Redheaded Kitchen

Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

Although I much more prefer Chocolate-Chip Cookies, this recipe for Reduced-Fat Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies from the February/March 2009 issue of Cook's Country magazine just caught my eye. I don't know exactly why... I don't usually choose recipes that are supposedly healthier just because they use the "better for you" version of the "non-healthy" ingredients. My diet is called "everything in moderation" diet. I'd rather eat a piece of fresh from the oven crusty bread with a pat of butter than with some chemically tasting margarine. And when I bake a batch of cookies, we usually eat a few and the rest of them gets packed up and shipped off to my hubby's work.

No, there was something about this recipe that got me intrigued. I think it was the unique technique. I've always liked the Cook's Illustrated, Cook's Country & America's Test Kitchen's sometimes almost scientific approach to cooking & baking. Every so often, I stumble onto their recipe that differs so much from the traditional one, that I just have to try it to see what all that fuss is about.

Anyway, this recipe has a couple of unusual steps. First of all, half of the raisins is finely chopped up and then plumped up by boiling it in water to create a raisin paste of some sort. And the minimal amount of butter (6 TBSP total) is melted & browned in a skillet and then the oats are toasted in it.

The process was pretty easy, although a little more time consuming than your average oatmeal-raisin cookie but you just can't rush perfection... When they came out of oven, they smelled incredible. They taste really good too. They are little bit on the crunchy side rather than chewy but that that might be because I left them in the oven a couple of minutes too long. My husband announced that they are his new favorites... Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies are his favorite to start with, but I guess there might be something to his statement because he liked them even after I mentioned to him that these are the healthy, reduced-fat kind...

 

 

 

Cook's Country Reduced-Fat Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

Source: February/March 2009 issue of Cook's Country magazine

 

1 cup raisins; 1/2 cup chopped fine, 1/2 cup left whole

3/4 cup water

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1-3/4 cups old-fashioned oats

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

 

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat over to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine chopped raisins and water in a small saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until water has evaporated and raisins are plump, about 15 minutes; let cool.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add oats, and cook stirring constantly, until just golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in cinnamon and cook until fragrant, about 30 more seconds; let cool.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. Stir in whole and plumped raisins, oat mixture, and flour until just combined.

Roll 2 tablespoons of the dough into 1-1/2" balls and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Gently press the balls with measuring cup until they are 1/2" thick discs. Bake cookies until edges are light golden and centers are just set, 13 to 16 minutes, switching and rotating baking sheets halfway through the baking. Cool 10 minutes on sheets, then transfer to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The cooled cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

 

 

 

 

 

Miniature Soft Pretzels

As I'm writing this post, I am sitting in a hotel room right on the beach in Newport, Oregon. Two dogs, and a husband are sleeping in the bed behind me (I'm not quite sure how I'll manage to squeeze in!) and the sound of waves crushing onto the beach is a very welcome change from our busy life back in Portland.

Tomorrow is our seventh wedding anniversary. Yes, we did indeed get married on a Pearl Harbor Day. We got married in Slovakia and there this date doesn't have the same connection. Oh, and it's also my Great Dane baby girl's seventh birthday on Tuesday. She was born the day after we got married and has been our constant companion, our co-pilot on our road trips and just the best "first-dog-ever"!

And there is one more thing we're sort of celebrating. On Thursday, I became aUS citizen. I've lived here for almost 7 years and I finally decided it's about time to make it official! So, I sent it my application, had my USCIS interview and attended the oath ceremony, and here I am...

 

I'm also hoping this little mini-vacation will give me an opportunity to catch up on things I've been meaning to do/accomplish, like create our family 2010 calendar; look into my old math books, so I can finally take that college placement test & start working on my college degree; get our Christmas cards out; and start paying more attention to my blog. I really love how it's coming together and I'm starting to believe that I actually DO have a few readers!

The recipe for these Miniature Pretzels isn't mine. I found it in archives of Deb's awesome blog (Smitten Kitchen). I've made them about 5 times in the last 6 months and every single time they come together so easily & taste so great that it always amazes me. I had so many requests for the recipe that I just had to include them on my blog. In fact, my lovely sister-in-law Christine loves them so much, she'll "fight" everyone & anyone who tries to take a few of these scrumptious little "babies" away from her whenever I bring a basket full of them over for dinner. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little but you get the point... :o)

 

 

 Smitten Kitchen's Miniature Soft Pretzels (link)

Roasted Delicata Squash Stuffed with Ginger-Curry Beef & Quinoa

Gosh, I can't believe that it's been almost 3 months since I last posted here. I had to think for a minute about my log-in name & password...

What happened??? Well, I've been in the rat race... loosing my job, looking for one, finding one (although temporary at this time) & getting acclimated to the completely different environment and hours (I went from railcar manufacturing company in the industrial area to a large law firm downtown). I completely fell off the wagon.

But I did cook, eat and take pictures of my creations...

Well, I'm back and I'm really hoping to stay on track with my postings.

Fall is finally upon us. Today I made the big switch... flannel bed sheets for the regular, winter clothes for my summer outfits in my tiny dresser. We haven't turned on the heat yet, although the house is at the chilly 60 degrees. Every year me & my husband play this game of how long we can go before we turn it on. You'll see us walking around in big sweaters and occasionally Mike puts on a hat. On a "good" year we can go to middle of November. We'll see how this year turns out... I'll keep you posted.

I actually like the cooler weather. It makes a wonderful backdrop to the hearty stews, roasted veggies & braised meats that I have planned out. You can make tons of it, so that means less cooking on a busy weekdays and the leftovers get only better the longer they sit in the refrigerator.

Though today's meal didn't leave many leftovers, it still heated up the kitchen and filled it with the wonderful sweet aroma of roasted squash that's so hard to resist.

Roasted Delicata Squash Stuffed with Ginger-Curry Beef & Quinoa

2 small Delicata squashes, cut in half lengthwise & seeds scooped out

1/2 lb ground beef

1/3 cup quinoa

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp dry ginger (or of course you can use fresh)

1/4 cup dried cranberries

olive oil, salt & pepper

 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Rub the cut sides of the squash with a little bit of olive oil, then put them cut side down into a small pan, pour in 1/2 cup of water and roast for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat about 1 TBSP of olive oil in a skillet. Add onions & garlic and cook until softened but not browned about 3 - 5 minutes. Add the ground beef and break it up with wooden spoon. When browned, add the ginger & curry powders and about 1 tsp of salt. Cook for about 5 minutes and then add the quinoa, cranberries and 1 cup of water. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until quinoa is soft and most of the water is evaporated. Taste for seasoning.

Pull out the squash from the oven, sprinkle with salt. Fill the halves with the beef-quinoa mixture and put it back in the oven for another 15 - 20 minutes, until the squash is tender when pierced with a knife and the top is brown & caramelized.

 

 

Rhubarb Jam in your Bread Machine

One of my very favorite kitchen appliances is bread machine. I still like to make bread by hand but there is just something great about making it in a bread machine... its fix it and forget appeal. While there is nothing better to work off your aggression than kneading a bread dough for 10 minutes, on days when I'm busy running around doing 10,000 things at the same time, this "little-ish" box comes to my rescue. I haven't bought bread, except maybe the occasional crusty French baguette in good 5 years.

Among the features of almost all the new bread makers is the "Jam" option. While one batch doesn't make that many jars, it's perfect for beginner jam-makers as well as small families who just don't want to end up with shelves filled with one kind of jam. Last Sunday, I made two batches using about 2 pounds of rhubarb and ended up with 5 half-pint jars.

For the recipes I'm using my favorite bread machine cookbook, The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger. It has an awesome collection of jam, preserves and chutney recipes. So far, my shelves (or freezer) are lined with Kiwifruit Jam, Blueberry Jam, Cherry Jam and now Rhubarb Jam. A few jam recipes include a sort of a 'secret' ingredient that adds a little bit of an "om-ph" to the final product. In this case, it's dried apricots which wonderfully compliment the tartness of the rhubarb.

 

 

Rhubarb Jam

Source: The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger

 

1 lb rhubarb stalks, sliced about 1/2" thick (2 cups)

1 1/2 cups sugar

half of a 1.75- to 2-ounce box of powdered pectin fruit

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

 

Mix the rhubarb with the sugar in a glass bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature for 12 hours.

Combine the rhubarb-sugar mixture, the pectin and dried apricots in the bread pan.

Program the machine for the Jam cycle and press Start. When the machine beeps at the end of the cycle, carefully remove the pan with oven mitts. You can scrape the jam into heat-resistant jars right away, using rubber spatula. For other jars, let the jam stand in the pan for 15 minutes before transferring. Let stand until cool. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, or freeze or can.

Thai Chicken Soup with Black Rice

So, I've learned one thing yesterday... hot weather and spicy food just don't go well together...

Granted I did have a feeling that the spicy Thai chicken soup I was making might not be the best match for a 85+ degree heat inside my house but I just couldn't help myself. I LOVE spicy Asian cuisine (Thai and Vietnamese in particular) and the recipe just sounded like something I had to make, especially now when weekly trips to my favorite local Thai restaurant are out of question due our budget. Even if it meant sacrificing a few extra napkins on wiping down your forehead, it was well worth it.

Thai Chicken Soup with Chinese Black Rice

Source: Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass

 

2 cups chicken broth

1 can (15 oz) unsweetened coconut milk

2 to 3 tsp red or yellow curry paste (I used Patak's hot curry paste found easily in supermarket)

1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, including liquid

1 1/2 lbs bone in, skinless chicken thighs or breast

4 scallions, thinly sliced (keep white and green parts separate)

1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper

1 1/2 cups cooked Chinese black rice (you could also use brown rice)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro or basil

2 to 3 TBSP freshly squeezed lime juice

Thai fish sauce or soy sauce (optional)

lime wedges, to serve at the table

 

In a 4-quart pot, blend the chicken broth, coconut milk, and curry paste to taste. Set the pot over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, chicken, scallion whites, and bell pepper. Bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes, depending upon size.

Remove the chicken. When it's cool enough to handle, shred or chop the meat and discard the bones. Return the chicken to the pot and stir in the rice. Add the cilantro, scallion greens, lime juice and fish sauce to taste.

Before ladling out each portion, stir well to bring the rice up from the bottom. Serve with lime wedges.

 

Ina Garten's Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts

Fast, simple, delicious...

 

 

 

This recipe comes from one of my favorite TV chefs, Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa. Her recipes are always so easy, comforting (though this could it be because of the copious amounts of butter used in some of her desserts), while still perfectly suitable to be served at a fancy dinner party.

I made these little gems for a neighborhood BBQ last week, and they were a big hit. Cut into quarters, they are the best finger-food. The slow-cooked sweet onions, tangy goat cheese and flaky puff pastry are awesome alone but when put together into one scrumptious tart, they are "dead, gone to heaven" delicious. 

Since they turned out to be so popular and I felt like I didn't get my fair share of them, I made them again the next day for a quick & light supper.

 

Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts

Recipe by Ina Garten

Corn Polenta with Sausage & Peppers

I've been going through a stage in my cooking... cooking with whole grain. Or better yet, cooking with whole grain I've never tried cooking with before. Like I've mentioned in my older posts, I live so close to Bob's Red Mill that the employees know who I am when I visit (heck, they even notice that someday I come "earlier in the day than usual"). I love it there!

Their bulk section is pretty awesome but I would always get my "usuals" - some granola, my favorite Peppy Kernels hot cereal, and 5 lbs bags of flour. I always told myself that I really need to try some of the other stuff but I never really got around to doing that. Until now...

Since I have way too much free time on my hands these days, a dire need of ideas for this blog, and more than a few whole grain cookbooks.. there's never been a better time to jump head first into the wonderfully healthy world of whole grain.

By far, my favorite cookbook on the topic is Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass which tells you pretty much anything and everything you've ever wanted to know about whole grains. Though I said it's my favorite, I barely used it in the past. So, I've picked out a couple of recipes using grains I've never cooked with before and off I went to Bob's.

Well, I know cornmeal might not be the most unusual (in fact it really isn't) ingredient, it's just I haven't used it much in my kitchen (beside a few cornbreads that I have under my belt). It turned out to be quite the success with my husband. Nothing really mind-blowing, just a comforting home-y meal that definitely made my "will make it again" list.

 

 

Corn Polenta with Sausage & Peppers

Source: Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass

 

2 cups coarse yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 TBSP olive oil

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 lb Italian sausage, hot or mild (bulk; out of casings)

4 large red bell peppers, chored and cut into 1/2" strips

1 (15 oz) can of diced tomatoes

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional: use if sausage isn't very spicy)

1/3 cup (tightly packed) chopped fresh basil leaves

1 TBSP chopped fresh mint

1 to 3 tsp balsamic vinegar

Salt & pepper to taste

Grated Parmesan to garnish

 

To prepare the sausage & peppers: Heat oil in a large, deep skillet. Add the onion and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and if using, pepper flakes, and cook for another minute.

Add the sausage, break it up and cook until browned. Toss in the peppers and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Lower down the heat, cover, and simmer until peppers are collapsed and tender, about 20 more minutes.

While the sausage mixture is simmering, prepare the polenta: In a bowl, blend the cornmeal with 3 cups of cold water. In a heavy-bottom 3-quart pot, bring 2 cups of water and the salt to a rolling boil. Lower the heat and gradually stir in the polenta mixture. Bring back to a boil.

Cook uncovered, adjusting the heat so that the polenta simmers, with big bubbles puffing up here and there on the surface. As the mixture thickens, use a large spoon to stir every few minutes, especially scraping the bottom. The polenta will be done when it becomes thick and creamy, and the cornmeal is soft with no hint of grittiness, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in a bit more boiling water if the polenta becomes very thick before the cornmeal tastes cooked.

To serve: Stir in the basil & mint. Season to taste with vinegar, slat, and pepper. Spoon the polenta onto individual plates and top with the pepper mixture. Garnish with parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

 

 

Black Bean Soup with Fried Egg + my favorite recipe search site

So, what do you do with a giant tupperware of beans that's been sitting in your fridge after you went a little crazy with the spring cleaning of your pantry? Yep, I got a little carried away last week... I was on a quest to make an easy dinner and at the time the 2 little-ish bags of beans (that I had lurking in the back of my pantry) didn't seem like they could hold enough beans to feed a small army. Yeah, I learned my lesson... dry beans can be pretty darn deceiving...

Not that beans are the kind of food people have troubles figuring out what to do with. The possibilities are endless - you can throw them into your salads, wrap them in tortillas with some cheese & tomato for a quick burrito, mix them into your soups...

Lately, I been turning to my new favorite internet site for some cooking inspiration. A little inspiration never hurt anybody, right? It's called Food Blog Search and it is what the name suggest it would be - basically a database of a whole bunch of food blogs from around the world. You just type in the name of a dish you're looking for (or the ingredient you'd like to use up) and it gives you hundreds of links to blog posts with pictures, result reviews and sometimes funny stories behind the recipe.

So, you might be asking, what did I do with all those beans? Well, not terribly exciting but oh-so-delicious... a simple Black Bean Soup with a Fried Egg and a warm corn tortilla on a side... a recipe that I found on Serious Eats website.

 A few minor tweaks and "Voilà"... dinner is served...

Tilapia with Black Beans

This recipe is another of my "search your pantry/fridge/freezer and throw a bunch of things you find together and serve" kind of meals. Like I've mentioned a few times in my past blog entries, if I didn't do any grocery shopping (well, maybe except for buying the perishable items), my & my husband could still eat like kings for many weeks and that would include a dessert few times a week.

My freezer and especially my pantry are overflowing with all different kinds of yummy ingredients just waiting for me digging my way through to them. Some of them can be thrown together for the last minute fast dinner (like that Sausage & Lentil dish I made after a long day of hiking), some will require a little bit of planning ahead...

I love beans but I really don't like canned beans. Yeah, they're pretty darn convenient to have in your pantry but I just can't get over the mushy meal-y texture. I like my beans soft but firm, still holding their shape, and also fresh home-cooked beans have this awesome flavor that with the canned beans seemed to disappear down the drain along with the liquid they've been sitting in for who-knows how long.

I've prepared a version of this dish in the past (before this whole blogging escapade). I found the recipe in the Sunset magazine but this time I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand, so I improvised... instead of the zucchini I just tripled the amount of beans; besides black beans I also had a little bag of Great Northern white beans so I've thrown those in as well for good measure and I had no quinoa, so I cooked up some of the "Wild & Brown Rice Mix" I bought from Bob's Red Mill a while back.

 

All in all, it was a success. I didn't miss the ingredients that I did omit. The beans & tomatoes together with the spices (I also added a little bit of cumin on top of the paprika), lemon juice & caper are just plain delicious.

And there was plenty left for our lunch the next day...

 

 

 

Quinoa Con Pollo with Roasted Baby Beets

I have a file that consists of pictures of meals that I cook. I usually snap a couple of almost everything that I make and then depending on how the dish turns out, they either make it to my blog or get deleted when I sweep my laptop during a cleaning frenzy. This one, I made about a month ago and it turned out to be pretty darn tasty... it just got lost in the midst of "great weather hiking weekends" and "our short notice trip to Las Vegas".

I only recently discovered quinoa and immediately fell in love with this interesting little grain that Incas called "the mother grain". And there are so many things to love about it... it cooks up in a blink of an eye, it is a nutritional powerhouse full of vitamins and minerals, and my personal favorite (although a little silly reason)... when cooked, a tiny "tail" appears that is a thin germ circlet that falls from the seed.

I found this interesting version of the more traditional Arroz Con Pollo (Rice & Chicken) in the Food section of the Oregonian newspaper and it immediately went onto my "cook very soon" list. Roasted baby beets that I served alongside complimented the dish beautifully - taste-wise but especially with their vibrant color.

 

Quinoa Con Pollo

Recipe @ The Oregonian

Roasted Baby Beets

 

2 bunches baby beets, scrubbed well (no need to peel) & stems trimmed, halved if a little on the bigger side

3 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP whole fennel seeds

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

 

On a baking sheet, toss everything together and bake in 375 degree oven until tender (about 45 minutes). Enjoy... trust me even if you don't like beets, give these a try and you just might change your opinion...