Meyer Lemon Marmalade

At first, I thought my window of opportunity to find Meyer Lemons had come and gone. I'd seen them in the store around Christmas, and then missed them for several weeks. They resurfaced, and I'm happy to say that I snagged some in my effort to make Marmalade this winter. Our teacher appreciation day is fast approaching, and with six teachers in all to appreciate, I thought this might be a nice gesture to give thanks.

• Meyer Lemon Marmalade
• Adapted from Gourmet Magazine
• 
  
• Ingredients: 
• 
  
• 6 Meyer lemons (1 1/2 pounds)
• 4 cups water
• 4 cups sugar

Cheesecloth

Kitchen string

Six half-pint Mason-type jars, sterilized with lids

Halve lemons crosswise and remove seeds. Tie seeds in a cheesecloth bag. Quarter each lemon half and thinly slice. Combine with bag of seeds and water in a 5-quart nonreactive heavy pot and let mixture stand, covered, at room temperature 24 hours.

Bring lemon mixture to a boil over moderate heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until reduced to 4 cups, about 45 minutes. Stir in sugar and boil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally and skimming off any foam, until a teaspoon of mixture dropped on a cold plate gels, about 15 minutes.

Ladle hot marmalade into jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of top. Wipe rims with dampened cloth and seal jars with lids.

Put jars in a water-bath canner or on a rack set in a deep pot. Add enough hot water to cover jars by 1 inch and bring to a boil. Boil jars, covered, 5 minutes and transfer with tongs to a rack. Cool jars completely. Keep jars out for 24 hours to confirm that the lids sealed properly in the water bath.

Ready to go!

I've Seen the Future and it Scares Me

Oatmeal Sandwich Bread

I first read about this recipe here on Molly Wizenberg's brilliant blog Orangette. She has a food sensibility I truly admire, with eloquent writing to make you really want to cook whatever it is she's making (to wit: fennel salad, roasted tomatoes, etc.) 

Molly makes some very good points in her adaptation of this recipe. First, is: stir your flours before measuring to fluff them up. Flour packs itself quite well, and good measurements are key to good baking. She also changed up the salt recommendation from the original recipe, going from Kosher salt to regular table salt. 

I started making this recipe out of curiosity, and continue because it's a fabulous recipe for someone starting out baking bread. I don't have a bread maker, and based on having borrowed the one my mother kept in the basement for years, I don't ever intend to. This recipe requires a stand mixer with a dough hook, and standard sized loaf pans. It is now an indispensable recipe in my repertoire. Having "eating" bread around ensures we get through the week with the sandwich bread I buy at the store. 

Two weeks ago, we invited friends over to help bake four loaves of bread. Monica's sons are interested in cooking, and wanted to know how they too can bake bread. And that's where I saw my future. Her boys are 14, 12, and 10, and they EAT. MASSIVE. QUANTITIES. OF. FOOD. Raw veggies, apples and pizza were on the lunch menu that day. Five pizzas. FIVE! My two boys have yet to hit that all-encompassing eating stage in their life, but when it comes, I know there isn't going to be a shopping cart big enough. Oy. 

Oatmeal Sandwich Bread
Adapted from Good to the Grain,, by Kim Boyce with Amy Scattergood, by way of Orangette



1 package (2 ¼ tsp.) active dry yeast
3 Tbsp. unsulphured (not blackstrap) molasses
2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
1 cup rolled oats (not instant oatmeal, or quick cooking oatmeal)
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 ¼ tsp. table salt, or to taste

Grease a large bowl and a loaf pan with butter or cooking spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 2 cups warm water, the yeast, and molasses. Stir briefly, and then allow the yeast to bloom for about 5 minutes. Add the flours, oats, and butter, and stir to mix. The dough will look rough and shaggy. Cover with a towel, and let stand for 30 minutes. Wait until the next step to add the salt! [This rest allows the dry ingredients to absorb the liquids, making for a dough that’s easy to work with and even-crumbed.]

Attach the bowl and the bread hook to the mixer. Add the salt, and mix on medium speed for 6 minutes. The dough should come together around the hook and slap around the sides of the bowl without sticking. If the dough is sticking, add a tablespoon or two of bread flour, sprinkling it down between the dough and the sides of the bowl. [Alternatively, you can knead by hand for about 15 minutes, adding flour as needed.] The dough should be soft and supple and slightly sticky.

For the first rise, scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it a few times. Put the dough into the greased bowl, cover with a towel, and leave it to rise for about 1 hour, or until it is doubled in size. To see if it’s ready, gently push a floured finger into it. If the dough springs back, it needs more time; if the dimple remains, it’s ready for the next step.

To shape the dough, scrape it onto a floured work surface. Press down on it, working it into a square shape, taking care to depress any bubbles. Fold the dough down from the top to the middle, then up from the bottom to the middle. Next, bring the newly formed top and bottom edges together, pinching the seam to seal. Pinch the sides together, and roll the shaped dough back and forth, plumping it so that it’s evenly formed and about the size of your pan. Place the dough in the pan with the seam side down, and press it gently into the corners of the pan.

For the second rise, cover the dough with a towel, and let it rest in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the dough rises to half again its size. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.

When the dough has finished its second rise, bake for about 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The loaf is ready when the top crust and bottom crusts are nicely browned. To see if the bread is ready, give the top of the loaf a thump with your hand. If it sounds hollow, it’s ready; if not, give it another few minutes in the oven. Remove the finished loaf from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Resist the urge to cut in until it’s fully cooled, so that the crumb has time to set and the flavor can develop.

Note: This bread keeps beautifully at room temperature. Store in a plastic bag, though we often eat our bread so fast there's not much left to store. 

Yield: 1 loaf

First rise

One voluptuous loaf of bread in the making

Senan kneads from up high

Craft Show Soup

This soup is a fitting entry under the categories, "What to do with a ham bone," and "What to make for a Super Bowl Party where the Pats are going to take on the Giants (and win!)". And, actually, it has a sort of strange name. What is a craft show and why does it have soup?

The Craft Show in question is an annual event at my son's former preschool. One of the teachers, Patti Sigati, commands an army of cooks in the kitchen and makes a ton of this soup to sell at the Craft Show. It's not always cold in October around here, but this year, it was a chilly day, and the soup was spot on. I found Patti and begged her to share the recipe. We walked to the school office and picked out an old copy of the school fundraiser cookbook. She photocopied it for me, and well, here it is.

Craft Show Soup
With Thanks to Patti Sigati

Active Time: 15 minutes
Inactive Time: 12 hours for soaking beans
Cooking Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes on stove or 4-6 hours in slow cooker*

2 cups 15 bean soup mix, washed (remove the ham flavoring packet if it comes with one)
2 quarts water
1 honey baked ham bone with extra outside fat removed **
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1 16 oz. can Hunts stewed tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice

Soak beans overnight in water to cover. Drain. Place beans in a 5 quart Dutch oven. Add two quarts water, ham, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover; reduce heat and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender. Add remaining ingredients; simmer 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove ham from the bone (and throw away the bone), returning meat to the soup. Makes 2 1/2 quarts.

*To adapt it for a slow cooker, just put your ingredients (excluding the lemon juice) in the slow cooker and cook on the Low setting for 4-6 hours. Add the lemon juice and stir, after you remove the ham bone from the soup. 

** Ham stores (like HoneyBaked Ham) will sell the ham bones (frozen) by themselves. They range in price from about four dollars to twelve dollars, depending on their size. I used a "six dollar" ham bone, and it provides ample meat for the soup.

Soup's on! 

You can either do this on the stove or in a slow cooker.

Edamame Falafel

Edamame falafel is one of my favorite things to have on hand for lunch. I make a double batch, and store them in the freezer. I thaw a few at a time, and they're easy to put in a pita for a quick lunch. 

I got this recipe out of an issue of KIWI Magazine while waiting at the pediatric dentist's office. I scribbled the ingredients onto the subscription blow-in. It's a wonder I could translate what I wrote down that day, but here it is. 

Edamame Falafel

Adapted from KIWI Magazine

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Oven Temperature: 425 degrees 

1 cup shelled edamame, cooked

1/2 cup carrots, chopped

1/2 small red onion, quartered

1/2 cup walnut pieces

2 Tbsp. tahini (sesame paste)

1 clove garlic

1 Tbsp. lime juice

1/2 tsp. cumin

3/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. water (optional)

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 cucumber, chopped

1/2 head red cabbage, chopped

4 whole wheat pitas

In the bowl of a food processor, put the edamame, carrots, onion, walnuts, tahini, garlic, lime juice, cumin and salt. Pulse a few times to get started, and then turn on. Puree to a fine paste. If it's too thick, stop the processor and add 1 tsp. of water and use a spatula to bring the mixture off the sides. Turn off food processor. 

Place a piece of parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet. The parchment helps the falafels from getting too brown during the baking.

Remove the bowl and take enough of the paste in between your palms to roll a ball about the size of a golf ball. Repeat with all of the paste, until you have approximately 12 balls of falafel. Place them on the baking sheet, close, but not touching. 

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven, flip the falafel balls over, and return to the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow falafel balls to cool. 

To serve, cut open the top of the pita breads and fill with chopped red cabbage, red or orange bell peppers and chopped cucumbers. Put two or three falafel balls in each sandwich. 

Super healthy ingredients

Paste needs further processing

Golf ball sized. No larger! 

Flip and bake another 10 minutes

Colorful and tasty too

Archie and the Coconut

We found a book at the library at the beginning of Winter Break called "Archie and the Pirates." While my boys are not pirate obsessed, we are pirate interested. Throw in a monkey called Archie and we're golden. Boy #2 has been obsessed with coconuts for a long time. The plan now is for a birthday party featuring Archie and a whole lot of coconut products. I broke down yesterday (the last day of a nearly three week Winter Break) and bought the boys a coconut. Here's our adventure.

Use a screwdriver and hammer to open the holes; be sure to wiggle the coconut meat out of the way.  

Lots of coconut water: two glasses full! 

They love this!

Put the drained coconut in a bag and smash it against the ground. 

Coconut should break fairly easily into chunks. 

Give the chunks another smack on the ground.

Cut flesh away from the shell. Not hard to do. 

A lifetime's supply of coconut. 

2012 Bloggies Awards

I would like to ask you to nominate Veggievangelist in the “Best Food Blog” category of the 12^th Annual Bloggies Awards. (http://2012.bloggi.es/) The deadline for nominations is January 15^th, which is why I have to ask now.

You’ll notice that your ballot must contain at least three unique nominees, in any of 28 categories. If you need some blogs to nominate in other categories, I'd like to suggest:

Best Religion or Spirituality, Santos Woodcarving Popsicles, http://santospopsicles.blogspot.com/

Best Food Weblog, Veggievangelist, http://veggievangelist.blogspot.com/

Best Writing of a Weblog: Ben and Birdy, http://www.benandbirdy.blogspot.com/

Most Humorous: Ben and Birdy, http://www.benandbirdy.blogspot.com/

Best Sports Weblog: Parenting Aces, http://parentingaces.com

Best Travel Weblog, Go BIG or Go Home, http://GoBIGorGoHomeBlog.com

Butternut Squash Risotto

This recipe makes me happy. I first crossed paths with it over a decade ago when I went over to the apartment of my friend Riza, and her husband Adam. Riza's an insanely talented gal, and quite the chef. I remember she served a simple lemon vinaigrette over arugula to complement the meal. And, as far as I'm concerned, any recipe that has me open a bottle of wine for the occasion is one worth repeating. This recipe could easily be made to suit Vegans with the omission of the cheese (substitute 1/4 tsp. of red pepper flakes for the kick). 


Butternut Squash Risotto
Adapted from Riza Hunger's recipe


Prep time: For squash, 45 minutes
For rice: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Oven Temperature: 400 degrees


Ingredients: 
1 1/2 lbs. sliced butternut squash (I used whole, but if you can find it at the store ready to go, run with it)
2 Tbsp. olive oil or butter, divided
1/4 cup chopped shallots or red onions, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
4 oz. fresh mushroom blend (baby bella, shiitake and oyster), sliced
1 tsp. dried basil (or 2 tsp. fresh, chopped)
1/2 t. dried summer savory* or thyme
1 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup white wine
3 cups hot chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup grated pepper jack cheese
1/4 cup chopped chives 
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper


In a preheated 400 degree oven, bake butternut squash for 35-40 minutes until tender, but not mushy. Cut squash away from skin and into 1/2 inch dice. Reserve 1 1/4 cups for the risotto and keep warm. 


In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Add mushrooms and sauté for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally until slightly browned. Remove from pan and reserve. 


In the same pan, heat remaining 1 Tbsp. of olive oil. Add shallots (or onions), garlic, herbs and rice, and sauté for 3-5 minutes, until rice is translucent. Add the wine, and continue to simmer until liquid is absorbed, stirring constantly. Continue adding stock in small amounts (about 1/4 cup at a time works well), stirring until liquid is absorbed into the rice each time before adding more stock. 


In the last five minutes, add the cheese, along with reserved mushrooms and squash and stir thoroughly. When rice is al dente, remove from heat. Top plates with a sprinkle of chives. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 



*Summer Savory is not easy to find, nor is it vital to the recipe. If you have it (or grow it) great! If not, substitute thyme. I happened to buy some by chance on a trip to France (where it's called Sarriette). I didn't realize what it was until I got home and Googled it. 

Finished product

Cut butternut in half and scoop out the seeds before roasting

Any recipe that calls for wine? All in! 

Mushrooms sauteing

Risotto cooking before adding liquids