Cranberry Applesauce Muffins

Classic repost 

So it's entirely possible we buy 5 or so bags of raw cranberries every holiday season-since that's the only time they're available- just to make these muffins a few times each year.

Cranberry Applesauce Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg, beat
• 1 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ground oats
• 1/2 cup Brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
• 1/2 cup pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease and flour a muffin tin, or use paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, mix together applesauce, oil, and egg.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in applesauce mixture. Stir until just moistened. Fold in cranberries and pecans.
5. Spoon into muffin cups, 2/3 full.
6. Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Cool in pan 2 minutes before removing.

Original ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
• 1/2 cup pecans

My modifications and notes.

• Used 1 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup oil. Next time I make this I will use 1 1/3 cup applesauce and leave the oil out completely.
• Used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup white.
• I used brown sugar instead of white.
• Added a bit extra cinnamon.
• Didn't use pecans.
• I couldn't find fresh or frozen cranberries at the grocery store, so I used whole berry cranberry sauce. (I actually dumped out the can in a bowl, sifted through it and pulled out the berries. Though I threw in a couple spoonfuls of the jelly part too, for good measure, I guess.)
• Made half the batch with cranberries, and the other half with frozen blueberries.
• Only baked them for 24 minutes. Keep an eye on them.
• These were awesome! They are very moist and tasty. It's a very good base muffin recipe and I'm going to try future incarnations of it with different types of berries. (Maybe raspberries? Mmm...)

Creole Red Beans and Rice

One of the first, regular, and most enduring recipes from my years serving down south is Red Beans and Rice. More than jambalaya or gumbo, this is the regular staple, and we served it once a week at the soup kitchen in Laurel.

When I started at OIT, we had a Mardi Gras potluck, and with some suggestions, Elizabeth found a version of this recipe. Everyone loved it, and my Baton Rouge native student said it's the best Red Beans he's eaten past the Rockies. 

The southerners want it hotter, but you can use as little spice as suits your palate. This comes out as a nice, thick stew, so half the time I skip the rice altogether.

Creole Red Beans and Rice

Stew:

1 pound dried red beans

7 cups broth, [or water + 2 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon]

1 red bell pepper, chopped

At least 2 hot peppers (Jalepeno, Serrano, etc.)

2 medium onions, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon Creole seasoning (Tony Cachere’s More Spice is the real deal)

2 tablespoons hot sauce (or vinegar if you're watching the heat)

1/2 pound andouille sausage, sliced (I generally just use hot links)

Toppings:

Hot cooked rice

Hot Sauce

Garnish: sliced green onions

Preparation

Place stew ingredients in a 5-quart slow cooker.

Cook, covered, 8-10 hours or until beans are tender. Serve with hot cooked rice.

Biscuits 'n Gravy

E! loves comfort food, and Biscuits 'n Gravy is one of the most comfortable things you can eat. Unfortunately she's not a fan of black pepper and won't let me put pepper in things (though I might have snuck a pinch into this batch of gravy).  You could always serve the gravy on toast if you don't have time or delicious buttermilk. I could go for a tall, refreshing glass of buttermilk right now...

Brown the sausage before starting the biscuits; we aim to have the gravy ready slightly before the biscuits. We've been cutting the biscuits with a 2.5" drinking glass, but we eat these often enough that we're getting a biscuit cutter.

We didn't have shortening tonight, but we did have grandma's jar 'o bacon fat in the fridge, so we were still able to get a dual fat action with added delicious bacon flavoring.

Hand patted Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
1 cup buttermilk

Brown Sausage if you're making gravy.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combing flour, salt, baking powder and soda. Using fingertips, rub butter and shortening into flour mixture until you get a crumbly mixture; don't dally, you don't want to melt the fat.
Pour in the buttermilk and stir until dough comes together. It will be sticky.

Turn dough onto floured board and fold dough onto itself 4 or 5 times. With flat hands, press out into a 1/2" thick round. Cut biscuits straight down with a 2" cutter, minimizing left over dough. Place biscuits on cookie sheet with edges touching so they can help each other rise. Collect leftover dough and gently form into another round to cut more biscuits; try not to work the dough too much.

Press your thumb into the middle of each biscuit so it cooks more evenly. Bake at 450 until gold on top, 15-20 minutes.

Sausage gravy that I'm not allowed to put pepper in

1 pound Breakfast Sausage
1/3 cup All-purpose Flour
4 cups 2% Milk
1/2 teaspoon Onion Salt
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Salt
[1 to 2 teaspoons Black Pepper ]

Chunk and Brown the sausage. Lower heat and sprinkle the half the flour over all the meat. Stir in the flour until it's soaked up, add the seasoning salts and continue adding the rest of the flour until it won't take anymore. Cook the flour into the sausage on low heat for at least 3 minutes.

Stir in the milk a little at a time. Raise the heat and cook until thick, about 11 minutes. If it's too thick, splash in some more milk. Taste to adjust seasonings. Serve immediately over biscuits.

Thai Peanut Noodles

When I was still single, invited this guy over for dinner. In an effort to impress him, I made this chicken/noodle/peanut sauce recipe. As we were eating, he was like, "Peanut butter noodles!" I was so annoyed that he would describe my practically gourmet meal in such a mundane way. Alas, that really is what it is, so now we just embrace it.

 

The above picture was taken tonight when we threw something tonight. It's delicious! We used leftover noodles, and frozen veggies on the side. Also, this version was meatless, but it can be made with chicken as well. This meal is also super fast, which makes it even better.

Thai Peanut Noodles

AKA


 Peanut Butter Noodles

• 1/2 cup green onions, diced
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• ~ 2-3 cups cooked long pasta noodles (spaghetti, linguini, fettuccine, angel hair, etc.)
• 2 Tbsp sesame oil 
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• Optional: shredded or diced chicken

Sauce: 

• 1/2 Tbsp ground ginger (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
• 1/4 cup honey OR 2 Tbsp brown sugar
•  1/3 cup peanut butter (chunky preferred)
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp rice or apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp chili-garlic sauce

Instructions:

•  In a wok or large skillet, heat sesame oil. Add cooked pasta, green onions, carrots, and garlic. Mix well and allow to heat through.
• Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, combine all sauce ingredients over medium heat. Stir until heated through and peanut butter is completely melted.
• Pour hot sauce over noodle mixture. Combine.
• Garnish with additional chopped green onions and chopped peanuts. Serve with additional steamed vegetables. (We often use broccoli and cauliflower, but any stir fry vegetables work too.)

Canadian Cheese soup

Soup season is upon us! Soup is among my favorite classes of food.  Scott likes cheese soup, and was dreaming about how they are serving cheese soup at the Cannon Center tomorrow, so I looked up a recipe, and we made some. The recipe called for Canadian bacon, which we didn't technically have, but since it's basically ham, we did have that.

I made homemade mozzarella cheese last night and we were looking at things to make with the leftover whey. I made honey whole wheat bread (also pictured below), and we used whey instead of water to make our broth for this soup. We didn't even think that there could be potential problems with the chemistry of the dish (e.g., if there was still rennet and acid in the whey, it might curdle the soup, just like it curdled the cheese), but it seemed to have worked out. Served it with steamed broccoli and homemade honey whole wheat bread.

From: 10/2/16

Update 10/11/17:
Somehow the recipe didn't make this post, so here's  one we've tried since. We subbed regular bacon this time:

Canadian Cheese Soup

3 cups chicken broth
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
2 small onions, diced
6 ounces Canadian bacon, trimmed and diced
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1/8 teaspoon black pepper and/or 1 Serrano pepper finely diced
- Maybe some extra flavor with a splash of Worcestershire sauce and/or cider vinegar

Mix vegetables and broth together in a soup pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Melt butter in a sauce pan then add flour. Cook for a few minutes for a nice golden roux. Whisk milk into roux and keep stirring while bringing to a boil for a couple minutes

Mash broth boiled veggies with a potato masher; you still want some chunks when you're done. Add ham/bacon and leave on low heat. Slowly whisk in milky roux. Remove from heat, add cheese and stir until melted.

Plum Buckle ... Buckle what?

This is a gem my mom found years ago, the perfect reason to keep a plum tree in your garden.

Fruit desserts are more than just pies. While pie crust is a lot of work, upside-down cakes, cobblers, crumbles, crisps and buckles are easier and just as delicious in my book. From what I've read, it seems like the differences between these names for baked fruit desserts are nearly as much regional as they are descriptive.

What's a buckle? Based on this dessert, I like to think a buckle is an upside down cobbler, where the cake "buckles" under the weight of the fruit. 

Serve it warm with ice cream, or just eat it for breakfast, this is fruit and cake.

Plum Buckle

Prep 20; Bake 45 min at 375

Cake
2 cups sliced plums
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour
1 3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2  tsp salt
1/2 cup milk

Topping
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2  tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup flour

Cream butter and Sugar; add egg. Sift dry ingredients and alternate adding with milk. Mix well. Spread in greased 9" square pan. Sprinkle plums over batter.

Combine topping ingredients until consistency of coarse meal. Sprinkle over cake. Bake at 375 F for 45 minutes. Server warm with ice cream.

Apricot cream curry

I'm not a fan of apricots-- I really want them to be peaches, and they taste woodier. My parents had a tree full of giant, lush apricots and were heading out of town, so we ended up with gallons of them. I'd heard of grilled peaches before, so I tried grilling apricots, with pretty good success. The grill softened out the woody texture and released deliciously sweet syrup. They went well on pancakes and toast, but there were just too many of them.

Later that week, we were craving curry. Keeping tiny cans of coconut milk on hand just to make a little curry can be a pain. I did some googling around (research is a strong word for that), and I found some suggestions that northern India doesn't have coconuts anyway. Instead they just make their curry with broth, or soaked nuts.

Nuts aren't exactly cheap, nor part of our regular diet, but the woodiness of the apricots got me thinking, and I decided to replace coconut milk and sugar in our standard curry recipes with lightly blended, grilled apricots. 

You remember our Duck curry in a Duck, right? We tried that recipe with blended apricots instead of coconut milk, and the weirdest thing happened. Our familiar curry tasted like tomato curry. No tomatoes were included (other than a splash of ketchup in the curry paste), yet our tongues were telling us we were eating tomato curry. Not the dinner we expected by any means. 

Since we've had plenty of red curry off that batch of red paste, we thought it was time to go yellow. We adapted this recipe for a basic yellow chicken curry. It worked better with the creamed apricots than the red curry. 

http://pinchofyum.com/easy-homemade-yellow-curry-paste

http://pinchofyum.com/thai-yellow-chicken-curry-with-potatoes

Yellow Curry Paste

• 4 large shallots
• 4 large heads of garlic (not individual cloves - FULL HEADS of garlic)
• 1 6-inch piece of fresh ginger
• 8 Thai chili peppers, but we just used 3 chilis from the garden
• 1½ tablespoons salt
• 2-3 tablespoons turmeric
• 2-3 tablespoons mild curry powder
• 2 teaspoons roasted ground coriander
• 1 stalk Lemongrass
• ¼ cup packed cilantro leaves and stems

Bake/grill the ginger, peppers, shallots and garlic in foil envelopes. Ginger and peppers for 15 minutes, shallots and garlic for 45. Then blend it all together in a food processor. If your food processor is weak sauce, like ours, you'll probably have more success dicing the Lemongrass and cilantro, and blending them first.

Makes about 2 cups, and freezes well for several batches of curry.

Yellow Apricot Pork Curry

• 2 cups potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 pound pork loin, or chicken cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 carrots sliced
• ⅓ cup yellow curry paste
• 2 cups apricot cream 
• 2 cups potato water
• 1 Tbsp Better Than Boullion broth base
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce (optional)
• 
  
• cilantro and rice for serving

Cut and cook the potatoes for 15 minutes in just enough water to cover while you prep the other ingredients. SAVE THE POTATO WATER to add some starch back to your curry. The hot water mixes well with the broth base.

Quickly fry up the meat then set aside. Fry the onions 3 minutes.  Add the carrots and curry paste, stirring for another 3 minutes. When the curry paste has browned up and is releasing its wonderful aromas, add the remaining liquids. Bring to simmer and simmer for at least 10 minutes to meld.

Serve over rice.