Gorgeous, Soft Muffins

You know the drill. Thoughts in your head of almost cupcake-like muffins, sweet and soft and fluffy... only to bake up heavy, dense hockey pucks. Can't-even-gulp-them-down-with-a-glass-of-milk... amiright? Nobody likes that.

One way to soften up your muffins and cakes alike and give them nice leavening (think fluff!), is to add in whipped cream. Fluffyness and flavor in one. I learned this method from Shirley O Corriher's infamous book, Bakewise, and the below recipe is based on her's. Great book, lots of nice techniques and a neat explanation of science.
Sure you can use egg whites, whipped to medium peaks and fold in. This works. But the texture is a bit more stiff (think meringue) and it has a decidedly egg-y flavor. Whipped cream is where it's at. It's an easy extra step that you can even do up to a day or so in advance (whipped cream will keep in a cold refrigerator for a day or so).

Tip: Give it a hot flash: With most quick-breads, including biscuits and muffins, I highly suggest preheating the oven to 25-50 degrees hotter than you'll actually bake with. This ensures a really hot oven when your beautiful pastry goes in, giving it an important initial lift, helping them to rise UP instead of OUT from the very beginning.

Ingredients

2 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 c sugar
1 egg
1/3 c oil
1/3 c buttermilk
1 t vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 c heavy cream

sanding sugar for topping, optional

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare a muffin tin for baking (spray, flour, liners, whathaveyou).

1. Mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, in one bowl.
2. Mix wet ingredients: egg, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and bananas in another bowl.
3. In a third bowl, whip cream to medium peaks.
4.  Beat together wet and dry ingredients with a hand or stand mixer.
5. With a spatula, fold in 1/3 of the whipped cream to the other mixture until most of the white streaks are gone and its mostly incorporated.
6. Fold remaining whipped cream into batter until, again, most of the white streaks are gone and batter is a pretty uniform color.
7. Spoon into muffin cups, all the way to the top. Ideally, use an ice cream scoop, but a regular spoon works too. Optionally, sprinkle sanding sugar on top.
8. Lower oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Bake about 20 minutes, until cake tester inserted comes out clean.

Bread in 5: Garden Focaccia

For the Focaccia:

Pull a melon-size (1 1/2- 2#) piece of dough from your stash. Shape into a pizza pan, let rest to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Make Ninja Claw hands 

and poke holes in the focaccia with the tips of your fingers.

Like so. Drizzle on Olive Oil and spread on Pesto.

Bake Focaccia about halfway, 10-15m, remove from oven and add toppings. 

Bake another 15m. 

Optionally, but highly suggested - turn on the broiler and (watch carefully!) toast the toppings for another 5-8m until you get a nice golden brown here and there, but not burnt (watch carefully!). This will add crisp to the edges of your toppings and a bit of toasty flavor. Yum!

Toppings:

Top with fresh ingredients from your garden (or your friend's garden, shh!). 

Here, I used pesto, blanched fresh green beans, shaved potato, cream cheese and pickled red onion.

Pesto:

Okay Pesto is one of those things that's incredibly complicated and time consuming to make...  Is what I would say if it wasn't incredibly simple and quick!

And with a food processor, you can make delicious fresh pesto in seconds. 

Go with a ratio on this one, that way you can be creative with your ingredients:

The basic ratio is 1:2:2:8 

(1 part nuts, 2 parts oil, 2 parts grated cheese, 8 parts leaves or herbs)

For example:

3 or 4 Tablespoons nuts

1/4 c oil

1/4 c grated cheese

2 cups herbs

To this mixture, I'd add in 2-3 cloves of garlic, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and two or three pinches of salt, to taste. 

Pulse up everything in your food processor. Taste. Add extra salt or lemon juice and taste again if needed. 

Traditional pesto includes: basil, olive oil, salt and pine nuts. 

But you can use any combination of greens and herbs, oils and nuts. I tend to use whatever I have on hand. 

I've made lovely pesto with unsual ingredients such as:

>Mint and Radish Greens, Olive Oil and Pistachios.

>Rosemary, Walnuts, Pecorino and Olive Oil.

>Dandelion Greens, Basil, Parmesean and toasted Pecans

I encourage you to try different things until you find a fun combination that you really like. 

Weird tip: If you find your pesto is too thick, but already has a lot of oil in it, add in one or two ice cubes and pulse with food processor.

If you make focaccia and stop with just olive oil and pesto toppings, you're good. 

But here are a few more topping suggestions:

Shaved Potato:

Slice on a Mandolin for best results. 

You want your slices to be super thin, almost transparent. Soak the slices in a bowl of cold water for about an hour. This will remove excess starch, which will help them bake up nice and crisp.

Note this is also how you make great fries.

Pickled Red Onion:

2 Parts Vinegar

1 Part Water

plus sugar and salt to taste

Heat ingredients in a pot or microwave safe bowl, just enough to dissolve the sugar. 

Optional add ins: Jalapenoes, peppercorns, lime slices

Fill up a glass jar with shaved red onions (cut them thinly on a mandoline). Top with vinegar mixture. Secure lid and refrigerate for 1 hour, up to 24 hours before eating. Will keep for about a month before it gets super onion-y tasting.

Tip: PICKLE ALL THE THINGS. This basic pickling ratio is good for basically any kind of pickle. A real Southern treat is pickled cucumber and pearl onions, often served as a side dish in Southern American cuisine. 

Candied Things

Candy-ing is something people used to do to preserve things. To be really science-y, it enhances desiccation and creates an unfavorable environment for bacteria. Takes some moisture out and keeps it from going bad. Y'know, like salting or curing. Only with sugar. Glorious sugar.
Follows is a recipe but, to break it down, you are going to simmer sliced citrus in a simple syrup.

What to do with these beautiful fruit-gems? Eat them! Yum. Roll them in sanding sugar for a pretty decoration on cakes. Chop them up and use them in cookies or batters. Cover them in chocolate and, yes, eat them.

Candied Lemons

2 cups sugar
2 cups water

2 lemons (or other citrus), sliced thinly - 1/8-1/4"

Bring sugar and water to a simmer over medium heat. Add in lemon slices. Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until slices become translucent (see photo below).
Carefully remove lemons from syrup (use tongs or a small sieve), drain and dry on racks with parchment underneath to catch the sticky stuff.
Store in an airtight container for about a month.

Please be careful with boiling sugar syrup. Boiling sugar syrup is Lava. Lava really hurts and leaves nasty blisters down your legs and feet. Just sayin'.

Candied Nuts

Tons of ways to candy nuts, including using egg whites, boiling in sugar syrup or even frying. I like this way because it is simple and doesn't use a lot of ingredients. And I love the flavor when they are toasted in the oven.

2 cups of nuts (walnuts, pecans, whatever)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment, spray liberally with non-stick spray.

In a small pot, combine water and sugar. Stir with heatproof spatula or wooden spoon,until sugar is dissolved. Add in nuts, fold together with sugar to coat.

Spread onto cookie sheet in a single layer. 

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until nuts are toasted. 

Cool completely before eating them! It's worth the wait.

Feel free to break up the nuts as they cool, with your spatula or spoon, to keep them from clumping together. The sugar coating will get hard as it cools completely and its harder to break them up once they're cool.

Store in an air-tight container for up to a month.

'dees nuts.

Again, great in baked goods or covered in chocolate or just eat them as they are. 

Cheers <3

Breakfast Prep: Blah-Blah-Blah- Protein Muffins

Everybody loves a good muffin in the morning. The kind filled with butter and sugar and.. dare we drool over some freshly made tender-crisp struesel... Ah the butter. The BUTTER. Just... not every day.
Realistically, there are much better, healthier options. This is one of them. Filled with protein and good-for-you stuff, they'll help keep you energized throughout the day and keep those awful sugar crashes at bay. And they taste good, duh.
These are a simple, one bowl, sort of deal. So, whatever you happen to have in stock in your pantry, such as leftover ingredients from whats-on-sale-at-Trader-Joe's Granola. Totally not advertising for them but... seriously one of the best places to get inexpensive dried fruit, nuts and seeds. Check em. Meanwhile... Muffins...
Specifically: Peanut Butter Chocolate Craisin Pumpkin Oatmeal Protein 'Muffins' Yeah, okay, you can just call them Oatmeal Protein Muffins. The other stuff is basically customize-able. So I'll break the recipe up into two parts, the Base and the Add-ins. Note that whatever Add-In's you end up using, it should equal up to about 1.5 cups of stuff. Too much and they wont set properly, will be super crumbly. Too little is no fun.

Oatmeal Protein Muffins

This recipe makes about dozen regular sized muffins. 

The Base (all about that.. yeah.. ok sorry)
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin (OR 1 c applesauce OR 2 bananas OR 1 c greek yogurt [or combination thereof])
1/2 cup peanut butter (none of that sugary junk, buy the Natural. Check the label for sneaky sugar!)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/4 c Chia seeds
1/4 c protein powder (I used chocolate)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/3 cups almond-coconut blend milk (or, yknow, milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt


The Add-Ins
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate
1/2 cup craisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix together Base ingredients.
Fold in Add-Ins.
Spray muffin tins with non-stick spray.
Spoon batter into tins- you can fill them to the top, they won't rise much.
Bake 30 - 35 minutes until set.
Cool completely and wrap any leftovers.
Good for about a week.

Try this:
Spread this batter in a loaf pan and bake it. Oatmeal Protien Loaf, yeah. Slice and toast. Spread with butter, because butter. Give it another 10 or 15 minutes in the oven to set. I've never done this but.. seems like it would work fine. Somebody try it and let me know.

island style curry

CURRY!! It's so good. This one is super flavorful, with tender bits of chicken thighs.  For this curry,  it's important to use really flavorful veggies. I got mine at a local farmers market. The tomatoes were almost purple inside and smelled like heaven. The peppers smelled like peppers should smell. Half of the flavor comes from marinating the chicken in the veggie mix, the other half from the curry paste.

Use a curry powder and seasonings that you like the flavor of. It doesn't have to be expensive, just good. That's the beauty of this dish.

For the marinade: 

1 green bell pepper, diced

2 medium ripe tomatoes, or one large one, diced

4 or 5 spring onions, chopped (keep some aside for garnish)

1 scotch bonnet pepper, diced (optional) 

and/or a big squirt of Sriracha

2 or 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

juice and zest of 1 lemon (or lime)

salt

Wash your chicken in cold water. Cut off any fat, optionally. Slice or dice, however you like your chicken. Season liberally with salt and lemon or lime juice and zest. Mix in veggies. Cover and let sit at least an hour, up to a day or so, in the refrigerator.

For the curry:

2 tablespoons madras curry powder 

2 tablespoons Goya Adobo all-purpose seasoning (careful with this stuff, its salty!)
2 tablespoons Turmeric 

1 tablespoon allspice

1 cup water

2 tablespoons oil

Mix spices and water together to form a wet soup. Let it sit for 10 minutes or more while you prepare other things, or browse facebook or etc.

Heat a dutch oven to screaming hot. Add oil. When oil is hot, add in curry soup. Careful, it may splash and its very hot! Let cook about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. You want most of the liquid to evaporate and the curry to become a paste, like mashed potatoes. 

When paste is ready, add in marinated chicken. Toss everything together to combine, so the yummy oily curry gets all over the chicken and there aren't any globs of curry paste left. 

Add in about 1/2-1 cup of water, if needed, to form as much sauce as you'd like. 

Let cook about 15 or 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is tender and cooked through.

Serve with sticky rice, garlic bread or my honey + cornmeal muffins.

Keeps well for a week, tastes better every day.

Things to try:

Stir in a can of coconut milk in the last few minutes of cook time. 

If curry is too bland, add another tomato and a squirt of sriracha.

If curry is too salty, add in more water or coconut milk. 

Honey + Cornmeal muffins

Muffins are easy to make. There are just two really important things to remember: Don't over-mix the batter. And make sure your oven is at the right temperature. 

Baking powder makes things lovely and puffy in two ways. First, when it hits liquid, the powder causes a sort of Alkaseltzer reaction. Youll notice your batter becomes thick with big airholes in it as it is stirred. Secondly, baking powder reacts with the heat of your oven. To maximize the ultimate puffyness of your muffins, be sure you pop them in the oven as soon as you've got them in the pan. So be sure to prepare your pan before you mix the ingredients.

Baking at a high temperature helps the muffins get nice and tall in the oven, as soon as you put them in, because the baking powder reacts with the heat and makes things go UP. You'll also get that pretty dome top we love.

When you lower the heat, the muffin finishes cooking in the middle, but the lower heat keeps the outside from getting too tough.

This method works with most quick-breads, including biscuits, and helps ensure you get the best rise and still remain nice and soft. 

And always use real butter, so I guess that's three. 

Based on the recipe from KitchMe.

Makes 1 dozen muffins (or about 2 dozen minis)

1 cup cornmeal (i used white cornmeal. you can use yellow too.)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1⁄2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup whole milk

2 large egg

1⁄2 stick butter, melted

1⁄4 cup honey

3 or 4 TB honey, melted in the microwave about 10 seconds, until liquid-y. 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place muffin paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin, spray with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. 

In another bowl, whisk together the whole milk, eggs, butter, and honey. 

Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. (Gently fold the batter together with a spatula, just until you don't see big dry spots)

Fill each muffin cup most of the way to the top.

Bake for 10 minutes at 400 F, then lower the heat to 375 F for another 5 minutes.

Optional but highly recommended: Remove pan from oven, gently brush tops of muffins with melted honey, bake again about 2 or 3 more minutes. Tops should be shiny and slightly sticky, even when cooled.

Snow Day Breakfast

With work and school, it can be hard to find the time to make a nice breakfast every day for my little fellows. Snow days are a great opportunity to spend time with my boys and make them something yummy to eat.  And I think cold weather might makes things taste better.




dutch baby
Previous attempts at Dutch Baby have been wildly unsuccessful. Today's turned out perfectly. It's a bit like a crepe batter [more eggs, less flour than pancake batter]. Also known as a German Pancake, I believe they are exactly the same as popovers, only without the special pan. These are crispy on the edges and creamy inside with a hollow center.

makes a 9" loaf pan size, which serves 3-4
 2 eggs
1/4c sugar
1/4c flour
1/2 TB sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TB butter

Preheat oven to 375. Melt the 1 TB butter and pour into pan. Mix remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour into pan and bake 15-20 min until golden brown. Batter will go from laying in the bottom of the pan to puffing up along the sides.




buttermilk molasses  syrup
I've made pancake syrup with corn syrup before and its hit or miss. Sometimes it tastes nice, other times its just too corn syrup-y. This kind of syrup is really more of a caramel sauce, which is a decadent way to dress up your pancakes, waffles or even toast. Amazing on ice cream too.
The molasses comes from the use of dark brown sugar, but if you dont have it, you could probably substitute the 1/4c water for molasses and get a similar flavor.

Makes about 1/2 cup of syrup.
1/2c dark brown sugar
1/4c water
1TB butter
1tsp maple extract
1 TB buttermilk
pinch of salt

Stir sugar and water together in a saucepan, bring to boil. Boil 2-3 mins. Take off heat, add in butter in pieces and buttermilk. Stir in maple extract and salt, mix till smooth and combined.
Keeps for a few weeks in an airtight container.

soft boiled eggs 
I learned how to make these from a book called Japanese Soul Cooking. They are often used in ramen, bento and make a damn tasty snack. The trick is the exact cooking time and starting the eggs in cold water, not dropping them into boiling water. Do it once and you'll be amazed how easy it is.

makes 4 eggs
4 eggs
pinch of salt

Poke a tiny hole in the bottom of each egg [the round part, not the pointy end] with a pushpin or needle. Place eggs in a saucepan, cover eggs completely with water. Bring to boil. Once it reaches a boil, let cook exactly 5 minutes. Drain the hot water and shock in cold water. Will keep in the 'fridge for several days. Peel and slice right at service time. Serve with a pinch of salt on each yolk.

Steamy coffee action shot!