Cinnamon apple madeleines, using coconut oil

I finally got the bump in the madeleine.

I haven’t baked madeleines much lately. The non-stick pans are great. I’ve switched to coconut oil for baking in the last few months. It’s healthier and better for the environment than palm oil. Measuring coconut oil can be hard, depending on the weather it can be either solid or liquid. In the summer months it’s clear looking and runny, like a vegetable oil. When I put it in the fridge it became too hard to scoop out.

Coconut oil melts at about 76°F. Since the weather has cooled, the coconut oil is a soft solid at room temperature. When you spoon it, it resembles large clumps of wax, not smooth like palm shortening. I eyeball the measurements usually, but you can melt it and pour into measuring cups for more precision (and let it re-solidify if you want a solid shortening). I don’t find the taste of coconut very prominent in the end results, but if you really hate coconut then you might notice it. Buying it in the larger jars makes the price more reasonable, and it does last a long time (shelf life and usage).

Cinnamon apple madeleines

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sugar*
• 1 tsp molasses*
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil**
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt

*or a scant 2/3 cup brown sugar

** you can use melted butter or organic shortening instead

For more of an apple flavor, maybe add a splash of apple brandy.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix sugar and molasses thoroughly, beat in eggs, apple sauce, coconut oil, and cinnamon. Then mix the rest of the dry ingredients till smooth. Fill madeleine pans and bake for about 12mins, till the edges are browned. This makes 2 dozen full size madeleines.

The side scraping paddles are great for brownie batter too.

-Lina

Curry quinoa lentils and brown rice

It’s the end of the month and I’ll push this one over the finish line. I like to get at least one post per month. This is healthy whole grains, high in protein, tasty, and way easy. And everyone should have a rice cooker.

Curry quinoa lentils and brown rice pilaf(?)

• 2/3 cup quinoa
• 2/3 cup brown rice
• 1/3 cup lentils (any type that is whole with skin)
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 dried chili
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 cup water

Wash and strain the grains, if you aren’t washing it then you’ll need more water (1/2 cup), but quinoa requires washing. Put everything in a rice cooker, and let it cook on regular.

If using the stove top, put everything into a small heavy bottom and bring to a boil with the lid on, then turn it down to a low simmer and cook covered for 35-40mins. Remove bay leaf and chili, give it a mix in the pot before serving.

You can use vegetable or chicken stock if you like, just watch the salt. This goes great with almost anything.

-L

Amaretti blueberry shortcake

This was the birthday cake I made for my grandmother a few weeks ago. Like the Japanese style strawberry short cake, this is 2 layers of sponge cake with cream chantilly (whipped cream) as frosting. The crumbs are crushed amaretti cookies.

Amaretti blueberry shortcake

sponge cake:

• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract + 1/2 tsp almond extract (or just 1 tsp of amaretto)

cream chantilly (whipped cream):

• 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract + 1 tsp almond extract (or amaretto)

rest:

• apricot preserve
• 1 pint of fresh blueberries
• 8 to 10 amaretti cookies
• parchment paper

Preheat oven to 350. Beat eggs and sugar till very pale yellow and is 3-4 times the original volume using a mixer. Cut parchment paper into circles to fit two 8in round cake pans (fold the paper in halves till you can’t anymore and snip the ends to fit). Oil pan with the parchment thoroughly otherwise it’d be hard to get the bottom out of the pan. Sift in flour and baking powder, fold with large metal spoon and add the vanilla while folding. When fully incorporated pour into pans and bake for 25mins. Check the other cake post for more images.

Beat cream and sugar till it forms soft peaks, add extracts and beat a little more. Put away till cake is completely cooled.

When cakes are cooled peel off the parchment paper, spread on apricot preserve, cover layer with blueberries then spread the whipped cream over. Put on the next cake layer, and thin coat of preserve. Frost cake with the remaining cream.

Crush about 8 or 9 amaretti cookies in either a food processor or in just a freezer bag with something heavy. To get the crumbs on the cake you will need either a cake stand or a second person holding the plate of cake on an angle over a large baking sheet to catch run off.

Top with any remaining blueberries. If you don’t have amaretti cookies, you can just crush up nilla wafers, ginger snaps, graham crackers, or almonds.

-Lina

Sweet potato latkas

some edges got a little too dark, watch the oil temps

Sweet potatoes are something I’ve been experimenting with recently. In general I don’t like really sweet vegetables (yams, pumpkin, squash, carrots, parsnips, etc.) But they (sweet potatoes, and the other veggies) are very good for you, high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. In the coming days I will post more on sweet potatoes.

Latkas are potato pancakes that can be made in different ways. They can be served plain or topped with almost anything; apple sauce, sour cream, or just ketchup (personal fav).

• 1 medium/large sweet potato*
• 1 small/medium onion*
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp  pepper
• oil for frying

* the ratio is about 3:1 of sweet potato to onion

Peel then shred sweet potato and onion, mix together with the rest of the ingredients. Heat up a heavy bottom pan (I prefer cast iron) with 1/4 – 1/2 inch of oil on medium high. I used grape seed oil, it has a very high smoking point, great for frying. Scoop mixture into pan (about 1/4 – 1/3 cup per portion), try to spread out mixture to about 4 inch in diameter, it should be a thin layer. When edges turn golden brown (3mins?), flip and cook until bottom is browned. Drain on paper towels. Add more oil in pan when needed. They should be crispy on the edges and tender inside. You can also keep them warm in the over while frying up more.

I think used half the mixture (made about and then refrigerated the rest to use the next day.

-L

deconstructed summer rolls

I had all these ingredients to make summer rolls but I ran out of rice wraps before I could use up all the filling. The next day I made lunch out of the leftovers; ‘deconstructed summer rolls’ or ‘cold rice vermicelli with shrimp’. I love cold noodle dishes in the summer and this is very light and refreshing. Makes a small light lunch for two.

• 6-8oz dried rice vermicelli (thin rice noodles)
• 1/2 lb shrimp (cooked and halved lengthwise)
• 1/2 seedless cucumber sliced or shredded
• 1/2 small onion thinly sliced
• 1 carrot shredded (not shown in picture)
• 1 avocado sliced
• cilantro and/or basil (or mint) chopped

dressing:

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup water (more if you find it too salty)
• 1 tsp sugar (optional)
• 1 scallion chopped (optional)

Cook noodles according to package instructions, drain, then plunge into large bowl of cold water before draining again. Prep the veggies; you can put the carrot and cucumber thru the shredder attachment on a food processor to save time (just drain out the excess liquid). Mix up the dressing. (You can make more and store in the fridge for later use on noodles or a dipping sauce for dumplings or anything fried.) If you don’t have cooked shrimp on hand, just boil raw shrimp with shells on till they turn totally pink, rinse under cold water, peel and slice. Plate the noodles and assemble everything on top anyway you like and spoon on dressing when you are ready to eat. If you like, you can finish it off with some chopped peanuts or almonds on top.

-Lina

Happy Mother’s Day…

…and it happens to be my birthday too (happens like every other year). So we are having a big dinner with my family and I make the cake (all organic ingredients). It’s a Japanese style strawberry shortcake, meaning it’s a sponge cake base with whipped cream and strawberries.

Japanese style shortcake

sponge cake:

• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

cream chantilly (to be fancy):

• 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

rest:

• strawberry or raspberry preserve
• 1 qt fresh strawberries
• parchment paper

eggs and sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Beat eggs and sugar till very pale yellow and is 3-4 times the original volume using a mixer. Cut parchment paper into circles to fit two 8in round cake pans (fold the paper in halves till you can’t anymore and snip the ends to fit). Oil pan with the parchment thoroughly otherwise it’d be hard to get the bottom out of the pan. Sift in flour and baking powder, fold with large metal spoon and add the vanilla while folding. When fully incorporated pour into pans and bake for 25mins.

Beat cream and sugar till it forms soft peaks, add vanilla and beat a little more. Put away till cake is completely cooled.

Take half the strawberries (the least pretty ones) and slice into 4ths. De-stem the rest for the top.

When cakes are cooled peel off the parchment paper, spread on a thin layer of preserve, top evenly with the sliced strawberries then spread the whipped cream over. Put on the next cake layer, and thin coat of preserve. Frost cake with the remaining cream. I saved some and piped it on with just a snipped sandwich baggie (I never got the hang of using decorating tips). Top with strawberries how you see fit.

-L

Scallion and potatoes

(before baking)

Here I just threw some red scallions and red potatoes together into the oven. It’s really simple and tasty. The scallions really permeate the potatoes and the olive oil.  Spring onions are in season so this would also take advantage of them and the weather (being not too warm to use the oven).

• 2lb red bliss potatoes 
• 1 bunch of scallions or 1 spring onion
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450. Cut potatoes into 4ths or 8ths depending on size. Slice scallions on the diagonal into long pieces.  Toss together with a few tablespoons of olive oil, few dashes of salt and pepper in a baking dish or cast iron pan. Bake for 25mins or till potatoes are done.

 

-L

finger foods & football

It’s no big secret I love Texas football (University of Texas that is). So, it was only fitting that my turn to cook was the night of the Fiesta Bowl (UT v. Ohio and thank goodness we won). I cooked up some eggrolls, made fish tacos, and an artichoke parmesan dip with baguette slices. I didn’t really cook much, although there was plenty of food.

This is actually a tip from Michael. Use Gordon’s original battered fish fillets. Cook in oven as instructed. Once ready, cut up the fish, and then a few fresh limes, tomatoes, lettuce and serve with flour or corn tortillas. The cream sauce in the middle is from Chuy’s (http://www.chuys.com/). It’s their famous jalapeno cream sauce and it is fabulous with everything. It’s especially tasty with fish tacos.

They sell this awesome garlic & herb butter at my local store. I had them slice up a baguette and when I got  home, I spread butter on all the baguette slices and put in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until crispy.

I served this with artichoke garlic dip.

Ingredients:

• 1 clove of garlic (minced)
• 2 cans of artichoke hearts (sliced and diced..as small as you can get it)
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup of mayonnaise (i don’t measure but if the artichokes aren’t covered in mayo, you need more)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mince your garlic. Drain the cans of artichoke hearts and then dice them as small as you can get it. Place both garlic and artichokes into a bowl. Add the 1/2 cup mayo and the 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese. Mix well. If needed, add more mayo. Once mixed, place into a baking dish and put in oven for 20-30 minutes, or until slightly browned. Serve with either crackers, baguette slices, or even tortilla chips.

And then there was lumpia, which are Filipino eggrolls. Lumpia is made mostly of meat, and are much smaller than your normal eggroll. My mother made these from scratch. I’m usually the one who makes them, but for New Year’s she said she would. They’re awesome because you can freeze what you don’t cook and they’re good till…forever. hah. Anyways, she had an extra frozen batch from New Years and they are the perfect finger food, so she gave me the rest. They were deep fried to perfection. ^_^ Her exact recipe is secret, but there’s ground pork, shrimp, water chestnuts, green onions, carrots, and then seasonings.

They were fantastic. All the food was pretty good and gone by the end of the night. For dessert, I found the yummiest chocolate ice cream bon bons. So good! The game had a happy ending, so we were all happy campers. Jumping up and down. I apologize to my neighbors for our loudness.

-Chelle

Broiled Sardines with Lemon and Herbs

It’s our 1 year anniversary today! It kind of snuck up on us so we didn’t plan anything. But the sardines are really really good.

Broiled Sardines with Lemon and Herbs

• 8 sardines
• 1 lemon
• 2 tsp (or more) coarse sea salt
• 1 heaping tsp coarse ground pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• sprigs of fresh thyme, oregano, or rosemary
• chopped parsley to garnish

Preheat oven to 450. Or if your broiler is separate, preheat that.

Cut Lemon in half and then into eights, altogether 16 slices. I prefer organic lemons in this situation because you will want to eat all of the lemon (with peels).

Prep sardines, I like to cut off the heads then gut them and rinse them under running water to scale them.

Pour oil, salt, and pepper into broiler safe dish, I used a cast iron pan.

Rub each fish inside and out with the oil/salt/pepper.

Stuff a small sprig of herb in each fish along with 2 slices of lemon. Depending on the size of the fish it might not really fit but it’s ok if it’s all hanging out. If using rosemary, use sparingly, it can be overpowering here.

Turn on broiler and put the fish under it for 15-20mins, maybe longer depending on size of fish. It’s done when the fish skin is golden/crisp and the lemons are slightly caramelized. 

Sprinkle on some parsley and the end.

The lemon juice and olive oil with the fish creates a bit of sauce and it’s great with some rice, couscous, orzo, or pasta.

-L

Midnight breakfast sandwich

My late night meal, because I’m on my nocturnal schedule. 

Some sauteed pre-sliced mushrooms and baby spinach with garlic (salt & pepper) with two sunny side up eggs in a freshly fried bun* topped with some shaved Parmesan. All done in roughly 15 minutes.  :) I had almost everything on hand prepped, and a wok full of oil left over from making falafels and of course the dough.

*Using some stored dough, take a small handful, shaped into a flat disk and deep fry medium high.  If the oil is too hot or the shape too thick the center might remain raw and doughy.

I always save a good chunk of old dough to mix into the new dough and over time my dough has developed a nice flavor.

The yolks made it more of a fork-n-knife sandwich.

 

I find it harder to cook late at night now because we keep our new puppy Monty in the kitchen. He would wake up, I’d take him out and back, then he stares at me and subversively beg for food. 

 - Lina

Feels great to be back