Kitchening: Pita bread, a skillet cookie, and a tart

I've been cooking up a storm and I often take pictures that you just never happen to see so I thought I'd give you a rundown of a few delicious dishes with mostly links because that's easier than pretending that I "adapted" them.

Pita Bread

Here you see my very oddly shaped pitas risen.

Once the pita come out of the super hot oven, they get the sauna treatment in a (old) paper bag (obviously I reuse this bag).

I got this highly rated recipe from Allrecipes.com. Obviously mine aren't super round...I don't really try that hard because I usually make them to dip in my hummus, not fill up with falafel. 

I mix these on the dough setting in my bread machine and usually have to add at least a cup of flour or it's too gooey. Might be Chinese flour and Shanghai humidity.

The trick to getting the pocket to form is rolling them out a little thinner than you'd think. And not to worry if your oven doesn't go all the way up to 500 degrees. I set mine on the highest setting and it works out fine.

1 1/8 cups warm water (110 degrees F /45 degrees C) 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions:

1.	Place all ingredients in bread pan of your bread machine, select Dough setting and start. When dough has risen long enough, machine will beep.
2.	Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12 inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Set aside on a lightly floured countertop. cover with a towel. Let pitas rise about 30 minutes until slightly puffy.
3.	Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Place 2 or 3 pitas on a wire cake rack. Place cake rack directly on oven rack. Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffed and tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed brown paper bag or cover them with a damp kitchen towel until soft. Once pitas a softened, either cut in half or split top edge for half or whole pitas. They can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for 1 or 2 months.

Whole Wheat Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie

Great for a crowd...just watch out how long you cook them. They can get a little dry or be undercooked in the center. I like these with half whole, half flour.

Citrus (mostly Lemon) Tart with Ginger Oat Crust

(for Pi Day, of course) 

I mixed two recipes and came up with one pretty delish tart--my first tart ever actually.


The Ginger Oat Crust came from a diabetics website so I switched all the substitutions (margarine, fake sugar) back into the real deal and added some extra ground ginger for good measure. I also use ginger nut cookies because that's what I had. Those have a little extra bite to them as well.


Citrus tart a la Martha. It didn't all fit in my little precooked ginger oat crust and made a bit of a mess getting it to the oven. Also cooked for nearly 50% longer than the directions said, but it tasted good in the end. The filling was essentially an uncurded lemon curd. I think I'll go with a lemon curd next time. I actually used the left over filling on the stove and turned it into curd which I sandwiched between my first ever macaroons (pictures to come).

Two Week Foodie Cleanse

 

I'm not much of a "New Year, New You" resolutionist, but I really like trying new recipes and eating good, guilt-free food. I saw this two week Food Lover's Cleanse on Bon Appetit's website and thought it would be a great way to do both. 

Rather than start on Sunday, I kicked off my cleanse today and on meal two I'm really enjoying it (not to get too far ahead of myself).  One thing to note, if you're interested in trying it is that they allow for substitutions. Thank goodness because I can't find endives anywhere! The site also has a list of good cleansing foods to focus on with more recipes if you don't like some of the ones they picked as well as a short list of guidelines to keep you on the path to a healthy two weeks.

I'm planning to repeat some meals since I have just spent a ton on the first week's ingredients and also because, as usual when cooking for oneself, the leftovers are out of control! Anywho.  View the complete the meal plan here. 

And here are photos of my first two meals!

2-egg Omelet with Caramelized Onion and Mushroom: Added some ketchup too. Couldn't help myself.

Avocado Tartine and Vanilla Date Smoothie: 1-Don't let the word tartine scare you. It's mashed up avocado with lemon juice! And go make this smoothie even though it's freezing cold outside. You won't regret it I used kefir yogurt (had a culture) and almond milk (which the authors say to substitute so you can cut down on dairy). Plus Chinese dates which are very dry (and I had to cut around the seeds) but worked really well.

Kitchening: Smoked Salmon Mousse Cucumber Cups

That is quite the mouthful, ya? I was trying to decide what appetizers to make for catering at twocities gallery a few weeks ago, and an old Martha Stewart Weddings magazine on my shelf had this recipe. No, I'm not married, and no, you should not judge me for owning Wedding magazines...I promise they're all Martha's, no Southern Bride or Bridal Living.

First, I bought some English cucumbers (Chinese ones are long, skinny, worty, and have more juice so not the best for this experiment.) Then I hollowed them out and I've got this picture right here just to prove that even if you don't hollow out the cucumbers all pretty, no one will be able to tell. Also, I made them sort of striped by running a vegetable peeler down 3 sides (I know...cucumbers don't have sides). Even though they weren't even, it was hard to tell once they got cut into bite sized pieces.

I say all this so you won't be scared away by these little gems. They were a bit time consuming, but lots o' fun to make.

 Also, I made a double batch, which ended up with a lot of leftovers despite some 50 or 60 cucumber cups. Next time--more cucumber less mousse.

Smoked Salmon Mousse Cucumber Cups
adapted from Martha Stewart Weddings

1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons boiling water
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 1/2 teaspoons wasabi (or 2 to-go packets)
6 ounces smoked salmon
1/2 cup creme fraiche
1/8 teaspoon hot-pepper sauce
1/8 teaspoon paprika
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream
4-5 English cucumbers (maybe more)

Dill sprigs, for garnish (after an unfortunate and unintentional binge of dill one summer, it's not my favorite herb, but it does go well with salmon)

Instructions

1. Put the lemon juice and 1 1/2 teaspoons cold water in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over it and let it soften for about 5 minutes. Whisk boiling water into gelatin mixture until incorporated. 
2. Puree gelatin mixture with onion and wasabi in a food processor until smooth. Add salmon, creme fraiche, hot-pepper sauce, and paprika. Season with salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Nobody wants lumpy fish mousse.
3. Whip cream in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold the cream into the pureed salmon mixture until mostly incorporated. Mine was a little streaky, but I thought it looked more interesting that way.
4. Slice cucumbers 1 inch thick. Scoop out some of the seeds from each slice to create a the cup. Had I a little melon balller, it would have worked perfectly. (Cucumber cups can be covered with a damp paper towel and stored in a plastic container; refrigerate for up to a day before using.) Using a pastry bag fitted with a fancy star tip of some sort, pipe mousse into cucumber cups. Garnish with dill. Chill cucumber cups until mousse is set, about 30 minutes. Pop into your mouth immediately.

Kitchening: My First Galette

I've been wanting to make a galette of some sort for a while now and I was feeling adventurous the other day so I bought some plums and tried my hand at a recipe I saw on Honest Fare. I won't post the recipe, so if you're interested, just head over there and don't judge me because her plum galette is way prettier than mine.

Before I begin. I have to show you something very important. This past week we had numerous days in the low-100s. I say "low" because it makes me feel better. I'm sure it's hotter somewhere towards the center of the earth, but right now its difficult to fathom.

In my new apartment there's an invisible force that prevents the air-con all the way at the back of the adjacent living room from getting to the kitchen. I think the kitchen, beautiful as it is with its ruby red cabinet doors, is like a petri dish. Instead of growing bacteria, however, it multiplies heat like some infectious disease or toxic mold. This information will become particularly important later in the story. Doesn't look menacing does it? Force fields are very deceptive.

No doubt these purply plums will make you feel a little cooler. They're so juicy and round. More round than the bowl they're nestling in, actually. (Bowl made by yours truly.)

Kitchening: Bay Leaves

Have you ever wondering why you have bay leaves? I mean, you probably have never thought to yourself, "Oh, if I could only get a good whiff of a bay leaf, then all my petty troubles would disappear." I know that thought has never crossed my mind. Couple of days ago I was perusing a food blog on the New York Times and came across a question to readers about what to do with the pile of bay leaves every cook almost inevitably has in their cabinet. There were the usual answers: stews and marinara sauce, but quite a few surprising ones I thought we should all be aware of:

1. To keep bugs at bay (oh man that was a good pun). Supposedly these innocuous leaves are a natural repellent that can help keep your flour from getting buggy--Shanghailanders take note, especially if you don't have room in your tiny little fridges for the mian fen.

2. To simmer with your chai.

3. To add some flava flave (I'm laughing at myself for typing that) to your rice pudding. Even to simmer in your milk as you're making mac & cheese (the real kind.)

4. For Indian food. Apparently loads of dishes use them.

5. To calm the stomach. Simmer a few leaves in water to make a tea that soothes the digestive system.

For more uses from NY Times readers click here. Also, are y'all listening to Toad the Wet Sprocket like I asked and hopefully squeezing in some Gin Blossoms (especially "Found Out About You")? I found the albums for $.75 a piece on half.com. I'm totally buying them.

Eye and Mouth Candy

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon the most amazing, delicious, scrumptious, eye and mouth watering website appropriately named TasteSpotting. Any recipe you ever wanted and didn't know existed from the best food blogs on the internet can be browsed, searched, and gloriously discovered right here. On the opening page is a row of recently discovered pictures which speak well enough for themselves. Pic[k] one and let the baking begin. It's like having access to a fancy, gourmet Betty Crocker or Joy of Cooking and it's all free and available at your literal fingertips. Whoever thought of creating this aggregator of recipes--hats, spoons and spatulas off to you.

Healthy, Hearty Pumpkin Muffins

[Adapted from Whole Living.com]

It's not quite cool enough here yet for pumpkin, but who cares. I had some fresh pumpkin  so I boiled it for a while and pureed it a la potato masher (if you're in China, make sure to use the pumpkins that are orange on the outside, green ones aren't as sweet). Finding a healthy pumpkin recipe proved more challenging than I realized. Even this one from Wholeliving.com was supposedly healthy but with 3/4 cup veggie oil and 3 eggs, not quite, so I made major adaptions and came up with a roommate approved recipe! (Note: I also made my own applesauce and sweetened it a bit with brown sugar so I reduced the sugar in the recipe.)

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Tablespoon (or more) pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup applesauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt

2 egg whites, beaten

1 egg, beaten

1 Tbsn flaxseed

2 Tbsn water

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup raisins or dried cranberries, optional

1/3 cup pecans, optional

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Prep 12 large muffin tins with paper or a little oil. (I used silicone muffin cups and the muffins didn't stick at all.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl combine wet ingredients. Once combined add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add dried fruit and nuts, if adding.
4. Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling about 3/4 of the way. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 40 minutes to 50 minutes (It was very humid when I made these and I was using a Chinese oven so be careful that they cook in the middle. Don't put them too close to the top burner and let them cook longer if they seem to need it. Cool in pan for a few minutes and allow to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Serve warm with butter, cinnamon and sugar, or green rhubarb jam, if you're so lucky to possess some.

Yum. Blogs with food.

How is it that there are so many recipes in the world? It's overwhelming in good and bad ways. I've got a huge folder of recipes that I've ripped out of magazines, a huge folder of recipes I've emailed myself, and I've recently taken to reading food blogs all in an effort to find more fun things to make in the kitchen and to sharpen my cooking [as opposed to baking] skills which are none too creative. It's impossible to keep them all organized. Inevitably there are some pages that have a dessert and an entree on them. I just came across this list: Blogs with Bite from the NY Times blog Bitten so I thought I'd try to hook you as well into my web of recipe madness.

In other news, I've got a large slice of organic winter melon in my fridge that I have nothing to do with. Any suggestions?

So Easy That EVERYONE Can Do It

This is a clear symbol of the dumbing down of America. Cinnamon and sugar, a classic topping for buttery French toast...also delicious when baked into breakfast breads. Yes. It's delish. It is not, however, something that requires a recipe. Nor is it something that you buy in a tiny container at the grocery store for more than $2. I know tiny spice jars of cinnamon and sugar are not new to the marketplace, but this is the first opportunity I've had to rant about it online. 

I have to say that I feel ashamed that this product sells so well that the first time I went to research it at Wal-mart (I do not want to hear from people who have access to Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, Wegmen's, and Trader Joe's either because we have none of those in my hometown), it was sold out. If this is on your shelf, you have to take it off right now, peel off the label, and incinerate it so no one knows that you purchased this product with two ingredients that are already in your kitchen cabinet. 

I will have an eentsy bit of mercy on those who know nothing about cooking and don't read ingredient labels, but really just put a little thought forward and things like this won't happen.

Honestly, I think this one small item is evidence of a very big problem in society---the easy fix. I commend McCormick and the other spice sellers who knew as much and decided to capitalize on this staple. Why spend 27 whole seconds mixing sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl when you can spend 2 bucks plus tax on it. Are you aware how much a pound of sugar costs? Do the numbers add up? This is not a money saver.

When Wal-mart had restocked the product, I looked at the ingredients on the jar (see below) and saw that there was indeed a third ingredient--cinnamon oil. Guess what. Cinnamon sugar with or without cinnamon oil tastes exactly the same. I promise. In fact, I'm pretty sure that cinnamon bark is the source of cinnamon oil and ground cinnamon come from bark.

Now go. Eat your cinnamon rolls and French toast with good, ole-fashioned, homemade cinnamon and sugar. Teach your children and grandchildren how to make it. You'll be doing society a favor.

Experiments in Healthy Eating

What with heart disease a regular occurrence in my family and a recent blood test that said my cholesterol could be lower, I've decided to start devoting more energy to healthy eating. I've got a new-to-me bread maker and so far I've made two batches of bread.

The first (stage left) is a whole wheat flaxseed loaf. Yep. It's suspiciously only 2 inches tall. When I saw this development, I was none too thrilled; however, it was shockingly good. I'm not sure how it turned out so well, but it wasn't too moist or too dense just a bit short. Amazing. The other batch of bread was a less healthy cinnamon raisin bread which looked and tasted as good as promised. So good there are no pictures (no I didn't eat it all..I shared almost all of it.)

Next on my health crusade...I've heard about the healthy possibilities of black beans so today I looked for a recipe for black bean burgers and found a highly rated one on All Recipes. In the past I probably would have been a nasty old naysayer about this type of veggie cuisine, but I've been proven wrong by Bocca Burgers and these honestly turned out deee-licious. Seriously. I did make a few changes. I used red bell peppers instead of green because I don't really like and did not have green. I put beans and veggies (none of which I measured) into the food processor, but made sure it didn't turn into a paste. I added ground chipotle in lieu of hot sauce which I also don't have. It had a bit of a kick but not too much. I used my flaxseed bread for the bread crumbs to boot! Then I grilled it on my little grill pan, cut it in half and sandwiched it between the last two pieces of my bread. A little fresh tomato, a little ketchup--that's lycopene folks. Yum!

Meanwhile, I was also making whole wheat hamburger buns which are still in the oven and hopefully will turn out good enough for the remaining 3 black bean patties I threw in the refrigerator. Now I just have to keep up this energy. I tell you. The appliances are making this healthy cooking stuff easier.

Up soon (but maybe not too soon because a single girl can only eat the same thing so many times before she becomes uninspired): Cooking 101's Ultimate Veggie Burger

To Be Refined...

As I prepared myself a cup of tea this afternoon and added some agave nectar for sweetness, I thought how ironic it is that the many items marketed to refined tastes are actually unrefined and as such, they cost more. I haven't done any research on this, but I'm fairly certain that raw sugar costs more than white sugar and agave sugar costs at least 200% more than both of those. Just using the word nectar instead of syrup probably allows "them" to up the price by a good 20 or 30%.

What extremely unwealthy person, after all, pours raw sugar into their morning cup? It is a bit better for you, of course, as is agave nectar (which has a lower glycemic index than sugar), at least that is the excuse. Doesn't it take less chemical processes, therefore less research to produce these all-natural type items and since "they" always package that kind of stuff in all natural brown bag wrapping paper, free of bleaching and refining, doesn't it stand to reason that these products would be significantly cheaper and in high demand amongst all classes of people? Perhaps raw sugar is the $250 pair of Girbaud jeans with the holes already worn in them. Who cares really if some people want to pay exorbitant prices to sweeten their drinks and confections? Perhaps the extra cents make everything taste a little sweeter.

Saltines: History in Your Mouth

Eating crackers can be a very passive affair. A little cheddar or perhaps some peanut butter spread generously on top for a snack, but that's not all there is to the cracker. So today I share with you one of my favorite facts: the history of the saltine.

Think of it. A covered wagon, the hot prairie sun beating down on a team of tired horses. Nothing in sight as far as the eye can see except more grass. Your stomach rumbles as you rock to the rhythm of the wagon on the uneven soil. Meat is scarce. Water must be rationed. What you do have, what you eat everyday, what you grumble against like a manna-eating Israelite is something called hardtack.

Hardtack was a simple concoction of flour, water, and salt baked to a crisp. The virtue of hardtack was that it would last indefinitely (though not without some vermin), which made it useful for anyone on a long journey from sailors on the high seas to pioneers heading west to soldiers fighting in the Civil War. And the coolest thing about this staple of antebellum America is the number of holes in it.

Unless you've eaten saltines with me, you've never counted them, but every saltine has 13 holes in it just as hardtack did. And why? This is the good part! Because of the 13 original colonies. Isn't that mildly fascinating? As the pioneers set out for new territories they poked 13 holes in their carb-loaded snacks as a subtle reminder of the foundation of the great U.S.A and the freedom it represented for them. No wonder they were Laura Ingalls Wilder's favorite prairie treat! (I made that up.) Now, go ye enlightened readers and partake of a saltine in honor of history.