The beauty of plain yogurt

About a year ago, I started making plain yogurt a staple in my fridge. I was thinking just now about breakfast and realized how many different ways I use plain yogurt, and what a versatile ingredient it is. So here is a quick post with some ideas on using plain yogurt:

- Yogurt Parfait: An obvious sounding one, but often people are turned off from plain yogurt because of its tangy taste. I remedy this with a drizzle of honey and a mixture of fruit. I really love the taste of citrus and yogurt, as well as pomegranate.

- Smoothies: My favorite smoothies include yogurt, banana, frozen spinach, flax seed, almond milk, vanilla and blueberries.

- Salad Dressing: I mix a little yogurt with some lemon juice, a splash of olive oil and a mixture of herbs for a creamier dressing.

- Yogurt cheese: Plain yogurt takes on a creamy, thicker texture when you drain some of the water out of it by setting it in a strainer over a bowl for a few hours. Once it has reached desired thickness, chop up some fresh herbs and use as a spread or a dip.

- Baking substitute: A lot of recipes call for buttermilk or whole milk, which I don't keep on hand. So I make my own concoction by mixing half yogurt and half milk together, which seems to work well!

I'm sure I'll think of other uses and will update the list at that point!

Cornmeal pancakes

I'm beginning to realize that the majority of recipes I have blogged about heavily feature carbohydrates. What can I say - I love bready foods! As such, my recipe seeking eyes are constantly in tune to new recipes that deliver carbs in a healthy fashion. I knew I'd hit the jackpot in Mark Bittman's January 14th blog post in The Minimalist called "For Whole-Grain Pancakes, Try a Little Tenderness" I saved all of the recipes in the collection and this morning, after waking up to grey skies and cool temps, I decided it was time to experiment with the Cornmeal Pancakes with Vanilla and Pinenuts.

Here is the recipe that Bittman suggests, with my notes in italics:

Cornmeal Pancakes With Vanilla and Pine Nuts

Time: 30 minutes

1 1/2 cups fine or medium cornmeal (I used fine organic cornmeal and it worked well)

1 teaspoon salt (The one complaint I had was that the cakes came out really salty - I'd cut the salt in half next time)

1/2 cup milk, or more as needed (I accomplished my butter-making adventure yesterday, which I will blog about later, so I used the leftover buttermilk in this recipe, and it worked great. I did end up using more than the recipe called for, because I wanted flatter cakes. In all, I probably used between 3/4 and 1 cup)

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil, plus more for frying (I choose to use extra virgin olive oil, figuring that it would give them somewhat bland sounding cakes an extra level of complexion)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I love vanilla so I dumped in more than a teaspoon - probably closer to 2 teaspoons)

1/2 cup pine nuts (I used about 1/4 a cup and it added the perfect amount of crunch)

Honey, for serving. (Because my honey is a crystalized mass now, I used maple syrup instead, which was of course delicious)

1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Combine the cornmeal, salt and 1 1/2 cups boiling water in a bowl and let it sit until the cornmeal absorbs the water and softens, 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Stir in the milk, a little at a time, until the batter is spreadable but still thick. Stir in 2 tablespoons oil, the vanilla and the pine nuts.

3. Put a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. When a few drops of water dance on its surface, add a thin film of oil and let it become hot. Spoon out the batter, making any size pancakes you like. Cook until bubbles form on the top and burst and the underside is golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes; turn and cook on the other side until golden. You may have to rotate the cakes to cook them evenly, depending on the heat source and pan. As they finish, transfer them to a plate in the oven while you cook the remaining batter. Serve with honey.

Overall, I'd say this was a yummy and really easy recipe. The flavor reminded me a little of arapas, and the cornmeal added a beautiful golden color and chewy texture. I'd definitely make these again and I think the recipe is stable enough to handle a variety of additions and alterations. I can imagine a savory one with herbs and cheese, and a sweeter one with blueberries and crushed almonds. If you end up making them, let me know how they come out!

Crunchy goodness

I recently went engagement ring shopping with a dear friend. Fine jewelry has never been her thing, and it was very amusing listening to her describe the many styles of diamonds we encountered. While she tried hard to remember technical terms like "pave" and "cushion cut", she ultimately resorted to referring to the diamonds as "sparklies", as in "I like this ring with all the sparklies around it".

As I looked over the following recipe, that story came to mind because when I think of this chopped salad, the best terms that come to mind are "crunchy goodness". I guess sometimes, the most simple explanations are just the most effective! (Because really when it comes down to it, aren't diamonds just sparklies?!)

Anyhow, I credit my old roommate Leah with turning me onto this delicious (and yes, crunchy) salad. The best part is that you can toss in whatever crunchy veggies you have on hand. And depending on the ingredients, it often tastes even better the next day! (The exception is when you use tomatoes, because they can get a little mushy. If you are planning to refrigerate, I suggest adding the tomatos right before serving.)

Chopped Salad

Any/all of the following:
1 cucumber, cut into 4ths lengthwise and then diced
½ cup grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
¼ cup olives (black or kalamata), chopped
¼ cup chopped red onion
1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced
Handful of crumbled feta cheese (optional)
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
Salt and pepper

Cut up vegetables and toss with feta, oil and vinegar and lemon, if using. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar and let sit for 30 minutes. Can be made the night before, lasts for a few days. It is extra delicious with toasted pita bread. Sometimes I rip the bread into little pieces and toss with the salad, and sometimes I just enjoy it on the side.

Welcome back and series of recipes

Hi folks,

It's been ages since I've written, which is sad. I've decided to embrace my final few months of freedom by actually turning this blog into what it is supposed to be - a regularly updated repository of all my cooking and eating adventures, interspersed with snippets from my lovely life in Berkeley. As many of you know, I am making yet another cross country move this summer to pursue my MBA at the University of Michigan. While I've been promised that Ann Arbor has a happening local food movement, something tells me blogging won't be on the top of my insane to-do list while I am in school. So as I wrap up these last few months in the Bay Area, and actually have time to cook, I thought it would be lovely to share my experiments with you. I just told my roommate that before I leave, I want to do the following:

- Make my own butter
- Bake bread
- Make pasta from scratch

I'm sure I'll add lots of other things to the list, but that's my start - I think the butter effort will be easy to accomplish and I already bought the cream, so stay tuned for a recap of that in the next few days. Perhaps I'll also be motivated to bake the bread to put it

In the meantime, I wanted to kick off the re-blogging effort by sharing a few recipes that I developed for my friend Natalia. Like many, Natalia loves food but has not quite conquered the challenges of the kitchen. After a long discussion about ways to incorporate more fresh foods in her diet (I call it a discussion, she may refer to at as a lecture...:) I decided to type up some of my favorite easy recipes and make a little recipe book for her for Christmas.

I plan to post one recipe each day for the next few days (the other secret motivation for this is to help me get into the habit of blogging regularly!)

I thought it only appropriate to start with breakfast, and what's better for breakfast than delicious french toast?! Here you go....enjoy!

World’s easiest French toast

4 slices of bread (Any bread will do but my personal favorites are baguettes and challah bread)
1 large egg
1/3 cup of milk (nut milks work great too)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Butter, for pan

Scramble egg, milk and vanilla together in a large bowl. Dip bread into mixture and hold for a few seconds, until bread has absorbed the egg mixture. Heat a frying pan on medium and melt a little butter. Place bread in pan, cook until browned on one side (about 4-5 minutes), flip and brown on other side. Serve with real maple syrup and/or powdered sugar.

Welcome fall

In my opinion, there is no better way to welcome fall then with a fall-themed potluck dinner! Bonnie and I were lucky enough to have some wonderful friends join us in celebration on Thursday night, and we enjoyed a pot of delicious sweet potato soup, curried cauliflower, kale and mushrooms, homemade hummus, Berkeley Bowl olives and some delicious Barbera wine. The night was capped off with an appropriately fall-themed apple cake. The cake was so popular that I decided to share the simple and accessibly recipe here for everyone to enjoy.

Now we all know I'm not a big baker, but thanks to my dear friend Jen Greer, I posses the world's easiest apple cake recipe (although I still managed to mess it up somewhat the first time I made it by not cutting the apples small enough....of course!) Anyhow, I have now perfected the recipe (which, unsurprisingly really just requires following the directions) and I have to admit that the cake came out deliciously! It's super easy to make and although the batter looks really dry and chunky when you put it into the pan (it has the consistency more of cookie dough than batter), the cake is super moist because of all of the apples in it. The prep literally took about 10 minutes, I highly recommend trying it out if you like apples. And cake. And really, who doesn't?! It's even better with a little vanilla ice cream:)

Jen's Apple Cake

1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar (I used a combo of brown and white, you can use either/both. I liked the earthiness the brown sugar imparts)
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla (I dumped in a little more because I love vanilla)
3 cups cubed apples, peeled (should be about 1 centimeter squared)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
cinnamon
nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl until well mixed. Batter will be very lumpy, more of a dough texture. Spray baking pan (I used a bundt) with oil and then sprinkle the inside of the pan with flour. For extra credit, dust the inside of the pan with cinnamon sugar for a crunchy crust. Bake for 1 hour, or until set all the way through. Once cooled, invert onto a plate and sprinkle the top with powdered sugar for decoration.

Back in the kitchen

Hello friends! It has been a while since I've attended to my blog, and I have missed it greatly. As they say, life got in the way of life, but I'm entering into a new phase now of focusing on things that are truly important to me, and this is one of them. So prepare yourself for much more regular posts, photos, recipes and adventures in the Bay Area!

So, without further ado, I'd like to present my most recently improvised recipe...tofu burgers!

Last week, I decided it was time to do something with the half a block of tofu on the verge of going bad in the fridge. After scrolling through tofu recipes on epicurious, I decided I was in the mood for something hearty and nutty. I found one recipe for toasted almond tofu burgers, which I used as a loose guideline for my creation, which I will hereby name "Toasty Pecan Tofu Burgers." Here is how I went about creating them, which worked well for me. I encourage you to experiment with other ingredients though, I think this is a perfect recipe to make when you have a few random items in the pantry/fridge and you're trying to figure out a way to bring them all together.

Toasty Pecan Tofu Burgers

First, I sliced up the tofu into thin slices, patted it dry and wrapped it in paper towels. The goal here is to squeeze as much moisture out of the tofu as you can (FYI I was using extra firm). I placed the tofu between two plates and stuck a few cans of food on top for pressure and let it sit for 30-60 minutes. If the paper towels seem drenched, either squeeze them out and re-wrap or just use fresh ones.

As the tofu drained, I made prepped the other ingredients. I shredded up a large carrot and finely chopped an small onion and a few cloves of garlic. I sauteed these for about 8 minutes, until soft and set them aside to cool. I then toasted up a few pieces of old bread and about 1/3 cup of pecans until browned. After letting them cool, I pulsed each in the food processor, turning the bread into breadcrumbs and the chopping the nuts up finely.

With all the ingredients now ready, I gave the tofu a final squeeze and then crumbled in into a mixing bowl. I tossed in the breadcrumbs (about 1/2 a cup, for those who like to measure), the pecans and the carrot/onion mixture together with the tofu, and then mixed in a lightly beaten egg white (to hold the mixture together). I also tossed in a splash of soy sauce, some sesame seeds, garlic power, salt, pepper and a little ginger for flavoring. I mashed it all together with my hands and made little patties, about the size of my palm.

I heated up some olive oil in a large skillet, and dropped the patties in, cooking until brown and then flipping over. They stayed in one piece pretty well, but I was gentle with them, having totally botched previous attempts to make tofu burgers due to the crumbly texture of tofu.

When browned nicely on both sides, I removed from the heat and served them with a simple salad of romaine hearts, avocado, heirloom tomatoes and a homemade vinaigrette of balsamic, olive oil and course grain mustard. I have to admit - it was pretty and delicious! I failed to take a photo, but you can take my word for it.

If you try this recipe, let me know how it comes out. I think you put a lot of different ingredients into it to change up the flavor, but the key to the texture success seems to have been the egg white and the bread crumbs, so I recommend continuing to use those.

I am sure I will have more tofu adventures to share soon, as I bookmarked about 10 difference recipes on epicurious in my search for the perfect tofu burger. So stay tuned and get your soy on!:)

Baking and the art of discipline

I am not, by nature, a baker. Reading recipes and following them to a T is not my strong suit in cooking. I'm more of the creative, improvisational cook - a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and voila! Sadly, that approach really does not work in baking. Memorable experiences proving this fact include the time I added 2 tablespoons of salt instead of sugar to a pancake mixture (I was like 8 years old, but still). Or the more recent attempt to make lemon cupcakes "healthy" by using whole wheat flour instead of white flour. I think we can all agree that was not a good choice.

So, I was pleasantly surprised when a recent attempt at baking actually turned out to be incredibly delicious! Last winter, I came across a recipe in the NYTimes food section, by Melissa Clark who writes a column called "A Good Appetite." I love her recipes, as they are usually creative and delicious but not too difficult. And, there is something appealing about hearing the recipe author's story about how and why they came up with that recipe - it adds a layer to the experience that is missing in a lot of traditional cookbooks, I think. Anyhow, this one article, "Secrets of the Cake Stand", had a recipe for Blood Orange Olive Oil cake. It immediately sounded like something up my alley, so I cut it out and filed it away.

Flash forward to last weekend. I had been yearning to make this recipe for months, and had even tried a few times to source out some blood oranges, to no avail. So when they appeared at Berkeley Bowl, I knew that my time had finally come.

I think that the key to my successful Blood Orange loaf was in fact discipline. As “creative type”, I am used to not following directions, preferring to make things up as I go, embellish with my own flair, experiment and create. But via my previous failed baking experiences, I came to realize that in order to be a successful baker, I needed to discipline myself to follow directions, to stay committed to the task at hand, and realize that the end result will likely be more delicious even if I don’t add my own personalized feature to it. As I am writing this, I am wondering if my lack of discipline in baking is somewhat representative of my lifelong struggles with being independent, not liking to be told “What to do” and greatly enjoying the sensation of being right and doing things on my own. Perhaps I’m reading too far into this, but it’s been a theme I have been thinking a lot about recently, and somehow I feel warmed by the thought that my successful cake has something to do with a deeper level of personal progress!

Anyhow – enough introspection, back to the cake. It was every bit as delicious as I had imagined! As I mixed it together, I thought it looked really liquidy, but it ended up being perfectly moist and flavorful. The blood oranges definitely added some depth of color, but I think it would have been just as delicious with regular oranges (I’d go for a smaller juicier variety, as opposed to something like a navel orange). I’ll certainly be experimenting with the recipe using regular oranges, because it was too good to hold out until blood oranges are around again. One thing to note – I baked it in a pyrex loaf pan, and it took a bit longer than the recipe said – maybe an additional 10-15 minutes, I can’t exactly remember. I just checked it every 5 minutes or so after the first 50, and when the cake tested was clean I took it out. For serving, I made the blood orange honey compote that the author mentions, and it was extra delicious.

So – whether you are looking for an exercise in discipline, or just a delicious treat (or both!), I highly recommend trying this!