eat! craft! live!

baby-friendly spinach risotto

I'm always trying to think of new and interesting things to cook for the littlest member of the household. Fun, tasty (but easy!) recipes that are healthy and expose her to new foods. I also love being able to cook one meal for the whole family as often as I can and not have to do "grown-up" food and "baby" food. One type of food I've had a historically hard time getting her to eat is, well, anything green. Peas and green beans both met with disdain (and some...gagging...) and anything leafy seems to give her texture issues. This recipe gets around the problem by using frozen chopped spinach - healthy and spinachy still, but chopped finely enough that even my greens-picky babe will tolerate, nay, like it! (If you're cooking for adults, or not-so-picky children, feel free to use regular old fresh spinach.) Add some rice and a delicious cheesy coating and you've got a meal that's hard not to love, no matter how old you are.

baby-friendly spinach risotto

• 5 cups no-salt chicken or veggie broth
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups risotto rice
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 lb. chopped frozen spinach, thawed
• fresh or dried basil, to taste (optional)
• salt and/or pepper, to taste, for the adults

Heat the broth in a small pan and keep warm until needed.

Melt the butter in a large, heavy pot. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until soft. Add the rice and stir to coat with butter. After a minute or two, add a ladleful of broth and cook, stirring constantly, until the broth has been absorbed. Continue adding hot broth a little at a time, stirring constantly and allowing it to absorb before adding more.

After 20-30 minutes, the rice should be creamy and al dente. If making for adults, you can stop at this point. I continued cooking the rice a little longer to make it easier on little baby mouths.

Add thawed spinach and stir to combine. Cook until heated through, then remove from heat and stir in Parmesan and basil, if desired. Do not salt baby's food but feel free to salt to taste for adults. I didn't find that it needed any, but your tastes may vary!

instant oatmeal

What's this? An actual recipe post? I know, I know, it's been a while since I posted about food, or at least food that isn't for the under 1 crowd. And it's oatmeal! How exciting!

But really. This oatmeal is so easy and quick and it's one of those things that I just love knowing is in the pantry. I start to get a little nervous and twitchy when I know there isn't much left. And every time I make it, I make two batches just so I know I won't get that twitchy feeling again for a while.

Oatmeal, for me, brings up two distinct different reminiscences. The first is of the little paper packets and their mapley oaty dust that puffs out when you dump their contents into a bowl. (And the fact that you need at least two to make a decent sized breakfast. Or is that just me? I really like cereal.) Oh, those little tiny dried apple pieces. The second, and less favorable, is of scrubbing out dried-oatmeal-encrusted pots, with their stuck-yet-slippery coating of oat goo. This recipe gives you the teensiest bit of the first memory, with nothing of the second!

Each batch fits nicely in a one quart mason jar, which I where I store my dry goods. And you can customize it any way you like - add different spices, leave out the brown sugar and serve with maple syrup, add nuts of your choosing or flaxseed meal. Mix it up! I usually keep it pretty simple for the basic mix but add a handful of raisins and some chopped walnuts before I add the boiling water. Delicious!

instant oatmeal
adapted from Catherine Newman's recipe

• 3 cups rolled oats (not instant or quick-cooking)
• 1/2 cup date pieces
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

In a blender or food processor, blend 1 cup of the oats with the remaining ingredients until mostly powdered. Add remaining 2 cups of oats and blend until they are broken down. To serve, place 2/3 cup oat mixture in a bowl and add 3/4 cup boiling water. Let sit for a bit, stir and enjoy! As I mentioned, I often add raisins or other dried fruit and some chopped nuts before the boiling water.

best. sandwich. ever.

I've made that claim about several sandwiches in the past, so take my enthusiasm with a grain of salt. But seriously. This sandwich? Is amazing. It's loosely based on a sandwich I used to order from Which Wich back in Austin - the Thank You Turkey. I grew up around people who ate these sandwiches after Thanksgiving - leftover turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, maybe some gravy, all piled on top of whatever bread is handy. Cold, warm, hot, whatever. As a child, I always thought it sounded awful. Boy was I wrong! Upon wandering in to Which Wich one day, I spied this nostalgic sandwich from my childhood sitting right there on the menu! You mean other people in other places eat this sandwich too? So I ordered it. Purely out of a sense of duty to childhood memories. And you know what? It was delicious.

So I've been recreating it at home ever since. Generally I actually use stuffing, because who doesn't like a big bloop of stuffing? But this particular version of the sandwich came about when I was perusing my new King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion and discovered the most genius bread recipe ever - stuffing bread! It's bread! But it tastes like stuffing! Amazing! It lends the wonderful, wonderful taste of stuffing to the sandwich but without the mess and bulk of actually having stuffing on the sandwich.

Stuffing Bread
adapted from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup coarse ground cornmeal
• 1/4 cup potato flour
• 2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal
• 2 teaspoons ground sage
• 1 1/3 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl or the bowl of a mixer and mix until combined. Knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes by hand or 5 minutes with a mixer. (Add additional water or flour if needed to get the dough to the right consistency.) Let the dough rise in a covered bowl for about an hour.

Punch dough down and shape into a loaf. Place in a lightly greased loaf pan and let rise for another hour or so, until the loaf has risen an inch above the top of the pan.

Preheat oven to 350°. Bake bread for 30-35 minutes, until it is golden brown and interior of loaf reads 190° on an instant read thermometer. Remove from oven, turn out of pan onto wire rack and let cool.

To make the sandwich:
Using this bread, I made a simple sandwich with lettuce, sliced turkey, mayo and cranberry sauce. For an extra decadent treat, toast the bread and lightly butter it before assembling the sandwich. Experiment! Make it yours!

iced coffee addiction

There's been an explosion of cold-brewed iced coffee devotees amongst my Flickr friends so I can't claim credit for this one. I've been meaning to make my own iced coffee again for ages - I have an intense love for iced vanilla lattes that knows no bounds. Fortunately for my waistline, my wallet is too slender to allow me to partake of these tasty treats more than once a month or so. But now that I'm home with this adorable baby, whose idea of an adequate amount of consecutive sleep doesn't exactly match up with mine, I both need a little caffeine once in a while and don't get to frequent coffee shops as much as I'd like. So back to the homemade coffee it is!

I used to make cold brewed coffee a few years ago but had forgotten exactly how, so I was pleased when I ran across smitten kitchen's "recipe" again last week. It's so easy I hesitate to even call it a recipe, but there are ingredients and some stirring involved, so there you go.

What really makes the finished drink for me, because I'm a girlie-sweet-drink-a-holic, is the addition of the vanilla syrup. (A healthy dose of cream doesn't hurt either...) Oh sure, you can go to the store and buy that flavored syrup like they use at the coffee shops, but if you have a few spare moments and a few (very) basic ingredients - why not make your own? I store mine in a jar in the fridge and this recipe lasts a good while, despite my propensity for slightly over-sweetened coffee drinks.

cold brewed iced coffee
from smitten kitchen - I usually double the recipe

• 1/3 cup medium/coarse ground coffee
• 1 1/2 cups cool water

Combine coffee and water, stirring thoroughly. Let sit, covered, overnight. Strain well through a fine mesh sieve or coffee filter. Stores quite nicely in a jar in the fridge!

vanilla simple syrup

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1-2 t. vanilla extract (or your flavor of choice)

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until sugar is fully dissolved. Let cool and stir in desired amount of desired flavor. Easy peasy! Also stores well in a jar in the fridge.

Now that you've got those jars in the fridge, grab both of them and some milk, cream or heck, even water will do. To make my morning "latte" I pour a little less than half a glass of coffee concentrate then add a big glug of vanilla syrup and some cream and fill the rest of the way with milk. (All cream would be delicious, I'm sure, but that sounds a bit too decadent even for my crazy I'm-breastfeeding-and-burning-a-gajillion-calories-a-day self. Kind of like drinking melted ice cream...mmm...)

hot buttered pretzels

The title says it all. Does it get any better than a hot buttered pretzel? Especially when you don't have to brave the mall to get it? I rarely post a recipe the exact same day I make it but these were just too good not to share right away. (That, and they're almost gone already...so I figured I might as well!) These are so easy to make. They really don't take much time at all, as far as yeast-containing baked goods go, and most of that time is just waiting for the dough to rest at various stages. And there are only a handful of ingredients that most people have on hand anyway. I know I do. Or at least I did, until I made these, and now we are out of flour! The tragedy! So hurry to your kitchen and start a batch of these decadent buttery, salty, heavenly treats right now!

Hot Buttered Pretzels
taken straight out of the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion, which I borrowed from my lovely local library but which I may need to own very soon just so I'll have more time to play with delicious recipes like this one!

dough:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast*
• 7/8 to 1 cup warm water**

topping:

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• coarse salt
• 3 tablespoons melted butter

*If you are using active dry yeast, add the yeast to the bowl first, then the water and stir to let the yeast hydrate for a few minutes before adding the additional ingredients. With instant yeast, this step isn't needed.
**The recipe says to use more in the winter and less in the summer - the goal is for a soft dough. It is January...I used 1 cup...the dough was perfect.

Place all dough ingredients in a large bowl or the bowl of a mixer and beat until combined. (See note about yeast.) Knead dough by hand or in the mixer for about 5 minutes until the dough is soft and smooth. Dust with flour to keep from sticking and place in a plastic bag. Seal bag and let rest for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500°. Prepare two baking sheets by either lightly greasing or lining with parchment paper.

Remove dough from bag and place on a lightly greased work surface. Divide dough evenly into 8 portions. Let rest, uncovered, for about 5 minutes.

Combine the 1/2 cup warm water and teaspoon of sugar, mixing until sugar is dissolved. Roll each piece of dough out into a long rope (about 28 inches) and twist into a pretzel shape. Dip pretzels into sugar water and place on prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with coarse salt and let rest for about 10 minutes.

Bake for 8-9 minutes, until pretzels are golden brown. Remove from oven and brush thoroughly with melted butter. Eat warm and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

A couple notes - I have not had time to experiment with this recipe (yet!) but I daresay I might add another teaspoon of sugar to the sugar water mixture. One of my favorite things about mall pretzels is their somewhat sweet-salty taste. These had that, but I'd like to try to intensify the sweet just a touch. Also, it is a LOT OF BUTTER. The original recipe even says, "Keep brushing the butter on until you've used it all; it may seem like a lot, but that's what gives these pretzels their ethereal taste." True. Very true. But...I think I might cut down on the butter next time just a little. A smidge, even.

I may just need to go finish off the last of them now...mmm...

apple spice coffee cake

Could it be? Is it possible? Am I really blogging a recipe? Listen, just because it's been over five months since I've posted a recipe, doesn't mean I don't still cook. Though admittedly, there were many months there where the morning sickness kept most cooking (and eating) at bay. Now that the wee womb babe has decided it's OK to let mama eat without wanting to run to the nearest bathroom, I'm back in the kitchen!

This apple spice coffee cake is a great way to use up apples that may have been sitting on your windowsill for just a little too long and gone slightly wrinkly with age. It is moist and nutty with a sweet, crunchy streusel topping.

Apple Spice Coffee Cake
adapted from the Joy of Cooking

for the streusel topping:

• 2/3 cup flour
• 2/3 finely chopped walnuts
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Blend all ingredients with a fork or in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

for the cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream or yogurt, or a combination
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups coarsely chopped apples (about two)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. In a smaller bowl, stir together the sour cream or yogurt and vanilla. (I used a combination of the two in an effort to clean out the fridge.)

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and sugar on high speed for several minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the flour mixture in three parts and the sour cream/yogurt mixture in two parts, alternating between the two. Gently stir in the apples and walnuts.

Scrape batter into prepared pan, top with streusel and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Serve warm or cool. I actually think this cake tasted better after having been stored in an air tight container for a day or so - it was very moist and fluffy!

maple blueberry muffins

Through a long series of events including sales, free berries and our Greenling delivery, we recently ended up with more blueberries than anyone should ever own at once. *ahem* Which is not to say that I don't love blueberries - I do. As a kid, we had a giant blueberry bush in the front yard and when it was time to make muffins, my sister and I traipsed outdoors and picked blueberries until our fingers (and our mouths!) were stained with the sweet juices of summer.

This muffin recipe reminds me of home - maple-flavored muffins studded with sweet, bursting berries. As if I didn't long to return to Maine already, now my nostalgia and desire to escape from this hot, southern place are even stronger! Until that becomes a reality, I will have to tide myself over with these summery Maine muffins.

Maple Blueberry Muffins
adapted from The Muffin Book

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 400° and grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, maple syrup, milk and melted butter. Add to flour mixture and stir until just combined. Carefully fold in berries.

Spoon into 12 muffin cups and bake until golder brown, about 15-18 minutes.

I found that these muffins are so deliciously buttery to begin with, they don't need to be buttered...it's like holding a little portable pancake in your hand! But by all means, butter them if you want to...

noodles with bok choy and tofu

As I was making this dish for what seems like the millionth time, I realized I had never shared it with you! How is that possible? This is one of my all time favorite dishes - wonderfully tasty, fairly easy to make and more or less healthy! It's one of the few dishes that M requests time and time again, even if we've just eaten it the week before.

You can use regular or baby bok choy, depending on what you have available and what your personal preference is. I've used both and preferred the baby bok choy, but M preferred the larger type, because he enjoys the bigger chunks of veggie in his noodles. If you don't want to lightly fry the tofu at the beginning, for health reasons or whatever, feel free not to - you just won't need as much oil for the recipe. I prefer it fried because I have a weird prejudice against squishy tofu. But that's just me.

Noodles with Bok Choy and Tofu
adapted from Bon Appétit, July 2000

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons chili oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 8 green onions, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 heads bok choy, bottom third discarded, leaves and ribs thickly sliced
• 12 ounces extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, drained well
• 12 ounces udon noodles, freshly cooked

Pour soy sauce into measuring cup and whisk in vinegar, honey, 1 tablespoon chili oil and cornstarch, blending thoroughly. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon chili oil and olive oil in a large heavy pot over high heat. Add tofu and fry briefly until slightly golden. (If desired, you can dust the tofu cubes with cornstarch first - they will crisp up faster. For this recipe I generally don't bother.) Add green onions and garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add bok choy ribs and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add bok choy leaves and sauté until beginning to wilt, about another 2 minutes. (If the ribs are small, go ahead and add the ribs and leaves together.) Mix in noodles and soy mixture. Stir to coat everything with sauce and continue cooking and stirring for a minute or two until the sauce thickens slightly.

See? I told you I'd be back with recipes! Have a great weekend everyone!

garlic chive-parmesan biscuits

One of the pleasures of getting fresh, local groceries delivered (or shopping at the farmer's market!) is finding new uses for familiar vegetables and herbs and getting to try new vegetables and herbs! I'm a big fan of chives - we are growing two big clusters in the garden after all - but I generally eat the onion-flavored variety. It's not that I hadn't ever tried the garlic kind, it's just that when I think "chives" I think "onion." Onion chives are delicious, with their snappy little tubular stems. But garlic chives, with their flat stems, are delicious too. They add just the right amount of garlicky flavor to these tartly cheesy drop biscuits. And since they're drop biscuits, they're super easy to make - no kneading, rolling out dough or cutting! Just plop them down and they're ready to go. I've been making batches of these and freezing them, so I can have fresh biscuits at the drop of a hat! Delicious with a cold summer soup.

garlic chive-parmesan biscuits
adapted from Joy of Cooking

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup finely snipped fresh garlic chives
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425°F. Whisk together in a large bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the butter pieces and cut them in with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, with a few larger pieces. Add fresh chives and parmesan and whisk thoroughly. Add the buttermilk all at once and stir until the flour mixture is thoroughly moistened. (The dough will not be smooth.) Drop by heaping tablespoons onto an ungreased baking sheet 1-2 inches apart. Bake until the bottoms are golden brown, about 12-15 minutes.

blackberry buttermilk cake

When a girl gets fresh blackberries in her grocery delivery box and stumbles across a recipe for a deliciously simple cake calling for raspberries, what does she do? Why, substitute, of course! A tiny substitution, to be sure, and one that might be repeated this weekend with, get this, blueberries! It's that glorious time of year here when the fruit is all juicy and bursting with flavor and it's hard to even save enough to bake with because it's just so easy to pop them all in your mouth... But restrain yourself! Because this cake is amazingly delicious with its crisp, sugary top and so simple I had to make two. In two days. It's that good.

blackberry buttermilk cake
adapted from Gourmet, June 2009

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 1 cup fresh blackberries

Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. (My cake pans have gone missing so I used a pie plate. Worked great.) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, if using. Beat the butter together with the 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla. Add the egg and beat well. At low speed, mix in the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined. Spoon batter into prepared pan, smoothing top. Scatter blackberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake until cake is golden and a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate. Apparently, two cakes serves two people over the span of about three days, if you're us and there aren't a lot of other groceries in the house...