Archive for January, 2009

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Cheddar and Avocado Muffins

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

I had one of those weeks that just get away from you.  The kind that when Saturday night comes and you sit down and wonder where the days went.  One of the highlights of my week was getting some quality kitchen time to experiment with savory muffins.

I started with the fillings for my favorite sandwich. I love the combination of raw milk cheddar cheese and a juicy sweet onion served between two slices of fresh Italian bread. Next in line for a favorite sandwich is a nice ripe Haas avocado with crispy peppered bacon. These muffins combine the flavors of both sandwiches together. I was pleased with how well the flavors blended together. These muffins are perfect with a bowl of soup, your favorite salad or as a quick breakfast. I hope that you will enjoy them as much as I did.

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Cheddar Avocado Muffins

2 cups of flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup of cheddar cheese shredded
2 shallots, finely minced
6 slices of bacon
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 ripe avocado, peeled and cut into small cubes
lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper

Toss the avocado cubes in lemon juice, set aside.
Mix together flour and baking powder in a large bowl.
Stir in the shredded cheese, pepper and shallots into the flour mixture. Mix well.
Chop the bacon finely and fry until crisp. Keep the bacon drippings, you will need them.
Add crisped bacon to the flour mixture, mix well.
Combine the butter, milk, bacon drippings, honey and egg together.
Stir avocado cubes into the milk mixture.
Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture.
Stir just long enough to combine.
Spoon into well greased muffin tins.
Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Serve warm. No butter or toppings needed.

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What sandwich combination do you love that would make a great savory muffin?

Posted in avocado, baking, basics, cheese | 25 Comments »

In the Mood for Baking

Monday, January 19th, 2009

 

The conditions are perfect for baking today.

The weather is cold and there is a light snow falling. The cats are curled up on the blankets in the bedroom, the cell phone is turned off and I have the apartment to myself. I’ve got a steaming cup of lavender tea in my hands and John Coltrane playing on the Zune.  Every thing is peaceful and perfect.

That was until I went to my pantry for a bag of rye flour and some golden syrup. I opened the pantry doors to this…

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I dug around for ten minutes looking for the flour and then another ten for the golden syrup. I dropped an opened box of rice on the floor,  spilling every grain out onto the floor. Then I dropped a large can of bamboo shoots on my left little toe. After the string of four letter words ceased,  I knew that something had to be done with the monster that is my pantry. The baking had to be postponed until I sorted out this disaster.

Two hours later I now have this…

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Everything is now organized and labeled. I found my elusive ingredients, sipped my now iced lavender tea, cranked up Coltrane and got down to the baking business. There is dark rye bread rising on the counter and a batch of avocado muffins ready to go into the oven. Things are once again peaceful, perfect and organized.

Does anyone’s pantry look as disturbing as mine? What is the most unorganized part of your kitchen?

Posted in Music, baking, pantry | 19 Comments »

My Food Trends of 2009

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

 

What food trends will you be following this year?

I’d really enjoy hearing what you have planned for 2009.

My RSS reader is full of articles touting the newest food trends of 2009. I’ve been reading articles on what is going to be “in” or “hot” for this year.

Restaurants will begin serving breakfast all day. The “in” cuisine of the year is predicted to be Peruvian. Ingredient of the year is ricotta cheese. The dish of the year will be anything with an egg on top (are you reading this Laurie? Kitchen Genius was right!!) Dessert of the year will be anything made with peanut butter. And the wine trend will be bargain bottles costing under $10. There are also trend predictions for higher organic sales, recession menus and micro brew pubs. Trying to keep up with it all is enough to make your head spin. You would think that as a food blogger I would be embracing all of the predicted trends and running with them.

While these seem very exciting, I’ve never been one to follow any sort of trend. Just the opposite. I buck the trends. I don’t read what Oprah tells me to (do not get me started on her book recommendations!), I’ve never followed a damned fashion trend in my life. My music tastes have always been as far from trendy as you can get. I don’t jump on the latest health, vitamin supplement or diet trend bandwagon. And this year I have no intentions of following food trends that are laid out for me by the food industry.

Due to a very serious health scare of my own at the beginning of the month I will be starting my own food trends this year. There is nothing like being ill and having the doctor scare the crap out of you to begin developing your own personal food trends for 2009.

My trends for this new year…

90% of my meals will be made in my own kitchen – seriously, I don’t have a clue as to what takeaways and restaurants are putting in my meals. If I don’t know what is in my food I am not going to eat it. Period.

My love of red meat will never go away, but I’ll be adding more fresh vegetables and fruits into my meals. I plan on trying many fruits and veg that I’ve never tried before. Trips to my local Asian supermarket are perfect for this. They always have something new and exotic for me to play with. Where else could I get a huge pummelo for $2.99? 

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I’ll be dragging out and working from my vintage cookbooks. If you think about it, the food was much more simple then. Our health was better and there were no processed ingredients. After reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, this idea seems to fit perfectly into my food trends for 2009. If you get the chance, please read…

Michael Pollan’s Twelve Commandments for Serious Eaters

(brought to you by my friends at Serious Eats…with a dash of humor included.)

As much as it pains me, I will be cutting back on my caffeine consumption. There is nothing that I enjoy more than  cups of warm, steaming, caffeinated joy. But I will be limiting my coffee intake and exploring less caffeinated hot beverages. My goal is to cut the leaded coffee to three cups a day. (it is normally around the 8 cup range) I know that there are many teas out there just waiting for me to try them. I welcome any and all suggestions from my readers for beverage ideas.

Here’s to my new food trends of 2009. May they help me be around to come up with food trends for many years to come.

Posted in food trends, life | 16 Comments »

Barley Risotto

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

 

My New Year’s quest is to try new dishes with non traditional ingredients. At the same time I am trying to reduce the amount of money that I’m spending on groceries. The two goals sometimes remind me of oil and water. They just do not mix.

Then I come across a recipe like barley risotto. Barley is very cheap, whole grain and very filling. I was able to throw a risotto together for under $3. We had it as a side dish with baked ham. The next day we chopped up leftover ham into the barley risotto and it became the main dish for dinner.  There was even enough left over that I packed a bowl for lunch on the third day.

 

Barley Risotto (adapted from Recipezaar )

Heat 2 tablespoons of quality  olive oil in a deep pan. Add 1/2 diced onion and cook for 5 minutes.

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Stir in the barley and continue to cook for three more minutes.

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Pour in 2 cups of stock (ham, chicken or vegetable) Simmer for 20 minutes.

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After 20 minutes, add more broth. Keep adding small amounts of broth as it is absorbed. (up to 4 cups) Continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until barley is tender. In the last few minutes stir in an 8 ounce package of frozen peas. Remove from heat and stir in 2 to 3 ounces of chived cream cheese.

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Garnish with snipped chives and freshly ground black pepper.

Barley risotto is not a pretty dish. But what it lacks in looks it makes up for in flavor.

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Posted in cheap eats, whole grain | 11 Comments »

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Monday, January 5th, 2009

 

Every Wednesday night used to be wing night at my house. I’d leave work a little early in the afternoon to get a head start on our weekly wing feast. There would be fresh green salads, my famous wings, chips and salsa and an olive and vegetable tray. I no longer have the time to make my wing feast every Wednesday. Now it is more like once a month.

I had to find a quick replacement for my hot wing addiction. Something that I could throw together when we get home late from our work day. I wanted all of the flavors of my wing night in one easy dish. My solution is buffalo chicken pizza. Even with making fresh dough for the pizza I can have this on the table in about an hour.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

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1 batch of pizza dough

1/4 cup alfredo sauce

1 cup diced, cooked chicken breast

Franks Red Hot (or your favorite hot sauce)

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced

your favorite buffalo wing toppings:

chopped sweet onion, blue cheese, chopped celery and cilantro (what ever floats your boat)

Mix together chicken and hot sauce, set aside. Spread alfredo sauce on the unbaked pizza crust. Top with the hot sauce coated chicken pieces. Then with chopped onions and mozzarella.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven and top with crumbled blue cheese, chopped cilantro and chopped celery. Serve with hot sauce and blue cheese dressing on the side.

Guaranteed to cure your hot wing and pizza craving at the same time. What are your favorite non traditional pizza toppings?

Posted in cheap eats, chicken, pizza | 13 Comments »

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