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food, snacks and sides

aussie bites

Posted by Stacy · 11 Comments 

Am I the only person left without a Costco membership? Some days I feel that way.

A friend and I went for a walk on the beach a few weeks ago and since the weather forecast said “75 and sunny” but meant “62 and cloudy” we decided to pop into a cafe for a cup of tea to warm up. We were in line and the guy ahead of us asked the barista for a solid little mini muffin on display in the bakery case. Intrigued, we asked what they were called; the hipster behind the counter replied, “Aussie bites.” We each ordered one.

aussie bites

Aussie bites are denser than muffins but have a nice flour component that makes them more tender than granola bars. As we nibbled our fiberlicious snacks, I mentioned that I would have to try making some at home. I eyed my bite thoughtfully, identifying flax seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, coconut, and raisins, pondering the other ingredients.

A full four seconds of research on the ol’ intertubes back at home told me that they’re from Costco and you can just call them up and ask for the recipe, which several people have already done on my behalf and slapped it up on the web.

Huh. Well, that was easy.

aussie bites

aussie bites

So far I have made these twice — first a quarter of a batch, then a half batch. Who needs 50 mini muffins? Not I. The second time I used olive oil in place of the copious amount of butter called in the recipe. If you can get over the shock factor of the two sticks of butter, it actually divides out into less than a teaspoon of butter per bite which isn’t actually that bad.

Really take your time chewing thoroughly, savor that small morsel, and try not to eat half a dozen in a sitting and you should be fine. Next time I might try half butter, half oil. If I had any applesauce on hand I might have given that a shot as a partial replacement, too. The buttery flavor was nice and the oil-based batch took a few minutes longer to cook. Either way, they’re a handy snack.

The other changes I made were adding salt and vanilla (really? neither?) and a small handful of chopped almonds which were lovely even though I forgot to add them the second time. For the cup of dried fruit I used equal parts raisins and dates — the dates sort of melt in subtly, the raisins are more overt.

Have you had Aussie bites? What’s your favorite snack from Costco?

aussie bites

Aussie Bites

Adapted from Costco
Makes 50 mini muffins

My hand-me-down mini muffin pan is not non-stick, so I very lightly greased it, ran a knife around the edges after baking, and didn’t have any trouble.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup flaxseeds
  • 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
  • 1 cup finely chopped dried fruit (apricots, raisins, dates, figs, cranberries, etc.)
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons hot water
  • 3 eggs, beaten

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Stir dry ingredients together in a bowl.
  3. Melt honey and butter together. Mix baking soda and salt with hot water and add to butter mixture. Stir in vanilla. Combine butter mixture with dry ingredients, add eggs, and mix well.
  4. Use a tablespoon to drop the batter into lined or lightly-greased mini muffin tins. Flatten the tops.
  5. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350F or until golden. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 5 minutes; finish cooling on wire racks.

aussie bites

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June 22, 2010 · Tagged with , , ,

food, snacks and sides

baked vegetarian eggrolls

Posted by Stacy · 2 Comments 

Last week I read a post over at TheKitchn about looking for recipe inspiration in restaurant menus. While I have definitely applied new flavors from out and about in my home cooking, I haven’t been eating out that much since we moved. So I did a little research.

Our CSA not only grows produce for CSA members and farmers markets, they also grow crops specifically for local restaurants. I decided to look up the menus for a few of those places since they will very likely be using some of the exact same ingredients that are already in my fridge.

One of the first restaurants I heard about serving produce from Suzie’s Farm was The Linkery. I found their daily menu blog and read through a few of them until my eyes lit up at the vegan eggroll entree with Swiss chard and carrots, among other things. It sounded tasty and featured my favorite ingredients: stuff in my fridge.

eggroll filling

Swiss chard, carrots, sugar snap peas, scallions, and mushrooms got sauteed with garlic and ginger. Dairy-free and vegan! The wrappers I used were not, however. A tablespoon or two is actually just enough filling (I learned after over-stuffing the first one) for each roll.

My wrapping improved after the first two. I picked up a giant pack of eggroll wrappers in the refrigerated section of Whole Foods for just over $2 that may last me the rest of my life. Here is how I wrapped mine up which seemed effective:

wrapping eggrolls

Click on the photo to see a larger version.

My bowlful of filling cooked down enough that it was the perfect amount for 6 eggrolls, which is about 2 servings. After stuffing would be a great time to pop them in the freezer to have your own quick snack, but this was my trial run so I just baked them all.

Still terrified of frying, I misted the pan and the eggrolls with spray oil (I used olive oil and it was just fine). If you don’t have an oil mister, use a pastry brush to coat both the pan and rolls with a thin layer of oil.

homemade vegetarian eggrolls

Normally I would give you a pretty product shot here, but I only liked one so you’ll have to get to the end to see it. The Linkery served their eggrolls with a sweet and sour sauce made from locally-sourced loquats. I did not have any loquats on hand ( … ) so I made do. The sauce wasn’t great so I didn’t include it. Here’s the recipe for the eggrolls however, which is Husband Approved!

Baked Vegetarian Eggrolls

Makes 6 eggrolls (2 servings)

Ingredients:
1/2 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
2 cups thinly-sliced chard (about 4 large leaves, stems removed)
1/4 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup chopped pea pods
3 shiitake mushrooms, minced (fresh — or dried and soaked in hot water for 20 minutes)
2 scallions, white and light greens parts, sliced
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
6 eggroll wrappers
spray oil for pan and eggrolls

Directions:
1.) Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add chard, carrots, peas, mushrooms and scallions and stir well. Cook 2-3 minutes until vegetables have slightly softened. Add garlic and ginger and stir. Add soy sauce to deglaze the pan and remove from heat.

2.) Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly mist a baking sheet with oil. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of filling into each eggroll wrapper and fold as shown above. Place eggrolls on oiled baking sheet and mist with a little more oil. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes until eggrolls are golden brown. Serve warm with sweet and sour sauce.

homemade vegetarian eggrolls

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April 27, 2010 · Tagged with , , ,

food, homemade staples

happy hippie granola

Posted by Stacy · 10 Comments 

Two oft-confused slang terms are hippie and granola. While I giggle and agree with a lot of Urban Dictionary definitions, I think the most importance difference is simple: hippies are dirty, granola is delicious.

homemade granola

Granola is also so simple to make at home. It’s a good pantry-buster and a great snack. A few articles I’ve read claim that it’s not actually cheaper to make it at home, but they were putting in all kinds of crazy exotic dried fruit. This is just a basic granola recipe that can easily be altered according to your cupboard contents.

After several batches, I have figured out my idea mixture of ingredients. This particular batch was a little drier than I like, so I have altered the recipe to reflect what it should be, which is a little stickier than the photos show. Also, in a perfect world, this would be made with maple syrup, but lacking a first-born child to trade for a jug of the stuff, I made do. I’ll give you a few alternatives along the way!

First things first:

homemade granola

Three cups of old-fashioned rolled oats, one cup of shredded coconut. That’s a good start to a batch.

homemade granola

Clockwise from top left: 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, 3/4 cup chopped pecans, 2 tablespoons each sesame and flax seeds, 3/4 cup chopped almonds

This is a nice mix of flavors and textures. Ideally we would add about 1/3 cup chopped peanuts, but I was all out this time.

homemade granola

This is one of the subtle changes I made after a few trials that made a huge impact! Add 2 tablespoons brown sugar (light or dark) and a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Get a huge bowl (more depth is better than more width) and add all the dry ingredients and stir them up.

homemade granola homemade granola

Now grab a small bowl for some chemistry magic!

We need oil (I used vegetable oil, but olive oil works too) and sweeteners (other than maple syrup, I found that I like to use honey and molasses, but agave nectar or brown rice syrup should work). This batch had 1/3 cup oil and 1/4 cup each honey and molasses, but it should have had 1/3 cup of each sweetener. Lesson learned!

homemade granola

The magic ingredients here are 3 tablespoons of peanut butter and a teaspoon of vanilla. Crunchy, creamy, whatever. Trust me, it adds a lovely depth of flavor that will make your granola extra tasty.

I wish I had taken a photo halfway between these. Use a whisk to break up the peanut butter and give it all a stir. It will look almost curdled. Keep whisking until your mixture magically emulsifies into a thick goo (that’s the technical term).

homemade granola

Pour that over your dry ingredients and use a large spoon or spatula to fold the wet and dry ingredients together until the dry ingredients are coated evenly.

homemade granola homemade granola

You’ll want a pan with a lip. I use a 12×17 inch sheet pan which works great. You want to spread the granola out as much as you can, so split it into two batches if necessary. Pour the granola into the pan and spread it evenly, particularly into the corners.

homemade granola

Anything mountains or valleys will cook faster, and all the ingredients involved go from toasted to charred very quickly. The more evenly it’s spread in the pan, the more evenly it will cook.

Bake at 300F for 25-35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until golden, fragrant, and toasted. Watch carefully the last few minutes to prevent burning.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Break into pieces and let cool completely. If desired, stir in pieces of dried fruit. Store in an airtight container for up to a month.

homemade granola

Happy Hippie Granola

Makes about 6 cups

Other delicious additions include sunflower seeds, millet, peanuts, walnuts, oat bran, raisins, dates, etc. Be creative!

Ingredients:
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
2 tablespoons flax seeds
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup molasses
3 tablespoons peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1.) Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir well. Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until emulsified. Pour emulsion over the dry ingredients and fold together until evenly coated.

2.) Spread the granola on a large sheet pan with a lip and even out the top. Bake at 300F for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes and paying careful attention in the last 5 minutes of baking. Let cool in pan five minutes, then use a spoon or spatula to break into desired-size pieces. Stir in dried fruit if desired. Let cool completely before serving.

homemade granola

March 3, 2010 · Tagged with ,

csa, csa recipes, food, vegetables

crispy kale chips

Posted by Stacy · 6 Comments 

Recipes for kale chips are everywhere. Turn a weird leafy green into a salty, crunchy, snack food! Amaaaaazing!

The only type of kale I had eaten before was the flat lacinato kale (also called dinosaur or black kale), but this week in our CSA we got some gorgeous curly red monarch kale.

red monarch kale

Its leaves range from light green to deep purple with purple stems. It’s pretty!

red monarch kale

After I removed the tough stems, I chopped the kale up and tossed it in a large bowl with a glug of olive oil and a dash of vinegar. Before tossing, the oil pooled in the bottom of the bowl.

kale tossed with olive oil

After tossing, the kale was evenly coated with oil. Then I spread it in a single layer on a large baking sheet and sprinkled it with kosher salt.

kale tossed with olive oil

A little over 10 minutes later (turning the kale halfway through), voila! Crispy kale chips.

I’m not big on snacks, so these didn’t blow me away. They are satisfyingly crunchy, though, and are nice if you want to nibble on something fairly guilt-free if you’re not actually hungry. My husband said he wouldn’t go out of his way for them, but he would eat them again. This was after he said he would try a few and promptly polished off the rest of the batch. However, if this gets your kids to eat veggies as snacks, more power to you!

toasted kale chips

I think I’ll stick to my kale sauteed, mixed in to mashed potatoes, or in a salad, but making the chips was a fun experiment. If I had an abundance of kale and a potluck to attend, they could make a good conversation piece — if you could hear the conversation over the crunch.

Have you tried kale chips yet?

Crispy Kale Chips

Ingredients:
1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Directions:
1.) Wash and dry kale. Cut out center stems. Chop kale into pieces about 2 inches wide.

2.) Preheat oven to 350F. Place kale in a mixing bowl and add oil and vinegar. Toss until kale is evenly coated. Turn kale onto a large baking sheet and spread in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt.

3.) Bake 10-15 minutes at 350F, flipping the kale after 5 minutes. Do not let kale brown or it will become bitter.

toasted kale chips

February 5, 2010 · Tagged with

desserts, food

the best caramel corn ever

Posted by Stacy · 4 Comments 

A few years ago as a Valentine’s Day gift for my husband, I got him “bottomless popcorn-and-a-movie” (a Netflix subscription, an air popper, and two bags of popcorn kernels). It was a fun idea, I thought, until I realized that my husband loves really terrible movies. Really. Terrible.

It was about three days later that we got separate queues. Crisis averted.

Occasionally our movie tastes collide and we both want to watch the same movie, and that happened this week. My husband suggested making popcorn and watching it together, and I countered with something better:

caramel corn

Caramel corn! I had seen recipes popping up a few different places and finally caved in to the pressure.

My husband even helped by popping the popcorn while I prepared the caramel. No process photos because caramel is hot like lava and as delicious as this caramel corn is, it was not worth risking serious burns to take pictures while I made it.

Having made caramel several times for other recipes, it doesn’t scare me, but I did get a little distracted by the crazy chemical reaction when baking soda is added to the caramel before pouring it over the popcorn. According to Deb at Smitten Kitchen, the baking soda “makes the caramel airier and less brittle.” While I have experienced caramel bubbling and frothing when water is added at the end, I was impressed when the caramel foamed and expanded dramatically with the addition of baking soda. It also changed the color to an almost-alarming shade of orangey-brown that surprised me, but I may have just let my caramel get darker than recommended. My intrigue lasted about 10 seconds too long because I was marveling at the caramel instead of pouring it over my caramel corn. It was fine, I just had a few chunks of “popcorn brittle” where the caramel cooled in large pieces.

caramel corn

The original recipe calls for peanuts, but I decided to go a little fancier (read: I didn’t have that many peanuts) and combine peanuts, almonds, and pecans. It also called for a sweet-salty-spicy combo of caramel with salt and cayenne pepper, but the purist I married decided that cayenne would be too much. He also didn’t think it needed almonds, but he was over-ruled because almonds are both delicious and good for you.

The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of un-popped corn popped on the stove. I popped about 3/4 cup of kernels in an air-popper and I still had plenty of caramel to go around.

caramel corn

It turned out really well. Even with my sweet tooth, I could only eat about a handful before I was sugared out. It made me glad I had extra popcorn, so I changed the amount for the recipe below.

Caramel Corn

Adapted from The Craft of Baking via Smitten Kitchen
Makes about 4 quarts

Ingredients:
Spray oil or vegetable oil
3/4 cup popcorn kernels, popped via your preferred method
2 cups chopped nuts (optional; I used peanuts, almonds, and pecans)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon kosher or other coarse salt
1/2 cup water

Directions:
1.) Lightly spray or coat two large baking sheets, a large bowl, and two rubber spatulas with oil. Place popped corn (un-popped kernels removed) in the large bowl. Toss with nuts if using.

2.) Measure out baking soda and set nearby. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, salt, butter, and water. Cook over high heat without stirring. Mixture will boil. After about 10 minutes or so, the mixture will turn a golden caramel color.

3.) Remove pan from heat and whisk in the baking soda — it will bubble up considerably. Instead of marveling over how cool it is, immediately pour the caramel over the popcorn and nuts. Carefully use the spatulas to “toss” the popcorn and caramel like a salad.

4.) When popcorn is somewhat evenly coated with caramel, divide the caramel corn onto the baking sheets and break apart into smaller pieces before it cools. Let cool about 15 minutes (to room temperature) before eating. Caramel corn will keep up to two weeks in an airtight container.

caramel corn

January 16, 2010 · Tagged with

bread, food

lavash crackers

Posted by Stacy · 7 Comments 

It was too hot for heavy bread, so I made crackers, instead! Tomorrow I can have them with some kind of salsa or tapenade or tabbouleh for lunch.

Lavash crackers (also called Armenian flatbread) are made from a yeast-leavened dough that is rolled flat, seasoned, and baked until crisp. This particular recipe also helped me meet my goals of using my kitchen scale and making more recipes from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.

Normally I use my KitchenAid stand mixer, but I went for it and kneaded this by hand. Check out my pretty new bamboo cutting board, too!

lavash dough

After 10 minutes of kneading, the dough rises for about 90 minutes (until doubled). Then it’s pressed into a large rectangle and rolled thin. While it can be left plain, I added kosher salt and sesame seeds to mine. Using a pizza cutter, I attempted to score the dough, but ended up cuting through it (which was fine). Anything that isn’t cut through will snap apart once baked.

lavash dough, rolled out

After 15-20 minutes in the oven, the crackers will start to brown. Let cool for 10 minutes on the pan, then break apart. Eat plain, with hummus, tapenade, or whatever manner of dip you prefer.

lavash crackers

Lavash Crackers adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Bread Baker’s Apprentice
Makes one sheet pan of crackers

1.5 cups (6.75 ounces) unbleached bread flour
1/2 teaspoon (.13 ounce) salt
1/2 teaspoon (.55 ounce) instant yeast
1 tablespoon (.75 ounce) honey
1 tablespoon (.5 ounce) vegetable oil
1/3 to 1/2 cup (3-4 ounces) water, room temperature
poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds or kosher salt for topping

1. Combine flour, salt, yeast, honey, oil, and just enough water to let the mixture form a ball.

2. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead about 10 minutes, until ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test (able to stretch without tearing). The dough’s firmness should fall between French bread and bagel dough.

3. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer dough to the bowl, rolling to coat evenly with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for about 90 minutes until the dough doubles in size. You can also place the dough in the refrigerator overnight at this point.

4. When the dough has doubled, transfer the dough to a lightly-oiled surface. Press the dough into a square and lightly flour the top. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough as close to paper thin as you can, about 12 by 15 inches. If the dough resists, cover it with a damp towel, or plastic wrap, and let it rest for five minutes, then try again.

5. Line a baking sheet with parchment and carefully lift dough onto the baking sheet. Trim excess parchment if there is overhang. Mist the dough with water and sprinkle it with seeds or salt or a mixture thereof. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into diamonds or rectangles if desired.

6. Bake at 350F on middle rack for 15-20 minutes until crackers begin to brown evenly across the top. Remove from oven and let cool on pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, snap apart, and serve.

lavash crackers

Submitted to YeastSpotting.

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June 23, 2009 · Tagged with , , ,