Carrot - Apple Muffins

 
As I perused various cooking sites in the world of the Internets on Tuesday I had my eye out for a healthy muffin recipe. Many called for ingredients that I didn't have... raisins, cake flour, sour cream. So I got out a notebook and a pen and wrote my own. I actually wrote down amounts and measurements, combining aspects of other recipes I liked and making substitutions for the basic components of a muffin:

1. Flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
2. Sugar (I used honey)
3. Baking powder/soda (I used both)
4. Eggs (I used... well... eggs)
5. Fat (I used applesauce -- in place of oil)
6. Milk (I used yogurt)

With my basic ingredients decided I set out to create a new muffin. To relative success, no less.

What You'll Need:

• 1 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c. oats
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 c. honey
• 1 egg
• 3/4 c. yogurt (I used plain with a dash of vanilla)
• 1/3 c. applesauce 
• 1 c. shredded carrots
• 1 c. shredded apples
• flax seeds (sunflower seeds would be good too)
• chopped candied ginger

Put it All Together

• Combine flour, oats, baking soda & powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger in a large bowl.
• Whisk together honey, egg, yogurt and applesauce.
• Fold in carrots, apples, ginger and flax seeds.
• Lightly stir wet mixture into dry. Don't over-stir or the muffins will come out dense. (And don't make my mistake: be sure to actually mix all the flour into the batter. I left a bunch of the flour mixture at the bottom of my bowl after I poured half the batter into the muffin pan, so half my muffins came out a bit... err... soggy.)
• Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

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Caramelized Onions and Fusilli

As tasty and satisfying as this meal came out, it was born in disaster...

It all began at Jamba Juice on 5th Avenue on Tuesday, March 29th. Despite working so close, a half hour break still doesn't leave much of a window to order lunch, wait for it and make it back to work in time -- nevermind actually sitting down and eating it. But I tried. I got to work at 7 a.m. (yes, I had to get up before 6!) and was already looking forward to 12:00 because I had already decided to try out the oatmeal at Jamba Juice. I organized all the bread and filled baskets and blah blah, let's fast forward to 12. I rushed downstairs to grab my coat and purse, fumbled with the lock on my locker and the frustration started to build. Forgetting to clock out, I made it outside. I power walked across the street to Jamba Juice and at about 12:08 I found myself in front of the menu, confronted with too many choices, as usual.

"I'll have an oatmeal with fresh bananas and a 16 Orange Carrot Karma."

"We're out of carrots."

"Uhhhhh...." My eyes robot-scanned the menu again and fixed onto the all fruit choices. "Mega Mango, then," I sighed with disappointment.

I waited in line with the suits for the guy behind the blender to call my name. Finally. I sat down with about 10 minutes to have my lunch. I opened my newest issue of Cooking Light anyway to find something for dinner -- something I could make without shopping again. I pretty much decided on the first recipe I found: Fusilli with Caramelized Spring Onions and White Wine.

With dinner hastily decided, I shoved the last bite of (wonderful) oatmeal into my mouth and left with my Mango in hand. I had about 3 minutes to get back to work. With my eyes on the approaching walk signal, my pace quickened on the sidewalk. Then the disaster happened. My Jamba Juice slipped out of my hand and splattered onto the sidewalk. For a split second I contemplated picking it up and saving it to transfer to another cup. But in that split second it continued to pool all over the pavement. I looked up, devastated. An older woman saw my pain and sympathized with my loss, "Oh! I'm so sorry!!"

My sadness quickly transformed to rage. I stormed back to work and fumed about my wasted $4 and my lost nutrients in the form of deliciousness. And what does this loss have to do with my fusilli and caramelized onions, you might ask? Everything. I was looking forward to cooking it and taking photos and taking my time -- a leisurely and enjoyable cooking night. But my Jamba Juice frustration still lingered when I began cooking and as soon as I began I found myself rushing and overly frustrated.

BUT nevertheless, it came out delicious and I will give you the rundown of my recipe. I made some changes from the original.

What You'll Need:

• bread crumbs 
• I made my own with leftover slices of Otto bread from work. Toasted, pulverized & mixed with a little olive oil, chopped garlic, salt and crushed red pepper. Then toasted in the oven for a few minutes.

• garlic: chopped or minced
• onions, thinly sliced (about 1 and a half... I didn't have spring onions -- just regular yellow)
• white wine
• chicken broth
• parmesan rind
• peas
• bacon
• whole wheat fusilli
• quinoa

Put it All Together:

• Caramelize your onions. Ideally, do it nice and slow and low with butter. This equals perfection. I didn't have the time or the patience for this so I used some water and then a little olive oil and sauteed until soft and browned.
• Add a couple cloves of garlic and the wine. Heat it up to cook off the alcohol. Add parmesan rind for flavor (don't eat it!). 
• Add chicken broth and reduce.
• Throw in your frozen peas to heat them all the way through.
• Mix in about a quarter to a third of your prepared quinoa (1 cup uncooked) and most of your pasta (from 1 box). Toss it all together.
• Serve with bread crumbs, grated parmesan and crumbled bacon on top.

And hopefully you can do it all with less frustrations than me.

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Oatmeal - Sunflower - Flax Seed Bread

...Yeah. I know, right?

You know I've been working at the bakery in Eataly so you know it's inevitable that I continue trying out breads. We all knew it would happen. Unfortunately, this time, I didn't have any better yeast to use or different flour or anything. Some day I'll be able to go buy the fancy, expensive stuff... hopefully. But, for now, I'm still using Fleischman's and Trader Joe's flour (which I like).

Now for this bread I looked online at a few different recipes and ended up combining a couple recipes and keeping in mind Eataly's bakery habits and actually wrote my own recipe. Eataly doesn't use any dairy in their breads -- no butter, but olive oil instead. They also don't use any sugar, but I used some honey because it's needed. (Something about using levito madre for a basic sourdough and no need for sugar... I'm not really sure how it works at all.)

The biggest problem I had with this bread was how flat it came out. I think that after it rose the second time I let it sit for too long while I was cooking, so with all the heat on and near the stove, it just kind of deflated and spread out. I should also invest in some kind of a bread loaf pan so I can get a good shape and then I can use the bread for sandwiches.

What You'll Need:

• 1 package of yeast + 3/4 cup of warm water
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup boiling water
• 3 cups flour (about that, maybe more or less depending on the stickiness of your dough)

Put it All Together:

• Combine oats, oil, salt and honey.
• Add boiling water and let stand. (At least 20-30 minutes. You want the oats to get soft. I sped this up a little by giving the mixture a couple quick stirs with my immersion blender after about 15 minutes. Not to completely blend it, but to make it less thick.)
• Dissolve yeast in the warm water.
• Add yeast to oat mixture.
• Add flour about 1/2 cup at a time.
• Turn out and knead on a floured surface. Knead flax seeds and sunflower seeds into the dough at this point. Whatever works is fine -- sprinkle them on your surface and just knead as normal or make a little pocket, filling with seeds and continue to knead.
• Put dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp towel and let it rise somewhere warm for about an hour. 
• Once it's gotten to about twice its size, punch it down and form the dough into whatever shape you want. Place in a loaf pan or on a cookie sheet (or a pizza stone is better, which I learned from the head baker at Eataly), cover again and let it rise for about 40 minutes. 
• Bake at 375... basically until it looks done. At least 20 minutes. 
• Out of the oven, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with oats. (And more seeds too, if you want.)

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Sage & Basil Bread

Since working at the bakery at Eataly I've been wanting to embark on all kinds of bread adventures. This is the first, pretty basic, step. This bread recipe would work just as well turned into rolls (or whatever shape you like) or with a sweet, cinnamony center. 

 What You'll Need:

• 1 package yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• few tablespoons of butter
• basil, sage, salt

Put it All Together:

• Dissolve yeast in warm water, about 10 minutes.
• Mix dissolved yeast, sugar, salt, oil and 1 cup of flour together. (I used my Kitchen Aid with the bread hook attachment.)
• *Note: When you add flour, sift it in instead of just dumping it. It helps to aerate it and be less dense.
• Add the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time making sure it's mixed well after each addition.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 5-10 minutes. 
• Put the dough into a greased bowl, turning it to coat. (I just used cooking spray.) Cover with damp cloth and put in a warm place to rise for about an hour.
• Make herbed butter by mixing a few tablespoons of butter (room temperature) with sage, fresh basil and a little salt. 
• After the dough has risen to about twice its size, remove from the bowl and smoosh it down into a relatively flat shape. Slather the herbed butter in the middle and then fold the dough over. I ended up making it into a circular, wheel shape because it was easier and just sort of happened.
• Put the dough onto a greased cookie sheet, cover and let it rise for about another 40 minutes.
• Bake at 325 for about 20-30 minutes. (Some butter will leak out, but don't worry.)

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