Baked Steel Cut Oats

Baked Steel Cut Oats

I fell in love with baked oatmeal after I enjoyed a bowl from Cafe One Eight in Lancaster, PA several years ago. The recipe we make (near) weekly is based on a the recipe from Alexandra's Kitchen. It's not quite the same as Cafe One Eight, but still tasty. We leave out berries when we bake if they are seasonal. Nothing like fresh fruit or a fruit compote to change things up. During the summer, we'll layer the oatmeal with Greek yogurt and fruit for a cool parfait. 

Baked Steel Cut Oats

(1- 9"x 13" tray, 6 - 8 servings)

1-1/2 cups of steel cut oats

1 cup chopped walnuts (or nuts/seeds of your liking)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups blueberries (frozen or fresh, or skip if using fresh fruit to top)

4 cups whole milk

1/4 - 1/3 cup maple syrup

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Combine steel cut oats, baking powder and salt in a 9"x 13" glass dish. 

3. Add maple syrup and eggs to the dry ingredients and thoroughly mix. I use a whisk. When there are no pockets of dry ingredients, add the remaining ingredients (milk, vanilla extract, fruit and nuts) and gently mix. 

4. Bake for 55 - 60 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Miso-Base Marinade

It's been a while since my last post. Rather than documenting via blog, I've got Post-Its with scribbled recipes stuck near my kitchen prep area. Moving forward, I plan on keeping the introductions short and get right to the recipes. 

I love the Umami 33 Game Day marinade. It's a miso-based, savory and spicy marinade that we've used on chicken, flank steak, tri tip and salmon. I didn't have enough marinade while meal prepping one afternoon, and decided to make an Umami 33-inspired marinade with ingredients I had at home. There's a bit of ingredient overlap with a few differences. 

Miso-Base Marinade (a.k.a. my fake Umami 33 marinade)

4 tbsp red miso paste

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1/2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp water

1 tbsp gochujang (or 1 - 2 tsp of Sriracha) to achieve desired heat

This recipe makes 1/2 cup of marinade. Due to the thick consistency of miso paste, I start with the miso paste and slowly blend in other liquid components before the solids. Add more water (1 tsp at a time) if you want a less viscous marinade.

Store refrigerated. I typically use within 2 weeks. 

Homemade mayo

Homemade Mayo

Ingredients

1 pastured egg (room temperature)

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp mustard powder

3/4 cup avocado oil

Paprika (optional)

Sea salt

Put pastured egg, apple cider vinegar and mustard in a glass jar wife enough for an immersion blender. While blending, drizzle in avocado oil. Add salt and paprika to taste. Refrigerate and used within a week.

Alternative variations:

Chipotle mayo: add 1 - 2 tsp chipotle paste or chipotle in adobo sauce

 

Garlic mayo: use garlic infused avocado oil (Heat avocado oil with 1 or 2 garlic cloves for 20 minutes. Remove the garlic and let oil cool to room temperature before using).

Mushroom Risotto

Mushroom Risotto

Since I moved away, I no longer eat rice, mainly jasmine, on a daily basis. While the types of starches I had diversified, I found myself on many occasions craving rice. Last night was risotto. I happen to have about 10 crimini mushrooms, some leftover dry white wine (Sauvignon blanc), chicken stock and arborio rice. I also had some duck confit from a few weeks back so I used duck fat instead of butter and supplemented my stock with some duck gelatin (when you collect drippings from roasting a duck or chicken, there is a golden layer of concentrated flavor under the fat that solidifies as it chills - I freeze and use it for things like rice or veggies). The duck fat and gelatin were a bit salty since they were from the duck confit so I minimized the salt I added. After adding the Parmesan cheese, it was just salty enough for me. 

Ingredients (enough for 3 - 4 side portions or 2 full portions)

2 tbsp duck fat (or butter)

2 tspb olive oil

2 cups fresh crimini mushrooms, finely chopped 

3 cups vegetable or chicken stock (I prefer low sodium)

1/2 cup dry white wine (like, but not limited to, Sauvignon blanc)

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove

1 tspb parsley

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1) Heat the duck fat (or butter) in a skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and cook for 3 - 5 minutes until soft. Season to taste, remove from heat and set aside. 

2) Bring stock to a simmer over medium heat then reduce to low heat. You'll be adding this to the rice over time so you'll want to keep it warm without reducing the volume much. When I purchase shiitake mushrooms, I freeze the stems for stock as they add a nice earthy flavor. This would be a great addition while the stock simmers - just don't add the stems to the risotto. I didn't add any this time and it tasted fine.

3) Add the olive oil to a stock pot (2 quart was sufficient for me) and heat to medium. Add onions and garlic and sautee until soft but not brown. 

4) Add the rice to the onion/garlic mix and stir to thoroughly mix (1 - 2 minutes).

5) Add the white wine and stir until it is absorbed.

6) Add the stock 1/2 cup at a time and stir frequently to prevent sticking. Wait until each addition is absorbed prior to adding the next. After 25 - 35 minutes, when the rice is tender but not soft, add the mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, parsley and season to taste. 

I couldn't help but sample a bit while reheating the duck confit

I served my risotto with a delicious (and somewhat salty duck leg) and some honey roasted baby carrots.

Pearl Meatballs

Pearl Meatballs

Last week I decided I wanted pearl meatballs, specifically the ones my mom makes. Unfortunately my mom lives 850 miles away so the only way to satisfy my craving was to prepare them myself. If you're unfamiliar with pearl meatballs, they are steamed pork meatballs which were rolled in glutinous (aka sweet aka sticky) rice. The rice becomes translucent after it's cooked so the meatball appears to be studded in pearls. I didn't have short grain glutinous rice on hand so my my meatballs lack the pearl studded look. My favorite part is the bottom of the meatball where the rice takes on the meaty juices from the pork. This recipe requires a bit of prep time as the glutinous rice must be soaked for at least 2 hours before use. If I make this on a week night, I'll soak the rice before I leave for work in the morning.

Pearl Meatballs (~40 meatballs at 1 - 1-1/2")
Ingredients
2 cups of glutinous rice (preferably short grain, sometimes labeled as "sushi rice") soaked in water for 2 hours
1-1/2 lb ground pork
3 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp rice wine
2 tsp sesame oil
2 sprigs of green onion, finely chopped
4 shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped (I've used both fresh and dried)
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 medium eggs
1-2 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsp cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste
~ 1.5 cups water

Directions
1) Soak rice for 2 hours. If using dried shiitakes, rehydrate with water (at least 45 minutes). After mushrooms are rehydrated, remove stems (I save these for soups) and finely chop.
2) Mix cornstarch with ~1/4 cup of cold water, soy sauce, rice wine, and eggs. Add remaining ingredients and additional cup of water and mix well. Allow mixture to rest 30 minutes. The mixture should feel moist but firm enough to form balls. Note: After making my mixture, I always heat up a frying pan and cook 1/2 - 1 tsp of the meat mixture for a taste test. This way I can adjust the flavor to my liking before rolling out and steaming all my meatballs.

3) Drain excess liquid from rice and lay rice out onto a plate.
4) Roll meat mixture into 1 - 1-1/2 inch balls. Roll the meat balls on the rice plate to coat.

5) Bring water for steaming to a boil. Once the water is boiling, set the plated meatballs in the steamer rack and steam for 30 minutes. Alternatively if you have a small steaming rack or a steaming insert for your rice cooker, the meatballs can be cooked concurrently with the rice. Just cook some veggies and the meal is complete!

Pumpkin Crepes

Pumpkin Crepes

It's been a few months since I've posted. Life gets busy and sometimes it's hard to pick things up after you've put them down. A while back when we had less than 8 hours of daylight, I had a craving for pumpkin crepes. Having picked up a can of pumpkin the week before, I thought I'd try making them for Sunday brunch. It's difficult for my husband and I to eat any meal other than dinner together because of work and gym schedules so Sunday is brunch day. It's just nice to sit down and have breakfast together without having to run off to work, whether that breakfast is a simple dish of scrambled eggs at home or a rare venture out.

I initially wanted traditional crepes with a pumpkin cream cheese filling but seeing as I was out of cream cheese, I opted for pumpkin flavored crepes. I used the crepe recipe from two tarts and had great success. The recipe requires the batter to sit for 30 minutes, which was time spent making a pumpkin spiced whipped cream, sea salt caramel sauce, and of course cleaning up the mess I was making. 

Pumpkin Crepes (10 - 12 crepes)
Ingredients
1 cup of pumpkin puree
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk
lukewarm water (recipe calls for 1/2 cup - I add as needed after batter rested)
4 eggs
1 tbsp unsalted butter (recipe calls for 4 tbsp in batter plus more for coating the pan - I felt the first batch was a bit too oily for my tastes)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Directions
1) Two Tarts instructs you to put everything in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. I mixed all of my dry ingredients together, and then slowly added milk, then eggs and finally the pumpkin puree. Let the batter stand for 30 minutes.
2) Mix the batter and adjust its consistency, as needed with lukewarm water. If you've never made crepes, the batter consistency is thinner than pancakes
3) Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat (I use an electric crepe pan). Coat the pan with butter and our about 1/4 cup of batter into the pan. Immediately lift pan and rotate to coat the pan with a thin, even layer of batter. Cook until the top is set and carefully flip with a spatula. Cook until the underside is lightly browned.
4) Remove from heat and dress with toppings. I drizzled some sea salt caramel sauce with a dollop of fresh whipped cream with pumpkin spices.

Note on pumpkin spiced whipped cream:
This is one of those things I literally throw together on a whim. I start with 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream which I whip until I get stiff peaks. I then fold in about 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves and 1/2 tsp of ginger. I opted not to use sugar to balance out the sweetness from the pumpkin and the salted caramel sauce. This is definitely one of those taste and adjust to your liking toppings.

Loaded chocolate chip cookies

Loaded chocolate chip cookies

It seems strange to say this but I'm not a huge chocolate chip cookie fan. My mother never made them when I was growing up. When I was given a warm gooey chocolate chip cookie right out the oven, I was satisfied but never blown away by it. Several years ago I read an article in the New York Times about baking the best chocolate chip cookies from scratch. They key was to let the dough sit for over 24 hours to allow the sugars time to dissolve into the butter. I was intrigued. Perhaps this would yield a chocolate chip cookie I would love. Though curious, I never tried the NY Times recipe.

Years later I stumbled upon the "perfect" chocolate chip recipe in Cooks Illustrated and couldn't say no. I followed the recipe exactly and got rave reviews. The cookies were crisp on the outside but moist and chewy on the outside. During one prep, I realized I didn't have enough semi-sweet chocolate chips and rather than make a trip to the store, decided to add things I had in the pantry. White chocolate, dark chocolate, toffee bits, walnuts went in instead of the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Top with coarsely ground sea salt and some addictive cookies were born.

I love Cooks illustrated as they explain why certain steps and ingredients result in differences in the final results like using more brown sugar that granulated sugar gives the cookie a chewier texture than using equal amounts of both sugars and browning the butter enhances the flavor. The recipe from Cooks Illustrated with my comments and modifications in blue is below.

Ingredients
1-3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda (confirm it's not expired)
14 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar (light brown sugar is ok. If your sugar is )
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1-1/4 cups semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks (I basically use 1-1/4 cups total of whatever chips I want to add to the cookies with relatively equal amounts of each)
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)
coarse sea salt

Directions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and head to 375°. Line 2 large (18" x 12") baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Heat 10 tbsp butter in a 10" skillet over medium-high until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling the pan constantly until butter is dark brown and has a nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to a large heatproof bowl. Stir the remaining 4 tbsp of butter until completely melted.

Browned butter - if you use a nonstick skillet, you can't really tell when it starts to brown

3. Add both sugars, salt, vanilla to the bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Repeat the process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is think, smooth and shiny, Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about one minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if using, giving the dough a final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

Sugar, vanilla, salt, and butter mixture

Initial whisk with egg and egg yolk

Final whisk with egg and egg yolk. It is slightly shinier than the initial whisk but the key thing to note is it's much smoother

Dough prior to chocolate chip addition

4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tbsp (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2" apart on prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle some coarse sea salt on top - don't go too crazy. 

A 3 tbsp cookie is a nice sized cookie. If you're looking for a nice balance of both, I'd stick with the recommended 3 tbsp portion. I've tried decreasing the portions to 1 and 2 tsbp sizes to maximize the number of cookies. Sometimes 16 cookies just isn't enough for a gathering. Keeping the same temperature and reducing the baking time by 1 - 2 minutes gave me a more crisp cookie while decreasing the oven temp to 350º and making until slightly golden brown gave a more chewy cookie. 

I usually sprinkle a bit of coarse sea salt on top 

5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (10 to 14 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

Fresh out of the oven

The edges are slightly crispy but the center is soft and chewy