The Chard Didn't Char, Wilted Instead!

I couldn't find rainbow, but this chard was red and it worked. Except it wilted quick. I got it on Friday I think, so I probably should have used it sooner than today. It's alright. This smells good and you get to use stems!

It's all from this prettiness.







I left out the thyme and used extra rosemary instead, very good. Maybe one less egg?

This is what you'll be saying to them stems.

-Amanda

Underwhelmed

These aren't my favorites. They were supposed to be great. I took the good bran muffin from before and then swapped greek yogurt for the milk and added a bit of ground almonds and peaches instead of raisins.

Maybe pumpkin pie spice would have made it better. Or almond extract.

I used this recipe .



You know I used a bit more greek yogurt and only 1/2 c. of applesauce for the muffins. Maybe that killed it?

Also maybe frozen peaches are just dumb.
-Amanda

A Brownie Comparison

I tried making brownies once. I failed miserably, but that's all right.

The image above is not a picture of my failure, but it is a funny picture. It's of the second type of brownie being compared here today.

So I met this girl, and she's not on good terms with gluten. That was all the impetus I needed for the first brownie.


Gluten-free Almond Chocolate Brownies!

Thoughts: Very VERY moist. Soggy. If you like fudgier brownies, it'll work out well for your mouth. I liked the taste a lot. I could only eat teeny tiny bits though--pretty sweet and filling.

link to recipe

I tried sub'ing agar flakes for xanthan gum (i read it online somewhere, but i think it was a silly attempt.) My friend at trader joe's led me to the gum section near the registers when I asked for xanthan. Maybe next time!

I didn't have--or want to buy--rice flour, so I made some almond meal and used that instead. So much almond! I also used all of the zest of my orange, so it was just jam-packed with flavor.



This second kind has its fair share of flour.

link to recipe I think I used

I remember so little about this. I was in a frenzied state, cramming carboxylic acids and their derivatives into the corners of my brain for the text the following day. Brownies needed to happen. I'm glad they did--they served me well that week. I'm realizing more and more how important it is for me to have something to tea with regularly.



-Anna

Cherry Tart Will Get You a Ride

I made this tart for my mom's friend birthday. I also made same friend that whipped cream cake for her birthday. But this tart was for birthday dinner at her house.

I am cherry pitter supreme now. Forget buying a pitter or using that silly paper clip contraption. I timed my speed with songs on Itunes and you don't even want to guess how many cherries I was able to pit over the length of Suga Suga by Baby Bash.

Otherwise this tart didn't take much skills. The dipshit who honked at me and gave me a condescending shake of the head this morning probably could have made if he has a cherry pitter.

I followed this recipe too the tee except I used skim milk instead of the heavy cream since it seemed silly to go out and buy heavy cream just for a quarter cup. I upped the butter by a tablespoon just to keep things even.

Also I had to rush out and get the ride that a slice of this tart afforded me, so my mom took the picture with a flash. It makes it a bit gaudier, no?



I sadly didn't get to taste it. But it looked really yummy-I love cherries and almonds. Next time.

Maybe this song?

-Amanda

These Muffins are to Bran, Like Charade is to Hitchcock

So I made these as my muffins of the week. Success? I think yes. But they have no bran, even though I'm branding them as such. Yeah, I did just say that. They have quinoa instead, which is a fluffier substitute for bran...maybe?

They don't give you the weighted down feeling bran does, which maybe or good or bad depending on what you're going for. The berries really make them though--the cherries specifically. I used this recipe , except I
a) skim milk instead of soy, though I'm not opposed
b) Honey for most of the maple syrup since we only had a little bit left
c) Regular whole wheat flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour, since where are you supposed to find that stuff?
d) I replaced the dried fruit with a heck of a lot of fresh cherries, blueberries, and strawberries.


I realized that I ate the last of these on Saturday morning without taking a picture--that's how good they were I guess. Here's a picture of a hedgehog and tea, which I thinks makes up more than enough for it.


Mornings are best with these and this.

-Amanda

Getting Up Close and Personal with Bran

If I had to choose two foods to live on for the rest of my life they would be greek yogurt and bran muffins. Some people don't like bran muffins--they are unenlightened.



But until last week, I'd actually never made them myself. If you live in L.a. I recommend Zen Bakery's vegan line. The cranberry (not dried!), blueberry, mango are incredible.

I found this recipe here.

{Their blog entry is funny-read it!)
Except, I
a) Doubled the recipe--yay more bran!
b)Used skim milk instead of soy or low fat.
c) Put in extra orange zest--good call, I recommend!
d)Put in dates instead of raisins, but only half the amount called for.
e)Added frozen cranberries.
f)Used almonds instead of walnuts but only a few tablespoons.
g)Added some chopped strawberries that were going bad.



I would say next time--more fruit and less honey. There was wayway too much honey. Any vegan would have cried. Well they wouldn't have touched it in the first place thanks to the eggs or milk, but regardless. I would say halve the amount of honey.



Also they would go well with this song.. Actually, I don't know what wouldn't go well with bran, or this song.
Enjoy!
-Amanda

The Ugly Grape

A lot of people are scared of baking grapes.
"Won't it just explode?"
"Will it turn into a raisin?"
"That'll just be foul."
It seems kind of fun to me though, like champagne cupcakes with flavor but also a burst of texture. Ooh, considering that, lychee cupcakes could be delicious. Okay, on my to-do list. So,
Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which was quite a riveting read, but made realize how much of the food that I eat is imported from places far, far away. I need to work on that.
But first the grape cake.
I found this recipe, and thought it would be pretty easy to replicate, but now that I'm back at school I have a more limited number of ingredients at my disposable. Here's my adapted version:



Almond Grape Cake
1 1/2 sticks sweet butter (at room temperature, annoying, but important)
1 c. sugar
5 egg whites (I had a lot leftover from all the yolks used in the custard)
1/4 c. whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract (the recipe called for almond, which I would have much preferred, but you work with what you got)
1 c. almond slivers (ground up as much as possible), or almond meal if you have it
1/2 tsp. baking soda (recipe called for 2 tsp. baking powder, but I couldn't find any)
1 c. grapes (however much you want really)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray an 8 by 8 glass baking pan or maybe it could fit in a 9 inch pie pan. I think a rounder shape would be prettier actually if you can finagle that.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until it fluffs. Hopefully you don't have to do this with a hand held mixer where the butter flies in you face.
3. Add the eggs gradually. Make sure they combine fully with the sugary butter. Add the vanilla/almond extract and the milk.
4. In another bowl, mix the flour, almonds, and baking powder/soda. Carefully combine the dry and wet ingredients careful not to overmix.
5. Pour the batter into a pan of your choice and put the grapes on top, pushing them in slightly. In retrospect I should have made a smiley face or some picture instead of just rows, but oh well.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes or so. When I took my pan out there was a little bit of moisture bubbling atop, I'm guessing from the grapes. I just poured it out. Also this might be fun with some sort of syrup poured on top to make it moister--like an amaretto syrup, mmmm.



Oh and someone told me the green grapes looked like olives, so maybe you should use red/purplish grapes instead if you care about that sort of thing.
Oh and Anna should know that I really like the new format, but am curious about who all the taste buds belong to.

-Amanda

Challah Etiquette

Something that irks me beyond belief is an exchange that goes like this:
Baker: So I made a challah.
Inane Freak: (Obnoxious seedy grin) Challah? Holla!!! (Unwarranted laughs)
Please no more repeats.
Now to the loaf...I love challah, so much more than brioche, another eggy yeast bread that it's commonly associated with. One of my goals this year is to successfully execute a six braid loaf, which is obscenely daunting in my opinion. For the meantime I think I'll just stick with a simple three braid though. I read actually in the Joy of Cooking today that you should dust each rope with flour before the actually braiding. That way each strand stays pronounced post-baking instead of massing into an unappealing cradle-shaped glom.
Although this has almond added to it, the recipe I use for standard challah is a honey vanilla one picked from the pages of Steven Raichlen's Healthy Jewish Cooking. I know some sniff their noses at a sweeter challah, but no matter. They can go enjoy their cornmeal-crusted plain loaves all on their own.

Almond Challah
2 1/4 tsp. yeast (one packet of yeast)
1/4 c. luke-warm water
2 TBS. sugar

2 eggs, room-temperature
1/4 c. oil (canola, olive, vegetable, etc.)
1/4 c. honey
3/4 c. luke-warm water
2 tsp. Kosher salt
2 tsp. almond extract (though I would add more next time, perhaps up to 3)
1/3 c. almond meal (little more, little less depending on your tastes)
4-6 cups flour (this really varies depending on the feel of the dough)

A little bit of egg/egg substitute for wash

1. Combine the yeast, 1/4 c. water, and sugar. Let sit 10-20 minutes or until foamy.
2. Add in the eggs, oil, honey, 3/4 c. water, salt, and almond extract. Mix it up a bit so the the eggs are beaten and such.
3. Add the almond meal and flour gradually, keep stirring to combine before adding more. Once dough is manageable (it doesn't stick and ooze all over your hands when you try to move it) take it from the bowl and put it on a floured surface to knead. Knead the dough (continually fold and press with the palms of your hands, ask someone to demonstrate or watch a Youtube video if you don't know what I mean) until when you pinch it the imprint stays and slowly bounces back.
4. Oil a clean bowl and rub a bit of oil all over the dough. Put the dough in the bowl and cover with a dish towel, saran wrap, etc. Let rise anywhere from 2-8 hours. It should double in size.
5. Punch it down, this is my favorite. Empty the dough out onto a re-floured surface and divide into three equal sized balls (sometimes a sharp knife helps for this). Cover each strand lightly with flour and braid. Tuck the ends on each side under the loaf. Place on a baking sheet with parchment underneath and cover again with a towel/wrap etc. Let rise one hour.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Brush or just use your hands and lightly cover the challah with egg wash. You don't want it soaking so just use a little. Fun fact: I used to put so much that at the bottom of the pan post baking would be a little poached egg. I actually liked this, but others were less keen on the addition.
7. Bake for 30 minutes and let cool on wire rack.