Place dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets by large spoonfuls (about 2 tablespoons each), leaving at least 2 inches between.

6. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Slide cookies (on parchment) onto cooling rack. Let cool, and store in airtight container.

A tip from my mum: Place a piece of bread (any type) in with the cookies to prevent them from becoming stale. If they hang around long enough, that is!

Recipe reprinted with kind permission from the The Best Recipe Cookbook, by the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine. Selected articles, recipes, books, and subscription information are available online at www.cooksillustrated.com.

SHF#9: Lemon Curd Tartlets

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Summer afternoon, summer afternoon... the two most beautiful words in the English language. -Henry James (1843 - 1916)

Ah, the enduring allure of a garden party! Growing up, it's what I imagined went on regularly in England- with not a moment's thought for the season or the weather, of course. Even as an adult, after living in England for the past three years and having come to the realization that the majority of people here do not have garden parties, it's the idea, the photo in my head if you will, that persists.

In the end, as so often happens with this sort of thing, what I held so dear had nothing much to do with reality anyway; it was an amalgam of 'memories' culled from childhood books, movies watched on Sunday afternoons, and the pages of an aunt's 'Town & Country' magazines. The fact is, I don't even like tea, and the type of delicate finger foods and desserts that would be appropriate have never been favourites either. I like cookouts, and lemonade and ice cream (quintessentially American through and through), and I've even been known to bring an electric fan outside on an extension cord on occasion. Not really garden party material, I'm afraid.

Fortunately, this month's installment of Sugar High Fridays came my rescue.  SHF#9: Tantalizing, Titillating, Tempting Tarts, hosted by A Life In Flow (the brains behind Food Porn Watch), gave me permission to see my garden party made real, if only for my camera. The photo you see above is the personification of what I've always seen in my mind's eye- blowsy roses, bone china, antique linens, and old-fashioned place cards; the addition of lemon tartlets, which I adore, make it perfection in my book.

I made lemon curd for the first time last summer, in anticipation of winning 1st place in our local village fair (a debacle to be recounted in another post), and fell in love with it immediately. I find it strangely addictive, almost sickeningly so, and try not to make it with any frequency. I'm not even sure if I can describe it properly, except to say that it's the only thing other than fudge sauce that can make me stand at the fridge, bowl in hand, and eat it spoonful after glorious spoonful. Used properly, as a filling for miniature tarts, or even spread on shortbread or toast, it really is out of this world. The fact that it comes together in a flash, with hardly any effort, doesn't hurt either.

So, I had my garden party, of sorts, after all. Just outside the frame, I had two sets of sticky, dirty hands waiting not-so-patiently for their own little tartlet (promised at the outset), and a dog who was waiting not-so-patiently for any leftover crumbs, but inside my viewfinder it was a different story. One that could always be recreated at a later date, sans little fingers. Anyone care for a cuppa?

LEMON CURD
by Elinor Klivans (Fine Cooking magazine)

3 oz. (6 tablespoons) UNSALTED BUTTER, softened at room temperature
1 cup SUGAR
2 large EGGS
2 large EGG YOLKS
2/3 cup fresh LEMON JUICE
1 teaspoon grated LEMON ZEST

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer, about two minutes. Slowly add the eggs and the yolks, and beat for one minute. Mix in the lemon juice. The mixture will look curdled, but it will smooth out as it cooks.

In a medium, heavy-based saucepan, cook the mixture over low heat until it looks smooth (the curdled appearance disappears as the butter in the mixture melts). Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about fifteen minutes. It should leave a path on the back of a spoon, and will read 170 degrees Fahrenheit on a thermometer. Don't let the mixture boil.

Remove the curd from the heat; stir in the lemon zest. Transfer the curd to a bowl, and press plastic wrap on the surface of the curd to keep a skin from forming. Chill the curd in the refrigerator; it will thicken as it cools. Covered tightly, it will keep in the refrigerator for two weeks, and in the freezer for two months.

Variation:
For lime curd, substitute fresh lime juice and zest for lemon.

PASTRY
by Tessa Kiros (Falling Cloudberries)

2 1/2 ounces (70g) BUTTER, slightly softened
1 ounce (30g) SUGAR
2 1/2 ounces (70g) ALL-PURPOSE (PLAIN) FLOUR
1 ounce (25g) GROUND ALMONDS

Cream together the butter and the sugar with a wooden spoon. Add the flour, ground almonds, and a pinch of salt and mix well, using your hands when it becomes a little stiff, until the pastry comes together. Flatten slightly, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour before using (you can also freeze the pastry at this stage).

Roll out the pastry thinly on a lightly floured work surface and cut out circles of pastry to line about 12 shallow tartlet tins. Line with baking paper, fill with baking beans or weights and blind bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the visible pastry is golden and cooked. Remove the paper and cook for another couple of minutes to dry the bases. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before gently removing from the tartlet tins.

When completely cooled, fill with lemon curd.

IMBB13: Black Bottom Cupcakes

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When Maki, of I was just really very hungry., announced that she would be the hostess with the mostess for this month's IMBB?, IMBB13: My Little Cupcake (or Muffin), I realized that I'd be able to make one of our family favourites that's going into the cookbook for my niece, which is always nice when you're trying to multi-task!

These cupcakes are fast to make, loved by adults and kids alike, and are perfect for little ones' birthday parties. I like them a bit larger and with more filling, so I end up with about 16, rather than 24 cupcakes. Of course, you can make them however you like best. You'll also get a slightly larger cupcake with the use of paper liners- again, it's all up to you.

Black Bottom Cupcakes
Makes 16-24 cupcakes


FOR THE FILLING:

1 cup CREAM CHEESE, softened
1 EGG, unbeaten
1/2 cup SUGAR
6 ounces CHOCOLATE CHIPS

FOR THE BATTER:

1 1/2 cups FLOUR
1 cup SUGAR
1/4 cup COCOA
1 teaspoon BAKING SODA
1/2 teaspoon SALT
1 cup WATER
1 cup OIL
1 tablespoon VINEGAR
1 teaspoon VANILLA

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter muffin tins (or fill with liners) and set aside.

Beat together the cream cheese, egg and sugar. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla, and beat until well combined.

Depending on the size cupcakes you'd like, fill cups 1/3-1/2 full with batter, and top with 1 generous spoonful of cream cheese mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Bagels

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“The bagel is a lonely roll to eat all by yourself because in order for the true taste to come out you need your family. One to cut the bagels, one to toast them, one to put on the cream cheese and the lox, one to put them on the table and one to supervise.” -Gertrude Berg (1899-1966)

Anybody who feels that it's blasphemous to even THINK about making bagels at home, outside New York, with dry yeast, or without high gluten flour and malt, might want to just sit this one out. I make these bagels almost every week, they freeze well, and everyone who's tasted them thinks they're great. Concerns over loss of flavour from the "sub-par" yeast and non-NYC water seem to get lost when we eat homemade bagels every day. For the record, I've never compared these to commercial bagels anyway- I think they're awesome just the way they are.

I almost always double this recipe. Even though the steps are easy, they are time consuming and I prefer to have a larger yield for my efforts. The bagels that you see pictured above are actually a bit lighter in colour than normal. If you'd prefer them darker, simply extend their time in the oven a bit.

For easy freezing and on-the-go toasting, slice the bagels in half when cooled, stack them back-to-front, place in a freezer bag, and store them in your freezer. Bagels will defrost and toast in your toaster on whatever setting you normally use- I swear.

If you have the time and the inclination, please give these a try. Not only do I think that you won't be sorry, I think you'll be thrilled with the results and hooked on coming up with your own combinations as well. Happy baking!

Bagels

1 1/4 cups warm WATER
1 packet RAPID-RISE YEAST
1 1/2 tablespoons SUGAR
3 1/2 cups ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
1 1/2 teaspoons SALT
1 EGG plus 1 tablespoon WATER for egg wash (optional)
OLIVE OIL for brushing (optional)
KOSHER SALT for sprinkling (optional)

Pour the water into a large bowl, and add the packet of yeast and the sugar. Add the flour and mix well to form a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead, adding additional flour as necessary, for about 10 minutes. You should have a firm and "springy" dough at this point.

Place the dough into a large oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature until doubled, about 40 minutes.

Punch down the dough and form it into a log; cut the log into 8 pieces. In a large pot, bring 3 to 4 quarts of water to a boil, adding a tablespoon of salt to the water once it begins to bubble. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

In the meantime, you may form the bagels. Poke a thumb, dusted with flour, through the center of each piece of dough and stretch the hole with your fingers to make the traditional shape. Set aside on a lightly floured surface, and repeat the steps for the remaining pieces of dough. Cover the bagels with a cloth, to prevent the dough from drying, until the water is ready.

Drop the bagels into the boiling water, 2 or 3 at a time, and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side. Remove the bagels to a wire rack and drain briefly.

When all the bagels have been boiled, place them on baking sheets (1 inch apart), brush lightly with olive oil or an egg wash, and sprinkle with kosher salt to taste. Many other toppings are suitable as well, such as sesame seeds, sauteed minced onions or garlic, and poppy seeds. For a sweet option, add a tablespoon of sugar to the boiling water instead of salt, and dust the bagels with a cinnamon and sugar mixture after brushing with an egg wash.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes (time is based on baking in a convection oven; adjust accordingly to your needs). Remove from the baking sheets and cool on racks.

N.B. If you would like to substitute your favourite yeast and need guidance, you may want to visit this page at The Cook's Thesaurus- it's very helpful.

Cinnamon & Cardamom Buns

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This is one of the recipes that I make with some regularity from my newest, most favourite cookbook- Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros. They are lovely, light, and an absolute doddle to make- just allow enough time for a couple of rises (one longer, one quite brief). Although, when I think about it, they wouldn't suffer from a long, cold rise in the fridge overnight, to facilitate a lazy(ish) Sunday morning breakfast.

I think of them as an antidote to the Cinnabon, that most American of creations, which thoroughly compromises your health and well-being (670 calories/34 g fat!) while leaving your head pounding and your stomach convulsed. Even the standard home cook's version is a killer; I made cinnamon buns from Cook's Illustrated (May 2002) on Christmas morning, and while they came out well, they were just so sweet, so leaden, so altogether too much, that I didn't eat anything else until dinner.

Here, then, is my (well, Tessa's really) answer. The dough is incredibly gorgeous; its everyday yeasty goodness is augmented here with cardamom, which when teamed with cinnamon equals almost utter perfection in my book. A thin layer of butter and a light dusting of cinnamon sugar conspire not to ooze, but to enhance the finished buns with a coating of sweet promise. Finished with a bit of egg and a sprinkle of sugar, they bake for a short time before emerging from the oven to grace your table with their beautiful simplicity and outstanding flavour. They are best eaten straightaway, but may be kept briefly in an airtight container or frozen and thawed piecemeal when a craving sets in (as it most certainly will).

Cinnamon & Cardamom Buns
by Tessa Kiros

bun dough

250 ml (1 cup) TEPID MILK
100 g (3 1/2 oz.)CASTER (SUPERFINE) SUGAR
25 g (1 oz.) FRESH YEAST (OR 2 PACKETS ACTIVE DRY YEAST)
1 EGG, lightly beaten
125 g (4 1/2 oz.) BUTTER, softened
2 tsp. GROUND CARDAMOM
1 tsp. SALT
650 g (5 1/4 cups) CAKE FLOUR OR PLAIN (ALL-PURPOSE) FLOUR

cinnamon butter

2 tsp. GROUND CINNAMON
50 g (1 3/4 oz.) CASTER (SUPERFINE) SUGAR, PLUS 1 TBSP.  for sprinkling
80 g (2 3/4 oz.) BUTTER, softened
1 egg, lightly beaten

Put the milk and sugar in a bowl and crumble in the yeast. Leave for 10 minutes, or until the yeast begins to activate. Add the egg, butter, cardamom and salt and mix in. Add the flour, bit by bit, mixing it in with a wooden spoon until you need to use your hands, and then turn it out onto the work surface to knead. It may seem a little too sticky initially, but will become compact and beautifully soft after about 5 minutes. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover with a clean cloth and then a heavy towel or blanket, and leave in a warm place for about 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

To make the cinnamon butter, mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Divide the butter into four  portions and keep on one side.

Put the dough on a floured work surface and divide it into four portions. Begin with one portion, covering the others with a cloth so they don't dry out.  Using a rolling pin, roll out a rectangle, roughly about 30 x 25 cm (12 x 10 inches) and 2-3 mm (1/8 inch) thick. Spread one portion of butter over the surface of the dough with a palette knife or blunt knife. Sprinkle with about 3 teaspoons of the cinnamon mix, covering the whole surface with quick shaking movements of your wrists. Roll up to make a long dough sausage. Set aside while you finish rolling out and buttering the rest of the dough, so that you can cut them all together.

Line two large baking trays with baking paper, or bake in two lots if you only have one tray.  Line up the dough sausages in front of you and cut them slightly on the diagonal, alternating up and down, so that the slices are fat 'v' shapes, with the point of the 'v' about 2 cm (3/4 inch) and the base about 5 cm (2 inches). Turn them so they are all the right way up, sitting on their fatter bases. Press down on the top of each one with two fingers until you think  you will almost go through to your work surface. Along the sides you will see the cinnamon stripes oozing outwards. Put the buns on the baking trays, leaving space for them to puff and rise while they bake. Brush lightly with beaten egg and sprinkle a little sugar over the top.

Leave the buns to rise for half an hour and preheat your oven to 180C (350F/Gas 4). Bake them for about 20 minutes, or until they are golden. Check that they are lightly golden underneath as well before you take them out of the oven. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature and, when they are cool, keep them in an airtight container so they don't harden.

Makes about 35 buns.

Recipe reprinted with kind permission from Murdoch Books.

Oven-Roasted Persimmon Cakes

I decided to use the persimmons that I picked up earlier in the week in a dessert created by Marcel Desaulniers, from Baking with Julia. His original recipe called for plums, but I think the persimmons were a fine substitute- just the right size and perfectly ripe.

The batter is quite simple, with buttermilk and a very small amount of orange zest making for a lovely, light flavour. Baked in small custard cups, these not-too-sweet delights would be perfect any time of day. We ended up having them on their own for breakfast; you wouldn't go astray with an addition of ice cream or, as Delsaulniers recommends, chocolate sauce if you wanted to dress them up a bit.

Bon Appetit!

Pain au Chocolat

Sugar High Fridays 5 is coming up on February 11th (hosted by Clement of a la cuisine!), so I thought I'd better start working on my pastry skills now. Since I haven't made puff pastry dough in forever and wasn't sure how things would go, I figured I'd incorporate it into something simple at first.

When you're only working with a couple of ingredients in a recipe, you want them to be absolutely top-notch, so I bought a bar of Green & Black's Maya Gold, a blend of dark chocolate, orange, cinnamon, nutmeg and a bit of vanilla. The combination is really gorgeous, and aside from eating it out of hand, this is the perfect use for it.

Working with the dough wasn't too bad, but I wasn't overly thrilled with the results. I'm glad I've started working on it now; I think I'll need the next couple of weeks to do a few run-throughs and work the kinks out. I'm not sure what I'll end up submitting to SHF5 , but I know I'm going to enjoy trying to figure it out.