Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

Gabe and I had to make this cake for some friends after losing a bet. Sadly, one of them turned out to be allergic to hazelnuts :( but the cake was really good and probably the prettiest thing i have ever made, so i took a bunch of pictures of it.

It's comprised of Ina Garten's chocolate cake (the best ever according to many), a thick hazelnut-chcolate mousse (which was more like a buttercream, possibly because I used too much hazelnut flour), chocolate-nutella sauce dripped over the top, and goldschlagger-spiked almond whipped cream slathered on the sides, with crushed hazelnuts pressed into it.

Roasted Eggplant Cous Cous with Tahini Sauce

Cranberry Muffins

Thanksgiving pt 3: dessert!

Dessert! Both of these turned out well, but the cheesecake was definitely the star. It was super creamy but not falling-apart, perfect level of spice, and the best part for me was the topping: super boozy bourbon whipped cream and tart fruit. The decorating scheme, which I did with raspberries, sugared cranberries, and flecks of cranberry chutney, was ripped off from here : http://zoebakes.com/?p=1217, and though not quite as beautiful, I thought it still looked very nice. I expected the raw cranberries to be painfully tart, but they're actually delicious! I definitely plan to buy a bag to snack on in the upcoming week. The pecan pie was made in hopes of replicating Pawley's Pie, a delicious melty, chocolatey, nutty mess served with vanilla ice cream at Pawley's Deli in South Carolina where my family visits every year... alas, our pie was good, but no where near Pawley's level. I think a lot of the problem was that there wasn't enough pie to fill the crust, so if you make it, make double filling - I also might recommend mixing the chocolate chips right in with the nut filling instead of piling them all on top.


Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon Whipped Cream

10 graham crackers, broken into pieces
3 tbs sugar
1 tsp each ginger, cloves, and cinnamon (adjust to taste)
6 tbs unsalted butter, melted

1 c sugar
1 tsp each ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp salt
1 can pumpkin
1 1/2 lb creamcheese (we used about 2/3 creamcheese and 1/2 drained ricotta, which worked great)
1 tbs vanilla
1 tbs lemon juice
5 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup heavy cream

Make the crust: Preheat to 325. Smash up the graham crackers (or food process them) into small crumbs, and then mix them with the sugar and spices. Melt the butter and mix it in. Press your crust into a springform pan, using a flat-bottomed cup to get it really flat - you can do just the bottom (the crust will be really thick) or go up the sides. Bake the crust for about 15 minutes, until it starts to color. Take it out and cool it while you make the filling.

If you're using ricotta, drain it by lining a colander with paper towels or cheesecloth, plopping in the ricotta, and letting it sit (you can push in it a little with more paper towels if you'd like). Dry out your pumpkin by spreading it out on a triple layer of paper towels and pressing it with more paper towels.

Beat your creamcheese (and optional ricotta) to soften it up, then beat in the sugar in three parts, mixing well after each one. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, and lemon, and beat more. Then add the eggs in two additions. Finally, add the cream, beat one last time, and scrape the bowl to make sure it's all mixed.

Wrap your springform pan TIGHTLY and THOROUGHLY with tin foil (not over the top, just the bottom and sides. You're going to put it in a water bath, so this is to keep the water from sneaking in the cracks and soaking your crust. Ours got a little wet, and it wasn't the end of the world, but it could have been crispier. Bring a pot of water to boil. Set the springform in a roasting pan and pour in the filling, then set it in the oven. Pour your boiling water in the roasting pan (careful not to get it in the cheesecake!). Bake for 1 - 1 1/2 hours - the edges should look set but the center should still be wobbly. Take it out of the water bath and cool to room temp, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

For the topping, whip some cream and then fold in some vanilla and bourbon (I like it without additional sugar to contrast the pie, but if you have a sweet tooth, toss in some sugar). Top with raspberries and sugared cranberries (which you can make by rolling cranberries in egg whites, then in sugar, then letting them dry).


Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

Thanksgiving pt 2: the special stuff

These are basically our only recipes that didn't come from Cooks Illustrated. The gallette is from Smitten Kitchen (an awesome food blog). Gabe and I made it last winter and loved it. This year we added craisins, which were perfect in it, and next time I think we will add some chopped walnuts. The best part about it is the crust, which is like the best pie crust you've ever had in terms of crispy flaky butteriness, only savory and with a nice tang to it from the sour cream and lemon juice. it would make an awesome shell for any sort of savory gallete or tart (or even something sweet). Sadly, we failed to get a good picture of it before everyone gobbled it up - I took a quick shaky shot of the last piece.

The chutney is made up after reading a bunch of recipes. Gabe was very apprehensive, particularly because of the jalapeno. he insister we buy the gelatinous canned stuff. but i think it turned out awesome and will be eating it with a spoon throughout the week.



Butternut Squash Gallette
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 1/4 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbs unsalted butter, frozen and cut into chunks
1/4 c sour cream
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup ice water

1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into small cubes
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs butter
1 large onion, diced
1/2 tsp salt
pinch sugar
cayenne and black pepper to taste
3/4 c fontina cheese
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh sage OR 1/2 tsp dried sage
1/2 c craisins

For the dough: combine the flour and salt. Cut in the cold butter until it forms a large meal: you can use a pastry cutter, a fork, your fingers (just work fast so you don't melt the butter, or a food processor (pulse until it looks right - do not just leave it on or it will turn into paste). Make a well in the middle of your flour-butter, and in it mix the sour cream, lemon juice, and ice water. mix this gradually into the flour with your fingertips, just like making pasta. As it comes together, remove the large clumps and push them into a pile, until the whole thing is incorporated - you might need to add a little more water, but it should be quite dry. knead your little mountain on a floured surface just until it holds together, form into a ball, and then flatten into a disk (you know it's good if you can see little flecks of butter throughout, which will make it awesomely flaky when baked). wrap this in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for at least an hour or up to two days.

For the filling: Preheat to 375. Toss your squash with the oil and cook it in a roasting pan until tender, about 20 - 30 minutes. Meanwhile, carmelize the onions: Sautee them on low heat with the butter, salt, and sugar until they are totally soft, brown, sweet, and delicious. If you're using dried sage, toss it in at this point and cook a minute longer until fragrant. Mix the onions with the squash, add the fontina and craisins, and season with pepper, cayenne, and more salt to taste. Raise the oven heat to 400.

Roll our your dough on a floured surface until it's a foot in diameter. Spread the filling on it, leaving a 2" border around the sides. Fold up the sides, pleating as you go (the center of the filling should not be covered). Bake until the pastry is golden and you can't stand to wait anymore, about 30 - 40 minutes. Sprinkle a few more craisins on top to decorate.



Spicy cranberry chutney with pears
Makes about 2 cups

3/4 c water
1 c sugar
2 tbs ginger, minced
1/2 large green jalapeno, minced (more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp each cinnamon and cloves
1/4 tsp salt
seeds from about 15 cardamom pods, crushed
2 ripe but firm pears, peeled and cut into small chunks

Bring the water, sugar, ginger, jalapeno, spices, and salt to boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the cranberries and pears (add pears a few minutes before the cranberries if they're more on the firm side than the ripe side) and cook, stirring, until the cranberries have burst and the sauce has thickened to your liking. Adjust the spices to taste, and partially puree, if desired. Should keep in the fridge, tightly covered, for at least a week.

Thanksgiving pt 1: The basics

Our menu:

Turkey parts (preparation handled by non-veggie friends)
Buttermilk mashed potatoes
Curried coconut mashed sweet potatoes
Butternut squash gallette
Oven-baked stuffing
Brussels sprouts with mustard butter
Green beans with lemon butter
Buttermilk biscuits
Cranberry, pear, and ginger chutney

Pumpkin bourbon cheesecake
Chocolate chip pecan pie

Stuffing sadly not pictured because Aaron Todd ate two servings when everyone was only allowed one :(

Buttermilk mashed potatoes
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated; serves 4 as a side

2 lb yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
4 tbs unsalted butter
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature

Put the potatoes in a big pot and cover by an inch with cold water. Bring to boil and cool until very soft but not yet disintegrating. Mash them with a potato masher (anything harsher risks gluey potatoes). Melt the butter, cool it a little, and then stir in the buttermilk. Pour this over the potatoes and stir it in. finish with salt and pepper to taste.


Curried coconut mashed sweet potatoes
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated; serves 4 as a side

1 tbs minced ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp curry powder, more or less to taste
1/4 cup coconut milk
4 tbs unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 tbs heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8" thick slices

Sautee the ginger and garlic in a little oil until fragrant but not at all browned. stir in the curry powder and cook a minute longer. stir in the coconut milk, and if you're picky (or bad at mincing finely) puree this in your food processor to make it totally smooth. set aside. put your potatoes, sugar, salt, cream, and butter in a pot, cover, and heat on medium. Cook about 20 minutes, until the potatoes fall apart when you poke em with a fork. Mash it all together, then stir in the coconut mixture. Adjust to taste with more salt, pepper, sugar, coconut, and curry powder.

Oven-baked stuffing
From Cooks Illustrated; makes 10 tiny, not nearly enough for stuffing-lovers servings

1 lb French bread
8 tbs unsalted butter
1 large onion, diced
4 ribs celery, diced
1/2 tsp each dried thyme, marjoram, and sage
1/2 c minced fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups veggie stock
3 large eggs, lightly beaten


Dry the bread by cutting it into 1/2" slices two nights before you want to make the stuffing and setting the slices out on a baking sheet. The next night, cut the slices into cubes and dry them out again. If you don't have time to do this, you can also dry the bread by slicing it and putting it in a very low-heat oven until it gets brittle but not yet browned.

Melt the butter over medium in a big deep pan and add the onions and celery. Sautee until they get translucent, then add the spices, salt, and pepper. Mix this with all the other ingredients and put then in a butter baking dish. Cover with foil and bake in a 400 oven about 25 minutes. Take off the foil and cook longer until it gets really crispy and wonderful on top.

Arm yourself to defend your share of delicious stuffing against hungry guests.

Brussels sprouts with mustard butter
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated; serves 2 if they like them

1 lb brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
4 tbs unsalted butter
1 tbs dijon mustard
1 tsp dried tarragon
a dollop of honey (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Put the sprouts in a pan with 1/2 cup water and bring to boil. Cover and simmer about 8 minutes, until the sprouts are tender but not falling-apart soft.

Melt the butter in a wide deep pan and then stir in the mustard, tarragon, honey, and salt and pepper. Cook for about a minute. Add the sprouts and sautee until they are very soft and have soaked up some of that awesome sauce. Adjust the seasoning.

Buttermilk Biscuits
Makes 10

Two Awesome Cupcakes

Some classmates came over the other night to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which I have seen a thousand times and still cry over, like, throughout the whole movie) and Gabe promised them cupcakes, so cupcakes we made. They both turned out super awesome. The chocolate ones were like perfect, store-bought cupcake consistency, with a nice tang from the sour cream. I accidentally put almond extract in the frosting for them instead of vanilla, and it turned out great - it's amazing how almond flavor can make anything taste light and airy even when it has approximately 1,000 calories per three-bite serving. The coconut-expresso ones were pretty much the best flavor combination ever (spurring a fit of joyous latte making), but I messed up the texture by trying to make the batter in the food processor with the metal blade (foolish! I have already ruined mashed potatoes once this way, I should have learned my lesson!). Somehow this made them dense and eggy, sort of like a madeline, instead of cakey and fluffy. They also all had weird hollow dents in the bottom? Anyway they still tasted awesome and I finally learned how to make what the recipe calls "swiss meringue buttercream," i.e. the smooth, buttery, fancy icing you see on professional cakes that gets firm when it's cooled so you can decorate all pretty.

The Best Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Almond-Chocolate Buttercream
From cakeonthebrain.blogspot.com; Makes 12

8 tbs unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 c good-quality cocoa
3/4 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c sour cream

Preheat to 350. Line your muffin pan. Melt together the butter, cocoa, and chocolate on a double boiler (a bowl placed over a pot of simmering water, not touching the water). When fully mixed, place the bowl in the fridge to cool it a few minutes.

Whisk together the dry ingredients.

Beat together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Whisk in the chocolate mixture. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the sour cream, starting and ending with dry.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin tins. Bake about 20 minutes, until a fork comes out clean.

Coconut-Coffee Cupcakes with Peanutbutter Buttercream
Makes 12

3/4 c sugar
6 tbs unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg + 1 yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c coconut milk
1/4 c milk
4 tsp instant coffee or expresso powder

Preheat to 350 and line your muffin pan. Heat up the milks together and stir in the coffee powder, then set aside to cool.

Sift together the dry ingredients.

Cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla. Alternately beat in the dry ingredients and the milk, starting and ending with the dry. Divide the batter evenly between your 12 tins and bake for about 20 minutes, until a fork comes out clean. Top with peanutbutter buttercream (recipe below).



Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
Makes enough for 12 cupcakes

2 egg whites
6 tbs sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
10 tbs unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla

A tip: We tried to make this by hand with a whisk because we have no egg beater. This was very stupid. We got stiff peaks after 20 minutes of beating with very sore arms, but then when we added the butter it totally separated and was gross and curdled-looking. three pulses in the food processor and it was perfectly smooth. So: an egg beater is probably best, but you could probably do the whole recipe in a food processor with a beating attachment (NOT metal blade).

Combine the sugar, egg whites, molasses, and cream of tartar in a big mixing bowl. Bring a pot of water to simmer and place your mixing bowl over it - the bottom should not touch the water. Beat the mixture until it's frothy and very warm to the touch, but not so much that the egg starts to cook. Remove from the heat and beat for a very long time, until the mixture holds stiff marshmallow-y peeks.

Beat together half of the butter and 1/3 of the meringue mixture. Add in the rest of the meringue a dollop at a time, beating after each addition. Then start beating the rest of the butter in a tablespoon at a time. Add the vanilla and beat until smooth.

For peanutbutter frosting: Beat in 4 tbs of peanutbutter.

For chocolate-almond frosting: Beat in 2 tbs cocoa powder and 1 tsp almond extract. For extra chocolatelyness, make a little bit of ganache by heating up a very small amount of cream, pouring it over a few oz of chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth, and refrigerating until it heats up. beat this into the meringue.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Savory Brown Butter

We just couldn't stand for all of our Halloween pumpkin to go to waste, so at about 2 AM Halloween night, after everyone had gone home (except Will, who had a busted ankle from kicking a pile of leaves), we drunkenly hacked up our pumpkins and tossed them in plastic bags, filling up an entire shelf of the fridge. The next day I peeled and roasted them and made enough pumpkin puree for about 10,000 ravioli. The sad thing is that pumpkin puree isn't really that good on it's own (or at least not pumpkin puree made from big, possibly-not-fit-for-consumption Jack-o-Lantern pumpkins). It's kind of like mild acorn squash flavor, only without all the delicious. Definitely not good enough to make a soup out of on its own, but suitable for being mixed into more complex foods. And so we made ravioli.


Ravioli are probably the food with the highest work-to-output ratio that I have ever made. Especially with pumpkin ravioli, if you count the step of making amaretti exclusively to crush them up and mix into the filling. But oh lord are they delicious. Probably the least annoying way to do this is to choose a day when you have nothing better to do and spend four hours with friends forming a ravioli assembly line, make hundreds of them, and then freeze them so you don't have to make fresh ravioli again for another year.

Pumpkin Ravioli

pumpkin puree
crushed amaretti cookie
breadcrumbs
parmesan cheese
egg
salt and pepper

Kali Dal

This is one of those extremely easy (start it cooking in the morning, eat it at dinner) and delicious dishes that I could probably make and eat every day. Lentils has been a life-saver for me protein-wise (along with edamame) as a vegetarian who is not so fond of kidney beans or"tofurkey," and this is definitely my favorite dal so far. The only drawback to this recipe is the enormous amount of butter and cream, which honestly probably aren't necessary. We reduced the butter by a few tablespoons from the original recipe, and abstained from the cream in all but the first serving. Still, I reccommend making this for someone sick/down on their luck and going with full butter and cream to better convey your love and sympathy.

This dal is good with rice or naan and a dry vegetable (we usually do roasted cauliflower).


Kali Dal

1 cup dried kali gram (black lentils)
4 cups of water or vegetable broth or mixed
1 cup onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons ginger root, minced
1 small green chili, minced (optional, only if you want it to have some kick)
3/4 cup fresh tomatoes or 1/2 cup canned tomatoes, chopped
6 tablespoons butter or ghee
1 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon ground coriander
salt to taste

4 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
1 cup onions, finely chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream or yogurt (optional)
1/4 cup coriander leaves, chopped

Note: this recipe ideally takes 6ish hours to cook. If you're pressed for time, you can soak the beans for about an hour and then cook them on medium instead of low for about 2 hours. You really can't make it in less than 3.

Rinse your gram under cold water until it runs clear. Put them in a pot with the water/broth and bring it to a boil. Turn it off, cover it, and let the gram soak for about 2 hours.

Optional step: brown your butter to make it more ghee-like/nutty/fragrant/delicious: melt it in a pan and stir it on medium for a few minutes, scraping the bottom to kick up any burning milk fats. when it starts to smell awesome and is a nice deep brown, take it off immediately to prevent it from burning.

Add everything in the first list of ingredients to the pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Simmer with the lid slightly ajar for about 4 hours. If feasible, stir the beans gently every half hour, or at least once during the cooking process. Half-puree the dal by running half of it through the food processor or by immersion-blending it until you get a pleasing consistency. Taste it and adjust the spices/salt.

Prepare the tarka: Heat the ghee or oil over medium-high heat in a small skillet. When it is very hot, add the cumin seeds. When they start to pop (this should be very soon), add the onions and cook until they get brown and crispy.

Put the dal in a bowl and pour a little cream or yogurt over it. Top with the tarka and the chopped coriander. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies #2: Cooks Illustrated Version

It seems a little preemptive to declare a winner in battle Chocolate Chip Cookies after officially trying only two recipes, but these cookies are so good it is hard not to.

This recipe comes from Cooks Illustrated, a magazine to which Gabe's mom subscribes and gives me all of her archives. It is totally awesome and the people who work for it have the best jobs ever - they pretty much try every little variation on a recipe possible, and feed all of the experiments to tasters who decide upon the best possible version . The magazine explains in scientific detail (with awesome illustrations) why specific techniques impart the best flavor and texture. It has not failed us yet - one issue from last summer alone completely revolutionized our middle eastern cooking, teaching us to make the best hummus, baba ganoush, and falafel possible.

CI's variation on the traditional chocolate chip cookie has several parts, and is based on the theory that the best chocolate chip cookie will have a complex flavor (not just boring cookie playing a supporting role for the chips) and a maximal chewiness/crispiness contrast that last the test of time. To achieve this, they: 1. increase the proportion of brown sugar to white to impart chewiness 2. melt and brown the butter for more chewiness and complex caramel flavor 3. take out one egg white to increase chewiness (egg whites = cakiness) 4. let the batter sit in between whiskings in order to let the sugar dissolve to improve texture 5. make the cookies bigger for more texture contrast.

These people are really serious.


Cook's Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
14 tbs unsalted butter
1/2 c white sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 c semisweet chocolate chips (respect the cookie and use something nicer than hersheys!)
3/4 c chopped, toasted nuts (optional)

Preheat to 375. Line/grease two baking sheets.

Whisk together the flour and baking soda.

Brown 10 tbs of the butter: melt it on medium-high, swirling the pan constantly and occasionally stirring to kick up any burning bits of milkfat on the bottom. when it smells awesome and is deep brown, it is ready. Take it off the heat and stir in the remaining 4 tbs of butter until they melt.

Add both the sugars, the salt, and the vanilla into the butter and whisk. Add the eggs and wisk again until smooth. Let it sit for 3 minutes, whisk it again, let sit for 3 minutes, whisk it again, let sit for three minutes, whisk it again. It will be VERY hard to resist skipping this step/eating all of the dough while you are just sitting there waiting. Be strong; trust the genius of the CI.

Stir in the flour until it's homogeneous and then add the chips and (optional) nuts. Drop the dough from a spoon to form about 16 cookies. Bake one tray at a time on the center rack until the edges are golden but the center is still undercooked and puffy-looking 10-14 minutes (it'll firm up when they cool). Cook them a little on the sheet and then move em to a rack.

Texture: 8?
Flavor: 9

The texture only has a question mark because we (with a little help from our friends) ate these all up the minute they were out of the oven, so we could not test the lasting power of their crispy chewiness. I think what really made these wonderful was browning the butter - from the minute it was browned to the morning after the cookies were gone, our apartment smelled like nutty caramelly goodness. the Indians are certainly onto something with ghee. However we award it a 9 only to allow for the possibility that something out there could create a more delicious cookie. will we ever know?

Summer Rolls and Fried Edamame Dumplings

Strawberry Mousse Birthday Cake

Red Velvet Cake

BACKLOG TIME. #1: a cake we made for our film professor's birthday. A group of students met her at a Buffy convention (we couldn't go because it was also Gabe's birthday) and gave her the cake. It turned out really really tasty, but sadly really messy. I vastly underestimated the time and effort required to paint an accurate set of portraits in frosting. But anyway, what it's supposed to be is a picture of Xander fantasizing Spike and Angel making out. If you squint really hard you can see it.






























Although it did not affect the taste, this cake is probably like 80% food coloring. The red dye got weird and striated when baked, check it out:
Red Velvet Cake Adapted from Pinchmysalt.com

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbs cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat your oven to 350. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, mix the food coloring and cocoa powder to make a paste.

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add the vanilla and the red cocoa paste. Add the flour and the buttermilk alternately in a few additions, starting and ending with flour.

In a small bowl, mix the vinegar and baking soda so that it fizzes. Add it to the cake batter immediately and stir well to combine. Working quickly, divide batter evenly between the cake pans and place them in the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool the cakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Blend in powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Beat until light and fluffy.

The best way to get maximum, smooth frosting is to frost the whole thing once, refrigerate it until it stiffens up, and then frost it all over again.

Semi-Whole Wheat Loaf Bread

Hooray! We found a loaf bread recipe that we really like. The last one we tried used almost all whole wheat, plus we overbaked it, so it ended up too dry and crumbly. This one was nice and moist, soft, still crumbly and rustic but also more chewy and elastic like the professional kind. We made the crust soft by wrapping it after baking, but it would be good with a hard crust as well.

This bread is also amazing because it restored my love of Nutella. For some reason this summer I couldn't enjoy it - I tried making desserts with it and eating it on flimsy grocery store bread, and it just tasted too sweet and unappealing. When I had some on this bread, however, it reminded me of the thick German-style rolls I must have had Nutella on at some point, and it was awesome.


Semi-Whole Wheat Loaf Bread
Adapted from allrecipes.com

3 cups warm water
2 (.25 oz) packages active dry yeast
1/3 cup honey
5 cups bread flour
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Mix in the 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup brown sugar, and salt. Mix in 2 cups of the whole wheat flour (I suggest with your hands - a spoon with not cut it at this point). Flour a flat surface and start adding more whole wheat flour while kneading. You should knead about 10 minutes, until the dough is very elastic and not sticking to your surface, but still wet enough to stick to your hands a little. This will probably take about 2 additional cups of the flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel and let rise in a warm place until doubled.

Punch down the dough and divide it into 2 loaves. Place in 2 greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.

Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Cool ON A COOLING RACK (if you put it directly down on a surface, the bottom will absorb the moisture from the bread and mold quickly). If you want a soft crust, cover the bread with a towel after it has cooled for about 10 minutes and until it is fully cool.

Orange Tofu

This post is more awesome than usual for two reasons:

1. this recipe taught me how to make the thick, syrupy sauces you get in Chinese fastfood restaurants, and, amazingly, the answer is not tons and tons of oil, and

2. the food arrangement in the photos came to me in a dream and then forgotten, and was only remembered the next day by Gabe.



"I was dreaming about arranging the orange tofu in a checkerboard pattern, with the rice in-between each square." and immediately back to sleep.

The answer, by the way, to the mystery of the thick sauce, is corn. tons of corn starch (which makes the uncooked sauce into oobleck, which is awesome) and a bit of corn syrup to make it smooth. It's actually more authentic to use tapioca starch, but we couldn't find any in the supermarket.

This recipe turned out really good. The strongly flavored sweet-and-salty, tangy sauce was nicely contrasted by the chewy, clean-tasting tofu. The only changes I would make next time are cooking the green beans less so they remain more crispy and adding less soy sauce, because it ended up dominating the flavor of the sauce so I added a lot of orange juice to compensate, which drowned out the more subtle garlic and ginger flavors. But still overall very delicious. This would be great with any assortment of veggies.

Orange Tofu with Green Beans and Water Chestnuts

1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
10 oz water chestnuts
~30 green beans
2 cups orange juice (fresh is best, but bottled works too)
7 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
brown sugar to taste
1 tbsp corn syrup
1 1/2 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp tomato paste
2/3 cup water
1 tsp minced hot green pepper
1 tsp minced ginger
1 12-oz package firm tofu
1 tbsp lime juice
pepper to taste
1 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped*
*if you're a cilantro-hater, sub in a different fresh herb - it really adds a great contrast flavor

Heat a few tablespoons oil on medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sautee until translucent but not browned. Add the chestnuts and green beans and sautee for a minute. Add about 1/2 cup of orange juice and a bit of brown sugar, and cook for a few minutes - you will be reheating them later, so don't cook them fully yet. Remove from the heat.

Mix the starch, soy sauce, ketchup, tomato paste, vinegar, corn syrup, and water. Set aside.

Heat another tsp of oil on medium. Add the ginger and chili and cook for about 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add the remaining orange juice and bring to a boil. Add the sauce mixture and stir constantly to prevent the starch from sticking to the bottom of the wok. Continuously stir the broth as it will thicken very quickly. Adjust the flavors, adding more orange juice, soy sauce, and brown sugar to taste. Add the lime juice, pepper, and cilantro to finish. Add more water if the sauce is too thick.

Add the veggies and keep warm, but be careful not to continue cooking the sauce (or make sure to keep stirring it if you do). Prepare the tofu by slicing it into large cubes and pressing out any excess moisture with paper towels. Heat about a 1/4" of oil in a pan on medium. Add one piece of tofu first to get the hang of frying it properly. you want it to cook slowly - if it starts to brown immediately in the pan, your heat is too high. After a minute or two, it should be a nice golden brown - at this point you should flip it and cook it another minute or two. It's not necessary to cook it on each of it's 6 sides, but I was anal about it. When the piece is done, lift it out of the pan and immediately drop it into the sauce - it should be inflated slightly and will shrink as it absorbs the sauce. Chop sticks work great for the detail work of flipping and moving tofu pieces. Once you get the hang of it, you can do a lot of pieces at once, as long as you constantly monitor them.

Your meal is ready when all of the tofu pieces have been added! You will probably end up with way too much sauce for the amount of tofu and veggies - believe me, you will want to save the extra to eat on rice after the leftover tofu is gone. Enjoy!

Lentil-Couscous Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

Mmmmm we made this last week and thinking about it I am seriously craving it again. It sounds and looks sort of cold and palate-awakening, but it actually ended up being serious comfort food. It was really good chilled on salad with tomatoes and cucumbers, but I actually liked it more warm, with wilted spinach mixed in, over rice, with a little extra vinaigrette. It would be good as a bed for pretty much any vegetables.


This recipe makes a whole lot of extra vinaigrette - it should keep for a few weeks, but if you don't think you'll use it on other stuff, make half.

Lentil-Couscous Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette
Adapted from delish.com

1 1/4 cup vegetable broth or water
1 cup whole-wheat couscous
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup green or brown lentils, rinsed
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup red-wine or balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tbs honey
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Bring the vegetable broth to a boil. Add the couscous, cover, and remove from heat. Let it stand until all the water is absorbed, then fluff with a fork.

Add the lentils and water to another pot. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, about 20 minutes or until tender.

While the lentils are cooking, make the vinaigrette. Combine the oil, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and adjust the other ingredients to taste.

Drain the lentils and mix them with the couscous. Toss them with 1/4 cup of the vinaigrette (more or less to taste, but don't over-season them - they're the most tasty when you can taste the vinaigrette but the nutty flavor of the grains comes through as well).

Possible serving preparation 1: toss greens of your choice (arugula would be nice) with another 1/4 cup of the vinaigrette. Pour the lentil-couscous over them, then top with diced tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, and another few spoonfuls of the dressing.

Possible serving preparation 2: reheat the lentil-couscous with some spinach until it wilts. Serve over rice with extra vinaigrette. Adding some sunflower seed here would be nice too.

Possible serving preparation 3: use the salad as a bed for steamed veggies with a little more dressing poured over them.

Possible serving preparation 4: eat warm, straight from the pot, with a big spoon.

Curried Deviled Eggs

Gabe and I started experimenting with deviled eggs this summer and now have formed a veritable addiction. We made them this week to use up our leftover mayonaise from the Green Goddess dressing, and are now already planning when to make our next batch. We make them with the usual mayo, mustard, and horseradish, along with grated mild onion, a touch of honey, and most importantly, a big dose of curry powder. Believe me, once you have tried deviled eggs with curry powder, all others will taste bland. the amount is of course adjustable - Gabe likes em to taste of nothing but very spicy curry, but I like a more balanced mingling between traditional devilish tastes and curry.




All ingredient amounts below are rough guesses on the lighter-flavored side of things and should be adjusted to taste.

Curried Devilled Eggs

6 eggs
1/4 - 1/2 cup mayonaise
3 tbs strong mustard
2 tbs horseradish
1 tbs honey
3 tbs grated onion (sweet, mild varieties are best - if you're using a spicy variety, you should start with 1 tbs and build up)
2 tbs minced scallions (optional - give it a fresh, garlicky flavor)
1 tbs curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne (optional, for those who enjoy a scorched palate)
salt and pepper to taste
paprika

Everyone has their own method for cooking hard-boiled eggs, but the way I've learned is to put them in a pot of cold water (covered by about an inch), bring them to boil on high, reduce the heat and let them cook for a minute, and then take them off the heat, cover, and let them sit for 10 - 15 minutes. After 10 minutes you can test one egg - soft-boiled isn't a disaster, but hard-boiled will hold up to filling better without coming apart. When the eggs are done, drop them into a big bowl of icewater - this cools them enough to peel and helps the shells come off easily. reach in and crack them on the sides, then peel them and slice them in half. scoop out the yolks and mash them in a bowl with all of the other ingredients. Adjust everything to taste. If you prefer a lighter filling, add more mayo and beat the filling to make it fluffy. Spoon the filling into a plastic bag and cut off a tiny bit of one of the corners to make a whole. Squeeze the filling equally between all of the eggs. Sprinke with paprika. Chill and enjoy!

Green Goddess Dressing

In an effort to use up some of the old (yet delicious) greens in our fridge as well as the mint and basil plants (which need pretty much constant trimming), tonight we made some fabulous green goddess dressing on a salad of butter lettuce, arugula, cucumbers, and some delicious plum tomatoes from the farmer's market that Kober was kind enough to share. Even if it is just a small portion of what we eat, getting produce from the market right on our street and growing our own herbs makes me feel so much more connected to our food... I absolutely cannot wait to have yard space to grow veggies and all sorts of herbs.

Urban the Dinosaur is an enthusiastic herbivore.

This dressing tastes very tangy, garlicky, green and fresh. To make it, we made a small batch of our own mayonaise, a remarkable process in which you somehow get two little egg yolks to hold a whole two cups of oil. It tastes pretty similar to the store-bought kind, but without the weird chemical edge, and with a little olive flavor since we used 1/4 olive oil. Next time we make it I will post that recipe with detailed pictures.

Green Goddess Dressing
Makes enough to dress about 6 big salads

1/2 cup mayonaise
1/2 cup shredded scallions (use the whole thing except any wilted or slimy parts)
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup fresh herbs of your choice - we used basil and mint
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Blenderize or food process together everything except the sour cream. Then stir in the sour cream and season to taste.

Use to dress green salads of any sort - would also probably be delicious over boiled potatoes, eggs, or green beans.

Monster Zucchini Part 5: Zucchini-Basil Risotto

Oh man, after making this I totally regretted that I had never tried to make risotto before. It's supposed to be one of those labor-intensive, easy-to-fuck-up recipes that is best left to the pros... but somehow making ours was really easy and pretty fast. maybe it was because all the shredded zucchini naturally gave it a nice mushy texture, so we didn't have to worry so much about slow-cooking the rice to get it creamy. anyway, this recipe was awesome. the flavor is surprisingly complex, with sweetness from the zuccs, nuttiness from the rice, garlic and onion, spicy basil, and just a light overtone of parmesan (far from commercial risottos that often taste like pure parmesan mush).

Zucchini-Basil Risotto
adapted from andreasrecipes.com; serves 6 - 8

6 cups vegetable broth (1 or 2 cups can be water)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 medium zucchini, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups Arborio rice
8 fresh basil leave, chiffonade
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs butter
1/4 - 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Start by heating up all of your vegetable broth until almost boiling - keep it hot but don't let it boil. Heat your oil on medium, then saute the onion until it softens. Add the garlic and sautee another minute or two (don't let it brown at all). Add the rice and saute another 3 or 4 minutes, stirring, until the rice turns translucent and starts to smell nutty. Add the zucchini and stir 1 - 2 more minutes to evaporate some of the liquid. Now add about a cup of the vegie broth, stir, and let the rice cook, uncovered, until the broth is "absorbed" - that term confused me in the recipes because I didn't know how dry the rice should be, but it worked for me to cook it until the rice was about as moist as I would want my risotto to be. Once it's absorbed, add another cup of broth and repeat. Keep doing this until the rice is fully cooked - there should still be individual grains with some chew of their own, but no crunch. You probably won't end up using all of the broth. Turn down the heat on the rice and stir in the basil, salt, pepper, butter, and parmesan. Enjoy!

Monster Zucchini Part 4: Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

This bread turned out great! Definitely the best zucchini bread that I've made. Compared to the last one we posted, which was pretty much just a wet, buttery sponge, this was moist while retaining some chew an a nice bready texture. Also, to my surprise, I liked that this recipe used only cinnamon as opposed to an array of baking spices, and of course adding chocolate is never a bad thing. In the future I'd like to add walnuts as well, but enough of my friends here are anti-walnut that I thought it was best to leave them out this time.


Chocolate-Chip Zucchini Bread
Makes 2 loaves

3 cups flour - up to 2 can be whole wheat, which adds texture
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbs cinnamon, ground
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
1 tbs pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups zucchini, grated
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat to 350 and grease two loaf pans. Combine all of the dry ingredients. Cream together the eggs and sugar, then add the oil and vanilla. Fold this into the dry ingredients, followed by the zucchini and chocolate chips (if your zucchini is dripping wet, squeeze out a little of the water before you add it, but don't make it entirely dry as it keeps the bread moist). Pour into the pans and bake for about an hour, until well browned.

Insalata Caprese

This is pretty much the best food ever. If you're rich enough to buy fresh mozzerella and basil, I would recommend eating this every day of the summer, while there are still delicious tomatoes around. Luckily, we have been growing our own basil and mint illegally on the roof top of a Chinese restaurant behind our apartment, so Insalata Caprese is that much more affordable. We had to drive like an hour away to get our lovely little plants, but it was definitely worth it (and we got to check out back-roads Iowa, which was cool). Now that we've figured out their watering/picking schedule they are doing quite well, and supplying us constantly with delicious fresh herbs. The only problem is that Gabe is the only one tall enough to climb in and out of the window to take care of them, and he is very nervous about the mean-looking guys across the alley who watch him. Insalata Caprese
2 ripe perfect tomatoes
1 sphere of fresh mozzerella
10 large fresh basil leaves
olive oil salt
and pepper

Slice up your tomatoes and mozzerella and stack them with a basil leaf or two on top. drizzle with olive oil and top with salt and pepper. Also nice served over greens tossed with oil and vinegar.