muffin masterplan

preheat 375
sift

• 2 c. flour
• 2 tsp bkg powder
• 1 tsp bkg soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

combine

• 1/3 c sugar
• 1/2 c applesauce
• 1/2 c olive oil
• 1 c buttermilk

mix in dries and

• 1 1/2 c fresh or frozen berries or chopped fruit

yogurt

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/dining/15curi.html

morning glory muffins

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line standard size 12 muffin tin with paper cups, and grease or line two 1-cup ovenproof dishes (maybe next time i'll try heaping the batter onto the muffin pan, since it didn't rise all that much)
Sift into a large bowl:

• 2 c. flour (I used only all-purpose, and wouldn't try less than half so they're not too dense)
• 1/3 c. refined sugar
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt

mix in

• 4 medium carrots, shredded (2 c.)
• 1 large apple, peeled cored and shredded (1 c.)
• 1/2 c. raisins
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
• 1/2 c. sweetened dried coconut flakes

in another mixing bowl, beat together

• 3 eggs
• 1 c. vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

pour wet ingredients over dry and stir to combine.  scoop batter into muffin cups, and bake 20 minutes, or until a stick poked in comes out clean.

macrobiotic wha?

I was reading the Changing Seasons Macrobiotic Cookbook by Aveline Kushi and Wendy Esko (in amazon's LookInside! edition, whatever) and was jamming along, regional vegan diet, whole grains, miso soup with seaweed every day, I could do this, at least for a month as cleanse, and then i got to this:

Unless you live in a tropical climate, avoid the foods of tropical origin (listed in the last column) whenever possible, because they are difficult to balance in the body. ...

• asparagus
• avocado
• bamboo shoots
• beets
• eggplant
• ginseng
• green and red peppers
• Jerusalem artichokes
• okra
• potatoes
• spinach
• sweet potatoes
• Swiss chard
• taro (large ones)
• tomatoes
• yams
• zucchini

and my first reaction is basically, no can do.  What's recommended? Lots of squash and roots and all the tougher, more bitter greens.  They pad the list with "lotus root, fresh or dried; lotus seeds", and note that leeks, onions and scallions are all on the Regular Use list, though garlic isn't mentioned at all.
But then I looked more carefully at the Tropical list: it's all the nightshades, starchy/sugary tubers, and stuff that won't grow in this climate.  But, but, nightshades are so delicious, especially fresh in season like right now.  On Thursday let's compare the CSA haul to that list.  Maybe I'll even put the book in my shopping cart.

kitchen photos

Shortly after moving in, I removed most of the cabinet doors, largely just because there was no landlord to tell me not to.  But I still kind of really dislike the cabinets, and have dreams of further optimizing our kitchen, though it will have to be a gradual process.  But I'm working on it.  Notice that the cabinet to the left of the stove has been emptied, to make way for...

don't mind if i do

some cooking projects to get excited about:
in today's NYT restaurant review

buys whole Rhode Island squid and stuffs it with paella rice she cooks with chorizo, red pepper, onion and saffron. For vinaigrette she smokes her own tomatoes and tosses them with sherry vinegar, salt, olive oil and a bit of palm sugar. A cook sears the squid just long enough to heat the rice through and give its body a faint crust, then places it on a soft bed of tiny white beans cooked in crème fraîche, with a cloak of those smoked tomatoes and a hat of cilantro.

don't mind if I do.
and, I have a large turnip collection and the only tasty food i could think to use them in is from dim sum, basically just following the principle that anything can be tasty if you make it into a batter and fry it.  but i don't have a steaming basket and haven't gone out of my way to obtain one.  but this recipe i found just has you steam it by putting a cake pan inside a large wok with a lid.  and this one is even vegetarian.  and if i make those there should probably be other dim sum to go with it, in other words, dumplings.  maybe it would be worth buying a steamer.
and, mushroom barley soup recipe i want to find again http://flavouroftheweek.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/mushroom-barley-soup-from-veselka/
and, vegan dinner party this friday, tentative plan is polenta w/ mushroom ragu and roasted root veg maybe with some kind of vinagrette?  and bread, which i should feed the starter now if I want to have my own bread.  ok, go.

chana dal

our new housemates came with a big bag of chana dal, aka split yellow peas, so i went to the interwebs to figure out what to do with it. the recipe at http://www.indianfoodforever.com/daal/chana-dal.html was so good i made it (with a few tweaks) twice in one week and finished off the supply. it makes a lot, but having a big jar of dal in the fridge is the best defense against "i'm too hungry to cook let's just get take-out"
soak in copious water for 2-3 hours then rinse and drain:

• 2 c. chana dal

boil

• 6 c. water

add the dal and cook on medium about 30 minutes, until the beans are soft enough to smoosh between your fingers. stir it up then add

• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
  
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste

stir it all together. in a small pan, fry over low heat

• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
• 1/2 tsp black mustard seed
• 2 tsp minced garlic

when the mustard and garlic are fragrant and the oil is hot, dump it in the pot of beans, stir again, cover the pot and cook 2 minutes. uncover and cook another 5 minutes, then serve with rice.