orange cranberry muffins

sometimes i want a muffin for breakfast. a plain old, nothing too crazy muffin. but i've had my fair share of bland muffin recipes. so i substituted half the white sugar for brown and doubled the suggested amount of cranberries and tripled the orange zest. they're perfectly flavorful.

what? you don't like cranberries or oranges? just remove them and add whatever you'd like - cinnamon, nuts, blueberries, anything else you can think of.

and yes, i used up the last of my valentine's day and easter cupcake papers.

i'm on the lookout for a good pistachio muffin recipe. i've looked online - there are a lot of variations out there, but none of them are really grabbing me. recommendations?

cranberry orange muffins
adapted from joy of cooking

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
zest from one navel orange
2 eggs
1 cup milk or cream
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter

1. preheat the oven to 400F and line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. mix in the cranberries and zest and evenly coat with the flour mixture.
3. in a separate bowl, mix the eggs, milk/cream, sugars, butter, and vanilla.
4. make a well in the flour mixture and add the wet mixture. mix just until combined.
5. divide batter between 12 muffins and bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. let cool in the pan for ~10 minutes, remove, and serve warm or cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

pasta with tomato almond pesto & homemade garlic bread

last weekend (or was it the week before?) i caught america's test kitchen's "saucy italian favorites" show. i love a good pesto, but i was surprised to see them make a Sicilian pesto ofrom fresh tomatoes and ground almonds instead of pine nuts. it was really really good and really really easy. and another reason to fire up my food processor.

pasta with tomato and almond pesto
adapted from america's test kitchen

1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
2 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
pinch red pepper flakes
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 pound pasta, cooked according to package directions

1. mix almonds, tomatoes, basil, garlic, salt, and red pepper in a food processor for 1 minute until smooth.
2. stream in olive oil to the tomato mixture.
3. mix sauce into cooked pasta. mix in grated parmesan.

homemade garlic bread

1 loaf italian bread
1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
6 cloves minced garlic
salt & pepper

1. preheat oven to 350F. slice bread in half horizontally.
2. mix the butter, cheese, and garlic together. season with salt & pepper.
3. spread butter evenly onto both sides of the bread. put the loaf back together, put on a baking sheet, and bake about 10-15 minutes.
   

chicken & vegetable stirfry with soba noodles

the grocery store was all out of the usual lo mein noodles i use for stirfry and since we had rice last week, i wasn't in the mood for it again. i'm not an asian food connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination, so it took me a while in the aisle to find a substitute. and i settled on soba noodles. and i was pleasantly surprised. lo mein might have competition in my house.

so the noodles were set but i wanted something different for the stirfry - not the usual soy sauce and sesame oil. i wanted broccoli & beef but with more vegetables. so that's exactly what i made. and with chicken instead of beef.

chicken & vegetable stirfry with soba noodles
adapted from steamy kitchen's broccoli beef, serves 2

1 large chicken breast, thinly sliced
1/2 pound broccoli florets
6 carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 cup sugar snap peas
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

for the marinade:
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon corn starch

for the sauce:
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon dry sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth

1. stir together the marinade. pour into a resealable bag and add the chicken. massage the marinade into the chicken through the bag. marinade for 10 minutes.
2. blanch the broccoli by cooking in boiling water for 2 minutes. rinse in cold water and set aside.
3. stir together the sauce and set aside. start the water to cook the soba noodles. cook and drain according to directions on the package. do not rinse and set aside.
4. heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat and add the vegetable oil. add the chicken and cook until completely cooked.
5. add garlic to the pan and cook about thirty seconds, or until fragrant.
6. add the sauce, broccoli, carrots, and peas and stir to coat. add the dissolved cornstarch and cook 3-4 minutes until the sauce boils. stir in the noodles to coat in the sauce and serve.

pineapple sorbet

ice cream season is finally here!

my ice cream maker sits in the back corner of my cupboard for six months out of the year. sure, i can make ice cream in december, but that would be too weird. can you imagine - it's 15 degrees out and i'm making ice cream!? december is time for cookies and brownies and other oven required goodies. but now, now is the time for frozen fruit, dairy, and sugar. and what better way to kick it off than with pineapple!

my only complaint about this recipe - it doesn't have enough sugar in it or it needs some vodka or something. it freezes too hard making it almost impossible to scoop. it isn't impossible, just really hard.

jason loves soft serve ice cream, so we always have a bowl when it comes out of the ice cream maker...

...and freeze the rest for later



pineapple sorbet
from the ultimate ice cream book

1 pineapple, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped (about 3 pounds)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
juice from one lime

1. add the sugar and water to a saucepan and heat over medium heat until the mixture is clear. remove from heat and cool to room temp.
2. blend the pineapple, cooled syrup, and lime juice until smooth.
3. chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
4. mix well before churning in your ice cream maker according to the directions. i had to process mine in two batches since it didn't fit in one. be careful - you don't want it to overflow.
5. eat immediately for soft serve or freeze for a couple hours and serve.
   

raspberry pots de creme

i'm intimidated by custard. or pots de creme. whatever you want to call them, they've always scared me a bit. i've seen vanilla ones. chocolate ones. fruit flavored ones. i watched america's test kitchen make creme caramel. and melissa d'arabian make spiced butterscotch. and talk about how easy they are to make. and how the water bath is critical. so last weekend, when i needed a celebration dessert i also just happened to see this post for raspberry pots de creme. perfect.

they were easy. very easy. but i'm not quite sure if i don't like custard or if i did something wrong. i'm thinking the latter since the flavor itself was great.



i'll try again, when i get up the courage. and it will be a chocolate or caramel or other super sweet flavor. maybe i jumped the gun and skipped the foundational flavor and skipped straight to something unique.

raspberry pots de creme
find the recipe at Showfood Chef