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

Happy Halloween

All your treats belong to meeee.

Tomatoes and peppers in the garden

I planted 4 cherry tomato plants and 4 jalapeño plants in June. These pics were from late July. My small box of thyme has managed to stay alive for the last 3 years and is doing well. I’ve let one of the oregano plants go to flower and it attracts the bumble bees. I also have a new pot of basil and new rosemary. My previous rosemary bush dried out over winter.

The pepper plants never got very large but they produced a lot of fruit.

They don’t ripened in clusters anymore. I just pick them off as they turn red.

There’s my mutt-mutt.

-L

Green Tea Cat’s Tongues

I finally bought some matcha for baking. It’s a much richer flavor than the finely ground sencha I’ve been using. The original recipe calls sifting of the flour and salt but I never do it, so I’m leaving it out. And I use a ziploc bag to pipe out the batter instead of a pastry bag (I don’t have one), but make sure you only snip a tiny bit off the corner or else it’ll be very messy. To make it easier transferring the batter into a bag, put the bag in a mug, folding the bag’s edge over the rim before filling.

 Green Tea/Matcha Cat’s Tongues (adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies)

• 7 tbsp butter (or Earth Balance Whipped Spread)
• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup + 1 tbsp flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp matcha

1. Preheat to 375º. Cream together the butter and confectioners’ sugar.
2. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Mix in the matcha and salt, then the flour.
4. Transfer batter into pastry bag fitted with 3/8in round tip.
5. Pipe the batter into 3/8in x 2 3/4in strips on parchment lined baking sheets spacing them about an inch apart (I did mine a bit thicker and it affected the baking time, needing a few more minutes to make sure it’s not too soft). 
6. Bake 10-12mins till the edges turn golden (brown).
7. Cool on baking sheets for 3mins before transferring to wire racks (but if it’s humid or if you think the cookies are still on the soft side, leave on the baking sheets to cool all the way thru).

Kind of messy here, some look like dividing single cell organisms.

Matcha or Kryptonite… powdered.

-L

Very happy

TasteSpotting is back!!!!

-L

Waiting patiently

   I didn’t have a food post ready but I’ve been wanting for weeks to share this photo.

Happy news! According to tastespotting, they are close to resolving their issues and will be making a comeback soon.

-Lina

Michael Caine’s in ABode Manchester

Millefeuille banana parfait -

caramelised banana and lime coulis

Lunch was a grazing affair at Michael Caine’s in ABode Manchester with many dainty little dishes to excite your palette in different ways. The idea of a western dim sum style lunch to have as much choice as possible without over stuffing oneself was well executed here as I was thoroughly satisfied.

The marrying of Asian herbs with scallops was skilfully done and the Japanese mushrooms with sesame seaweed and bean sprouts that accompanied the fish served as a refreshing counterpoint to the strong lemongrass foam sauce.

Not that the classical European styled dishes were lacking in any quality either! The duck risotto is probably one of the best risotto I’ve ever had and I really hope it is something the chef can pull off consistently and not just an one-off on the day. Nothing much to say about the lamb as it was just classically cooked, but very flavourful and presented very elegantly.

Overall, 3.8/5 as I felt the chef was a little too enthusiastic about using foam as a novelty point in the dishes. Service was very friendly and attentive (might have to do with how only 3 tables were occupied) and the staff knew the menu well. Very enjoyable experience and I am looking forward to returning and try the set lunch menu.

Duck confit risotto -

Wild mushrooms

Pan-fried scallops -

Caramelised cauliflower purée,
sweet raisin vinaigrette and cauliflower
and cumin velouté

Best-end of Herdwick lamb

Onion and thyme purée, fondant potato
and tapenade jus

Slow poached sea bass -

Thai purée, stir-fry of mangetout,
shiitake mushrooms and bean sprouts
with lemongrass foam

Passion fruit soufflée -

vanilla bourbon ice cream

by Png

Granola like

The hubby loves cereal (mainly Nature’s Path Optimum Power) and soymilk in the morning, afternoon, late at night, and whenever he feels like eating something. He doesn’t really miss it when we go weeks without buying any but when it’s there he’ll go thru a box in two days (maybe three). I tried buying in bulk, but it still doesn’t feel like much of a deal. The cheapest organic cereals are plain puffed grains of some sort. I prefer granola, but most of the granola I see at the stores aren’t organic and they are still expensive. A one pound bag of organic rolled oats is moderate in price. To make a bowl of oatmeal you would use less than you would normally consume in a bowl of granola.

So here’s my attempt in trying to solve my cereal dilemma, involving some cheap organic puffed brown rice and organic rolled oats. However, with the added costs of nuts, fruits and other extras, I don’t think I can conclusively calculate it as a real savings. But it’s tasty and makes use of my new glass container.

Granola cereal with almonds, coconut, and raisins

• 2 1/2 – 3 cups rolled oats (I eyeballed it)
• 2 cups puffed rice or kamut
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 2/3 cup flaked coconut
• 2/3 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup golden syrup or maple syrup/rice bran syrup (more or less according to your taste)
• 1 tsp molasses (optional)
• 1 tbsp of oil or more if needed

Makes about 2 1/2 quarts (roughly)

Preheat oven to 350º. Coat large mixing bowl with the oil. Mix everything except the raisins together in the bowl with the liquids. Pour and spread evenly onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Bake for 20mins (or till golden brown), stirring it half way thru. When cooled mix in raisins, and store in an airtight container if you intend to keep for long. The non-airtight container is ok for a day or two (which is exactly how long it’s gonna last here).

Will be making more soon, but I ran out of raisins, and walnuts might be cheaper.

-L

April showers bring May… herbs

Micro greens.

Every year, my herb aspirations grow. I don’t have the greenest thumbs but I keep trying. This year I am growing cilantro again which I haven’t tried in years. I always screw up and they go straight to seed. Last year I had pretty good luck with basil, rosemary, oregano and micro greens (which were zero effort). The rosemary and oregano had survived the winter and started to grow on their own since March, and some thyme that didn’t really do so well are also making a comeback. I sowed the seeds for basil, cilantro, dill and micro greens a few weeks ago and everything is sprouting. I’ll give the micro greens another week or so before I start trimming.

 

These are wet pots, they are terra cotta inside glass which you fill with water and it’ll stay moist for 2 weeks. Basil for indoors.

This is the big outdoor pot of basil.

This is mint and chives I left in a box over winter. They never really got very tall.

I have 3 pots for cilantro, fingers crossed.

Oregano, the other half of the box held a rosemary plant which has been transplanted to a larger pot. I added some more oregano seeds to the empty side, hopefully the oregano will also start to expand on it’s own.

The rosemary was very reddish, it’s slowly getting greener. I hope it will grow into a small bush.

Don’t know how the thyme will fare this year. I had to transfer boxes so it’s kind of a mess.

And http://www.terracycle.net/main_plant_food.htm for organic fertilizers made from worm poo.

 -L