A Weekend of Eating Including Homemade Pancake Muffins

We did quite a bit of eating this weekend. We were all over the place: a foodie feast at Neta in the West Village where we watched a team of talented Japanese chefs at work; the Olive Garden where Dean and I satisfied a craving for unlimited salad and breadsticks )there’s no shame in this!); and we also visited Beurre & Sel for Dorie Greenspan’s delicious cookie creations (including this Jammer - my personal favorite of all our samplings!)

And, of course, there was a little creating in our own kitchen. We (err, I) made maple chocolate chip pancake muffins. You heard right. Pancake muffins, which will serve as the perfect breakfast-on-the-go all week long.

Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

Author: Bakerella

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
⅔ cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
½ cup milk chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Generously grease a 24 cup mini muffin pan with non-stick spray.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Sift together with a wire whisk.
In another bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, maple syrup and melted butter until just combined.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until combined.
Stir in chocolate chips. Reserve a few chips to sprinkle on the tops.
Bake for 8-9 minutes*.
* If baking regular sized muffins, it will take about 16 minutes.

Here are the minis from Bakerella

Posted on October 1, 2012 at 6:00 am | Leave a Comment

Hamburger Cupcakes, A Generation-Z Holiday Tradition

We spent the past weekend celebrating the Jewish New Year with our family in Toronto. Yes, I was anticipating the feast of chicken soup, brisket, kichel & fixings, and all the other traditional delicacies. But mostly, I was so excited for the project my niece had proposed. Hamburger cupcakes! I was instantly in love (both with her and the dessert). They are fun, creative, and a cinch. I also think they’d be delicious with brownie instead of chocolate cake in the middle, but my niece wasn’t having any of that. And she’s twelve-going-on-twenty, so you don’t mess with what she says.

Hamburger Cupcakes

Author: Cammi (my niece)

Recipe type: Baking

Cuisine: Dessert, Party food

A perfect party dessert. It’s easy and fun to make!

Ingredients

Vanilla Cake Mix (and ingredients as explained on box)
Chocolate Cake Mix (and ingredients as explained on box)
Vanilla Icing
Food coloring (red, yellow, green)
Honey
Sesame seeds (or sprinkles)

Instructions

Bake the cupcakes as directed on the boxes.
While cupcakes are baking, divide vanilla icing in 3 bowls. Add red food coloring (ketchup) to one bowl. Repeat with green (lettuce) and yellow (mustard).
Put icing into ziplock bags and snip one corner.
When cupcakes are finished, allow them to cool. Then slice them all in half. Move the chocolate tops to the side (and enjoy them as a muffin top for a separate treat.
Start with bottom of vanilla cupcakes and squeeze icing (ketchup) into a flower shape with the icing dripping over the sides of the cakes.
Place the chocolate cake on top of the iced vanilla. Squeeze the yellow icing (mustard) into a flower shape with the icing dropping over the side of the chocolate cake. Then, squeeze the green frosting (lettuce) around the perimeter of the chocolate cake (around the yellow).
Place the vanilla cakes on top. Smear a little bit of honey on top and sprinkle sesame seeds (or sprinkles would be good too!) as the seeds of the buns.
Be impressed with yourself!

Posted on September 18, 2012 at 6:00 am | 1 Comment

First Fall Recipe: Butternut Squash Soup With A Twist

The air is suddenly crisp. My neon pink sandals are tucked away. My cotton sundresses have been moved to the back of my closet. As much as I hate that summer is over, I’m loving that autumn has arrived. Sure, New York will still have some balmy days ahead of us, but I’m ready for leather jackets (leather is a big trend right now!) and to start cooking for fall. Especially soups. This week I tried a new recipe for butternut squash soup and it was delicious. Dean and I both had two bowls of it for dinner and when he woke up at 4am last night he said he seriously considered a third bowl.

Butternut Squash Soup With Apple Chicken Sausage

Author: Food Network Magazine

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Ingredients

extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces cooked chicken-apple sausage, cut into ½-inch pieces
4 cups cubed peeled butternut squash (1 small to medium squash)
3 medium carrots, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
½ medium onion, chopped
2½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
½ cup fresh sage or parsley leaves

Instructions

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl using a slotted spoon. Add the squash, carrots, celery, onion, chicken broth, 2½ cups water and ¾ teaspoon salt to the pot. Cover and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and continue simmering until the vegetables are tender, about 15 more minutes.
Puree the soup in a blender in batches (or just do it right in the pot with my favorite hand blender tool), then return to the pot along with the sausage. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
Ladle the soup into bowls.
(Optional upgrade: Heat ⅓ cup olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. When the oil is very hot, add sage leaves in batches and fry, turning, until dark green and crisp, about 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.)

butternut squash soup with chicken sausage, SO good!

Feeling very soupy today? Check out Love Them Madly’s Amazing Tomato Soup!

What’s your favorite dish for the fall?

Posted on September 13, 2012 at 6:00 am | 2 Comments

Be Kind Tribute Recipe

It was my second week of college, eleven years ago.

My mom called, waking up both my roommate and me. Put the TV on, she said with a shaky (and clearly shaken) voice. At the same time, students with rooms on the top floor of our dorm could already see the smoke from the Pentagon in the distance.

Osama Bin Laden’s nephew, a fellow freshman at my school, was immediately flown off the campus. We were evacuated soon after. We huddled in the streets as shocked strangers. We held hands as frantic eighteen year olds who couldn’t reach their Wall Street Moms, Dads, siblings, cousins, friends. We waited for someone to tell us this was not real.

But it was and it is.

I think of 9/11 everyone morning, now as a New Yorker, on the subway. Every time I see an American flag. Every time I slide my shoes off at airport security. It has forever impacted each of our lives. I pray today, and always, for those whose lives were forever crushed.

I hope that it made each of us a bit more grounded. A bit more passionate about being an American. A bit kinder.

Recently, a friend asked me to find a recipe for homemade KIND bars. I looked them up and was so impressed by the mission of this socially conscious healthy snack. I love their message. Be KIND. Your one act of kindness can make a big impact. So, if nothing else, today we remember to be kind.

Be KIND Bars (makes 10 bars)

1 1/3 cup chopped raw nuts (I used a mix of Brazilian, peanuts, walnuts, almonds – Trader Joe’s has a great selection)
1/3 cup rice puff cereal

1/2 cup chopped dried fruit (raisins, apricots, berries, dates – but any combination will work)
1/8 tsp fine sea salt (if nuts are salted, you can leave this out)
1/3 cup Organic Brown Rice Syrup (I like Lundberg Sweet Dreams) (neither agave nor honey worked for me)

1. Preheat oven to 325F degrees. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper. I sprayed my paper. (If you use a larger pan make sure to increase ingredients or they will be too thin. I did that – ooops)
2. Combine the chopped nuts, puffed cereal, and dried fruit in a bowl.
3. Add salt and syrup. Stir, coating the mixture.

4. Place mixture in lined and sprayed pan. Use fingers to press the mixture out evenly. I found it helpful to use a piece of parchment paper to press down on it. Really press it down.
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes (don’t worry if the bars are not hard yet). Place pan on cooling rack and let cool for 20 minutes.

6. Cut into 10 bars.
7. Wrap in parchment or wax paper and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

* I’d make two pans at the same time!

(Adapted from Enlightened Cooking)

Posted on September 11, 2012 at 6:00 am | 6 Comments

Five Yiddish Phrases and One Holiday Recipe You Must Know

I love the few Yiddish words I know. They just pinpoint the very feeling there seems to be no English word for. Dean and I have exchanged some of what our grandparents have taught us. Here are our top five:

1. ALTER COCKER An old person, an old fart according to my Grandma.
2. CHAZEREI Food that is awful, junk or garbage. (make sure to really clear your throat with this Chaaa)
3. SCHMALTZY Excessively sentimental, gushing, flattering, over-the-top, corny. From shmaltz, which means chicken fat or grease.
4. PISHIN FROM THE OYGN It may be Yidglish but it’s my all time favorite. It means crying (pissing from the head). Quit pishn from the oygn, my Grandma used to say.
5. VERKLEMPT (pronounced fer-klempt) Overcome with emotion

As the Jewish holidays are quickly approaching, we’ll no doubt be throwing an extra oy in here and a vey there. This past weekend, I learned one of my husband’s grandmother’s famous recipes for kichel. Say it properly now, ki-chhhhhh (throat clear)- el. It’s a sweet cracker that you traditionally put herring (pardon me, but ick) on. I instead topped it off with a spicy Tunisian tomato dip (recipe to come some day if it’s owner will permit it).

Granny Frida’s Kichel
Makes 2 dozen

4 eggs + 2 yolks

1/2 sugar

1/2 cup conola oil

3 cups of flour

2 tbs of baking powder

Beat the eggs and extra yolks with the sugar. Then add oil and beat very well again. Add baking powder, then add flour. Dough should be very soft.

Roll out small amounts of dough at a time (roll very thin). Cut into circles (we used a mug to do this). Prick dough with fork. Grease a cooling rack and place circles on rack (if you have one with big squares that’s Granny’s secret to make the nicest shape). Brush with oil and sprinkle sugar on top. Bake at 425 degrees F for 4-6 minutes until golden brown- watch them because they cook very quickly.