Chocolate Almond Bread

 

When Anthony and I ate at the Toothsome Emporium at Universal City Walk, we each ordered a loaf of this bread. I think we surprised the waiter, as it is usually shared by the table It was served with a sweetened butter, and the bread is not very sweet, so that really boosted the flavor. This recipe was on a page dedicated to Universal City Walk, but one commenter said that it did not seem like the bread they had at Universal. I have to agree, and I'm not sure why. 

Ingredients:

• 1.75 cups blanched almond flour (weighed 185g)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 cup oil of your choosing (olive, avocado, melted/cooled coconut)
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk or brewed coffee
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips, plus more for topping

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a eight-by-four medium loaf pan with parchment paper; set aside. *my comment- the loaf at the restaurant is smaller, so you can split this recipe into smaller portions and reduce baking time.
2. In a medium bowl add the almond flour, cocoa powder, tapioca flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. 
3. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Pour the dry ingredients into the large bowl of the wet ingredients, using a spatula to stir a few times. Then add in the chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of milk or coffee, stirring to fully combine. The batter should be thick and wet but spreadable into a pan. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
4. Bake the chocolate bread for 20 minutes uncovered, then add foil and continue baking for another 10-20 minutes. Be sure to check the bread after baking for 30 minutes total – the edges may darken but the bread will be ready when an inserted toothpick comes out with no wet batter. The middle may fall slightly, this is OK! The bread still tastes delicious.
5. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before lifting the parchment paper to remove the bread. Slice the loaf into about one inch thick slices. Enjoy!

Nectarine Spice Muffins

 

I'm writing up this recipe while the muffins bake, and I'll let you know how they come out!

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup (150g) granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1  teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup  avocado, or vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1/2 cup Trader Joe's peach yogurt

10 triple ginger gingersnaps chopped into about 10 pieces each

1 ¼ cups chopped nectarine,  1 large, ripe nectarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 24 muffin tins with liners. 
Mix nectarines, sugar, oil,  yogurt and eggs together on medium bowl.
Whisk together remaining dry ingredients. 
Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until no dry bits show.
Add cookies and scoop by loaded tablespoon into muffin tins.
Bake for 18 minutes.
Muffins seem pretty small. Maybe it should make 18 reasonably sized muffins.

Not a recipe! Anthony's gray hat

 

Bulky yarn size nine circular knitting needles

Cast on 64 stitches on 16 inch circular needles. Knit one purl one for two inches. knit for an additional 61/2 inches for a total of 8 1/2 inches. begin decrease. knit two together through front loops, knit 6 repeat across row for a total of 8 less stitches per row. knit two rows. knit two together through front loops, knit 5, repeat. knit two rows. keep decreasing in the same way, but only one row in between decrease rows. Change to double pointed needles when you need to.

Chana Masala

 Here is my recipe for Chana Masala, which was a big hit on Christmas this year.

Ingredient List:

1 1/2 medium yellow onions diced smallish
2 T coconut oil
pinch of baking soda
2 tsp cumin seeds
salt and black pepper
4 garlic cloves
1 inch of ginger root, grated
1 T. lemon zest
3 tiny thai chili peppers chopped fine

one can tomato paste, with 12 oz water
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp garam masala
2 cans chick peas, rinsed
cilantro to taste

Cooking Method

Saute onions in oil, sprinkling in baking soda.  I used the large stainless steel saute pan. The baking soda helps the onions break down totally, so they will blend in and become saucy. Add cumin seeds. Cook til they turn golden brown, then add a bit of water, and continue cooking, and adding little bits of water until the whole mixture becomes brown.

Muddle together garlic, lemon zest (I didn't do this, but I hear its good for the garlic) ginger and peppers. You can choose how many peppers depending on your spice level preference. Add to pan, along with remaining ingredients. Cook, stirring to blend, and then let stew for at least 30 minutes for flavors to soak into the chick peas. Yum!

Apricot Scones

 This morning I taught Anthony how to make scones. They came out great, and I made so many modifications on the recipe that I found online, I knew I had to record just what amounts of each ingredient we used.

Apricot Scones

Preheat oven to 425  Cut a piece of parchment to fit a cookie baking pan

2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup COLD butter (one stick) cut into 1/2 tsp size cubes

1 egg

about 1/2 cup half and half

1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped into raisin sized bits (other dried fruits could be substituted)

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt in bowl of food processor and pulse a few times. 

Add butter and pulse about 12 times, until butter is in small chunks. 

Being careful not to touch the blades of the food processor, smash larger chunks of butter between your thumb and forefinger. 

Add apricots, egg and half and half and pulse until roughly combined into a dough.

Pour mixture onto baking pan and gently mold into one 9 inch disc shape, using the large blob to add the stray dry bits onto the larger body of dough. 

Slice into 12 triangles like you are cutting a birthday cake, and flatten them a bit as you spread them around on the baking pan.

Bake in center of oven for 12 minutes or until you can see a golden color develop on the scones.

Chocolate Chip Scone variation-

Follow above recipe, with the following changes. Reduce sugar to 5 T, substitute 1 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels for apricots. Anthony made these today, and we used less than 1/2 cup half and half. The mixture was so dry that it was hard to get all the crumbs back together to form the disc, but the resulting scones were incredibly delicious!

Browned butter chocolate chip cookies

 Ingredients:

one cup of butter- starting weight 236 gr after browning 189 gr

2 cups of flour (I am considering adding more flour)

2 TBS cornstarch

1 t baking soda

1/4 t baking powder

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

2 t vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups of chocolate- can by chips or chopped bars of dark, semi sweet, or milk chocolate

Procedure:cook two sticks of butter on medium heat for about 5-8 minutes, watching closely for the butter to foam and the milk solids to start to brown. Remove from heat and pour into dish to refrigerate until solid.
Browning the butter adds flavor to the cookies, and reduces the amount of liquid in the recipe. If you need to add more liquid, add a tablespoon or two of milk.
Cream butter with sugars, add eggs one at a time and add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, backing soda, baking powder. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix briefly to combine. Add chocolate of your choice. Scoop by the ice cream scoop of your choice and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. 

Bake at 350 degrees on an ungreased cookie sheet. No need for parchment. 15 minutes for smaller cookies, 18 minutes for larger cookies.

Cucumber Coconut Lemon Ginger Smoothie

 Did your garden produce too many cucumbers? Is this summer so hot you need a cool, refreshing drink? Or, like me, did you miss dinner to go to Yoga class and now you rather drink your dinner? Maybe all of the above? Yup!

Peel or don't peel one large cucumber. Squeeze one half of a lemon into your blender. Add chopped cucumber and one inch of piece of peeled ginger root. Blend.  Too strong.

Add 6 ice cubes and blend again. Better, but I'd like it sweeter and I know that there is about one tablespoon of cream of coconut left from some cocktails, so I added that and .... perfect! Just what I wanted. 

If I didn't have the coconut I was going to add a handful of green grapes or frozen pineapple.

Keto peanut butter cups

 We've all been doing a high fat diet, keto, in fact, to try and lose weight. Keto is crazy and not very vegetarian, but this recipe doesn't contain meat, so I'll record it here for posterity. Or as long as we keep reading the blog.  

PS: its really good!

ingredients:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

4 T ghee

2 T swerve confectioner's sweetener

1/4 cup Lily's sugar free chocolate chips

2 T cocoa powder

Melt peanut butter and 2 T ghee in microwave for 30 seconds, stir until smooth. 

Add 1 T sweetener.

spoon into candy molds. I use a silicone mini ice cube tray and chill for 15 minutes.

meanwhile, melt chocolate with remaining ghee, stir and add sweetener and cocoa powder until its chocolatey enough for your taste. I added another smidge of peanut butter, too.

spoon chocolate mixture carefully on top of peanut butter mixture, and refrigerate overnight. 

pop out of trays and store in fridge.

 Easy and Elegant Cheese "Soufflé"

This recipe is from Frances Moore Lappe's 1970 era book "Diet for a Small Planet," a book that influenced and guided millions how to eat a balanced vegetarian diet. This is a dinner that is perfect to cook when you have bread, milk and cheese, but not much else in your fridge. It's satisfying, savory, and easy to throw together. There are numerous ways to change it up, different cheeses, seasonings, and maybe a vegetable or two. Send me a comment if you find a different way that you think is even better than the original recipe.

Layer in an oiled 9 x 11 baking dish: 4-6 slices of bread and 3 cups of grated cheese.

Pour over that 2 cups of milk. You may add 1/2 cup of wine if you have some handy.

Mix separately and pour over 3 eggs beaten, 1/2 t salt, 1/2 t thyme, a splash or two of Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 t dry mustard, 1/2 t black pepper. NOTE: Worcestershire sauce is not vegetarian, as it contains some little fishy bits, anchovies! There are vegetarian substitutions available if you so desire. (See recipe for vegan chex mix)

Let sit for 30 minutes and bake in a pan of water at 350 degrees. 

Rigatoni with broccoli and bok choy

I was harvesting my garden fresh bok choy today, on a day when I wanted to make a veggie pasta dish. It tastes good, so I'll share the recipe. Bok choy adds bulk and good nutrition to the dish, but is a mildly flavored veggie, so it will appeal to new leafy green eaters, who would turn up their noses at more bitter greens.

2024 Update! I got both broccolini and Bok Choy in my crop share from Von Thun's Farm CSA this week, so I gave this recipe a new try.  I cut both the pasta and heavy cream in half, and eliminated adding hot pasta water. I think it would have been too juicy!  Try it and let me know what you think.

Rigatoni with Broccoli and Bok Choy

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 red onion, chopped
1 pound bag of chopped broccoli, cooked in microwave
1 bunch bok choy (I used two) chopped, stems and leaves
1 pound of rigatoni or your choice of macaroni. I used the big ones.
4 T butter
1 T vegeta seasoning
1 t Italian seasoning
1t oregano
Salt and Black pepper to taste
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Melt butter in large Dutch oven sized pot, and sauté garlic and onion. Add broccoli and bok choy, season and cook while your pasta boils. Salt the cooking water. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water and drain when al dente. Add cream and pasta to pot. Add additional cooking water as needed to make it saucy. Add cheese and play with your food. I mean eat it!

Vegeta!  If you read my recipes, you might wonder what Vegeta seasoning is. I first learned about it from my Aunt Helen's Slovakian caregiver, Melanie. Vegeta is a combination of dehydrated vegetables, ground into a rough powder, that adds a boullion like flavor, like you cooked lots of veggies into a rich broth, and then added that to your dish. You can buy it with msg (mono sodium glutimate) or without. 

I buy mine at the local vegetable market, where you find international seasonings. 

Vegan Chex Mix

This is only a slight modification of my standard Chex Mix, which I made today for Molly's bachelorette party.

Ingredients:

4 oz Earth Balance Original Spread
2 Tablespoons Annie's worcestershire sauce- Annie's is vegan. Most others are not.
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more or less to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Nutritional yeast, about 1 Tablespoon, or whatever you think is good.

6 cups corn Chex
6 cups rice Chex
1 1/2 cups Oyster crackers
1 cup pretzel sticks

Preheat oven to 235 degrees. Melt Earth Balance Spread and add other seasoning ingredients.
Stir until well blended. Add dry crackers, cereals, and pretzels and stir until sauce is evenly distributed. Bake for one hour, mixing every 15 minutes.

Have a great time, Molly, Mary, Sandy, Olivia and Mallory!

Aunt Barbie's Sweet Corn cakes

This is my healthier (hah!) version of The Cheesecake Factory Sweet corn cake appetizer.
Do whatever toppings you want. Cheese, sour cream, avocados, salsa, etc.

Strip the corn from two ears of Jersey Sweet corn.
Melt 2 T of butter.
One cup of Masa mixed with 1 t of baking soda and 1 t of salt
Mix above ingredients together, add two eggs and enough plain yogurt to make a batter that is thicker than pancake batter.
Add sweetener of your choice. I added 2 T of swerve, artificial sweetener.

Fry in a large skillet as you would pancakes, in olive oil.

I guess they are basically corn fritters. I don't know. I never had those.

Orzo Salad

I am basing this on the online recipe I found on the Epicurious site, but my real inspiration is from Shanahan's Bakery and Deli. Their orzo salad is delicious!

1. • 12 ounces orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
   • 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup olive oil
   • 1 1/2 cups crumbled feta cheese (about 6 ounces)
   • 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
   • 1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
   • 3/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives
   • 1 bag chopped baby spinach
   • 1/2 cup finely chopped red onions, chopped
   • 2 tablespoons drained capers
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice ( I usually just keep adding more)
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
3. Cook orzo in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Rinse with cold water; drain well. Transfer to large bowl. Toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add crumbled feta cheese, chopped bell peppers, Kalamata olives,  onions and capers.
4. Combine lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, oregano, mustard in small bowl. Gradually whisk in remaining 1/2 cup olive oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Add dressing to orzo mixture and toss to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 
6. Optional: What else could make this savory salad better? Add whatever pleases your palate.  Chick peas, green and black olives, vegeta seasoning might all be tasty.
7. 
   

It's not quite Amish, but it's Cajun Crab Dip

The Cajun Crab Dip at the Amish Market is the best dip. Not vegetarian, but beloved by everyone
who eats it.

Cajun Crab dip! 
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 ounces surimi (fake crab)
1/2 cup Thousand Island dressing
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (more or less depending how you like it)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons chopped jarred pimiento peppers or roasted red bell peppers (not raw)
enough siracha to spice it up.
mix it all in the mixer.

Gazpacho

The soup of the day today is Gazpacho, the most refreshing summer soup for a hot summer day. Make it a few hours early, or in the morning, or even the night before serving.
There are many varieties of gazpacho served in Spain, although this is the standard. There is a shortcut version if you don't have many tomatoes which uses tomato juice, a white gazpachos that skip the tomatoes and pepper, and various melon gazpachos if you want to use up some leftover watermelon.


1 cucumber
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
1 pepper
2 medium ripe tomatoes
1/4 cup sherry wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
fresh thyme, parsley
sriracha
garlicky croutons

You may want to peel the cucumber so that the green and reds don't combine to make an ugly color when blended. Chop ingredients so that you can blend them easily. Pop veggies in the blender and blend until smooth. add oil, vinegar, herbs and hot sauce to suit your preferences.

Refrigerate for an hour or more, and serve with croutons and extra chopped veggies if you choose.

Ratatouille

A classic summer staple, make ratatouille when you have an abundance of summer produce. But first, let me tell you my confession: I tend to be too casual when cooking ratatouille. Over the years, I treated it like a meat stew, where you could throw everything in a pot and assume it would be great.
Read the instructions and you'll see how easy it is try and take shortcuts.

Ratatouille is a stew with lots of delicious vegetables, but you want to taste each veggie separately. To do so, cook them separately in olive oil, and just finish the dish off by throwing everything together in the big pot. The exact vegetables that you use, and the amounts of each vegetable are not crucial, so feel free to experiment with the recipe in that way. Let me know how it comes out!

1 small to medium eggplant
2 small to medium zucchini or yellow squash
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic
4 tomatoes, chopped, or 15 oz can chopped tomatoes
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
fresh basil, parsley, thyme
salt, pepper


Begin by chopping the eggplant, salting it, and setting aside to rest.
Next, sauté the onion and chopped garlic over medium heat in 2 T oil for 5 minutes and set aside in a bowl.
Then, sauteé the  chopped peppers in 2 T oil for 5 minutes. Add it to the onions.
Add 2 more T oil to the pan, and cook the squash for a 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add squash to the onions and peppers.
Wipe the eggplants dry with paper towels, and fry in remaining oil until they start to brown and become transparent. Add tomatoes and spices, and cook for 10 more minutes.
Add all veggies to the pan, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.

This can be served with pasta, rice, or garlic bread and a salad.

Savory corn bean pie

This recipe combines corn and beans to make a complete protein, so that your body gets all the amino acids that it needs. I remember reading that a long time ago in the cookbook, Recipes for a Small Plant by Frances Moore Lappé. Its a good book that explains the Humanist basis for vegetarianism, that it can help the world have enough food to feed the hungry.
Preheat oven to 400

2 cups cornmeal
6 oz vegetable broth or less
Soy sauce
1/2 cup Olive Oil

3 stalks celery, chopped
1 1/2 cups carrots in thick chunks
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups beans, canned or rehydrated kidney, cannelini, black beans all ok I have also doubled the beans and that is good, too.
Cumin and seasonings
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

I made this this week, and I cut the olive oil down to 2 T for the crust. You can also add a Tablespoon of soy sauce. I also precooked the crust for 10 minutes. It came out chewier, and it stuck to the pie plate a bit. Maybe its a good idea to spray the pie plate if you cut down on the oil by so much.
Mix the cornmeal with the oil and broth until the consistency of play doh. Pat into pie pan. You can prebake it, or leave it to cook filled.

In large frying pan, sauté onions, celery and carrots until for 10 minutes, or until carrots get softened. Add beans and season with lots of cumin, some garlic, soy sauce, coriander, parsley, and black pepper. Pour into crust and bake 25 minutes, covered with foil. Remove foil, add cheese and return to oven for 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

Over the many years that I've made this, I have experimented with adding lots of other ingredients that would inch the pie closer to Mexican. Since it contains, cornmeal, beans, cumin and cheese, it seems like it belongs. It doesn't work for me! Tomatoes, peppers, fresh corn, and avocados are all great in real Mexican recipes, but I just love the way this tastes with the original list of ingredients.

Sprouted rice quinoa kale salad

This was a new creation today, and it my gardening friends Jeanne and Dawn enjoyed it as a light lunch dish over romaine and cucumbers.

3 cups Sprouted Rice Quinoa mix, cooked (1 cup dried prepared with 2 cups of water) and cooled
1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/3 cup golden raisins
2 cups curly kale, lightly sprayed with olive oil,  massaged, and shredded into little pieces with ribs removed
1/2 cup shelled peas
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 T finely chopped green onion
olive oil
balsamic salad dressing
Lightly saute onions, garlic and peas.  Add kale, salt, and cook until just lightly softened, about 3 minutes.
Mix all ingredients and dress with balsamic vinaigrette. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Broccoli and Tofu with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Adapted from Mollie Katzen's The Enchanted Broccoli Forest and I don't change much



1 container firm or extra firm tofu
2 bunches of broccoli, chopped
2 cups or less of sliced onions
4 cloves of garlic
2 T chopped fresh ginger
1 cup chopped peanuts
1/2 cup peanut butter. Dad would make it one whole cup
2 T cider vinegar
2 T molasses, or any sweetener you have handy
4 T soy sauce
cayenne pepper, salt
canola oil- The original recipe used peanut oil, it stir fries hotter, but I never buy that.

Dry tofu on paper towels and dice tofu into 1/2 inch cubes.
Mince ginger and garlic and set aside.
Make sauce- combine peanut butter, 1/2 cup water, 2 T soy sauce, molasses, vinegar, and hot pepper to taste and heat until the peanut butter combines smoothly.

Add one T of oil in wok or large saute pan and saute half of the garlic and ginger with a few shakes of salt. After one minute, turn the heat up, add tofu and stir fry for 5 minutes.  Add tofu to peanut sauce pan.

Wipe out wok, add 2 T oil, and add the remaining ginger and garlic. Saute for one minute with a bit of salt, add onions and cook for a few more minutes, add peanuts and broccoli and stir fry for about 5 minutes until the broccoli turns bright green. Add soy sauce and stir through. Add peanut sauce and toss gently. Serve over rice.