The best muffins ever? quite possibly.

It wasn't me who said it...but I know when to take a compliment and a couple people have told me that these are the best muffins they have ever had. Well, you should try them and see for yourself.

Apple Cheddar Walnut Muffins  Adapted from this site. 


3/4 c toasted, chopped walnuts
2 c finely chopped apples
1/2 c grated sharp cheddar
1 c flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 t EACH baking soda, baking powder
1/2 t EACH salt, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon
3/4 c sugar
1 stick very soft butter
6 T buttermilk 
1 egg


Sift dry ingredients together. Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and buttermilk. When buttermilk and egg are incorporated, stir in dry ingredients. Then stir in apples, cheese and walnuts. The batter will be very thick. 325 deg. 30 min. Frost cooled cupcakes. 


Frosting:
Cream together:
8 oz soft cream cheese
1/2 - 1 c powdered sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
splash or two or three of O.J. or apple cider

Gingerbread

When I worked in a bakery in Bellingham, WA I adapted this recipe to be vegan. You can use egg substitute if you wish and soy(butter)milk. Up to you. I think it's great as is. I use a recipe from this book as a guide. 

Gingerbread


Sift the following:
1 c whole wheat pastry flour (you can make pastry flour by putting flour in blender and grinding it up for a minute, it's just a finely ground flour)
1 c white flour
1 t EACH: baking soda, ginger, cinnamon
1/2 t EACH: cloves, nutmeg


Mix the following:
1/2 c brown sugar
2 egg yolks (save the whites for later)
1/2 c canola oil
1/2 c buttermilk (you can make buttermilk) OR plain or vanilla yogurt

In separate bowl, beat 2 egg whites until stiff. 


350 deg. After sifting dry ingredients together, stir in wet ingredients. When thoroughly mixed, fold in beaten egg whites. 


Pour into greased 8x8 or 9x9 pan. Bake 30-35 min. Dust with powdered sugar. 


Frosting (optional)
8 oz softened cream cheese
1/4 t cinnamon
splash or two or three orange juice


Beat together until smooth, spread on cooled gingerbread. 

Buttermilk

I never buy buttermilk. There is no reason to when you can make it!
If you recipe calls for 1 c buttermilk:
put 2 T lemon juice or white vinegar into measuring cup and top off with milk (or soymilk, yes, it works)
Let it sit for a minute or two and it will curdle and become buttermilk. 

Good food in Hawaii-ya!

Ok. Those of you who know me, that is, those of you that have been stuck in a car with me while we are deciding where to eat, understand my obsession with hole-in-the-wall-good-food. Well on my recent trip to Hawaii, I scored. Big time. We found this restaurant that specialized in Portuguese donuts called Malasadas. So, next time you find yourself on the big island, stop by this place. I recommend the lemon filled donuts. I enjoyed every single bite and didn't think about the calories! (Ok, maybe I did, but I still enjoyed every damn bite!)

Tex Drive In

45-690 Pakalana St # 19  

Honokaa, HI 96727-6934
(808) 775-0598

Roasted Vegetable Autumn Soup

(This picture does not do this recipe justice, try it, it will warm you right up on any winter day)


Roasted Vegetable Autumn Soup
Adapted from this recipe


1 small blue hubbard or butternut squash 5lbs
4 apples, halved, cored
2 yellow onions, peeled, halved
3 T olive oil
2 quarts vegetable stock
1 inch knob ginger, peeled
1 1/2 c milk (1% or 2% or nonfat)
1/2 c half and half or heavy cream
1/4 c parm cheese
salt and pepper


Halve squash, remove seeds, stringy stuff. Place in large roasting pan with halved onions and 3 T olive oil. Roast for 1 hr at 400 degrees. During last 20 minutes of roasting, add halved apples. If you wish, you can refrigerate the vegetables at this point, if you want to make the soup at a later time. 


Heat stock in large pot. Scrape squash from shell and add to stock with (roughly chopped) onion and apple. Grate in ginger, heat slowly. When heated through, blend with hand blender or in small batches in a counter top blender. When finished, add milk(s) and half and half or cream. The original recipe calls for 2 c heavy cream, so you can use heavy cream if you are looking to put meat on your bones, but I'm not! Season with salt and pepper and top with parm cheese. enjoy!

Kale Potato Galette

Potato Kale Galette


The following proportions for this recipe are for a 12 inch cast iron skillet, modify as you see fit. I tried using a metal skillet once for this recipe and wasn't pleased. If you don't have a good cast iron skillet yet, I recommend a 10 inch one, it's a good all purpose size.


The greens can be mixed and matched in any proportion you like:
2 bunches kale
2-3 c spinach
1 head garlic
olive oil
butter
4-5 russet potatoes


Using a mandoline or a very sharp knife, thinly slice about 5 russet potatoes. Steam them on the stove top for 15 minutes to cook lightly. Meanwhile, mince an entire head of garlic, saute this with the chopped spinach and kale until wilted in 3 T olive oil. 


Remove greens and garlic from skillet, put that mixture into a bowl. In to the skillet (while heat is not on) put 2 T olive oil. Place 1 layer of potatoes down  in a fan like pattern, follow with 1 layer of greens/garlic mixture, salt and pepper and 1-2 T olive oil. Repeat, ending with a layer of potato. You can have as many or as few layers as you wish. In the picture, there are 3 potato layers and 2 greens/garlic layers. 


Turn heat on med/low, cover skillet with OILED foil (oil side down) and put a plate on top of foil, weight plate down with something heavy. This will compress the layers. Cook for about 12-15 minutes, and then carefully loosen the galette from the bottom of the skillet with a spatula. Cover a large cutting board with the oiled foil (oil side up). Invert the galette onto the cutting board, put 2 T butter into skillet, and slide galette back into pan. Cook for another 12-15 minutes or until bottom layer of potatoes are crispy.


enjoy!

PB Balls

If you are like me, you sit at a computer a lot and you get hungry! Here is a good fix for that rumblin' in your belly...

 


The ingredients in the 'table syrup' aren't awful. It's actually pretty good, and if you are watching your pennies, it's a good sub for maple syrup.


PB Balls
On stovetop cook until melted and mixed well:
4 T butter
4 rounded T peanut butter (you could sub. almond butter)
4 T table syrup (above) (you could sub. maple syrup or honey)


Add the wet ingredients to:
1 rounded c rice krispies
1 c oats
1/3 c dried cranberries (you can use any dried fruit)
2 T flax meal (you can sub. wheat germ and if you don't have either, just add a bit more oats)


Mixture should hold together pretty well, if it's too wet, add more oats, if too dry, add a splash more syrup. Use mini or large cupcake tin, and with wet hands, scoop and press into tin. 


Put in fridge, these will be set in an hour or two. Pop out of cupcake holder and store in a baggie in the fridge. 


yum.