ta name="google-site-verification" content="LnUtT_d1nKFEi6qCVRa2VtURKXcUowdpcm2UMwFTZUk" /> hummus recipes: December 2008

Monday, December 29, 2008

Wholewheat Blackberry Banana Bread

You are wondering why I only baked wholewheat things in the past few weeks. Truth is I secretly want to eat healthy despite all the temptation around me.

This quick bread is based on pineapple banana bread recipe. I substituted fresh blackberries for canned pineapple. Fresh blackberries in the winter? I know. Eating fruits out of their season is not planet friendly. I don't have excuses. I saw them in Chinatown and I bought them.

I have a lot of success with wholewheat baked goods lately. Maybe my baking karma level is exceptionally high this month. The bread came out moist, not too dense and just sweet enough to pass as breakfast.



Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour

  • 1 cup wholewheat flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 3 bananas

  • 2 eggs

  • 1/4 cup extra light tasting olive oil

  • 1/4 cup Agave nectar

  • 1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries

Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a tube pan or a loaf pan with non-stick spray.

  2. In a large bowl, combine all purpose flour, wholewheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.

  3. In a separate bowl, mash 3 bananas and whisk with eggs, oil and Agave nectar.

  4. Pour the wet ingredients over dry ingredients and mix until just wet. Fold in blackberries. Do not over mix.

  5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes in a tube pan or 40 minutes in a loaf pan. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes in the pan. Invert onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Take Me to the River


I am writing this from Livingstone, Zambia - sitting on my balcony overlooking the Zambezi River. We flew here yesterday from Cape Town, through Jo'burg - about 4 hours total air time. This part of Africa is so different from anything that I have ever seen - mile after mile after mile of lush green land, uninhabited, and uncivilized. Victoria Falls is the big draw here, and you can see the mist from the falls rising into the air from many vantage points. It is the start of rainy season, which lasts through March - so it is muddy, muddy, muddy. Our driver navigated the water and mud-filled potholes and dirt roads with amazing dexterity. Some Australian women were on our flight with us, and said that Livingstone has not changed one bit since they were here 30 years ago. I would venture to say that that could be true for the last 100 years.

We are staying at the David Livingstone Safari Lodge and Spa, which is a bit of rustic luxury on the banks of the river, overlooking the Long Island Game Reserve. It is named after Dr. Livingstone, the one from which we get the phrase "Dr. Livingstone, I presume". We arrived and had a lovely lunch on the balcony while the rain poured down all around us - it was great to taste some of the local cuisine, my favorite being a vegetable dish made of pumpkin leaves, similar to creamed spinach. I am surprised at how good the food is here - and although it is not cheap (about $75 for lunch for 2 including tip), it is well-prepared and safe to eat.


The highlight of our afternoon was the sunset cruise along the Zambezi. We were right near many schools of hippos, floating in the muddy water and blinking at us with their dark eyes. I have heard many stories of their aggression, but we did not get close enough to spark it. I was delighted with their huge snouts and tiny flapping ears, and the size of the adults compared to the babies. We also saw many birds and a lone crocodile cruising for his supper.

Mosquitos are an issue here, and malaria was what drove the first white settlers away and to other lands. We sleep with the doors shut to keep out insects and monkeys, and spray ourselves to further discourage visitors in the night.


It is amazingly peaceful here, as I am writing in the early morning surrounded by the sounds of animals and humans getting ready for the day. I can't help but feel like an early traveller who has suddenly found herself in the middle of an untamed and beautiful paradise. You can feel the hardship of life here, but also the relaxed attitude with which the local people approach it. It is exotic, tropical, and slow-moving, and very simple. I could definitely use an extended stay at a place like this.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Christmas in CT


Not Christmas in Connecticut, but Cape Town, South Africa. We are here for over two weeks, visiting with family and having a great time. I will say it again and again - I am never happier than when I am traveling. It stirs something deep inside me, something restless that needs to connect with the rest of the world, and likes to be humbled by the realization of how small we all are in relation to it. Being away during a holiday is something even more special, especially if you are in a third world country, because all of the commercialism is immediately stripped away and you are left with just yourself, and if you are lucky, friends and family around you. The meaning of the holiday becomes so apparent when you are simply thankful to be surrounded by people that you love, and that that is truly the most important thing.

On Christmas Eve, the day of our arrival, we found an Italian restaurant not far from our rental house and had a wonderful home-cooked meal while we waited for the rest of the family to arrive. As in many parts of the world, service is slow slow slow, so a meal for 4 can easily take over 3 hours. Once you understand that, you just relax into it, because there is nothing you can do about it. The owner of the restaurant went from table to table singing a capella songs, from Christmas classics to opera. It was a special night.

On Christmas Day, we spent the day doing as we wished. We are all staying in a large house, and this allows the wonderful freedoms of not having to adhere to a schedule. You eat when you want, sleep when you want, and at the same time you are all together. In the evening, my aunt and uncle hosted a braai, or barbeque, at their house. I was reminded of a similar event, also on Christmas Day, at our cousin's house in Johannesburg - exactly 30 years ago. I was 12, and we were on our Winter Holiday, and I remember thinking how strange it was to swim in the pool and wear shorts on Christmas. Now, as an adult, I had a wonderful appreciation for being in such balmy weather, standing on the balcony with a glass of local sparkling wine in my hand, taking in the stunning view of Table Mountain. We sat around the table in our paper hats from our Christmas crackers, laughing and enjoying the food and each other.

At night, I looked up at the sky. The sky in Africa is blacker than black, like velvet, with a delicate scattering of stars like pinpricks to light it up. This is something that I always remember from my trips here. I remember thinking about how lucky I was to be in this place, full of good food, tired from laughing, and with a renewed appreciation for life's many gifts.

Strawberry Oat Muffins

I like the strawberry and honey combination. I had these frozen strawberries in the my freezer since I don't know when. They would be good in muffins. And I needed to take a break from baking cookies.

These muffins are tender, moist and lightly sweetened with a quarter cup of honey. Measuring honey is a pain but I think it's worth it in this case. The honey lends a distinct smell and sweetness to the muffins. This recipe is a keeper. I shall come back to this one whenever I want to make oat muffins.



Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour

  • 1 cup quick cooking oats

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 3 tablespoons extra light tasting olive oil

  • 1/4 cup honey

  • 2 eggs

  • 1/2 cup apple sauce

  • 1/2 cup soy milk

  • 1 cup roughly chopped frozen strawberries (do not thaw)

  • 1 tablespoon raw sugar

Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray.

  2. Combine all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

  3. In a separate bowl, whisk oil, honey, eggs, apple sauce and soy milk together.

  4. Pour the wet mixture onto the dry ingredients. Stir until just wet. Do not over mix.

  5. Fold in chopped frozen strawberries. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle raw sugar on top.

  6. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for a couple of minutes. Pop out and cool completely on a cooling rack.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Wholewheat Banana Blueberry Muffins

I have been baking so many cookies. I also ate so many cookies. What does a person do when there are 500 cookies lying around the house? I eat them. To offset the cookie guilt, I made these wholewheat fruit-filled muffins. They are not as good as them cookies but they are high in fiber and nutrients and low in fat...



Ingredients
  • 2 cups wholewheat flour

  • 2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 2 egg whites and 1 whole egg

  • 3 large banana - mashed

  • 1/4 cup Agave Nectar

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 cup frozen blueberries


Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with liners (or grease the pan but these muffins hardly have any fat. They are very sticky.)

  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

  3. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk egg whites, and egg together. Add banana, vanilla and Agave nectar and whisk until well combined.

  4. Pour the wet ingredients into flour mixture and stir until just wet. Fold in frozen blueberries.

  5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 18 minutes. The muffins get better and more moist the next day and the day after.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Comfort Food

My favorite comfort food has nothing to do with my childhood - it's not Mac-n-Cheese, Meatloaf, or Grandma's Chicken Soup (maybe because my grandma made reservations, not food!). My favorite comfort food, the one dish that can make everything all right, are dumplings.

I first heard about the Shanghai Dumpling King about a year ago, from my friend Kathy's sister, who used to live in the neighborhood. It is the kind of place that is on a random residential street, next to practically nothing, with a sign does nothing to differentiate it from a million other places found in the city.


Stepping inside feels like you have teleported to Asia. It's crowded, unglamorous, cold, dingy, and bustling. The only difference is that they actually give you napkins instead of you having to bring your own.

The food in Northern China differs from Southern Chinese cuisine (like Cantonese) in that you see more noodles and dumplings, versus rice. It's also spicier and more oily. You will find more pickled things, which makes sense that they would use more preserved foods in a colder climate. Shanghainese food, which is from Eastern China, is kind of a mix of different Chinese styles, with one outstanding dish that I could eat over and over for all eternity: soup dumplings, or Xiaolongbao. These delicate dumplings have a medium weight outer skin, housing a flavorful broth and some minced meat, usually pork. It is served with a dipping sauce of rice vinegar with slivers of ginger.


If the Shanghai Dumpling King served nothing but these, I would be happy. As it happens, they have some other delicious dishes, including (surprise!) more noodles and dumplings.

These are pan-fried pork dumplings with chives and sesame - a less messy version of soup dumplings, with a thicker skin, and almost as good:


These lovely pillows are made with a wide, soft, noodle-like skin, and served in a spicy sesame oil sauce. They are extrememly slippery and a challenge for the chopsticks, but well worth it:


I love these Shanghai-style thick noodles. So flavorful and satisfying, with a great chew.


This beef dish, served with rice for a change, has an amazing sauce:


Throughout the meal, the servers offer plates of freshly made fried dough, covered with sugar. Some people find them too decadent, but I can never resist. The inside is custard-like, similar to a popover, and the outside is crispy-delicious. Eating one has all of the satisfaction of a Krispy Kreme, which is the perfect ending to a savory, indulgent meal.


I miss my yearly trips to Shanghai, so I am glad that when the craving strikes me, I can drive 10 minutes to Shanghai Dumpling King and get my fix. This enormous meal (including Jasmine tea and an order of pickled bok choi) was around $35, so it's the right price, too. Definitely beats a 14 hour plane ride and jet lag!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Cupcake Camp Pix

Here are some of the creations that I had the pleasure to see. The winners are listed here,
which included some of the ones below. As far as an actual taste, I did get to try the Elvis/Graceland - it was great - can't go wrong with a banana/peanut butter/bacon combo!





Bhujia Cookies

A friend gave me a bag of Bhujia - Indian deep fried noodle snack. It tastes like spiced potato chips. I didn't want to finish the whole bag by myself because, you know, fried food is not healthy... So I decided to make cookies from it. I saw potato chip cookies on Food Network once so it can't be too outlandish. They basically crushed some chips and added them to cookie dough. I didn't even have to crush Bhujia. It already came in short tiny noodle shape.



I added Bhujia in my shortbread cookie recipe and dropped the dough instead of cutting. The cookies came out super buttery and crunchy with a hint of spices. Interestingly, they taste like peanut butter cookies - but better, much better. I imagine these will be good with other kinds of potato chips as well. Maybe I'll try it with BBQ Lays or Salt and Vinegar Pringles next time. Or will that be gross?



Ingredients
  • 2 sticks butter - room temperature

  • 1/2 cup sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 2 cups all purpose flour

  • 1 cup Bhujia (or other crushed potato chips)


Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Adjust oven racks to the lower third and upper third. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

  2. With an electric mixer, beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy - about 2 - 3 minutes. Add salt and vanilla. Continue beating until well combined.

  3. Reduce speed to stir and add flour. When the dough is well mixed, stir in Bhujia.

  4. Drop by tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. Flatten with fork. Bake for 15 minutes. Switch the baking sheet position half way into baking. Cool on cooling racks. Make 40 cookies.

Calling all Campers!


A few months ago, my friend Claire suggested that I participate in Cupcake Camp. That may bring to mind a room full of cheerful people making and creating cupcakes, but in reality you bring cupcakes to a specified warehouse-like location and in military-precise timing, they are distributed, judged and eaten. Eaten doesn't really do it justice. Hoovered. Inhaled.

The reason for the aggressive-sounding words, is because aggro is exactly what Cupcake Camp is. Woo-whee, cupcake people give Who concert-goers a run for their money! I am shocked that there were no casualties by trampling. Cupcakes are no longer the happy, party food of children's parties and high school bake sales, they are complex and meticulously crafted works of art, and people are literally driven insane in their presence.

Here is what I saw when I registered and came to the door:


Intimidating, no? Well, try being smack in the middle of it! Ahhhhh! Not for the weak of heart.


There was an impressive lineup:



You can also see pix including the lineup and my specific cards here - sort of like a cameo, right?

Total: 95 bakers in all, and over 300 tasters. It felt like I had landed in the MacWorld of Cupcakes.

Here were my entries, looking pretty but rather humble - Fresh Strawberry and Chocolate/Salted Caramel:



I only have a vague idea of how they did or if people liked them. A couple of my friends mowed down some other tasters to grab one of mine, which I totally appreciated. I stayed in the main room for as long as possible, then went and hid backstage where I had a much better view of the cupcakes.


Hanging out and taking pictures, I got to meet Rachel, one of the awesome bloggers of Cupcakes Take the Cake, which was a treat.

All in all, it was an impressive (bordering on insane) demonstration of cupcake love, and a great reminder that the average home baker can create something whimsical, delicious, and artful, requiring just some skill and lots of imagination. And it makes my motto hold true, beauty is definitely a matter of personal taste.

I leave you with this lovely confection of a dress - this girl wins for most spirited camper!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Gruyere Pie Crust

Another recipe from KingArthurFlour.com. This time it's a pie crust for Thanksgiving apple pie. I have been making so many apple pies in the past couple of months that I want to try something new. Plus everybody is going crazy about Pushing Daisies - a show on ABC featuring a pie shop called Pie Hole. Gruyere apple and pear pies were mentioned in the show. So I figured I would give it a try.



I followed the crust recipe from Vermont Cheddar Apple Pie on KingArthurFlour.com. I just used Gruyere instead of Cheddar and all butter rather than with shortening. My apartment smells very cheesy for two days after baking it.

The crust came out a little tough after it cooled down. Maybe the cheese hardened up. Or maybe I over process the dough. I like it regardless. It's like eating apple pie with cheese sticks. Two birds with one stone.

Wholewheat Walnut Raisin Bread

There's this bread from Fort Greene farmer's market that I love. Whenever I see it, I have to buy a loaf. And I would finish the whole thing in two days by myself. It's wholewheat walnut raisin bread. It's with hard crust and big holes in side. And It's filled with sweet golden raisins.

So I wanted to try baking it at home. Maybe I could stop paying $5 for a loaf of bread.

Here's the result.



I followed this recipe from KingArthurFlour.com. I just used normal wholewheat flour with 3/4 cup of golden raisins and 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts. My bread was tasty but a little on a dry side. It didn't have big holes like the original version. I love it anyway. Maybe I just love eating bread in general - especially the ones I knead with my own hands.