Blueberry Almond Muffins

When Sunday morning rolled around, gray and rainy, I instinctively pulled out my muffin tin.  What could better complete a quiet day of tea, sweatpants and good books than a batch of steamy, delicious blueberry muffins?

A couple challenges: we're out of flour and Alexander is not eating dairy.

No problem:  Almonds, ground in the food processor, form the base.  Equal parts olive oil and melted coconut butter provide the fat.

Preheat the oven to 300.  Grease or line 8 muffin cups.  Pulse a generous 3 cups almonds until ground.  Mix with: 2 large eggs, 1/4 c. olive oil, 1/4 c. melted coconut butter, 1/4 c. honey, 1 t. baking soda, 2 t. vanilla and a pinch of salt.  If the mixture is too thick, add a bit more olive oil.  Stir in 1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries. 

Scoop into muffin cups, filling almost to the top, and bake for 35 minutes until golden brown.  Slather with coconut butter and serve.  Perfect accompaniment to Rooibos Earl Gray with almond milk. 

Fajita Salad with Pineapple Cumin Dressing

I came home a few days ago aching for the zippy, fresh flavors of real Mexican food.  Luckily, my fridge provided just what I needed to satisfy my desire.  Crisp romaine lettuce dressed with pineapple cumin vinaigrette provided the base, while sautéed bell peppers, garlicky black beans, habanero salsa, fresh guacamole and the show-stopper, chunks of barely-charred pineapple, played around on top.

For the pineapple chunks and dressing:
   Fire up your broiler.  Cut the pineapple into large chunks, removing the skin and the core.  Over a large-mouthed jar or bowl, squeeze the core and the skin in order to extract the juice.  You should have at least 1/3 cup from a large, ripe pineapple.  Set aside.
   Place the pineapple chunks on a baking pan and broil until they get nice and brown (even a little black around the edges).  Flip over and brown the other side.  Remove from oven and let cool.
   Meanwhile, make the dressing: whisk 1/3 cup pineapple juice with 1/2 tsp cumin, a pinch of salt and about 1/3 cup olive oil.

For the Salad:
   Slice bell peppers into long strips and saute over medium high until they start to sweat.
   Warm up some cooked or canned black beans, tossing in 3-4 minced garlic cloves.  Season to taste with salt.
   Chop some romaine, and toss with dressing and a handful of chopped cilantro.  Top with beans, peppers, guacamole, salsa, pineapple chunks and anything else that inspires you (seared Mahi-Mahi; citrus-glazed chicken; sweet corn; toasted tortilla strips...)  

Handmade Unsalted Butter

A few weeks ago I came into a gallon of raw, farm-fresh cream.  After a couple batches of creme fraiche, several creamy desserts, and a lot of decadent earl gray tea, my fridge still boasted 3 quarts and I still had not, alas, gained the capacity to drink the stuff straight.  So the cream sat waiting for my next inspiration, slowly taking on that pleasant tang of age.  When the march swap came around, the cream was sweet and full of flavor, with a background sourness that made it perfect for butter.

So, I sat down with the remaining cream in an extra-large mason jar and started shaking.  The Internet promised that, eventually, my efforts would pay off, the fat would separate from the liquid and I could revive my tired body with spoonfuls of unctuous, sweet butter.  Alas, I'll never know- after half an hour, my arms wilting with fatigue, I gave up, plunged my immersion blender into the jar, and within 2 minutes - voila!

After settling down from the delight of actually making butter, I poured the contents of my mason jar through a strainer, reserving the buttermilk for later use.  I rinsed the fresh butter twice with cold, filtered water, pressing it into the sieve to release any extra moisture.  I then formed it into a long log, wrapped it in parchment paper and stuck it in the fridge overnight.  In the morning I took it out, cut it into smaller pieces, wrapped it decoratively and headed proudly off to the swap.  No surprise- my farm-fresh unsalted butter was a big hit!    

Chickpea Pancakes with Zesty Beet Salad

Ahh the day before grocery day...when the refrigerator holds nothing but a couple bedraggled beets and a handful of wilting dandelion greens, and even my trusty bottle of olive oil is down to its last drop.  Luckily yesterday we were in a little local market in Louisville and, having seen a too-good-to-be-true recipe for chickpea pancakes in a recent issue of Saveur, I was inspired to buy some fresh ground chickpea flour.  Somehow these wacky odds and ends came together into a spectacular supper.

 

For the chickpea pancakes:  Place about 1 cup chickpea flour in a medium bowl, and stir in a hefty pinch of salt, a couples grinds of pepper and a pinch of cumin.
Slowly add water (about 2/3-1 cup) and stir until the mixture is about the thickness of heavy cream.  Set aside to rest for at least 20 minutes.

For the Beet Salad: Dice 3-4 medium sized roasted beets (I roasted mine earlier in the day while baking some crackers, which made this dinner even easier to whip together).  Place diced beets in a medium bowl with 2 cloves minced garlic, a splash of apple cider vinegar, a splash of olive oil, and a pinch of salt.  Finely chop a handful of rinsed and dried dandelion leaves (or other greens), add to the bowl and toss.  Adjust seasonings to taste.

To assemble:  Heat a large skillet to medium high with some oil (or duck fat from the freezer if, like me, you accidentally used the last of your olive oil in the beet salad).  When hot, drop a couple tablespoons of batter onto the pan and spread slightly with the back of a spoon.  When bubbles appear in the center of the pancake, flip and cook until lightly golden.  I always discard the first try as per the instructions of my French host-mother, a crepe-making goddess.  Keep the pancakes warm in another skillet or in a slow oven.  When they are all done, top with beet salad and serve.

Roasted Garlic Hummus with Aleppo-Infused Olive Oil and Parsley

This zesty hummus is the perfect pairing for Settembre Cellars 2008 Syrah: silky smooth with a hit of spice on the back end. 

Photo by Blake at settembrecellars.com

For the Roasted Garlic Hummus:
(Makes 4 cups)
-Preheat the oven to 400.  Cut the top and bottom 1/2 inch off a bulb of garlic and place in a small baking dish.  Generously top with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast about 1 hour, until garlic is completely soft.  Set aside to cool.
-Meanwhile, Place 3 cups cooked garbanzo beans in a food processor with the juice of 3 lemons, 1 cup tahini, 1 tsp salt, 1 T. aleppo pepper, 1/3 cup olive oil and a hearty splash of water.  Squeeze in the roasted garlic, taking care to keep the skin out of the hummus!  The garlic should slide right out.  Blend until smooth, adding more water if necessary to achieve desired consistency.  Taste and adjust with salt, pepper and lemon juice.  Refrigerate at least 1 hour to let flavors meld.

For the Aleppo-Infused Olive Oil
-Heat 1/2 cup good olive oil on medium low until warmed through but not hot
-Add 2 T. Aleppo pepper, remove from heat and let cool
-Once cool, store in a glass jar in the fridge for up to 1 week.

To assemble, spoon hummus into bowl, drizzle generously with aleppo oil, top with chopped parsley and serve alongside pita chips or cut veggies. 

Tart Apple Crostini

When Tracy and Blake of Settembre Cellars described to me their 2009 Colorado Chardonnay, I wanted to make a food pairing as crisp and appley as the wine.  An afternoon trip to Cured provided me with an idea for the base: beautiful, artisanal baguettes, perfect for transforming into aromatic olive oil and sea salt crostini.  

From there, the topping almost made itself: lightly sauteed apple relish tossed with goat feta and topped with piment d'espelette sea salt (gorgeous floral Southern French paprika mixed with French gray salt).

Needless to say, the Chardonnay was in good company...

   

For the Crostini:  Slice a good-quality baguette into very thin slices (I aim to get atleast 50 out of one baguette).  Arrange on a baking sheet, brush with EVOO (first cold pressing if you want all those aromatics), sprinkle with sea salt and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, flipping halfway through.

For the Relish:  Finely dice a medium-sized shallot.  Saute in butter on low heat with a pinch of sea salt until soft and sweet, about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, dice 1 medium zucchini, 1 medium yellow squash, 2 granny smith apples and 2 sweet apples (my favorite is pink lady).  When shallots are soft, turn heat up to medium high, add zucchini and squash.  Saute about 1 minute, stirring constantly; add apples and saute 2 minutes more.  Remove from heat, add juice of 1 large lemon and 1 tsp. piment d'espelette salt.  Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate at least 1 hour for the flavors to marry.  Toss in 4 oz. crumbled goat feta, taste and season with more lemon or piment salt if necessary. 

Quick & Easy Veggie Sushi

I soaked and cooked far too much millet the other day.  Cups upon cups, so much in fact that the expanding grains took the lid off my saucepan.  Oops!  Today, as the sun beat down all around my patio haven, I wanted something fresh, something inspired...something other than the millet pilaf we've been eating for days.  Into the cupboard I reached, hopefully, and out came...Toasted Nori!  Soon summery vegetables were flying out of the refrigerator onto my cutting board and within minutes- perfect summer Sushi!

To make the sushi-style millet, just add about 1 T. toasted sesame oil, 2 T. brown rice vinegar and a teaspoon of honey (optional) for each cup of millet (or any other leftover grain).  Then, slice up some veggies (avocado, cucumber, carrot and red onion are my favorite).  Next, lay out a sheet of nori, cover the bottom 3/4 with your grain, lay out the veggies in a long strip in the center of the sheet, wet the bare top end of the nori wrapper and Roll.  A bamboo mat helps, but is not necessary. 

Practice makes perfect, and these rolls will disappear quick so happy practicing!