I’ve moved

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Katie Tegtmeyer
In the spirit of Project Reclaim, I’m consolidating all of my stuff over at the mother blog, so you can find future recipe updates in the recipe category.

Thanks for reading, and please update your links and RSS feeds.

Cinnamon-chip muffins

Cinnamon-chip muffins, a photo by ted_major on Flickr.

(adapted from Food.com)
Makes 6 muffins
Muffin ingredients:

• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup cinnamon chips

Topping ingredients:

• 1 Tbs butter (cold)
• 2 Tbs white whole wheat flour, divided
• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

 

Preheat the oven to 400F.
Next, make the streusel topping. Mix 1.5 Tbs flour, 2 Tbs brown sugar, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl. Use a pastry blender to mix in the butter, leaving small lumps. Stir in remaining 1/2 Tbs flour to keep mix crumbly. Put it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in the chips. In a a small bowl or 2-cup measuring cup, mix milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir. Let rest 10 minutes to let the flour hydrate. Spoon batter into greased and floured muffin tins and bake 18 or so minutes until done. Remove tin to a wire rack, cool 5 minutes, and then remove muffins.

Pumpkin-sausage soup

Thought I’d blogged this before, but couldn’t find and needed the recipe for this week’s menu/shopping list. We used cream instead of coconut milk (yum) last time because that’s what we had on stock. This time we’ll probably try the coconut milk.
via Caveman food.

• 1-1.25 lbs bulk breakfast sausage
• 1/2 a large onion, minced
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
• one 15-oz can of pumpkin
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• pinch of dried rosemary
• 1 tsp paprika
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp sea salt or to taste
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 cup coconut milk

Heat the butter in a heavy deep pot and cook the onions, mushrooms and sausage all together. Add the pumpkin to the pot and deglaze with the chicken stock, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the coconut milk.

Old Fashioned Caramel Icing

Another one from Pam:

• 3 1/3 cups cups sugar, divided use
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
• 1 cup canned evaporated milk
• 1 egg

Mix 3 cups sugar, butter, evaporated mik, and egg together in a saucepen; bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, brown the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a heavy pan. Let the sugar melt in pan slowly – keep stirring so it does not burn.

Mix the browned sugar into the milk mixture and boil slowly for about 15 minutes. Cool and beat until ready to spread on cake.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

From my colleague, Pam Cole:

• 1 ½ (3 sticks) of butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or 12 cups bundt pan. Beat butter and cream cheese together in mixing bowl until blended. Add sugar to mixture and cream until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in vanilla. Sift flour and salt together. Blend into creamed mixture, spoon batter into prepared pan(s). Bake for one hour and 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted one inch from edge comes out clean. Cool in pan for five minutes, turn onto wire rack and completely cool.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,100 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 52 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Vanilla extract

vanilla, a photo by ted_major on Flickr.

For the past few years, we’ve been making homemade vanilla extract for ourselves and for Christmas presents. We started with a basic recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, and scaled it up, because 3/4 cup of extract just isn’t enough. With a little experimentation, we also increased the amount of vanilla to reach our current ratio.

To make vanilla extract, you’re going to need to buy vanilla beans in bulk. Grocery store beans won’t cut it,for two critical reasons. First, they’re outrageously expensive–one or two beans in a jar. The first problem leads to the second: they’re so expensive that nobody buys them, so they sit on the shelf for a long time and as a result are dessicated and terribly stale.

We’ve had good luck buying from Arizona Vanilla Company (no affiliation, just happy customers). Since we’re making extract, we buy the grade B beans which aren’t as pretty, but work just fine. A half pound goes for a little over $20 the last time we bought some. It’s more than we need for extract, but they keep well in a glass jar in the freezer (even after a year, they’re fresher than what you get in the grocery store!). You can see from the photo how much oilier they are than those dried out things in the store.

To make a little under 750 mL of extract:

• 40 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
• 750 mL bottle of vodka

Pour out a little bit of vodka, then put in 40 beans. Top with the vodka you poured out, and then set aside in a dark, cool spot for at least 6 weeks. From time to time, turn the bottle over to mix. After a few weeks, the vodka will start to darken. Six weeks is the minimum to soak it, but longer is even better. We keep a fifth of vanilla extract steeping pretty much all the time, and use it to top off a smaller bottle we keep in the spice cabinet.

Spinach and sausage frittata

Spinach and sausage frittata, a photo by ted_major on Flickr.

• 1 tbs coconut oil
• 1 lb sausage
• 1/2 bunch spinach
• 6 eggs
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat skillet over medium heat. When hot, add coconut oil and then cook until browned, breaking up the sausage as it cooks. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Add eggs and stir together, then turn heat to medium-low. While it cooks, preheat broiler and grate Parmesan over the top. When the center starts to set, place under the broiler until the top is browned. Slide onto a cutting board and cut into 6 slices.

Pork chops & apple sauce

No, not pork chops & applesauce, pork chops and apple sauce.

• 4 thick cut pork loin chops (bone in or boneless, as you prefer)
• coarse sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 Tbs coconut oil (or butter, lard, or olive oil–it’s not critical)
• 1 bottle cider (I used Woodchuck Granny Smith, but substitute as you see fit)

Sprinkle chops with coarse salt, and let rest for a few minutes. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add oil, and add chops. Cook until they start to brown, then turn and add cider. Cover, and braise for about 10 minutes or until done. Remove chops to a platter and tent with foil to keep warm. Raise heat to high, and reduce until syrupy. Add juices from chops and reduce again until thickened. Serve chops with sauce and sides of your choice.

Peach melomel

Peach melomel, a photo by ted_major on Flickr.

Wow . . . without a doubt the best mead I’ve ever made. Sure wish I’d made more than a gallon–it’s gonna go fast, and it’s a long time until I’ll be able to make any more.

To make one gallon:

• 2 lbs, 12 oz Tupelo honey
• 3 peaches, peeled, pitted & chopped
• water to make 1 gallon
• 1 packet Safale S-04 yeast

Heat water & honey to a simmer, let cool and add to fermenter with peaches. Pitch yeast and ferment to completion.

Bottle, chill & enjoy.