Holy Macaron!

May 6, 2012 · by ·

This post is long overdue. I have had it sitting in the queue for a while now, and I’ve had the photos sitting on my desktop even longer.

I started to cut out the gluten in mine and my younger daughter’s world several months ago. In doing so, I needed to come up with some sweet and tasty treats for when the craving struck. While I like some of those gluten free flour blend alternatives, I prefer to make things that are intentionally gluten free. I seem to have better luck with those.

I have long wanted to conquer the French macaron challenge. Those little almond treats that can come in a rainbow of colors. When done right, they are so good. When done wrong, it can be a sticky mess.

Like any baking recipe, if you follow the recipe properly, they will come out properly and everyone will be happy. Have no fear. It’s really not too complicated.

Before you get to work, make sure you have everything ready:

  • 2 baking sheets (good, heavy kind)
  • parchment paper
  • a piping bag
  • nothing larger than a 1/2 inch round tip

Basic Macarons
Ingredients:
3/4 cup almond meal
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 large egg whites (some people suggest using older eggs). Let the eggs sit out for a few hours before using in this recipe.
1/4 cup superfine sugar

Filling:
Nutella or your favorite chocolate spread, jam, ganache.  The list is endless. This is your place to get creative.

Preheat oven to 350.

In a food processor, process the confectioners’ sugar and the almond meal together. You shouldn’t have too many specks left. Some people recommend sifting the mixture, but I skipped this step and my macarons came out fine.

In a bowl, beat the eggs whites until foamy. You should see soft peaks.

Slowly beat in the superfine sugar. You will see that the eggs whites start to become shiny. If you wanted to add flavoring to the cookie base, this is the point that you would fold it in.

Slowly fold in the almond meal mixture in to the egg white mixture. Don’t over mix.

Spoon the batter in to your pastry bag. Alternatively, you can use a large ziploc bag and cut the corner instead of the piping tip.

Pipe out 1-inch rounds on the parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Tap the bottom of the baking sheet against the surface to let out the air.

Let the baking sheets sit for 30 minutes to rest. You will see the the tops of the batter rounds will look a little dull.

Once rested, reduce the oven temperarture to 325.

Bake only one sheet of macarons at a time. 

Place cookie sheet in oven for 10 minutes. When done, the cookies will look solid and crisp, but do not let them brown.

Let macarons cool a few minutes, then transfer to wire cooling racks.

Repeat with the second tray of cookies.

Sandwich a couple teaspoons of filling between the two cookies.

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Enjoy!

Filed Under: Dessert, Gluten Free, munchies, passover · Tagged: , , , ,

Vegetarian Eggs Benedict

May 2, 2012 · by ·

Why didn’t anyone tell me that it was so easy to make Hollandaise sauce? It took all of a 3 minutes and while it isn’t something I would ever eat frequently – it’s really good.

Back in my waitressing days, I remember serving up Eggs Benedict at Perkins. It was a popular Saturday/Sunday morning indulgence. At that time I was a vegetarian, and it never occurred to me to try and convince the cooks to adapt it for me.

A few years later, while visiting home, my parents took me out to Good Day Cafe in Minneapolis. They told me it was one of those “must-go-to” places for breakfast. Long lines, good food, etc.  They instructed me to get the Wild Mushroom Benedict there. “You must taste this, Hindy,” they said. My mom and I split it. Totally worth the calorie splurge. At Good Day, the sauce they lay over is more of a gravy, but it had the same consistency of a Hollandaise, and probably just as healthy.

Ten or so years later, I decided to try a Benedict at home. I decided to go the traditional route with the Hollandaise and leave out the Canadian bacon of course. I chose to substitute the bacon with sauteed spinach and mushrooms. I think the hardest part about making something like this is that there are several cooked components. Each component in and of itself is pretty easy.

Recipes for each of the components are below.



Spinach Mushroom Mixture
Ingredients3 cloves of garlic
Chopped fresh spring garlic (two shoots)
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 pound of spinach
5 oz. of sliced mushrooms
salt
pepper
olive oil

Saute the onion and garlic for a few minutes in some olive oil. Add the mushrooms. Cook for two minutes. Add the spinach. Stir and cook for a couple more minutes. Season with salt, pepper. I also used some lemon pepper. Keep warm while you do everything else.

Poached Eggs
Ingredients

eggs – 1 for each muffin half
water
vinegar

Boil some water in a shallow sauce pan.

Crack the egg in to a small cup or ramekin.

Turn the water down to a simmer.

Add a drop of vinegar to the water.

Swirl the water around quickly with a spoon.

While the water is still swirling, slide the egg in to the water with the cup. With a slotted spoon, push the white in to the yolk so it cooks neatly.

You could also try using one of those silicone egg poaching eggs. I found that the egg came out better directly in the water bath. You may have better luck than me with a cup though. If you are using the poaching cup method, you need to cover the pot while the eggs cook.

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Cook for 4-5 minutes.  Remove with a slotted spoon.

I like this step-by-step tutorial on Simply Recipes.

Hollandaise Sauce
recipe by Julia Child
Ingredients

3 egg yolks
1 stick of butter
1-2 tbsp lemon juice (depending on how lemony you like it)
salt
pepper
Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Place the egg yolks, salt, pepper, lemon juice and cayenne in a blender. Beat it for 3 seconds.

Microwave your butter until frothy.

With the blender running, slowly pour in the butter. Blend for another 30 seconds or so. The sauce will be thick.

Discard the butter solids at the bottom of the bowl.

Take a taste of the sauce with a finger or spoon. Season further to taste.

While you wait for everything else to be ready, place the blender in a bowl of warm water to keep warm and saucy.

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As a gluten free alternative, I would recommend an arepa for the bottom bread like piece. Toast your English Muffin or arepa. I hope you can manage that without a recipe.

Now it’s time to plate up your Eggs Benedict!

To assemble:
Lay out your English Muffin or halved arepa. Spoon on some spinach mixture. Carefully place the poached egg on to each round. Top with some Hollandaise and a sprinkling of cayenne. Yum!

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I served this with some herb roasted potatoes and a salad.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Breakfast, dairy, Dinner, easy, Gluten Free, Main Course, sandwich, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , ,

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

May 1, 2012 · by ·

One of the first cakes I ever made, that didn’t come from a box, was a coffee cake. It was snowing in New Jersey and we were stuck indoors. We decided to warm up the house with some baking. Being a non-baker, I had none of the ingredients. I crawled my way through the snow to the store at the foot of our housing development. I picked up whatever was needed and headed home to bake. That cake was awesome! Ten-and-a-half years later, and I still don’t bake too many cakes. I can handle cookies and brownies, but not cakes.

I had some plain yogurt that needed to be used up. I decided to pull out that wrinkled coffee cake recipe and adapt for what I had on hand. While I am not a cake fan, I love coffee cake. The cinnamon-sugar middle and topping…yum! I decided to up that yum factor with some chocolate chips. You can’t go wrong with chocolate!

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Cake Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup plain yogurt (can also use sour cream)
2 tbsp. half and half
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Topping Ingredients:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips




Preheat the oven to 350.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and eggs. Add in the vanilla, half and half and the yogurt.

In a smaller bowl, mix up the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix well.

In a small bowl, mix the topping ingredients.

Spray a 9×13 baking pan and dust with flour.  
Spread half of the batter in to the pan. 
Sprinkle half of the topping ingredients over the batter.
Spread the rest of the batter over this.
Add the rest of the topping ingredients.
Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 or until done.
Cool for 30-45 minutes. Slice and serve.
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Enjoy!

Filed Under: dairy, Dessert, Snacks, sweet · Tagged: , , , , , ,

Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini

April 30, 2012 · by ·

As I walked in to my local kosher store, I eyed the big zucchinis in crates in the entry way. At 49 cents a pound, I had to toss a few in my cart.

I usually just chop up some zucchini in to a dish – for the most part, it becomes an afterthought. I find that I often use it as a way to stretch a recipe. I decided that I wanted the zucchini to shine tonight. I had never made stuffed zucchini before. I think the last time I ate one was back in summer camp. I didn’t have fond memories. I knew I could top the vegetarian menu at camp. I am pretty happy with the way this turned out.

Stuffed Zucchini
Ingredients:


2 large zucchini
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 package of cremini mushrooms, chopped
1/2 package of soy italian sausage, chopped
3 plum tomatoes, chopped well
thyme
basil
oregano
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, powder or shredded, plus two tablespoons
1/2 cup bread crumbs or corn flake crumbs, plus two tablespoons (can use gluten free option)
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Wash the outside of the zucchini well.

Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise.

Scoop out the insides of the zucchini. Chop the zucchini pulp and set aside.  There should be a 1/4-inch layer of skin all around. Be careful not to puncture the skin.

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Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place in over for around 10-12 minutes.

While the zucchini shells are baking, prepare the stuffing.

In a large pan, saute the onion and garlic in some olive oil and butter.

Add in your spices.

Add the soy sausage and mushrooms. Saute for 5 minutes.

Add in the chopped zucchini pulp and the chopped tomatoes.

Cook for another 5-7 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Stir in the cheeses and the bread crumbs, reserving the two tablespoons of each.

Taste the mixture now. Add salt if necessary.

Scoop the mixture in to the zucchini shells.

Sprinkle on the remaining bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.

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Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Turn the oven up to broil and bake for another 5-10 minutes. Bread crumbs and cheese should look a little toasted.

Remove from oven and enjoy!

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Filed Under: dairy, Dinner, easy, Gluten Free, Main Course, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , ,

Vegetable Jalfrezi

April 30, 2012 · by ·

Everyone knows I have a special love for curries. Another curry that I discovered on the fly is vegetable jalfrezi. It’s mixed vegetables in a curry, creamy tomato sauce. A bit sweet and spicy. Always good. It’s one of those dishes that is pretty forgiving. I like to call it my “kitchen sink” curry. Use whatever is on hand with the spice mixture and you are good to go. As I cook the dish, I love to marvel at all of the wonderful colos of the vegetables. So pretty! It’s a mild curry, so it is very family friendly in this house.

Vegetable Jalfrezi
Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. ginger, chopped
1/2 bag of chopped cabbage
2 small zucchini, sliced
2 small yellow squash, sliced
1/2 container mushrooms, sliced
2 carrots, diced
1/2 can of chickpeas (I used white beans since I needed to use them up)
handful of green beans, cut in to 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup peas
chili powder (optional)
juice of one lemon
butter
1 cup plain yogurt
3 tbsp curry paste
salt – to taste
In a large pan, saute the onion with the garlic and the ginger for a few minutes in some ghee or butter. Add in a bit of salt.  
Add in the other veggies to the pan. Cook for about 10 minutes.
In a separate bowl stir the curry paste with the yogurt and the lemon juice. 
Once the veggies are cooked, add in the tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes.
Add the curry paste mixture to the vegetable mixture. Cook for another 10 minutes. The mixture should be saucy, but not too saucy. If there is too much liquid in there, cook for a few minutes to let the liquid boil off.

Add salt and chili powder to taste.

Serve the vegetable jalfrezi over some steamed Basmati rice.

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Enjoy!
Filed Under: curry, dairy, Dinner, easy, Gluten Free, Main Course, rice, Vegetarian · Tagged: , ,

Quesadilla Pie

April 26, 2012 · by ·

I had big plans for this dinner. Some roasted veggies, and some nice fish. When I got home though, the fish wasn’t defrosted at all. It was still in the freezer. And the veggies – well, the veggies just didn’t come out right. I quickly threw together a salad, and grabbed whatever I could find.

I always keep cans of beans and some soy meat product around the house for crazy nights. I also happened to have some tortillas lying around. I didn’t want the standard quesadilla or burrito though. I decided to play around a bit and make up some sort of quesadilla pie. Was happy when it came together quickly and tasted fantastic!

Quesadilla Pie (makes 2 pies)

Filling Ingredients:
1 package of soy meat crumbles (I used Trader Joe’s brand)
1 large onionm chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped (optional)
1/2 can of small white beans
3/4 cup corn
a few mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 cup salsa
2 tsp. olive oil
salt to taste

The rest:
3 cups Shredded Cheese (approx.)
6 Tortillas
Enchilada Sauce or Extra Salsa

In a large saute pan, heat up your oil.

Toss in the onions, garlic, and soy crumbles.  Saute for a few minutes.

Add in the spices.  You could also choose to saute some other veggies for the mixture. I chose to keep it simple. It was plenty filling as is.

Add in the rest of the filling ingredients. Saute a few more minutes. Maybe 5 minutes. Make sure that everything is mixed well. Taste the mixture.

In a 9-inch round pan, pour a tablespoon or two of the salsa or enchilada sauce. Lay down a tortilla. Layer some of the fake meat mixture over it. Not too thick a layer. Sprinkle cheese over. Lay another tortilla over. Then again, the meat mixture and more cheese. Now another tortilla. Add a tablespoon or two of the enchilada sauce or salsa. Top with some shredded cheese.  Repeat with the other pan.

Bake for around 25 minutes at 350 or until the cheese starts to bubble and brown.

Serve with some sour cream and a salad on the side.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: dairy, Dinner, easy, Vegetarian · Tagged: , ,

Snackin’ Granola

April 26, 2012 · by ·

I need to be honest right from the start and let you know that I didn’t intend for this recipe creation to become this granola snack. I really intended this to become granola bars similar to what my kids eat from Trader Joe’s.

I had all of my ingredients laid out and the best intentions. I even promised my older daughter that she would get the first taste. Alas, the bars didn’t hold together too well. I must not have had enough moisture in the granola mixture. So this became some mighty fine snackin’ granola. Similar to what you can find in those big tubs at Costco. My friend graciously refers to this mixture as “Costco Crack.” It really is addicting as a snack. Would also be great as a yogurt topping.

Snackin Granola
Ingredients:

4 cups oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 tbsp. chia seeds
3 tbsp. flax seeds
2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup honey
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350.

In a huge mixing bowl, mix up all of your dry ingredients.

In a small sauce pan, warm up the honey and the peanut butter. Stir together until it is all melty.

When melted, pour the mixture over the granola mixture. Mix it well.

Press in to a rimmed cookie sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Check at 15 to make sure that it isn’t burning.

Let cool for 10 minutes.

Break up in to clusters.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Breakfast, Gluten Free, granola, nuts, snack, whole grain · Tagged: , , , ,

Spinach and Walnut Pesto

April 24, 2012 · by ·

Some of you may already know about my love for pesto. Those of you that know me will also know that not everyone in my life shares this love of pesto. So I keep trying to come up with ways to change up the pesto in hopes that J might become a pesto convert. The good thing is that he is willing to try anything.

While watching Lidia Bastianich the other night, I came across her making some spinach pesto. Looked so good! I decided to give it a whirl.

I decided to wing it as far as a recipe goes. Taste as you go along. Measurements below are estimates.

Spinach and Walnut Pesto
Inspired by Lidia Bastianich

Ingredients:

1 bag of washed spinach leaves (standard Trader Joe’s size)
2 cups washed basil leaves (loosely packed)
5 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of chopped toasted walnuts
Olive Oil
Salt to taste

Place the various leaves in the food processor. Turn it on.

Add the garlic while it’s going.

Add in the walnuts.  Chop Chop

Slowly add in the olive oil. Let it get to the consistence you like.

Taste it a bit. Add some salt. Just a couple of teaspoons.

I like to make a lot and then freeze it for future meals.

Enjoy it over anything you like. We had it with some pasta. Delish!

Filed Under: Dinner, easy, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , ,

Meatless Monday: Vegan Tofu Balls!

April 24, 2012 · by ·

My ten-year-old daughter couldn’t stop laughing when I told her we were eating “vegan tofu balls” for dinner.

“You said balls, Mom! You said BALLS!”

Oy vey! I am sure I was like that when I was ten. She doesn’t even know what BALLS are, but she knows that they’re something to talk about. Lucky me.

I feel like I get all my meal ideas from Pinterest lately. It’s all house and food porn on that site and I keep getting sucked in. While perusing Pinterest, I came across Post Punk Kitchen’s recipe for tofu balls.  Looked pretty easy. I recently made a big batch of spinach and walnut pesto. I decided to try to adapt the recipe a bit and make them gluten free to serve with the pesto and and some pasta.  Lo and behold, it was a hit! So happy I found the recipe!

Tofu Balls
slightly adapted from Post Punk Kitchen
Ingredients:

1 lb. extra firm tofu, mushed up

1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
5 mushrooms, chopped
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 cup gluten free “bread crumbs” or corn flake crumbs
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. basil
2 tsp. thyme
red pepper flakes (optional)
salt
pepper
Rice flour for rolling balls in
Vegetable oil for frying or baking spray

In a large mixing bowl, mix everything up except for the flour and the oil. I used my cuisinart to chop the veggies up.

Roll mixture in to 1-inch balls. It’s best to use your hands for this.

Roll the tofu balls in the rice flour and pan fry until light brown on all sides.

You can also choose to bake in the oven on a sprayed baking sheet at 400 until done. You will want to flip them to ensure even browning.

Serve the tofu balls however you’d like. We had them over a pasta with spinach & walnut pesto sauce with some roasted cauliflower on the side. Delightful!

Enjoy!

Filed Under: dairy, Gluten Free, Main Course, Vegan, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , ,

Palak Paneer

April 23, 2012 · by ·

So I had this lovely brick of paneer cheese. I had to make dinner. I would go back to my first curry and make some mutter paneer, but I was out of peas. I did have some spinach sitting in the freezer though. I decided to make some palak paneer. J loves spinach curries, as do I. I knew that this wouldn’t sit well with one kid, but the younger child would be happy with this. You can’t please everyone.

Palak Paneer
Ingredients:
1 pound of spinach
prepared paneer, cubed
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. ginger, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 tsp. veg. oil
1 tbsp. butter or ghee
2 tsp. garam masala
1 tbsp. curry powder
2 tsp. cumin
chili powder to taste
salt to taste

Clean the spinach well. Steam the spinach in a pot and squeeze out the liquid.

In a large saute pan, heat the vegetable oil and the butter or ghee.

Saute the onion, garlic, and ginger.  Cook until soft. Mash up the mixture a little.

Add the spices to the mixture.

Add the paneer. Let the paneer cook a bit. Paneer doesn’t melt – so no worries.

Add the spinach. Mix up well. Add the chili powder and the salt to taste.  Add a bit of veggie broth if the gravy is too thick.

Serve over basmati rice.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: curry, Gluten Free, indian, Main Course, rice, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , ,
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