Eatyet’s Weblog

As lovely as the rosemary bread was, I think this is even more awesome.

Chop one stalk of scallion, mix with 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of black pepper. Knead half (or more) of the scallion mixture into a large ‘grapefruit sized’ piece of dough, place on a floured surface and top the dough with the rest of the scallion. Let dough rest for 20mins, cut slits (I shaped it just like the rosemary bread), and I baked it in an enameled cast iron pot (preheated with oven to 450º for 20mins), baked with lid on for 20mins and another 15mins lid off till it was the color I wanted. It taste heavenly, so savory and aromatic. Where as rosemary loses it’s intensity when baked, scallion becomes even more flavorful.

-L

The secret here is to have very fragrant (good whole leaf) Earl Grey tea, being that it’s the main flavoring agent. I had to grind the tea leaves in a food processor and ended up mixing the whole batter with it (less clean up). If you prefer, you can grind up the tea leaves in a clean coffee/spice grinder and use a mixer for the batter.

Earl Grey Madeleines

• 1/3 cup organic shortening or butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp Earl Grey tea leaves
• 3/4 cup almond flour/meal
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

Process tea leaves to a medium grind (like very coarse ground pepper). Cream together sugar and shortening, then incorporate one egg at a time till completely blended. Add in almond flour and tea, mix thoroughly. Then add flour and baking powder, mix briefly till smooth. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease pans throughly with shortening or butter. Try to under fill the molds, and you can get make 2 batches of the full sized pans or about 3 batches of minis. Bake for 18-20min (for full sized pans, 13-15 for minis) till the top starts to turn golden brown. Cool for 5min before popping them out.

-Lina

My rosemary plant has more than doubled in size. Here I added two tablespoons of chopped rosemary into some dough. The final shape was an accident, I flattened it out too much in the center. The slits were done with a pair of kitchen shears (easier than knives).

-L

Originally I was going to have a few more posts of savory food but the closing of Tastespotting king of caught me off guard (I couldn’t bring myself to post) and I’m still stunned and sadden. It was what compelled me to start food blogging. I hope somehow there will come something that can fill the void in the online food world.

edit 6/28… Tastespotting is back!!!!!!!!

The heat wave let up a bit so I’m able to bake again. Here’s another quick variation on madeleines.

Raspberry Lemon Madeleines

• 1/3 cup organic shortening or butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup raspberries or 2 tbsp raspberry preserves (cut back on the sugar a bit)
• zest of half lemon
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3/4 cup almond flour/meal
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• powder sugar to dust (optional)

Cream together sugar and shortening, then incorporate one egg at a time, add lemon zest/juice and raspberries. Mix till completely blended. Add in almond flour, and mix thoroughly. Then add flour and baking powder, mix briefly till smooth. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease pans with shortening or butter. Try to under fill the molds, and you can get make 2 batches of the full sized pans or about 3 batches of minis. Bake for 18-20min (for full sized pans, 13-15 for minis) when the edges just turn golden brown. Cool for 5min before popping them out. Dust with powder sugar.

-L

I don’t like making pancakes usually, I find it labor intensive and messy. Yes, I have trouble juggling the act of pouring (batter), flipping, and keeping them warm. But German pancakes are ridiculously easy and foolproof every time. It’s not a pancake in the fluffy sense; it’s more like a crepe but thicker and has a crispy edge. You will need a well seasoned cast iron skillet and an oven, the physical labor ends when you pour the batter into the skillet and swirl (that is till you take it out and serve).

German pancake (adapted from Real Simple magazine)

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup yogurt(plain, and on the thin side) or milk
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• dash of cinnamon
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• butter, powder sugar, and cinnamon to top (optional)

Coat cast iron skillet with the oil and place in the oven and preheat to 450º (for at least 15mins). Beat all the ingredients together till smooth. Carefully pour the batter into the hot skillet and swirl it to cover the bottom, quickly push it back into the oven. Bake for 10mins or till puffed and golden (it will deflate once out of the oven). Butter and dust with cinnamon and powder sugar.

-L

According to wikipedia, clafoutis is made with cherries, while ones made with other fruits; are called ‘flognarde’. It’s supposed to be something in between a cake and custard. I tried using a Donna Hay recipe for Plum Clafoutis but I had only two eggs (called for three), no heavy cream and blackberries instead of plums. So with two eggs and a can of coconut milk I manage to make something clafouti-like; it’s on the creamy custard side but still holds it’s shape (not runny).

Blackberry Coconut Clafoutis (or Flognarde)

• 1 can (14oz) coconut milk (full fat)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 pint blackberries (fresh or frozen)
• organic shortening or butter for greasing pan
• sugar to coat pan

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix everything (except blackberries) till smooth. Grease a pan (I used an 8in square glass dish, but a large oval baking dish would be prettier), add about 2 tablespoons of sugar to the dish and swirl it around to coat. Pour batter into dish, and stud with blackberries. Bake for 40-45min till top is browned.

        Fresh organic blackberries aren’t on sale yet, and frozen ones work great here.

-L

I will eventually get around editing (photos) and writing up more soon (I have a backlog). But here’s another quick madeleine recipe for the time being.

It’s also my addition to Mansi’s Monthly Mingle over at http://funnfud.blogspot.com/

 Orange Hazelnut Madeleines

• 1/3 cup organic shortening or butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup hazelnut flour/meal
• 3/4 flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• zest of 1 orange or 1 1/2 tsp orange oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cream together sugar and shortening, then incorporate one egg at a time. Mix till completely blended. Add in hazelnut flour, orange zest (or orange oil), vanilla and mix thoroughly. Then add flour and baking powder, mix briefly till smooth. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease pans with shortening or butter (or cooking spray). You can get make 2 batches of the full sized pans or about 3 batches of minis. Bake for 18-20min (for full sized pans, 13-15 for minis) when the edges just turn golden brown. Cool for 5min before popping them out.

If you have some kind of hazelnut extract or liquor (1-2 tsp) you can leave off the vanilla and really up the hazelnut flavor.

-Lina

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

This was the dough after 7 hours in the fridge. This is a 4qt bowl and I also had another 1.5qt bowl of dough.

I finally bought a copy of ‘Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day’ by Jeff Hertzberg, Zoe Francois. For the past year and a half I’ve been working with the ‘No-Knead Bread’ recipe but with more yeast and less than half the incubating time. And the pot baking method really insures great crust every time. With the ‘five minute’ method, the dough is drier than I’m used to, but it’s still considered a wet dough. The refrigeration makes it easier to handle, and the idea of always having readied dough on hand is great. Of course it’s not literally five minutes but it’s less labor intensive than making a batch of cookies or a cake. Hardest part might have been trying to make room in the fridge for the dough.

After resting. The chunk may have been a bit larger than the recommended grapefruit sized 1lb ball.

The book suggests a baking stone and a broiler tray for hot water to create steam (to form a crisp crust). So I went out and bought a cheap round pizza stone. The top of the bread looked perfect but the bottom was not crusty at all. Maybe it’s the stone or my placement of the steam tray (right under it), but the bottom of the loaf was very light and did not form a proper crust. I tried a second smaller loaf and baked it longer, but the bottom still wasn’t browning.

The first loaf.

On the second day, I tried baking a loaf in my enameled cast iron pot. I couldn’t slide the dough in perfectly but it proofed up beautifully. It was sort of football shaped while the other loafs came out more disk shaped. The pot once again made the perfect crust all around and a lighter crumb inside (much larger holes). Also, the dough has gained a little more flavor on the second day. There’s enough dough left for one large loaf or two small ones. Maybe I can mix new dough into the old and build on the flavor?

-L