Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Muffins
Tiffany Ludwig, Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen

Time to bake in orange! 

Here’s the first of some pumpkin recipes.

In a recent conversation, my son commented that pumpkin muffins are so 90’s.

In strong defense of pumpkin muffins, and mild defense of the decade, here's some supplemental 90's support: Bill Clinton, The World Wide Web was invented, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court, Autocar named the Mini Cooper “The Car of the Century”, and California passed Proposition 215 (medicinal marijuana). How about slap bracelets.

Still too retro? Update your pumpkin muffin wardrobe with 3” ring molds or use financier molds or try baking mini loaves. After all, muffins are basically colonized loaves.

These pumpkin muffins are simple to put together and bake, are dairy-free, have the added nutritional bennies of whole wheat flour without the dense texture or dominating taste of whole wheat, and if they’re not devoured straight away, you can throw them into a Ziploc bag or a plastic container and freeze them.

First time, I made them ‘plain’. They’re great without any additional ingredients. Second time, I played around more and used a 2:1 ratio of white whole wheat to unbleached all-purpose flour and I added walnuts and organic dried apricots. As the temperature outside decreases, the urge to bulk up my muffins increases.

This lovely, warm spice profile complements the squashiness of pumpkin. Grating your own nutmeg is worth the investment in a little nutmeg grinder. Microplane makes a tiny spice plane grater good for nutmeg or cinnamon, or you can buy a simpler, more traditional nutmeg grinder for a few dollars. Buy whole nutmeg and store in a closed container. Grate some fresh nutmeg and take a whiff. You’ll be astonished! (My Spice Sage is a solid resource that  that currently offers free shipping! I urge you to check out this site!) Take a whiff after you’ve grated some fresh nutmeg. You’ll be astonished!

If you don’t have white whole wheat flour (resources: King Arthur Flour, or, Wegman’s, a local supermarket in mid-atlantic NY, NJ, PA, MD and MA), use unbleached white, or combine white and wheat!). I like white whole wheat flour because it (for the most part) doesn’t impart the strong whole wheat flavor to the finished product, while still offering those perk nutrients that whole grains tout.

Finally, generally, I like to double recipes. If you’re making the effort, why not get the most bang for your buck? Not all, but many baked products freeze well; and almost everyone loves to receive something home-baked. Say it with a muffin!

If you’re using canned pumpkin (I use organic canned pumpkin, which is 15 oz….not quite 2 cups, but as they say in music-speak, “close enough for jazz”), one can will suffice for a doubled recipe.

peace and love,

jane

Yield: 12 Muffins or 24 Mini-Muffins

Ingredients: (c.=cup, tsp.=teaspoon) 1 ½ c. white whole wheat flour (or unbleached white or a combination of white and whole wheat flours) 1 tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. salt 2 eggs, size large, at room temperature 1 c. sugar 1 c. pureed pumpkin or ‘other’ pureed orange squash or pumpkin 1/3 liquid c. vegetable oil – canola or grape seed 1 ½  heaping tsps. cinnamon ½  tsp. ground ginger ¼  tsp. ground cloves ½  tsp. ground nutmeg (freshly ground is best!) optional additions of nuts, dried fruit or chocolate (see below) optional: Turbinado or finishing sugar for tops Procedure: Preheat oven to 350°F. Rack should be in the middle of the oven. Prepare muffin tray(s) with either muffin cup liners or cooking spray. (12 muffins or 24 mini-muffins) Combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices; and blend with a whisk. Either by hand or in your Kitchen Aid (or ‘other’ electric mixer), whisk together the eggs and sugar until light yellow. (The beater blade will work fine in the electric mixer.) Add the vegetable oil and pumpkin and mix until smooth. Add the dry ingredients mixing until just combined. Over-mixing = tough muffins. Fill all the muffin cups to an equal height. (Optional: sprinkle a little coarse, finishing or Turbinado sugar on the top of each before baking.) Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15-20 minutes for “minis” and 25-30 minutes for full-sized muffins. Optional additions: Throw in ½ to 1 c. chopped nuts of your liking, like walnuts or pecans. (Always toast and cool your nuts first. Place them on a cookie sheet and toast them in a preheated 350º oven for about 6-8 minutes, until you can just smell them. Take care to not let them burn. If they burn, don’t use them – they’ll ruin whatever you’re baking. Cool before chopping.) Toasting nuts brings out their natural oils and makes a difference in the finished product.  Try tossing some into a salad! Add some dried fruit, like raisins or chopped apricots or dried cherries. You can combines some with the nuts. Try ½ c. dried fruit and ½ c. chopped nuts, combined. If you’re a chocolate lover, fold in ½ - ¾ c. chopped excellent quality chopped chocolate, or some excellent quality chocolate chips. I like Guittard or Ghirardelli. Mini-muffins? … one or two chips might become the muffin … so, if your chips are bullying your batter, chop them up. You’re the boss.

Sugar Snap (or Snow Pea) Salad with Fresh Mint and Lemon

Sugar Snap (or Snow Pea) Salad

with Fresh Mint and Lemon

Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen from NoMad

A friend of mine brought this salad to me while I was recuperating from shoulder surgery. There may be no better medicine than when someone cooks for you. I don’t think I’d tasted anything as good as that salad, ever. Its curative factor may be subjective. But the crunchy, minty, sweet, lemony, peppery/salty, "yes, I'll have some more, thanks" factor - it's brilliant. 

Thank you, Rita! 

Sugar snaps aren’t peaking at the market anymore. I’ve suggested alternative “sturdy” vegetables that will stay crisp and crunchy. I adore everything about kohlrabi. 

If you don't like the pancetta part of this recipe, omit it. If you do omit the pancetta, compensate by increasing the amount of olive oil in the skillet.

The original recipe clocks this at 45 minutes to prepare. Post-op, double that.

Here is Blue Heron Kitchen's twist: 

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 pounds [sugar snap or] snow peas (If unavailable, shred a combination of cabbage, carrots and kohlrabi – one, two or all – 1 ½ lbs. This can be done in a food processor!)

1/2 c. olive oil plus ¼ tsp. lemon oil (Boyajian makes this product. You can purchase it directly from them (there's a cute trio of mini citrus oils) from King Arthur Flour or go to  Amazon.com and search there.)

2-3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice (I prefer organic lemons)

Salt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 ounces pancetta, finely diced (if you omit the pancetta, add another 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil)

½ to 3/4 cup finely diced Vidalia or other ‘sweet’ onion

1/3 to 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, sliced into thin strips

Grated zest from 1 large or 2 small lemons

Salt (try fleur de sel!) and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 oz. Pecorino cheese, shaved.

Procedure:

1.Trim ends of snow peas and pull off strings. Stack about a dozen snow peas at a time on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to cut them at an angle into medium julienne. 

Place in a bowl of ice water.  (If you’re using julienned cabbage/carrots/kohlrabi – give them an ice bath too!)

2.In a small bowl, whisk together lemon oil, lemon juice and a teaspoon of salt, or to taste, and set aside. (If you don’t have lemon oil, grate some extra lemon zest into the dressing. Take care to only include the yellow part of the lemon, excluding the white pith, which is bitter. Organic lemons are your best bet.) N.B.: I decreased the amount of dressing and didn’t pour it all on. You’ll judge how much dressing works for you.

3.In a 12-inch skillet, heat extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add pancetta and cook until fat is rendered. Do not allow pancetta to brown. Add onion and cook on low until soft and transparent. Remove from heat. Drain snow peas and add to skillet. Return to medium heat and cook, stirring, just enough to warm and slightly wilt snow peas, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

4.Whisk lemon dressing and pour  as much as you feel is needed into skillet. Add lemon zest and mint and toss. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large serving dish or to shallow bowls, scatter shaved cheese on top and serve.

With a hunk of bread and with (or without)some grilled or steamed shrimp, this salad can be the main course. It’s also a great first course or side dish. Suggestion: Instead of cole slaw or potato or macaroni salad, bring this to your pot luck or picnic, and everyone'll be singing "Pass the Peas", I'm serious.





YIELD: 4 to 6 servings

sugar snap peace and love,
jane

YIELD: 4 to 6 servings

Vegan Nut Butter Cookies (with variations!)

Vegan Nut Butter Cookies
(With Variations!)

Thumbprint variation!

This recipe came my way from a lovely blog I subscribe to called Goodness Is.

I chose to share this with you for several reasons. One was because I'd never baked cookies without eggs. Have you? The other, because having just had shoulder surgery, I don't have full range of use of my right wing now. This is a recipe I could produce without my right arm!

So, grateful to not have to crack an egg with one hand (yes, I can), and after reading the fine print on the pain pills, I've not only concluded that my Kitchen Aid isn't heavy machinery but that because its name is Kitchen Aid, it has been added as an adjunct to my physical therapy protocol.

With a skeletal crew, Blue Heron Kitchen is open operating!

My friend Rick (of Rick's Chrain fame), took one bite of these and said they'd be great without the chocolate chips. The cookie part, he thought was great. My neighbors, who have been helping me out during this needy time, and who have a toddler, really loved them, and immediately asked for the recipe. They loved the chocolate chips. What I'm not crazy about is the 'look' of these. The finish is a little anemic. Maybe if you dip them in something like toasted coconut or ground nuts, they'd look prettier. (I suppose an egg wash is out of the question.)

By now, you've probably figured out that I'm not a vegan. I wouldn't publish this recipe if they weren't seriously delicious. They're knockouts.

Don't be discouraged by the oat flour or spelt flour ingredients. First, you can buy these products easily at any good health conscious market. Bob's Red Mill sells these flours online, you can buy them at Fairway markets if you live in the NY metro area, or go to a good health food store. I'm turning to markets other than Whole Foods. My local Whole Foods is gross. It's crowded, poorly stocked, prices are stupid, staff is friendly and mostly vapid and basically unknowledgeable. Whole Foods should act their pricetag, not their preservative size.

What's important is that you understand the gluten profile of these flours: Oat flour is low in gluten. Spelt is fairly low in gluten. So, you can substitute, if necessary. Try other low gluten flours: cake flour can be a good substitute for the oat flour. Try whole wheat pastry flour and white cake flour if these less common flours aren't readily available or you just don't want to purchase them. The nice thing about the Bob's Red Mill flours is that they come in small bags. You keep them in the fridge and you don't feel like you've got five pounds of something you'll never use again.

Nut butters: I used almond butter because I had more in the house than peanut butter. I ground it myself at the supermarket. You don't have much choice over the texture, but you know what's in it and that it's fresh. If you use peanut butter, they'll taste more of peanut butter, which isn't a bad thing. Smooth will give you a different (my preference) product than chunky. Salty  butters would be fun. I'd omit the salt in the recipe and add a little more chocolate to balance the salt. Yum. A great variation on this are thumbprint cookies! For these, I use peanut butter and my favorite jam. 

If you're allergic to nuts, try sunflower seed butter or tahini. But if you use tahini, the tahini taste may dominate. If you do, please let me know!

I wrote about coconut oil in my plain cake recipe. I'm still not entirely sure about this fat, but I still have a jar of it. It's sweet and very delicious; and if you like the scent and taste of coconut, you'll like using it. For years, coconut oil was slammed and buried as one of the worst possible fats - it would dig you an early grave. I'm waiting for fois gras to be released from prison.

Vegan Nut Butter Cookies
(With variations)

Adapted from Goodness Is by Blue Heron Kitchen

Ingredients:

3/4 cup whole-wheat spelt flour

3/4 cup of oat flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup peanut or almond butter (or nut or 'not nut' butter of choice), smooth or chunky, but smooth will give you a better 'bound' cookie

1/3  cup pure maple syrup, or treacle (Lyle's Golden), or a combination or the two

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

optional: 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips (or chopped dark chocolate)

here are a few variations: 

PB & J!: make them into thumbprints! (I would omit the chocolate chips, but you can leave them in and have an pb/j and chocolate orgy!) Roll them into balls and make an indentation in the center of each one. Place about 1/8 of a tsp. of your favorite jam in the center. 

omit chips and substitute chopped nuts of the same variety of the nut butter you used 

play around with extracts and decrease vanilla and add a small amount (1/4 tsp. almond extract)

add some chopped up dried fruit, such as apricots or dried cherries!

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. and line a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper, silpat , or oil the pan (remember, these are vegan, so don't cheat and use butter)

2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt and set aside.

3. In another bowl (or in the bowl of your electric mixer), combine nut butter, coconut oil, maple syrup (or treacle - I mixed the two and loved the result. You could probably use brown rice syrup too. I haven't tried honey.), extract and mix for several minutes until well-combined.

4. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just incorporated. Dump in chocolate chips (or other additions) and fold in by hand.

5. Using rounds teaspoons or a small cookie scoop, space them about an inch apart on the cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with your hand (just a little bit!)

6. Bake for about 10-12 minutes (I baked them for 10 minutes). If you bake them longer, they'll be dry.

7. Transfer to a rack to cool. 

Yield 16-20 cookies.

Warm, with a glass of milk, these will make your eyes roll into your head. Wrapped, they'll stay moist for several days. You can freeze them, but they probably won't make it to the freezer.

My "leftie" vegan cookies

Plain Cake (The Best Plain Cake, Better)

  Plain Cake 

(The Best Plain Cake, Better)

(French Yogurt/Almond Cake)

Adapted from Baking by Dorie Greenspan by Blue Heron Kitchen

“The Best Plain Cake” (July, 2010, Blue Heron Kitchen) got better this year.

The tweaks: coconut oil (you can buy it at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods or Fairway). Coconut oil isn’t liquid (at least my ‘organic coconut oil” isn’t). It looks to me more like coconut fat or coconut grease. That's why they call it 'oil'. To bring it to liquid, place the small amount you're adding atop your stove when your oven is preheating or just warm it ever so slightly. Here's a coconut oil truc: a tiny bit of coconut oil will stand up to high heat and add a subtle flavor to your popcorn kernels .. huzza. Lemon oil: Boyajian oils are invaluable when it comes to infusing your pastry with flavor. You can buy them through King Arthur Flour or online through Amazon. Increased vanilla (I have used Baldwin's vanilla extract for about 30 years. Once you open a bottle and take a whiff, you'll be astonished. Once you start using it in your baking, you'll never use another vanilla extract. Then I hope you'll write to me and thank me.  Here's the link. Read about Baldwin's. Then order some) oh .. and I added a little more salt. If you restrict your salt intake, then decrease the amount. I love salt and sweet together.

Wrapped well, these cakes will keep for several days, out in a cool room, up to a week in the fridge, and for a month or two in the freezer. You can make a simple jam glaze by heating up marmalade (lemon or try ginger!) and a little sugar, until liquid, straining it and then glazing the loaves when they’re cooled. Adorn or n’adorn, this is the greatest plain cake; and you can make it by hand.

Berries are a natural complement.  Sorbet, sherbet, ice cream, frozen yogurt, crème fraiche, whipped cream. Toast it!

Bob’s Red Mill’s almond meal/flour is my brand of choice. French almond flour is gorgeous and much more refined, and it’s easy to find in the supermarkets in France, but not ici.  Another place to find almond flour is Patel Brothers (a great chain of Indian supermarkets in the New York metropolitan area).

Play around with this and use other nut flours/oils/extracts; and if you’re adverse to nuts, substitute flour (try some whole wheat flour instead of the nut flour.)

You’re going to love this cake and you'll bake it all year.

 peace, love and happy summer!

jane

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup ground almonds (or, whole wheat flour or just more all-purpose flour)

2 tsp. baking powder (I use Rumford – no aluminum)

½ tsp. kosher salt

1 cup granulated sugar

Grated zest of a lemon (use organic if you can)

½ cup 2% Total Fage Greek Yogurt

3 eggs, size large, room temperature

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I use Baldwin’s)

1/8 tsp. lemon oil (Boyajian’s)

1Tbsp. coconut oil

¼ c. + 3 Tbsp. flavorless vegetable oil (If you omit coconut oil: ½ cup flavorless oil)

Procedure:

Center rack in oven and preheat to 350º F.  Butter and flour, or spray release and flour medium sized loaf pan (8 ½-x-4 ½ inch) or smaller loaf molds. (If using paper molds, which are great for ‘giving’, freezing, and looking like you know what you’re doing, you don’t have to grease them.) You can also bake this in a round cake pan and then turn it into a filled layer cake!

In a medium bowl measure the sugar.  Using your Microplane Zester, being careful to not include the bitter pith (the white stuff) of the lemon, zest the rind and with your fingers or a fork or a small whisk, incorporate the rind into the sugar.  Set aside and the oils of the zest will get into the sugar and make it smell really great.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour/almond meal, baking powder and salt.

Begin with the whisk attachment of your Kitchen Aid, or by hand, a human whisk. Start with the sugar, add the yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract and lemon oil and whisk vigorously until well blended.  If mixing by hand, still whisking, add the dry ingredients, making sure to whisk until the batter is no longer lumpy. If using a Kitchen Aid, switch to the flat beater of Beater Blade and add the dry ingredients, making sure to mix until batter is no longer lumpy. Stop the machine and remove the bowl, or if doing this manually, switch to a rubber spatula.  Fold in the oil.  The batter should be smooth, shiny and thick.

Fill prepared pan(s) and bake, depending upon size of pan, anywhere from 30-50 minutes.  Cake is done when top is golden, it springs to the touch and a tester (or sharp knife) inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

Transfer to a rack and cool for 5-10 minutes.  If the cake doesn’t easily release, run a knife between the cake and sides of pan.  Unmold and cool to room temperature before wrapping.

 

Chocolate Soufflé Cake

Fallen Pound of Chocolate Soufflé Cake

(Flourless)

From David Waltuck’s “Staff Meals from Chanterelle”

Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen

This cake is almost completely flour-free, save for dusting the pan with flour. If you don’t use wheat, choose an alternative to flour, such as matzo cake meal (next Passover), or some rice flour (if you’re Sephardic or you're allergic to wheat). 

I used flour.

This cake is about the easiest and most 'unassuming' flourless chocolate cake I’ve made. I like that. It approaches perfection. There's no flavoring other than chocolate and butter. So, make sure you use excellent chocolate (try Jacques Torres’ baking disks, Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, Guittard, or your favorite chocolate). You'll need a pound of chocolate! And then, there’s the butter situation. You'll be using half a pound of butter. I use European style butter – Plugra. Whatever butter you use, be sure that it’s fresh. Taste it. If you wouldn't spread it on toast, don’t use it. Nine eggs. Size large, room temperature, separated. Make sure that your whites are without yolks.

For an excellent cake, use excellent ingredients and an excellent technique.

Your excellent technique: Make sure that no steam enters your melting chocolate. Take care that the melted chocolate and butter cools to room temperature. Achieve ‘ribbons’ with the yolks. Don’t beat the whites past ‘soft peak’ or they’ll dry out too much. Fold, but don’t ‘mix’ to assure that the batter is ‘lifted’.  Bake in the center of the oven. DON’T OVERBAKE.

Follow these simple steps, and you’ll be a rock star, even though all you did was melt chocolate and butter and beat some eggs.

Here’s the recipe for one 9-inch cake:

Ingredients:

1 pound best quality semi-sweet to dark chocolate

½ pound (two sticks), unsalted butter (European 83% butterfat recommended)

9 large eggs, room temperature, separated

¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Cocoa powder (I use Scharffen Berger, Valrhona or Guittard), for dusting the cake

Confectioners’ "10X" sugar, for dusting the cake

Procedure:

1.    Preheat oven to 300º F. Lightly butter and flour (see above note regarding flour, if this is Passover, you can use matzo cake meal) a 9-inch springform pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.

2.    Combine chocolate and butter in a bowl placed on top of a pot of barely simmering water. Melt, stirring occasionally. Be CAREFUL that NO STEAM enters the chocolate/butter mixture. When just about completely melted, remove bowl from the simmering pot and stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to room temperature. Don't rush. Bring it to room temperature.

3.    Combine egg yolks and ¾ cup of the sugar in the bowl of and electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix for about 4-5 minutes, until when the paddle is lifted, ribbons fall from the paddle.

4.    In another bowl (or, if you don’t have another bowl, transfer this mixture to a LARGE bowl and THOROUGHLY wash this bowl and attach the whisk to the electric mixer), whisk the egg whites with the 1 additional tablespoon of sugar until soft peaks are made when you lift the whites with the whisk. This should take about 3 or 4 minutes.

5.    Now you’re ready to fold!

6.    Fold 1/3 of the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg yolks. When fully incorporated, fold 1/3 of beaten egg whites, until fully incorporated. Repeat this procedure twice more, until you’ve completely folding all ingredients together, ending with the egg whites.

7.    Carefully pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Don’t ‘pat it down’ much. Bake until the edges are firm and center is somewhat ‘puffy’, but still soft. The center will appear to be unbaked.  

8.    Cool on a rack, then release the springform.

9.    Dust with a layer of cocoa powder, followed by a layer of 10X (that’s industry talk for confectioner’s sugar), a second layer of cocoa and a final layer of 10X.

1.    Serve at room temperature. A thin slice will suffice (especially if there are 40 people at the table). You can serve ‘as is’, with a dollop of whipped cream, with some crème anglaise, or with a berry or two.