Elisa's Eye on the World

More Dinner and Meals

My, the end of January is near and I"m glad to report on more home cooking.

• A double batch of Joy of Cooking (JOC) macaroni and cheese made two great dinners, served with spinach, sliced almond, cherry tomato salads. Four big pieces were wrapped in wax paper and stowed in a plastic freezer container.
• More JOC action with split pea soup to warm up some very wet and cold nights. A simplier variety than the Jane Brody receipe - having time to simmer is key. The leftovers were poured off into an 8 cup glass lidded container and the next night it was extra thick and hearty. Served with rustic potato rolls and a bit of cheddar.
• Half batch of Artisan pizza dough - or enough for 2 14" crusts. Splitting the measurements made my head hurt, but the dough was airy and light. I'm still waiting for a 6 quart container so I can make full recipes. But once the measuring is done it's just quick mix, set to rise then stow in fridge. No Need to Knead.
• Pizza 1 was a classic veggie: sauce, green pepper, yellow onion, fresh mushrooms with mozzerella.
• Avocado and cheese Sandwiches on Rustic Bolo Rolls. Bun toasted, cheese melted and blended avocado spread on an airy crusty roll, squished down before cutting into 1/2's or 1/4's. Quick and satisfying with a spinach salad with carrots, sliced almonds and cherry tomatoes.

Eating out is fabulous, but so expensive. Eating at home takes planning but the results are so satisfying to the tummy and purse. I hope you are able to enjoy these everyday meals in your own home.

Yogurt Strawberry and Blueberry Muffins (no nuts)

Nice rise!

This time I remembered to let them cool before removing from the tin to the rack.

Success! See an earlier post of this recipe.

Yogurt-Blueberry-Strawberry-Walnuts Muffins

Liquids and fruit: milk and plain yogurt mixed well, then canola oil slowly added. I let the fruit soak while the dry ingredients were finalized. The receipe called for only 1/2 cup of fruit but I used about 1-1/4 cups and 1/2 cup of waluts.

It's a little tedious, but strawberries cut into eighths work better than quarters.

Organized muffin making. Liquids and fruit, cup of chopped walnut standing by. I add the baking soda/powder at the very last minute, based on a tip I read about maximizing their effectiveness. Be sure to stir the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, soda, powder, salt) at this point - as once the wet and dry are combined the objective is minimal mixing.

There was plenty of batter and instead of filling the cups 2/3 full, I went for the top, taking some care to evenly distribute and try to making a mound which makes a pretty product.

I was about to test one and remembered to get a picture of the finished product. Some "fell-in" because I rememoved them from the baking tin too soon. Especially with fresh fruit muffins, it's best to wait till they are cooled/solidified a bit.

The recipe was found on-line, there's no egg, no vanilla but they came out great and can't wait to try again.

Busy Baking Bee

Yikes! I'm taking advantage of the cool July days and catching up on baking. Already done:

• Pizza Dough (1 used, 1 stowed)
• Pizza (gone already)
• Strawberry Muffins II (mostly stashed in freezer)
• Granola (stowed in air tight glass in the fridge, with a scoop)
• Blueberry Bread (sliced and stowed in fridge)

• Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for Sunday's bike ride/party

On deck baking and cooking projects:

• Burritos for dinner tonight
• Orzo salad with lots of our ready to eat peas
• Macaroni and cheese because it's all gone
• Caramalized onions, to have as a condiments

Farmer Market Sampling

Strawberries from Eastern WA. I forgot to get a shot of the tender Red Chard.

Two pastries from the "Taste of Prague" bakery in W. Sea. Walnut and cherry. I bring this container every week, it holds them perfectly. The vendor has compostable boxes, but it's nice not to need one. And we walk to the market which is good exercise today. I feel blessed we have one, even if it's scaled down.

Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

 
The trick to this condiment is not technique, but getting both the fresh rhubarb and strawberries at the same time as they both have uneven seasons. I have leanred, and when the Rhubarb was local and organic, I settled for CA organic strawberries, since ours are not available for at least a month.

I use the the Silver Palatte "New Basics" reciepe for Rhubarb Strawberry Sauce but you will find others...the idea is to bring to a boil and slowly simmer:

• 10 stalks chopped Rhubarb
• 4 cups hulled Strawberries
• 1/2 - 1 cup of Sugar
• 1 cup fresh orange juice

Optional: 2 tsp. ground ginger; 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 vanilla bean. I wasn't sure if what we had was ginger :D so I used 1 tsp. and used a tsp. of real vanilla extract since we did not have a bean. The fruit is what matters, and balancing out the tart and sweet. Remember, it's going to mix with something in most cases.

Be careful not to stain stuff! We used a bit with yogurt and waffles and the rest was frozen in ice cube trays, then transfered to an air tight container for the freezer. Hubs has added them to smoothies and his oatmeal.

Fruit from the Freezer in February

While roasting vegetables for dinner last night, I pulled the ingredients for Blueberry Cake...with fruit I got at the farmer market and froze...it's February and time to make sure it's all gone before freezer burn sets in.

Here's an extreme close up of the finished cake which took the grey and cold out of the dark and stormy night.

Blueberry and Cherry Bread

Oh boy the house smells great, as the blueberry and cherry bread is minutes from doneness.

The berries were frozen in the summer and pulled out this morning. Perfect on a grey, wet and cold January morning.

Here it is cooling on the rack...unlike a deep loaf pan I'm going to let it cool "as is" as cut small cubes and put them in an air tight container. That way all the topping won't fall off!

This is one of my adaptations of the  Lemon Blueberry Bread in the well regarded "New Basics Cookbook."

First Apples and Late Peaches

Here's some of the first Honeycrisp apples and lovely peaches from Tiny's Organic fruit. A nice haul from yesterday's market along with six ears of eastern Washington corn.

Cherry Tomatoes from the Garden (Finally)

Hub's show's off the smallest of the bunch.

Nice assortment, and not $6!

Beautiful Little Homegrown Strawberries

 

The Fragaria or Quinault variety of strawberries have done better than anything else in the garden. These little gems are potent, juicy and so tiny. These pictures were the harvest on three different days this week.

Hub's Sourdough Blueberry Hotcakes

On the griddle.

 
On my plate with real maple syrup.

On cooling racks.

Wee Strawberries from our Very Own Garden

Two from Tuesday. Photo: WJS

Sunday Dozen

Fresh Blueberry Cake with Crunchy Topping

  

Another box from the blueberry haul went into the making of this delicious quick bread. The crunchy topping is modified from the recipe: a bit of canola, some flour, a bit of sugar and some cinnamon.

 
The moment of truth with quick breads is getting them out of the pan. Success! Use your hands if it's flopping over and re-form it into a nice rectangular loaf while warm if necessary.

Original recipe from The New Basics Cookbook. I use canola instead of butter, usually forget the lemon zest because I am lazy, and modify the icky sweet and fatty topping using the same ingredients, same amount of flour but much less of everything else.

Big Box of Blueberries

Look what I carried home from the Saturday fruit stand! That's six delicious boxes of Spartan blueberries from Whitehorse Meadows Farm.

Two boxes went right to a rimmed cookie sheet to freeze overnight. I'm following the tip of NOT rinsing them beforehand. This morning I poured the frozen fruit into freezer containers (clearly marked "Wash Me") for future use. Another two boxes are now on the tray freezing.

Yogurt with Blueberries, Cherries and Crunchy Cereal

The cherry pitter was put to use again to make these sundaes with plain non fat Nancy's Yogurt . The cereal is wholesome and super crunchy so the combination with soft fresh fruit is wonderful on a hot summer day. 

With tiny Bunny Cookies on top. They were actually cuter than good - gluten free but too sweet. Strange but we ate them anyway!

Farmer Market Haul: July 17

The Moroccan bag that carried everything home. Firm stuff on bottom, delicate on top; two mile round trip on foot, no problem.

Corn, ready for baking "as is" 350 degrees, 15 carefully watched minutes. Perfection! Fingerling potatoes, small peaches, green beans, blueberries, strawberries and Bing cherries.

While the corn was baking, I washed, drained and pitted the cherries with a gadget. These were just stowed in the freezer.

 

The blueberries were picked over and rinsed a few times. It's hard to see but I like to nest the colander in a  round Pyrex glass container.

The berries were picked over again, if you are going to freeze fruit it should be the best possible. I lined a small rimmed sheet (jelly roll) with waxed paper, poured these into a single layer and stashed in the freezer. Once the fruit is solid, they can be poured in to freezer containers.

Smoked Salmon and Spaghetti with Romano

July 4, and we had leftover spaghetti, smoked salmon and Romano cheese. After a Google search we decided on this Salmon Carbonara Spaghetti omitting the egg yolks. Oh my this was good. Why one would need fatty meat, heavy cream and uncooked egg to make this combination work is beyond me.  I added some vegetable broth to the sauce to keep things moist. Served with steamed broccoli, shredded basil and a lovely less than $8 Columbia Valley Riesling.

Happy July 4! Not much room for anything heavy or sweet after that dinner. Good thing we have berries!

Farmer market haul: very ripe Fir Island strawberries and two type of cherries: Bing and Rainier varieties from Tiny's.

This BerryGram just in from British Columbia, Canada. Thanks T and S for the photo. Hurrah for the red, white (and blue).

Strawberry Muffins

Ingredients

• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled (I used Canola)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 cups coarsely chopped fresh or frozen unsweetened strawberries

Directions

• In a small bowl, combine the first four ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, yogurt, butter and vanilla. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in strawberries.
• Fill muffin cups coated with cooking spray or lined with paper liners two-thirds full. Bake at 375° for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm. Yield: 1 dozen.

Recipe Source

Fantastic recipe, the only modification was replacing the butter with Canola oil. Highly recommended if you have a box of fresh berries on hand.

Farmer Market Red

Bing Cherries from Tiny's Organic Fruit and luscious strawberries from the Skagit Valley's Fir Island. Amazing shades of red!

Farmer Market Bounty: First Day of Summer

Strawberries, butter lettuce, Walla Walla (sweet) onions, two heirloom tomatoes. Not shown: blueberry danish eaten walking home in the cool drizzle.

Double Batch of Blueberry Bread

Four cups of my own frozen blueberries from the farmer's market in August; a mixture of little and plump gems to mix into a double batch recipe of quick bread.

Wet ingredients in the big bowl: egg, canola, milk and sugar.  Dry ingredients mixed together in glass bowl: flour, salt, soda. Once everything is measured it really is a quick bread.

Topping of canola, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon was added to this traditional loaf and a rectangular shallow pan of batter.  Extra yummy on a damp January day with a glass of milk.

Bread Pudding topped with Strawberries

Wohooo! Friday night before "the holidays" and I brought home a bread pudding from the local bakery. A quick scan of cookbooks guided me towards strawberries for a proper topping. These are the last from the freezer - set out in a colander for a few hours on the counter to thaw then sliced before they formed into a gooey red mass which was perfect on the oven re-heated pastry.

Happy Thanksgiving Readers

I am thankful today for many things; including the ability to share cooking, biking and gardening pictures and stories with readers all over the world. From Australia to Japan to Czech Republic all corners of the USA I appreciate your readership and thank you for your interest and time. -eos

Shown above: Sweet Potato Surprise 2009, without the apricot or nut topping. Those are added later since much is served as leftover. Soggy nuts=sad face.

Here's a great way to serve leftovers and store in freezer:

Bake in flour tortillas, with a nice covering of chopped fresh spinach. Roll and bake on parchment (to collect drips) @ 375 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. They should be golden, flip once if you can. When tapped, the center should be hollow sounding. Serve with plain yogurt or sour cream. Top with chopped apricots or nuts if you have the room. Very filling and oh-so-good-for-you.

Here's Mollie Katen's recipe.

Preferred Brands: Food and Beverage

Thinking about the foods I missed the most when traveling inspired this first in a series of lists:

• My favorite cereal are the Shredded Oats from Barbara's Cereals
• A preferred sandwich spread is strangely named Tofu Pate (original variety), with the consistency of egg salad without the eggs
• A regular bread favorite in loaf and English Muffins varieties comes from Rudy's Bakery
• Yogurt and cottage cheese from Nancy's is especially cool since it is produced by members of (Ken) Kesey's family in Orgeon
• Ever since Odwalla was purchased by Coke (or was it Pepsi?) we switched to Organic Valley for orange juice
• Pie crust without too much fat or any disgusting ingredients from Wholly Wholesome is a great choice for all occassion 

Blueberry Bread in November

This morning I pulled some plump blueberries from the freezer and made this "unusual" blueberry quick bread.

This recipe is usually baked in a tall loaf pan - but I decided to try it in a square shallow pan since frozen berries often result in a too doughy center. I also replaced 1/2 cup of flour with semolina flour to add more texture and flavor. The sugary topping suggested in the Silver Palate Cookbook was omitted - just because.

Asian Pears

Hubs picked a good sized bag of Asian pears from the tree in the back yard. I wish they were yummy to me, but they're not.

Blueberry Bread with Protein Powder

Instead of 2 cups all purpose flour, this loaf has 1 cup protein powder, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup bread flour, because that's what was on hand. The results were excellent with these "Jersey" blueberries.

Blueberry Bread with Small Berries

The first slice, the heel or baker's cut awaiting testing approval. The berries were from a small stand in front of Szmania's restaurant, an adjunct to the formal farmer's market. The berries are a small variety that reminds us of wild varieties from Maine. The recipe is from The Silver Palate's "New Basic" cookbook although I choose to lighten up the topping and omitted the lemon. The rest of the loaf was given a proper time for cooling before slicing and stowing

Freshly Picked Wild Blackberries

A bike ride with visitors brought us through a park where the blackberries are just starting to ripen. While one fashioned a cup from a fallen leaf, the other took my bike pump to reach up to find the biggest, most ripened fruit.

Freezing Blueberries

Mmmm...blueberries from the North Cascades! Of all the summer fruits blueberries are probably the easiest to freeze. Using a large salad spinner to rinse them (but not spin!) the two quarts were given three cold water baths - then after allowing them to drip and drain, they were carefully poured in one layer on a rimmed cookies sheet, lined with waxed paper (otherwise they stick) and patted with paper towels to remove extra water. Be sure to check your freezer for adequate space for the tray, and let them freeze overnight. Then carefully transfer to a freezer safe container where they will await future use in baking, cooking or noshing.

Happy Birthday to all the Leos!

Summer Birthday Party Dessert Buffet: Madagascar Vanilla ice cream from the Olympic Peninsula; blueberries from the North Cascades and two desserts that vanished as soon as they were served: Torta al Cioccolato and Torta di Ricotta from the freezer case (defrosted overnight) courtesy of A.G. Ferrari Foods.

Juice of 2 large Lemons and a Small Lime

Using the juicing attachment on the Kitchen Aid Food Processor, here are the results of 2 lemons and 1 lime. Not bad! After double straining I used this to make a pitcher of iced cold "tea-lemo-lime-onade." And just like the $3.00 Starbucks beverage, it's shaken before serving.

Two of Four Salads for the Fourth

So far, for the lovely Fourth of July weekend we have:
Basil Pesto Pasta Salad with Peas. Using some vegan (no cheese) pesto from the natural food store, I added our own fresh grated Parmesan and a bit of the boiling water used to prepare 1/2 lb. of spiral pasta. During the last minute of the pasta cooking 1/2 cup of frozen peas were added to the pot, both were drained together and added to the pesto in a large bowl. Pretty darn good.

Fruit Salad. Cut up California cantaloupe and Hawaiian pineapple.

 

Clafoutis with Washington Cherries

This Recipe was in our food co-op's newsletter, it is a bit lighter than most.

Strawberry Shortcake: homemade biscuits and local berries

Berries: picked that morning, purchased at the weekly farmer market, rinsed, sliced and sprinkled with a wee bit of sugar. Set aside while biscuits were prepared. Biscuits: made in the food processor after dinner: flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, butter and plain yogurt instead of cream. Mine came out fat so they were cut in half to even out proportions. Topping: non-dairy frozen soy dessert. With all this goodness you hardly miss the sugar and fat.

Melon Salad and Yogurt with Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

The melon salad was honey dew and cantaloupe; the yogurt plain non-fat and sauce a homemade concoction of strawberries, rhubarb, sugar and orange juice - topped with chopped walnuts.

Friday Cooking Headstarts Spring Weekend

What a great afternoon of cooking projects. The last tray of cookies were coming out of the oven as the pasta water came to a boil. It was nice enough to eat dinner outside surrounded by the emerging tulips. Now, the sauce is cooling on the counter, maybe to drizzle on some gelato later. The cookies are stowed in two containers: one for us the other for the trail work party. What's left of the pasta salad is in the fridge and the dishes are done.

Today's List:

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Spiral Pasta with Asparagus and Smoked Salmon (With roasted red pepper and parsnips) dressed with a bit of Newman's Honey Mustard Dressing
• Strawberry and Rhubarb Sauce (with orange juice, sugar, ground ginger and a bit of vanilla)

Fresh Baked Strawberry Muffin and Milk

Over the weekend I tried a recipe from a cooking magazine we are receiving as a gift subscription. Strawberry muffins with the first of the California berries, with ground almond topping. The batter is a nice combination of white and wheat flour and the canola oil keeps them light.

Strawberry Pineapple Cantaloupe Fruit Salad

I made this Friday night, while the vegetables were roasting for dinner.

Hulled and sliced CA strawberries and cantaloupe and pineapple from Hawaii.

Lucky me, K the Produce Guru helped me select prime, ripe and juicy fruit.

Hubs has been making smoothies, I like it straight up.

Note large glass bowl with lid = Exactly what you need.

Strawberry Crumble Cake

Combining recipes for a peach crumble and strawberry shortcake, I came up with this delightful treat.