Apple butter

Wow, all I can say is that being pregnant really changed things. Would you believe that now that I have a 3 week old, I get a lot more sleep and have a lot more energy to do the things that I love? Now, I haven't had to do much cooking since friends and family have generously stocked our fridge. However, I'm kind of at a loss of what to do now that I'm on maternity leave for three months. So, I've decided that Christmas is coming early in the form of Santa's workshop! Justin is, umm, thrilled. So thrilled in fact that I have attempted to hide my plans from him, i.e. I disguised the apple butter as applesauce. He has now figured things out. I mean, there is only so much you can do/tv to watch while at home with a newborn.

So, for this week I've decided to make apple butter. It's actually strange to make anything with apples while living in NC, since I can't just hop in the car and visit the local apple mill, like those in mid-Michigan.  (And of course that means cider and donuts too!)

Ingredients

1 peck Mcintosh apples
1 peck Fuji apples
2 tbsp cinnamon (divided)
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1-2 cups sugar (I used two cups, which was pretty sweet. Alter based on the apples you use)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Juice of 2 lemons

Instructions

 1 - Make applesauce. Chop and core apples, leaving skins on the apple. Place 1 inch of water in bottom of pot (I needed two pots) and add apples. Bring to boiling and reduce to medium, stirring often until apples are soft. Let apples cool and strain, using the back of a spoon to push applesauce through strainer. (Once you're done you should only have apple skins left in the strainer.) Add 1 tbsp cinnamon.
2 - Make apple butter. Fill your crockpot with the applesauce from step one. Add 1 cup sugar, 1 tbsp cinnamon, cloves, allspice, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Turn medium or high, depending on your crock pot, and cook down with the lid removed until desired thickness is reached. (I cooked it for ~8 hours and reduced it by about 60%.) Taste the applebutter and add extra sugar if desired. Cook a bit more if adding extra sugar (I gave it another 30 minutes). Blend with immersion blender to ensure smooth texture.
3 - Can apple butter. See my earlier posts for pepper jelly or pickles if you need advice on canning.

Soba noodle salad with sesame ginger soy vinaigrette

Ah, pregnancy. A time of excitement, even though I don't have a lot of energy to be excited. Or cook. (Note the massive drop off in my blog posts.) However, there are some good things about it from the culinary perspective. Justin feels so sorry for me (well, he's sorry, but still hungry!) that he is much more willing to help with meal preparation. Last night he chopped the tomatoes and peaches. It was really cute watching him, as he took 20 minutes to chop five tomatoes. Let me say that those were some well-chopped tomatoes!

Anyways, my new cooking resolution is to spend time on only one dish per meal. (Let's see how well this resolution goes.) For this meal it was a soba noodle salad that I served with grilled chicken. I love sesame seeds and this did not disappoint. Enjoy!

Original recipe here:  http://thelemonbowl.com/2013/07/soba-noodle-salad-with-sesame-ginger-soy-vinaigrette.html (You'll note that I increased the veggies quite a bit.)

Ingredients

8 oz Japanese soba noodles
2 cups green beans (I bought about 2 lbs, but had to toss probably 20%)
3 medium carrots, grated
1 cup scallions, minced
3 tbsp black roasted sesame seeds
Salt and pepper to taste

Sesame ginger soy vinaigrette

2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp soy sauce (low sodium)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp sriracha or sambal oelek - optional

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salty water to boil and add soba noodles. Cook according to package instructions adding the green beans 2 minutes before the end of cooking time.
2. Drain noodles and green beans in a strainer and rinse with cold water to stop cooking process. (This keeps the beans bright green.)
3. In the bottom of a medium bowl, whisk together the vinaigrette: lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, sesame oil and sambal oelek.
4. Add the soba noodles and green beans to the bowl with the vinaigrette along with the grated carrot, scallions and black roasted sesame seeds. Toss well to coat and season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Peanut butter candy bar cookies

Last week I babysat Jennifer's two daughters, aged 11 months and 3.5 years for FOUR days whil eshe and Spence spent the 4th of July weekend on a boat. All I can say is WOW, that was exhausting! Saturday was especially bad, as I was up all night waiting for the 11 month old "high maintenance" baby to cry. All I wanted to do the next day is make it to 2 PM when the whole house could take a nap. So, I decided to bake some cookies to help pass the time and keep me awake. All I can say is that these were awesome! There were a lot of steps that the 3.5 year old could help and you have to stick the batter in the fridge for 1/2 an hour, which gave me time to cater to Ms. High Maintenance.  Highly recommended! (If you look close, you can see my baby bump. Ok, ok, it is kind of hard to miss!)

 Original recipe here: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/candy-bar-peanut-butter-cookie-50400000108776/

Ingredients 

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
36 bite-size chocolate-covered caramel-peanut nougat bars

Directions 

1. Beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until blended.
2. Stir together flour and next 2 ingredients in a small bowl. Add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Cover and chill 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350°. Shape about 2 tbsp. dough around each nougat bar, using lightly floured hands, and roll into balls. Place 3 inches apart on ungreased or parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
4. Bake at 350° for 13 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks.
Note: I used Snickers Minis. A bag contains 36 pieces.

Harvey Wallbanger cake

Only one small piece left. Success!

I cannot believe it has been 1 month since my last post. Unfortunately being pregnant has left me with 0 energy to cook. In fact, I have reverted back to undergrad bad behavior, as I often turn to a bowl of healthy cereal for dinner and maybe a piece of fruit or two. However, my super-employee Anna was leaving for the great (soon to be) white north, so I wanted to bake her a goodbye cake. Of course I turned to my new favorite cake cookbook "Booze Cakes" and found this gem of a recipe, which was super-easy, quick, and cheap (with the exception of the Galliano.) Anna must know she's a super-employee, because I hate going to the liquor store pregnant! Of course I bring my cookbook so the clerk knows the fifth is for a recipe, although when I mentioned this to him he said that pregnant ladies are in there all the time. Does this strike you as a bit weird?
If you make this cake, try to do it the night before. It is even yummier after absorbing the liquid from the frosting, a texture like pineapple upside down cake!

Ingredients

For the Cake: 

1 box yellow cake mix

1 (3.3 ounce) box vanilla instant pudding

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/4 cup vanilla vodka (regular vodka works too)

1/4 cup Galliano liqueur

1/4 cup orange juice

For the Glaze 

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon orange juice

1 tablespoon vanilla vodka (regular vodka works too)

1 tablespoon Galliano liqueur

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 10 inch bundt pan.

2) Beat cake mix, instant pudding, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla vodka, Galliano and orange juice until smooth. (About 3-4 minutes) Pour into greased bundt cake pan and cook for 45-50 minutes or until the bundt cake turns golden brown.

3) Let rest in cake pan 10 minutes and invert onto wire rack. Drizzle with glaze after cake has cooled.

Texas potato salad

Monday was Memorial Day in the U.S., when we remember the men and women who died serving in the US armed forces. Barbequing with family and friends is one of the big traditions. It was funny, because I stopped at a few stores (this is the U.S., so of course every store is open despite it being a federal holiday) and asked the clerks when they were getting out. All three said hopefully in time for the family barbeque! So, for my family barbeque, I volunteered to make the side dishes and dessert and found this recipe in this month's "Cook's Country." Have I mentioned how much I love this magazine? Almost as much as Justin loved this potato salad!

Ingredients

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1/2 small red onion
2 jalapeno chiles (1 sliced into thin rings, the other stemmed, seeded, and minced)
3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
6 tbsp mayonnaise (I used low fat)
6 tbsp yellow mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 large hard-cooked eggs, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 celery ribs, minced

Directions

1) Combine vinegar, sugar, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and mustard seeds in bowl and microwave until steaming, about 2 minutes. Whisk until sugar and salt are dissolved. Add onion and jalapenos and set aside until cool, 15-20 minutes. Strain onion and jalapenos through fine-mesh strainer set over bowl.
2) Meanwhile, combine potatoes, 8 cups water, and 1 tbsp salt in Dutch oven and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are just tender, 10-15 minutes. (This is a good time to hard boil the eggs if you haven't already.)
3) Drain potatoes thoroughly, then transfer to large bowl. Drizzle 2 tbsp reserved vinegar mixture over hot potatoes and toss gently until evenly coated. (Discard remaining vinegar mixture or keep for another recipe.) Refrigerate until cool, about 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through chilling.
4) Whisk mayonnaise, mustard, 1/2 tsp pepper, and cayenne together in bowl until combined. Add mayonnaise mixture, pickled vegetables, eggs, and celery to potatoes and stir gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate to let flavors blend, about 30 minutes.

Palak paneer

Palak paneer is perhaps the first Indian dish I ever tasted. I love creamed spinach, so pivoting to this dish was easy. After failing to find a good recipe for the past 10 years, I (finally!) stumbled across this gem. I've made it twice in the past two months, once for Easter (something for the vegetarians, you know) and again this week when I brought food over to new parents who also happen to be vegetarians. Now, don't let my seemingly one-sided use of this dish and lazy blog behavior dissuade you. It is awesome and easy to make! I might be going out on a limb here, but I even think that Jennifer's husband, who won't sit down at the dinner table unless there is some meaty thing for him to eat, might consider relaxing his dinnertime standards if this was on the menu.
Original recipe here: http://www.food.com/recipe/palak-paneer-indian-fresh-spinach-with-paneer-cheese-25348?oc=linkback

Ingredients

2 (5 ounce) bags baby spinach
1 large onion
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped tomato
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces paneer cheese, cut into cubes (I substituted queso blanco, since I couldn't find firm paneer)
1/4 cup heavy cream (I used half and half and it tasted great)

Directions

1) Cut spinach into shreds and cook in 3 tablespoons water until tender; remove from heat and reserve water.
2) Saute onion, cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger in 1-2 tablespoons ghee or oil until onion is translucent. Add garlic and chopped tomatoes, and reduce heat. Cook briefly and slowly blend in yogurt a little at a time to prevent curdling.
3) Add coriander, garam masala, paprika, and salt, mixing well. Add cooked spinach with liquid, cover and simmer on low heat for approximately 20-30 minutes.
4) Remove from heat. Take half of spinach mixture and puree in food processor or blender,  return to mixture, and stir. Slowly stir in heavy cream, and heat through on low heat. Add paneer cubes and serve.

I promise to add pictures the next time I make this!

Becky's rhubarb crisp

If you're from the Midwest like me, you've grown up on rhubarb. My Mom had some in her garden and I remember a time when I gave a bunch to a friend, but left one lone stalk for her. Man was she mad! However, in NC you're much more likely to find collard greens and okra in your local grocery store. A cousin of mine missed rhubarb so much that my great-grandmother mailed him some rhubarb from her garden. This was in the 1980's and I'm sad to say that things haven't improved a lot in the interim. In fact, a few years ago I contemplated making a rhubarb dessert for some outing since I found some in the local grocery store. I was even more motivated when I learned that Justin had never sampled rhubarb. The horror! The likelihood of him ever tasting it didn't improve much when I described the taste as "a sweet celery." (It's more like sweet and sour celery!) However, he begrudgingly sampled a taste and I swear that most of it was gone the next day.
Anyways, this is a very easy recipe from my mom's friend Becky. If you're lucky to find rhubarb in the grocery store, give it a try. You won't be disappointed!

Ingredients

1 cup flour
3/4 cup oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
12 cup melted butter
1 tsp cinnamon
4 cups cut rhubarb
1 cup white sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1) Mix flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon together and press ~75% of it in a greased 8X8 pan. Top with rhubarb.
2) Cook white sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla until thick, stirring often. Pour over rhubarb. Add remaining topping. Bake at 350F for 1 hour.