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Walnut Cups – gorgeous holiday cookie alternative (who doesn’t love a cream cheese crust?)

18 Dec

2012-12-16 09.19.14I absolutely cannot believe that I have never posted this recipe!

Yes this much butter, this much cream cheese. Get your jaw off the floor and get cooking!

Yes this much butter, this much cream cheese. Get your jaw off the floor and get cooking!

For the last I don’t know how many years — since my neighbor Teresa brought some over for us one holiday season and was kind enough to give me the recipe — Marianne and family and I (and now Leandro) have included this recipe in our Christmas cookie baking extravaganza although  think last year we did Walnut Toffee Triangles instead. When we went to do the cups this year, I went straight to my own blog and was horrified (or perhaps I should say gobsmacked, simply because I can) to find I had never shared this with you! Continue reading →

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Whip It Good (Make Your Own Whipped Cream in Minutes)

27 Nov

Making your own whipped cream and is easy and fun for kids.

The texture is much more velvety than store-bought and it doesn’t bring extra additives.

Whipped!

Leandro and I made an apple crisp for Thanksgiving, but we didn’t actually start eating it until a couple of days later because we were so full! Instead of ice cream, we made our very own whipped cream.

It is so simple – takes five minutes! – and the results are so satisfying.

With warm apple crisp

Whipped Cream

Before you start: put the bowl and whisk or beaters in the freezer so they are ice cold when you are ready to use. Another note – whisking can take awhile, especially when you have eager little helpers. We use a hand beater instead of a whisk, which Leandro could manage quite well (as long as he kept the beaters in the cream) and then got to lick after!

Ingredients

1 Cup heavy cream (whipping cream is actually not the best choice!)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbs confectioner’s sugar

How-To

In a large bowl, whip cream until you begin to get thick waves that threaten to peak. Beat in vanilla and sugar until peaks form. Stop there! Don’t overbeat it into buttery lumps.

You can store by lining a sieve with culinary cloth, putting the whipped cream in and then setting the sieve over a bowl, but it never lasts that long around here. You can also freeze it apparently, but I have yet to try! This makes about 16 generous tablespoons worth.

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20 Nov

Note to Hot, Cheap & Easy readers: Miss Marzipan made a variation of my Walnut Toffee Triangles…with Pecans and Maple! Looks good, doesn’t it?

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Kids in the Kitchen (6 ways to get them involved)

11 Nov

I am lucky in that my son is healthy and bright and a regular kid in most ways.

I am not lucky, as in: “You are lucky your son eats so well.”

Planting garlic (photo by Marianne Goralski)

In the food department, my son does eat quite well, but my “luck” is — as much of what we call luck is — the result of a lot of effort.

It’s not just that I cook and that I come from a family that has always cooked and eaten well. There are a number of things I do to get Leandro involved in the kitchen and in the food he eats; it doesn’t always lead to direct consumption of say, raw carrots, but over time it has made him a kid who knows where his food comes from and who is willing to give things a try. So I thought I’d share a few with you! Continue reading →

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Apple Crisp (and the answer to the contraption challenge)

15 Oct

Yesterday I asked if you knew what this was:

Peel Away Peeler, Corer, and Slicer, courtesy Hatti Langsford.

And I got numerous responses, most of them correct! The hair removal comment was pretty funny! (Thanks Conor from One Man’s Meat)

It is indeed an apple corer, which can be set to peel and slice as well. Want one? Click here to shop around….

My dear friend from college (The New School, if you’d like to know), Hatti Langsford, whose recent “sustainable” wedding  to Chris Moratz, was covered in these pages, gave it to Leandro when we were visiting them in the New Paltz area last fall. It has since traveled, not just home to us, but to Leandro’s school during Apple Week last year! The kids (and teachers) loved it! And it is a terrific way to get kids eating fruit and involved in the kitchen!

It is a marvelous contraption, that Hatti wants me to remind you can also be used for peeling potatoes, and it can be used for pears as well. It came in particularly handy for this simple apple crisp recipe, as the spiral slice was the perfect thickness for the dish (1/4 inch); all I had to do was slice each apple once in half from top to bottom after Ashley and Leandro had peeled, cored and spiral sliced them.

Make sure the butter is well-distributed through the dry ingredients or you’ll have dry patches. I eliminated the dry patches by covering with foil; the heat finished the topping!

I made it in two 8×8 baking dishes so that I had one to take to this month’s Single Mother’s By Choice meet-up (where it met with general approval and most people took seconds), and one to keep! You could also do one large baking dish.

Yum!

Apple Crisp (adapted very slightly from Betty Crocker!)

10 small-medium cooking apples (we used Gala this time), cored and sliced (peeling is optional)

1.5 Cups mixed brown and white sugar, packed

1 Cup all-purpose flour

1 Cup quick-cooking oats (old-fashioned can also be used)

2/3 Cups butter, softened

1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

1.5 tsp ground nutmeg

Whipped cream or ice cream, if desired

Heat oven to 375°F. Grease bottom and sides of two 8×8 or one 8×13 rimmed baking dish with shortening.

Spread apple slices in pan(s). In a large bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream, wetting thoroughly with the butter. Spread over the apples.

Bake 30 minutes (add five minutes for glass baking dish), or until top is golden and apples are fork-tender. Serve warm with cream.

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Cranberry-Nut Mini-Muffin Scones

24 Jan

Nothing like getting halfway through a baking recipe and realizing you don’t have one of the critical ingredients.

Leandro and I were experimenting with a new muffin recipe on the eve of the spring semester and I had laid out all the ingredients beforehand (a critical strategic move when baking with a four-year-old boy and a secret pleasure because I pretend I am on my own prepped and pretty cooking show).

Then the “1/2 Cup milk,” bit, which I swear was not there when I was playing next Food Network Star in my own head five minutes previous, suddenly loomed into view. Milk!?! I hate milk! Leandro hates milk! Ick! We never have milk in!

And baking? Well I suddenly hated baking too, because it is so precise, so unforgiving, so anal, so not me….

But, Leandro and I do like yogurt and we always have plain nonfat organic on hand for my breakfast and his dip for apple slices. So, seeing as we were well into the process of these muffins (which started with a recipe from Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread by — I kid you not — Crescent Dragonwagon, an Arkansas chef and innkeeper), I bunged in 1/2 Cup of yogurt instead and hoped for the best.

The result was some really fun mini-scones. They were nubbly and attractive, studded with ruby cranberries. Instead of my usual muffin sponginess, the texture had that dense fluffiness that makes scones so lovely with tea or coffee, punctuated with nutty bits. The craisins took on an orange-y candied peel flavor that was perfect for a winter day.

Leandro did not like them at all. “I told you not to put that smelly powder (nutmeg) in,” was his shrugging response.

My colleagues, however, were a different story. I brought them in for a first-day-of-school snack for our kitchen and they moved quickly and got lots of compliments. So….as they used to say in hockey “kick, save, and a beauty!” I guess I like baking again.

Here’s the recipe…enjoy!

Cranberry-Nut Mini-Muffin-Scones

1 ¼ Cup unbleached all purpose flour

½ Cup sugar

2 ½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 Cup nonfat plain yogurt

½ Cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

¾ Cup dried craisins (sweetened dried cranberries)

½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts (you may sub 1/4 cup walnuts with ¼ cup unsalted sunflower seeds)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease or line with paper cups 48 mini-muffin tins.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar to taste, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. In a second bowl, whisk together milk, butter, egg and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combine gently into a soft dough (crumbly is fine) with as little handling as possible. Gently fold in cranberries and nuts.

Use a spoon or fingers to fill muffin cups a half to two-thirds full. Bake until lightly golden, 12-15 minutes. Cool for a minute, remove and then cool completely on a wire rack. Will keep three days in an airtight container; no refrigeration.

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Banana Maple Walnut Muffins

22 Dec

I’ve crossed to the dark side and I am never-ever-ever going back. After years of greasing — and subsequently washing — four trays of mini-muffin baking cups (that is 48 — forty-eight, count ’em– little tiny cups each with its own pain-in-the-cuticles little edge that gets full of burnty-bits because, of course, they are also a pain-in-the-cuticles to grease) I finally bought some paper muffin cup liners and I don’t think I’ll ever bake naked again.

Good thing, because this is a nice little recipe that I would like to do again, but might have put it off because of the aforementioned greasing and washing thing.

Full disclosure: Leandro is usually deeply involved in all baking activities. This time, however, he had a friend over and they didn’t feel like it and they were very happy (meaning: not bothering me) so, why eff up a good thing? Also, in retrospect, the many tiny 1/4 teaspoons of this and that really aren’t suited to baking with kids who prefer to throw puffs of flour and baking soda around. So I went ahead and made these myself – his little friend’s mom arriving just in time to help me fill the cups – and had a lovely time.

This was a big hit with my colleagues and everyone else who tried them. Leandro was not so keen (today I seem to have a great deal to disclose, don’t I?), at least he wasn’t at first, but later warmed up to them and loved them in his lunchbox with yogurt for dipping. Oh yes, and the original recipe comes from Food to Live By, by Myra Goodman of Earthbound Farms fame!

Note about the maple syrup: I am pleased to say it comes from New York State! Sugar Brook Maple Farm in Kerhonkson, NY (845-626-3466) to be exact. It is lovely and rich and mellow and thanks to Hatti and Emma for pointing it out to us on our (somewhat) recent visit to her place in New Paltz!

Banana Maple Walnut Muffins

2 Cups flour (mix of whole wheat and white is fine; all whole wheat is too heavy)

1.5 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

½ cup pure maple syrup

½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup whole milk (lowfat is okay)

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ tsp vanilla extract

2 Cups mashed very ripe bananas (4-5)

¾ Cup walnuts, chopped fairly fine

Position rack in center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375°. Line muffin tins with liners or grease with butter.

Place flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon in a large bowl and combine well.

Place eggs, maple syrup, brown sugar, milk, oil and vanilla in a medium bowl and whisk to combine well. Add the bananas and stir to combine.

Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in the walnuts. Do not overmix or the muffins will be tough. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filing almost to the brim.

Bake muffins until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean (13-15 minutes for mini-muffins; 20 – 30 for standard-size muffins).

Let tins cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove. They will keep for about three days in an air-tight container. Reheat for 10 seconds in a microwave or 350° oven for 5-10 minutes.

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Walnut Toffee Triangles (freezeable, portable holiday deliciousness)

20 Nov

When Marianne called me the other day to start some holiday baking I thought “What!?! Already!?! It’s too early!” But Marianne is a woman who knows what she’s about in the kitchen; she will have a full house on Thanksgiving and has no time to mess around. 

Even though it seemed like madness, I knew there had to be a method behind it.

And of course there was. Like I said, Marianne doesn’t mess about.

These Walnut Toffee Triangles were pretty easy to make (we did two batches in the oven at the same time; one tray for me and one for her), have a taste and texture reminiscent of baklava without the gooiness or Spanish turrón without the jaw-breaking stickiness. One batch gives you 4 dozen pretty and sophisticated little cookies AND they freeze beautifully, so if you pack them right, you can just pull a few out of the freezer anytime you need a rich dessert. And they are rich, just one or two will satisfy that need for a little something naughty with your coffee (or in my case, tea)!

So, if you are a busy, busy person (and who isn’t these days?), these triangles give you a lot of return for the time investment. And when you bake with friends, well, it’s that much better, isn’t it? Bring on the holidays!!!!

Walnut Toffee Triangles

(you need an electric mixer for this one)

Crust

½ Cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

½ Cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg yolk

1.5 Cups unsifted all-purpose flour

Topping

1 Cup packed light brown sugar

½ Cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

¼ Cup honey

½ Cup light cream

4 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line bottom and sides of a 13x9x2 baking pan with aluminum foil, extending the ends of the foil beyond the two short pan sides.

Crust: In a medium bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter until smooth and creamy. Beat in sugar and egg yolk until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, beat in flour until mixture is smooth. (We didn’t find much difference between a worked dough and a less worked dough, so it’s up to you). Press mixture evenly into bottom of prepared baking pan. Bake 12-15 minutes.

Topping: While crust is baking, in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine sugar, butter and honey; heat until butter is melted. Bring to boil; let boil three minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in light cream and walnuts. Pour mixture evenly over prepared crust. Return to oven. Continue to bake for 19-21 minutes or until top is bubbling.

Cool completely in pan over wire rack. Lift foil by short sides and transfer bar to cutting board. Invert onto wire rack; carefully remove foil. Reinvert bar onto cutting board. Cut crosswise into ten equal strips. Cut each strip crosswise diagonally into five equal triangles (4 dozen cookies).

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Jam On! Fresh Strawberry Rhubarb Jam (no gelatin, no pectin, no sweat!)

21 Jun

Being part of a farm makes you really work with the seasons!

Take rhubarb. I’ve never actually cooked rhubarb before, as much as I love strawberry rhubarb pie (Briermere Farm in Riverhead makes the best I’ve had!). This vegetable is not part of my Caribbean repertory and, to be honest, I have been a little intimidated by it.

Silly me! It is simple! Continue reading →

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Blueberry-lingonberry muffins (or mix and match berries and jam)

14 Jun

A favorite for tea, lunchbox or thoughtful treat for neighbors, caregivers and friends

Nothing makes people happier than a fresh baked treat, except a fresh-baked treat that isn’t too sinful and comes in small enough portions to make sense rather than create guilt.

Such are these blueberry-lingonberry mini-muffins that I adapted from a Stonyfield Farms strawberry muffin recipe. This recipe I first started doing with my beloved niece, The Incomparable Sofía, when she was just little (she is now a gorgeous and grown-up six-and-three-quarter-years-old). Whenever she comes home for a visit, we bake them up too. I miss her goofy little concentrated self and her beautiful long fingers in the kitchen. It is now Leandro’s favorite thing to bake. It is slightly more complicated than my banana bread or banana muffins; just make sure to lay out all your ingredients, measuring spoons and cups, and bowls before calling the kids to the work table and you can easily do it with a three-year-old maniac (or two!)

We prefer blueberries to strawberries (although to be honest, blueberries do lend a greenish tinge to the final product that is a bit weird, though no one ever, ever complains) as I think they have a punchier flavor when baked. I’ve done it with mixed berries, but early on some kids objected to the seed bits in blackberries and raspberries, so I fell out of the habit of using them.

The real key to good berry flavor, though, I learned from Cook’s Illustrated magazine, which suggests adding berry jam. Blueberry jam might be the obvious choice for blueberry muffins, but as a non-jam eater, I just used what I had in the fridge the first time out, which happened to be lingonberry (shout-out to Sofía’s mom, Annika from Sweden; you’ll find it at IKEA) and we liked the tart sweetness so much, we’ve stuck with it. If you are not familiar with them, think red currant or a softer, gentler version of cranberries.

I prefer mini-muffins, because they allow me to divide and share them more easily and because you can feel good about popping just one or two. Leandro’s caregivers really appreciate getting a batch, and it makes a perfect element to a good fika (Swedish coffee break hang out session – coffee klatch to New Yorkers!).

Blueberry-lingonberry/Any-berry muffins (makes 48 mini-muffins or 12 standard)

1 Cup all purpose flour

1 Cup whole wheat flour

½ Cup sugar (white or light brown)

1.5 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 Cup plain yogurt (I use nonfat, lowfat is also fine)

¼ Cup butter (unsalted preferred, but salted is okay) melted and cooled

1 tsp vanilla

1 Cup chopped/mashed blueberries or berries of your choice (frozen are very convenient. Thaw first)

1-2 Heaping Tbs berry jam (I use lingonberry, but use whatever red/blue/purple berry jam you’ve got)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease your muffin tins ahead (especially if baking with children – Be prepared!)

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients.

In another bowl mix the eggs, yogurt, melted butter and vanilla (if your butter is still very hot, you may get crusty bits when it comes in contact with the cold yogurt. Just break them up as you mix and don’t worry).

Fold berries into the dry mixture. Fold wet mixture into the dry mixture. Swirl in the jam. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins, filling about 2/3 up. Bake for 12 minutes (mini-muffins) or 20-25 minutes (standard size). Cool for a minute, then remove from tins and let cool completely on wire racks (if you’ve got; otherwise any cool, clean surface will do). These keep well tightly covered in the fridge for a week.


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