Pistachio Blueberry Muffins and A New Found Like For Vegan Food?

My sister came back from Peru this past summer with an entirely new appetite. I'm not sure what they eat down in the Amazon but I do know it's a drastic contrast from our plant produced and processed American food. Most of the food she had been eating came from her back yard, the Amazon Jungle. All grown right in front of her. They kill their own chickens. We haven't had to kill our own chickens for about a century. Unless we plant a garden in our 4x4 backyards the food we eat here is mostly genetically modified for mass consumption, grown in a warehouse, or raised in a confined space so small I'm surprised chickens don't need to see a therapist for claustrophobia or social anxiety.

My sister says she is "95% vegan". She's having a hard time giving up staples like cheese. While vegan cheese is available, it's just not the same. Personally I just love cheeseburgers and could NOT imagine a life without them. Pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, cheese and crackers, chili cheese fries, mac n cheese! I mean how could you not want to have cheese! It's essential. But whatever floats your boat. I'm all for healthy living. Even tho I'm convinced some of the vegan products out on the shelves are not "natural" and therefore are probably worse for you than non-vegan foods eaten in moderation. But my research on the subject is... limited. So I indulge her for her 95% vegan-ism. And I have to admit, some of the things, just some, are actually pretty tasty. They're not much different from their carnivorous cousins. Just a few minor changes.

The other day she was craving blueberry muffins. I usually just buy the box mix from Betty Crocker to save time. She went to a work event and they said their muffins were freshly baked but she said they were more like fresh bricks. So I baked her some myself to keep her love of blueberry muffins alive. And since blueberry muffins can be so... blue, I decided is add a little pistachio pizazz.  She's been going around the house all week saying, "I love having a chef for a sister". Like I'm adopted or something. She should say she likes have a sister who is a chef. Regardless, even my mom liked these muffins and she's skeptical on all things vegan.

(Pistachio) Blueberry Muffins

Adapted from Sweet Vegan by Emily Mainquist

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar in the raw

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon all natural applesauce

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup frozen blueberries. 

2 tablespoons chopped pistachios

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 12 standard-size muffin cavities with paper liners.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Add the oil, milk, applesauce, and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Fold in the blueberries and pistachios.* The batter will be very thick.

Scoop 1/4 cup of the batter into each muffin liner. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

*I kept the blueberries frozen until I was ready to use them. Blueberries can be fragile and when putting them in fresh or thawed I find they usually break. 

Chocolate Chip Kahlúa Cupcakes

It's been a while since my last post. I know. I've been starting my journey into culinary school and have been so utterly consumed with contribution margins and sauce making I haven't had hardly any time to devote to my first love, this blog. Classes started June 25 and it's already time for midterms! I can't believe it. How time flies when you're actually doing what you were meant to do all along. I've really been enjoying learning the basics of cooking. There's so much to know, I'm not sure how my brain has managed to retain it all. But it's been a great challenge and I couldn't ask for a better opportunity and a better time in my life to seize it. It's a real blessing. I just can't wait to get into baking!

I've been in a rather big baking funk lately. Mostly due to the fact that my theory class is shoving so much non-baking info into my head, I don't have time to think about anything else except grand cuisine and the 4 components of a stock. However, I've been browsing Pinterest in my very, very, very limited spare time, when I'm not sleeping, and I found a little cupcake recipe I just had to try. It only makes 2 cupcakes! Perfect for me, right? I think so. It's just me and my roommate, we don't need a whole dozen. 

Want, yes. Need, no. Want... 

So I thought I'd try it, see what happens. Doesn't hurt and I'm only out a few ingredients if it fails. The blog featuring this wonderful petite recipe is, How Sweet It Is. It's a vanilla cake that looks terrific in the pictures she post but I found it to be rather dry. Maybe I made in error in the assembly process, or baked them to long. Regardless, I didn't care for them. I did however, care to add my own twist to the recipe. I thought that worked out fabulously. But then again I used a lot of chocolate and that can never really go wrong. 

It's a really simple recipe and I am definitely going to keep it on file. It's a good base recipe, perfect for testing new recipes. I'm so glad it worked out with the chocolate. I always say chocolate makes everything better. Way, way better in this case. 

Chocolate Chip Kahlúa Cupcakes w/ Chocolate Kahlúa Buttercream 

Cupcake recipe adapted from: One Bowl Vanilla Cupcakes For Two, How Sweet It Is

Yields 4 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

1 whole egg

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons melted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 heaping teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

pinch of salt

1 1/2 tablespoon Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur

1/4 cup Ghirardelli 60% cocoa dark chocolate chips

For the buttercream:

3 tablespoons room temperature unsalted butter

1 - 1 1/4 cup confectioners sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur or until desired consistency 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

In a small mixing bowl beat together egg and sugar until just incorporated. Stir in the vanilla and butter. Add the flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt stirring until it’s just combined. Lastly, add the Kahlúa and the chocolate chips. 

Fill cupcake liners 1/2 - 3/4 full. 

Bake 7-9 minutes. 

Cool in pan for 2-3 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish. Let cool completely before frosting. 

Buttercream:

Beat the butter in a small mixing bowl until creamy. Slowly add confectioners sugar and cocoa.  Add Kahlúa gradually to achieve desired consistency. 

Oatmeal Banana Bread

Bad banana = yummy bread

Keeping up with the theme of things that go bad before I can use them I'd like to talk about this banana bread recipe I came across. I buy bananas mostly so I can make things with them. On their own I don't really like them. Therefore, I don't buy them often. My roommate had gotten some and I was in the kitchen making dinner one night and there they were sitting on the counter turning brown.

Usually, I wouldn't think anything of it and just toss them out but I was feeling crafty that day. I have a pretty good banana bread recipe I've used for years but I wanted something different. I've been thinking of ways to make recipes a little healthier. Lately healthier has been just to add a tablespoon of ground flaxseed into everything but that wasn't going to cut it this time. So I started googling recipes for banana bread that gave it a little power punch of better for you. There were all sorts of recipes out there and more so than not they called for oatmeal. I'd never thought to do that so I decided to give it a whirl.

That loaf of bread weighed like 5 pounds. But it was really good!

Mix your dry ingredients together and make a whole in the center of it all. 

Like a little well.

Next for the wet ingredients.

Mix those all together. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the center of the dry.

Mix it all up! 

Magic! 

It's all ready. 

Oatmeal Banana Bread

(Recipe courtesy of: www.food.com )

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup oats (I used old-fashioned)

1 cup mashed banana

1/3 buttermilk (I didn't have any, I used 2%)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs, beaten

cooking spray or butter (I used butter)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray or butter an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl

Combine banana, oil, milk, vanilla, and eggs in a small bowl or measuring cup

Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened

Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

Cool on a wire rack, in the pan, for about 15 minutes

Remove bread from the pan and cool thoroughly on the rack

Or cut into it and slab some butter on it. That's what I did. I mean who wants to eat cold banana bread? Not me. I want it nice and hot with all kinds of melty butter. And again, my apologies for not having any after pictures but I ate a slice then ate it all... There would have been only crumbs. 

Also, for those of you truly health conscious people out there, if you click on the link above to go to the website you get all sorts of fun nutritional facts. So you can pretend to calorie count as you cut yourself another slice. 

Spicy Summer Casserole

Summer summer summer! I just love it. Gardens are flourishing and all the Farmer Fred's of town are out to sell their bundles. It's so easy to get carried away at the local farmer's markets all over town. There's just too much to choose from. I find myself buying it all up only to have a good chunk of it go bad before I can use it. I have a hard time limiting myself to a few things every week. I want it all! So this week, I had a plan.

This is Grace

A few weeks ago I was getting together with my friend Grace. We were going to rectify a little speeding ticket I acquired and I was meeting her at her place. She said to come over early to help her eat a casserole she made. She had lots of veggies that were going to go bad if she didn't use them. It was really good! I couldn't stop eating it. So this week I bought extra produce just so I could make it. It's super easy, and you can use whatever produce you like. Just another yummy idea to get all those vegetables eaten. After all, they make you grow up big and strong.

I used several different peppers, onion, tomato, and asparagus. The great thing about this dish is you can add what you like. There's no "recipe".  But I'll tell you what I did anyway. Mostly because I have pictures...

I sliced and diced:

1 zucchini

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1/2 medium yellow onion

1 tomato

Toss that with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Added 2 big handfuls of shredded pepper jack cheese.

Put it in a greased baking dish and topped it with more cheese.

Then I covered it in panko bread crumbs.

Drizzle some olive oil over top and bake at 350 degrees.

The end result should be bubbling and golden. 

I turned on the broiler for a few minutes to get it extra golden. 

Enjoy as a side dish or as a main course. Either way, it's tasty and easy and something everyone will love! Sorry there's no after picture, I ate it all...

Chocolate Oatmeal Energy Bites

I've come across some pretty nifty recipes in my pinteresting days. This one has to be one of my favorites. It's so easy, delish, and it's healthy. These are so much better than the energy bars you buy at the grocery. They take minutes to make, you know what goes into them, and you can add whatever you like. No guessing about this or that ingredient. So you know they're good for you. And with ingredients like oatmeal and flaxseed, how could they not be?

These little bites are perfect for those of you always on the go. They perfectly portable.
Breakfast, snacks, desserts. I could eat them all day long. This specific recipe comes from Ali and her blog, Gimme Some Oven.

The best part about these little tasties, they're no-bake! So now you have to make them.

Start with one cup of oatmeal. 

I used old-fashioned oatmeal.

You need 1/2 cup of ground flaxseed. 

I found this one in the organic section of the grocery store.

One cup of coconut, toasted. 

Just over medium heat until it's lightly browned and fragrant.

1/2 cup chocolate chips. 

I used dark chocolate but, like I said, this recipe is all about what you like.

You'll need 1/3 cup of honey and 1 teaspoon of good vanilla extract.

Add 1/2 cup of your favorite peanut butter.

Stir it all together. 

Then pop it into the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Once the mixture is chilled take a big pinch and roll into balls. 

As big or as little as you like. 

Chocolate Oatmeal Energy Bites

(Recipe from Gimme Some Oven, No-Bake Energy Bites)

1 cup (dry) oatmeal 

1 cup toasted coconut flake

1/2 cup chocolate chip

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla

Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. 

Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.  

Once chilled, roll into balls.

Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week. (If they even last that long.)

Coconut Truffles

One word: DIVINE! 

So let's get right into it.

One cup of sweetened flake coconut goes into one can of sweetened condensed milk.

One vanilla bean.

Split it open, all the way.

Take the back of you knife and scrape out all the little pods.

And I'm telling you, there is absolutely nothing better than this. 

Add all the vanilla to the coconut mixture.

You can see all the little bits of vanilla. 

So good!

Put it in a dish and pop it in the freezer.

Get some really good chocolate. 

I used a milk chocolate but dark chocolate would be fantastic.

Take the coconut mixture out of the freezer and roll it into balls.

About 1 inch will do. 

Then pop them back into the freezer.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. 

Now comes the fun part! 

And I didn't take pictures because it's a messy process. Messy = Fun

And it needs to go very quickly. The milk doesn't freeze completely so when you put it in the hot, melted chocolate it likes to get gooey. 

Just drop one of the coconut balls into the chocolate.

Make sure it's completely coated and then tap off the excess and drop onto some wax paper.

I used buttered foil. 

The chocolate will start to firm and trap all that yummy, sweetness inside.

I'm telling you, if you love coconut, you're going to love these! 

They are so simple and just absolutely divine.

You're going to want them all the time.

Coconut Truffles


1 cup sweetened flake coconut
12 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 vanilla bean
16 ounces melted, good quality, chocolate

Mix the coconut with the milk.

Split open the vanilla bean and scrape out all the vanilla pods.

Stir into the coconut and milk mixture.

Freeze mixture for about 30 minutes.

Take out of the freezer and roll into about 1 inch balls. Put back into the freezer.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.

Take the coconut balls out of the freezer. Coat with the melted chocolate.

Tap off the excess chocolate and set on a piece of wax paper to cool and let the chocolate set.

Lemon Chicken

Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa is one of my fave shows. While some of the food she cooks is a little, umm, not my cup of tea, some of it really is! While I was perusing the TV Guide, I saw she was cooking chicken, so I flipped on over and well, let's just say I had to make a last minute trip to the grocery.

This lemon chicken is right up my tasty trail. Also, it's super simple. LOTS of garlic is kind of an understatement. But I love garlic, and lemon, and chicken so I was in heaven. And when it's cooking you just want to sit back and let the olfactory sense do it's job. It's intoxicating.

This dish is quick and perfect for last minute dinner ideas. It's great for entertaining. People will think you're a culinary genius. It's just a few ingredients, takes 5 minutes to throw together, and probably two minutes to eat. Because it's so tasty.

Chop lots of garlic. I used about 9-10 cloves.

Heat up some olive oil.

Add the garlic and cook until tender. Watch it carefully, you don't want it to burn.

Add some wine! This one is my new favorite.

And wine makes everything better, just like garlic. 

Bring it to a bubble and let the wine reduce.

Add lots of yummy lemon zest and juice. 

Stir in your herbs. Lots of savory goodness!

I used dried herbs, I didn't have fresh.

Pour everything into a casserole dish.

Place the chicken on top of the garlic.

Drizzle olive oil over top of the chicken.

Season with salt and pepper.

Top with lots of lemon slices.

Eat it!

I loved the rice. Just plain, salted jasmine rice. With the juice from the chicken, all that garlic and lemon, it really takes it to the next level. 

It's a simple meal, but it's so delicious.

Feel free to use which ever part of the chicken you love. 

I just love boneless, skinless breasts.

Lemon Chicken Breasts

(Recipe from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa, Lemon Chicken Breasts)

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (6 to 8 ounces each)
• 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don't allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 by 12-inch baking dish.

Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices.