Sorry for the lack of posts, but we're going on vacation tomorrow! The last week or so we've been trying to "clean out" the fridge. It's been quite a task trying to come up with meals from ingredients we already have, and honestly none of them have been blog worthy.
Today, I had reason to bake! Tonight we're having house guests. Sister and Brother-in-law are flying in for the weekend. We'll get to spend about an hour with them tonight before we're off to bed dreaming of sunny skies and blue water. We've got an early flight in the morning, and we'll be at the airport before our guests wake from their slumber. The thought of them waking in an empty house without a proper breakfast was too much for this hostess to bear. It took a few minutes to find something I could make without specialty ingredients, but I found it. I don't know about you, but we always have a leftover cup of coffee from the morning. Coffee Break Muffins. It's a good 2 - for - 1. Their morning cup of coffee is baked right into the muffin. I've made these muffins once before and they are delish!
The recipe is courtesy of Dorie Greenspan of Baking: From My Home to Yours. This is an excellent baking book. It's so good there is a group of bloggers, Tuesdays with Dorie, who are working their way through the book. I've often thought about joining this group, but my dislike for group activities and lack of desire to commit to baking a particular recipe each week has kept me from it. So...I just drool over the recipe/photos each week. While I'm away, check out this group. They blog each week's recipe on Tuesdays.
Coffee Break Muffins
by Dorie Greenspan of Baking: From My Home to Yours
2 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
1 T instant espresso powder
1 T baking powder
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/8 t. salt
1/3 c. packed light brown sugar
1 c. strong coffee, cooled
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1/2 t. vanilla
400 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper muffin cups.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps. In a large glass measuring cup or bowl, whisk the coffee, melted butter, egg and vanilla together until well combined. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't overmix. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Transfer pan to rack and cool for 5 minutes before removing muffins from tin.
Makes 12 muffins.
I'll post when we return from vacation!
I love shish kabobs! I always have. I don't know what it is about skewered meat and veggies, but I'll ask say "yes!" to this dish everytime. After a little online research, I found the real spelling for kabobs is kebabs. Excuse my error. Can you really trust the internet for factual information? More research may be needed.
I have a couple of memories of kebabs in my past that I think of everytime I have them. One was at the home of my double cousins. Yes, I have double cousins. No, incest is not involved. My dad's brother married my mother's sister. It's completely legit. So, I spent a week or so at their home one summer when I was a child. It was a fun week, and I remember eating shish kebabs one night for dinner. There's no funny story, just that I remember eating kebabs, oh, and many games of Operation, their babysitter wasn't too fond of me, and that I interrupted a very important business phone call my uncle made. Kids!
So last night, I marinated pork tenderloin for the kebabs and skewered them with scallions and mushrooms. It was pretty good, surprisingly good.
I based the marinade on this recipe from www.Allrecipes.com. I added a little wasabi paste for heat and didn't add as much oil as called for.
Happy Mother's Day!
I had a performance today, so there was no celebrating with my mom. :( Husband, however, got to spend the day with his mother and his family. That would have been fun for me too. :(
Did I dream this dessert? The picture is something of a mirage. I remember making it for the occasion, but no proof exists in my mouth or my stomach. It's not often I don't get to sample my work. It must have been a hit with Husband's family, (or so bad it was thrown out). This is what was brought home.
When we brought the rhubarb home from the farmer's market, the plan was for a strawberry-rhubarb pie. Luckily before I started the pie crust, I remembered I had not replaced our rolling pin. What to do? A crumble.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble
adapted from Karen Barker of Fine Cooking Magazine
1 T. unsalted butter, room temp.
For the topping:
1 c. flour
1 c. lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. old-fashioned oats
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. kosher salt
8 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
For the Filling:
5 c. rhubarb, sliced
2 c. strawberries, sliced (this was substitution, recipe called for 7 c. rhubarb)
1/2 c. lightly packed brwon sugar
1/2 c. turbanado sugar (this was a sub. on my part, ran out of brown sugar)
1/4 c. cornstarch
1 T. fresh lemon juice
2 t. finely grated lemon zest
1/4 t. kosher salt
350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 pyrex baking dish with the softened butter.
Make the topping: in a food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and salt and pulse several times to combine. Add the cold butter and pulse until the mixture has the textrue of coarse meal and clumps together when squeezed lightly, about 1 minute.
Make the filling: Combine rhubarb, strawberries, sugars, cornstarch, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl and stir with a spatula until evenly mixed. Transfer the rhubarb mixture to the baking pan, and sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit.
Bake until the topping is lightly browned, the rhubarb is tender, and the juices are bubbling thickly around the edges, 45-60 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool to warm or room temp. and allow the juices to thicken, at least 1 hour.
Well, we've finally done it! We've eaten dinner together in our dining room. Granted, this dining reunion wasn't the meal of our dreams (because I had to jet to work we ate at a geriatric hour and the entree was yard bird), but it was a special and tasty meal none the less.
The new Food and Wine Magazine 2008 Cookbook came in the mail, so I was anxious to christen it. It's sometimes tricky to find a recipe with the ingredients had on hand, but with a few modifications I was able to do it. Now that grilling season is upon us, I'd recommend Berber-Spiced Chicken Breasts. Below find my version:
Berber-Spiced Chicken Breasts
adapted from Steven Raichlen of Food and Wine 2008 Cookbook
2 garlic cloves
1/2 large onion, coarsely chopped
3 T sweet paprika
2 t. kosher salt (I will use less next time)
1 t. ground coriander
1 t. freshly ground pepper
1 t. finely grated lemon zest
3/4 t. garam masala
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. EVOO
2 - 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (recipe called for bone-in skin-on)
small amount of chicken broth
In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients except the chicken and broth and process to a paste. Spread the paste all over the chicken and refrigerate for a least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
Oil grill and grill chicken until brown and just cooked through. (I did about 8-10 minutes per side, but if using chicken with bones, it will be more). Let rest 5 minutes.
Thin out any extra marinade paste with chicken broth. Reduce in a saucepan and serve with the chicken.
It's been a couple of weeks since husband and I have eaten a meal together. Our schedules have been so crazy and so opposite too. When I'm home, he's not, and vice versa. I really haven't cooked at all.
Husband has been eating a lot at work lately, so I'm not quite sure what he's been putting away, but I've resorted back to my single graduate school days. There were a couple of regular lunches that I used to have quite often. It's neat how food can bring back memories. One such meal you see to the left. A turkey or ham sandwich with pepper jack and avocado.
Check out the chips, they are a recent discovery. Flat Earth Chips are so delicious! They're a veggie chip, so they've got a nice earthy flavor along with the 1/2 serving of vegetables in every ounce of chip. Mmm. My favorite flavor: Tangy Tomato Ranch. (It must be everyone else's favorite too, as the store was sold out. Farmland Cheddar is featured in the photo).
Besides the sandwich, my other old-time lunch favorite is a salad of greens, canned tuna, grape tomatoes, feta cheese and a vinaigrette dressing.
I hope you are enjoying meals with your loved ones. I miss them with mine.
