Cardamom Orange Oatmeal

I've been happily eating oatmeal for breakfast, nearly every morning, for months. I know to most people that probably sounds monotonous, not to mention conjuring up images of beige mush being slopped onto a plate, alá Oliver Twist. But bear with me a minute - oatmeal really can leave you asking "Please sir, can I have some more?"

I've always been a fan of oatmeal - the more textured and less mushy, the better. Minute oats are not my friend, and when I discovered steel-cut oats I dove into the delightful chewy bowlfuls spoon-first. And then I stopped eating gluten.

There are no gluten-free oats to be found in Germany, as far as I can tell. They're expensive in the States, but I've never seen them here at all. So when I first stopped eating gluten, I didn't touch oats for almost 8 months. I tried buckwheat flakes, and millet flakes... and even rice flakes. But it just wasn't the same.

I started realizing, though, that I'm OK with trace amounts of gluten. It doesn't seem to give me any allergy problems. So, since oats don't actually contain gluten in their own right, and it's just an issue of cross-contamination, I gave oatmeal a second chance. I was overjoyed to find that my incredibly cheap and versatile breakfast standby is back on the menu!

Since then I can't get enough of the stuff. I often don't even cook it these days. For the most part I just eat it muesli style, uncooked with milk poured over the top. Sometimes with some chopped apple or raisins; usually just plain. But I think I've found a new favorite - something perfect for a hot bowl of oatmeal on a cold autumn morning. Plain old oatmeal is magically transformed into a gourmet treat with a dusting of spicy, fragrant cardamom and a sprinkling of homemade dried orange peel.



This flavor combination was inspired, interestingly enough, by one of the ice creams available at the Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco. I haven't been there yet, but with flavors like orange cardamom, balsamic strawberry, and salted caramel on the menu, it's definitely on my schedule when I visit in November.

I really can't say enough good things about cardamom. When I first discovered it years ago as an ingredient for chai tea, I didn't realize how many other uses it had in the kitchen. My neighbor here once lived in Egypt for a number of years, and he introduced me to the wonderful combination of coffee brewed with cardamom. It's also used extensively in Scandinavian baking, and is an ingredient in some savory Indian and North African dishes. In short, I suggest you go buy yourself some and start experimenting!

As a note, I should add that ground cardamom loses it's flavor rather quickly. It's best to buy the whole pods and grind them down as needed. They do have more flavor that way. But, to be honest, those seed pods can be a royal pain when you're in a hurry. I find myself wishing for a little packet of pre-ground cardamom almost every time I use it - especially when I'm trying to get out the door for work. So really, just buy a small amount of ground cardamom, and keep it as tightly sealed as you can. The flavor might not be quite as spectacular, but you'll sure use and enjoy it a lot more often.



Quick-and-Easy Orange Cardamom Oatmeal
I'm usually not a fan of microwaved food, but let's face it, when you're in a rush sometimes it's a lot more convenient. If you have time, make this with steal cut oats and the full cooking time, but I'm quite happy with my quick n' dirty version.

Ingredients:

1/2 C. Oatmeal (certified gluten free, if need be!)
1/8 - 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp finely chopped orange peel
Milk/water to cover

Put your oatmeal in a good-sized, microwave-safe bowl. Sprinkle in the cardamom and orange peel, then add milk and/or water until it just covers the oats. I use about half milk and half water for mine. Stir briefly, then pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes. If you use minute-oats, they will be fully cooked and soft. I make this with regular oats, and after two minutes it comes out with a delicious chewiness that will get rid of any preconceptions you might have about mushy oatmeal!
Continue Reading!

Purple Potatoes

I've always been one to experiment with colors. I think they improve everything. Growing up with white walls in our house, I pleaded for yellow. Born with brown hair, I've dyed it every color under the rainbow. And I've been known to experiment with the color of my food on more than one occasion.

When I was a kid, I loved the Dr. Seuss book Green Eggs and Ham. Not just liked, but loved. Obsessively, perhaps. I know I convinced my dad, more than a few times, to dye my scrambled eggs green, and I remember being disappointed that there was no was to pull it off with poached eggs.

There's another instance that comes to mind, as well. When I was 8 or 9 years old, my mom had the flu, and my dad and I cooked dinner for her. I don't remember the whole menu, but I know for sure mashed potatoes and gravy were part of the feast.

You might be asking yourself right now, why I still remember this particular instance of mashed-potato making. Well, that would be because, once again, I decided to play with colors. I wanted to make the potatoes more festive, to cheer my mom up and help her feel better.

If you were sick in bed with the flu, wouldn't you want a heaping serving of turquoise mashed potatoes with purple gravy? (Sorry, Mom!)

At any rate, given my long history with oddly colored foods, you can imagine my excitement when I stumbled onto my latest and greatest discovery at the Turkish market. Purple potatoes!

I actually didn't realize quite what I'd gotten into when I bought them. I thought they just had deep purple skins. It wasn't until I boiled them up one night for dinner that I realized what a gem I had found. Digging in with my fork, I expected the sharp contrast of purple skin with white potato flesh - but there, instead, was this bright violet, the color of springtime flowers!

I never knew such a potato existed. They're exquisitely colored, creamy tasting, and mildly sweet. And I've read that they contain a higher level of anti-oxidants, as well. Great flavor with extra nutrition, to boot!

I ate them with a sprinkling of garlic and salt, but if I'd known beforehand what I was getting into, I would have tried a sprinkling of walnuts and maybe a dash of cardamom.

These would make a spectacular potato salad as well, with or without regular potatoes. Rather than the usual heavy mayonnaise dressing, I'd like to try a salad with some walnuts, shallots, rice vinegar, and parsley for starters. Let this sweet and unusual potatoes shine through, complemented by the seasonings - but don't drown them like you would an ordinary white potato.

I don't know how easy or difficult these might be to find in the States, but I'd have to imagine someplace like Whole Foods would likely carry them. If you do stumble across them, let me know, because I'll be back visiting for Thanksgiving and I'd love to have some at dinner! Continue Reading!

A Simple Roasted Corn and Cilantro Salad

Going to the Turkish market on Friday evening is a sure way to get a huge pile of veggies for just a little bit of cash. As the day ends, there's a surplus of one thing or another, and the vendors would rather sell it off than haul it home. If you wait until closing time, they'll send you home with bags full of produce for 50 cents a pound.

The trick is, you never know what the surplus will be until you get there. Some weeks I come home with two pounds of red bell peppers for a Euro. Sometimes it's a whole crate of ruccola. Last week, it was 6 ears of corn.

I didn't feel like eating 6 ears of corn on the cob by myself, so I decided salad was the way to go. Slicing the kernels from the cobs, I fried them quickly with a dab of butter and a splash of lime juice. Mixed with some chopped tomato and an enormous bunch of cilantro, I found myself with a fresh, tangy bowlful of Mexican-inspired goodness.

I swear, I don't think I will ever grow tired of the taste of cilantro and lime. Now, if only I could track down some Cheddar cheese in this country...



Roasted Corn Salad
This salad is great on it's own, or makes a nice side for refried beans and a chunk of cornbread.

Ingredients:

6 ears fresh corn, kernels removed (or 2 cups frozen kernels)
1 Tbs butter or oil
2 limes, juiced (or about 1/4 c. juice)
1 bunch cilantro
1 tomato
1 red bell pepper
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper
Cayenne pepper to taste

1. Roast the Corn
Heat the butter in the pan until it's sizzling hot, and add the corn. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the corn starts to char in places. Continue stirring and cooking until most of the kernels have dark brown marks on them. Dump the corn into a large bowl and let it refrigerate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2. Prepping the Veggies
Chop the cilantro finely. Chop the tomato and bell pepper into pieces roughly the size of the corn kernels. If you haven't already, juice your limes.

3. Assembling your Salad
Pull the corn out of your fridge, add the chopped veggies, lime juice, salt and pepper. Make it as spicy or mild as you like with cayenne. It tastes best after marinating for a few hours, but it's damn good straight away as well. Continue Reading!

Tip of the Week: Dry Your Own Orange Peel

Last week, as I was buying the ingredients for my rye bread, I saw a little packet of dried organic orange peel for sale. I think it cost around 2.50 Euro, which isn't all that bad. A little orange peel goes a long way, right?

Then I started thinking about it. How long has that orange peel been sitting in it's little packet? And why would I spend 2.50 for dried peel, when I can buy a whole organic orange for fifty cents?

I bought my orange, headed home, and devoured it. Then I chopped up a little corner of the peel to use in the recipe. And I stood there looking at the rest of the peel sitting on the counter. I'm already chopping, I thought, why not just keep going and dry it myself?

It really is as easy as it sounds. Actual working time was less than 5 minutes, and now I have a little jar on my counter with enough dried orange peel to last me for months.



To make your own:

Take an organic orange - you don't want all the pesticides and wax from a normal one, trust me - and cut the peel off carefully with a sharp knife. You want to cut close to the surface of the peel, leaving as much white pith behind as you can. (You can see in the photos that I just peeled mine normally, but I really shouldn't have. The pith is more bitter than the orange part of the skin.)

Chop the peel finely, spread it on a baking sheet, and let it dry in a 200° Farenheit oven until it is dry but still a bit flexible. It should take around 20 minutes, depending on how finely you chopped it. Continue Reading!

A Blunch Casserole

Sunday afternoon in Berlin. It becomes a social dead zone the minute the weather turns chilly. You wake up after a Saturday night out, and know that your friends are probably just crawling out of bed as well, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. The shops are all closed. Without nice weather, there's really no compelling reason to leave the house.

In the summer, of course, someone might be barbecuing in the park, or headed to a lake outside of town. When summer hits Berlin, the whole city suddenly floods outdoors to capture every possible minute of sunshine. But this time of year, with the gray clouds looming overhead, there isn't much to do but wrap yourself in a blanket and snuggle up to your mug of coffee. We're slowly becoming housebound again.

As I head into my third fall here, I have to say... I miss the warm weather, of course, but more than that I miss the social feeling of summer. Especially Sundays. When the sun is out, and with the stores closed, you have no excuse not to be outside. You run into friends all over the place - in the park, on a bike path - and there's usually a few minutes to just sit around and relax together.

Sundays are special. On weekdays everyone's tired from work. On Friday or Saturday night, there's a sudden need to be out on the town, doing something exciting. On Sundays, though, no one's got anything to do. But as fall creeps up with winter on its tail, we need compelling reasons to get up and be sociable again.

And what better reason than food and good company?

So, this past Sunday I decided to invite everyone over for a late, late brunch. (I guess technically lunch is what you would call a "late brunch," but humor me for a minute, OK?) 3pm Sunday afternoon. It gives us all just long enough to revive ourselves after a long Saturday night, have a snack, and meet up for... whatever you would like to call the meal. Blunch, anyone?


I thought about getting really fancy with the cooking. I wanted a potato dish, a cheese-and-egg dish... I even planned ahead and did some cooking beforehand. (Boiling potatoes before heading out for the night is never a bad idea!) In the end, I had my own slight hangover to deal with, and so I decided on an all-in-one casserole instead of two separate ones. And man, was that a good idea. Potatoes, zucchini, leeks, cheese, eggs - I could have kept going, but I ran out of room in the pan!

As side dishes, we just had some crackers, cheese, cold cuts, etc off to the side. Along with the loaf of banana bread (made with guidance from Gluten Free Gobsmacked), we were all stuffed by the end of the afternoon. And the banana bread was devoured, I kid you not.

Sorry I only have one photo this time around - I was too busy cooking and eating and enjoying the company to go crazy with the camera!

Potato Zucchini Breakfast Casserole

Boil the potatoes the night before and let them sit in the fridge overnight.
The proportions in this recipe are open to your own interpretation. My original served about 12 people and used 16 eggs. I've scaled this down to feed about 4, but you can adjust it as you like - I think it would be hard to go too far wrong.

Ingredients:

1-1.5 lbs potatoes (or about 4 fist-sized potatoes)
1/2 lb zucchini (2-3 medium zucchini)
1 leek
1/2 - 3/4 c. shredded cheese (I suggest Swiss)
5 eggs
3 Tbs. milk
1 tsp. salt, divided
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/4 -1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Preheat your oven to 350° and lightly butter or grease the bottom and sides of an 8x8 or 9x9 in. casserole dish.

1. Prep work:
Slice the potatoes thinly, cutting lengthwise along the potato. About 1/8 in. is good, but you can always go thicker or thinner according to preference. Slice the zucchini into rounds as thinly as you can. Trim the tough, leafy end off the leak - you can leave some of the green part attached, but make sure it's just the thinner, tender part. Slice the leek thinly and then chop haphazardly into smaller bits.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and 1/2 tsp. salt until light and fluffy.

2. Assembly
Start with a layer of potatoes at the bottom of the casserole dish. Overlap the slices a little bit, like you would for lasagna noodles. Sprinkle about half of the chopped leeks over the top, then half the shredded cheese.

Follow this up with the zucchini. Cover the the potato-leek-cheese combo completely in zucchini slices, and keep layering until all the zucchini is used up. At this point, sprinkle the rosemary, garlic, pepper, and about 1/2 tsp. of salt over the zucchini.

Top the zucchini layer with a final layer of potatoes, followed by the rest of the leeks and the cheese. Finally, pour the beaten egg over everything. It should fill the casserole dish just to the top of the veggies, but if you find yourself a little low you can beat another egg with a splash of milk and add it in.

Cooking:
Bake the casserole for about 45 min. - 1 hour, until it is set in the middle. Let it cool slightly, and dig in! Continue Reading!

Mission Accomplished

The weather here has suddenly turned cold and wintery, and I, in turn, have started cooking as if my life depended on it. In the last week I've made roasted corn salad, corn bread, and brownies in mass quantities, all now stocked away in my freezer. Except for the corn salad. That only lasted a couple days in the fridge before I devoured it. (And don't worry, there are recipes to come!)

After cooking an enormous pot of soup yesterday, I decided that I urgently needed Russian black bread to go with it. I managed to find a recipe on an ancient gluten-free message board, and off I went to the kitchen. I was a little nervous as I put it in the oven, because after the addition of several dough-additives that I haven't experimented with before, the raw dough was feeling a bit rubbery.

Turns out that was a good thing.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have a loaf of gluten-free bread that my flat mates, my friends, and even my impossible-to-feed younger brother would happily scarf down. And I'm not sharing.

After waiting impatiently for the dough to finish rising and baking, I pulled this beautiful, rustic bread out of the oven and tapped the bottom as instructed. It sounded hollow. And the loaf had... spring! Elasticity, even. It didn't feel like a brick in my hands. It felt like a loaf of bread. And the crust was perfectly brown and pliable - it hadn't hardened into an impenetrable shell like I've grudgingly become accustomed to.

I managed to refrain from digging into it long enough to take some photos - which, as I waited impatiently for the camera battery to charge, was a lot longer than I would have liked. But it was worth the wait. I cut off a slice, and... well, first of all, it actually let itself be sliced. It didn't crumble in my hands. I had a perfectly-formed slice of lovely, soft, airy bread that looked and felt like actual bread. And when I bit into it - heaven. A soft velvety crumb with just the right chewiness. It reminded me of the homemade white bread I baked with my mom as a kid.

But the flavor was even better. The heady taste of caraway seeds, cocoa, and tiny morsels of orange peel exploded in my mouth - I've never had rye bread this good before. The orange peel makes this hands down my favorite recipe in a long time. I know the ingredients may not be things you have on hand - even if you're a regular gluten-free baker - but trust me, it's worth it to find them. And once you have them on hand, there will be enough left for several more delicious, fluffy loaves after you've polished this one off.

[Note: I should have been more clear about the extra dough additives - Sure-Jell, gelatin, and xantham gum are used to help improve the texture of gluten-free bread. Since gluten (the protein in wheat and some other flours) is very stretchy, it allows yeast breads to rise and gives them their distinct texture. Without any xanthan gum or other binding agent, gluten-free breads don't rise properly, and their texture is... not very good, to say the least.

If you can eat gluten, and want to try this recipe, just use three cups of normal bread flour in place of the flour/corn starch combination, and omit the gelatin, Sure-Jell, and xanthan gum.]




"I Can't Believe It's Not Gluten" Black Bread
Adapted from Mike Jones' recipe on enabling.org

If you add the gelatin with the dry ingredients, be sure it is designed to dissolve in cold water. If you have traditional gelatin, dissolve it in the warm milk with the liquid ingredients. You'll find Sure-Jell fruit pectin with other jelly-making supplies, most likely near the baking section.

Dry Ingredients:
1.5 C. white or brown rice flour
3/4 C. Buckwheat flour
3/4 C. corn starch
1 packet yeast
1 tsp. plain gelatin (cold-dissolving)
1 Tbs Sure-Jell (fruit pectin)
1Tbs xanthan gum or guar gum
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbs corn meal
2-4 Tbs caraway seeds
1 tsp finely grated orange peel

Wet Ingredients:
1 C. milk, warmed to about 80°
1/2 C. strong coffee, 80° or room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs molasses


Turn the oven onto the lowest possible setting.
Grease a baking sheet lightly and sprinkle with cornmeal.

1. The dry ingredients:
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. The yeast can be mixed directly with the flour and dry ingredients - but if you think your yeast might be getting a bit old, proof it first and then add with the wet ingredients.

2. The wet ingredients:
In a medium bowl, warm the milk and coffee slightly (and make a mug for yourself, while you're at it!). Beat in the eggs, olive oil, and molasses.

3. Making the dough:
Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the liquid. Stir until everything is completely combined and the dough is pulling cleanly away from the sides of the bowl. If you need a bit more liquid, add milk or coffee a teaspoon at a time. Don't do what I always do a free-pour directly into your dough. You don't want soggy bread dough, trust me.

4. Knead and rise
Knead the dough in the bowl for a few minutes to help mix everything thoroughly. This is a stiffer dough than many gluten-free blends, but it still won't knead like normal gluten dough, so don't worry about it. Turn the dough out onto the prepared baking sheet and shape into a rough loaf. Turn the slightly-warmed oven off and let the dough rise for about 90 minutes.

5. Baking the bread
When the dough is done rising, turn the oven temperature up to 350°, leaving the bread inside. Bake for 50 minutes, until the loaf sounds hollow when you tap the bottom. Remove the loaf immediately and let it cool on a wire rack. Continue Reading!

Crossing my Fingers...

You know a loaf of bread is going to be good when you can't stop licking the dough off your fingers. At least, you do when you're baking with normal flour. With gluten-free I'm never quite so sure. With traditional bread I could tell by the feel of the dough in my hands if it needed more flour; I could watch it grow smooth and glossy as I kneaded.

With gluten-free, I find myself often staring at a mysterious gob of Play-dough under my hands, wondering if it needs to be a more liquidy Play-dough, or a stiffer one. And more often than I'd like, I pull a loaf out of the oven to find it crumbly on the edges and too gummy in the middle. And the yeast... never seems to do anything. Without the gluten, there just isn't much there to hold the air bubbles in and make the bread rise like I want. It's more like a quick bread - think banana or cornbread, without the banana or corn.

Today, though, as I started up a big pot of soup, I decided I really, really wanted some Russian Black Bread. And so I started searching the wide realm of the internet for a gluten-free recipe. I found one on an ancient message board, posted back in 1996. It has several different dough additives that I haven't experimented with yet. Gelatin, for one. I've seen that in a few recipes before, but never tried any of them. And fruit pectin, for another. (That's the stuff that helps make jelly gel.) And a lot more xanthan gum than I would normally use. This bread is going to have Structure with a capital S.

I just finished mixing and kneading, and I've just popped it in the oven to let it rise. I'm a little nervous. It tastes great - bursting with caraway seeds and the rich flavors of coffee and cocoa powder. But it's a little rubbery. I have no idea what the texture will be like once it's bakes.

BUT! The dough behave more like gluten dough than anything I've tried before. It feels, for example, more elastic, and it pulls cleanly away from the bowl with a certain feel that is... well, I can't say it's anything but reminiscent of gluten dough. Really. I mean, sure, get your gluten-free dough dry enough, and it will also pull away from the sides of the bowl. But the texture just won't be the same, and don't kid yourself hoping for it.

So... updates to follow soon. Wish me luck. Continue Reading!

My Favorite Flax Bread

I stumbled upon this recipe for flax bread in a low-carb forum, and I've been addicted to it ever since. It's as simple to make as an omelet (in fact, maybe simpler), absolutely delicious, and endlessly variable. I've made it into a sweet "nut-bread" style snack with the addition of some sweetner and cinnamon. I've gone savory with sea salt and rosemary. The other day I decided I needed pizza for breakfast - and 20 minutes later it was out of the oven and burning my mouth!

In addition to it's great taste and versatility, though, this bread is just plain good for you. The flax seed gives you a good serving of Omega-3 fats (the same fats you might eat salmon or take fish oil for), and all the carbohydrates in flax are in the form of fiber. In fact, in Germany they list fiber separately from carbs, and flax is considered a no-carb food.

So, for anyone following the Sommersize diet or food combining - or just watching their carbs - you can have sandwiches again! Pizza is no longer off limits! Turkey and swiss with a dab of mustard... cold cuts with tomato... go ahead, knock yourself out!

I do have to note - this isn't a low-calorie bread. There is a lot of fat in it, but it's all the healthy kind. And two pieces will give you a lot of fiber, so you may want to start out eating just half the recipe. Other than that - enjoy!



Quick and Easy Flax Bread:
To keep your flax at it's freshest, buy whole flax and grind it in a small coffee grinder before each use. If you do purchase pre-ground flax, be sure to store it in a sealed, opaque container to prevent rancidity.


Ingredients:
1/3 cup flax seed, ground
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
Seasonings: rosemary, garlic, black pepper, etc

1 egg
1/2 Tbs water


Preheat the oven to 350°

If you have a Silpat or other silicon baking mat, lay it out on your baking pan. If you don't have a silicon mat, lay out a sheet of parchment paper. And if you don't have that, just grease your pan well so you can remove your bread in one piece after it bakes!

Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Add the egg and water and stir briefly. Pour the batter onto your baking sheet and smooth to your desired thickness.

Bake about 12 minutes, until cooked through. If you want to use this as pizza crust, bake about 8 minutes or so, then add your toppings and continue baking until the cheese is melted.
Continue Reading!

Recipe Coming Soon!

I know I don't post very often on this blog. I'd like to - but life intervenes, and to be honest I don't always have an interesting, creative recipe at my fingertips. Sure, I keep a log of ideas. Sometimes I get all ready to whip one of them up and photograph it, only to have it utterly flop.
Consider yourselves lucky that you don't have to eat the out-takes!

Aside from that, I don't really eat that well - or that interestingly - when other people aren't watching. My meals tend to be little snacks. A piece of cheese with a tomato, a tablespoon of tahini paste, a few pieces of cauliflower dipped in mustard (and not even fancy mustard - just the cheap yellow stuff). Today I actually ate a slice of processed cheese spread with red pepper paste for a mid-afternoon snack.

I can cook well when I want, but I'm not by any means a food snob. In fact, I've managed to gross out my boyfriends with my bachelor-style eating habits. But I think that was their eccentricities, not mine. I will defend my stance that pizza tastes better after a night in the fridge - and doesn't everyone like cold Kraft Mac 'N Cheese for breakfast?

I'll have a new post with a recipe coming in the next few days. But in the meantime, I just wanted to share some photos from my new favorite food photographer. This man makes portraits of zucchinis and apples so beautiful that I get a lump in my throat. Just look at that bunch of sage and tell me it doesn't make you want to burst into song. (OK, I'm a little eccentric, I know - but really...)

The kicker is, he lives in Long Beach, CA. We used to be neighbors.

Matt, if you happen to read this, can I come hang out at your studio when I'm home for the holidays? I won't break anything, I promise! Continue Reading!

Eggplant Parmesan

Yesterday, as if mandated by some sort of genetic coding, I found myself unconsciously mimicking my grandmother, frying sliced eggplant in an olive-oil filled pan. It must be genetics, because I never fry eggplant in olive oil. I steam it, cube it, bake it - but I can never bring myself to add oil to my eggplant, because I know what a sponge it is.

I grew up watching my grandmother cook fried eggplant by the panful. I would stand to the side, eagerly gobbling it down with slices of Wonder bread, the oil soaking through the bread and running down my hands. God, it's delicious that way. But these days I'm more of a "dripper" than a "pourer" with my oil. I spritz it on my salad. I drizzle it for flavor. I really don't fry things.

But yesterday was different. I'd decided to make eggplant Parmesan, and the recipe in Joy of Cooking mandated fried eggplant. And Joy of Cooking is my bible. I had my parents mail my copy all the way from California to Berlin, and if the recipe calls for fried eggplant, it's not my place to argue.

So there I stood, tapping into some genetic code I didn't even know I had, frying batch after batch of eggplant. I had a giant bowl of freshly chopped tomatoes off to the side, marinating with garlic and basil. My friends had been put to work grating an unbelievable mound of Parmesan cheese. An American of Italian ancestry, making eggplant Parmesan in Germany. Could I get any more post-modern?

This dish, by the way, is a very different beast than the eggplant Parmesan you're probably used to in Italian restaurants. I usually think of it as a heavy, greasy dish - two slabs of breaded, fried eggplant smothered in mozzarella cheese and dense tomato sauce. It might be vegetarian, but when you're done you feel like you ate a whole cow.

This, on the other hand, is much lighter. I fried the eggplant with a light coating of beaten egg, but I left out the bread crumbs. It's gluten-free, low-carb, lower-calorie - what's not to like? And rather than a traditional cooked tomato sauce, I made a quick sauce of freshly chopped tomato, garlic and basil that was bursting with flavor. (Thank you, Joy of Cooking. You were right once again!)

And so, without further ado:




Eggplant Parmesan (adapted from Joy of Cooking)
The eggplant is normally baked in a single layer with sauce and cheese, but I needed to feed six hungry people and had only one pan, so we did it lasagna-style in layers. I think it's even better this way.

Sauce Ingredients:
5-7 large tomatoes, finely diced
1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
1Tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt

Casserole Ingredients:
4 medium eggplants (about 4 pounds), cut in 1/2 in. thick slices
2 eggs, beaten
Olive oil, for frying
2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese (about 8 oz)
2 cups shredded mozzarella (use fresh, water-packed mozzarella if you can)


1. Preparing the Sauce:
Dice the tomatoes and put them in a colander in the sink. Let them sit for about 20 minutes, so that all the extra liquid drains out. In the meantime, chop your basil and garlic. You'll have some extra time to use up here, so start slicing your eggplants up. When the tomatoes are drained, mix them in a bowl with the basil, salt, garlic, and olive oil and let it all marinate.

2. Frying the Eggplant:
Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan. (Or, if you're coordinated, I recommend doing two pans simultaneously, to save time.) When the oil is hot, lower the temperature to medium. Briefly dip each slice of eggplant in the egg and shake off the excess, then toss it in the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until it is soft. Put the cooked slices on a platter off to the side.

3. Assembling the Casserole:
Preheat your oven to 350°. Spread about 1/3 of the sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish. Lay slices of eggplant on top, with edges touching. Sprinkle about half the Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses over the top, then add another layer of sauce and another layer of eggplant. Spread the remainder of the sauce over the top, then finish off with the rest of the cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the casserole is heated through. Continue Reading!

Zucchini "Pasta" with Sauce

Every time I tell someone that I can't eat gluten, I get a similar response: "Oh my god! What DO you eat?"

Once, this conversation occurred while I was grocery shopping with a friend. I'd just told him that I'd have to skip the breakfast roll he was about to grab for me. Feeling guilty, he quickly cast his glance around in search of the nearest available substitute. "Um, can you have bananas?"

Yes. I can eat bananas. I can eat almost anything that didn't come out of a bakery or a brewery... at least, as long as we're talking about raw ingredients and not packaged products. But I've been out of the habit of buying anything packaged for years now, so I rarely even think about that. Who needs beef-stroganoff-in-a-box, anyway?

I could get all the packaged stuff in a gluten free version, if I really felt like it. At the health-food shop across the street from me, I can buy gluten-free crackers, bread, cereal bars, pasta, cookies, pita bread, sponge cake... even rice beer if I want to. (It tastes a lot like sake, in case you were wondering!) But most of the time I don't. I'm a whole-food junkie, and besides, those replacement products are expensive! Most of the time, I'd rather just figure out a way around it.

That's how this particular recipe came to be. I was out of rice pasta one night and craving spaghetti, so I grabbed the nearest veggie and started shredding it. Tossing it into a pan with some turkey breast, tomato sauce, onions, and seasoning, I managed to whip up this simple one-pan meal in under 30 minutes.

Although it won't twirl around your fork or give you the joy of slurping foot-long noodles off your plate like real pasta, the zucchini noodles are delicious in their own right. I've always been a fan of zucchini with pasta sauce, but I'd never realized how important the shape is in recreating the "spaghetti experience."

When you cube the zucchini, as I normally do, the zucchini is more the centerpiece of the meal. Each mouthful gives you a sudden burst of... well, zucchini... as you bite into the larger pieces. But with the fine shreds I used this time, the flavors blended together and allowed the sauce to stand out in it's own right. And really, when you're eating pasta and sauce, the noodles are just there to help carry the spicy tomato goodness to your mouth, aren't they?





Zucchini Pasta with Tomato Sauce:
This recipe is for one serving, but you could easily double or triple it if you like. The sauce is a very basic "quickie," but of course you could vary it in any way you want - mushrooms and Parmesan cheese come to mind as nice additions.

Ingredients:
1 Large Zucchini
4 oz turkey or chicken breast, uncooked
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 C. tomato sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
pinch black pepper
pinch rosemary


1. Browning the turkey:
Cut the turkey breast into bite size pieces and toss it into a hot skillet along with the onion and garlic. Stir this all briefly to get the browning process started, then turn the heat down to medium and let it keep cooking.

2. "Noodling" you zucchini:
Wash the zucchini and make sure your chef's knife is sharp. You're going to slice the zucchini lengthwise as thinly as you can. This is a bit tricky with a large zucchini; you may want to cut it in half first to make slicing it easier. The shape isn't too important - I realized at some point that I was really whittling more than slicing. This will give you big, wide ribbons of zucchini "noodles," which work just fine. If you want thinner strips, go ahead and keep chopping.

3. Putting it all together:
Add the zucchini strips to the turkey and onions. Pour the tomato sauce over everything, and add the seasonings. Stir it all together, cover the pan with a lid, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Stir every so often to prevent sticking. Continue Reading!

Jörg's Birthday Cheesecake

It's becoming tradition that every year I make my flatmate a cheesecake for his birthday. This makes me happy for a number of reasons. First of all, because it gives me an excuse to bake. But more importantly, it made me realize that I've been here long enough to start establishing traditions. I have less and less "firsts" here; instead I find more and more moments of connection. Moments that feel like real life, before I uprooted myself from everything I knew.

We've been in this flat for exactly a year, and last year we celebrated Jörg's birthday in this same room with the same people. This year, I watched the same crowd show up, looking more or less like they did last year. They distributed themselves throughout the familiar background, and we went through the familiar birthday festivities. It could have been last year, at first glance.

The background was almost identical - the same furnishings, the same faces - but a closer look revealed the subtle changes of the last year. The table's been painted. There's a new poster on the wall. One of the couples is now married, another brought their new baby. I am, at long last, able to follow the German conversation going on around me. I felt like I was watching a painting come to life and slightly alter itself, so faintly that the casual observer might not have even noticed.

I'm watching life evolve here - my own and those around me. I'm not just the "new transplant" who everyone half-expected to head back home in a few months. I live here now. A network of people and places has slowly grown up around me. I'm a part of Berlin, and these people and places are all a part of me.

And I reflect on my last year here; on how much things have changed and yet remained the same. People think that when you go to a new country you leave everything behind - and it's true, you do, in a physical sense. But while the background picture of Jörg's birthday stayed the same, with only the details changing, I find that the opposite is true of moving countries. I've picked myself up and stuck myself into a new painting, but the longer I stay here the more I recognize the similarities to the old one. Life goes on, people meet and interact and grow together and then apart. We eat food and drink wine, and have our small dramas that fade into distant memory. Things haven't really changed at all. Everything stayed exactly the same... just slightly different.

And on that note: I move on to the recipe for this year's cheesecake! Last year I tried to use a recipe I found on line, but the cheesecake ended up in a puddle once we took the Springform pan away. This year I just gave up on the recipes and forged my own path. Not the best way to approach a cake destined for an audience of 30 people, but I got lucky.

This is a very German-style cheesecake. German käsekuchen is very firm and more cake-like than custard-like. It holds it's shape and lets you really pile the cheesecake on top of the crust without risk of collapse. The sturdy surface lets you spread your choice of toppings freely over the surface without any trouble, and as the cheesecake itself is fairly mild and lightly-sweetened, you can go crazy with the toppings.

The one trick with this recipe is that it is based on Quark. Click the link for a wonderful explanation of this cheese, but in short just know that it's flavor is basically the same as cream cheese, with a texture closer to that of ricotta. I had never seen it before I came here, but apparently it is available through a few creameries in the US - you may be able to find it at a high-end grocery store. If you're very curious you can also order it online at GermanDeli.com If you can't locate quark anywhere, feel free to substitute a low-fat (or full fat, if you like) cream cheese in place of it. It won't be exactly the same as what I made, but hey... almost the same, just a little different!



German Cheesecake with Plum Topping
This basic recipe could be a great starting point for a number of variations. I topped mine with the last jar of my cinnamon-plum jam, but orange marmalade or strawberry jam could be excellent as well. I'm looking forward to trying it with a squeeze of lemon and a tangy lime glaze, or with some goat cheese blended in to the filling for extra bite!

Crust Ingredients:
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (GF if necessary)
1 1/2 C. ground almonds (5 ounces if you're buying pre-ground)
3 Tbs sugar
1/4 tsp cinammon
1/2 C. butter
pinch salt

Cheesecake Ingredients:
48 oz lowfat Quark (or cream cheese)
2 medium eggs
1/4 tsp. almond extract
3/4 C. sugar
1/3 C. cornstarch
pinch salt

Crust Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 350°. Take out a 9" Springform pan, and cut a circle of parchment paper to cover the bottom of it. Reassemble the pan and lay the parchment paper down inside.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Melt the butter over low heat (or microwave on low power). Add the butter to the dry ingredients and stir until the ingredients come together. Scoop the mixture into the pan and pat it into an even layer. Bake this in the oven for about 10 minutes, to give it a nice toasted almond flavor.

Preparing the Cheesecake:
Briefly mix the corstarch, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, stir the quark (or cream cheese) until it is soft. Add the two eggs and almond flavoring, and blend until you have a smooth mixture. At this point, stir in the dry ingredients little by little. Make sure they are thoroughly blended into the cheese mixture.

Pull the crust out of the oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Pour your filling into the crust and smooth the top with a spatula. If you'd like a swirl effect in the center of the cheesecake, you can do that now. Take a few tablespoons of topping and plop it in the middle of the filling. Then, take a butter knife, stick it about halfway-deep into the filling, and draw a rough spiral shape from the center of the filling heading out. This will incorporate the topping into the center part of the filling.

Bake for 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely, then remove the walls of the Springform pan. Spread thick blanket of preserves over the top, and slice into at least 12 pieces. This is a thick cake - it doesn't take much to make a serving! Continue Reading!

Honey-Sesame Chicken Salad

I've been totally addicted to the combination of honey and sesame lately. The bitter-sweet combination of tahini paste and honey with apples, or on toast - or straight out of the jar. Crunchy almonds drizzled with honey and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The nutty-sweet sesame candies they sell in the Turkish supermarket. I can't get enough of the stuff.

Eventually, though, all the sweets and goodies had to give way to proper food. I started contemplating a honey-sesame treat that I wouldn't leave me worrying about my next trip to the dentist. And bingo! Inspiration came to me one day as I peered into my nearly empty fridge to find a head of napa cabbage and a lone chicken breast.

This salad is lightly sweet, nutty and mildly flavored, with a sharp kick from the ginger and pepper flakes. The Napa cabbage is a wonderful base - crisp, refreshing, and with none of the bitterness you get from lettuce. Combined with a light vinegar dressing, it's the perfect salad for a hot summer evening.




Honey-Sesame Chicken Salad for 2
I would use this marinade on damn near anything, given the chance. Tofu, veggies - you name it, it would probably taste good. I wasn't even hungry when I finished photographing everything, and I still couldn't resist snacking on a few morsels.

Ingredients:

1 Tbs light honey
1 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbs mild oil, like Canola
2 Tbs sesame seeds
1/2 in. cube ginger, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4-1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes


6 oz chicken, cut into bite-sized, thin strips
1 head Napa cabbage
1/4 yellow bell pepper
1/4 red bell pepper
1-2 spring onions

3 Tbs rice vinegar (or other mild vinegar)
2 tsp Canola or other mild oil
1/4 tsp salt
pinch black pepper

1. Preparing the Marinade
Mix the first 8 ingredients together in medium-sized bowl. Add the chicken and stir everything again until the chicken is well-coated. Pop this in the fridge to marinate for at least 20 minutes.

2. Cutting the Vegetables
Slice the cabbage as finely as you can. Don't chop it - you want long, thin strips of cabbage when you're done. I like to use the whole cabbage, from the tips down to the base. Slice the bell
peppers thinly, like matchsticks. Chop the spring onions, including the green stalks. Divide the cabbage between the serving bowls, making sure each bowl gets an even blend of the curly leaves and the crispy base pieces.

3. Cooking the Chicken
Heat your pan on high, with a little extra drizzle of oil to help prevent sticking. When it is nice and hot, toss in your chicken and start stirring. Turn the heat down to medium, and cook until the chicken is no longer pink inside. Divide the chicken between the two salads.
4. Making the Dressing and Finishing the Salad
Let the pan cool briefly, then pour the rice vinegar in. Stir the vinegar around the pan - you will see its color darken as it collects the accumulated seasonings from the chicken. Pour this into a small bowl, add the oil, salt, and pepper, and whisk briefly with a small whisk or fork. Drizzle this over the salads, and sprinkle the green onion and bell pepper pieces over the chicken. Toss on a few pinches of sesame seeds for the finishing touch. Continue Reading!

An Evening in Little Tijuana - the Salsa Edition

Last week, two friends of mine came to visit Berlin. They've both been living out of the US, for over a year, which means they haven't had decent Mexican food in at least that long. And I'd been dying for an excuse to cook for a bunch of people.

The Menu:
Shredded pork, refried beans, mild salsa, spicy roasted red pepper salsa and HOMEMADE CORN TORTILLAS. Oh man. My stomach still hurt two hours later, and even with that I had to forcibly refrain from chowing down on leftovers.

This is home-style cooking the way it's meant to be. When I cook like this, I devote an entire day to it. I put the beans and meat on in the morning and let them simmer all afternoon. I roast peppers, chop vegetables, run to the market for things I forgot, and generally... cook. It's a meditation in flavor and textures, and sometimes it's as relaxing as yoga.

I love feeding my friends. I love watching everyone stuff their faces and grin and come back for seconds. I love that I can make something that makes everyone around me happy. It isn't about the compliments (although those are nice too) - it just makes me happy to see everyone around me sharing a meal and enjoying it.

The recipes I'm including here are starting points. I never follow them exactly. I go into these cooking sessions with an idea in mind - a concept, a list of ingredients. I taste as I go, adding a splash of this and a dash of that, until the flash of "Yes!" hits me. Then it's time to eat.





Mild Tomato Garlic Salsa
This salsa has practically no burn to it at all, so you can pile it on your food without overwhelming yourself with spiciness. We like to call it "kinder salsa" (kid's salsa) in my house.

Ingredients:
2-3 small onions
2 spring onions
3-4 medium tomatoes
1-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro

1/2 lime, juiced
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 pinch sugar
1/2-1 tsp salt
splash or two of vinegar

Chop the onions until each chunk is around the size of your little fingernail. Chop the spring onions finely. I use about half the green part of the spring onions as well as the white. Cut the tomatoes about the same size as the onions, maybe slightly larger. Mince the garlic as finely as you can, and chop the cilantro leaves coarsely. Dump these all into a bowl and mix together.

Now add your lime juice, pepper, sugar, and a 1/2 teaspoon or more of salt. A splash or two of vinegar will help give this salsa a little "kick". Toss everything a few times like a salad, and pop it in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 30 minutes.





Roasted Red Pepper Salsa
I don't know the name of the sweet peppers I used for this recipe. I buy them at the Turkish market and have never seen the name in German or English. They look like elongated bell peppers, and the taste is very similar - slightly sweeter and less tangy than a bell pepper, but I think either one could be used successfully for this salsa.

Ingredients:
4 - 5 large, sweet red peppers
3 onions
2-3 spring onions
3-6 (or more) Holland chilies

1/2 lime, juiced
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Splash or two of vinegar

1. Roast the Peppers
Start up your broiler. Cut the peppers in half and lay them on a baking sheet. (I recommend a layer of baking paper underneath, if you have it handy.) Leave them under the broiler for about 10-15 minutes, until the skin starts to blacken and blister as shown in the picture.

2. Chop the other ingredients
While the peppers roast, chop the onions into pinky-nail sized bits. Chop the spring onions finely, using about half or two-thirds of the green ends. Chop the Holland chilies as finely as you can - they're hot! If you can't find Holland chilies, you could try a few Thai chilies (the tiny, fiery hot peppers in many Chinese dishes) or any other fresh, hot chili you have available.

3. Peel the Peppers
When the peppers are done roasting, toss them in a paper bag or a covered bowl. The steam they produce will help soften the skins, making them easier to peel. After they have cooled a bit, slide the skins off. You should be left with big, meaty strips of roasted peppers. Chop these into chunks about the same size as the onion pieces.

4. Mix the Salsa
Toss all the chopped ingredients into a bowl. Add the lime juice, salt, and pepper. Again, a splash or two of vinegar gives this a little extra kick. Let this marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.


Continue Reading!

Banana Surprise Pancakes

Last week I found a recipe on 101 Cookbooks that piqued my curiosity. It was a gluten-free brownie recipe, using pureed black beans as the base. Always willing to experiment, I made a batch for a friend's birthday party.

They were delicious. As promised, no one detected the slightest hint of bean-flavor. The combination of sweet chocolate, butter, and eggs completely concealed the secret ingredient, and the beans lent an unexpected light and creamy texture that had everyone coming back for seconds.

Intrigued, I started brainstorming other ways to incorporate beans into my baked goods. Beans are chock full of fiber and vitamins, and I really don't eat enough of them. I've been longing for a decent pancake breakfast, however, and I decided to see where the beans would take me.

I started by blending together a can of pinto beans with sugar, cinnamon, and milk, and fried up a test-cake. The flavor wasn't bad, but the texture was crumbly and - not surprisingly - too reminiscent of refried beans. While pondering my options, I spotted a couple of over-ripe bananas in our fruit basket. The wheels started turning.

I've always loved banana pancakes. Back in my vegan days, I would make pancakes using only mashed bananas and flour, and I still remember the wonderful moist springiness the bananas gave those hotcakes. I grabbed a banana, blended it into the bean mixture, and tried again.

Success! Well, almost. The flavor issue was fixed, but the cakes still weren't holding together very well. I tossed in a small handful of rice flour. This time I had it. The outside of the hotcakes browned beautifully; the interior was moist and dense. Banana and cinnamon exploded in my mouth with a wonderful nuttiness from the rice flour. The beans were indetectable.

I think this is my new favorite recipe. It's low-fat, high-fiber, and isn't any harder to make than a standard pancake, as long as you have a blender. I ate the entire batch for breakfast and lunch that day, and I didn't even remember dinner that night.

Banana Surprise Pancakes

These pancakes have a delicious whole-grain flavor, and the fiber will keep you full until lunch. I made this batch with Pinto beans, but I think cannelloni or navy beans might be even better due to their mild taste. I use fructose rather than table sugar because it has a minimal effect on blood sugar levels.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups (1 can) pinto or white beans
4Tbs milk
1 egg
2 Tbs fructose or 2.5 Tbs table sugar
1 large or 2 medium ripe bananas

1/3 brown rice flower
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinammon

Heat your frying pan over medium heat.

Prepare the Batter:
While the pan gets hot, puree the beans with the milk, egg, sugar, and banana until very smooth. Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl, and add them to the bean mixture. Mix thoroughly, and your batter is ready!

Pour the batter:
When the pan is hot enough that a drop of water sizzles, turn the heat down slightly and pour your batter in. You want these hotcakes small - hold both your hands up to make a circle, and aim for pancakes about that size. Otherwise, they take too long to cook and are hard to flip.

Cook the pancakes:
After you've poured a couple of small hotcakes worth of batter into your pan, cover it with a lid and let them cook for five or six minutes. The edges will dry out, but you won't get any air bubbles like with a traditional batter. When the edges look dry, flip the pancakes over and cook for another two or three minutes. The first side should have a nice brown look to it - although if you use table sugar instead of fructose, don't expect as much browning as in the photos. Fructose browns at a lower temperature.

Serve:
Dish these up with a sliced banana for garnish. They are great plain, but a tiny drizzle of maple syrup adds a delicious kick.

Continue Reading!

Celeriac Soup

This was supposed to be an Easter post. I was even going to make a cute reference to the egg-like shape of the celery root (celeriac) that I picked up the other day... but then life intervened, and the Easter-egg reference is now all-but-useless.

I had a giant celery root (celeriac) forcibly gifted to me at the Turkish market the other day. I bought a handful of bell peppers from a shop keeper who obviously had an over-supply of root vegetables on hand, and he snuck a celeriac in my bag when I wasn't looking. It sat around my kitchen for almost a week, looking lumpy and forlorn, before I finally got around to using it for something.

That something ended up being this tangy, creamy soup. I find the taste of straight celeriac too strong - think of the inner stalks of a bunch of celery - but I found that the eggplant and lemon helped balance that into something a bit friendlier-tasting. In fact, in the future I might even use a few more eggplants for a smoother taste.

You'll need either a blender or immersion blender for this soup, but as long as you have that available you could do dozens of variations on this theme - for example, adding curry powder, or some chopped apples. (Think of the scrumptious flavor of fried apples and onions, then imagine the pleasant surprise of finding apples in your dinner soup.) Leave out the bacon for a vegetarian version, substitute soy milk for a vegan treat. I think it would be hard to go terribly wrong with this base.




Celeriac Soup
I left this soup rather thick, but you could thin it down with more milk if you want. Leaving it thick, I think it would make a nice veggie dip as well - especially with a bit of tahini blended in.

Ingredients:

2 Leeks
1 Celeriac
2 small eggplants
1 cube vegetable bullion
4 ounces bacon, cut into small pieces
1 orange bellpepper, chopped (reserve about 1/4 for garnish)

6 Tbs milk
2 Tbs lemon juice
about 1/2 tsp each, cinnamon and pepper

Prepare the Celeriac and Leeks:
Slice leeks thinly, and cut the celeriac into cubes about the size of dice. Dump them all in a pot and just cover with cold water. Crumble your boullion cube over the top, and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer until very soft, about 30 minutes.

Broil the Eggplant:
Meanwhile, halve the eggplants and put them under the broiler until the skins wrinkle and they get more-or-less squishy. This should take about 20 minutes.

Brown the Bacon and Bell Peppers:
While the eggplants are broiling, brown the bacon over medium-high heat until the fat is mostly melted off. Dump off most of the fat, leaving just a tablespoon or two. Add the bell pepper and sautee for a few minutes, until the pieces are softened. Turn the heat off and let this sit while you prep the eggplant.

Peel the Eggplant:
When the eggplant is soft, pull it out of the oven and let it cool a few minutes. When you can handle it comfortably, peel the skin off. You should be able to just grab the skin on one and and peel it back, like a banana. Throw the skin away.

Blend the Soup:
Chop the eggplant into rough chunks, to help it blend more easily. If you have an immersion blender, you can can add this to the pot with the celeriac and leeks. Hold off on the bell pepper for now. If you have a regular blender, dump the celeriac, leeks, cooking liquid, and eggplant in together. Add about half the milk and start blending. Add the rest of the milk slowly, blend thoroughly, and add the lemon juice. When the soup is nice and creamy, add the bell pepper and bacon and blend for a few more pulses. You want to leave a little bit of texture here. Stir in the cinnamon and pepper.

To Serve:
Dish up the soup and sprinkle a bit of chopped bell pepper on top for color. Sprinkle with cinnamon and pepper (fresh ground, if you have it).
Continue Reading!

Homemade Hummus

I eat a lot of Middle Eastern food here. Falafel, schawarma, döner... I can't get enough of them. And the hummus you get with a plate of schawarma meat: the creamy, mild sweetness of the chickpeas blending with tart lemon and sharp garlic. The little drizzle of olive oil over the top. I could eat it all day long.

I haven't made hummus myself since college, but the urge has hit again lately. Without a blender or food processor in the house, though, I was stuck. Until last weekend. My roommate permanently endeared himself to me by coming home with a hand-held submersion blender. Pureed soups and sauces are just a few quick flicks of the wrist away. And dips. And... hummus!

With a blender, food processor, or immersion blender, this is quite a simple recipe. You should be able to find tahini in the "ethnic foods" aisle of most large grocery stores. If that doesn't work, you could try a middle eastern food shop, or just leave it out. The hummus will still be delicious without it.

It takes a little pre-planning to make this with dried chickpeas, but the improvement in flavor and texture is really worth the time. If you need to whip it up in a rush, substitute a 16 oz can of chickpeas and go to town.

Homemade Hummus

I like my hummus with enough garlic to stave off vampires for weeks. If you aren't so worried about being bitten, start with two cloves, blend them in, and add more after tasting.

Ingredients:

3/4 cups dried chickpeas
2-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced (about 2-3 tablespoons)
1-2 tablespoons tahini
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
Parsley, to garnish

Cooking the Chickpeas:
Cover the chickpeas in water and soak for about 20 minutes. Dump out the soaking water before cooking. This helps avoid any bitterness. Put the chickpeas in the cooking pan, and add enough water to come a few inches above the top of them. Bring water to a boil, and cook over low heat about an hour to an hour-and-a-half, or until tender. Don't add salt, as this will make the beans tougher and increase the cooking time.

Preparing the Hummus:
When the chickpeas are cooked (or, if you are using canned), drain and rinse them. Dump them into your blender, or a mixing bowl if you're using a hand-held blender. Add the lemon juice and about 1/2 a cup of water to help with blending. While blending, add the tahini, garlic, salt, and cumin. Blend until the hummus is mostly smooth, with just a bit of texture. Add as much water as you need to reach your preferred consistency. I like mine fairly thick - if you want it thinner, you may need to adjust your seasonings to compensate. As a variation: I also like this hummus with about half a cup of minced parsley mixed in. The flavor reminds me of tabouleh salad, and the parsley will help fend off the inevitable garlic breath!

To Serve:
Pour your hummus into a serving dish. Make a small well in the top, and add a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Chop a few leaves of parsley and sprinkle over the top.



Continue Reading!

Simple Moroccan Spiced Chicken and Eggplant

Last week at the Turkish Market, I walked by one of the spice stalls and noticed a small sign in front of the cashier: "Real Saffron from Iran. Available only while supplies last. Half gram, €3."

I didn't know what I would use it for, but I'd never seen saffron for sale before. I couldn't pass up the chance to try it. Walking up to the stall owner, I said "I'll take half a gram of Saffron, please."

This is when things got a little weird. The man's expression turned wary. "3 Euros," he replied quietly. Glancing nervously from side to side, he reached into a small compartment hidden behind his table. He fumbled for a moment, still looking around, and finally handed me a small, circular, plastic case containing a small pile of delicate red tendrils. I payed, thanked him, pocketed the saffron, and walked away.

I turned to my friend. "Did you see that? Saffron is legal, right? Why do I feel like I was just part of a drug deal?"




I still haven't decided what to use the saffron for, but as I was researching some possibilities, I found myself reading about Moroccan style cooking. The following recipe is probably not precisely authentic, but the blend of eggplant, lemon, cumin and cinnamon is a Moroccan-inspired treat for the senses.



Moroccan Spiced Chicken and Eggplant
It isn't in the photo, but this pairs wonderfully with a side dish of roasted eggplant. Roast the eggplant in the oven while the chicken cooks, then add it to the pan a few minutes before serving to absorb the flavors.

For each serving you will need:
1-2 chicken pieces
1/2 - 1 small eggplant
1 medium onion
Juice from 1/2 a lemon (about 1.5 Tbs)

Seasoning Blend (per serving):
2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt


Preparation:
Rub both sides of each chicken piece with the seasoning blend. You won't use all of it at this point, but season the chicken liberally. You can do this with the skin on, or remove it. I like to remove most of the skin, but leave a little bit around the edges for flavoring. Let the chicken sit for about 10 minutes so the spices have a chance to absorb.

While the chicken is resting, turn your broiler on. Cut the eggplant(s) in half, and remove the stems. Put the eggplant cut-side-down on a baking sheet under the broiler. You'll leave it around 10-15 minutes, until the skin is puckered and wrinkly, and the eggplant is soft.

Cooking the Chicken:
As the eggplant cooks, heat a frying pan over high heat. When a few drops of water sprinkled in the pan sizzle, it's ready. Add the chicken pieces, skin side down, and brown them. As they brown, thinly slice the onion(s).

Sprinkle about half of your remaining seasoning blend into the pan, and add the onion. Stir briefly. Juice the lemon(s), and drizzle the juice evenly over the chicken and onions. Cover the pan immediately to retain moisture, and turn the heat down to medium.

Adding the Eggplant:
Check on the eggplant. When the skin is wrinkly, pull it out from under the broiler. Let it cool briefly, then peel the skin off. It should have separated from the flesh and will pull away quite easily. Throw the skin away, and cut the eggplant into small chunks.

Add the eggplant to the chicken and onions. Stir briefly, and flip the chicken pieces for even cooking. Cover the pan again, and continue cooking until chicken is well-done. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

To serve:
Before serving, taste the eggplant mixture and add more of the seasoning blend if desired. Serve 1-2 pieces of chicken per person, with the eggplant as a side dish. Continue Reading!

The Celery Blues

I'm generally known for having a penchant for odd vegetables. Some of my friends appreciate this, but there are others who run screaming every time I suggest making Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, or whatever else happens to be on the menu. Which is why I find the following conversation even more amusing than it would otherwise be:

I'm standing in my friend's kitchen. I've just pulled a celery stalk from the bunch I purchased moments before at the supermarket. I'm pretty excited, because I haven't seen a celery bunch in many months. Living in California, the land of year round greens, I never realized that celery is a highly seasonal vegetable in other parts of the world.

Me: (crunch. crunch.)
Friend: What are you eating?
Me: Celery.
Friend: Celery? I don't think I've ever seen that before.
Me: Really? I know I can't find it very often, but you've never had it before? Here, try a piece.
Friend (crunching thoughtfully): Ugh! It's so bitter! It's even more bitter than celery root!
Me: Well, yeah, but... it's crunchy. And, um, it's not really that bitter. I mean... it's sort of salty and tangy, too.
Friend: Are you sure you're supposed to eat it raw?
Me: Of course! This is a totally normal American snack food. You should try it with cream cheese. Or peanut butter! (pause) Oh, man, I wish I had some peanut butter.
Friend: You eat that with peanut butter? Really?? God, you Americans eat some strange things.

Upon further consideration, I understand why it isn't a very popular vegetable over here. All the celery I've encountered thus far has been painfully sub-par. The stalks are somehow the wrong density; they end up too watery and stringy, and they're more tough than crunchy.

The flavor is there. It still works as a soup additive. But I really can't blame anyone for not wanting it on their veggie platter. Continue Reading!

White Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

A friend of mine collects bath products. Not just bath products, but bath products scented like food. A quick glance in her shower finds things like "Moisturizing Maple Syrup Scrub," "Pecan Pie Body Wash," and "Vanilla Butter Cream Body Frosting." They smell astonishingly close to the real thing. Mouth-wateringly so. I've been known to occasionally sniff my way through her shower shelves in lieu of dessert.

A few weeks ago I noticed a bottle titled "White Chocolate Hazelnut Cake," by the company Philosophy. Not only did this one smell delicious, but the italicized script covering the front of the bottle turned out to be a recipe! And not only was there a recipe, but it called for breadcrumbs, which I had made just the day before. Clearly this was meant to be.

I wasn't completely sure if the recipe was intended for actual cooking purposes, or just for decoration, but it looked workable. I just needed an excuse to bake a cake.

Last weekend, we had a small dinner party, and I finally had my chance. I creamed, whipped, beat, and folded; then popped it all in the oven and hoped for the best.

It was amazing. A sprinkling of cinnamon lent a flavor akin to carrot cake, but the texture was of a class all its own. It was tender and moist; airy with beaten egg whites, rich with yolks and white chocolate. The coarse breadcrumbs I used gave it an unusual, but wonderful, mouth feel. I'm not normally a "sweets" person - but somehow the 5 of us managed to polish off the entire 9" cake in a matter of minutes.




White Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
adapted from Philosophy's recipe

Since the egg whites are so important to the texture of this cake,
I highly recommend this wonderful writeup on proper whipping
and folding technique.

6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
8 eggs, separated
2/3 cup bread crumbs (gluten-free, if need be)
1/3 cup ground hazelnuts
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350° F
Butter a 9" Springform pan, and lay a circle of baking paper on the bottom.

First, melt the white chocolate in a double boiler. Don't use the microwave for this - white chocolate scorches too easily.

Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a large mixing bowl. Make sure not even a touch of yolk gets in to the whites.

Combine hazelnuts, bread crumbs, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl and mix well.

Cream the butter and 1/3 C. sugar in a large bowl until soft and fluffy. Add the melted white chocolate and mix well. Beat the yolks into the butter, one at a time; continue beating until the mass is smooth and creamy. Stir the hazelnut-breadcrumb mixture into the butter and eggs, and mix thoroughly.

Measure the remaining 1/3 C. sugar and have it ready.
Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. While beating, slowly pour the sugar into the whites. Continue beating until the peaks become stiff.

Stir about 1/4 of the egg whites into the batter, then gently fold in the remainder.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan, and bake for 45 min.


White Chocolate Glaze
Prepare this after cake is cooled

8 oz. white chocolate
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 pinch sea salt

Chop the white chocolate into small pieces, and dump into a medium-sized bowl.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan just until bubbles form at the edges. Quickly pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Leave it to melt for about 1 minute, then add salt and stir until smooth. Let it cool slightly, but make sure it remains liquid.


To Assemble:

When cake is cooled, remove the sides from the springform. If there is a raised edge along the outside of the cake, trim it away. Turn the cake out onto a serving dish, bottom-side up.

Pour the warm glaze over the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts for garnish. Continue Reading!