Muffins.

Hello, world,

I made muffins over the weekend. We had family coming to visit, and I wanted some ‘finger food’ to go with the coffee and tea and chatting. I chose apple muffins (front) because beautiful apples are everywhere to be had at the moment, and carrot hazelnut muffins (back) because I had a craving for them.
So here we go.

Carrot muffins (makes 12):

3.5 ounces carrots, finely grated (roughly half a cup)
4 ounces soft butter (roughly 9 tbsps.)
1/3 cup sugar
vanilla to taste
2 eggs
2 tsps. baking powder
1/3 cup ground hazelnuts
1/3 cup flour

In a bowl, combine butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Beat until the sugar has dissolved and you have a fluffy cream. In a sencond bowl, mix flour, nuts, and baking powder. Fold the dry mixture into the wet, adding the carrots.
Distribute evenly into your cupcake pan and bake for about 20 mins. at 400°F. Let cool before serving.

Apple muffins (makes 12):

1 cup flour
3 tsps. baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
vanilla to taste
2 eggs
2 apples, roughly grated
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and vanilla. In a second bowl, whisk eggs, milk, and oil. Combine both mixtures, add the apples, and mix thoroughly.
Distribute evenly into your cupcake pan and bake for about 20 mins. at 400°F. Let cool before serving.

There! Obviously these are nothing special, and next time I’ll hopefully have the energy to make some cream cheese frosting to go with the carrot muffins, and add some cinnamon to the apple muffin batter, but on the whole, I was happy with these muffins. So was the family. Good times.

xoxo, F.

Donna, and Mark, and Jamie (and Me).

Good evening,

today’s recipe is what we had for dinner tonight: leg of lamb with baked potatoes and carrots.

Cooking this was rather stressful, although, in hindsight, it really was no big deal at all and just me who was, for some reason, totally nervous about it. I had planned on making Donna Hay’s morocan lamb with potatoes and carrots (from No Time to Cook); however, I bought the wrong piece of meat. The thing is: I was a strict vegetarian until about a year ago, and I haven’t been cooking meat myself at all until a couple of months ago, when my doctor advised me to eat more dark meat in order to raise my iron count. So I don’t know anything about meat, okay? Or about cooking it correctly. But I’m trying to make a meat dish once a week. So anyways, I brought home this huge piece of leg of lamb from the butcher, and then realized that Donna wanted me to buy a) lamb filet and b) about half (weightwise) of what the butcher dude hat sold me. Darn! So I consulted Mark Bittman and Jamie Oliver (i.e. How to Cook Everything and Jamie’s Kitchen), and so the dinner I made tonight is a combination of how they told me leg of lamb is supposed to be made, Donna Hay’s veggie suggestion, and my own making.

I really wouldn’t know how to write this down in recipe form, so I’ll just let you know what I did, okay? Here we go.

The piece of meat we had weighed about 1 1/2 pounds. I held it under cold running water very shortly, dried it with a paper towel and placed it in a dutch oven. Then, roughly according to Donna, I made a marinade:
two tablespoons each of olive oil and lemon juice
two teaspoons each of ground paprika and ground coriander
one teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
two minced garlic cloves
two tablespoons lemon zest
All of these I combined and pureed (more or less) with a hand blender, and then covered the lamb with the marinade from all sides and let it sit for about 20 mins.
I preheated the oven to 425° F.
Then I carefully washed 4 potatoes and quartered them, and peeled 4 carrots and halved them.
I put the lamb into the oven and let it bake for 30 mins. (without a lid). Then I turned down the heat to 400° F., added the veggies to the dutch oven (under the meat and on the sides), added five unpeeled garlic cloves, drizzled everything with olive oil (about 2 tablespoons), put the lid on, and let the whole mess bake for another 40 mins.
After that, I took the lid off to check on my precious dinner, and it looked really good. However, when I cut into the meat it still seemed pretty raw to me. I guess this is a matter of taste; I know that lamb is usually eaten rare, but I wouldn’t want it that way, it’s just not my thing. And since the veggies were still kind of hard as well, I decided to give them all another 30 mins.
And then we finally ate, and it was good. However, two things: I think I would have liked it better had it been seasoned more strongly; were I to make this again, I would make the marinade stronger. And: I would be more careful not to add too much olive oil with the veggies, no more than one tablespoon I guess; there was quite an oily mess at the bottom of the dutch oven, and I suspect that the oil sucked in much of the flavor (is that possible?). On the whole, however, it was good, and I was relieved, and I just need to practise my meat cooking, because I basically sat in front of the oven for 90 mins. and watched my dinner cooking because I was so afraid it would burn or whatever, which wasn’t fun.

Allright, then. Have a fun weekend!
xoxo, F.

Recipe Rambling Resumed

Hello again,

let me greet you with these beauties from our kitchen table:

Aren’t they pretty? I looooooooooove sunflowers.
Anyways, a while ago I tried to write an inspirational post about great stuff I’ve cooked, but without any actual recipes, because I was tired and busy (and lazy), and then wordpress wouldn’t upload the pictures, and I got really annoyed and frustrated and I haven’t posted since. But behold! Now I will attend to this unfinished business. Please look at this picture:

This is:
whole wheat pasta, cooked
carrots, sliced and blanched
green olives, pitted and chopped
garlic, minced
cumin seeds, crushed
mint and parsley leaves, chopped
salt, pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mix well, and eat.

This dish is major! I know that carrot and cumin are often combined in Northern African cuisine, but I had never tried it before, and I just loved it. It tasted good while still hot, and also good as a cold pasta salad the next day. We ate ours (when hot) with small dots of goat cream cheese on top, which worked well as a fresh and creamy sauce substitute.

Allright. Upcoming posts will be detailed recipes again, I promise. I made a batch of puff pastry “muffins” last night which were a hit, and a plum cake and plum preserve with red wine, pepper, and vinegar this morning, and I’ll post those later.

Eat well, y’all. xoxo,
F.

Spicy Rice

Hello there,

here’s an easy-peasy recipe for rice with veggies and tofu, seasoned with our very favorite condiments: chili paste and soy sauce. This is a nice weeknight dinner, leftovers to be eaten the next day for lunch, stretched with some peas, nuts, or whatever.
Here we go:

Ingredients:
serves 3-4

1 1/2 cups rice
3 cups water
1/4 tsp. salt

2 bell peppers, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
approx. 14 oz. tofu, cut into cubes (I used store-bought, smoked tofu here; otherwise, use plain tofu that has been marinated)

vegetable oil
approx. 1/2 tsp. green chili paste (store-bought)
approx. 2 tbsps. soy sauce

Directions:

This is super-easy. In a pot, combine rice, water, and salt. Bring to a boil and let bubble over medium heat until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender.

In a large pan, fry the veggies and the tofu cubes in vegetable oil.

In a large bowl, mix veggies and rice. Season with chili paste and soy sauce. Stir well. Enjoy!

Eat well, my friends. Later! xoxo,
F.

Carrot Salad

Good day to you,

this is one of the easiest salads ever, and it can be adapted freely and pushed into many directions. I made a very basic version last night, because our fridge and cupboard were as empty as a pocket with nothing to lose, but lots and lots of ingredients could be added: nuts, sesame seed, cucumber, apple, cabbage, olives, … You get it. Accordingly, it can be served as a main or side dish salad, or as an entrée. Here we go:

Ingredients:
serves 2-3

4 large carrots, peeled and grated coarsely

3 tbsps. olive oil
6 tbsps. apple juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In the salad bowl, combine juice, oil, salt, and pepper. Whisk into a dressing. Add the carrots; mix well and let sit for a while before serving (maybe 20 mins., the longer it marinates the better). Done!

Well, ok. It’s not much of a recipe, I guess. But this salad is so refreshing in summer, and rather filling at the same time. You could also add a little bit of lemon juice.

Goodbye for now! Eat well.
xoxo, F.