Smitten Kitchen’s Cranberry Crumb Bars

21 Dec

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Well tickle me pink, these crumb bars are beauts. They taste like pie, but in cookie form. Perfectly balanced tart berry and buttery crumb. I don’t know why I didn’t eat these bars with vanilla ice cream heaping over the top. I did, however, manage to eat every last crumb that happened to “fall off” the top of the cookies. Good heavens!

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I finally found an excuse to do something with the half-full quart container of cranberries that I had been keeping in my freezer for a year. The cranberries held up in perfect condition throughout their year in stasis, and now they’ve had the chance to shine (I tend to put things in my freezer and forget about them until a year later…not the smartest thing to do…but these cookie bars were just a sweet treat to eat at home so the only harm done would be done to me…and I gladly took the risk for these buttery babies!).

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To get a nice, clean cut, it is best to refrigerate the cookie bars for an hour or a few hours and cut them when they are cold. I got too greedy and went right in for the bars when they were still slightly warm and at my disposal. Sigh…I think I need some company to keep my self-control in check.

In other news, I’m totally Smitten with the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. I feel like almost half of the recipes on my blog are “adapted from” Deb Perelman’s beautiful blog, and now I get to cook my way through her beautiful book. Three cheers for Deb!

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Smitten Kitchen’s Cranberry Crumb Bars

adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

makes an 8×8 inch pan of bars

Crumb:

1 stick of butter, cubed and chilled

1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1 egg

Filling:

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

1 tablespoon orange juice

2 cups fresh cranberries

1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line the bottom of an 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper, and butter the sides and the parchment. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and spices. Work the chilled butter and egg into the flour mixture until it resembles a course meal. You can use your hands (my preferred method), a fork, or a pastry blender. Pat half of the crumb base into the bottom of your prepared pan. It will be thin.

In the bowl of a food processor or a blender, briefly pulse the filling ingredients until the berries are coarsely chopped but not pureed. Spread the filling over the crumb base. Sprinkle the remaining crumbs evenly over the cranberry mixture.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until lightly brown on top. Cool completely before cutting into squares. It helps to refrigerate the bars once cool and then cut them when cold.

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Miso Soup

7 Dec

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Miso soup goes from appetizer to dinner with the addition of noodles, larger tofu cubes, broccoli, and avocado.

The broth is made with just 2 ingredients: water and miso paste. The rest is up to you: noodles or rice, tofu, egg, seasonal vegetables, chili flakes or oil, scallions, herbs, garlic…Heidi Swanson, who inspired this soup, even suggests using tea instead of water.

I’ve gabbed about my love for miso paste before, and once you have a tub of it hanging out in the fridge, you know that you can always make some soup when you’re in a dinner pinch.

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Miso Soup

adapted from 101 cookbooks

serves 2-3

**NOTE: You may need to add some salt to the soup. Taste and add as necessary. Sometimes I like to add a splash of soy sauce for a deeper, saltier flavor, too.

3 ounces dried noodles, soba or spaghetti
2 – 4 tablespoons white miso paste (to taste)
2 – 3 ounces firm tofu (2 handfuls), chopped into 1/3-inch cubes
2 handfuls of chopped broccoli florets (or spinach)
Additional toppings: a pinch of red pepper flakes, avocado cubes

Cook the noodles in salted water. Add the broccoli during the last minute of cooking. Drain, run cold water over the noodles/broccoli to stop them from cooking, shake off any excess water, and set aside.

In a medium sauce pan bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and remove from heat. Put the miso paste in a small bowl and pour a bit of the hot water over the miso, whisking so it thins out a bit (this is to avoid clumping). Stir this back into the pot. Taste, and then add more (the same way) a bit at a time until it is to your liking. Add the tofu, remove from the heat, and let it sit for just a minute or so.

Split the noodles/broccoli between two (or three) bowls, and pour the miso broth and tofu over them. Add red pepper flakes to each bowl and enjoy.

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Pumpkin Ravioli with a Creamy Sauce

5 Dec

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I keep bumping into an acquaintance of mine at the Sunday farmer’s market. We happen to shop there at the same time, and we give each other recommendations—which vendor are you buying your eggs from this week, check out that heaping mound of Brussels sprouts, those mushrooms look amazing, have you tried the fresh pumpkin ravioli from Knoll Krest Farms?!

Dan Barber, executive chef and co-owner of Blue Hill restaurant, says that chefs (I will extend this to the greater population of home cooks/eaters) are “curators of what’s truly delicious; we’re driven by pleasure. The sustainable food movement is about hedonism…be greedy for great food when you know that it was grown in the right way” (“Dan Barber’s Culinary Crusade,” The Wall Street Journal, June 28, 2012). I get such a thrill exchanging recipe ideas and seeing what people buy at the market. This may sound silly, but even making small-talk with other shoppers and vendors makes my day brighter.

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I gave into my craving for pumpkin ravioli a la my friend’s recommendation, and tossed it with an almost vegan “cream” sauce and some spinach. Next to a pile of roasted parsnips and delicata squash, this was tonight’s idea of a perfect meal.

**Note that the ravioli is not vegan. You could substitute with another pasta type to make this dish vegan. Also, I used cow’s milk to make my creamy sauce. To make the sauce vegan, use a non-dairy milk (soy, almond, rice).

Pumpkin Ravioli With A Creamy Sauce

serves 4

sauce adapted from Chloe’s Kitchen (the sauce for the “straw and hay” pasta)

2-dozen (24 pieces) fresh ravioli (I used pumpkin ravioli)

a few handfuls of spinach

1 cup milk (I used low-fat milk)

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot

1 tablespoon tahini

1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon of salt, plus more to taste

optional: roasted squash seeds

Boil water, add salt, and cook the ravioli. Add the spinach to the water after the ravioli has been cooking for about a minute. Note that fresh ravioli should only take 3-5 minutes to cook. Drain and toss with the sauce. Top with roasted seeds.

To make the sauce: Combine the milk, water, cornstarch, tahini, soy sauce, garlic, onion powder, and salt in the blender and puree until smooth. Transfer the mix to a medium saucepan and let it cook over medium heat, whisking or stirring with a rubber spatula. Stir frequently, until the sauce thickens (about 5 to 10 minutes).

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Spiced Pumpkin Ice Cream (Vegan)

6 Nov

Leave it to me to make ice cream in this nose-drippingly cold weather (my computer is telling me that it is 1 degree Celsius outside right now) .

This ice cream is crazy easy to prepare. You can make it for your Thanksgiving guests. You could be like me and eat it on a random Monday night. There are only 3 main ingredients–coconut milk, pumpkin, brown sugar–and a few spices. The best part is that almost everyone can enjoy it! Vegans, lactose and gluten intolerant folks, Kosher keepers…

There is a buzz about coconut milk used in vegan ice cream bases–and for a good reason. Coconut milk provides fat that helps maintain the creamy texture of the ice cream. You cannot taste the coconut unless you really look for it. If anything, the coconut brings out the flavor of the pumpkin and spices.

Let’s talk toppings…

To really spice things up, why not make  ice cream sandwiches? Molasses cookies, gingersnaps, graham crackers, shortbread…Or have everything in one! Break apart some cookies and mix them into the already churned ice cream a la Shutterbean. Toasted chopped nuts and crystallized ginger could also make for a crunchy topping. Or maybe a warm chocolate fudge or salty caramel sauce. Slurp.

Put on a warm coat. Eat ice cream. Repeat.

Spiced Pumpkin Ice Cream (Vegan)

recipe adapted from The Year In Food

makes about 3/4 of a quart of ice cream

**Optional: To help keep the ice cream from being rock hard after sitting in the freezer, you may want to add a tablespoon or two of alcohol to the base. This keeps the texture nice and smooth. I would recommend a bourbon.

1 15-oz can coconut milk

1 level cup of pumpkin puree

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

First, make sure to freeze your ice cream bowl for at least 24 hours.

In a medium pot over the low heat, combine the coconut milk and pumpkin puree with the brown sugar and spices. Stir just until the sugar has dissolved and the spices are thoroughly incorporated.

Pour the mixture into a bowl and chill in the refrigerator for about 2.5 hours. Stir once an hour if you can.

Remove the custard from the fridge.

Have your ice cream machine ready. Take the freezer bowl out last. Pour the custard into the ice cream bowl, and churn until the consistency of a soft serve ice cream, about ten minutes. It doesn’t need very much time at all!

You can serve it this way, or let it firm up a little more in the freezer. It will get rock hard if left in for too long, probably because of the water content in the pumpkin puree. Just let it sit out at room temperature for 10 minutes or so before eating so it softens.

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Orange Tofu with Vegetables and Rice

29 Oct

I started a new part-time job working the counter at a bakery. I often feel like a bag lady plunking bread rolls into my purse, swooping in at the end of the day and grabbing as many leftover goodies from the bakery as I can fit in my bag. “Nothing to waste,” I exclaim as I run out the door with perfectly good day-old cookies, croissants, and muffins. Someone will eat them.

Welp, lately that someone ends up being me. Even if I manage to give away most of the leftovers, I find myself sneaking in nibbles. Must…stop…Hmph, maybe I can commit to taking home extra treats just once a week. The rest of the time I will have to turn the other cheek. At least for now…

Tucked at home tonight, blogging on the eve of another brewing storm, I return to the comforts of a big warm meal right from my own quaint apartment-size kitchen.

Fried tofu cubes in a sticky sweet sauce was exactly what I needed tonight. With brown rice and roasted garlicky broccoli and romanesco from the farmer’s market.

Not quite like the orange chicken I used to gobble up as a kid. Better.

Orange Tofu

adapted from Vegetarian Ventures

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

freshly grated ginger, to taste (about 1 teaspoon)

a few dashes of chili garlic sauce or sriracha

 

To make the sauce: whisk together rice vinegar, brown sugar, orange juice, garlic, ginger, and chili garlic sauce. Taste test and set aside.

 

1 egg, beaten + 1 tablespoon water

1 pound of extra firm tofu, drained and cubed

1/2 cup-3/4 cup cornstarch

2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

 

To prepare the tofu: whisk together the beaten egg and water in a small bowl. Dip the tofu cubes into the egg mixture in a few batches and coat on all sides with cornstarch. This gets messy but will taste sooo good later!

Heat a cast-iron skillet or heavy duty pan on medium heat. Coat with the 2 tablespoons of canola oil and fry the tofu. Flip the cubes after they have browned on the first side, about 2-5 minutes per side. Turn the heat to medium low and add the orange glaze. Fold the glaze into the tofu and simmer until desired consistency. Top with sesame seeds and serve with roasted or steamed vegetables and rice.

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