Month: June 2018

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Desi-Spiced Carrot Bread

Our farmshare is producing quite a lot of carrots at the moment, so I’ve turned to quick bread. The nice thing about it is that you can make a double or even quadruple batch, and it takes just about as long to make, and then you have lots to freeze for a hungry day or give away. This quick bread is a pretty healthy option for breakfast or to tuck into a kids’ lunchbox, though I’ll note that my kids did complain about the cranberries. Know your audience, and skip or substitute as desired!

I really love it with a limey glaze; I think the tartness is the perfect complement to the sweetness of the bread. But you can certainly leave the lime juice out if you prefer.

1 c. shredded carrots (easiest in food processor)
2 large eggs
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. Greek yogurt or sour cream
1/2 c. grated coconut (not sweetened!)
1/2 c. chopped cashews (roasted/salted is fine)
1/2 c. dried cranberries (I like the tartness, but sultanas would be more traditional for desi flavors, and really, any dried fruit would do
1/4 c. chopped crystallized ginger
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 brown sugar
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. fine salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. cloves
1/4 t. nutmeg

Glaze (optional):
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 1/2 T whole-milk yogurt
1-2 T lime juice

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray baking pan with Baker’s Joy (or butter and flour the pan). You can use various pans: mini-muffin, muffin, mini-loaf, loaf; just adjust the timing appropriately.

2. In a large bowl, combine the carrots, eggs, oil, yogurt / sour cream, coconut, cashews, dried fruit, ginger, and vanilla.

3. In another bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

4. Add dry to wet and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. (Don’t beat too long or too vigorously.)

5. Pour the batter into the pan(s) and bake at 350 until done (test with toothpick):

Mini-muffins: 15 minutes
Muffins or mini loaves: 20-25 minutes
Loaf pan: 45-55 minutes

6. Turn onto a rack and let cool.

 

7. Glaze (optional): stir together the glaze ingredients and drizzle over the top of the bread. Enjoy!

(Once cooled, may be frozen for up to six months.)

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Spiced Coffee Marshmallows

 3 packages unflavored gelatin
1/2 c. strong coffee
1/2 t. ground cardamom
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/8 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 c. water
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. dark brown sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
butter (for greasing the pan)
powdered (confectioner’s) sugar (about 1/2 c.)
1. Empty gelatin packets into bowl of stand mixer (whisk attachment), with coffee, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Stir briefly to combine.
 
2. In a small saucepan (a bigger one will be heavy and hard to hold steadily at a later stage) combine water, both sugars, corn syrup, and salt. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 4 minutes. Uncover and cook until the mixture reaches soft ball stage (240 degrees if you have a candy thermometer), approximately 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from heat; if it continues, it will swiftly turn into hard candy.
3. Turn mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. (Be very careful with the sugar syrup, as it is scaldingly hot and will burn you badly if it gets on your skin.) Once you’ve added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high.
 
4. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 minutes.
 
5. While it’s whipping, butter a large 9 x 12 pan. Prepare an oiled spatula.
 
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly (and swiftly) with the oiled spatula.  (Decorate if desired.)
 
7. Dust the top with enough of the powdered sugar to lightly cover and sprinkle with ground cinnamon. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
 
8. Turn onto a board, cut into squares and dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining powdered sugar, using additional if necessary. May be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks, or frozen.
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Chai Marshmallows

   Strong milky black tea steeped with cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, cloves, accented with the bite of candied ginger, blended into a honeyed marshmallow.
 
3 packages unflavored gelatin
1/2 c. milky chai (see chai recipe)
1/2 c. water
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. dark brown sugar
1/2 c. honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
butter (for greasing the pan)
2 T candied ginger, chopped fine
powdered (confectioner’s) sugar (about 1/2 c.)
1-2 T powdered cinnamon for topping
 
1. Empty gelatin packets into bowl of stand mixer (whisk attachment), with chai. Stir briefly to combine.
2. In a small saucepan (a bigger one will be heavy and hard to hold steadily at a later stage) combine water, both sugars, honey, and salt. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 4 minutes. Uncover and cook until the mixture reaches soft ball stage (240 degrees if you have a candy thermometer), approximately 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from heat; if it continues, it will swiftly turn into hard candy.
 
 
3. Turn mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. (Be very careful with the sugar syrup, as it is scaldingly hot and will burn you badly if it gets on your skin.) Once you’ve added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high.
4. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 minutes.
5. While it’s whipping, butter a large 9 x 12 pan. Prepare an oiled spatula.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly (and swiftly) with the oiled spatula. Stir in chopped candied ginger.
7. Dust the top with enough of the powdered sugar to lightly cover and sprinkle with ground cinnamon. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
8. Turn onto a board, cut into squares and dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining powdered sugar, using additional if necessary. May be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks, or frozen.
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Chai

(two servings, 10 minutes)

Traditionally, you wouldn’t use ‘good’ tea for this. If you have a fancy high-grade tea, large leaves from a new flush, you don’t usually make chai with it. Typically, tea stalls would use fannings / dust to make chai, and would brew it nice and strong, to give you strength for your labors. Lipton will work just fine for this, if you don’t have access to other teas; I tend to use PG Tips, though Typhoo is also good.

 

4 T looseleaf black tea or 4 tea bags
1 c. whole milk
1 c. water
1 T ginger juice (or 1 t. ground ginger)
1 stick cinnamon (or 1 t. ground cinnamon)
1 T black peppercorns (or 1/2 t. ground pepper)
3 green cardamom pods (or 1/2 t. ground cardamom)
3 cloves (or 1/4 t. ground cloves)
1/4 t. fresh grated nutmeg
1-2 T jaggery (or dark brown sugar)

1. Combine ingredients in a small pot, and heat on medium until small bubbles form around the edges.

2. Start stirring and bring to a boil.

3. Turn off heat, stir well, turn heat back on to medium, and bring to a boil again. (This will be thoroughly stewed, with flavor infused intensely in the chai. Note that you need the fat in the milk for full distribution of flavor, so I recommend not using skim milk or just water.)

4. Strain chai into a measuring cup and discard whole spices and tea leaves. Enjoy.

NOTE: If your jaggery is too hard to carve safely, you can microwave it at half power in 10 second increments, checking in between each one. If you heat it too much, it’ll melt, which you don’t want.

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Honeyed Marshmallows with Rosewater and Saffron

These marshmallows taste like they’ve magically materialized straight out of the Arabian Nights. Meltingly soft, gorgeously fragrant.
  
 
3 packages unflavored gelatin
1/2 c. water
1 T lime juice
1 T rosewater
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 pinches saffron threads
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
butter (for greasing the pan)
1/4 c. dried rose petals (food grade), optional
 
1. Empty gelatin packets into bowl of stand mixer (whisk attachment), with water, lime juice, and rosewater. Stir briefly to combine.
 
2. In a small saucepan (a bigger one will be heavy and hard to hold steadily at a later stage) combine water, granulated sugar, honey, corn syrup, saffron, and salt. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 4 minutes. Uncover and cook until the mixture reaches soft ball stage (240 degrees if you have a candy thermometer), approximately 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from heat; if it continues, it will swiftly turn into hard candy.
 
3. Turn mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. (Be very careful with the sugar syrup, as it is scaldingly hot and will burn you badly if it gets on your skin.) Once you’ve added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high.
 
4. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 minutes.
 
5. While it’s whipping, butter a large 9 x 12 pan. Prepare an oiled spatula.
 
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly (and swiftly) with the oiled spatula. Scatter dried rose petals on top if desired.
 
7. Dust the top with enough of the remaining powdered sugar to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
 
8. Turn onto a board, cut into squares and dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining powdered sugar, using additional if necessary. May be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks, or frozen.
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Beef Pho (ish)

I didn’t actually eat the whole chive blossom in my pho — but I could’ve. 🙂
 
Basic method for something beef pho-like (no claims to authenticity, as I am new to cooking this kind of food). Start with beef broth (in my case, boil several cups of water and add beef broth paste). Add some sliced onion, sliced carrot, fresh ginger, garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, Thai basil, scallions or chives, cinnamon stick, star anise, fresh lemon juice, fish sauce if you have it, salt. Simmer until well-blended and tasty.
 
Bring some water to a boil, add vermicelli noodles (or shirataki noodles if you’re doing the paleo thing, or daikon cut very thin) and turn off heat, let steep 3 minutes, drain.
 
Serve by slicing raw steak thinly, pouring boiling broth over it, adding noodles. If you have bean sprouts (which I didn’t), add those. If you have more Thai basil, add some more on top (I forgot). Nice with a little hoisin sauce and/or sriracha. Garnish with chive blossom for pretty.
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Lychee & Lime Marshmallows

It can be hard to find fresh lychees around here; these work just fine with canned lychees. Just be sure to drain them thoroughly before using; you might even want to give them a rinse, as they’re typically packed in heavy syrup.

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1/2 c. lychee puree
2 T lime juice
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
butter (for greasing the pan)

1. Empty gelatin packets into bowl of stand mixer (whisk attachment), with lychee puree and lime juice. Stir briefly to combine.

2. In a small saucepan (a bigger one will be heavy and hard to hold steadily at a later stage) combine water, granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 4 minutes. Uncover and cook until the mixture reaches soft ball stage (240 degrees if you have a candy thermometer), approximately 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from heat; if it continues, it will swiftly turn into hard candy.

3. Turn mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. (Be very careful with the sugar syrup, as it is scaldingly hot and will burn you badly if it gets on your skin.) Once you’ve added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high.

4. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 minutes.

5. While it’s whipping, butter a large 9 x 12 pan and dust with powdered sugar. Prepare an oiled spatula.

6. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly (and swiftly) with an oiled spatula.

7. Dust the top with enough of the remaining powdered sugar to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

8. Turn onto a board, cut into squares and dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining powdered sugar, using additional if necessary. May be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks, or frozen.

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Rosewater & Pistachio Marshmallows (with Lime Variation)

  These will taste distinctly of both rose and pistachio, very delicate in flavor. The lime variety has lime predominant, with hints of rose and pistachio. You could also do 1/4 c. lime juice with 1/4 c. water if you wanted to aim for somewhere in between. I used salted pistachios, and like the surprising bit of salt added to the top of the marshmallow, but you could certainly use unsalted pistachios if you prefer.
 
Note: The dried rose petals don’t really add any flavor, and the texture honestly doesn’t help much either — they’re strictly for pretty, and can be skipped. If using, be sure to use food grade petals.
 
3 packages unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup water (or lime juice)
1 T rosewater
1/2 t. pistachio extract
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
green or pink food coloring (optional)
1/4 c. chopped pistachios
1/8 c. dried rose petals
powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
butter (for greasing the pan)
 
1. Empty gelatin packets into bowl of stand mixer (whisk attachment), with 1/2 c. water or lime juice, rosewater, and pistachio extract. Stir briefly to combine.
 
2. In a small saucepan (a bigger one will be heavy and hard to hold steadily at a later stage) combine water, granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 4 minutes. Uncover and cook until the mixture reaches soft ball stage (240 degrees if you have a candy thermometer), approximately 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from heat; if it continues, it will swiftly turn into hard candy.
 
3. Turn mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. (Be very careful with the sugar syrup, as it is scaldingly hot and will burn you badly if it gets on your skin.) Once you’ve added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high.
 
4. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 minutes. Add food coloring, if using, during this stage.
 
5. While it’s whipping, butter a large 9 x 12 pan and dust with powdered sugar. Prepare an oiled spatula.
 
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly (and swiftly) with an oiled spatula.
 
7. Sprinkle chopped pistachios and rose petals over the top. Dust the top with enough of the remaining powdered sugar to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
8. Turn onto a board, cut into squares and dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining powdered sugar, using additional if necessary. May be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks, or frozen.
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Grilled Veggies with Couscous

Not really a recipe; I’m just getting used to using our grill to profitably and deliciously use up our farmshare veggies, plus a peach. 🙂  I was making this for a potluck; serves about 10-12, I think, as a hearty side, or 4-6 as a dinner.
 
3-5 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced diagonally
7 zucchini, cubed
1 lb asparagus, trimmed
1 peach, halves or quarters
2 onions, sliced
1/2 cup dried sultanas
1/2 c. cashews
1 box couscous
water, salt, pepper, olive oil
1/2 t. turmeric
 
1. Prep veggies and peach, tossing each variety separately in olive oil, salt, and pepper. You could do them all together, but they’ll have different cooking times, so that way lies disaster, I think.
 
2. Heat grill to around 300-ish. Our grill is old and flaky and seems to only go that high at the moment, so I’m not sure what would happen if you cooked at higher heat, sorry! Spread out sweet potatoes in a single layer and grill 8-10 minutes, flip, cook another 8 minutes or so, until cooked through. Remove from heat.
 
3. Stir turmeric in with zucchini (along with salt, pepper, olive oil), then spread zucchini cubes in a vegetable grill pan and place on heat. On other part of grill, spread out asparagus. Grill until cooked through — maybe 5-10 minutes for asparagus, a little longer for the zucchini. Keep an eye on the asparagus, as they burn easily, esp. if they’re very thin.
 
4. Start couscous going, following directions on box. I boiled two cups water, added a little salt and butter, dumped the box’s worth of couscous in. Add sultanas and cashews, stir, and cover for 5 minutes. The sultanas and cashews will soften nicely while the couscous cooks. It will be even tastier if you do this in chicken broth, but I was aiming for a vegan dish this time, so stuck to water. Vegetable broth is also good if you have it on hand.
 
5. If the zucchini is done, remove it from the grill pan and toss the onions in there. Stir zucchini into couscous.  Place the peach halves (or quarters) on the grill and cook for a few minutes, then turn, so it’s grilled all around. When onions are done, stir them into couscous.
 
6. When everything’s done, taste each component and toss with more salt / pepper if desired, then layer in dish to your pleasure. I did the sweet potato slices around the outside, then piled the couscous in, then topped with a circle of peaches and asparagus in the center.
 
If doing again, I might add a yogurt sauce on the side, though I don’t think it strictly speaking needs it.
 
Note: You could absolutely add grilled fish or chicken or lamb to this, of course.
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Spicy Shrimp with Avocado and Mango

Spicy Shrimp with Avocado and Mango
(10 minutes, serves 1-2)

I had some frozen cooked shrimp that I’d bought by mistake (usually I prefer to buy raw and cook them, which lets you use them well in a greater variety of preparations), so I was a little stuck trying to decide what to do with them. I wanted spicy, fruity, rich and satisfying enough that I didn’t feel the need for additional bread or rice. This delivered nicely, and was particularly pleasant to eat on the back deck, enjoying a perfect early summer day.

2-3 T cilantro, chopped
2-3 T lime juice
1 T vegetable oil
1 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
3-5 chopped green chilies (optional)
1/2 lb. cooked shrimp, shelled
1 avocado, peeled and cubed
1 mango, peeled and cubed
1 t. raw red chili pepper (optional)

1. Combine cilantro, lime juice, oil, salt, black pepper, and green chilies in a bowl, beating quickly to emulsify dressing.

2. Stir in shrimp, avocado, and mango. Stir in red chili pepper if using. If you let it sit a little, maybe 15-20 minutes, it’ll blend better, but if you are impatient like me, you can just eat it straight up. Enjoy!