Carrot Cupcakes April 24, 2008

It’s Spring, or as we say here in Puerto Rico… Summer’s here!!!!   The heat is blazing already, the humidity is rising and I am in the mood to bake cupcakes.

I learned this recipe from Mr. Alton Brown, one of my culinary teachers from the Food Network.  I love this cupcake recipe because I do not need a mixer.  It’s super easy to make and super reliable.  I always make them to raise funds for the Yoga Center… people can’t get enough of them.  They’re moist, chewy, and taste delicious.  I usually make them without the traditional cream cheese frosting because of all the dairy-free people at the center.  But I will make some with cream cheese frosting and share the recipe with you.

Also, these cupcakes are the 1^st recipe I am making for my “catering/baking” business.  I am looking to understand if my next serious career move should be something regarding my cooking and selling these cupcakes are a start…   The picture is from the dry run I did before I actually go out and sell these to people.  I know I still need to make them larger, so I am playing around with quantities… but for your personal enjoyment, the measures in the recipe work very well.

 

 

 

CARROT CUPCAKES

Adapted from an original recipe from Alton Brown

2 ½  cups, whole-wheat or spelt flour
About 5 medium carrots, grated medium
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
½  tsp salt
1 ½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
4 ½ tsp egg replacer mixed with 6 tbs of water
6 oz plain yogurt
6 oz vegetable oil

½ cup raisins

½ cup chopped walnuts

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk to sift and combine.  Add the carrots to this flour mix and toss until they are well-coated with the flour.
3. In the bowl of the food processor or in a blender, combine the sugar, egg replacer, vegetable oil and yogurt.   Pour this mixture into the carrot mixture and stir until just combined.   Add the raisins and walnuts and stir one last time to combine.
4. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners and pour about ¼ cup batter measure per cupcake.   Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes.
5. Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool 15 minutes in the pan. After 15 minutes, take the cupcakes out of the pan and allow them to cool completely.

Yogurt Cheese April 21, 2008

I am trying to learn to live with a little less cheese in my life…   My personal trainer used to tell me that that little belly I complain soooooo much about has a name - QUESO!!!! 

Cheese usually has a lot of fat.  I don’t like to buy the low-fat kinds usually because they replace the fat with plenty of chemicals to emulate the mouth-feel.  So I rather eat the real full-fat kind and eat less of the chemicals in the process.  I do like the reduced fat cream cheese though…

But sometimes, too much of a good thing can be not-so-good for you.  There was a time in my life when my doctors eliminated all dairy from my diet.  It was absolute HELL!!!  At the time, I used to drink at least 2 huge mugs of milk with chocolate a day.  Ohhh, I also got caffeine eliminated from my diet too.  Caffeine I can understand better, but Milk, Cheese,  how?!?!?!?

Over the years,  I have learned to have soy milk or rice milk based cheeses.  They are actually very ,very nice.  There are some better brands than others…   I know.  But they tend to be expensive. And I have to take a special trip to the natural food store to get them… not usually available at my neighborhood grocery store.

Some years ago, I learned that for people who tend to be lactose intolerant, yogurt seems to agree with them and it’s a great way to get calcium in your diet.  Something to do with the live active cultures. 

So I decided to make yogurt cheese - all the benefits of yogurt, the consistency of cream cheese.  It’s economical, because I can make it with regular yogurt I can find at my regular grocery store.  And, there’s hardly anything to it…  Too many pluses to count.  Don’t you think? 

I try to use organic plain yogurt.  I always read the label to make sure it has no added gelatin.  Unfortunately, most commercial fruit-flavored yogurts (the Dannons and Yoplait yogurts of the world…) all have added gelatin.  I usually buy Stonyfield Farms or some other organic brand.

 

 

 

YOGURT CHEESE

6oz container of plain low-fat yogurt - I started small, but the next time I’ll make a whole pint

1 tsp kosher salt

 

1. In the same container the yogurt comes in, mix in the salt.
2. Empty the salted yogurt onto a fine mesh strainer lined with a cheese cloth or 2 coffee filters.  I used the unbleached kind.
3. Place a bowl under the strainer to catch all the liquid that will drain.  Cover the yogurt on the strainer with cling wrap or the cover of the bowl you placed underneath and place in the fridge for about 24 hours. 

The whey will drain off and the yogurt left will have the thick consistency of cream cheese.

Use the same way you would use cream cheese or even ricotta cheese - on crackers, toast, in a sauce, on top of pasta… 

Ode to Vermont Sandwich April 8, 2008

To honor Vermont and their cheeses, I made myself this simple open faced sandwich…  I had read about this sandwich combination a long time ago, but it always stayed on my mind.

 

ODE TO VERMONT SANDWICH

2 slices of sprouted wheat bread

Pear Spread

Extra Sharp Vermont Cheddar Cheese - I used Vintage, but any kind of Vermont cheddar will do

2 slices of veggie bacon

 

1. Toast the bread - I use a toaster over, so I placed the veggie bacon slices right next to the bread to heat up a bit, while saving time and energy
2. Spread the Pear Spread onto the bread slices - go as heavy or light as you’d like
3. Layer the cheese
4. Top with the veggie bacon

 

I know the pictures are not very artistic, but the flavors were excellent - a reminder of Vermont and all their great produce.  Love it!!!

 

Pear Spread April 3, 2008

Pears have been on sale for the longest time every time I visit the grocery store.  So I decided to buy some the other day to make my roasted pears for the French Dinner.  I love these roasted pears, but it was time for some diversity…  so I decided to make butter – Pear Butter.

I am not going to question how the name came to be… especially after my previous post about a punch called a “bull”.  If I were to name this in Spanish it would probably be something like “Compota de Peras” or Pear Compote.  However, I believe the name Pear Spread is truer to the final application.

Here’s how I made it…

 

PEAR SPREAD

2 ripe Bartlet Pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces

½ cup water

2 tbs white balsamic vinegar

2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

 

¾ cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla powder

1 cinnamon stick

Pinch of salt

 

1. Combine pears, water, vinegar and lemon juice in a medium heavy saucepan.  Cover and simmer until pears are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20-25 minutes.
2. 
3. Puree the mixture using a hand blender or in a food processor.  If using the food processor, be careful transferring the mixture to the food processor and back into the saucepan again, because the liquid is very hot.
4. 
5. Add the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt to the pureed mixture.  Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
6. Increase the heat to medium and boil gently uncovered until mixture reduces and thickens, about 1 hour.  Stir occasionally to prevent any scorching in the bottom.
7. Discard the cinnamon stick.  Spoon the spread into canning jars if canning.  I do not know how to do that, so I just waited for the mixture to cool down some and transferred to a plastic container and ate it all within a week.

 

Hazelnut Praline March 7, 2008

I have been meaning to share with you some desserts, but I wanted to make them with Almonds.  Every-time I go to the market, I forget to buy them.  If I don’t write it, I will never remember it.

Then the other day I was reorganizing my fridge (in preparation to my upcoming trip to Costco) and I found along lost bag of shelled hazelnuts.  My dear mom helped me shell these hazelnuts I bought before Xmas and I never got to eat and they were sitting, very unassumingly, in this ziplock bag in the back of my fridge… how about Hazelnut Praline!!!  I am sure it will taste fantastic too.  It did…

                 

HAZELNUT PRALINE

1/2 cup shelled hazelnuts

1 tbs maple sugar

1 1/2 tbs maple syrup

1.  I like to start with peeled hazelnuts.  I think the taste of the nut comes across better when the little skin is taken off.  So to do this with hazelnuts, I roasted them for a little while in a 350F oven for about 10 minutes.  They’ll start to smell a bit.
2. Then place them in a clean kitchen towel and scrub them all together.  Most of the skins will come off.  Some I had to peel a bit of my hands.  Wait a bit until the nuts cool down some.  You don’t need to get your fingers burned.
3.  
4. Cut the hazelnuts in a smaller pieces.  I used a serrated knife and it worked very well.  The nuts did not fly all across the cutting board.
5. Mix the nuts in a medium bowl with the maple syrup and maple sugar.  Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in a 350F oven for about 12 minutes.  I try not to leave the kitchen because nuts tend to burn fast and remember, you may have already roasted them a bit already to skin them.
6. When they’re done, they’ll smell really sweet and nutty delicious.
7. Be careful taking them out of the oven, but transfer then to a metal dish right away to help them cool off.  I sometimes put the nuts in the fridge to help keep them away from the humidity we always have here in PR.

Snap the nuts loose and eat them alone as a snack or sprinkle them over your favorite dessert.  I particularly enjoyed them today with my Roasted Pears with Blue Cheese.

Acid Fruit Salad January 19, 2008

Fruit salad come in different varieties - those made with what we call “sweet” fruits - like bananas, papayas, mangoes, red apples, etc.  And my favorite, “acid” fruit salads, made with fruits that are more tart, like oranges, kiwi fruit, grapes, strawberries, pineapples, etc.

At work, we planned a breakfast to celebrate a co-worker’s birthday.  I was somewhat surprised thta no one had offered to bring any fresh fruits.  The ”pot luck” menu was full of baked goods, greasy foods and not a fruit in sight.  So I offered to bring a fruit salad.  This is one of my favorite combinations…

 

ACID FRUIT SALAD

1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut in small pieces

5 kiwi fruit, peeled and cut in small pieces

2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cut in small pieces

1 medium bunch of green or red grapes, cut in half and seeded, if not seedless

2 navel oranges, peeled and supremed

4 red plums, peeled and cut into small pieces

the juice of 1 lemon

honey to taste

1. Mix in a large bowl the pineapple, kiwi fruit, grapes and plums. 
2. When you peel and cut the apple, drizzle some of the lemon juice to prevent browning.  Add to salad.
3. To supreme the oranges, peel all the orange until you reach the flesh.  With a paring knife, cut in between each membrane so you get clean segments of orange without the membrane.  This way it’s easier to eat.  Add to the salad.  Squeeze the membrane over the salad to capture any remaining juice.
4. Drizzle with some honey to sweeten if the fruits are too tart.  This will also help “juice” the fruits a bit.

This is the best way to start your day… Enjoy!!!

Veggie Party Dip January 19, 2008

If you’re not in the mood for sandwiches, or just don’t have time to wait for the Veggie Party Sandwiches to set to cut the crusts, you can serve the dip by itself with crackers, crostini or even crudites.

 

VEGGIE PARTY DIP

12oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 large tomato, seeds removed, chopped as finely as possible

1 medium cubanelle pepper or 1/2 green bell pepper, seeded, chopped as finely as possible

1/2 medium onion, chopped as finely as possible

Olive oil to taste

Garlic salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix together the cream cheese, tomato, onion and pepper.
2. Add olive oil in small increments to soften the mixture until it’s in an easy-to-spread consistency.
3. Season with garlic salt and pepper.

Veggie Party Sandwiches January 19, 2008

Here in Puerto Rico we have a custom of serving at most birthday parties what we call “sandwichitos de mezcla”.  Roughly translated means “mixture mini sandwiches”.  They’re traditionally made with a bunch of things I don’t eat anymore… so a friend taught me to make this alternative version.

I will confess, my friend Ana Yolanda has requested these sandwiches for several of her home parties.  And I am not lying when I tell you these sandwiches go faster than the traditional version.  I make them on 100% whole wheat bread, so that’s why they are not super symmetrical.  Traditionally they’re made with club sandwich bread, but none of the brands available here are 100% whole grain.

 They’re super easy and super tasty…

 

VEGGIE PARTY SANDWICHES

12oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 large tomato, seeds removed, chopped as finely as possible

1 medium cubanelle pepper or 1/2 green bell pepper, seeded, chopped as finely as possible

1/2 medium onion, chopped as finely as possible

Olive oil to taste

Garlic salt and pepper to taste

1 packet of 100% whole wheat sliced sandwich bread

1. Mix together the cream cheese, tomato, onion and pepper.
2. Add olive oil in small increments to soften the mixture until it’s in an easy-to-spread consistency.
3. Season with garlic salt and pepper.

If you stop here… you can use this mixture as a veggie party dip.  Continue to make the sandwiches…

4.  Spread the mixture onto the one side of the sliced bread and assemble sandwiches.

 

5.  Take a clean/new handi-wipe or 2 paper towel and dip it in milk or water.  Squeeze the excess milk/water.  Place it at the bottom of a tray or Pyrex where you can fit all the sandwiches.  Place the sandwiches on top of one paper towel or the opened handi wipe.  Cover the sandwiches with the remaining damp paper towel.  Place the tray in the fridge for a few hours or even over night.  The paper towel will keep the sandwiches moist while in the fridge.  If not using, the top bread will dry out on you.

6.  Remove sandwiches from fridge and cut away the crusts and cut in quarters - either diagonally or vertical/horizontal.  It’s up to you.

Serve on a platter and see them fly away…

Fried Cauliflower January 11, 2008

We already established I like fried foods, right?

But believe me, for the amount of fried foods I have posted on this blog, I do not eat that many of them… maybe like once a week, maybe. I think it’s just that we’re around the holidays here and these are “more or less” permissible things around the holidays… eat fried foods now, diet and exercise in the new year… But I find that if you exercise and eat healthy all the time, as part of your daily routine, you can indulge every once in a while in a fried morsel of crispy goodness.

Enough…

Here are my interpretation of Fried Cauliflower. I learned to eat this, believe it or not, at the salad bar at Ponderosa Steakhouse. The salad bars here in PR offer, in addition to the standard salad fare, corn sorullitos, macaroni and cheese, cooked corn, steamed carrots, and sometimes, fried cauliflower. They’re sooooo tasty. But the secret of their tastiness is in the batter. Let me show you how…

FRIED CAULIFLOWER

1 head of cauliflower, cut in medium sized florets
2 cups whole wheat or spelt flour

2 tbs cornstarch
3 tbs sofrito
1 tbs salt or garlic salt

1 tbs Herbamare herbed salt
a few grinds of cracked black pepper
water - about 2 cups
a few sprinkles of paprika - optional
Canola oil - for frying

1. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, cornstarch and the water. Mix the water slowly, maybe in two batches. The idea is for the batter to be the same consistency as pancake batter.
2. Add to the batter, the sofrito, salt, herbed salt and pepper. Add paprika, if using.
3. Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet over medium heat.
4. Dunk the pieces of cauliflower in the batter. Clean the piece of any running batter and place carefully in the hot oil.
5. Fry the little morsels until golden brown on all sides. It should take a few minutes - this way the cauliflower will cook/soften a bit and the batter will be golden brown and crunchy.

Eat on their own or dunk in Mayo Ketchup.

Hope you like them!!!

Egg-less Frittatas December 25, 2007

 This recipe has many ingredients, but it’s easy to assemble and TASTY!!!!

I took them as an addition to a non-vegetarian party and they were all gone in about 10 minutes… my best friend and her mom almost did not get a chance to try them.  If non-vegetarians were devouring them at a Christmas party, image how good they taste.

EGG-LESS FRITTATAS

1 package of firm silken tofu, drained of water

1/2 cup of soy milk

4 tablespoons of cornstarch

2 oz goat cheese - I used half of a small log

1/2 cup sour cream

squirt of Dijon mustard - about 1 teaspoon

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 cup of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained of as much water as possible

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, without sulphur dioxide

1/2 cup of chopped grape tomatoes

4 green onion stalks, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped

1/4 teaspoon garlic and herb seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

Canola oil spray

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. 
2. Place the first 7 ingredients in a blender.  Process until completely smooth and silky.
3. Place tofu mixture in a large bowl and add the spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, grape tomatoes, garlic, parsley, seasoning, green onions, salt and pepper.
4. Lightly spray 2 muffin tins with canola oil spray.  Spoon mixture into muffin pans using a 1/4 cup measure.
5. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes until they’re set and a bit golden on top.  Check that a knife or wooden skewer comes out cleanly before removing from oven.
6. When they’re done, remove from oven and let cool for about 20 minutes.  When they’re cooler, they’ll come out from the pan neater and nicer.

They’re light…  you can serve them as a party appetizer, you can also serve them as a nice brunch entree with a nice green salad.  I guess you could also bake it in a baking dish and cut it into pieces instead of doing individual servings… I just have not tried it like that yet… so I am not sure if we’ll need to make adjustments to to baking time.

This recipe yielded me 20 individual fritattas.

  

 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 This is my last post of the year.  I will take a few days off from cooking and blogging.  This has been a wonderful few months… I promise to come back in the new year with new added inspiration to cook and share with you all.

May the New Year 2008 bring only the best…  until then.

Madelyn.

Carob Granola December 23, 2007

This is a take on Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate and Peanut Granola.  I gave the recipe to my mom this year and she gave them away as presents to her friends at the yoga center.  She wanted to make something that was good, but easy to do as well.

It turned out really good. And because she does not eat chocolate anymore, she added carob powder instead of the cocoa powder.

 

CAROB GRANOLA

1/4 cup carob powder
4 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup sunflower seeds, shelled
3/4 cup sesame seeds
3/4 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 cups raw peanuts or raw almonds
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons canola oil

1. Preheat oven to 310 degrees F.

2. Mix everything together very well in a large mixing bowl.
3. Spread the mixture evenly in 2 baking pans and bake for about 1 hour, turning over half-way through baking. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.