cliff bar...adaptation!

A friend adapted my cliff bar recipe above...these look awesome. She used dried cherries, roasted almonds and almond butter. YUM. Thanks Florie!!!

homemade cheez-its

I wish I could take credit for these little delights. But I can't, so I won't. But I can vouch for the fact that they are delicious and next time I'm going to 5x the batch so I can have a bunch on hand. I used a combination of mozzarella and cheddar cheese. 

The recipe can be found here. I prefer the length of this ingredient list (n=6) to that of the cheez-it ingredient list (n=20)...don't you?...

the easiest (and fastest) bread you'll ever make...

This recipe is from Juila Child's book Baking With Julia. It's so easy and fast. You just gotta try it!


1 1/2 lbs russet or red potatoes
4 tsp salt
1/2 tepid reserved potato water
1 T active dry yeast
2 T olive oil
2 T dried or fresh rosemary
4 3/4 c unbleached all purpose or bread flour


cook the potatoes: cut into quarters, don't peel 'em!, toss into 2 quart pot, cover with water and add 2 tsp of the salt, boil until soft, reserve 1/2 c of the potato water, drain potatoes and cool on baking sheet. potatoes must be dry before they are mashed. when potatoes are cool, stir yeast into reserved potato water, if it's cool, warm it up in microwave for a couple seconds, it should be warm. mash the potatoes, add the dissolved yeast water, olive oil and mix. add the flour, rosemary and the remaining 2 tsp salt. this will seem like an incredibly dry dough, but have faith and keep mixing! I don't even use a wooden spoon at this point, I just mix with my hands, it's easier to get everything incorporated. 


First Rise: cover the mixing bowl with a kitchen towel, allow dough to rest at room temp for 30 min.


Shape the dough into either 2 torpedo loaves or 2 rounds, after shaping, place on floured baking sheet or onto the counter, cover and let proof for another 30 minutes. 


Preheat oven to 375. prepare oven for hearth baking (watch this video, it's 1 1/2 min.), place your baking stone in oven and on the bottom of the oven, place a baking sheet (this is where you will pour the water).  


gently place (either with your hands of with a baking peel) the dough onto the baking stone, pour approx. 1 c water into the steam pan and quickly close the oven door. this will create the steam you are looking for.


bake 45-50 minutes, the loaves should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom and the interior temp should measure 200 F.

Kale Quesadilla with Ann's Barn Raising Beans

The centerpiece of this dish are the beans. They are so delicious, but I didn't want to take a picture of a bowl of beans, so I made a quesadilla with them...YUM.


Ann's Barn-raising Beans

1 1/2 lb dried red beans (soaked overnight or for 6 hours or so)

1 large onion chopped

1/2 c cilantro

1 1/2 tbs chili powder

2 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

4 whole cloves or 1/2 tsp ground cloves

6 cloves of garlic minced

6 c veggie stock

Put soaked beans into crockpot with all the other ingredients, cook at whatever setting allows the mixture to simmer, the high setting on my crockpot works for me. When the beans are cooked (mine took 12 ish hours, but it depends on how long you pre-soak the beans, longer soaking time = shorter cooking time), remove the lid and let some of the liquid cook off. Turn off when the consistency thickens.

Proceed with quesadilla making...I like a little somethin' green in my quesadilla...kale from the garden needed to get eaten so that ended up being my leafy green of choice. 

The key to a good quesadilla is a hot cast iron skillet, butter instead of oil, salt and good cheese. I assume you all know how to make one, so I won't elaborate, but be sure to include a good serving of these beans in there, you won't be disappointed. They would be awesome on nachos as well...

the 3 grain veggie burger at elements has arrived....

Just called Elements. The veggie burger is on the menu. Get in there and order one. They are gooooood.....

fudgy coffee brownies?...yes please

 


This recipe is not mine, it's from Gourmet, and it's good


The only thing I do differently is add 1 T extra flour because we live at a high elevation...other than that, follow the recipe and enjoy!

• 2 sticks (1/2 lb) unsalted butter
• 5 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 2 tablespoons instant-espresso powder
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• 350°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 13- by 9-inch baking pan, in double broiler, melt butter and chocolate with espresso powder, whisking until smooth. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. Whisk in sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time until mixture is glossy and smooth. whisk dry ingredients into chocolate egg mixture. spread batter in pan and bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with crumbs adhering, 25 to 30 minutes

quinoa beet tabouli

quinoa beet tabouli (adapted from La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life)

I know, sounds like an odd combination, but it's good. trust me.

4 T toasted pine nuts (you could use walnuts instead)
2 c quinoa
4 c veggie broth
4 beets
1 c tomatoes
1/2 red onion
1/2 head red chard, chopped
vinaigrette:
4-6 T fresh lemon juice, depending on your taste
5 T olive oil
6 cloves minced garlic
2 T each: parsley, green onions, mint

preheat oven to 450, prick some holes in the beets with a fork, place whole beets in cast iron skillet, drizzle with olive oil and generous pinch of salt. roast in oven till done, approx 30-50 min. meanwhile, cook quinoa in veggie broth (instructions here). dice tomatoes, onion, chard. heat olive oil, add garlic to pan, saute until lightly browned, remove from heat, put chard and a generous pinch of salt in pan w/ garlic to wilt. when quinoa is done cooking, place in large bowl, add herbs, toms, onion, chard/garlic/oil mixture, nuts and lemon juice. remove beets from oven, rough chop them and add to quinoa, season w/ salt and pepper and enjoy!

whole wheat candied ginger scones

Whole Wheat Candied Ginger Scones
adapted from the NY Times Fitness & Nutrition site

1 1/4 c whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 c white flour
2 T sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 T butter
2/3 c buttermilk
1 1/2 T honey
1/2 c diced candied ginger

in a cuisinart/food processor, mix together all the dry ingredients, add butter, pulse until incorporated, it will resemble cornmeal, mix honey and buttermilk together and pulse into butter/dry mixture. stir in candied ginger, scrape out onto a lightly floured surface, gently shape into rectangle, handle as little as possible, press into 3/4 inch rectangle, cut into 6 squares, then cut squares in half on the diagonal to form 12 triangles. 400 deg. 15-18 min.

orange frosting
beat together the following:
1/2 stick softened butter
8 oz soft cream cheese
2 T or so powdered sugar, add more or less depending on your taste
zest from 1 orange

2 T fresh orange juice, (start with 1 T, then slowly add more until you get a frosting-like consistency)

enjoy!