Cranberry-Almond Granola

This recipe for Cranberry-Almond Granola is the same basic recipe I always use, often substituting raisins, dried apricots, or dates for the cranberries, and swapping pecans or walnuts for the almonds, sometimes throwing in pumpkin seeds, chia, or coconut. This recipe will work for whatever you want to add to your granola — but always remember to add fruits AFTER cooking, otherwise their (and the granola’s) consistency is ruined. Granola is fantastic on top of yogurt, with milk, or just by itself.

Ingredients:

Yields approximately 9 cups

– 1/2 c. oil

– 2 Tbsp. honey

– 2 Tbsp. high-quality maple syrup

– 1/2 tsp. vanilla

– 1/4 c. brown sugar

– 3 c. oats

– 1/2 c. millet

– 1/2 c. sunflower seeds

– 1/4 c. flax seeds

– 3/4 c. shaved almonds

– 3/4 c. unsweetened dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. In a small saucepan over low-medium heat, combine oil, honey, syrup, vanilla, and sugar. Heat until sugar is dissolved and liquid is uniform consistency.

3. Combine all dry ingredients, EXCEPT cranberries in a large bowl

4. Pour liquid over dry ingredients, stirring gently

5. Spread granola evenly over an aluminum or parchment lined baking sheet

6. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally with a spatula. (Keep an eye on it though — it can burn quickly!)

7. Allow to cool, mix in cranberries and enjoy! Store in an airtight container.

A Congee Primer

One of my favorite things in the world to eat (and my number-one comfort food of choice)  is also perhaps the simplest: congee, or rice porridge. A staple throughout Asia congee is also called juk, kanji, ganji, chao, chok, lugaw, and jaou, amongst other things. Now, there’s nothing that exciting about rice porridge, I’ll admit. Rather, the awesome part of congee is the condiments, for which the congee itself is the perfect compliment and vehicle.

Congee is ridiculously easy to make — simply boil rice in an excess of water. For a thicker congee use a five cups of water to one cup of rice ratio. I like mine a little thinner so I use a 10/1 water/rice ratio, but in some parts of Asia you can find it as thin as 13/1 or even 15/1. Simply bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and cook for about an hour. That’s it. Congee is also a mild and easily digestible food — often served to infants, the elderly, and the infirm. It is also an ideal diet food — when prepared at a 10/1 ratio, 1 cup of congee has only 71 calories, and zero grams of fat. That’s hard to beat…Congee can also be made with other grains besides rice, such as millet, kasha, barley, and oats.

So now the good part: the condiments. Congee add-ons are infinite, and vary greatly from country to country. In Bangladesh, for example, konji jaou (congee) is typically served for breakfast with lime, salt, chili, and fried shallot. In some parts of India ganji (congee) is topped with shaved coconut, fresh coconut milk, and fish curry, chutney, or fresh pickles. In Japan okayu (congee) is often topped with green onion, ginger, umeboshi, soy sauce, or miso. And in Vietnam, Buddhist monks often enjoy their chao simply, with fermented tofu and pickled vegetables. There is really no “inauthentic” way to enjoy congee — its permutations are endless!

One of my favorite preparations: coconut milk, brown sugar, chili oil, preserved black bean, and roasted peanuts

When I enjoy congee for breakfast I usually top it with brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, nuts, dried or fresh fruit, jams and chutneys, seeds, red bean paste, and coconut or almond milk — not necessarily all at once! Some of my favorite savory condiments are: sambal, chilies and chili oil, Sriracha, egg, roasted peanuts or cashews, scallion, cilantro, miso, preserved black beans, tofu, fried garlic and mushrooms, and coconut milk.

It’s such a ridiculously simple recipe that I feel kind of silly posting it, but I figured that it’s something that a lot of non-Asians aren’t familiar with. Congee is cheap, it’s filling, it’s healthy, and with the right condiments, it’s downright soulful.

For a hearty meal: topped with fried egg, chili paste, preserved black bean, scallion, and roasted peanuts

Garam Masala Coconut-Banana Bread

My wonderful friend Bronwyn was here visiting this week and we were inspired to make some vegan yumminess….Well, not too inspired I guess since we never got around to actually making anything. But I did go out and buy about 5 lbs. of bananas, and I did salivate over the fantastic recipe for vegan banana bread from the awesome folks over at Post Punk Kitchen. Then I was looking at the Joe Beef cookbook my husband got (yes, funny, I know — a vegetarian reading a cookbook with “beef” in the title) and came across a slobber-inducing recipe for Cardamom Banana Bread. I decided to play with both recipes, adding my own twist.

Garam Masala is a classic Indian spice mixture of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, star anise, and peppercorns. I know it might sound strange to put something with cumin and pepper in a sweet baked good, but the subtle savoriness adds something really unique and delicious to the flavor profile and is balanced nicely by the sweetness of the brown sugar and the coconut milk. Coconut and banana are natural partners, but you could certainly omit the shaved coconut and swap the milk for soy or almond if you’re not a fan. This recipe is vegan.

Garam Masala Coconut-Banana Bread

Ingredients:

– 4 very ripe bananas

– 1/2 c. butter or margarine

– 1 c. packed light brown sugar

– 1 tsp. vanilla extract

– 1/3 c. coconut milk, with 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar mixed in

– 2 c. flour

– 1 tsp. baking soda

– 1 tsp. salt

– 2 tsp. garam masala

– 1/2 c. shaved unsweetened coconut (I used a full cup here and I think it was too much — it made the bread super crumbly)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Peel bananas, place in a bowl and mash well. Set aside. *Do not mash until they liquefy or baking time will be altered

3. In a large bowl cream together butter (substitute) and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy

4. Add bananas, vanilla, and coconut milk to sugar. Mix well.

5. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add to wet ingredients. Do not overmix.

6. Fold in shaved coconut.

7. Pour batter into a greased 9×5 bread tin. *You can make muffins if you prefer — just reduce baking time to 30 minutes

8. Bake at 350F for 75 minutes, or until a skewer or knife inserted into the center comes out clean

9. Allow to cool 10 minutes in tin, and then transfer to a rack or towel to finish cooling

10. Enjoy!

And about 30 seconds later….

Cinnamon Raisin Rolls with Vanilla Icing

Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert, who doesn’t love a good cinnamon roll? These have raisins in them, but you can certainly use this recipe to make plain cinnamon rolls. Similarly, other dried fruits, nuts, citrus zest, or chocolate could be added to the filling.

You can easily halve the recipe without issue for a smaller batch as I did here. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Yields 12 large rolls

Dough:

– 2 1/4 tsp. yeast

– 1/2 c. warm water

– 1/2 c. scalded milk (you can simply place milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes)

– 1/4 c. sugar

– 1/3 c. butter

– 1 tsp. salt

– 1 egg, beaten

– 4 c. flour

Filling:

– 1/2 c. melted butter

– 1/2 c. sugar

– 1/2 c. brown sugar

– 2 Tbsp. cinnamon

– 1 c. raisins

Icing:

– 4 Tbsp. melted butter

– 2 c. powdered sugar

– 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

– 4 Tbsp. milk

Directions:

1. Place warm water and yeast in a small bowl and set aside

2. In a large bowl combine milk, sugar, melted butter, salt, and egg

3. Add two cups of the flour and mix well

4. Add water and yeast

5. Add remaining 2 c. flour and mix well. Dough will seem quite “loose” before kneading.

6. Knead dough on a clean, well-floured surface for 5-7 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.

7. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with oiled cling film. Place somewhere warm to rise for 90 minutes, or until doubled in size

8. Punch down dough. Roll into a long rectangle, approximately 15” by 9”

9. Use a pastry brush to cover surface of dough with melted butter

10. Mix sugars with cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the dough

11. Sprinkle evenly with raisins

12. Starting at the length, carefully roll up your dough

13. Pinch edges together

14. Slice roll into even segments

15. Grease a baking pan and place cinnamon rolls close together — you want to select a pan small enough that the rolls will be packed together after the second rising and baking

16. Allow rolls to rise. About 45 minutes or until doubled in size

17. Preheat oven to 350F

18. Bake rolls at 350F for 25 minutes

19. Mix together melted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk (add milk slowly to ensure that you get the desired consistency – eg if you like a thicker icing you will not need all 4 Tbsp.)

20. Pour icing evenly over cinnamon rolls. Serve immediately.

Adapted from The Modern Family Cookbook, 1942

How To Make Your Own Yogurt

Making your own yogurt is easy, fun, better for you and better for the environment. Plus, if you’re like us and eat a lot of yogurt, it better for your bank account too! And, after you make yogurt once, you can continue to make yogurt from your existing batch because you have the live cultures you need — all you’ll need to buy is fresh milk after the initial batch.

Yogurt makes a delicious and healthy breakfast or snack, especially topped with some fresh fruit and granola, but it can also be used to add tangy creaminess to soups, as a healthy alternative to sour cream, or as the base for marinades and salad dressings. Many yogurts you buy in the grocery store contain funky chemicals and additives, and even many of the organic brands contain things like pectin and other thickening agents, plus are usually loaded with a ton of sugar. If you make your own you are totally in control of what goes into your yogurt, and thus, what goes into your body.

Since homemade yogurt does tend to be less thick than the store-bought kind, I do add milk powder to thicken it, but this is solely a matter of preference. Similarly, you can use whole, raw, pasteurized, low-fat, or skim milk for this recipe, but I like the results of raw whole milk the best. As for your starter yogurt, any high-quality plain yogurt will work, just make sure that it contains live, active cultures. Some health food stores even carry yogurt starter cultures if you really want to go from scratch, but these can be hard to find and using a ready-made yogurt yields equally pleasing results.

What you’ll need:

– A large pot

– A clean container in which to store your yogurt — I used glass mason jars but you can certainly use a plastic container, just make sure that it is super-clean — you don’t want any bad bacteria growing in there with the good yogurt bacteria

– A meat or candy thermometer

– 1 quart of milk, preferably organic

– 1-2 Tbsp. organic, plain yogurt containing active cultures

– 1/4 c. powdered milk (optional)

Directions:

1. Place the milk into a large pot over medium heat. Stir often.

2. Without boiling milk, bring temperature up to 180F. (This is achieved by heating milk slowly over a longer period of time — to get refrigerated milk up to 180 it should take you 25-35 minutes)

3. Remove milk from heat

4. In a separate bowl combine your yogurt with your powdered milk, if you are using it. Mix well.

5. When milk has cooled to 115F pour off about 1 cup of it and add to your yogurt. Stir until an even consistency is achieved

6. Add yogurt/milk mixture back into pot with the remaining 115F milk

7. Transfer your mixture into your clean container(s)

8. Turn your oven to the “Warm” setting, or so that pilot light alone is on — the ideal temperature for making yogurt is 95-105F

9. Place your container(s) into a tray with an inch or two of water in it and place in your warmed oven

10. Let yogurt develop in a warm place for 4-7 hours, checking occasionally to make sure environment has maintained the proper temperature. For milder flavored yogurt develop less (4-5 hours), for tangier, and thicker, yogurt, develop longer.

11. Cover securely and refrigerate. Will keep 1-2 weeks.

*If you’d like to make flavored yogurt, simply combine 1 c. fresh fruit with 1/4 c. honey and bring to a boil on the stove, cook until fruit softens and begins to break down. Stir well. Once cool stir into your yogurt.

Best Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberry pancakes are the perfect lazy Sunday breakfast, though, I would gladly eat these for dinner any night of the week…These pancakes are substantial and yet somehow light at the same time, and showcase one of summer’s best fruits.

 

Ingredients:

Makes about 1 dozen pancakes, depending on size

– 1 c. flour

– 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

– 1/2 tsp. salt

– 2 Tbsp. sugar

– 1 egg, beaten (or 1/4 c. applesauce)

– 1 c. milk (or almond milk) — 1/4 c.  more can be added if you desire thinner pancakes

– 4 Tbsp. melted vegetable shortening or butter

– 3/4 fresh blueberries

*ingredients in parentheses are for vegan recipe

 

Directions:

1. Heat skillet or griddle over medium heat

2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar

3. In another bowl, add milk to beaten egg and mix well

4. Stir melted shortening or butter into milk-egg mixture

5. Combine flour and liquids at once and beat until perfectly smooth

6. Fold in blueberries

7. Grease griddle

8. Using a soup ladle or 1/4 measuring cup, pour batter into center of heated pan

9. Bake until you see air bubbles appear on the top of the batter, then flip until both sides are golden brown

10. Continue with remainder of batter

11. Serve immediately with maple syrup, fruit reduction, honey, butter, or jam

12. Enjoy!

Adapted from The Modern Family Cookbook, 1942

How To Make Your Own Soy Milk

My husband is a chef and is always looking for new things to experiment with in the kitchen. Although he enjoys many types of food, that man loves meat like no one else I’ve ever known. Like, would eat pork three meals a day if he didn’t think it would hurt him… An on-again-off-again vegan since my teens, meat doesn’t really do much for me. Every once in a while, I do enjoy a roast chicken or a little piece of steak, and I can eat sushi like it’s going out of style, but overall I am pretty content to go without it.

So I was a bit surprised when my husband said that he wanted to try making our own soy milk and tofu — usually the mere mention of something like tempeh or seitan is enough to get a feigned gag, or at least an eye-roll out of him. But to his credit he has been making an effort to eat more healthfully lately, and of course I think that the idea of making something new in the kitchen was exciting for him.

I was amazed by just how easy it is to make soy milk at home; no special equipment required — if you own a blender you can do it! The result tastes better, and is cheaper and healthier than what you buy in the store. This recipe will yield one quart of milk.

 

What you will need:

– 1 1/3 cups dried soybeans (you can usually find these in the bulk section of health food stores)

– 6 cups filtered water

– A large strainer or chinois

– Cheesecloth, burlap, or a clean piece of thin fabric, such as a cloth napkin, t-shirt, or gauzy curtain — emphasis on clean

– A blender

– An old milk bottle or whatever you wish to store your soy milk in

 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl soak your soybeans with 3” of cold water. Let stand overnight.

2. Drain the soybeans

3. Put 1/3 of the beans into your blender with 3 cups filtered water. Blend on high. Add the remaining soybeans a bit at a time and continue blending until as smooth as possible

4. Line your strainer/sieve/chinois with 3 layers of cheesecloth or your clean piece of fabric. Set over a large heatproof bowl:

5. In a large pot boil 3 remaining cups of filtered water. Add the soybean paste and boil for about 8 minutes over medium-high heat. Stir constantly to prevent sticking or burning.

6. Pour the mixture into the straining apparatus

7. Let stand until just cool enough to handle — about 15-20 minutes

8. Gather your cloth together and squeeze, extracting as much of the milk as possible

9. Continue squeezing until you can get nothing else out and the remaining solids are nearly dry

10. Discard the cloth with the solids, remove strainer, and skim any foam off of the top of the soymilk

11. Transfer milk to a container and enjoy! Keep refrigerated — will keep up to 2 weeks in a sealed, refrigerated container.

 

Adapted from Food And Wine, July 2011

Peach-Poppyseed Fruit Kuchen

Kuchen is the German word for cake, though it is used to describe an assortment of desserts and pastries. This recipe for Peach-Poppyseed Fruit Kuchen is indeed cake-like, but truly has more in common with bread. With coffee or tea this lemony kuchen makes a perfect summer breakfast; with fresh whipped cream it is a lovely light, and health-conscious, dessert.

Ingredients:

– 2 1/2 c. flour

– 2 Tbsp. butter

– 1/4 tsp. salt

– 2 Tbsp. sugar

– Zest from one whole lemon

– 3/4 tsp. fast-action dried yeast

– 1 egg, beaten

– 2/3 c. warm water

– 2 Tbsp. poppyseed, prepared dessert filling (available in the baking aisle of most grocery stores)

Topping:

– 1 lb. fresh peaches – about three large fruits (though really you could use any stone fruit in this recipe and it would be fantastic)

– 2 Tbsp. butter

– 2 Tbsp. raw or demerara sugar

Directions:

1. Put the flour in a large bowl. Rub 2 Tbsp. butter in with fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2. Stir in the salt, sugar, zest, and yeast.

3. Add the beaten egg, prepared poppyseed, and enough water to make a soft dough.

4. Knead well on a clean and lightly floured surface for at least five minutes — dough should be smooth and elastic.

5. Put the dough back in to the bowl and cover with a piece of oil cling-film. Let rise at least 1 hour, or until doubled in size. It is very important that you place the bowl somewhere warm or the dough will not rise.

6. Once risen, tip dough out onto a floured surface and knead well again. Press dough into a buttered spring-form pan or a loose-bottomed flan tin. I used a 9” pan, but if you have a larger one (like 11”) I think it may better suit this kuchen to be a little thinner.

7. Halve, stone, and thickly slice the peaches. Arrange them over the top of your dough.

8. Leave uncovered to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size

9. Preheat oven to 400F

10. Brush the fruit with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar

11. Bake in oven at 400F for 15 minutes

12. Remove from oven, cover with foil, reduce heat to 350F and bake for another 35-40 minutes.

13. After finished baking, removing from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Using a knife or thin spatula loosen the edges and remove kuchen from tin.

14. Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle extra sugar over top, if desired.

15. Serve warm or cold, cut into slices. This is especially good warm with some sweet cream butter slathered over it…but then again, what isn’t?

 

Adapted from The Bread Book by Sara Lewis

Sweet Plum and Blueberry Jam: How to Make Jams

Plums always remind me of me childhood. I grew up in central California where we had several fruit trees growing around our house — lime, dwarf apple, orange, lemon… but my favorite was the plum tree in our front yard. It was the perfect size to climb, and I loved to swing on its branches. I eagerly awaited the appearance of the tiny fruits each May and tore them down greedily, often before they even had the chance to ripen; chewing the sour flesh, spitting their tiny pits as far as I could….I love how such small things can transport you: how smells (for me; eucalyptus, black pepper, chlorine, horse manure), or sounds (wind chimes, steel guitar), or flavors (black walnut, wild licorice, sour plum) can take you instantly back to some shadowed, half-forgotten piece of childhood…..Anyway, I still look forward to eating plums this time of year — even if I must buy them from the market instead of plucking them from the boughs of my own fragrant and sun-filled tree…

This recipe is for a small batch of jam, but you could certainly multiply the measurements to make larger quantities. Similarly, the plums and blueberries could be replaced here with any kind of berry, cherries, currants, any stone fruit, pears — even mangoes or kiwis! Get creative and make something wonderful!

Ingredients:

– 1 cup of peeled, sliced, and pitted plums (about 1 lb. whole)
– 1 pint blueberries
– 1/2 cup honey or 1 cup sugar
– 1 Tbsp. any unsweetened citrus juice (I used grapefruit juice this time)
– 3 Tbsp. water
– 1 tsp. fruit pectin*

*Pectin is a thickening agent, usually extracted from citrus fruits or apples and is available in many grocery stores and most health food stores.

Directions:

1. Select the jar you wish to put your jam in. It can be a mason jar, or an old pickle or jelly jar — whatever you have available. This recipe will yield about 16 oz. of jam, so you do want whatever jar you choose for this to be pint-sized.

2. Wash and rinse your jar; let stand in hot water. Meanwhile, boil your lid and ring in a large pot to sanitize. Let stand in hot water also.

3.  Peel, pit, and slice plums, make sure to catch as much juice from the plums as you can

4. Place blueberries in a bowl and mash using a pestle, or any other blunt kitchen instrument. (Tip: Mash blueberries a bit at a time: it’s much easier than trying to mash them all at once, and this way you can ensure that you mash the proper amount according to how much fruit and juice your plums wind up yielding)

5. Combine fruits, making sure that you have at least 2 cups of fruit and juice

6. Put fruit into a saucepan with citrus juice and water and cook at medium heat, stirring frequently. Bring to a boil

7. Measure out honey or sugar; thoroughly mix pectin into sweetener

8. Add pectin-sweetener mixture to boiling fruit. Stir vigorously for 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin.

9. Return to a boil and remove from heat

10. Remove your jar lid and ring from your large pot and return water to a boil

11. While waiting for water to boil fill your jar to 1/4” of top and wipe clean

12. Screw on lid (with ring) tightly. Place jar into boiling water to cover. Boil for 10 minutes.

13. Remove jar (carefully!) from water. Let cool. Check seal — lid should be sucked down/un-popped.

14. Label and enjoy! Jam should last about 3 weeks once opened.

I’ve never claimed to be a patient woman…I decided to try my jam for breakfast the next morning. Here’s what it looked like when I opened it:

I spread it on a couple of pieces of coconut-oatmeal bread (recipe to follow shortly) and it was absolutely heavenly — soooo much better than Smucker’s or any of those other store-bought brands! Hey, I’ve never claimed to be humble either…..:)