Whole Wheat Applesauce Banana Doughnuts with Almond Butter Glaze

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Sometimes I will be getting through my day and out of nowhere I’ll think of a recipe that needs my attention ASAP. Six loads of dirty laundry to get through? No bigs. Dogs that need brushing so I don’t need to vacuum three times a day? Later. Make sure the bills get paid on time? Oh, I’ve got 9 more hours for them to be “on time.” I’ll get to it. Make healthy baked doughnuts because they sound deliciously non-guilty, indulgent, and like an adventure? On it.

This recipe was born on a whim. I had homemade chai-spiced applesauce in the fridge and bananas that were quickly going bad. These doughnuts are more cake-like than your  average fried doughnut, but they are really damn tasty. The applesauce and mashed bananas also create a ridiculously moist crumb. I had never tried making a nut butter based glaze before, but it worked fantastically as far as flavor and texture.

These doughnuts are best eaten the day you make them. While you can keep them for a few days, the glaze is absorbed by the doughnut and loses its shiny, glaze-like appearance by the second day. A cross between doughnuts and banana bread, these treats are easy to make and light enough to keep you from worrying about eating them.

 

Whole Wheat Applesauce Banana Doughnuts with Almond Butter Glaze

Yields 6 regular sized doughnuts

Ingredients:

¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of fresh ground nutmeg
1 egg
2 medium sized ripe bananas
¼ cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup smooth almond butter
2 tbsp unsalted butter
½ tsp coconut oil
½ cup confectioner’s sugar

 

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a regular-sized doughnut pan.

In a medium-sized bowl, use a fork to mash up the banana until few lumps remain. Stir in the applesauce, vanilla, and egg until thoroughly combined.

Add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg to your wet ingredients, stirring until everything is just combined. Spoon the batter into your prepared doughnut pan (filling about 2/3 full).

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the doughnuts come out clean.

While the doughnuts are baking, prepare your glaze. Melt the butter over medium-low heat. Stir frequently until the butter turns a nice golden brown color (10 minutes or so). Stir in the almond butter and coconut oil until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the confectioner’s sugar, ¼ cup at a time, until the mixture is smooth. If it’s too thick, add ¼ teaspoon more of coconut oil.

Cool the doughnuts on a wire rack until you can easily handle them. Dip into your glaze, then return to your wire rack to let the glaze set (10-15 minutes).

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White Pizza with Figs and Goat Cheese

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

I have a confession: I love pizza the same way I did when I was about eight years old. Obsessively. As in, if I could eat pizza every day (and not feel guilty about it), I probably would. The amount of pizza I make for pizza night around here is entirely dependent on how many folks will be around for dinner… which sounds like it makes sense. You probably think when it’s just my husband and I, I make one large pizza. Hah! There’s at least two: as he likes to put it, his pizza and our pizza.

The other night we had both kids around for dinner and Craig’s mom, too. I made four large pizzas: a red-sauced jalapeno pineapple ala my husband; a red sauced olive-artichoke heart-feta pizza ala the kids; and the next two simply because I could: a white sauced potato, roasted tomato, rosemary pizza and a white sauced fig, spinach and goat cheese pizza. All four were delicious.

I’ve been using my sourdough starter to make the pizzas we’ve been having since April. The flavor from the crust also worked nicely with the pizza topping choices. The following recipe is for the fig, spinach, and goat cheese pizza. I used Montchevre’s honey goat cheese, which worked really nicely with the figs on this pizza. The cheese is slightly tangy with just a hint of sweetness from the honey in it. If you can’t find honey goat cheese, plain will work just fine.

 

White Pizza with Figs and Goat Cheese

Yields 1 large pizza

Ingredients:

enough prepared pizza dough for one 18-inch pizza
8-9 ripe figs, each cut into quarters
2 ounces of fresh spinach
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into ¼-inch thick rounds
2 ounces honey goat cheese
¼ cup unsalted butter (1/2 a stick)
7 cloves garlic, minced fine
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
½ cup heavy cream
1¾ cups milk
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat your oven to the highest temperature setting it will go (ours goes up to 550°F). If you’re using a pizza stone, put that into the oven to preheat as well.

While the oven is preheating, prepare your sauce. Melt the butter in as medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the minced garlic and stir frequently, until the garlic softens a bit (5-7 minutes). Whisk in the flour, until you have a smooth paste-like consistency. Let the mixture to cook for 2-3 minutes, allowing the flour-taste to cook off a little.

Add in the salt, fresh basil, heavy cream, and milk, whisking constantly to keep lumps from forming. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continuously whisk the sauce until it begins to thicken (10 -15 minutes). Once the sauce has thickened, reduce the heat even more to low. Whisk in the grated parmesan cheese and fresh black pepper to your liking. Keep the sauce on low heat until you’re ready to use it (this will keep it from getting cold, too thick, and clumpy).

Once your oven is completely preheated, roll out your prepared pizza dough on a lightly floured surface. Transfer to your preheated pizza stone. Poke the dough with a fork a few times to prevent it from bubbling up while baking. Evenly spread the sauce on your dough. Add the fresh spinach onto the pizza, then evenly place the rounds of fresh mozzarella onto the spinach. Arrange your figs on the mozzarella, then crumble the goat cheese on, too.

Bake until the top of your pizza is golden brown (to your liking). Let the pizza rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

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Broccoli Leek Potato Soup

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Relying on walking around Ashland most of the time has lots of perks. Grocery shopping while walking? It’s often budget friendly, too. Our co-op has three options for carrying your groceries around while shopping (four if you merely rely on your arms and hands): large shopping carts, smaller shopping carts, and the handy-dandy-basket. I’ve learned that if I use a basket, I can fit everything into two canvas grocery bags, manageable for the walk home. Once, I got the small shopping cart and thought I was really carefully picking things out I needed (and certainly didn’t need). After I checked out, I had my two grocery bags overflowing, my purse equally full, and a large cardboard box full. While I got a good workout on the journey home, I have not made the same mistake again.

Generally I’ll make a grocery list before walking into the store. Be it mental or on paper, I’ve got some idea of what I need. I have said it before, I am a crazy person about lists. Ca-razy. I’ll usually check out the sale ads online and plan accordingly. Lots of the things I make throughout the week depend on what’s on sale. I was happy to find that this week, leeks were on sale. Broccoli, too! Aaand potatoes. How does that not say, “Julie, make a big pot of soup?”

So the following recipe was born. It’s creamy, faintly cheesy, and very hearty. We ate this soup for three days straight – lunches and dinners – happily. It’ll freeze well, too, if you want to save some for easy reheating later on. I served this soup with slices of crusty, delicious, garlic bread and a side salad.

 

Broccoli Leek Potato Soup

Ingredients:
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 large leek, tough green parts removed *
1 medium white onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1½ pounds russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 pound broccoli, cut into florets
7 cups No-Chicken broth
8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
¼ cup heavy cream
salt and fresh ground pepper
pinch of fresh ground nutmeg

* You remove the tougher, green parts of the leek for this recipe, but they’re great to keep around for adding to vegetable stock or homemade beans. They impart a very mild onion flavor to whatever you cook them with. I place mine in a Tupperware container that I keep in the freezer, along with other vegetable scraps, perfect for homemade broths, until I’m ready to use them.

 

Directions:

Cut the stalk of your leek in half, lengthwise. Place the cut-side down, then chop the leek into thin half-moons.

In a large stock pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped leeks and diced onion. Cook until the onion is translucent and the leeks have softened (7-10 minutes).

Add in the garlic, diced potatoes, and broccoli. Stir to combine everything well. Add in the broth then cover the pot and cook until the broccoli is very tender (20-25 minutes should do it, but I most certainly got distracted and mine cooked for a good 40 minutes before I came back to it! No harm done).

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the leeks, onions, potato, and broccoli to your food processor or high-power blender, leaving the liquid in your stock pot. Process/blend until smooth (2-4 minutes) – if you need to, add a little of the cooking liquid to get things moving. Add the pureed vegetables back into your broth, stirring everything together well.

Turn the heat back on to medium-high. Stir in the cheese, heavy cream, some salt and pepper, and the fresh nutmeg. Continue stirring until the cheese has melted entirely. Heat the soup back up to serving temperature. Taste, then add more salt and pepper accordingly.

Posted in Appetizer, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Lunch, Soup, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chai Spiced Homemade Applesauce

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

We have a Japanese maple tree that borders along our front yard and the neighbor’s house. It’s the tell-tale give away I depend on each year to determine fall’s arrival. The leaves transition from vibrant greens of every shade to golden yellows, to flamboyant oranges, to flaming reds that scream to be noticed. As soon as the colors begin to shift, I know the cold will soon arrive, the days will grow shorter, and I will crave just the tiniest glimpses of sunshine (please) between the grays and chills that I equally appreciate.

When I greet fall, I crave a home filled with a warmth that’s greeting, scents that welcome you as soon as you enter in. Homemade applesauce so easily offers that. The smell alone is intoxicating, heavy with sweetness and cinnamon, earthy flavors that fill your senses. Last month, some friends from the North Bay area brought us a huge box of Gravenstein apples. I made apple pancakes, apple doughnuts, apple cakes, apple slices dipped in almond butter, apple oatmeal… I read recipe after recipe, concocting new ideas in my head that wandered far from applesauce. I was avoiding it intentionally, until I realized that we had nearly 10 pounds of apples that would soon leave me with two options: applesauce or the compost pile.

Another of my favorite scents that lingers when brewing is homemade chai tea. I thought about the flavors that I love so much about chai: sweet cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, anise, cloves. I realized that at least half of these were flavors I’ve used with apples in various recipes and decided to attempt combining the two. The result was a sweet, spiced applesauce that was both filling and warming: exactly what I was aiming for. I added some pears, as I had them on hand and thought they’d offer some sweetness to the final applesauce. Feel free to replace them with an additional pound of apples if that’s what you have available. This makes a large amount of applesauce, but I think it would can well, or freeze just fine to use throughout the winter when you need something sweet, inviting, and delicious.

Chai Spiced Applesauce

Ingredients:

5 pounds apples (I used Gravenstein apples, use what you want), cored, peeled, cut in chunks
1 pound Bosc pears, peeled, seeded, and cut in chunks
1 tbsp. ground Ceylon cinnamon
a pinch of ground cloves
a pinch of ground star anise
1/8 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg
½ – ¾ tsp. ground ginger
3 cardamom pods, ground
1- 4 inch peel of fresh orange peel
3 tbsp. honey
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 stick Ceylon cinnamon
1 vanilla bean
¾ – 1 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla extract


Directions:

Combine the apples and pears in a large pot. Add the ground cinnamon, cloves, star anise, nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cardamom, orange peel, honey, brown sugar, cinnamon stick, scraped vanilla bean, and water. Stir to combine everything as best as you can.

Cook over medium heat, occasionally stirring, until the apples and pears break down (30-45 minutes – cooking time absolutely depends on the type of apples you’re using). Once the apples and pears have completely softened, use a potato masher or large wooden spoon to mash them into your preferred texture (for a really smooth applesauce, puree in your food processor). Stir in the vanilla extract.

Serve warm or cold, depending on your preference. This applesauce would be great for canning if you’re into that, Freezing works well, too!

Posted in Appetizer, Breakfast, Dessert, Gluten-Free, Kids, Lunch, Sauces, Sides, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Vegetarian Lentil Chili

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

‘Tis the season for the comfort of one pot meals. If I owned a crock pot, I imagine it would get a lot of use right about now. Honestly I don’t know where the transition was that happened between summer and full-blown fall time. The windshield glass of our car was frosted over the other morning. Today my husband turned the heat on in our house. Winter’s coming… truthfully, I don’t mind.

Stews, chilies, casseroles – it’s what I think of once the weather gets cooler. The beauty of a lentil-based chili is that it requires no previous soaking, unlike dried beans. You can throw it together with much less planning (which, sometimes, is entirely necessary). The following recipe is a very straightforward, easy, vegetarian chili. While the ingredient list may seem long, there’s nothing complicated about it.

 

Vegetarian Lentil Chili

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. oil
1 large white onion, diced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp. red chili pepper flakes
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1 tbsp. chili powder
2½ tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1/8 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups red lentils
2- 14.5 oz. cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes, with liquid (or fresh if you prefer!)
1 tbsp. fresh oregano, minced
½ tsp. liquid smoke
1 tsp. vegan worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. light brown sugar
1 bay leaf
5 cups broth
salt and pepper


Directions

In a large stock pot, sauté the diced onion, minced garlic, and chili pepper flakes in the oil, until the onion is translucent (5-7 minutes). Add the green bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, and cocoa powder. Cook over medium-high heat until the bell pepper softens (5-6 minutes).

Add the lentils, tomatoes, fresh oregano, liquid smoke, tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, bay leaf, and broth. Stir to combine everything well. Add salt and pepper to your liking (keeping in mind you can always add more once the chili has cooked for a while – the broth will add some saltiness and the flavors will come together more distinctly as the chili cooks). Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for an hour, stirring occasionally.

Check the broth level of the chili occasionally while it cooks, adding more broth as needed (or water). Uncover the pot and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Taste and add more salt and/or pepper to your liking.

Serve hot with toppings such as sour cream, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, minced parsley or cilantro.

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Baked Buttermilk Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

I had been eyeing baked doughnut pans for a good year. It wasn’t that they’re overly expensive, or hard to find, or a complete irrational buy… It was merely a last resort effort at having self control, knowing that as soon as I had one in our kitchen, I’d be baking doughnuts like a crazy lady.

Then I got an e-mail from Zulily a couple weeks ago, notifying me of a sale on some bakeware, cookware, etc. The photo in my e-mail was of a baked doughnut pan and I couldn’t resist checking it out… Though not expensive, at full price, it was always easier to say, “Oh I’ll wait until it’s on sale…” On sale, I gave in. And then the damned thing arrived in the mail and that’s the end of that story.

No, it’s not. Within two hours of arriving at our doorstep, I had washed the pan and found a recipe to tweak and attempt. I opted for an easy buttermilk doughnut along with a thrown together chocolate glaze, based on my lack of powdered sugar in the pantry. I do have a long list of recipes I would eventually like to try. In part:

Baked Maple Pumpkin Donuts from The Sweet Life
Baked Apple Doughnuts from Bakers Royale
Gluten Free Maple Glazed Doughnuts from Cannelle et Vanille
Vegan Zucchini Carrot Banana Donuts from Scissors and Spice
Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts from The Novice Chef
Samoa Baked Donuts from Top With Cinnamon
Gluten Free Lemon Blueberry Cornmeal Donuts from Pickles & Honey

This is getting serious.

I’ve been a fan of doughnuts (donuts?!) for most of my life. Simple yeast-risen glazed doughnuts, preferably. Maybe a glazed cinnamon twist if I’m feeling fancy and adventurous. I think the love comes from my mama. I remember waking up before sunrise many times when I was growing up, just to ride with my mom to the airport in order to drop my uncle off, who’d fly back to Oahu for work. This ride wasn’t always just to say goodbye, it meant there’d be a stop at the bakery and I could help pick out (and eat) doughnuts on the ride home. There used to be a bakery in Kapa’a that has long since been gone, but my mom would bring us there often. Her desire: “greasy doughnuts” as she called them. These fluffy, fried, glazed yeast doughnuts that melted in your mouth with every bite. We were both sad when the bakery disappeared after 1992’s Hurricane Iniki.

If I really were to indulge my cravings, I’d eat fried doughnuts at least a few times a month. But I try to eat more healthy than that (most of the time). Baked doughnuts kind of dance that fine line of “healthier” but still “doughnut.” This recipe surprised me. I am not quite sure of what I was expecting, to tell you honestly… but these doughnuts came out fluffy, moist, but not airy like a fried doughnut would. They were delicious: sweet, cakey, nutmeg-y, lighter than I’d expect from a “cake” style doughnut. If you’ve got a different icing recipe, feel free to use it! This recipe can easily be doubled for a dozen doughnuts!

 

Baked Buttermilk Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze

Yields 6 baked doughnuts

Ingredients:

For the doughnuts:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cane sugar
¾ tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg
¼ tsp. sea salt
½ cup buttermilk
1½ tbsp. honey
1 egg
1 tbsp. oil
½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the chocolate glaze:
½ cup cane sugar
½ oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate
½ tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tbsp. whole milk
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. coconut oil
¼ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425° F and lightly oil a 6-spot doughnut pan. (This is the one I’ve been using and enjoying a lot .)

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and sea salt until fully combined.

In a separate small bowl (or your measuring cup), whisk together your buttermilk, honey, egg, oil, and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into your dry ingredients, until just together (the batter will be a bit stiff).

Spoon the batter evenly into the wells of your doughnut pan (about ¾ of the way full). Bake the doughnuts for 7-8 minutes, until lightly brown (barely brown) and a toothpick that’s inserted into the doughnut comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool after 5 minutes in the pan.

While the doughnuts are in the oven, prepare your glaze. Melt the tablespoon of butter in a small pot, over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the sugar, bittersweet chocolate, unsweetened cocoa, and milk. Whisk continuously until the sugar has completely disintegrated. Continue whisking until the mixture just comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

Whisk in the coconut oil and vanilla extract. Cool the glaze, whisking occasionally to keep the glaze smooth. The glaze should thicken as it cools. As soon as the glaze is thick enough to your liking (I cooled mine for about 6 minutes, whisking often), dip the doughnuts in, then flip and return to your cooling rack. Sprinkle on coconut flakes or sprinkles if you’d like.

Eat and enjoy (these are best eaten sooner than later!).

Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Dessert, Life, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mahi Mahi “Burgers” with Slaw

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery


When people ask me if I miss home after finding out I’m from Kauai, my answer rarely fluctuates. Yes, I miss parts of the place I spent more than half of my life thus far. One thing I especially miss is being near the ocean. It’s in my blood. There’s a sanctuary in those warm salty blue waters that I crave incessantly. I grew up in the water, on the beach (visit https://flyfishingoutfitters.com/ to book a beautiful cruise), outdoors, fishing. The expert in this is  Jimmy John Shark.

My siblings and I, circa 1989 or so.


Next month makes five years since my Uncle Ronnie passed away. I remember many weekends filled with shoreline fishing adventures with Uncle Ronnie, my mom, sister, brothers, sometimes my dad, at times aunties and uncles who may or may not have been blood related. Funny thing is, I couldn’t stand to eat anything fishy. Uncle Ronnie would pay me to eat sashimi (thinly sliced raw fish) by the slice.

Uncle Ronnie and my sister, Jenn.


That has changed these days. I still don’t care for very fishy-tasting fish, but love halibut, mahi mahi, cod… mostly white, flaky fish that is light in flavor (that and salmon cooked well). A few years ago my husband, now 14-year-old stepson and I went to Maui for some shows Craig’s band was playing. While there, we ate at Paia Fish Market, whose fish burgers we’d heard rave reviews about. The market’s “burgers” are charbroiled pieces of fish – mahi mahi, ono, ahi, whatever other fish they’ve got – signature coleslaw, tarter sauce, tomato, and cheese, on a sesame bun. The sandwich is simple, but the flavors are amazing and fresh.

When we got back to Ashland, Craig and I would both crave these sandwiches every now and then. I haven’t been able to find Paia Fish Market’s top secret slaw recipe, but have found that my go-to honey cumin lime coleslaw works nicely on our version of these fish burgers. The other day I saw halibut on sale and knew instantly what was for dinner. The flavors worked well together. Keep in mind, these burgers get messy quickly, but that’s just part of the fun!

 

Halibut “Burgers” with Slaw

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

¾ lb. mahi mahi fillet, skinless (you can use halibut or even cod)
2 tbsp. olive oil
sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped
¼ tsp. granulated garlic

2 hamburger buns (my favorite is Dave’s Killer Blues Buns)
1 ripe tomato, sliced
1 – ½ a recipe honey cumin lime slaw

optional:
grated cheddar cheese
tarter sauce
Directions:

Cut the fish into two fillets. Rub each side of the fish with one tablespoon of the oil. Sprinkle each side of the fish generously with the salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic.


Heat a cast iron, or heavy bottomed pan over medium-high. Add one tablespoon of oil. Once the pan is thoroughly hot, add the fish. Fry the fish until crisp and lightly golden (4-5 minutes) then flip and cook until the other side is crisp as well (3-4 minutes).

Toast your buns if you prefer. I like to lightly butter the inside surface of each bun, then toast in a pan on the stove until golden brown.

To serve, place the fish on your bottom bun (teehee!). Top with a generous amount of slaw, tomato slices, and cheese. If you want to add tarter sauce, feel free. I find it unnecessary with the creaminess of this slaw.

Enjoy while this fish is still hot. Make a mess, use a fork as necessary. The messier, the tastier, so do not enter this meal fearfully! :)

Posted in Dinner, Life, Lunch, Restaurants, Seafood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Rosemary Garlic Parmesan Sourdough Bread

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Once upon a time my sister had to define “eating pants” as we discussed her Thanksgiving menu versus my vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner plans. We talked about mashed potatoes, turkey, Tofurky, Field Roast artisan veggie roasts, green beans, buttery rolls, pies of various flavors, gravies, and eating pants. She assured me she was wearing her eating pants to dinner: you know, the ones that can be slyly loosened at the belt line once you’ve ate waaay too much but need still need to stand up and drive home after the meal?

I don’t think I’ve owned eating pants for a few years now. On purpose, perhaps as a means of feeling like I can control myself when it comes to how much I will eat? Mind you, that tactic doesn’t always work. Some days simply require beer and bread, my gluten-heavy, carbohydrate-loaded happy place. That’s right.

Living in the middle of the west coast offers many brews that more than satisfy my beer cravings. Last fall I developed this ridiculous fascination with pumpkin brews. I tried a few I didn’t care for. I longed for flavors that sounded good, but could not be found around here. The other day I was ecstatic to find Elysian Brewing Company’s seasonal pumpkin beers in the grocery store. I picked up their 22 oz. Dark o’the Moon Pumpkin Stout and rushed home to try it. While not very heavy on the pumpkin flavor, it was a tasty stout! Very earthy and full flavored. I also tried the Night Owl Pumpkin Ale, which was light and deliciously flavored, almost like a boozy pumpkin pie in a bottle.

Along with my weakness for good beer is good homemade bread. Ever since I began my sourdough starter back in April, we’ve been eating a lot more homemade bread concoctions. The following recipe came on a whim. The dutch oven cooking gives the loaf a perfectly chewy inside with a delicious crust on the outside. The rosemary works nicely with the sourdough flavor, while the garlic and cheese also offer great taste. This bread was good buttered, unbuttered, and alongside a pesto lasagna!

 


Rosemary Garlic Parmesan Sourdough Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water (115°-120°F)
1 tbsp. cane sugar
2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 ½ cups sourdough starter
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. granulated garlic
3 tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups all-purpose flour
oil

Directions:

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the warm water and cane sugar. Sprinkle in the yeast, then allow the mixture to sit 5-10 minutes, until the yeast begins to froth.

Add the sourdough starter, sea salt, granulated garlic, rosemary, parmesan cheese, and minced garlic to your yeast mixture. Stir until combined. Slowly add in one cup of flour until fully incorporated. Continue adding the flour like this, one cup at a time, until fully incorporated. Use the dough hook on your mixer to knead the dough for 10-12 minutes. The dough should appear really smooth and almost elastic. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl then cover loosely with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise until doubled in bulk (1- 1½ hours).

Once the dough has doubled in size, gently punch it down and shape into a ball, pinching the bottom shut by pulling all the edges inwards, twisting the bottom and top in opposite directions (say WHAT?!). Place the rounded dough onto a lightly oiled piece of parchment paper for 30 more minutes.

Preheat your oven to 450°F. Place a large dutch oven into the oven to preheat as well. Slash the smooth side of your dough a few times with a sharp knife (about ¼-inch deep). Gently lift your dough (including the parchment paper) and  place in your preheated dutch oven. Sprinkle some water on the inside of your dutch oven lid before covering the pot (this will allow the loaf to steam in the oven, creating a chewier texture).

Bake for 20 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake for 20-25 more minutes, until the top is nicely golden in color.

Allow the bread to cool before cutting and serving.

Posted in Baking, Bread, Dinner, Lunch, Sides, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Buttermilk Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Roasted Figs

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Sometimes recipe inspiration hits me in weird places. And I don’t mean in my left elbow, or right pinkie-toe. I was running at the gym the other day… I used to despise the treadmill – I’d opt for the elliptical machines, spin bikes, rowing machines – anything but running in one spot feeling like I should be going somewhere, but can’t. I’ve been enjoying my runs recently though. Rather than thinking about how I’m not actually going anywhere, despite the mileage going up on the machine’s tracker, I’ve found myself thinking about recipes to concoct. Sometimes all the thoughts of butter and sugar leave me with the incentive to run faster. Sometimes it makes me get off the machine so I can get home and make something tasty.

During that particular run, I found myself thinking about the large box of Gravenstein apples sitting in our kitchen, brought up from Sonoma County, California by friends last week. I had been thinking about these apples a lot, wondering what to make aside from applesauce. Apple cake sounded like a good idea. I had also been seeing a lot of recipes for fig desserts recently and decided to try them with the apples. The result was a tender, fluffy buttermilk cake, rich with apples and topped with sweet roasted figs. Delicious.

After Silas had a piece, I asked how he liked it? “It was really, really good… can I have another piece?” I asked if he’d ever eaten a fig before? “Yeah, I think I had them one time. They are nasty raw, though.” I said some people like them really ripe, topped with some honey along with goat cheese… His response? “Yeah. I think I had that at the farmer’s market one time. It was really not good for me.” Hehe! Honestly, I was entirely surprised that he enjoyed this cake! I’m sure you will, too. Plus it’s easy, which is all the more incentive to give it a try.

 

 

Buttermilk Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Roasted Figs

Yields 1- 8 inch cake

Ingredients:

9-10 ripe figs, halved
3 tbsp. light brown sugar
drizzle of olive oil

2/3 cup cane sugar
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. Ceylon cinnamon
¼ tsp. sea salt
pinch of ground ginger
pinch fresh ground nutmeg
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup apples, peeled, cored, and diced


Directions:

Roast the figs: Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the halved figs, cut side up. Lightly drizzle with olive oil, then evenly sprinkle the brown sugar over each fig. Roast for 15-20 minutes until the brown sugar begins to caramelize and the figs begin to shrink a little. Remove from the oven and set aside until ready to be used. Leave your oven on at 400°F.

Prepare your cake batter: Lightly oil a 8-inch round cake pan. Beat together the unsalted butter and cane sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until fully combined. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and a pinch of fresh ground nutmeg into your butter mixture. (No need for sifting or pre-combining.) While the mixer is still on, add the buttermilk slowly, mixing just until just combined. Stir in the diced apples. The batter will be quite thick, do not fear! :) Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan. Use a spatula to evenly spread the batter.

Gently press the roasted figs into the top of your cake batter, arranging them in whatever way you’d like. Sprinkle the top of your cake with a little more cinnamon and fresh nutmeg, a little brown sugar if you’d like. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of your cake comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool to room temperature before cutting and serving.

 

Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Dessert, Kids, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Roasted Tomato Cashew Basil Soup

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery


I am not someone who dwells on the changing seasons, hoping for summer to last a little longer, or for winter to pass more quickly. As the seasons change, I accept and adjust accordingly. Except the whole shoe thing: I grew up on an island. I grew up with my bare feet in the sand, naked toes with grass between ‘em. That hasn’t changed. I still prefer to work in the garden barefoot. You’ll catch me running up the sidewalk barefoot to retrieve things out of the car. If footwear is required, I prefer wearing my slippers (okay, “flip flops,” as everyone around me calls them) even when it’s 15 degrees outside.

But this post isn’t about feet, it’s about soup. Soup and fall time, because the two go hand in hand. Like I said a week ago,  this time of year always finds me saying I’ll make more soups, only to fall short. I’ve surprised myself and made soup two weeks in a row, however. Both consisting of roasted tomatoes from the end of summer bounty we’re finding ourselves with, yet very different from one another in flavors. The following soup is very easily made vegan, simply subbing the butter for Earth Balance or even olive oil. It’s very hearty and the cashews offer a delicious creaminess. It’s quite simple, really. Roasting the tomatoes adds a depth of sweetness to this soup.

I made this soup relatively thick, but you can thin it to your liking with more broth. I actually used the leftovers we had as tomato “sauce” on homemade pizza tonight. In part because I ran out of marinara sauce… and in part because it was a great blend of creamy, acidy, tomato-ey, and basil-ey – just the way I like my homemade pizza sauce. It worked like magic. If you’ve got leftovers, you can also freeze them for future meals!

 

Roasted Tomato Cashew Basil Soup

Ingredients:

2 ½ lbs. cherry tomatoes, halved
2 ½ lbs. other tomatoes (beefsteak, roma, etc.), cut in chunks
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper

2 cups raw cashews, soaked in water at least 3 hours
¼ cup unsalted butter (Earth Balance for a vegan version)
1 large onion, diced
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 ounce fresh basil, chopped
1 cup water or No-Chicken broth

 

Directions:


Roast your tomatoes: Preheat your oven to 400°F. Place your tomatoes on two large baking sheets. Drizzle one tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and one tablespoon of olive oil evenly over the tomatoes on each pan. Generously add salt and pepper.

Roast the tomatoes for 20-30 minutes, until they’re wrinkly and somewhat charred along the edges. Note – the tomatoes will get really juicy while roasting. About half way through the cooking time, I drained all these juices into a measuring cup, reserving the liquid and returning the tomatoes to the oven to finish roasting. That juice should definitely be saved for your final soup – it’s flavorful and delicious! Set the tomatoes aside until ready to use.

Prepare your soup: While the tomatoes are roasting, melt the ¼ cup of unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and garlic, stirring occasionally until the onions are opaque. Remove from heat.

In a food processor fitted with the large chopping blade, or a high power blender, combine the roasted tomatoes, raw cashews (that have been soaked and drained), onions, garlic, and basil, blending until smooth. Add in the broth or water as needed, to thin the soup to your preferred thickness. Continue blending until completely smooth (5-8 minutes). Taste, then add salt and pepper to your liking.

Pour the soup into a large pot and heat over medium-low heat until hot enough to serve enjoyably. Top with some pesto, a little drizzle of good olive oil, or nothing at all. Eat with a gooey grilled cheese sandwich, or not at all… This soup is very filling even by its lonesome.

Serves 8-12 as a main dish.

Posted in Appetizer, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Lunch, Travel, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment