Arctic Garden Studio

Apple-Stuffed Biscuits

2012-01-26T10:13:00.000-08:00

I don't know what it is about this time of year. Maybe it is just that I love the citrus fruits more, oh yes I do have favorites. The apples know it too, they become unruly and out of control. Not only that, they start multiplying. Then, in one last effort for my attention they start making a run for it, launching themselves from their apple basket and making a dash for the edge of the counter where they will throw themselves to the floor demanding my immediate attention before they become bruised and inedible. It is sad to be an apple in January in this house. Since our apples show up two or three, here and there, I never have all the same kind of apples at one time. I believe I used Braeburn, Gala, and Winesap for this recipe. The biggest secret I have learned in making anything with apples is that using different types of apples is the way to go. I actually can't think of anything that doesn't benefit from using more than one variety. By using different apples you get more depth of flavor and variety of texture. The next time you are making apple pie, pick of one of every variety of apple you can find at your local market. You will never go back to single variety apple pie again.
This recipe could be a little more challenging, depending on the size of your apples. You only need about 1 1/2 cups of finely chopped apples. If your apples are huge, this could be one apple. Luckily, I had a few super small apples, so it worked out perfectly.
Ok, enough about apples already. These biscuits were amazing. They are basically a cinnamon roll in a much quicker form. You still have all the rolling of the dough, but no rise time. I managed to make these in just over an hour. These days I rarely post a recipe without testing it a few times. I don't even think about getting the camera out until I have made the recipe twice. These biscuits were so good I wanted to share them with you immediately. So, after breakfast on Sunday there was some beautiful bright light shining through the window. I decided to grab my camera and go for it. I love everything about these biscuits, their texture, the gooey filling, the little bits of apple. My favorite part is the crackly, hardened bits of sugar along the edges. If I ever had a bakery of my own, there is no question that these would be on the menu. I'm sure they will be making a regular appearance in my kitchen and hopefully we won't have quite so many apples rolling around the counter top.

Amazon.com

Apple-Stuffed Biscuits
adapted from The Apple Lover's Cookbook

Filling
1¼ cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
5 tablespoons; unsalted butter, cut into chunks, plus more for greasing pan
1½ teaspoons ground Vietnamese cinnamon (regular will work fine)
1½ cups of diced apples, cut to approx 1/4 inch dice. Use a variety of apples if possible

Biscuits
½ cup buttermilk
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2½ teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks, 170 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

Grease a 12 cup muffin pan with a little bit of butter; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, the 5 tablespoons butter, and the cinnamon. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the sugar, working it in until the mixture looks like wet sand. Put in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the dough.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add the butter to the flour mixture and use a pastry blender to work it in. The mixture should still have some small pea sized chunks of butter. Add the egg mixture and stir with a fork just until the dough begins to hold together. The dough will appear quite dry and all of the flour will not be completely incorporated. Don't worry, this will make for a nice flaky dough.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and set a rack to the middle position.

Press down on the dough to try and get it to stick together a bit before dumping the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper. Knead just enough to bring it all together into a ball. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough (still on parchment) into a 9- by 15-inch rectangle with straight sides. This doesn't need to be perfect, but the more even you can get it, the less ragged your end piece will be.

Sprinkle the dough all over with the brown sugar mixture, leaving a 1-inch border across one of the longer edges. Top with the apples and gently press down. Working from the long edge opposite the border, roll the dough up tightly, using the parchment as an aid. You can roll the dough up a little and then gently pull the parchment back. The dough will stick a little. When you reach the border, give the roll a squeeze and turn seam side down. Wrap the parchment around the roll and give it one last good squeeze to keep all the filling in place. Not all of your filling will stay inside the biscuit roll. Do your best to keep as much in as you can, but don't worry if it seems like a lot falls out the edge. I sprinkled it on top of the rolls after I placed them in the pan.

Cut the roll crosswise into 12 equal rounds and place one in each cup of the prepared pan. Bake until golden brown and bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes, if you take them out of the pan right away they will fall apart. Serve warm, right from the pan. If you don't eat all the biscuits in one sitting, make sure you remove them from the pan for storing, otherwise they will stick to the pan and be very difficult to remove.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup (Photo Challenge)

2012-01-23T15:14:00.000-08:00

To be honest, I don't really put a lot of time into styling the photos I shoot for this site. I usually think a little about it while I am baking, or cooking and start gathering my props and placing them by the window. I usually think more about color and the mood I am going for. Then I'll gather up a couple of tea towels and whatever else is handy. I'm sure David would tell you I take an elaborate amount of time, but really the whole process including taking the photos is about 20 minutes. Yes, 20 minutes is a long time when you are waiting to eat the food. This is why I rarely post dinner type foods. Still, I certainly don't plan everything out weeks in advance like I did for this post.
One day I was going through a stack of old magazine, trying to decide which to keep and it grabbed me how beautiful the Donna Hay covers were. It would be awesome to do a photo challenge with the covers of Donna Hay magazines. I thought about starting my own group, but the more I thought about it I knew I just didn't have the time to host one. There is nothing worse than a flaky host when you are participating in an online blog challenge. So, I pretty much let the idea rest. Then, somehow I stumble across the site Jungle Frog Cooking at the beginning of this month and it turns out Simone has been hosting Donna Hay Photography Challenges for the last five months. Maybe I didn't have the time to host one, but I could certainly find the time to participate. So, that is how we ended up here. Let me say that I am using this as a way to better my food photography and get a feel for a different way of looking at things. I know there is a lot of question about copying others work. So, for each of these challenges I want to fully credit the original photographer and stylist whenever possible. The below left photo was the original that I was trying to re-create. The original was taken by Ben Dearnly and styled by Justin Poole. The photo appeared in Donna Hay Magazine Issue #51 along with the recipe for Creamy Cauliflower Soup.

One of the things I first noticed in this photo was the reflection on the left side of the bowl along with the sharp shadow on the left of the photo. I knew I would have to grab some of the first morning light if I was going to get this photo the way I wanted it. That isn't hard in Fairbanks this time of year since the sun doesn't rise until 9:00 in the morning. I actually found myself coffee in hand with my props all styled and ready to go, just waiting for the sun to come up. The first thing I realize when I set my scene was that my piece of plywood was not going to be long enough to get the right angle on the shot. I purchase a 2x2 piece and painted it a color called wrought iron. I was very please with the color. I also thought I had done a pretty good job with the paint markings until I realized I was going to have to move the whole thing down in order to accomodate the angle. Still, I didn't quite capture it. In the end, that was where I struggled the most. It is hard to get everything at the right angle and in the exact placement. If I was not trying to replicate another photo, it wouldn't have mattered. If it was my own photo, I certainly wouldn't have wound that ribbon around that spoon three times trying to get it to look right. The photo above right was the very first photo I shot that morning and I feel it was the best of the group. I think it most captured the feel of the original, even if the placement was a little off. I think the focus is more on the spoon than the soup. This soup feels a little flat compared to later photos when I added a little texture by dragging a paper towel across the top. I liked that I was able to capture all the elements in this photo, including the paint splatters.
The photo at the bottom of this page was my favorite of all the ones I took. I love the reflection of the sunrise on the bowl, you can also see the tops of the spruce trees across our driveway. I also like that the soup has a little more texture on the top, although I am not crazy about the fact that it looks a bit messy along the edge. I didn't particularly care for the way the fabric was draped in this photo. If I had it to do over again, I would have the ribbon part of the spoon less in focus. I probably could have done a better job if I had a DSLR. In the end I was pretty happy with my final product using a point and shoot camera. I think the photo at the bottom has more of a Fairbanks feel and a little more personality. Yet, the first one really is a better fit to the original.

A few behind the scenes pointers:

I put a false bottom in my bowl by placing a yogurt lid that fit snugly about half way up. This stopped my cauliflower croutons from sinking.
I looked for the most beat up piece of plywood I could find for added texture.
The white piece of fabric is actually quilting interfacing, not parchment paper as it appears. It holds its shape a lot better and is more flexible.
I added a thin layer of translucent black paint on the left side of the board to enhance the shadow effect.

I really enjoyed challenging myself in this way. Feel free to leave any questions in the comments section if you would like to know more. If you are interested in finding out more about this challenge or seeing how others did, you can find the post over at Jungle Frog Cooking Creamy cauliflower soup – DHSPC #5. You can find the recipe for the soup there as well. It is really tasty. I'm actually eating it for lunch right now while I finish up this post.
I'm already looking forward to seeing what next months challenge will be. Thanks Simone for hosting this great challenge.

Jammy Almond Thumbprint Cookies

2012-01-21T21:57:00.000-08:00

It's all about the jam with these cookies. These cookies are only so very subtly sweet, so a sweet jam is a good choice. I used apricot and plum, but found myself wishing I had some raspberry which is a little sweeter. It is important not to think of these as traditional cookies. If you are looking for a double chocolate chip, these aren't going to cut it. If you are looking for a little something to go with tea, now these are your cookies. They are also great to toss in a ziploc bag and take to work for a little mid-day snack. Just enough sweetness to brighten your day, but not so much sugar that you end up crashing at 3:00 in the afternoon. The original recipe called for raw almonds, but I only had toasted in the house. I thought they turned out great with them. Also, be sure and let them cool completely before eating them. That jammy middle part is super hot straight out of the oven. Kind of the equivalent of boiling hot jam straight out of the pot. Not that I have ever put my tongue to either because that would just be plain stupid.

One last thing, this dough is incredibly crumbly and a little frustrating if you don't tell it who is boss right from the beginning. It took me a few tries and a lot of muttering, but toward the end I was pressing the holes in the cookies and adding jam at record speed. It took a little practice though. In the end it was worth it, because I just love cookies filled with delicious jam and a cup of hot tea. This time of year it is especially nice while sitting by a warm wood stove.

Amazon.com

Jammy Almond Thumbprint Cookies
adapted from My Father's Daughter

4 cups barley flour

3 cups toasted unsalted whole almonds crushed in a food processor

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup canola oil

1 cup maple syrup

Your favorite jam flavors

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Combine all of the ingredients, except the jam, in a large bowl. Take some of the mixture in your hand and see if it will stick together and form a ball. If the dough does not hold together alternate adding a teaspoon of maple syrup or canola oil until the dough holds together.Keep in mind this dough is incredible crumbly. Form into rounded tablespoon-sized balls and space them evenly on baking sheets lined with parchment. Use a 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon to make an indentation in each cookie. I found it helpful to place my hand over the top of the spoon to hold the cookie together while I pressed down. It took a few tries, but once I got it down the rest went pretty smoothly. Fill each cookie with a small amount of jam. Bake until cookies are evenly browned, about 20 minutes.

Yield: 45 cookies

Maple Oat Breakfast Pie

2012-01-18T00:56:00.000-08:00

This is breakfast? Really? I read over the recipe three times, then I packed my bags and moved to Vermont. Except it is really cold in this part of Vermont, 45 below zero. So cold it is hard to get the syrup to pour out of the container. Ok, I'm not really in Vermont. When I read that this pie was standard breakfast fare in Vermont, moving sounded like a really good idea. Since I did walk almost 7 miles in 45 below zero temperatures on Saturday, I figured I deserved a pie like this for breakfast. David wasn't buying my story, but I still made the pie anyway, and we ate it for breakfast. I have to admit that this pie was a little much for breakfast. I'm pretty sure the oats are an afterthought to make this sound more like breakfast, but really you don't even notice they are in there. That doesn't mean this isn't one good pie. It has a wonderfully deep maple flavor due to the maple sugar, syrup, and extract. Since I am the kind of person who sees nothing wrong with eating pie for breakfast, I would probably just call this Maple Oat Pie and serve it as a dessert and then have the leftover for breakfast the next day. If you are the kind of person who just can't take that kind of indulgence, I will call it breakfast pie just for you. See, no guilt if you call it breakfast! It does have some oats and barley flour too, so it must be healthy. Right?

Amazon.com

Maple Oat Breakfast Pie
adapted (barely)from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking

Crust
3/4 cup barley flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon maple sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1-2 teaspoons half and half

Filling
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup water
4 large eggs
1/2 cup maple sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 cup maple syrup
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1 cup chopped walnuts

Crust
Whisk together flours, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add butter, using a pastry blender or your hands work butter into flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the egg. Add one teaspoon of half and half and work into the mixture. Test to see if the dough holds together by squeezing the mixture together. If it still seems dry and crumbly, add the second teaspoon and work it into the mixture. Shape the dough into a disk and pat until it is about 1 inch thick, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.
Remove the crust from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you are ready to make the pie. You want the dough to become flexible enough to roll out. Flour your work surface and roll the dough to a 12 inch circle. Place dough in a regular (not deep dish) pie pan. Crimp the edges. Place the crust back in the refrigerator to chill while you are making the filling. Adjust oven rack to the lowest position.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Filling
Place oats and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, cook until thick and creamy as they would be for breakfast cereal. Place the oats in a bowl of a stand mixer and set on lowest speed. This will accelerate the cooling of the oats. Make sure the outside of the bowl is only the slightest bit warm before adding the eggs. You don't want the eggs to scramble. Add the eggs, sugar, salt, vinegar, maple syrup, melted butter, and maple extract to the oats. Continue to stir on low speed until all the ingredients are combined.

To make the pie
Pour filling into pie crust and sprinkle the walnuts on top. You will want to place a cookie sheet under your pie as it most certainly will cook over the edge of the pie plate and make a huge smoldering mess of your oven. (I didn't do this) Bake pie on the bottom rack of the oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake until the center is set, 25 to 35 minutes more. Check pie regularly to make sure the crust is not burning. Cover the crust with foil if it appears to be getting dark. Remove pie from oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes before serving. Serve for dessert or breakfast. Either way, enjoy!

Meyer Lemon Butter Cookies

2012-01-12T23:34:00.000-08:00

It is that time of year again. The Lemon Ladies are sending out their beautiful lemons and I received my first box of the season a few weeks ago. I know I go on and on about these lemons every year, but they really do make a difference to me during these cold, dark winter months. Some people in Fairbanks buy Happy Lights, I buy lemons. As long as Karen has been shipping me these lemons, I have been making these Lemon Butter Cookies. These cookies and lemon bars are always the first thing I want each season. I actually have a little confession to make, these have already been a post on this blog. Way back in the beginning before most of you were here. I thought it was sad that a cookie as lovely as this one was buried back in the archives with crappy photos and little praise. This cookie really does deserve a second chance on the blog, and so I decided to bring it back. I hadn't planned on posting two recipes in two weeks with "Meyer Lemon Butter" in the title, but sometimes things just work out that way. I really recommend you get yourself some Meyer Lemons and give these cookies a try. They are just a simple little cookie, good with a cup of coffee for a late morning snack. There isn't much to them, so the Meyer Lemon flavor really gets to shine. Just what you needed for a cold winter day. Speaking of cold, they are saying it might get down to 50 below tomorrow. Keep warm Fairbanks.

Meyer Lemon Butter Cookies
adapted from Alpineberry

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2 large egg yolks, divided
pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tsp finely grated lemon zest, or more to taste
2 cups all purpose flour
approximately 1/2 cup coarse sanding sugar

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until smooth (about 4 minutes), add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth (another 2 minutes). Beat in 1 egg yolk, followed by salt, vanilla and lemon zest. On low speed, add the flour and mix just until flour is just incorporated.
Turn dough out onto a counter. Form dough into a log that is about 1 to 1 1/4 inches in diameter and wrap in plastic wrap. I find it is easiest to do this on a piece of parchment paper, I then wrap the entire log, parchment paper and all in plastic wrap. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes in refrigerator. You may also place dough in freezer at this point and store for up to three months.
Preheat oven to 350F. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
If you are coating your cookies with sugar, whisk the remaining egg yolk until it's smooth and liquid enough to use as a glaze, you may need to add a little water. Spread granulated sugar out on a piece of parchment paper. Unwrap your chilled dough log and brush lightly with the egg yolk. Roll the log in sugar, pressing gently to help the sugar stick.
Slice each log into rounds about 1/4 inch thick. Place on baking sheets, leaving about 1/2 inch between the cookies.
Bake for 12-14 minutes until they are set but not browned. (It's okay if the yolk-sugar edges brown slightly.) Transfer cookies to cooling rack.

Winter Wild Rice Salad

2012-01-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

This salad is fairly easy to put together. It has a long cooking time because of the wild rice, but it doesn't require a lot of attention. I'll tell you it takes even less time if you turn on the correct burner on the stove. As I was making this for the second time it seemed like it was taking an awful long time to cook. After 40 minutes there wasn't much progress at all. I had actually been about a tablespoon short of rice and wondered if that could possibly be why so much of the liquid wasn't absorbing. It just seemed odd, so I decided to remove the lid and turn up the heat. It was then that I discovered the burner wasn't on. Things went pretty smooth once I turned the heat on and it didn't make a difference in the final product, thank goodness.
I originally made this dish for our Christmas eve neighborhood potluck. There was so much good food that night that I didn't really get a chance to enjoy much more than a bite of this salad. It makes enough to serve at least eight people and I thought it would be great to make up a batch as a side for Sunday dinner and then have the leftovers for lunch throughout the week. I love the variety of flavors and textures, it really does make for a filling meal all on its own.
Feel free to play around with the ingredients adding your favorite dried fruits or nuts. I'm sure this would be good with dried cherries, walnuts, or chopped hazelnuts. I was also thinking some chopped fresh grapes or a bit of citrus might even work. Give it a little bit of whatever you keep stocked in your pantry for a cold winter day.

Winter Wild Rice Salad
adapted from Bon Appetit
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large celery stalks, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups wild rice
2 cups low-salt vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more
3/4 cup (3 oz.) pecans, toasted
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup (about 3 oz.) dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup (about 2 1/2 oz.) golden raisins
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced small celery stalks

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped celery and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and almost translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in garlic; cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add wild rice; stir for 1 minute. Add broth, bay leaf, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 1/2 cups water; increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Uncover, stir, and continue cooking, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, 20–40 minutes.
Discard bay leaf. Stir in dried cranberries, apricots, and raisins. Let sit, covered, for 5 minutes.
Season rice to taste with salt and pepper. Fold pecans and sliced celery into mixture.Serve warm or at room temperature.

Gooey Meyer Lemon Butter Cake

2012-01-05T21:38:00.000-08:00

I had hesitations when it came to making this cake. I have made St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake in the past and wasn't a huge fan. Mostly I found the flavor kind of dull. I loved the idea of a gooey butter cake, but the execution seemed all wrong. I still had hopes of finding one I liked, so when I stumbled across a lemon cake that had similar qualities I decided to give it a try. As I mixed up the cake batter I made the mistake of taking a taste, blech. There is no sugar in the cake batter (there is in the filling however). Could that be right? I looked the recipe over twice, debated adding sugar, then decided against it. About half way through the baking process an amazing smell started to fill my kitchen. The recipe called for chilling the cake before serving, but I knew there was no way I was going to be able to wait. I waited as long as I could (about 45 minutes) and finally cut a very small piece out of the cake. Five minutes later another...and then...another. I had to stop myself as I still needed to photograph the cake! You see that photo below? I'm not just being creative with the lemon placement, I seriously ate almost that much of the cake, minus the slice in the photo above. Good thing I didn't make any New Year's resolutions about dieting or anything. After photographing, I quickly wrapped the cake in plastic and threw it in the fridge and tried to forget about it. A few hours later, once it had completely chilled I pulled it back out to see how it tasted. I must admit I was disappointed, the cake had really dried out in a very short amount of time (3 hours). If you make this cake, be sure to have a few friends around to help you eat it soon after it comes out of the oven, it is much better that way. Plus, it might be good idea so you don't eat the entire thing by yourself!

Gooey Meyer Lemon Butter Cake
adapted from Blackjack Bakehouse

Filling
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for dusting
1 egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons Meyer lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp. (approx 1 lemon) Meyer lemon zest

Cake
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 eggs
2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons Meyer lemon zest

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9″ spring form pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add egg and beat until combined. Add butter, Meyer lemon juice, vanilla extract, and Meyer lemon zest. Beat until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Set aside.
In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. With a wooden spoon or spatula stir in melted butter, eggs, Meyer lemon juice, vanilla and Meyer lemon zest until just combined.
Scoop cake batter into spring form pan, using a knife or offset spatula make sure it is smooth and even. Pour filling mixture evenly over the cake batter.
Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near edge of cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife or offset spatula along the edge of the pan to release. Carefully remove spring form sides and allow to cool on rack for 30 minutes. The original recipe calls for refrigerating and serving chilled. I found that the cake dried out really quickly, although that could just be the fact that it was 40 below and the wood stove was running at full capacity. I preferred it served at room temperature, about 45 minutes after it came out of the oven.

Coconut Oil Granola

2012-01-03T23:53:00.000-08:00

Three years ago I switched to a new granola recipe and have been making it ever since. Lately, I noticed that I haven't been making granola as much as I used to. I think I have become more bored with making it than eating it. Not that it is hard to change things up when it comes to granola. It's pretty much mix up a bunch of nuts and grains that you like in a bowl and throw it in the oven kind of thing. I see new recipes on occasion, but for the most part they are just another version of the same old granola. Although this recipe isn't that different from others, there was one ingredient that caught my eye, coconut oil. At $12.00 a bottle, it won't be replacing my regular granola anytime soon, but it will be nice to change things up every now and again. I love the added coconut flavor the oil adds to the granola. If only they would start selling Liberté coconut yogurt in the United States, I would be all set for a super coconut breakfast. I always adjust my granola recipes so they make just enough to fit in my large granola jar. Feel free to adjust ingredients and amounts to suit your taste. I prefer fresh berries on my granola, so you rarely find dried fruit in my granola. Cherries would be a nice addition with these flavors. If you decided to add chocolate chips, I wouldn't tell. What are your favorite additions when making homemade granola?

Amazon.com

Coconut Oil Granola
adapted from Cook This Now

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups raw pecans, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups large flake coconut chips
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 300° F.
In a large bowl, combine the oats, pecans, coconut, maple syrup, coconut oil, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Spread the mixture on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer and bake until golden all over, about 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs

2011-12-31T18:19:00.000-08:00

I have never thought of deviled eggs as sexy. A little more girl next door. It turns out that when you dress them up, they are hot. Isn't that how it always turns out in the movies, dress up the girl next door and she becomes a total babe? Well, these deviled eggs are the girl next door all dressed up for a night in New York City. I thought that adding smoked salmon would make them more Alaskan, but was I ever wrong. These girls were ready for a night on the town. I had so much fun with them that I made them twice this week. The first time I didn't get a chance to photograph them, which was probably for the better as I had originally placed the caper and red onion garnish on top of the eggs which made them look like they had little eyeballs staring up at you. Also, the garnish had a tendency to fall off. This time I placed the onions and capers in the egg cavity before piping in the yolk mixture. Either way, they taste amazing.
I wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year before the clock strikes midnight on the East Coast. We still have a few hours before we even head over to the neighbors house to celebrate. Our eggs will definitely be more dressed up than we are, but that is the way things are here in Fairbanks. Wishing you all a safe an Happy New Year's Eve wherever you are!

Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs
adapted from The Galley Gourmet

7 large eggs, boiled and peeled
1/4 cup crème fraîche
1 ounce cream cheese, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tablespoons minced fresh chives
4 ounces smoked salmon, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Capers
Minced Red Onion

Slice eggs in half lengthwise. Pop out the yolks and place them in a medium bowl with the crème fraîche, cream cheese, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, and lemon juice. Mash with a fork or potato masher, then stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Fold in the salmon and chopped chives. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place egg whites on a plate or serving platter and add 2-3 capers and 1/8 teaspoon minced red onion to each cavity.
Using a spoon or a a piping bag, fill the whites generously with the yolk mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

Banana Barley Flour Muffins

2011-12-27T11:56:00.000-08:00

It is hard after this past weekend not to appreciate local ingredients. Each Christmas Eve since we have lived here, we have gathered with our neighbors to celebrate. Each person brings enough food to feed all 20 people in the room. Everyone brings a bit of where they came from. Much of the food is either grown or raised right here within a few miles of our house. Yes, people are raising turkeys right here in Fairbanks. I don't know why this always amazes me, people moved here to homestead. I look forward to the meal all year. I can honestly say there is no meal in any restaurant that I would trade for this one.
It also makes me appreciate the abundance we have here. I spend most of my year complaining about the lack of good food. The truth of the matter is if you can't find good food in Fairbanks, you aren't looking in the right places (hint: if you have to leave a tip, you are in the wrong place). Everyone I know is an amazing cook, sometimes I feel silly that I am the one with the food blog. There is so much to learn.
This morning I was ready to move past the crunching of candy canes and make something a little more simple. I didn't want to get out the food processor or the stand mixer. Just me a bowl, a wooden spoon, and some local ingredients. I was ready to start learning about barley flour. We now have locally grown and milled barley flour here in Alaska. I have never baked with barley flour before and I could hardly wait to give it a try. Whole grain flours get a bad rap for creating dense and dry baked goods. Barley flour isn't like that at all, in fact it turns out a lighter product than all-purpose flour. It is almost comparable to cake flour, with a slightly nutty taste. These muffins were light and moist and best of all quick and easy to make. Although I love most baked goods straight out of the oven, I felt these were even better after they sat for a while. This makes them great for a brunch buffet. I love that they contain local honey and barley flour. This is a good place to start if you are like me and have never tried barley flour before. You see, we all have a lot to learn!

Banana Barley Flour Muffins

adapted from Baking Bites
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup barley flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, sifted
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium, ripe bananas

1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
raw sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 12-cup standard muffin tin.
Combine flour, barley flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk oil, honey, egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Add banana to the wet ingredients and mash with a fork or potato masher. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Divide mixture evenly into prepared muffin cups and top with raw sugar.
Bake for 16-18 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Sticky Gingerbread Cake

2011-12-23T04:23:00.000-08:00

This recipe is another that I have been wanting to post for a really long time. Not necessarily this recipe, but a recipe for Gingerbread Cake. It has taken me about three years to find the perfect one. For the last two winters I have probably baked at least a dozen gingerbread recipes. Many were good, but none of them "the" gingerbread cake. It had to be spicy, and slightly sticky. This was the kind of cake you eat with a fork, one that holds a nice mound of whip cream. Finally, it had to resemble meatloaf! Ok, don't run away yet. It took me three years to find this recipe, trust me it is a good one, with a good story.
Many years ago my Mom and I went out to eat at a restaurant back home in Michigan. It was a place known for having a wide selection of really good desserts. I don't remember much about the dinner menu, but I do remember their grasshopper and mud pies. I believe it was during the summer when my Mom decided to order warm gingerbread cake with whip cream topping for dessert. I thought it was an odd offering for the summer and wondered how much they were selling during that time of year. Would it even be fresh? The waitress promptly brought my Mom her dessert. It was drowning in whip cream. Then my Mom took a bite and her face turned to a very confused expression. "I think this might be meatloaf", she said. It was the "this might be" part of the sentence that threw me off and I didn't totally believe it. I mean, how could it be meatloaf? Either it is gingerbread, or it is meatloaf, how could it "might be" meatloaf? My mom encouraged me to take a bite, but if it really was meatloaf smothered in whip cream, well I didn't want any part of it. So, we sat and stared at it for a while. The whip cream began to melt, finally I agreed to smell it. One whiff and there was no question that my Mom had been served meatloaf with whip cream for dessert. The waitress was really embarrassed when we told her she served up meatloaf for dessert. Turns out the restaurant kept the meatloaf and the gingerbread cut in similar sized cubes right next to each other in the freezer. She just happened to grab the wrong one, placed it in the microwave and served it up as dessert. So, now anytime someone mentions meatloaf, we have to ask if it was served with whip cream. I don't really remember what happened after the waitress took the meatloaf away. I do know we laughed until we had tears in our eyes, but I don't remember actually ever eating the gingerbread. So, I went in search of a recipe for what that gingerbread should have been like had it actually been gingerbread. This one from Nigella Lawson is exactly what I imagined warm gingerbread cake with whip cream should taste like...when it is not meatloaf!

Amazon.com

Sticky Gingerbread
adapted from Nigella Christmas

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup packed soft dark brown sugar
2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in 2 teaspoons warm water
1 cup whole milk
2 eggs, beaten to mix
2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 9 x 9 inch pan with parchment paper.
In a saucepan, melt the butter over a low heat along with the sugar, corn syrup, molasses, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.
Take off the heat, and add the milk, eggs and dissolved baking soda in its water.
Measure the flour into a bowl and pour in the liquid ingredients, beating until well mixed. It will be a very liquid batter.
Pour it into the prepared pan and bake for 45-60 minutes until risen and firm on top. Do not overcook as it will be nice and sticky if you don't.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the gingerbread cool in the pan before cutting into 16 squares, or however many you like. Serve with whip cream or plain.

Candy Cane Biscotti

2011-12-21T04:34:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe the same year I started this blog. That was over three years ago. I have had this on my list of things to make every year and somehow it always gets pushed to the end of the list and finally bumped off. I have never made biscotti before and I got the impression that it was going to be challenging. I guess I never really looked at the recipe very closely because I was surprised about two things. The first is that they are really easy to make, and second these ones are really tiny compared to normal biscotti. They are super cute and pack up nicely on a cookie platter. They are the perfect thing to dunk in a cup of hot cocoa. The original recipe leaves them a little chewier. I prefer my biscotti dry and hard (good for dunking), so I left them in the oven a little longer. Although the recipe calls for finely processed candy canes, I recommend you leave some medium size chunks. This will give your biscotti the nice bursts of color in the actual cookie. If you process the candy canes too much, they will just melt away. They will still taste good though!
I'm so glad I finally made them this year and am sure they will now make it on the annual Christmas cookie list.

Candy Cane Biscotti
adapted from Land O'Lakes

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup finely crushed peppermint candy canes, divided
8 ounces white chocolate, melted

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Combine butter and sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add eggs; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour and baking powder; continue beating until well mixed. Stir in 2/3 cup crushed candy canes.

Divide dough into fourths. (I rolled mine out on a piece of parchment paper to avoid having the dough stick to the counter) Shape each into 9x1 1/2-inch logs. Place logs 3 inches apart on a parchment lined large cookie sheet.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until tops are cracked and ends just start to turn light brown. Remove from oven; reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Cool logs 10 minutes on cookie sheet.

Carefully remove logs to cutting surface. Cut into 1/2-inch slices with sharp serrated knife. Arrange pieces on same cookie sheet, cut-side down. Continue baking for 10 minutes, turning once. Turn off oven and leave cookies for about 20 minutes to dry out. Some ovens are more insulated than others, so it is best to check on the cookies every so often to make sure they are not getting overly brown. Remove to wire cooling rack; cool completely.

Dip each biscotti a little less than half way into melted white chocolate; shake off excess. Place onto waxed paper. Immediately sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Let set at room temperature until chocolate has hardened. Enjoy by the fire, after a long ski with a cup of hot cocoa.

Coconut Egg Nog (Non-Dairy)

2011-12-15T04:00:00.000-08:00

When I am buying a new cookbook I usually look through the index to see what kind of ingredients the author is using. I do this for many reasons, first of all if I see too many hard to source or worse ingredients I don't recognize I will often skip it. It's not that I am not adventurous, but I while back I grew weary of trying to find specialty ingredients in Fairbanks. I have lived here long enough to know what's available and what is easy to find by mail order, even then I usually only order from places that I can get several things at once. I recently read an interview with Melissa Clark about her new cookbook and one of the things that convinced me to check it out was the fact that she said something to the effect that she wanted this book to be accessible to everyone, even someone buying their food from a basic chain grocery store. That describes me for sure. Although I doubt I'll be finding calamari in Fred Meyer in February, for the most part this book does ring true to that sentiment.
There is another reason I scan the index looking at ingredients. It is to see if the author and I have similar tastes. There are some foods that people either love or hate and I am aware that coconut is one of them. I personally am a coconut lover. When I say that there were no less than seven recipes with coconut in Melissa Clark's new cookbook there was no longer any doubt this was a cookbook I had to have. I played around quite a bit with the technique on this recipe. I wanted an eggnog that had some texture and was served cold, not room temperature as in the original. If you are used to store bought egg nog, this one is going to be pretty light. It reminds me of a coconut drink I once had in Mexico with rum. Please feel free to adapt this with your favorite kind of alcohol, or none at all if that's what you like. Also, please note this recipe does contain raw eggs, so it's a good idea to know where your eggs are coming from. You can also use pasteurized eggs if you prefer. Happy Holidays and Cheers!

Amazon.com

Coconut Egg Nog
adapted from Cook This Now

2 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk (I used light as it was all that was available)
1 tablespoon sugar, or more to taste
1 shot of rum or bourbon
1 shot of cognac or brandy
Generous amount of freshly grated nutmeg for garnish

Place the egg yolks and coconut milk in a quart size canning jar or similar sized bowl. Using an immersion blender, mix ingredients until nearly doubled in volume. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form. Add the eggs whites, and alcohol (if using) to the canning jar. You could serve the mixture immediately at room temperature with a spoon. It will be incredibly thick. I recommend putting the lid on it and letting it settle in the fridge for 6-8 hours. Pour the mixture into two glasses and top with freshly grated nutmeg.

Vanilla Bean Tapioca Pudding

2011-12-12T11:01:00.000-08:00

I had not anticipated sharing a recipe for tapioca pudding this holiday season. Last week I stopped by the Fred Meyer store on the west end of town. If you live in Fairbanks you know that store has been a remodeling nightmare for months. Even though I live on the east end of town I often visited the west end store as they seem to have a better selection of products. In the last year I have only stopped in a couple of times because of the disaster the store has been. Last weekend I was in that part of town with 30 minutes to burn and my only task was to find an ATM machine. Since my bank isn't in that part of town, I decided to just run into Fred Meyer to check out the selection now that the remodel is near completion. I also figured I could just use the cash back option at the checkout, rather than pay the ATM fees. Well, this didn't end up being such a good deal as I ended up spending over $50 on items that weren't even on my grocery list. One of those items was a bag of small pearl tapioca. I love homemade pudding and started wondering why I have never made my own tapioca pudding. The recipe on the package seemed pretty easy, and turns out it really is super simple. I love the flecks of vanilla bean with the tapioca. You can also dress this pudding up with chopped nuts or dried fruit, maybe add some cinnamon or nutmeg for the holiday season. I prefer mine simple, and I actually like it best served warm or at room temperature. I recommend doubling the recipe as it seemed to disappear pretty quickly at our house.

Vanilla Bean Tapioca Pudding
adapted from Bob's Red Mill and 101 Cookbooks

1/3 cup small pearl tapioca
3 cups milk, divided
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/3 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean

Place the tapioca and 3/4 cup of milk in a medium, heavy bottomed sauce pan. Let soak for 30 minutes. Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise, scrape the vanilla bean along its length with a knife and add that bean paste along with the bean itself to the pot. Add remaining milk, salt, sugar, and lightly beaten egg yolks to tapioca and stir continuously over medium heat until just barely boiling. Simmer uncovered over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Stir often. The time varies, but you will know it is done when the pudding thickens and the tapioca swells up. Remove from heat and let cool a bit before placing in a bowl. Refrigerate for 4 hours before serving, or if you are strange like me; serve warm! This pudding does form a skin, if you would like skinless pudding, cover in plastic wrap making sure it it touching the pudding when you place it in the fridge. Makes 4 servings.

Sparkling Cranberry Cookies

2011-12-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

I'm posting a little early this week as I am off to Anchorage for work this week. I have a busy schedule, but I am hoping to sneak in a couple of hours late Thursday afternoon for a little shopping. I purposely scheduled all my meetings downtown and didn't rent a car so I would be forced to walk. I prefer trips without a car actually, I think you see a lot more. When you have a rental car you increase your range and it feels like you spend all your time driving, at least I do anyway. I always want to try and see it all! In addition walking is really good for you, especially during the season of the holiday cookie. I know, more cookies....but these ones are actually somewhat good for you. Ok, maybe good for you is pushing it. I have really been enjoying the flavor of whole-wheat flour lately. I have gradually been incorporating it into more and more foods that I make and now I almost find baked goods made with all-purpose flour a little bit bland. I love the extra flavor the whole wheat flour adds. So, these cookies do come with a bit of a warning...if you are used to some of my usual recipes these might taste a little bit "healthy" to you. The process for making them is very similar to making scones which is probably why I like them so much. I actually thought about calling them itty bitty scone cookies, but that is just a little too cute.
These little cookies would be great packaged up as a holiday gift or hostess treat, a great little bite with a morning cup of coffee. Yes, you can have cookies for breakfast.
I simplified this recipe from the original making the entire dough in the food processor, I just caution you not to go crazy and over mix the dough. This method really cuts down on the number of dishes you use, but if you prefer you can remove the flour and cranberry mixture from the food processor and make the rest of the dough by hand to avoid over mixing.

Sparkling Cranberry Cookies
adapted from King Arthur Flour

1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 cup dried cranberries (if you prefer to make recipe without nuts increase to 1 1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Pecans, optional (increase cranberries if not using)
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 24 squares
3 tablespoons milk
scant 1/2 cup coarse white sparkling sugar, or Raw Sugar

Place the flour and dried cranberries in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the cranberries are coarsely shredded. This took about 4 minutes in my very cheap food processor with a dull blade.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

Add sugar, baking powder, and salt to the bowl of the food processor. Give a couple of quick pulses to mix the ingredients. Add the vanilla, pecans, and butter, pulsing 4-6 times until well incorporated, but some pea-sized chunks still remain. Add the milk, one tablespoon at a time while pulsing once or twice during each addition; the dough will become cohesive. Do not over process the mixture as you still want some of the butter pieces to still be visible in the dough.

Using a teaspoon cookie scoop (or a spoon), scoop the dough onto your cookie sheet, leave enough room to flatten, but they can be fairly close together as they do not spread much. I was able to get 18 cookies on each sheet. Place the coarse white sugar in a small bowl. Using the bottom of a small glass, flatten each cookie to about 1/4 inch thick. You may notice your cookies sticking to the bottom of the glass, if they do dip the glass with the cookie still attached into the small bowl of coarse white sugar, then carefully peel the cookie off the bottom and place on the cookie sheet. If they don't stick to the glass, just remove the cookie from the baking sheet after flattening and dip the top and sides in sugar, try not to coat the bottom as the sugar will burn on the cookie sheet and blacken the bottoms of the cookies. Place the cookie sugar side up on the baking sheet. You want to make sure and get the cookies really coated as there is very little sugar in this recipe, the coarse sugar adds both sweetness and texture to the cookie.

Bake the cookies for 14 to 15 minutes, until they’re just barely beginning to brown around the very edge. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan.
Yield: about 3 dozen cookies. I ended up with 35.

Candy Cane Snowball Cookies

2011-12-01T17:11:00.000-08:00

I actually made these cookies last week, right after Thanksgiving. I couldn't wait to start my holiday baking. Yet, I wanted to give you all some time to enjoy your turkey and give thanks before I moved into holiday baking mode here in this space. It just isn't Christmas to me, unless I have made a dozen different types of cookies during the month of December. I actually started collecting recipes with candy canes back in July.
In their nut form, I have always called these cookies Mexican Wedding Cookies. Last week, Not So Humble Pie posted Peppermint Tea Cookies. What a great idea, and I wondered if I could just adapt my recipe that I already love? Somewhere in the middle of my research I found that another name for these cookies is snowball. Candy Cane Snowballs sounded quite festive. This is another one of those holiday recipes that would be great for a cookie exchange or bakesale. I made them quite large as I didn't have any plans for them, but you could easily make them half the size (baking time will be shorter) and get quite a few more cookies out of each batch. I'm not sure they will replace Mexican Wedding cookies, but they would be a great addition to them on a holiday cookie plate. Also great for those who love delicate tea cookies, but can't have nuts in their diet.
This recipe calls for chopping candy canes in a food processor and then sifting out the powder from the candy cane chunks. Make sure you reserve the powder to sprinkle on top of the cookies. In the past I have purposely made a batch of candy cane powder to stir into hot chocolate during the holiday season. It also makes a great gift layered in a canning jar with hot chocolate. This recipe will leave you with at least 1/2 cup extra candy cane powder. I know you can find other great uses for it during the holidays.

Candy Cane Snowball Cookies
inspired by Not So Humble Pie

10 candy canes
1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar plus additional 1/2 cup for dusting
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400F. Place candy canes in the bowl of a food processor, use pulse button to crush to a coarse texture. Place candy cane crumbles in a fine mesh strainer. Gently tap on the edge of the strainer to remove candy cane powder. Reserve both candy cane powder and the crumbled candy canes. Cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla. Sift flour, 1 teaspoon candy cane powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture one cup at a time. Add 1/4 cup candy cane crumble and mix well. Roll 1 tbsp at a time into balls and place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 14 minutes until just barely brown. Let sit for a few minutes before removing from cookie sheet. While cookies are baking; make candy cane powdered sugar by adding 1/2 cup powdered sugar to the remaining candy cane powder. You will have far more powder than you need for the cookies. This is great to store and add to whip cream or other sprinkle on other holiday treats. While cookies are still warm, dust with candy cane powdered sugar. Yield approximately 24 cookies.

Whole-Wheat Pear and Hazelnut Scones

2011-11-18T22:46:00.000-08:00

I told you after my last post that I had pear and hazelnuts on the brain. Please be warned that these scones are unlike any of my previous recipes. I have been on this whole grain, nutty, hearty baked goods kick lately. Not to product drop, but I used the Bob's Red Mill whole wheat flour for these. It doesn't necessarily matter what brand you use, just make sure it is something hearty. These are almost the texture of cornmeal muffins. The bits of diced pear just melt in your mouth and then you get the occasional crunch of hazelnut. Let's just say that I was home alone and ate the entire batch over three days. I liked them, yes I did.
The dough is much more wet than previous recipes, it needs to be to offset the whole-wheat flour. I used Red Pears, but you could use any kind. I was thinking these would be perfect for Christmas morning if you used both red and green pears. They still feel kind of festive even if you don't. Hope you like them as much as I did.

Amazon.com

Whole-Wheat Pear and Hazelnut Scones Recipe
adapted from The Craft of Baking

Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups whole-wheat flour, plus more for cutting board
1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 medium pear, diced
1/3 cup hazelnut, toasted and chopped
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment.
In a large bowl combine whole-wheat flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add the small pieces of butter, use the tips of your fingers to incorporate the butter into small pieces, flatten the butter into large flakes as you blend to create a flaky scones.
Add pear and hazelnuts, stir to combine. Stir milk into the mixture, use hands to thoroughly incorporate dry ingredients, but be careful not to overwork the dough. Turn dough out onto a floured cutting board. Pat dough into a circle about 3/4 inch thick. Cut dough into eight equal size wedges, transfer to cookie sheet keeping about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 20 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Place on cooling rack, and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. Best served slightly warm.

Morning Glory Muffins

2011-11-12T11:09:00.000-08:00

I love the idea of a good hearty muffin for breakfast in the morning. A muffin that will bring you well past lunch, especially if you are someone like me who often looks at the clock to find it is 3:00 p.m. and you still haven't eaten. I always hate that feeling, should I just skip lunch and wait for dinner?
The thing is that a GOOD, hearty muffin is hard to come by. I can't tell you how many terribly dry Morning Glory muffins I have eaten from bakeries across the country. Very rare do you find a place that does them well, or a recipe for that matter. Then there is the whole raisin issue, I'm a bit weird about raisins, for the most part I don't mind them, but some days I really want nothing to do with them. There is nothing worse than biting into a cookie that you thought contained chocolate chips, only to discover it is a raisin cookie.
When I found this recipe for Morning Glory muffins that contained no raisins, but instead apples, I knew I needed to give them a try. They are really great, nice and moist due to the apples. The great thing is that you can trade out ingredients to make them how you like them. You could easily add raisins instead of the nuts, or leave out the coconut. I know there are a lot of coconut haters out there. The apples really are the key, so I wouldn't recommend leaving them out unless you replaced them with something like pears and maybe hazelnuts. Well, that's about enough to send me back to the kitchen. However you make them, I hope they come with a glorious morning.

Amazon.com

Morning Glory Muffins
adapted from The Apple Lover's Cookbook

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated carrots
1 small 8 oz. can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 large apple, grated (you can leave the peel on)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease sixteen muffin cups (yes, this drives me crazy too. Why not 12 or at least 18). Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in carrots, pineapple, coconut, apple, and walnuts. Add eggs, oil, and vanilla and stir until just combined.
Divide batter equally amongst muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake until muffins are golden colored and a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let muffins cool for a few minutes before removing from pan, then place on a cooling rack. Serve warm.

Moroccan Carrot Salad

2011-11-07T09:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I am starting to think about Thanksgiving. It is officially that time of year where everything starts revolving around food. Ok, maybe that is all year for some of us. The thing is that I have only started thinking about it. Thanksgiving is a mere two weeks away and I don't have any recipes bookmarked and no cookbooks piling up. You see, I am not much for tradition. I like to make something different every year. It all started a few years ago when I decided to make all Mexican dishes including Turkey Mole for Thanksgiving. It is probably one of the tastiest Thanksgiving meals I have ever eaten. This weekend I started to think about what I should do this year. We really like Indian food, so I was leaning towards a curry spiced turkey. Indian food is great for a lot of side items, so I thought that would work well. Then I remembered these carrots. I made this dish for a potluck at the very end of the summer. The great thing about it is that it tastes great at room temperature. A perfect Thanksgiving side dish when the oven and fridge is packed full. A Moroccan Thanksgiving sounds good to me. Do you have any non-traditional Thanksgiving practices? I'd love to hear about them.

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Moroccan Carrot Salad
adapted from Plenty

2 pounds carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/3 cup olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 serrano chile, finely chopped
1 green onion, finely chopped
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped preserved lemon
Salt
2 1/2 cups cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped, plus extra to garnish
1/2 cup Greek yogurt, chilled

Place carrots in a large saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer until tender but still crunchy, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander and spread out on a dish cloth to dry.
Heat oil in a large pan and sauté the onion over medium heat until soft and slightly brown, about 12 minutes. Add the cooked, dry carrots to the onion, followed by the sugar, garlic, chile, onion, cloves, ground ginger, coriander, cinnamon, paprika, cumin, vinegar and preserved lemon.
Remove from the heat. Season liberally with salt, stir well and leave to cool to room temperature
Before serving, stir in the cilantro, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve with a spoonful of yogurt, and a garnish of the extra cilantro.

Apple Pumpkin Pecan Muffins

2011-10-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

I have really been into the fall baking this year, in a really traditional way. Apples, pumpkins, spices, and molasses are making very regular appearances in my kitchen. I have even made hot spiced cider. I can't figure out if I am embracing winter or trying to hold on to fall just a little bit longer. It seems that I am moving pretty seamlessly through the seasons this year. These muffins are great for the end of apple season, or the beginning of pumpkin season, or something in between. These are very durable muffins. I packed a few for David to take on the plane. The rest have been slowly disappearing at breakfast each morning. They seem to be holding up beautifully, still as fresh as the day I made them. You don't need to use walnut oil if you don't have any or just find it to be a bit too pricey. I'm honestly not sure it made a huge difference. I might actually try them with pumpkin seed oil next time as I have some left in the cupboard from another project. In any case, simple vegetable oil will also do just fine. Also, feel free to swap out the nuts with walnuts. The original recipe called for them, but I was out. The pecans great and I like them better than walnuts most of the time, although a combination of the two can be great as well. Nutty or not, these are a great morning treat.

Amazon.com

Apple Pumpkin Pecan Muffins
adapted from The Apple Lover's Cookbook

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1/2 cup walnut or other vegetable oil
1 large apple (I used a Gala)
3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pecans for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 15 muffin cups. I used one 12 cup pan and one six cup pan, only filling three of the wells on the second pan. In a large bowl combine flour, sugars, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda, ginger and cloves. In a smaller bowl combine pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, apple, pecans, and vanilla.
Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredient, stir to combine (do not over mix as it will make the texture tough). Divide the batter equally amongst the 15 cups. I used a muffin scoop and I ended up with exactly 15 muffins. Top each with a pecan. Bake until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Let muffins cool on a rack for about 10 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Honey Butter

2011-10-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

Many years ago I had an extended stay at a resort in Lexington, Kentucky. I was there for a wedding and we ate every meal for a week, with the exception of the wedding reception in their facility. I could not tell you a single thing I ate the entire time I was there except bread and butter, primarily butter. Now, I am not just saying this because I assume we ate bread and butter as pretty much every restaurant serves it. No, I am telling you because I actually remember the butter! Some special butter, huh? Every meal came with an assortment of flavored butters. Breakfast was a variety of fruit and sweet butters, then dinner had such things as basil butter and salt and pepper butter. They were always changing, but you always had a choice of three or four different types. They were always served piped onto a white plate. A great little touch that has obviously stuck with me.
This honey butter is the perfect little touch for Saturday morning pancakes or french toast, or maybe even just to smear across toast to make a weekday breakfast special.
You can pipe them out ahead of time on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer, once frozen transfer to a ziploc bag. Then you can take out a few when you start to prepare you meal, as needed.

Cinnamon Honey Butter

1 stick unsalted butter, just below room temperature
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Line a standard cookie sheet with parchment paper. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use a the paddle attachment to blend until mixture is light and fluffy. Place butter in pastry bag fitted with your choice of decorative tip. Pipe butter in small mounds onto cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer. Once butter is frozen, remove from sheet and place in a freezer bag for storage. Take out butter as needed for a simple breakfast treat. Allow 20 minutes to soften. Will keep six months or longer in freezer.

Ginger Snaps

2011-10-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

I am so ready for winter this year! I know that sounds crazy, but it is true. Winter is all about woodstoves and warm ovens. It's about long leisurely weekend mornings, sleeping in, breakfasts that are baked. Winter is a cold brisk walk followed by a cup of something warm to drink and a spiced cookie; curled up on the couch with my feet tucked under me and a blanket on my lap with the dogs fighting for the little corner that has flowed out onto the floor.
So, as the first few flakes of snow quietly fall on Fairbanks this week I can't help but prepare for winter. These cookies dipped in coffee are the perfect way to get things started. I have made these so many times that I had to check twice that I had not already shared them here before. Sorry it took me so long.

Ginger Snaps
adapted from Batter-Splattered and Transplanted Baker
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar, plus additional for rolling
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium sized bowl mix together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy (this should take several minutes 4-5). Beat in the egg, then the water and molasses. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the molasses mixture until thoroughly combined. Scoop out teaspoon size portions of dough and shape them into balls, and roll them in sugar. This will make standard size gingersnap cookies. You can make them larger if you like a chewier cookie. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly using the bottom of a drinking glass.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Less baking time will create a chewier cooking, the longer time with make them crunchier like a ginger snap. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

2011-10-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog it was to escape from the reality of living in Fairbanks. It wasn't exactly a secret that I wasn't too happy here. I wanted my old life back. I missed all the things that came so easy living in the Pacific Northwest. This blog was evidence of that. I constantly used hard to obtain ingredients in my recipes. Yes, I was kind and provided links to where I had ordered them from. Most of my recipes were challenging multi-step, expensive ingredient ordeals. For me, spending all that time in the kitchen was a means of escape.
Slowly, something started to click. Although I got a lot of great comments about my photos and how good the food looked, I was also getting a lot of comments to the effect of, “I could never do that”. The more involved I became in the food community, the more I didn’t want food to be difficult. I honestly believe that eating at home is easier, and much cheaper than eating out.
Despite my resistance, Fairbanks has been good to me. In the process, life has become quite a bit busier. I want recipes that are easier to make. That is not to say that I won’t on occasion be making some more involved meals. You can expect things to be a little more basic around here. This Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake is the perfect example. It is perfect for the season, and makes your house smell great on a cool Saturday morning. It takes a bit of time to bake, but doesn’t use too many dishes, so you can take that time to enjoy a cup of coffee and relax. Isn’t that really what good food is all about?

Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake
adapted from New York Times Cookbook

2 apples,peeled, cored, and sliced thin (I prefer two different types, for this recipe I used a Gala and a Honeycrisp)

1 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons for apples

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Grease a 9 inch square cake pan. Combine apples with 2 tablespoons sugar, and cinnamon; set aside.

Mix together flour, remaining 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add eggs, oil, orange juice and vanilla. Mix with a wooden spoon until well blended. Batter will be thick. Spoon about 1/3 of the batter into the bottom of the pan. Make sure the bottom is covered completely, add a little extra if you need to. The thick batter can be difficult to spread evenly, I found a small offset spatula very handy for this task. Place apples on top of batter taking care not to let them touch the edges of the pan. Spread apples evenly across batter. Dallop remaining batter over the top, then spread evenly over the apple mixture. It is fine if some of the apples peak through the top of the batter.

Bake until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Allow cake to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. Best served warm.

Highbush Cranberry Jelly

2011-09-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

Our first fall in Fairbanks I distinctly remember walking up the hill behind our house and exclaiming, "What is that smell?" This was not in a good way. This smell reminded me of a cross between gym socks and a musty old antique book store. I thought for sure that something had died and was decomposing in the leaves somewhere. Now, I don't know a lot about food writing...but I am pretty sure that you are not supposed to use smelly gym socks, and decomposing in the opening paragraph to describe something you are about to eat. Yup, I am about to go there. You see, I discovered the source of this fine scent was actually the highbush cranberry that was growing like mad along the edge of the trail. Surely they can't be edible? It turns out that they are indeed edible and often I now see highbush cranberry jelly at the Farmer's Market. I myself could never imagine making such a thing. Really, how could I even stand to pick them? I have to hold my breath each time I walk past them.
How was it that I ended up not only picking 4 cups of these berries, but bringing them into my house and cooking them? I blame it on Hank Shaw. That's right that Hank Shaw from Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook. It is his fault. I have been a fan of Hank's site for a couple of years now. I finally had the opportunity to meet him (only for a brief moment) at Blogher Food in Atlanta last spring. The one piece of advice he had for me was that I needed to try the moose meatballs from his site. He said, "they will blow your mind". So, I patiently waited for moose season to come around in Alaska. We don't hunt ourselves, but someone usually kindly offers us a little moose meat each season. A couple of weeks ago I finally found myself with the moose meat I had been waiting for. This is when I realized that Hank's recipe called for one dreaded ingredient, highbush cranberry jelly. Now, to be fair he did mention I could substitute lowbush cranberry (lingonberry) jelly. I really wanted to try the recipe as it was intended. I suffered through the picking, and jelly making, and even as I took the photos for this post. In the end I was glad I did, the meatballs were amazing, but it was the sauce that really made the dish. The highbush cranberry added a real earthy taste. I don't see myself smearing this jelly on toast anytime soon, but I will be making the meatballs and the highbush cranberry sauce again for sure.

Highbush Cranberry Jelly
adapted from Alaska's Wild Berries

4 cups cleaned highbush cranberries
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 ounces liquid pectin

Combine berries with 1 cup water. Bring to simmer and crush berries using a potato masher. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let mixture cool slightly. Place in jelly bag or layers of cheesecloth in a colander. Let the juice drip into a bowl. Do not twist or press as your juice will become cloudy. This should yield two cups of juice.
Sterilize four half pint canning jars and prepare lids. Measure out your liquid pectin and set aside. Combine juice and sugar in a large saucepan. Place on high heat; stir constantly and bring to a full rolling boil. Add the liquid pectin and bring back to a hard boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and quickly skim off foam. Immediately pour hot jelly into hot canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch of head space. Wipe jar rims and put on lids. Process for 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Congo Bars

2011-09-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

This time of year it becomes painfully obvious when I have not been keeping up with this site. Especially when I choose to take photos outside. These photos were only taken a few short weeks ago and yet there is still fireweed in our yard and the trees are green. Since then we have gone to bright yellow and sadly this morning with a little wind most of the leaves have fallen leaving a bright yellow blanket on the ground.
Although I made these congo bars a few weeks ago, I think they are actually more appropriate for this time of year. I read somewhere that these were named congo bars in a marketing effort to make them sound exotic. I have always been a fan of chocolate chip pan cookies and honestly these are them, just with a fancier name. I prefer making this type of pan cookies as they are far less work. No endless scooping and swapping out pans. Not to mention they are great if you are feeding a crowd, but very bad if you are home alone! I used a mix of pecan and walnuts because I didn't have enough of one or the other. Feel free to choose one if you have a preference.

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Congo Bars
adapted from The Great Book of Chocolate

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled (you will also need a little additional unmelted to butter the pan)
2 1/4 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
3 eggs
2 cups bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup toasted and coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup toasted and coarsely chopped walnuts

Butter the bottom and sides of a 10 x 15 inch pan. Adjust oven rack to the lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
Combine butter and sugar using a mixer until blended.
Add eggs, one at a time to sugar mixture, mixing on low in between each addition.
Add flour and mix until combined.
Stir in chocolate chips and then the nuts.
Spread the batter evenly into the pan. This could be a little challenging as the batter is quite sticky and very stiff. I found an offset spatula worked like a charm.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until a deep golden brown color. Serve warm with milk, or it is said that they taste even better if you let them sit for 24 hours before eating. Let me know how that method works for you as I have yet to have the willpower to try that one.