Happy Thanksgiving!!

I am thankful for family, friends and four day weekends.  How's that for alliterative?  And of course I'm incredibly thankful for grace--where would I be without it?

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Mom always has the traditional desserts covered, so I branched out a bit this year and went with one of my favorite and often blogged about flavor combos....chocolate, caramel and sea salt.  More specifically in this case, a Caramel Chocolate Tart with Grey Salt. 

I really wanted to try this new red sea salt that I have, because how cool is red sea salt? 

But in the end, I chickened out.  The red comes from hibiscus apparently, and putting salt on a tart will probably already scare my family.  Still, how cool is red sea salt?  Maybe on the chocolate sea salt caramels for Christmas.

Chocolate Caramel Tart with Grey Salt
From Saveur Issue  #119

FOR THE CRUST:
1 1⁄2 cups flour
1⁄4 cup plus 1 tbsp. dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
10 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and softened
1⁄2 cup plus 2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
2 egg yolks, preferably at room temperature
1⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract

FOR THE CARAMEL
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
3 tbsp. light corn syrup
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
6 tbsp. heavy cream
1 tbsp. crème fraîche

FOR THE GANACHE
1/2 tbls unsalted butter
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Grey sea salt for garnish

1. Make the crust: Heat oven to 350˚. Combine flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until mixture is pale and fluffy; mix in yolks and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Transfer dough to a 9″ fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and press dough evenly into bottom and sides of pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Prick the tart shell all over with a fork and bake until cooked through, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool.
2. Make the caramel: In a 1-qt. saucepan, whisk together sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 6 tbsp. water and bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer inserted into the syrup reads 365°. Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter, cream, and crème fraîche (the mixture will bubble up) until smooth. Pour caramel into cooled tart shell and let cool slightly; refrigerate until firm, 4–5 hours.
3. Make the ganache: Bring cream to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Put chocolate into a medium bowl and pour in hot cream and add 1/2 tbls unsalted butter Pour ganache evenly over tart and refrigerate until set, 4–5 hours.
Sprinkle tart with sea salt, slice, and serve chilled.

Inspired By Jack

Jack Johnson is just cool peeps, because let's face it, not very many people can get away with writing a song about banana pancakes.  Perhaps Raffi could, but he's cool peeps too.  Can you imagine Aerosmith singing about any kind of pancakes?  Definitely couldn't pull it off.  Jack has that certain je ne sais quoi.

A couple of weeks ago, when my little friend spent the night...

I set out to prove that munchkins would eat healthy foods if presented properly.  I opted for a twist on Jack's banana pancakes--oat bran and whole wheat banana pancakes.  Kind of the same.

My mom nodded supportingly as I mixed up the batter, but I could tell she was a doubter.  Breaths were held as the pancakes were placed in front of that little two year old....and a big sigh let out as she started eating away.  Yes, it was probably the bit of maple syrup on top that did it, but I just said I could get her to eat them, I didn't specify how.

Another weekend, another experiment.  This time I paired the oat bran pancakes with my favorite pancake flavor...pineapple upside down pancakes.  Jack may just want to write another pancake song.

Oat Bran Pancakes

1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 c. oat bran
2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp vanilla
2 large eggs, mixed first to break up yolks
1 cup plain yogurt, drained in cheesecloth overnight

Whisk together all ingredients.

For banana pancakes stir in one banana finely mashed.

Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes

Heat 1 tbsp butter over med high heat. When melted, add 2 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon. Add 2 cups chopped pineapple and cook until pineapple is caramelized. After ladling pancake batter onto griddle or pan, spoon pineapple mixture over. 

They were every bit as flavorful as the buttermilk version of  pineapple upside down pancakes--in fact You would think that with all that effort, and all of the prep photos, I'd remember to take a photo of the final plated product, but not so much.  They look like the above, but on a plate instead of in a pan.  In fact, they do look exactly like the above...the brown sugar in the pineapple means these are sweet enough that syrup is not required.

Peanut says, "The End"

Cookbook #36 Thai

My sister picked up a couple of copies of the cookbook Thai and was sweet enough to give one to me. It's nearly 500 pages with multiple photos on each and every page. It's spicy, and sweet and makes a girl long for mom's cooking.

The title Thai however, is a bit misleading as the recipes actually span all of southeast asia. This afternoon I chose to go a bit outside the Thai border and make the Indonesian Pineapple Fried Rice. I was a bit hesitant at first to even experiment, because I love fried rice and sometimes when you try a new recipe, it's not love. Fried rice was not a food I was prepared to dislike, but luckily, this recipe was so very de-lish. I substituted chicken for the pork, because well, I don't like pork, and I also omitted the shrimp.

Indonesian Pineapple Fried Rice
adapted from Thai

1 cup fresh diced pineapple
2 tbsp garlic oil
1 small onion finely diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 boneless chicken breast diced
3-4 cups COLD cooked rice
1/3 cup chopped cashews
3-5 tbsp soy sauce (to taste)
1-2 tbsp fish sauce (to taste)

1. Peel and dice pineapple and set aside.

2. Heat 1 tbsp oil over medium high heat and add onions and carrots. Cook for 3-4 minutes and add pepper and peas. Cook for additional 2 mins. Move to bowl and set aside.

3. Heat other tbsp of oil and add diced chicken and garlic. Cook through.

4. Return veggies to pan with chicken and stir to combine. Add pineapple.

5. Break up cold rice (fresh cooked rice will turn to mush) and add to pan.
6. Stir through and add soy sauce and fish sauce to taste. Cook only long enough to heat rice.

7. Remove from heat and sprinkle with chopped cashews.

You would think I would set up the photo a little bit better, but I was pretty hungry. So, not so much.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bread

A chilly fall day calls for a bit of bread baking...is there anything like the smell of bread in the oven?  Out popped one of my favorite cookbooks: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.  I still love this cookbook...it makes bread baking so easy.  Not that bread is all that difficult for lazy butts like me.  I do 5% of the work and let my friend do the rest...

Even so, if you can make bread even easier than throwing it into the KitchenAid, I'm game.  This recipe for Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread did call for a bit more effort than previous recipes.   It all started with a little pumpkin.

This little sweet pie pumpkin about killed me.  Step one instructs one to "split pumpkin in half."  Much, much easier said than done.  I gave it a try with each and every knife in my arsenal to no avail.  I couldn 't even pierce the outside.  In the end, it was pumpkin vs. concrete patio floor.  Sadly for the pumpkin, it lost this battle.  A bit of roasting, mixing and rising and into the oven the bread went.  Fall + baking bread = happiness indeed.

This wasn't the typical bread bread recipe from the cookbook but was every bit as tasty.    This was that soft smooshy white sandwich type bread--the one that mom was always pulling out of the oven when you got home from school.  A bit of butter and honey, and I swear I felt like I was 7 again.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bread
Adapted from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

1 pie pumpkin
2 cups lukewarm water
1½ Tbs granulated yeast
1 Tbs kosher salt
5 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup agave nectar
½ cup old-fashioned oats
¾ cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup rye flour
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
neutral- tasting oil for greasing the pan
egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 T. water)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Split pumpkin in half starting at the stem and place cut side down on a silicone mat or a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes. The pumpkin should be very soft all the way through when poked with a knife. Cool slightly before scooping out the seeds. Scoop out the roasted flesh of the pumpkin and mash it with a fork or puree it in your food processor. Set aside 1 cup for the dough and reserve the rest for other recipes that utilize pumpkin puree.
2. Mixing and storing the dough: Mix the yeast and salt with the water, melted butter and honey in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.
3. Mix in oatmeal, pumpkin, and flours without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup capacity food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with a dough hook). If you’re not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.
4. Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours. (I moved mine to a clean, lightly oiled bowl and covered it with a dish towel).
5. The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 9 days.
6. On baking day: lightly grease 9×5x3-inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1½ pound cantaloupe-sized piece Dust the piece with flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all sides, rotating the ball a quarter- turn as you go.
9. Using a small amount of flour, form the dough into a loaf shape. Place the loaf in the prepared pan and allow to rest and rise for 2 hours (or just 40 minutes if you’re using fresh, unrefrigerated dough).
10. Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350°F., and place an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that won’t interfere with the rising bread.
11. Just before putting bread in the oven, brush the loaf with egg wash  and place it on a rack near the center of the oven. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door. Bake the loaf for 45 to 50 minutes, until deeply browned and firm.
12. Allow to cool before slicing or eating.

Tapioca Pudding...Or Not

I 've had a bit of a chia obsession lately.  It's a fascinating little seed really.  Who knew that the same seed that gives us this....

also apparently has the following nutritional value:

2 times the protein of any other seed or grain
5 times the calcium of milk
2 times the amount of potassium as bananas
3 times more iron than spinach
and of course, copious amounts of omega-3 and omega-6

Or so they say...whoever they are.  Seriously though--anyone who can use the word copious to describe food, has this girl's attention.

You would think that because chia sprouts all green and sprouty looking, that the recipes out there would be mostly savory.  Wrong.  While the seeds can be added to breads or sprinkled on salads, most recipes I came across were for chia pudding.  It's so different...how could I not try it?

These little guys can absorb copious amounts of water. One tablespoon in 1 cup of water starts out like this....

And a mere 15 minutes later, looks like this....

My mom used to make a Thai version of tapioca pudding when we were growing up--I was taking that concept for my chia pudding.

The basic recipe is super easy--just two cups of a coconut/almond/soy milk product, add 1/2 cup unsalted cashews, 1 tsp vanilla extract and agave nectar to taste.  Blend in blender until smooth.  Pour into a mason jar, add two tablespoons chia seeds and shake.  Refrigerate for at least one hour to allow seeds to fully hydrate.  Pour some in a bowl, chop up a bit of fresh papaya or mango and it's the perfect breakfast to grab on the way to work.

I started wondering though, about how all the recipes out there seem to be for a raw and vegan chia pudding.  I am obviously not a raw foodie, and truth be told, I'm a bit of a dairy whore. Could you make a cooked pudding out of chia? Hmmmm.

I grabbed my favorite lactose filled bevarage and gave it a try, starting with one cup of milk and 2 tablespoons chia seeds set off to the side to hydrate for 15 mins.  Add another 1 cup of milk to a pan with 1 egg, 2-3 tbsp agave nectar (or any sugar), 1 tsp vanilla extract and the seeds of half a vanilla bean  (thanks Shannon for the vanilla).

Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until pudding thickens. Remove from heat and mix in milk and chia seed mixture.  Refrigerate until chilled. Much more delightful way of getting omegas than a big spoonful of flax seed oil...iron, potassium and protein are on the house.