Halloween Treats

Last weekend, I hosted a Halloween party at my apartment, complete with decorations, costumes, and season treats.










Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

I gave Jesse the task of carving the pumpkin, and when I returned, I was pleasantly surprised by his unique and well-carved interpretation. "It's a girl?" I said. "Of course it's a girl, it has a girl shape!" he responded. Okay then, if you say so.

I took the innards out of the pumpkin. The stringy guts weren't worth saving, as it was a surprisingly small amount for such a large pumpkin. But I did use the seeds to make toasted pumpkin seeds, a la Simple Recipes - with a couple modifications. First of all, I added paprika because I love to add that spice to all most every dish I make. I am never sure just how much taste paprika really adds, but the color seems to give food a psychological kick for me at least.
Also, the recipe above only requires 20 minutes in the oven. Some of my seeds were done at that time, but I had to let others sit in the oven until 50 minutes or so, and they still weren't deliciously crunchy but overly tough and chewy. Who knows, maybe due to my shitty apartment oven?
Chocolate Covered Apple Chunks

Next up, I made chocolate covered apple chunks. I thought about making caramel apples, but last time I tried to make caramel (over popcorn) it didn't come out right at all, so I decided to stick with coating the apples in chocolate because it is so much easier to do - just melt chocolate! I saw something similar on Iron Chef, where they created a trio of mini caramel covered and chocolate covered apples on sticks using an ice cream scoop to scoop out round pieces of apple.
So that was my inspiration. But I don't have an ice cream scoop and I don't have toothpicks, so I just left them as jagged apple pieces to melt in your hand. They turned out fine, but weren't a very exciting snack. I think taste-wise, caramel goes better with apples than chocolate does.

Bring a couple inches of water in a saucepan to boil, then lower to simmer. Place a metal bowl over the saucepan as a double boiler. Empty a bag of chocolate chips (milk, dark, semi-sweet, whatever you prefer) into the bowl and stir continuously until melted.

Meanwhile, chop 3 apples into 2-inch pieces. Once the chocolate is melted, Slowly stir in the apples with a metal spoon making sure the apple pieces are coated evenly.

Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Lay the apple pieces evenly on the foil, without letting them touch (if they touch, they will stick together). Place sheet in the refrigerator for at least one hour (can be made a day in advance and stored in the fridge) to allow chocolate to set. Remove from fridge shortly before serving.

Carrot CupcakesAs you may have figured out by now, I like to make cupcakes and muffins for parties rather than full-sized cake because 1. they take less time to bake and thus use less energy 2. they are already in personal-sized portions with no cake cutting involved 3. they are easy to eat with your hands.

I also made carrot cupcakes for theparty, modeled after Straight From the Farm's carrot cake. Here is my version of it, modified to include less oil and eggs, replacing that with more apple sauce, honey, and milk. She used pear sauce, but luckily I had made apple sauce from local apples a week or two ago and was saving it for a random baking adventure, so the apple sauce ended up in this and didn't go to waste. Just for the record, the carrots, apples, eggs, and honey in this were all local.

I liked this recipe. It is a nice change from most carrot cake recipes, which gain moistness from pineapple, which is definitely not local. I would consider them muffins without frosting and cupcakes with frosting. I also ventured away from typical carrot cake frosting to do a plain vanilla cream icing because I don't like cream cheese icing. I have never believed that cream cheese should have a place in baking, whether it be cheesecake or frosting. The photo shows both chocolate and vanilla frosted cupcakes. What happened was, I had lots of chocolate at the bottom of the bowl after making my chocolate covered apples, so I scraped up the extra chocolate and just spread it over the top of cupcakes. But there wasn't enough chocolate for all the cupcakes so I ended up having to make vanilla frosting too. Next time I would just stick to vanilla frosting for these as chocolate kind of masks the actual taste of the cupcake.

They would have tasted awesome if I hadn't overcooked them. They came out dark on the bottom, slightly tough, with a slight burned taste, but still relatively yummy. Next time the only change I would make would maybe be to add more flour and one more egg so as to have more batter and bigger cupcakes - as you can see in the photo above, they are somewhat small.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup apple sauce
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy milk
3 cups grated carrots (about 3 average sized carrots)
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp milk
1 cup confectioners sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F and prepare two muffin tins with a good coat of nonstick baking spray. Set out the ingredients for the icing so they come to room temperature.
Sift together the flour, spices and baking powder and soda and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together oil, apple sauce, sugar, honey, and milk until everything is well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Do not over mix! Add the carrots and walnuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins and bake on the center oven rack for 15-20 minutes. Make sure to check on them so they don't overcook! Test with a skewer inserted into the center to see if it comes out clean. When the skewer is clean, remove cup cakes from oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

While the cake is cooling, make the icing by combining the buter, vanilla, and milk. Add half the confectioners’ sugar and stir slowly to start and then beat well to get rid of lumps. Taste the icing to determine if it’s sweet enough for you. If not, add more sugar until you’ve reached your desired sweetness. When cake is completely cooled, spread icing over top. Makes 24 cupcakes.

The Roommate's Goods

My roommate Gina also contributed to the party goods. She made sugar cookies, and I topped them off with icing left over from my cupcakes:

Gina also made a pumpkin pie, following her boyfriend's mother's pie crust recipe - coming out much better this time than her first attempt at pie crust - and a Paula Deen pie filling complete with cream cheese. Paula Deen, butter lover, scares me as a rule, but this pie tasted pretty good.

Unrelated: Bread

Finally, I have embarked on the quest to bake my own bread instead of shelling out $4-$5 for great farmers market bread. This is my second loaf and hey it looks like the real thing! My first loaf was all whole wheat, but was flat on top and dense, probably because I didn't let it rise long enough. For my second loaf, below, I followed the recipe for Basic Hearth Bread in The Bread Bible. With all the rising involved, I started at 7:30pm after work and didn't get to taste a finished slice until 1:15 am. Yikes! This was good, but much whiter than I would like. Next time I think I'll go for 3/4 whole wheat and 1/4 white flour, and let the sponge ferment in the fridge overnight. The great thing is, I have so many chances to improve at this if I keep making a new loaf of bread every week. I won't be sharing a recipe on here till I come up with my perfect bread. This week's bread was good, but not perfect.

Which brings me to an issue about this blog. As you may tell, I haven't been posting everything I've been cooking. As a perfectionist, I feel insecure about posting not only my failures but also meals that are just okay. I aspire to greatness and that means you'll just have to put up with sporadic posts, waiting for the best.

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Moroccan Lamb Meatballs with Chickpeas and Tomatoes Over Pita

This recipe is based on one for lamb meatballs from the Amateur Gourmet. His recipe called for simple meatballs served with yogurt, but I thought I would prefer something more substantial. I decided go on a play of the Italian meatball hero - lamb meatballs instead of pork/sirloin/turkey mix; tomatoes and chickpeas with Moroccan spices instead of traditional tomato sauce; and warmed pita bread instead of toasted hero bread. I also cooked it all in the oven instead of frying to cut down on oil. It bubbled up nicely and tasted sweeter than I expected, maybe because my cilantro was wilting and lacking in flavor to cut through the other spices.
1 can chickpeas
1/2 can crushed tomatoes
1/2 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp sweet paprika
salt
pepper

Combine above ingredients in a baking dish. Preheat oven to 375.

1 lb ground lamb
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp sweet paprika
1/3 cup fresh mint leaves finely chopped
salt
pepper

Combine above ingredients in a bowl. Form into approximately 12 small meatballs and place in chickpe-tomato mixture in baking dish. Bake for approximately 35 minutes. Check to see if meatballs are done and add 1/4 cup fresh chopped mint and 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro. Cook for another few minutes. Remove from heat and let cool a couple minutes. Serve over warm pita (or rice).

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A Feast for the Eyes

Hello, it's been a while since I was here. I was busy, putting in a lot of overtime to get ready for a glamorous work event that allowed me to get dressed up, gaze upon the rich and famous, and feel happily drunk off wine.


I've still been cooking, but not too many recipes of note so let's recap along with some pictures. There was the Friday night I tried to make a version of chicken tikka masala, but it didn't end up like the sweet delicious tikka masala at Indian restaurants that I love. When attempting to make this dish, do not substitute milk for cream because your boyfriend asks you to, do not omit coriander and other sweet spices because you are too lazy/cheap to buy them, and do not add a chili pepper to make up for the lack of spice. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't great, so I won't be sharing that recipe. Nevertheless, it was a fun group dinner so here are some pictures of us enjoying the food.



What else have I been cooking? Well, I made butternut squash risotto earlier this week. The first risotto I ever tasted was plain butternut squash, and I loved it then, but now I just don't anymore. After a squashless summer season, I think I forgot how butternut squash tastes. Combined with all the fresh rosemary I added, the risotto tasted too lemon-y and sweet, not at all like the savory chicken and carrot I usually make and have come to love. Or maybe it was just that I was too lazy to heat up my leftover squash risotto at the office the next day, so the consequent cold squishy texture left a gross impression in my mind.

I also made Elise's recipe for grape juice, not on purpose really. On an impulse, like a little child would, Jesse bought Concord grapes at the farmers market. But once home, he and I were both eerily unsettled by the artificial grape flavor, and so the grapes were left uneaten for days. While slaving away at the stove for the risotto, I figured I might as well make it into juice. It was really easy and delicious, three parts juice and one part seltzer like Elise recommends. But almost silly that it cost $4 (the price of the grapes at the market) to end up with one large glass of juice. This is what it looked like as I let it strain - just for an hour rather than overnight because I was lazy.

And finally, I leave with you this recommendation. On a Friday night like tonight, the first cold night of October, relax and warm up at the same time with my favorite kind of hot toddy.

Cinnamon Sweet Hot Toddy
Bring a couple cups of water to boil.
Combine boiling water in a big mug with black tea, a shot or two of whiskey (depending on your love of the spirit), 2 tbsp honey, a dash of vanilla.
Shake cinnamon over the top, and let it steep for four minutes.
Add a couple spoonfuls of milk, stir, and enjoy.
Hmm, wouldn't it be nice to have a roaring fireplace to sit in front of right now?

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Grilled Chicken Saag, and Sauteed Calamari

Welcome to Part 2 of Welcome Back Jesse: Dinner - this one's a doozy. I decided to grill the chicken rather than brown it in the saucepan as recipes called for to make it a little healthier. That worked fine, but as you can see below, this meal requires many pots, dishes, and steps. It came out good on the end, spicy but not quite like Indian from a restaurant because I was lacking in spices such as coriander, cloves, garam masala, which I didn't feel like going out to get for this. But the best part - this dish is chuck full of spinach, so it's good for you!

1 1/2 cup rice
3 cups water
pinch of salt

1 1/2 lb chicken breast, sliced into 4 pieces
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry
salt and pepper
non-stick cooking spray

2 bunches spinach, washed thoroughly and chopped
1/4 cup water

four pitas
olive oil
salt and pepper

olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, minced
1 inch piece ginger, minced
1/2 green chili pepper, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp curry
salt and pepper

Step 1: Combine water, rice, and salt in a pot, bring to boil, and then lightly simmer until all water is absorbed, approximately 50 minutes.

Step 2: Rub chicken with spices. Grill on high five minutes, flip over and grill another five minutes, then grill on low for another five minutes till done. Remove from heat. Don't forget to turn off the grill!

Step 3: Put spinach in a pot with 1/4 cup water. Cover, bring to a boil, and remove from heat. When cool, grind in blender and set aside.

Step 4: Brush pita bread on both sides lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and lightly toast at 400 degrees for 5 minutes until warm and slightly toasty.

Step 5: Sautee garlic, onion, and ginger until lightly browned. Add tomato and other spices and simmer for 10 minutes. Add spinach puree and simmer about 5 minutes. Add chicken and simmer another 10 mintes until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat. Serve over brown rice with pita bread.

Sauteed Calamari



Also, the next night, Jesse sauteed up some calamari that was yummy. It was already washed by the fisherman - I think he just chopped it up and sauteed it on low with olive oil and minced garlic for about 45 minutes until it was tender. And tender it was - I like it much better this way than breaded and chewy like restaurants usually serve it.

Speaking of garlic, we went to the garlic festival in Saugerties today and it was somewhat disappointing. First of all, it was overwhelming - so crowded and so many vendors I didn't know where to start where to go and it was way too easy to keep losing my friends. Half the time was spent losing and meeting back up. Anyway, there were many stands selling what looked and tasted like high-quality garlic as well as garlic spreads and sauces etc. But the actual food to eat there was almost like any county fair - fried dough, tacos, and taco and pork all in pieces dripping with gross oil or whatever stand after stand so that was disappointing. For all the hype, I thought there would be intelligent dishes. Oh well, I'm so tired from being in the car so long I can't even think.

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Very Apple Coffe Cake

Whenever Jesse returns from a work trip to LA, I like to use it as an excuse to make some scrumptious treat and serve it to him as a surprise. Last time around, I made flourless chocolate cupcakes, and this time I was originally planning to make German chocolate cupckes (which I've been wanting to make for-ever-er!). But since he is due to return in the morning just after I leave for work, I decided a coffee cake was in order. An apple coffee cake, to be specific, in celebration of the return of fresh apples to the farmers market.


In my health-seeking quest to ban oil and butter and tons of eggs from my baked goods, I decided to try using applesauce as the primary wet ingredient, and to complicate things further, applesauce I made myself. I've done this before, for apple muffins, and figured it would work just as well for a cake. Of course, butter came creeping back in for the crumbly topping, but a coffee cake just wouldn't be complete without that.


I just did a taste test with my roommate - it's on the right track, but the bottom and sides of the cake turned out tough and chewy. Not sure why - maybe I baked it too long, maybe I needed more lubricant in the pan, maybe this is what whole wheat flour does, maybe the batter really did need oil or butter? Hm guess those apple muffins were tough too. I need Alton Brown to explain the science of it all! I don't know, but leaving out the bottom of the cake, it tastes yummy, especially the crumbly top. Will get a final verdict from Jesse tomorrow, but I have the feeling he'll be pleased. And get ready for tomorrow's post, Welcome Back Jesse Part 2: Dinner.(Apologies for blurry picture - my lighting sucks.)

Applesauce
1 large apple (I used Cortlandt, recommended by the farmer I bought it from)
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp honey (buckwheat honey from the Greenmarket)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla


Cake
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg (local free range organic yum!)
1/2 cup soy milk or organic milk
1 small apple


Crumbly Topping
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup walnuts
1/3 cup steel-cut rolled oats


Peel, core, and dice apple. Combine apple with other ingredients in a saucepan, cover, and very lightly simmer over very low heat, stirring occasionally. When apples are tender, approximately 25 minutes later, mash with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Sometime before the applesauce is done, preheat the oven to 350.


Meanwhile, combine dry cake ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients for the crumbly topping and then cream butter into the mixture. Also core an apple (do not peel) and cut into thin slices. Also prepare a 9-inch round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray on bottom.


Stir egg and milk into the applesauce. Then beat the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Pour half the batter into the cake pan, spreading evenly. Arrange apple slices in a layer on top, and then pour remaining batter over it, again spreading evenly. Arrange crumbly mixture evenly on top, pressing it in slightly. Bake for approximately 45 minutes. Enjoy with your next morning coffee for breakfast.

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Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Mashed Potatoes and Salad

By misuse of technology, I lost the pictures of this meal. But the description still remains. This meal begins with the barbecue I had earlier this summer. Our neighbors had given us a pork roast, and cooking it for the bbq was my first experience cooking pork. To my delight, after eight hours on low in the crock pot, it turned into pulled pork when I went to slice it.

Weeks later when I was at the Greenmarket, I was waiting in line to get chicken or lamb or whatever I usually get from the nice man from Dines Farms. He has quite a following, always long lines, and sad exclamations from people when he's out of his variations of chicken sausage, and people place their order ahead of time to be sure they get what they want before he runs out, and he even gives out his cell number for orders. I try to get all my meat from him, though sometimes I run out and have to make do with "supermarket" meat. So there I saw - aha he sells pork roast - I could buy and make it again! Because I am always trying to make myself use my crock pot more. And because Jesse didn't get to try the pulled pork at our bbq because he was too busy at the grill! So I bought a roast and threw it into the freezer, unsure of when I would make it.

I decided to make it for this Saturday's dinner, after a long week of working overtime and before Jesse headed off to LA for a few days. Then, since it turned out that roommate and a friend were joining us, I decided to bolster the meal with sides - a Greenmarket salad, and my first time making mashed potatoes. Growing up, I hated mashed potatoes - it falls into the category of things I don't like because of creamy texture: mashed potatoes, whipped cream, yogurt, frosting on cakes from bakeries. But then my roommate made me mashed potatoes and now I'm all into them, I think because hers has tasty chunks amid the mashed potatoes and because I'm slowly getting over my picky standards from childhood.

The pork turned out nice and juicy, although it took longer than I thought it would. Unfortunately the rolls I selected from a local bakery for assembling the sandwiches were stale, so that wasn't great because it made the sandwiches tough to bite into, and many pieces of roll were left discarded on the plates. It would have been much better to use soft hamburger rolls like at my bbq. The mashed potatoes were fine, I think it would be pretty hard to mess up mashed potatoes. My friend in attendance, also named Julia, thought the salad was awesome - I chalk it to the juicy tomatoes and homemade breadcrumbs and Cindy's Kitchen, my favorite brand of salad dressing. Then today, Jesse proclaimed that he doesn't want to eat pork anymore because it felt so fattening. In fact, he felt it was so gross that it almost made him want to become a vegetarian (he who must eat a protein, preferably meat, at every meal). And that is exactly the reason why my mother never made pork growing up and why this will remain one of my few forays into cooking it, probably ever.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Slice 1/2 onion into long, thin slices. Brush approx. 2lb pork roast in barbecue sauce on all sides. Put both in crock pot with few more dabs of bbq sauce, salt, and pepper. Cook on low for eight hours. Depending on the size of the roast, it may need to cook longer. I cooked mine on low for six hours and then on high for another two and a half hours. It is done when you slice into it and don't see any pink. Lightly toast four hamburger buns and top with dollop of bbq sauce. Pull pork out with a fork and heap on each bun. Serves four.

Mashed Potatoes with Scallions

Bring pot of water to boil, with salt. Meanwhile, chop two large yukon gold potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Also mince one clove garlic. Add potatoes and garlic to water, cover, bring to boil again, and then uncover and continue to boil until potatoes are tender. Drain potatoes in collander and then return to pot. Mash with a wooden spoon, leaving chunks. Add salt, pepper, 1/4 cup milk, 1 spoonful of butter, and a diced scallion and combine with potatoes.

Salad

In a bowl rubbed with a garlic clove I combined the following ingredients picked up at the greenmarket that morning: 1 juicy tomato, cut into small chunks; 1/2 onion diced; 1 clove garlic, minced; 4 handfuls of mixed greens, rinsed and patted dry; homemade croutons made a week earlier out of stale bread, salt, peper, garlic powder, other dry spices, toasted in the oven for 20 min and stored in tupperware until its use this night; all tossed with Cindy's Kitchen Honey Dijon Vinaigrette.

Enjoy with a nice white beer and friends.

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Potato Salad with Basil Oil, Tomato, and Onion

This dish is inspired by the August 2007 Bon Appetit - potato salad with basil oil. Because I had potatoes and basil and wanted to use them up. However, I also wanted to use my bounty of tomatoes and onions, so I decided to add them into the mix. Also, the Bon Appetit recipe called for me to make a basil oil and a dijon vinagraitte but 1- i didn't think they would taste great together and 2-why complicate things? so i stuck with just the basil. it didn't get the best rating from my boyfriend, but it will do. i just had this for dinner because i didn't feel like making a main meat dish, but it would be good as a side too, with pesto or balsamic chicken.

1 large potato

1 tomato

1/4 onion

1/2 cup basil

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 tbsp hot water

salt

pepper

In large saucepan, bring enough water to boil to cover potatoes with 1 inch water. Meanwhile, chop potato into 1 inch cubes. When water boils, add potatoes, lower heat to medium, and simmer until potatoes are tender, approx. 10 minutes. Meanwhile, blend basil with 3 tsp olive oil, 3 tbsp hot water, salt, and pepper. Dice onions and tomatoes and combine in a bowl. Add basil mixture to bowl. When potatoes are tender, drain in collander and add to bowl. Serve as warm summer side dish for two.

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