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I think it would be accurate to call me a foodie, if foodies are allowed to occasionally indulge in Kraft macaroni and cheese. Anyway, the end of the quarter has coincided with an increase in baking, which has been aided and abetted by a friend giving me a big bag of apples. Thus, I give you my latest favorite recipes:
Apple Bran Muffins
1.5 c bran cereal
.5 c whole wheat flour
1 c all-purpose flour
.25 c brown sugar
1 T baking powder
.75 c apple sauce
1 egg
2 apples, peeled, cored, coarsely chopped
Optional: 2 T cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top
Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Combine. Add apples last. Do not overmix. Bake @ 375 for 25-35 minutes.
Vegan option: 1.25 c apple juice instead of apple sauce + egg
Beer Bread
1.5 c all purpose flour
.5 c whole wheat flour
1.25 c rolled oats (not instant oats)
1 t salt
1 T brown sugar
3 T honey
1 12-oz beer*
3 T melted butter
Mix dry ingredients. Add beer. (Beer foamy.) Mix just until same consistency all over. Pour/scoop into greased bread pan. Pour melted butter over top. Bake @ 375 for 25-30 minutes. Bread is done when a toothpick comes out clean.
*Different flavors of beer will change the flavor of the bread. If you like sweet bread, use a really light, watery beer such as Bud Light. If you like a dark and hearty bread, use stout. If you like a bitter bread, use porter.
Apple Streusel
Streusel topping
.5 c brown sugar
.5 c flour
.25 c butter, softened
1 c pecans, chopped
Filling
7-9 apples, peeled, cored, sliced
.25 c sugar
.25 c flour
.25 c apple juice (optional)
2 t cinnamon (or whatever your preference)
Combine filling. Pour into greased pie pan. Combine streusel topping with pastry blender until roughly pea-shaped. Spread topping over apples (try to make it even). Bake @ 350 for 40 minutes (less time if apples finely sliced, more if apples are thicker chunks).
Previously, I have posted my Apple Pancake recipe. Currently, I’m making Dutch Apple Bread. I have no idea how it’ll turn out, but the batter tasted like a caramel apple and somehow I don’t think that can be bad.
To my foremother, Eve: I know that smooth-talking serpent tempted you with a piece of fruit, and your good-for-nothing naked playmate just stood idly by while you weighed your options (let’s see, remain in blissful ignorance or have, like, knowledge and stuff? hmm…toughie). Conventional wisdom, which likes to mix its Biblical and educational metaphors, holds that this was an apple, but Eve, I have more faith in you — I’m betting you didn’t give up the Garden of Eden and pain-free childbirth for anything less than the sweetest peach that ever existed, and you know what? I totally understand.
This week I read about someone who makes lasagna using long zucchini slices instead of pasta, which sounds…interesting. And also a bit sacreligious. Personally, I’d prefer to supplement my lasagna with zucchini, not take away the carb-y goodness. But I do have a lot of zucchini, so I’m on the lookout for ways to use it up. Thus, last weekend I experimented with a zucchini tart, an idea my sister recommended; this week I worked on it some more, and here is the recipe, somewhat improved, in my opinion.
Zucchini Pie/Tart (depends on the pan you make it in, that’s all)
Filling ingredients:
- 1 large zucchini, or 2 small ones
- Feta cheese, either crumbled or slab (gorgonzola or chevre would work well also), about 6 oz.
- 3 onions
- 1/4 + 1/8 cup Jack or mozzerella cheese, grated
- 2 eggs
- 2 slices day-old French bread, dried
Crust
- 1 cup white flour (add a little whole wheat flour if you like)
- 5 oz. butter
- 3 oz. cream cheese
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1-3 tbsp. water
1. Begin carmelizing onions. Slice into thin rounds, about 1/2 or 1/4 inch. Spray frying pan with olive oil. Add onions to pan on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cover. (This takes around 45 min.)
2. Crust: combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter and cream cheese using a pastry…thingy (what are those called?) until mixture is coarse, about the size of large peas. Add water 1 tbsp. at a time and stir until dough knits together. Refrigerate. (It’s okay if this is a bit moist.)
3. Slice zucchini — I’ve tried rounds and lengthwise slices, and very thin rounds are easiest.You can layer them better and they’ll cook faster.
4. Continue reducing onions until they’re golden and really limp, like overcooked pasta. If there is extra liquid, remove cover so it can evaporate.
5. Preheat oven to 400. Spray pie plate (or tart pan) . Remove dough from fridge and press into pan (since I’m not to be trusted with rolling pins, I don’t roll it out — just use my fingers to press it across the bottom and up the sides). Bake crust for 10 minutes, then remove and add filling.
6. Begin layering. This is how I do it, but any combo should be good: 1/8 cup cheese (optional; to keep any water from soaking into the crust from onions), zucchini, feta, onions, zucchini. Bake for 30 min. Beat eggs, remaining 1/4 cup cheese, and remaining feta with a fork. Add crumbled dried French bread and pour over the top. Bake for about 10 more minutes.
(edited direction No. 6 based on Pie No. 3 and its tough, inedible topping. 40 minutes is too long for cheese and eggs!)
Last night was fresh food night at the chelfea/antimatt house. I’d been wanting to try a couple recipes from my two recent Sunset magazines, so I did. Here they are, chelfea-style:
Avocado-jicama salad
Serves 2, if really hungry, or 4
- 2 avocados
- 2 small jicama
- 4 radishes, cut into matchsticks
- 1/2 cup feta cheese*
- 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts*
- 2 tbsp. canola oil
- dollop honey
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1-2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
- dash white pepper*
Whisk together oil, honey, salt, lime juice, and pepper. Slice avocados lengthwise, and alternate layers with thin slices of jicama. Brush with honey-lime sauce. Top with shredded radishes, cheese, and toasted pine nuts.
*original recipe called for cotija cheese, pumpkin seeds, and cayenne pepper, which I didn’t have so I substituted. Original recipe also calls for poblano chiles, which I don’t care for, so I omitted them.
Whole-grain feta and olive salad
Serves way more than two when combined with avocado-jicama salad.
- 1 cup bulgur wheat
- 1 carrot, grated
- 1/2 cup grated onion*
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, sliced in half
- 6 oz. feta cheese
- 1 tbsp. rice vinegar*
- Dash white whine*
- 2 tbsp. olive oil*
- 2/3 cup toasted pine nuts*
Add 2 1/2 cups boiling water to bulgur wheat in medium bowl; let sit for about 20 minutes, or as long as it takes you to toast pine nuts and prepare veggies. When wheat is soft, pour off extra water. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and eat.
*Recipe called for fennel, red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil, and 1/2 cup roasted/salted pistachios, which I didn’t have so I used onion, rice wine vinegar and white wine, and pine nuts; 2 tbsp. olive oil was perfectly sufficient instead of 1/4 cup. I also increased the amount of feta because I love feta.
So H and I had fabulous vegetarian aripas for lunch at Pica Pica on Monday, and last night I decided to recreate them using the ingredients I had. This was mostly successful, so I thought I’d share the recipe. Serves two.
1/2 log polenta, sliced in half again lengthwise
2 slabs tofu, approx. same thickness as polenta
1 banana, sliced
1 avacado, sliced
1/2 can black beans
Water
Pepper, to taste
Olive oil
Some kind of sauce…
Broil tofu and polenta on greased cookie sheet until crispy. In the meantime, slice the banana in half and then into strips (6 slices total) and fry in oil until black and crispy on outside. Pulse black beans, a couple tablespoons of water, and pepper to taste in food processor. After frying bananas, heat black bean puree in skillet. Remove polenta from oven. Layer on plate: polenta, bean sauce, tofu, bananas, avacado. Salt if preferred. Eat.
It’s vegan, healthy, and yummy. The thing it’s still lacking is some kind of sauce over the top, possibly some type of salsa (a verde sauce would be good; a mango salsa would also be fabulous, I think).