Fig Bounty

A few weeks ago I was taking my car from the work parking lot when I noticed a large fig tree overhanging the lot, heavy with unripe figs. I thought how fabulous it would be when the figs started getting ripe. The roots of the tree were on the other side of the fence so the tree technically belonged to the house next door. So am I allowed to pick the figs or not, I wondered. My friend Jane was kind to inform me (after I had already done the deed) that according to an ancient Greek law, the fruit overhanging your property belong to you; besides, no one else (except the squirrels) were making use of them and these luscious, juicy black Mission figs were just falling to the ground. So I proceeded to harvest them quite regularly over the past two weeks.

After the first bowl of figs appeared in my fridge I realized I could not possibly eat them all. What to do with a boatload of figs? They are such delicate fruit with very subtle flavor, the best thing is to just pop them in your mouth, close your eyes and sink into heaven. They are best fresh and there are very few things that you can cook with figs. I browsed by cookbooks, I surfed the net, I was restless until I lined up 4 (yes, four!) recipes which I wanted to try.

First came the fig tart. I was responsible for buying food for the Friday social hour at work. If I make a pie just for the sake of making a pie, the poor pie will spend a month in my fridge. But if I bring it to Happy Hour, there will be 15 volunteers to take care of it. Muahahaha. The recipe came from Epicurious. Just read the name and you will be seduced: Fresh Fig Tart with Rosemary Cornmeal Crust and Lemon Mascarpone Cream. Oh, doesn't it just sound delicious?

Mascarpone-Fig Tart

For the crust:
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C yellow cornmeal (not stone-ground)
1 Tbs sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 Tbs finely chopped fresh rosemary
3+ Tbs ice water

For the filling:
1/4 C plain yogurt
1 C mascarpone cheese (8 oz)
1/4 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp finely grated fresh lemon zest

1 1/2 lb fresh figs

This is made just like your regular tart. Mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and butter, and rub between your hands until the mixture turns into pea-sized crumbs. Add the rosemary and start adding the water one Tbs at a time, until the dough can be collected into a ball. Don't knead. Press the dough into a pie pad and line the walls and sides with a thin even layer. This recipe produced a bit too much dough for my pie pan so I used the leftovers to line a little ramekin for a mini-tart. Poke the dough with a fork and line with foil...or don't - opinions are split on whether you should do that. Bake at 350F for ~25 minutes, until the rim of the tart starts getting golden. Cool well on a rack.

Make the filling: beat the mascarpone cheese, yogurt, sugar and zest together in a bowl for ~30 seconds until fluffy. To assemble, pour the filling into the cold crust, arrange the figs on top. The picture here shows the figs sliced, but I cut them into wedges and it worked just as fine. I didn't brush them with glaze either, but got no complaints.

The tart was fantastic! Everyone loved it and I got thanks for it even 4 days later. So it must have been good. Or people were just really impressed that I baked something. What I really loved about this recipe is how versatile the element are. I'd never thought of putting herbs in the pie dough, for example. I was not a big fan of this particular crust recipe (and will make sure I post my favorite crust recipe at some other point) but including rosemary, basil or thyme in the crust, especially for a quiche or a savory pie would sure be fabulous. Also the filling was to die for! I couldn't get enough of it! (By the way, Trader Joe's carries mascarpone cheese, which is like cream cheese but better). It can be paired with any other fruit - Andrea suggested fresh raspberries, I also think peaches, strawberries, blueberry compote would go just fine on top of this filling. Ah, just more ideas for tasty things to bake!

Following the tart, I proceeded to make two types of fig jam and one type of fig preserve. Woah! That was a lot of work, but the results are so delicious, I can't wait for the winter to come so that I can start opening the jars. (Yes, I have a rule that no jams should be eaten if fresh fruit are available.) First I made the Spiced Microwave Fig-Orange Jam by Elise on Simply Recipes. I know, jam in the microwave?!? It worked great but if you want to boil it on the stove in the spirit of tradition, then go for it. Then I made the preserve with whole figs, which turned out very much like the fig preserves my mom used to make. Finally I made the spiked fig jam (spiced, spiked, I hope I don't get them confused in the cupboard). To prepare the figs for jamming, cut off their tails. I found two different suggested methods on washing the figs - pour hot water on them or wash them with cold water and baking soda. I used the former for the jams and the latter for the preserve.

Spiced Microwave Fig Jam

2 C (well packed) diced fresh figs
1/2 C seeded, peeled orange, diced
2 C sugar
the zest of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cloves (which I forgot to pull out at the end... or ground)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 8oz jars & 1 4oz jar

Combine all the ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl, stir and let sit for ~30 min. Place in the microwave and set on high for 20 minutes. As soon as the mixture starts boiling (after 6-7 minutes), stop and stir. Keep stirring every 2-3 minutes and keep an eye on it so it does not boil over. It is ready when it has boiled down to 2/3 of its original volume. You can also check for done-ness using the wrinkle test shown here. Don't just rely on the thickness on the jam because it will thicken as it cools.

While the jam is making (and this is true for jam and preserve recipes), sterilize your jars in a large pot with boiling water. Just let them simmer. They should be well covered with water. Sterilize the lids and bands as well. Once the jam is done, pour it into the hot jars (use a towel or oven mitts), wipe the mouth clean with a paper towel, place the lid on top and screw on the band as tight as you can. Place the jars in a pot of hot water (yes, you can use the same pot of hot water) and bring to boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Maybe this double sterilization is an overkill - sterilize the jars and then boil the jam too - but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Pull the hot jars out of the water and let them cool on a towel (don't place the hot jars on the cold counter-top - they might crack!). Count the pops.

I liked the jam. The spices were very light. On first taste they still seemed to overpower the figs a bit, but things improved when the jam cooled The orange was hardly noticeable. The consistency was fantastic - the vigorous boiling the the microwave made for a very smooth jam.

Along a similar line comes the Spiked Fig Jam. I love adding alcohol to food - it imparts fantastic flavors even if a small quantity is used.

Spiked Fig Jam

1 lemon
4 1/2 C fresh figs, chopped and loosely packed
2 C sugar
1/3 C brandy or Cognac
2 Tbs lemon juice (from the same lemon)
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

3 8 oz. jars

Peel the lemon (thinly, with a potato peeler) and chop the rind into matchsticks. Combine all ingredients in a pot and let them sit for ~1 hour. Bring to boil over medium heat. Turn heat to low and simmer for ~30 minutes, stirring frequently and mashing the fruit. After the 30-minute mark, start checking for done-ness. Again, the jam will thicken when it cools. When the test comes out positive, turn off the heat and pour the jam into sterilized jars. Put on lids, screw on bands and boil the jars for ~10 minutes to finish off sterilization.

This jam turned out sooooooo incredibly good. I barely had the will power to leave some for James to try. I could have easily polished it off.

Finally, the fig preserve. I've always been befuddled by the differences between preserves, jams, marmalades and such. I am learning my way around them as I am making them - while jams are basically purees, preserves keep the fruit whole submerged in a sugar syrup. This old-fashioned fig preserve reminds me of the one my Mom used to make. It takes a long time to boil down so arm yourself with patience.

Fig Preserve

4 C whole figs
2 C sugar
3 lemon slices, seeded
1 C water
pinch of salt

2 8oz jars and 1 4 oz jar

Combine all ingredients in a pot, stir well and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for at least one hour. Continue simmering until the syrup passes the wrinkle test. Pour into sterilized jars, cap, screw the bands on and boil for 10 minutes.

Phew, that was a huge adventure! So much jammin' my head started spinning. And as if that wasn't enough I had another bowl of figs left. In a final act of desperation I decided to dry them in the oven. It took two nights with the oven turned on the lowest setting, probably 100F, to get most of the moisture out, to get the figs all dry and shriveled. All right, that's enough. I'm done.

And if that was not enough for you, here are a few more fig ideas:
Pizza with Figs, Prosciutto, Gorgonzola, Balsamic, and Arugula
Candied Fig, Hazelnut and Orange Cheesecake with Port Sauce
Warm Black Mission Fig, Walnut Crunch, and Blue Cheese Tartlets
Fresh Figs with Goat Cheese and Peppered Honey
Fig-Sesame Jam

Panzanella

Tuscany. Just the name sounds so beautiful. Makes me think of green rolling hills, vineyards, cypress trees, sunsets, calm, quiet, cobble-stone streets, red roofs... Imagining Tuscany made me dreamy. And then I realized that I have been to Tuscany and that it is indeed all I imagine. That was a long time ago, seems like a different life now. I remember standing in line to see Michelangello's David and being surprised that the statue was smaller than I expected; climbing the stairs to the top of El Duomo in Florence and being utterly stunned by the view; sitting on the curb in a square, listening to a concert and drinking beer; walking the narrow streets of Sienna. And then, there is the memory of the medieval torture museum in the tiny town of San Gimignano, which still keeps me up at night. But I don' t remember a single meal I ate. So now, a little belatedly, I am trying to familiarize myself with Tuscan cuisine.

Panzanella is a traditional bread summer salad. I only found out about the concept recently, after coming across a grilled panzanella recipe online. And then I found that a whole of three pages are devoted to it in the Dean and Deluca cookbook (which is a fantastic read by the way). It is meant to be a leftover salad to use up stale bread (and possibly other odds and ends). But before I start muddling the water, here is the classical version:

Panzanella

1.5 parts tomatoes
1 part cucumber, peeled
1 part onion
1 part stale bread, de-crusting optional
torn basil leaves
Dressing: 2 to 1 ratio of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, preferably white
salt

Instead of giving exact measures, I am listing the basic proportions (by weight) though these need not be obeyed exactly. The idea is that the salad is dominated by tomatoes and bread, with less prominent presence of cucumbers, onions and basil. The exact preparation of the vegetables is up to you. Dean & Deluca suggest that you thinly slice everything. I prefer my tomatoes in bite-sized pieces and my cucumbers and onions quartered and then sliced. Either way goes. The bread should be de-crusted traditionally, but I left the crust because I like its chewy texture but that brings the bread forward flavor-wise. For a more fluffy and subtle bread texture, remove the crust. What bread to use? The salad works best with a hearty white bread with solid body and a bit of chewiness. It is best if the bread has been around for at least 4-5 day and is quite stale. If you only have non-stale bread, don't despair - just skip the "getting the bread wet" part.



Now, how does it all come together? Slice the onions and cucumbers, toss them with some salt and leave in a colander to drain some of the liquid while prepping the rest of the salad. Chop the tomatoes and add to the cucumbers and onions. De-crust the bread if desired and cut or tear into bite-sized pieces. Place the bread in another colander and sprinkle with cold water until the pieces are moist throughout (taste-test). It's ok if there are dry patches here and there, because these will absorb the moisture from the vegetables. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl, add the basil and toss with the dressing. Do not over-dress, you don't want to over-power the vegie taste. Add the bread and toss again, gently. Serve immediately or stick in the fridge for a few minutes until you are ready to eat it. This salad is way better if all the ingredients are really cold.

Crunchy Cabbage Salad with Sweet Miso Dressing

Cabbage keeps well for long periods of time but still this is no excuse for the fact that 2/3 of a head of this leafy green has been inhabiting my fridge for two months. Scary! I even moved the cabbage with me when I changed apartments three weeks ago. Yes, indeed, I am very fond of this particular head of cabbage. But it was time to let it go and last night I made this wonderful crunchy cabbage salad inspired by Heidi Swanson's Chopped Miso Salad recipe.

Hmmm... All the interesting things about cabbage I just learned on Wikipedia! Cabbage, apparently is from the mustard family and has originated in the Mediterranean by selective breeding of wild mustard plants for suppressed intermode length. It was known to the ancient Greek and Romans and was praised for its medicinal properties. The powdery, waxy finish on the leaves is called bloom, the bitterness is due to glucosinolate, and it is rich in riboflavin, vitamin C and glutamine. China is the largest producer of cabbage in the world, followed by India and Russia. South Korea is fourth (kimchi?) and Poland is 6th (cabbage rolls, anyone?). And now that we have covered the basics on cabbage, lets get to the recipe.

Crunchy Cabbage Salad with Miso Dressing

1 smallish head of cabbage
1 bunch chives, chopped
1 C almonds, pan roasted and chopped
1 C cooked garbanzo beans (optional)

Dressing:
2 Tbs miso (I used red miso)
2 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp mustard
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 C rice vinegar
1/4 C olive oil

To make the dressing, combine all ingredients except the olive oil, in a small jar or in a blender. Mix well. Add the oil. Shake the jar or blend until well mixed. This makes about twice as much dressing as you will need for the salad. I very much liked the dressing and will use it on other salads, but if you don't want extra then halve the recipe.

Chop the cabbage in very, very small pieces. I chopped it like a big onion - cut it in half, put each half flat on the cutting beard and put 5-6 not all-the-way-through cuts lengthwise (from the core to the tip) and then I sliced it very thinly starting from the tip. When I got to the core, I cut around it. Cabbage is usually way too hard and fibrous for me so I always give it my secret family treatment - I put the chopped cabbage confetti in a bowl, salted them lightly and kneaded then for a minute. This can be done with one or both hands, you basically squeeze the cabbage and mix it, squeeze and mix until it's all softened up. The motion is really very similar to kneading. Add the chives, almonds and beans. Add the dressing, toss, chill. This salad can easily keep for a couple of days in the fridge.

This can easily be made into a left-overs salad - a meal to take care of all of last week's Farmer's Marked odds and ends. The dressing is slightly sweet but bright from the vinegar. It goes very well with the cabbage, but you can easily also add lettuce (finely chopped), blanched green and wax beans (cut into 1/2 inch pieces), peas, asparagus, cucumber (chopped into matchsticks), green onions, other green herbs.

The garbanzo beans are optional - I wanted to make a meal out of the salad - and can be substituted with some other type of beans (like navy beans or baby lima beans). I very much recommend that you just buy a pound of dry beans, cook them with some salt and keep them in the fridge or freezer for adding to soups and salads instead of buying the canned stuff which is (a) way more expensive and (b) way worse tasting. You can substitute the beans with stir-fried extra firm tofu too (or maybe even chicken but don't quote me on that).

De-li-cious! Next on my list of summer adventures? Panzanella!

Salad Season is Here!

Every summer I go on a salad binge. In a good way. It's just that I don't see any reason to be cooking and eating bean and potato dishes when I am going to have the whole winter for them. As a matter of fact I don't see much of a reason to cook at all when I can enjoy a crunchy, fresh, flavorful salad with nothing more but a knife and a cutting board (and a steamer basket in this case) in under 10 minutes from the fridge to the table. And so that I don't get into a rut eating the same tomato-cucumber concoction, I always try to find new salads to make. Here are two new finds.

But before I get to the recipes, a quick word on steaming: take it easy! Use the microwave timer and go for two minutes. At the end of that, taste a piece (careful, HOT!) and if the vegetable is a bit soft but still a bit crunchy, end it at that. Better undercook than overcook - we have all had enough of awful mushy vegetables.

Carrot Ginger Salad

3/4 lb carrots
1/2 - 1 Tbs ginger, minced
several springs of thyme, leaves only
1 Tbs toasted sesame seeds
a splash of sesame seed oil
the juice of 1 lime
salt to taste

This salad was inspired by something very similar I had at a bakery last week. The main ingredients were carrots, thyme and ginger and the salad was very lightly seasoned so that the carrot flavor came out. Lacking a significant source of protein this is really a side salad, mild and refreshing.

Chop the carrots in fat matchsticks and steam for three minutes until softened a bit but still crunchy. Cool and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Serve/eat chilled.

Green Bean Salad with Glazed Almonds

3/4 lb green beans
1 C cooked garbanzo beans
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1 Tbs ginger, minced
1/4 - 1/3 C cilantro, chopped
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
salt to taste

1/4 C whole raw almonds
1 Tbs soy sauce

lettuce

A week ago I acquired some phenomenal Blue Lake green beans at the farmer's market and as much as I was enjoying munching on them raw, I really wanted to do something more grandiose with them. I found inspiration in this salad on Epicurious and added beans to make it more substantial. I tossed it with some greens to serve and enjoyed it for lunch yesterday. And for dinner. And for lunch today again. The beans can be steamed ahead of time.

Trim the ends of the beans and cut into inch long pieces. Steam for 2 minutes until bright green but still crunchy. Cool. In the mean time heat the almonds in a small dry skillet over low heat for a ~3-4 minutes until they start to brown. Pour in the soy sauce and stir in with the almonds and continues cooking until the sauce has evaporated. Cool the almonds and chop. Toss all ingredients in a large bowl and chill for the flavors to blend.

So far so good. I have planned to try two more salads this week!

Vote with Your Wallet and a Spring Potato Salad

There has been a distinct shift in how I think about food and cooking and in how I shop over the last few months. After reading books like "Fast Food Nation" and "In Defense of Food", I am now convinced of the importance of the whereabouts of your food before it came inside your kitchen. It is an increasingly active movement for sustainable food, one led by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser and a number of other opponents of modern agricultural practices, a movement to change the way we produce food, shop for food, eat food. Recent movies like King Corn and Food, Inc. are trying to give publicity to the movement though I doubt either of them will have the popularity (and the impact) of The Inconvenient Truth. The idea of sustainable food is very multifaceted. On one hand there are the health issues - the food we eat is rich in calories but poor in nutrition (yes, this is true even for your greens if they came from a large commercial farm). Then there is the rich environmental issue - contemporary agricultural practices are responsible for 22.5% of greenhouse gases (47% of methane, 88% of nitrous oxide and 9% of CO2), a major cause for land loss (due to erosion and loss of fertility), a threat to biodiversity and a serious pollutant (where do you think all the cow poo goes?). In addition, transporting food half the way around the world so that we can have watermelons at Safeway year-round is a huge fuel sink. And finally there is the complex social issue - people need food and will need even more food as the population increases but our centralized scheme of mono-cultures is fragile and bad for us and frequently the ones at the bottom of it, the producers, are the biggest losers of all.

It is a long laundry list and it calls for a major over-haul of the food industry. Certainly this is not going to happen overnight but things are starting to stir. The number of Farmer's Markets in the USA has increased dramatically over the last five years giving a boost to small farms and creating a local demand-supply network. The same is true for Community-sponsored Agriculture. Victory gardens are making a comeback, tomato and squash plants peeking through the fences of many of the houses in my neighborhood. My concerns are that so far these alternative food sources are only accessible to a small fraction of the population (the one that has access to them) and that they mainly address the produce portion of the food-pyramid - sustainable meat production is very rare and supermarkets are still full of processed corn-derivatives.

Baby steps, baby steps. What can I (and you) do? In an effort to increase the quality of my food and reduce its carbon footprint, I have made a commitment to purchase all my produce from the Farmer's Market. I am voting with my wallet. I kind-a have it easy though - there is a fantastic and very reasonably priced farmer's market every weekend three miles from my house and I live in California - the Mecca of produce. Does it make a difference? I tried to explain my war on fast food to my parents and they were very befuddled in a "who cares" way, but I haven't spend a dollar at a fast food restaurant since October and I feel great about it. However, I think this decision to source my produce locally is bigger that just a feel-good feeling - it is a vote for and sponsorship of the Farmer's Market folks, of their effort and commitment and ultimately good for me (I eat a LOT of fruits and veggies). I am kissing my demand for instant gratification good-buy.

But enough of the prelude. This aweeeesome potato salad recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen and uses all Spring products (I get really irked by mixed season recipes... pear-strawberry cobbler, anyone?). I love this salad! And just for the record, the ingredients - potatoes, green beans, scallions and basil - cost me ~$4.50 at the Farmer's Market.

Pesto Potato Salad with Green Beans
2 lb new potatoes, quartered
1/2 lb green beans (better go for 1 lb)
2-3 scallions, chopped

1 bunch of basil, just the leaves
1-2 cloves garlic
~1/4 C of olive oil

1/2 C pine nuts, toasted
a splash of mild vinegar
salt & pepper
parmesan for garnish


Wash and cut the potatoes into bite-sized peaces (not too small though, not diced). Place them in a pot, cover with water and boil then until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the beans (ends trimmed and cut into inch-sized peaces) and boil another 2-3 minutes. The beans shouldn't be soft but still a bit crunchy. Drain well and let cool. While this is all happening, make pesto from the basil, garlic and olive oil; add just enough oil to make a paste, not all of it. Stir the pesto, scallions and pine nuts with the beans and potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and vinegar, stir, garnish with parmesan, serve. Awesome. (Hint: make more pesto than you need - you are going to love the pesto-potato combination so much, you'll want more pesto. Or use it on some pasta. Or bread. Or just about anything else.)

The bottom line of this very long post is that there is a bigger picture behind the tasty recipes and pretty pictures, the picture of the vast food industry which we are all supporting with our choices of where we shop and what we buy. Support your local farmers. Vote with your wallet. Know where your food came from, who it came from. Be proactive. Do what you can - your actions matter. And enjoy the potato salad!

PS. For more blogs on sustainable food check this review.

Backpacking Food

I am heading off to yet another awesome backpacking adventure next weekend and I am too excited to think about anything else. But before I go, I must solve The Big Question - what are we going to eat for 4 days in the wilderness with no gas stations and vending machines. Even for me it is stretch to spend 4 days of strenuous hiking on bagels and cream cheese. The alternative is the store bought "just add water" meals sold at outdoors stores for ~$5 a meal which is a bit steep for a bag of ramen with some spices. On our last backpacking adventure two months ago, I was introduced to the miracle of freezer bag cooking - home-made "just add water" meals that are delicious, nutritious and easy to prepare for a crowd. We made them for dinner, family-style, all in one pot and everyone (but lazy, post-thesis me) cooked a meal for the whole group. It was fantastic - an amazing warm meal every evening! We had a burrito night, a couscous night and a linguine in cream sauce night. Yum! So for next weekend I readily agreed with James's suggestion that we cook dinners the same way and decided to use the occasion to test and cross-compare some freezer bag recipes. All recipes below are from the Trail Cooking website. More recipes can be found at One Pan Wonders, the Backpacker magazine and on some other websites (search for freezer bag cooking).


Orange Rice with Salmon (for 1 person)
1 C instant rice
1⁄3 C chopped toasted pecans
2 Tbs dried parsley
2 Tbs diced dried onion
1 Tbs dried orange peel
1 1/2 tsp bouillon
1 tsp orange drink mix (such as crystal light or tang)
3 oz pink salmon/tuna (1 bag)
salt
(1 C water)
Weight: 10.5 oz Cooking time: boil water + 5 minutes Calories: 530 Kcal Protein: 22 g Fat: 30 g Carbs: 46 g Price: ~$4.00

Preparation: Mix all ingredients but the fish in a bag. At camp, bring water to boil, mix with the dry ingredients and let it seep for 5 minutes. Stir in the fish. Enjoy!

Review: I was very excited about this and it turned out fairly tasty if a bit strange. The original recipe asked for 1 1/2 C of rice - this makes way too much food for one person so I scaled it back. I am not sure about the orange drink mix - I used Kool-aid and it sucked (too sour). I'd suggest just skipping it altogether. Quite a mix of flavors, maybe a bit too much.


Thai Style Peanut Noodles (for 1 person)

3 oz package ramen noodles
1⁄4 C chunky peanut butter
1 1⁄2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp diced dried onion
1⁄2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp vinegar
salt
(1 1/2 C water)
Weight: 5.5 oz Cooking time: boil water + 3 minutes Calories: 760Kcal Protein: ~21g Fat: ~20g Carbs: ~60g Price: $1.50 (generously)

Preparation: Break ramen into smaller pieces (to save space) and pack in a ziplock bag. Mix all other ingredients in a small plastic jar. At camp bring water to boil. Add ramen and let it steep for 3 minutes. Pour some of the ramen water in the sauce jar (less than 1/4 C) and shake until it turns into a thick sauce. Dispose of the rest of the ramen water. Stir the noodles with the sauce.

Review: Veeeeery peanuty! Oh my! The original recipe asked for too much water in the sauce and too much vinegar so I've changed these. Using chunky peanut butter is fantastic (I used salted). One can add more peanuts if desired. I would like to add some dried vegetables if I make it, maybe a handful of dried carrots.

Swiss Broccoli Mac and Cheese (for 1 person, generously)

1 1/2 Tbs flour
1⁄4 C dry milk
1 tsp dry mustard powder
2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried garlic
1⁄8 tsp ground black pepper
4 oz uncooked small shell pasta
1⁄4 C diced dried broccoli
2.5 oz shredded swiss cheese
salt
(2 C water)
Weight: 8.5 oz Cooking time: boil water + 5-10 minutes (depending on pasta) Calories: 760Kcal Protein: 45g Fat: 20 g Carbs: 90g Price: $2.25

Preparation: Pack pasta in one bag, cheese in a second bag, all other dry ingredients in a third. At camp, bring water to boil and boil the pasta till ready. Without pouring the water out, stir in all the other ingredients until the cheese is melted. Reserve some cheese and parsley to sprinkle on top if desired.

Review: This was awesome! Well, when is mac and cheese not awesome... Total comfort food, rich and delicious. I used Swiss Cheese from New Zealand, found at TJs and tiny alphabet pasta which cooked in under 5 minutes.

Which am I going to cook after all? The Orange-Salmon-Rice is at the bottom in the weigh-price-calories ratio - it is heavy, expensive and low in calories. The race is between the Mac'n'cheese and the peanut noodles. Not rally sure. The peanut noodles are cheap and light. The Mac'n'cheese is a bit on the heavy side but equally delicious. Mmmmm, though choice. Any votes?

PS. Why is this called "freezer bag cooking" if these meals can be much more comfortably cooked in the pot where you boiled the water?

My Favorite Pizza Dough

Some days it is hard to believe that all problems will inevitably be solved and life will get better - apartment hunting is not going all that well, James left town and, most importantly, last night's amazing pizza is gone. I was so sad that I got some shopping therapy... at Trader Joe's. I got some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and milk. And I'm feeling all better now.

I am afraid a lot of people think of pizza as the greasy stuff you order when there's nothing in the fridge (Brooklyn Pizza and Maggpie's are very much excluded from this generalization). Also a lot of people think that making pizza is very hard and time consuming. I am going to try to convince you that this is not the case and that amazing, tasty pizza can be made with minimal effort and ingredients so that you should never have to order the greasy cheesy stuff ever again.

I love making pizzas in the summer, when there is an abundance of fresh vegetables to top them with. I have been using this recipe for about a year now and have made a dozen pizzas, all of them very much successful. The crust itself is so good, it can be eaten all by itself with little more than olive oil, salt and an herb of your choice on top. The recipe is originally from Epicurious:

Pizza Dough

1 envelope active dry yeast
3/4 C lukewarm water
1 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt
2+ C flour
3 Tbs olive oil
a bit of cornmeal

Preheat the oven to 450F. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water and leave aside for 5-10 minutes until it gets a bit frothy on top. In a big bowl make a well in the 2 C of flour and pour in the olive oil, salt and the yeast mixture. Mix first with a fork until all flour is incorporated. Then flour your hands and knead adding a bit more flour until the dough is not as sticky, but it should still be soft - I usually end up adding another tablespoon. Kneading should be about a minute. Grease the dough with some olive oil, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit and rise while you are preparing the topping.

To make the actual pizza, punch the dough down and knead into a ball on a floured surface. The dough must be soft and all surfaces and hands should be well floured to avoid sticking. Roll it out with a rolling pin (also floured) or just pull it with your hands. It needs to be very thin, almost transparent. Oil the pan/stone and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place the dough on the pan and oil the top a bit. Place in the oven and par-bake until the top starts getting a bit rosy. At this point you may add your toppings and bake for another 5-10 minutes until heated throughout. Voila.

Here are some topping ideas - I am a fan of simple pizzas where you can savor the flavors of the ingredients and not get lost in them:

Tomatoes, mozzarella & basil. Slice 2-3 tomatoes, 3 balls of mozzarella and tear the leaves of a bunch of basil. Toss everything with olive oil. Arrange on top of pizza and salt. Eat right away or bake until tomatoes are soft and mozzarella is melted.

Potatoes and rosemary. Parboil potatoes, peel and slice thinly. Toss with a rosemary, salt and olive oil. Arrange on top of the pizza. Bake. (You can add some sort of cheese id you want.)

Three cheeses. Spread tomato sauce (pasta sauce from a jar would work too). Arrange slices of mozzarella and parmesan and crumble ricotta on top. Bake until the cheeses are melted. Sprinkle chopped fresh basil on top before serving.

Caramelized onions and cheese. Slice thinly 3 heads of onion. Caramelize. Spread onions on top of the pizza and randomly distribute slices of Gruyere or parmesan on top of them.

Of course, the possibilities are endless - more ideas can be found here, here, here (grilled pizza, lots of ideas in the comments), and here (including a recipe for Arizona Pizza).

30-day-notice Strawberry Jam

Because I made this on the night I got my 30-day-notice to move out of my current house. *Sigh.* A girl's got to cheer herself up somehow. I guess making strawberry jam and watching The Dish worked for me. The fresh California strawberries I bought last Wednesday at the farmers market were turning into dehydrated and/or rotten strawberries so I decided to practice my jam making technique for next weekend and make a small batch as suggested by Cooking Up a Story. I also liked her recipe because it uses very little sugar ... so I borrowed it. Here ya go.

Strawberry Jam

3 C sliced strawberries
1 C sugar
2 Tbs lemon juice

Yields: very little

I would recommend that you watch the video but it is a whole of 10 minutes long so here is the abridged version: mix everything in a wide pot, bring to boil and simmer for ~15 minutes until it starts to thicken, pour into a jar, wait to cool, eat. This only made about a cup and a half of jam, not even a full jar so I didn't bother sterilizing and sealing it - I just put it in the fridge for immediate consumption. James asked me to leave some for him to try it. It is Tuesday, he is coming on Thursday... this will be hard...

Farmer's Market Loot

I saw some spicy greens at the Farmer's Market last weekend and I instantly knew I had to have them because I had just read Mark Bittman's Green mashed potatoes recipe. They didn't have to wait long - we made them for dinner that very same night. And, oh, were they delicious! This dish is really not mashed potatoes, it is more like a casserole, so fresh and flavorful, with a slight crunch from the greens and breadcrumbs, very filling - a fantastic way to get more mileage of your greens! It was even better the next day, the greens had somehow gotten spicier!

Green Mashed Potatoes

2 large or 3 small potatoes
salt
a big batch of dandelion or other (spicy) greens
1/4 to 1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
1 C bread crumbs
parsley

Serves 4.

Notes on ingredients: You want equal weight potatoes and greens, approximately. Use really good olive oil! I recommend home-made breadcrumbs (i.e. smashed croutons), don't use the really fine store-bought stuff!

Heat the oven to 400F. Peel the potatoes, wash them and chop them up in 1-2 inch pieces. Boil in salted water till soft when pierced with a fork. While the potatoes are boiling, wash the greens, cut off any thick stems, cut in two if necessary. Scoop the potatoes out, keep the water boiling on the stove and dunk the greens. Cook for 1-2 minutes (don't overcook), then rinse in cold water and drain well. Chop. Mash the potatoes with a fork, with the olive oil and salt - you are aiming at rough mashed potatoes (mashed potatoes with olive oil, yum!) - then mix well with the greens. Pour the mix in an oven-proof dish, spread the breadcrumbs on top and drizzle with some olive oil. Cover with foil and stick in the oven for 5-10 minutes until heated throughout. Then take off the foil and let it brown under the broiler for a minute. Serve immediately, sprinkled with chopped parsley! Enjoy!

Great minds think a hike

A bit cheesy,but I like it - the title comes from a bumper sticker for a local outdoors store. It is March in southern Arizona. This is the time when the rest of the Northern hemisphere is barely starting to thaw, tulips and hyacinths are popping their heads, trees are blooming and people are happy to see the Sun for the first time this year. In Arizona however, this is the time to pull out the sunscreen, hats and shorts, and head for a hike before it gets too hot to be outside.

I had not gone hiking in a loooong time and was wondering what food to bring. Apple slices, cheese, treats for the dog... granola bars? Then it dawned on me that it couldn't be that hard to make some granola bars and stuff them will all the goodness I want. I used Heidi Swanson's recipe to get the basic proportions and here is what I came up with:

Homemade Granola Bars

1 Tsp coconut oil (or butter)
1 C chopped pecans
1 C dried cranberries
2/3 C unsweetened coconut
2 Tbs flax seeds
1 1/2 C rolled oats
1 1/2 C unsweetened crispy rice cereal
1 C brown rice syrup
1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 Tsp salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Notes on ingredients: You can substitute the 2 C pecans+cranberries with anything that suits your fancy. Just nuts or just dried fruit will work well too. The coconut is very subtle so don't worry too much about the flavor clash. I used a generic crispy rice cereal, but next time I may try this with the Kashi 7 grain cereal or a crispy brown rice cereal. I used brown rice syrup because I wanted to try it - it has very strong caramel/molasses flavor and the consistency of honey. I bet honey can be substituted for the syrup just fine.

Heat the oven to 350F and toast the nuts and coconut for 5-7 minutes until the coconut is golden brown, stirring a couple of times along the way. Mix the oats, nuts, fruit, and cereal in a big bowl and toss together. In a small pan, combine the brown rice syrup, sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Bring to low boil over medium heat, and let it bubble ~4 minutes until it thickens a bit, stirring constantly. Pour the syrup over the dry mixture and stir until thoroughly covered. Spread in a greased (with coconut oil or butter, or covered with parchment paper) pan and press well - a 9x13 pan gives decent thickness bars. Refridgerate for a few hours and then cut into whatever shapes and sizes you like. The brown rice syrup is liquid at room temperature so the bars will start to fall apart if it's too hot, though this doesn't make them less tasty. Wrap them individually in small pieces of parchment paper to avoid them sticking together (sticky wrap doesn't work).

The recipe made so many bars we had enough of two hikes two weekends in a row! The result was ~15 miles of hiking, suntan, lots of wildflowers seen, three tired hikers and one exhausted dog. Amen.

Easy-Peasy Lemon Marmalade

After a glorious lunch at a friend's house on Christmas Day, she sent me home with a BIG bag of lemons (see, it all ties back to the previous post almost a month ago). I spent a few days admiring the bowl of lemons on the kitchen table. Then I got sick and ate a few (yes, I actually eat raw lemons). Then I started getting scared thinking what could I possibly do with so many lemons?!? I could not possibly eat them. I didn't want to make lemonade as I am not a big fan of it. And my attempt to convince James to make lemonchello was quite unsuccessfully. Finally (after much pondering and many sleepless nights) I discovered lemon marmalade! This fantastically well illustrated recipe from Simply Recipes asks for Meyer lemons (thought to be a cross between a true lemon and a mandarin orange or sweet orange). I don't think my lemons were Meyer but the process looked simple and the result promised to be delicious so I figured it was worth the try. And try I did.

We had some for breakfast this morning and it was delicious!

Lemon Marmalade

800 grams organic lemons (~4 C)
800 grams organic sugar (~4 C)
800 grams of water (~4 C)
(Makes ~4 cups of marmalade)

Additional equipment: cheesecloth (teabags work too), jars, sauce pan. Follow the instructions here. On the following morning, place a cup of yogurt in a bowl, mix with a tablespoon of marmalade and some cereal. Enjoy!

Cupcakes: The Ultimate Edition

Over the last six months I have taken up ultimate frisbee and I am loving it! Great exercise, exciting game and awesome people. Today was the end of the fall season and my team - Vodka Rain (don't ask) finished 3rd ... or 4th... Does it matter? I loved my team! I was happy to meet all these guys and be on the team - everyone was so much fun and at the same time we were actually really good! Here is our team picture. Again, don't ask.


My contribution to the team? Scoring half a dozen points and cupcakes. I am still to figure out where exactly I need to be and my forehands still wobble and flip, but I damn well know how to bake a proper batch of chocolate cupcakes! Even better - chocolate-mint cupcakes, which I took to the game tonight. These are so delicious and so infallably good I must have made them a dozen times! The recipe for the cupcakes, again from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the Cake (I love this book!) can be found here: Basic Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes. The frosting is simple buttercream which I have discussed in great detail here. To the buttercream I added a 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract and ~1/2 C crushed candy canes. The decorating style (described in the book in connection with the Tiramisu Cupcakes, yum too!) is simple, yet very pretty and I use it as often as possible: with a small knife cut out a cone from the top of the cupcake; put a dollop of frosting and press the cap back on; finally put a smudge of frosting on top of the cap. I sprinkled them with more crushed candy-canes (used a total of 4 candy canes) and red sugar. Very pretty! And Christmassy too! Enjoy!

Finally! Cupcakes!

A few weeks ago while biking with James, he told me about this great way to make butternut squash puree without the whole peeling and cutting torture - cut the squash in two lengthwise, remove the seeds, place cut-side down in a baking pan and pour in half an inch of water and stick in the oven for 1-2 hours at ~300 F, cool, scoop out the flesh, done. No, I am not kidding, we do actually talk about butternut squash and chocolate and white truffle oil and beans and mushrooms while we bike. Which explains why I end up eating three breakfasts on bike-ride days. Eager to try the idea, I applied it to a fairly big specimen of of the butternut family and now I have two boxes of pumpkin in the fridge. What to do with it? Pumpkin-chocolate chip cupcakes of course! These delicious winter treasures have been made a few times already and they go perfectly well with both a mug of hot chocolate or a mug of tea. The recipe below is tweaked to my liking from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing

1 C pumpkin
1/4 C soy milk (+some)
1/3 C canola oil
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 C flour
1/2 C chocolate chips
Icing
1-2 Tbs melted butter (or margarine to keep the vegan)
1 Tbs soy milk
1/2 C powder sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Notes: I prefer using vanilla soy milk - it adds to the vanilla flavor. I also used the home-made pumpkin mush, but canned pumpkin works just as well. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips. I wouldn't recommend that you use very dark chocolate because the cake itself is not very sweet and the chocolate makes up for that. I think I will try making these with brown sugar next time.

Heat oven to 350 F. Mix pumpkin, oil, soy milk, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Stir well. In another bowl combine the dry ingredients - baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and flour and stir. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix carefully stirring with a spoon or fork (not a mixer). The amount of liquid in the batter depends on how watery the pumpkin is so if the batter gets too thick splash some more soy milk in. You want the batter to be thick but not hard to stir. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips. Line a cupcake pan and divide the batter evenly. Bake ... I dunno... ~30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean (which is a little tricky because of the chocolate) or the tops spring back when pressed. Better underbake a little to keep them moist.

To make the icing, stir all the ingredients in a bowl. The icing should be thick and dull looking. If it is glossy, add some more powder sugar. Keep at room temperature. Drizzle generously over the cupcakes after they have cooled (use left-overs on ice cream). Or if you'd rather skip the icing, sift some powder sugar and cinnamon on them... or, whatever, just eat them like they are.

Hummmmmmus!

Yet another all time favorite, a bowl of home made hummus makes an appearance at pretty much every gathering of more than four people at my house. It is so quick and easy to make that I have (almost) sworn I will never pay money for hummus. This recipe or some version of it came from an old issue of Gourmet magazine:

Basic Hummus
1 can garbanzo beans
1 Tbs tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2+ tsp cumin
salt to taste

Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans but reserve the water in the can. Put all ingredients in the blender. While blending, pour the reserved water little by little in the blender, until the mixture is smooth - usually 1/3 to 1/2 of the water. Be careful not to make it too runny. If you'd like less of a punch, cut back on the lemon juice. Add more cumin, up to 1 tsp, or more garlic if you'd like to emphasize them. Please, please, please, do not substitute oil for the tahini! Tahini is usually sold in Middle Eastern stores and is not all that expensive (~$2.99-$3.99). It gives hummus the creamy texture I absolutely adore (and you will too). Just stir before using.

A variation would be to use roasted garlic. It has a milder taste, so I would suggest 5-6-7-8 cloves, and maybe a little easier on the lemon juice so that the garlic would stand out. Despite the picture above, I prefer to wrap the garlic in foil with some olive oil when roasting it. Putting it directly on the grill does the job, but dries it out too much.

Well, last week I finally decided to go beyond the basic hummus recipe I have been whipping up incessantly for the last three years and try to mix things up a little but flavor-wise. I explored some of the offerings at the Farmer's Market, looked through Epicurious.com and FoodNetwork.com and perused the hummus section of the grocery store in search for ideas, I read the lengthy Wikipedia entry on hummus. And of course, I reminisced about some very tasty hummus variations gifted by a friend earlier this year. Finally I decided to go for something simple this time - Red Pepper Hummus, and maybe build up in time.

Red Pepper Hummus
1 can garbanzo beans
1 red bell pepper, grilled, peeled, seeded
1 Tbs tahini
1/8 cup lemon juice
1-2 cloves garlic
salt to taste

Prepare in the same manner as the basic recipe. Serve with pita bread (this doesn't go well with fresh veggies) or on a sandwich with some grilled eggplant. Yum!

Other ideas? Pine nuts and parsley or rosemary... Mint and lime... Olives... Ginger and caramelized onions (oh...)... What else? Any ideas?

And while we are on the topic of hummus, if you find yourself hungry in Manhattan, be sure to pay a visit to the Hummus Place, a hummus restaurant which now has three locations - East Village, West Village and Upper West Side. I had the pleasure to visit the original location on 99 McDougal Str. a couple of years ago and still have very fond memories of the best hummus I have ever tasted. And make sure you get the roasted pine nuts!

PS. Other flavors tried: black olives and rosemary (fabulous), pumpkin, nutmeg and a bit of black pepper (interesting)

How do you pronounce this?

I was browsing through the pages of a not-to-be-named sports magazine a couple of weeks ago when I came across a recipe for quinoa tabbouleh in the cooking section (which I always find somewhat out of place in such publication). Tabbouleh (pronounced [ta'bu:li], also tabouleh, tabouli) is an Arab dish, frequently served as an appetizer (or mezze). Its primary ingredients are bulgur, parsley, mint, tomatoes and scallions and it is typically seasoned with lemon juice and olive oil. Oh, I love tabbouleh sooooo much!!! And what an interesting idea to mix up the ingredients a bit. So taking inspiration from the magazine recipe I concocted a Quinoa Tabbouleh:


1 C quinoa
1/2 big bunch of parsley
1 handful of mint
1/4 red onion, chopped
3-4-5 Roma tomatoes, squeezed and chopped
1 English cucumber
1 can of garbanzo beans (oh, yes!)
lemon jiuce
salt
splash of olive oil


Combine quinoa with 1 1/2 C water and a pinch of salt, bring to boil and simmer for ~15 minutes, until quinoa is soft, but still has a slight crunch. Cover and let it cool. I made this with the intention of bringing it to work for lunch which meant that the salad will be in the fridge for a few days so initially I mixed everything but the tomatoes and cucumber in a bowl, covered it and refrigerated it. Then every morning I would chop up some lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber and top them with ~3/4 cup of the quinoa mix. Yum! And nutritious too!


I have only recently discovered quinoa (pronounced ['ki:nua], above middle) and found it a tasty and fun ingredient to include in salads, stir-frys and in place of other grains. Quinoa is a pseudocereal and not a true grain. It originated in the Andean region of South America and has been a staple food there for 6,000 years. The Incas even considered it sacred - quinoa was second in nutritional importance, superseded by the potato and followed by corn. During the European colonization the Spaniards scorned and tried to suppress its use due to its importance in non-Christian ceremonies, obviously without success - Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador are now the world's top producers. Quinoa has been gaining popularity (among protein starved vegetarians) because of its nutritional value - it is high in protein (12-18%), it is a complete protein, it is rich in dietary fiber, iron and magnesium, and it is gluten free. It has a pleasant nutty flavor and a light crunchiness, and can be easily substituted for rice, couscous, bulgur. Plus, it looks really cute.



So far so good. However, last weekend I made a long due visit to the Farmer's Market and ended up buying a bottle of liquid gold - Lemon Infused Olive Oil (capitalized on purpose) from the Queen Creek Olive Mill. I don't frequently splurge on fancy foods but this stuff is just phenomenal - smooth olive oil with a vibrant lemon flavor. Furthermore, it comes packed with a feel-good-about-yourself feeling as the olives are grown locally and you are supporting a small family business. The acquisition of lemon infused olive oil could only mean one thing - more tabbouleh! But while I threw the previous one together in a hurry, I decided to make this one a work of art. Classical Arabic culinary art. And in my humble opinion, it was a wild success. Here are the ingredients:

1 C dry bulgur
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
a handful of mint, chopped
4 green onions, choped
4-5 Roma tomatoes, squeezed and chopped
3/4 - 1 English cucumber (...you'll never guess...), chopped
2 Tbs (lemon) olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt

The key to a good tabbouleh? Dry ingredients. I put the bulgur in a bowl with a little salt and poured 2 C of boiling water over it. Then I covered it and let it cool and absorb the water. A few hours later there was still some unabsorbed water so I put the bulgur in a cheese cloth and left it to strain overnight. The next day I chopped up all the herbs and veggies and mixed it up. I prefer to use Roma tomatoes because they are not as watery. I felt that the juice of 1/2 lemon was just enough to not overpower the lemony flavor of the oil but if you want more sourness, add more juice. I recommend adding the zest too - adds lemony flavor without sourness. This turned out oh, so, good! The fresh vegetables, the herbs and the spices gave it such a rich flavor and I love the different textures - the chewy bulgur, the crunchy cucumber and the leafy parsley. I am already looking forward to lunch (shown here) tomorrow, after the flavors have had the chance to blend overnight!

PS. After-lunch review: fantastically minty-fresh! But beware of parsley between your teeth ;)

Coconut Addiction

Hello. My name is Iva and I am a coconut addict. No kidding. If you were to follow the trail of shredded coconut through our house, you will inevitably find me at the end of it, spoon in one hand, box of shredded coconut in the other. Yes, I said spoon. It is very serious indeed. Let's start again. Hello. My name is Iva and I am a cupcake addict. If you have ever met me you will know this is not far from the truth either. So to combine addictions, this installment is about coconut cupcakes - the Citrusy, the Fruity and the Chocolatey (a.k.a. the Zesty, the Sweet and the Very Tasty).

The recipes are from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, the pictures are my own, taken inside our most famous fridge and the appetite was supplied by 2-3 dozen carefully selected applicants who licked their fingers after eating the cupcakes without my asking them to do so.

Coconut Lime Cupcakes 1 C all purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1/3 C coconut oil 1 C coconut milk 1/4 C soy milk 3/4 C granulated sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp coconut extract 1 tsp lime zest 1 C unsweetened coconut

Lychee Cupcakes 2 C all-purpose flour 5 Tbs ground flaxseeds 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/3 C oil 1/4 C coconut milk 1 1/3 C granulated sugar (or less) 2 tsp vanilla extract 4 oz. lychee, well drained and chopped 1/4 cup lychee syrup

Toasted Coconut Cupcakes 1 C all-purpose flour 1/3 C cocoa 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 C coconut oil 1 C coconut milk 3/4 C granulated sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 tsp coconut extract 1/2 C unsweetened shreded coconut

The basic idea is that you mix all the dry ingredients (sans zest, fruit and coconut) in a small bowl, beat all the wet ingredients in a mixing bow and then add the dry ones in 2-3 batches until there are no lumps. Finally mix in zest/fruit/coconut. Coconut oil is definitely worth the splurge as a jar will last quite a few batches of cupcake but don't go overboard because it is rich in saturated fats. I use the Spectrum unrefined organic coconut oil. Note: melt it in the microwave before incorporating but make sure it is not scorching hot. I also use vanilla soy milk whenever necessary. Divide batter equally between 12 liners and bake at 350F until a toothpick comes out clean.

The coconut lime cupcakes made an appearance at a farewell party for a friend of mine (along side the chocolate-strawberry ones). The cupcakes are not too tangy but the Lime Butter-cream Frosting (recipe below) bears quite a punch. The best part is that they look all so impressive with minimum effort - frost, dip in shredded coconut, decorate with a thin slice of lime, and everyone will ask you where you ordered them from. I use coarsely shredded coconut to decorate these.

Lychee and flaxseeds don't make frequent appearances in my pantry so it took a while to get to this recipe as simple as it is. There is only one difference in making these - beat the ground flaxseeds with 6 Tbs of water before combining with the other ingredients. The batter is really thick but they do rise a lot and the end product is moist and light. They turned out less sweet that usual as I cut down the sugar (1 1/3 C sugar seemed ludicrous) but the coconut glaze - 2 C powder sugar + 1/4 C cocnut milk - took care of that. I keep thinking that these may work with other fruit too. Peach-coconut? Cherry-coconut? Any thoughts?

Finally, the Toasted Coconut Cupcakes made an appearance at a recent Labor Day BBQ. And oh, my goodness! How come I had not made these before!?! They were so good! Frosted with Coffee Butter-cream frosting and decorated with toasted coconut (and maybe chocolate covered coffee beans) these are to die for! The batter is a little thick and adding a splash of soy milk to un-thicken it won't hurt but may be unnecessary. These are going to be made again...very, very soon!

A word on Butter-cream. My butter cream frostings were beyond terrible until one day I read the recipe and followed it. It says: beat butter/shortening/margarine until fluffy, add powder sugar, BEAT 3 MINUTES, add everything else, BEAT ANOTHER 5-7 MINUTES. This makes it heavenly, like whipped cream, absolutely worth the partial deafness of holding the mixer for 10 minutes straight. Simple butter cream is just this:
1/2 cup butter (or 50/50 shortening/margarine)
+ 1 3/4 cups powder sugar
+ 1/2 to 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
(+ a splash of liquid, i.e. milk/juice)
For the Coffee Butter-cream frosting add 1 1/2 tsp coffee extract or 1 tsp of instant coffee and 2 Tbs coconut milk to the basic recipe. For the Lime Butter-cream frosting, add 1/4 C lime juice and 1 tsp lime zest. Other variations include Maple Butter-cream (maple syrup and flavor), Lemon Butter-cream, Rum Butter-cream, etc. Let your imagination run wild!

And while the topic is coconut I have to relate my favorite coconut story which revolves around a whole coconut my Mom bought when I was 8 or 10. Unfortunately, the coconut did not come with opening instructions and that was in the days before the internet and YouTube so we couldn't conveniently watch a How to Open a Coconut instructional video. My Dad spend the better part of a Saturday in the endeavour of opening the coconut and used a significant fraction of his tool box in the process. I think in the end the power drill and the saw did the job. After we scraped the meat from the inside my Mom glued the coconut back together and we had it as a trophy for many, many years (for all I know it is probably still at home). The End.