Sunday Muffins: VEGAN Pumpkin Muffins

Happy Sunday!

Matt had to wake up at some ungodly hour today (7:45 am) to go to a history conference downtown meaning that I have also been up since then. I don't know why I woke up this early - it was probably a mixture of waking up at 6:30 for school everyday, the multiple snoozes on his alarm clock, and Willow deciding that my chest/face was the best place to sleep - but I was up bright and early. I actually really like waking up early - I often find that I am way more productive if I wake up super early than if I wake up later, like this morning. I have already cleaned my house, started laundry, washed all the dishes, and made muffins. In fact, I made some of my favorite muffins.

This recipe was introduced to me by my good friend Ella during of sophomore year of college. We were roommates and I have memories of making these muffins multiple times on the floor of our room since that was the only horizontal place that we could find. I was surprised by how much I loved these muffins (since they are vegan...and pumpkin) but they really are fantastic. In fact, last year we made these muffins for one of our old housemates who refused to eat anything "vegan" (Ella didn't mention they were vegan until after he ate about 3...) it seems that no matter who these muffins are made for they are a hit!

Last thanksgiving I made these muffins with my little cousin Zuma, her family tries to follow a grain-free-high-fat diet so we made a few changes to the recipe - I think we used butter instead of oil and maybe whole wheat flour? Either way, the muffins pretty much exploded (they still tasted alright, but they weren't the prettiest) so from then on I have followed the recipe in all of it's vegan-glory.

This recipe is super easy to make, hardly takes any time, and maybe makes a total of 5 dirty dishes. The only con is that you are left with a weird amount of pumpkin at the end (if you use a can) but it's pretty easy to find a way to use it.

Here's the recipe:

The Best Pumpkin Muffins (makes 12)
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1 cup pureed pumpkin (I use from a can but make sure you get pumpkin NOT pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tbs. molasses

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

Combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and spices) in a large bowl and mix them together.

In a separate, smaller bowl mix all of the wet ingredients (pumpkin, soy milk, canola oil, and molasses) together.

Combine these with the dry ingredients in the larger bowl. Mix until combined and then spoon into 12 paper lined muffin tins.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffins comes out clean. Enjoy while they are hot or cold, with the left overs (if there are any) store in an air-tight container.

 This recipe is from the cookbook Vegan with a Vengeance, which is an awesome cookbook (all vegan) but all of the recipes I have tried have been great. It is definitely going on my cookbook wish list.

Also I the spirit of veganness I made a soy cappuccino this morning...who knew soy-milk made such great foam!

xx-C

Plating Week 2: Pork

Today marked the first day of our T1 finals at school. During the two hour time we had to make one chicken dish, one pork dish, two starches, two vegetables, and two sauces. At the end of the 2 hour time limit we also had to plate our food. I was impressed at how well our team did today since it was our first time ever cooking that much food in a single kitchen time slot. At the end of this week I will post pictures of most of the dishes we make in the following few days.

Last week our focus was pork. As I previously wrote, pork is not my favorite protein although I am starting to enjoy it more. Especially as I am becoming more comfortable cooking it. I think my highlight of last week was the time I butchered, brined, and cooked an entire pork tenderloin [pretty perfectly I might add] all by myself. It was the first time I had ever cooked a big hunk of pork before and I was happy with the results.

Last week we also learned how to make gnocchi which I am super excited about! I have been wanting to try to make these little potato dumplings for a while now and, as it turns out, they are super easy to make. I will post the recipe in the near future.

Now onto the photos, please excuse the iphone quality - they are the only cameras allowed in the kitchen.

Sage-brined Pork tenderloin with Robert sauce, apple-cheddar risotto, roasted butternut
squash and fried sage leaves

Stuffed and grilled pork chop with a modern demi-glace, creamy polenta cakes and
maple glazed carrots topped with fried shallot rings

Fig stuffed roasted pork loin with a creamy pan reduction sauce, roasted brussels
sprouts, and sautéed gnocchi with apple poached figs

I hope you all have a good night!
-c

Eggplant Parmesan

I made this a while ago but haven't gotten around to posting the recipe. This is a pretty easy vegetarian option that is easy to make you own by altering the spices that you put into the breading.  In class, we added some cayenne pepper for a spicier flavor and everyone loved it!

Here is one of the favorite dishes from my first class (I told you I made it a while ago).

Pan-fried Eggplant (serves 2-3)
1 medium eggplant (sliced in 1/4-1/2 inch slices)
1.5 c. Panko bread crumbs
4 eggs
1 c. flour
salt and pepper
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
canola oil

Once the eggplant is peeled and sliced ( I would recommend peeling it because the breading won't stick to the skin) you need to bread it. First, dip the eggplant in seasoned flour, then the egg mixture, then the panko crumbs and parmesan (mixed). Pour the oil into a cast iron frying pan until it will reach 1/2 way up the slices of eggplant. Heat the oil over medium heat to the point that the panko will sizzle if a few crumbs are dropped in. However, you don't want the oil to reach the smoke point. Place the breaded slices of eggplant into the oil until they are golden brown, flip and brown on the other side. Once both sides have been browned they can be placed into a 200 degree oven to keep warm until you are ready to eat them. (These are best eaten within 20 minutes of frying)

Tomato Sauce (serves 2-3)
1 medium onion, small dice (if you aren't going to blend the sauce you might want to only use half)
3 cloves garlic
1/4 c. olive oil
1 can diced tomato
2 Tbs. tomato paste (optional)
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
10 leaves fresh basil, sliced
salt and pepper

Saute onion and garlic in the olive oil. You can cook these as much as caramelizing them or just quickly sweat them, its up to you! (If you do caramelize them then you could add a little red/white wine to deglaze the pan which is super yummy!) Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and the red pepper flakes. Let this cook [covered] until you are ready to blend it (up to 1 hour). Blend until smooth, stir in basil and season with salt and pepper.

We ate these with some pasta, tomato sauce, and parmesan cheese.

xx -c

sorry about the lack of photos for this dish most of them mysteriously got deleted off my camera...

More [Grilled] Cheese, Please!

A few days ago some friends and I got together and made some fancy grilled cheeses. We all agreed that fancy grilled cheese night was one of our favorites, it allows each person to make their own sandwich exactly how they want it and it is super easy. Not to mention that it helps you finish off random thing from your refrigerator that there isn't quite enough of to make a whole dish. I ended up buying some cheese, prosciutto, an avocado, and a loaf of bread. That's it! Along with the sandwiches I made a big pot of tomato soup which was delicious on this particularly chilly fall night!

Tomato Soup (serves 6)
1 large onion, medium dice
2 tbs. olive oil
1 c. Spicy V8 (or just plain tomato juice)
2 1/2 c. water
24 oz canned crush tomatoes (one big can and one smaller one)
1.5 tsp worcestershire sauce
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
6 oz heavy cream

Optional:
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried red pepper flakes
A dash of paprika (adds a smokey flavor)

Sweat onions in oil then deglaze the pan with the V8. Add water, crushed tomatoes, herbs, and pepper flakes. Let it simmer for 30 minutes. Blend with a stick blender (or a real blender) and return to the pot. Add the worcestershire sauce, paprika, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer and add the cream. At this point your soup is done, if you wanted to add in some fresh basil, parsley, or other herbs this would be the time to do so!

*The spicy V8 and red pepper flakes make the soup have a little spice to it, I like it but if you don't like spice then just use regular tomato juice and omit the red pepper flakes.

Our toppings:
-Fresh mozzarella
-White cheddar
-Ricotta
-Cream cheese
-Prosciutto
-Avocado
-Sundried Tomatoes
-Olives
-Jams and jellies
-garlic

I just laid everything out and let everyone else make their own combinations. I have to say they were all delicious!

 I put ricotta, mozz, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, and prosciutto on mine. After I grilled it I also rubbed a raw garlic clove on the crunchy outside of the bread which gave it a yummy garlic-bread flavor!

Also, because it is national cat day here is a picture of the lovely Willow. 

This photo was taken by my friend Maya

xx -c

Bolognese Sauce

Good afternoon,

Today marks the start of "pork week" at school. To get ready for this I decided [on Friday] that I was going to make something with pork in it this weekend, as a way to kind of ease into it. Well, as of Sunday morning I still hadn't figured out what I was going to make. I had picked up a cooking magazine and I was flipping through it and I found this recipe for bolognese sauce. I was surprised about how delicious it sounded to me since I'm not normally a big red meat/pork person. I decided to give it a shot, I think it came out really well and it was really easy to make! The only down side is that it makes A LOT, like Matt and I each ate a serving and it still doesn't look like we have touched it! I think I might freeze some, and next time I make it I think I would cut the recipe in half. This would be a great thing to make if you were having people come over, especially on a chilly day!

Bolognese Sauce (serves 8ish)
1# ground beef chuck
1# ground pork
4 oz pancetta, finely chopped
1 carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 cup milk
2 cups chicken broth
1 14.5oz can crushed tomatoes
2 tbs. olive oil
1 1/4 cups red wine
Salt and Pepper
2 tsp. dried herbs
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
3/4 tsp. worcestershire sauce

Start by roughly chopping the onion, celery, and carrots then putting them in a food processor and pulsing until they are finely chopped. If you want the veggies to be more noticeable in the sauce or you don't have a food processor then just small dice them. In a big pot, brown the meats and veggies in the oil until all of the meat is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine and bring to a boil and reduce for 2 minutes. Then add the milk and bring it to a boil again and reduce until all of the liquid has evaporated, 8-10 minutes. Now add the crushed tomatoes [both the tomatoes and juice] and the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. At this point you can add the pepper flakes and herbs of your choice [if you want]. Simmer the sauce for 2-3 hours. If the liquid evaporates before then you can add water in 1/2 cup increments. Add the worcestershire sauce once the sauce is done. Serve over pasta or spaghetti squash.

I think that this would also be good with some lemon juice or fresh basil. Something to freshen the sauce up since it is so heavy and rich!

xx -C

Plating: Week 1

Hello-

I hope everyone had a great weekend, mine was very relaxing and went by a little too quickly. In a previous post I mentioned that we started plating in school this past week and I thought I would show you my plates from our last four days of chicken. Plating is a lot harder than I thought it would be, you have to think about different colors, themes, shapes, heights, garnishes, and many other aspects of the dish to produce a beautiful plate. It seems that everyone has their own rules for what produces a beautiful plate, here are a few that we have learned so far:

         

          1: You want to add some height to your dish. It adds a different, more exciting dynamic to the dish. 

          2: We have been using round plates which is more conducive to a tight, centered look compared to using a rectangular plate. 

          3: You want to minimize the amount of negative space between the different types of food, this makes the dish look more clean and organized.

          4: Use edible garnishes; avoid overly potent foods such as rosemary. 

          5: Keep the rim of the plate clean and allow for ~1 inch of space between the food and the rim around the whole plate.  

Chicken Fricassee with sautéed green beans and Arancini (fried risotto balls stuffed with cheese)

Pan-seared chicken with roasted butternut squash, fresh apple-walnut ravioli and brown butter sauce.  // this was my favorite plate that I produced last week. 

Yakitori chicken with shittake-asparagus stir-fry and rice.

Chicken cordon bleu with roasted fingerlings, sautéed summer squash and béchamel sauce. 

Tomorrow starts the beginning of pork week. I am pretty nervous about this since I normally stay away from most pork products (other than bacon). I'm not exactly sure why, maybe because I grew up in a household that didn't eat any red meat or pork? Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning lots in the upcoming week. Keep an eye out, tomorrow I will be sharing a easy recipe for bolognese sauce that I tried out today!

xx -c

Sunday Muffins: Coffee Cake Muffins

Happy Weekend!

This morning has been a lazy one - not getting out of bed until 10:30, staying in pajamas, drinking coffee, and making muffins. In a previous post I wrote about how I love the weekends because it gives me time to enjoy breakfast [my favorite meal] and sometimes I even bake something. Welllll I made a goal for myself. I want to try to bake at least one thing every Saturday [or Sunday]. This feature will be called Sunday Muffins (I know, I know this time it was on a Saturday). Anyway, today we decided to make coffee cake muffins. I found a basic recipe here and changed it a little bit.

Coffee Cake Muffins (Makes 12)
Streusel Topping
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. AP flour
Pinch salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 stick butter

Muffins
1 stick butter
1 3/4 c. AP flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
6 oz. plain yogurt
2 oz. milk
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350˚ F.

For the streusel: Mix brown sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Cut in the butter and mix with a fork or clean hands (using your hands is easier) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Let sit out the counter until you are ready to use it.

For the muffins: In an electric mixer beat butter, yogurt, milk, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix until just combined and almost smooth.

Spoon a small layer of muffin batter into the bottom of the each hole in a paper-lined muffin tin [using about half of the batter]. Then sprinkle a layer of the streusel. Cover that with another layer of the muffin batter [finishing it off] and another layer of the streusel. Bake for ~20 minutes or until golden brown and a knife inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean. 

 Bake for ~20 minutes or until golden brown and a knife inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean. 

xx -c