Brown Sugar Carrot Bread

Last fall, for some inexplicable reason, I got it in my head that I needed to make some carrot bread.  Not having a recipe in my repertoire, I did a little research and tried several recipes that I thought might work, many of which turned out to be nothing more than carrot cake baked in a loaf pan.  Not necessarily a bad thing, but not what I was going for.  I really wanted something sort of healthier, delicious, yet not too calorie-laden.  Sadly, I never found that perfect carrot bread recipe, and was in the process of developing one when Thanksgiving hit, then Christmas, and my need for carrot bread got put on the back burner.

 

But then a couple weeks ago, as I was browsing through some of Mark Bittman’s recent recipes, I came across this gem.  Well, you can imagine my glee, and you can bet I had this carrot bread baking in my oven within the hour.

While it turned out to be quite scrumptious, there were still a few things I needed to tweak to create the carrot bread I’d been imagining.  I’ve noted those changes on the recipe, but perhaps the most notable was the dominance of the orange zest.  The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon, which didn’t seem like that much, but in the end, it sort of turned this into carrot-orange bread or orange-carrot bread.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but again, not what I was going for.  If that meets your carrot bread requirements, by all means, add it in, but next time I’ll either greatly reduce the amount or leave it out altogether.  OR I might swap it out for a little lemon zest which might even turn out to exceed my carrot bread fantasies.  Here’s the recipe…

Brown Sugar Carrot Bread

Click here for a printable recipe

Recipe courtesy Mark Bittman

This is a deliciously moist, dense quick bread, but there are a few things I will do differently next time.  First I think I might lighten up the texture of the bread a little.  Mark used a combination of 1 ¼ cups all-purpose, ½ cup whole wheat, and ¼ cup course wheat bran, and I used a cup each of all purpose flour and white whole wheat flour.  Next time I think I might cut the whole wheat flour back to 1/2 cup.  I thought the orange zest was a little too dominant, so I suggest you eliminate it altogether.  Lastly, 1 teaspoon of salt seemed a bit much; 1/2 tsp is perfect.   The recipe didn't include them, but I added 1 cup raisins to the batter.

Makes: 1 loaf

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold butter, plus butter for the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 cup brown sugar (golden or dark)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (I recommend 1/2 tsp)
¾ cup almond milk
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (I recommend you eliminate this)
1 egg
1 cup grated carrots
½ cup sliced almonds
1 cup raisins

1. Heat the oven to 350d F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with butter or spray with cooking spray. (I suggest you use a smaller loaf pan...the bread comes out much nicer and cooks up perfectly).

2. Stir together the dry ingredients. Cut the butter into bits, then use a fork, 2 knives, or your fingers to cut or rub it into the dry ingredients until there are no pieces bigger than a small pea. (You can use a food processor for this step, which makes it quite easy, but you should not use a food processor for the remaining steps or the bread will be tough.)

3. Beat together the milk, zest and egg. Pour into the dry ingredients, mixing just enough to moisten; do not beat and do not mix until the batter is smooth. Fold in the grated carrots, raisins and the nuts, then pour and spoon the batter into the loaf pan. Bake for about an hour, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

Update on Monday, January 23, 2012 at 12:59PM by Patrice Berry

 

I've had a couple of people ask about almond milk which is listed as an ingredient in this recipe.  Almond milk has become fairly common in most grocery stores.  You can usually find it on the same aisle as the soy milk or rice milk.  Almond milk is high in calcium, vitamin D and antioxidants.  It's fairly lowfat and seems to be a good, healthy alternative to dairy in recipes.  If you'd like more information, you can click here to read more. Other brands of almond milk include BlueDiamond and SilkPureAlmond.  If you can't find almond milk in your store, I would subsitute yogurt for it in this recipe.

Lemon Curd Marbled Muffins

You know how when you board an airplane and the seat next to you is empty and the doors are closing and you get all excited because you're going to have all this extra room and space and quiet and then this large-ish guy from another row scoots into the seat and your hopes and dreams of extra space are completely dashed and then he carries on a very loud conversation with the guy across the aisle, and even though you've put in earplugs, it's almost impossible to collect your thoughts and write coherently about some incredibly luscious, lemon-studded muffins?  I just hate it when that happens.  And all this after sitting on the runway for over an hour while we de-ice and wait for runways to open and whatever other delays they can dream up because they know you have an impossibly tight connecting flight.

So here I am jammed into a middle seat, earplugs stuffed in my ears drowning out only the sound of the engines and making this conversation next to me seem even louder.  But as soon as the flight attendant stops screeching through the intercom, I'm going to do my best to gather my thoughts and tell you about these lovely lemon muffins.

And luscious they are... moist, super lemon-y, and just the perfect little muffin for those of us who profess undying allegiance to all things lemon.  I'm pretty much a charter member of that club and lemon curd is our iconic celebrity.

 

I have only one little procedural complaint regarding this recipe, and that's that as much as I was looking forward to little swirls of lemon curd in these, apparently, either I totally sucked at the marbling step, or the lemon curd just naturally gets absorbed by the batter, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  But since the name suggests otherwise, I think we should be able to find little pockets of lemon curd inside. 

To remedy this possible eventuality, I suggest that you simply spoon a little of the lemon curd onto half of the batter in the muffin tin and top that with more of the batter and bake as directed.  Or you could try your hand at marbling the curd a la the original recipe.  And to make things even more wondrous, I think you should also add a little dollop of the curd on top of the finished muffin.  Sigh.

And in case you were wondering (maybe you're not), the aforementioned flight was (in its own special way) whisking us off to the sunny shores of the central coast of California, more specifically, the Western Headquarters of the Circle B Kitchen.  We've left the chickens in the capable hands of our neighbor, who happens to also be our daughter, and for the next few weeks they will be working on their yoga postures and we will be trading 19 degrees for 60. 

Sounds pretty nice, no?  Almost as good as a lovely little muffin filled with lemon curd.  Here's the recipe...

Lemon Curd Marbled Muffins

Click here for a printable recipe

Recipe adapted from River Cottage Every Day

These are wonderfully moist, lemon-y muffins, but it seems that the lemon curd doesn't actually marble that well.  So if you're looking for more of a lemon curd presence in your muffin, I would suggest that you place ½ the batter in the muffin cups and place a dollop of curd in the center of each and then top with the rest of the muffin batter and bake as directed.   I used panettone muffin papers that I ordered from Cupcakes and Swirls.  If you use this kind of paper mold, you will only get 6 instead of 12 muffins from the recipe.

Makes about 12 muffins

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup whole milk
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 cup lemon curd, divided

1.  Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups with cupcake liners. Put the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl and whisk lightly to aerate and combine.

2.  Mix the egg, yogurt, milk, and melted butter together in a pitcher. Pour them into the dry ingredients and mix lightly, stopping as soon as everything is combined – it's essential not to overmix or you'll get dense, cakey muffins.

3.  Add 2/3 of the lemon curd in 6 or 7 dollops and quickly "marble" it lightly through the mixture (a couple of light stirs is really add that's needed). If your lemon curd is a bit stiff, just add it in little blobs.

4.  Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups, to three-quarters fill them. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Eat on the day you bake them, ideally while still slightly warm, topped with another dollop of lemon curd.

Update on Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 10:14AM by Patrice Berry

I've been asked about making your own lemon curd and here's a good recipe for it if you'd like to use homemade.  Good stuff!

Lemon Curd
Adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten

1 lemon
3/4 cups sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
2 eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice
pinch of salt

Zest the lemon into the sugar and mix well.

Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined. 

Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees F, or just below simmer. Remove from the heat and cool or refrigerate.

Chocolate Revel Bars

Once again, I’m just a little late to the party.  It seems that Revel Bars have been around for a very long time, and sadly, I had no idea.  Not one person in all my days has mentioned these to me.  It seems that there are lucky people all over this country who grew up eating them… their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and I’m sure even a few uncles made them, and all the while, I had none.  Sigh.  You’d think someone somewhere, sometime might have pointed this out to me.

 But better late than never, they say.  And happily, just before Christmas I came across a couple different recipes for these lovely confections, and no one had to twist my arm to get them made and sampled.  Wow.  Are they ever good.

Basically, revel bars are just the easiest thing in the world to make and remind me of so many cookie bars that were invented in the 50’s and 60’s.  They consist of a chocolate-y layer of deliciousness sandwiched between two layers of an oatmeal/brown sugar mixture that gets just slightly crispy and ultimately creates a cookie bar that is incredibly tasty and way too addicting.  There are many versions of the Chocolate Revel Bar out there; this happens to be the no-nut version, but it would be perfectly acceptable to add some chopped walnuts to the oatmeal mixture.  Equally scrumptious. 

 So pretty much whatever it is you’re doing there, I highly recommend that you put it down and go make yourself some of these.   Unless, of course, you’re one of those fortunate people who grew up eating them, in which case, well, you can just keep on doing whatever.  You probably already have some in your cookie jar right now, and that’s OK with me.  Really.  I’m fine with that.  Really.

Chocolate Revel Bars

Click here for a printable recipe

1 cup butter 
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 14-oz. can of sweetened condensed milk 
1 12-oz. package chocolate chips 
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Mix in eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Add flour, soda and salt. Stir in oatmeal and mix to combine.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the 2 tablespoons of butter, sweetened condensed milk, and chocolate chips. Heat on high in microwave for a minute, remove and stir. Heat again, for 30 seconds at a time, until completely melted. (This step could also be done over low heat on the stove). Stir in the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Press two-thirds of the oat mixture into the bottom of a greased and floured 15 x 10 jelly roll pan. My pan wasn't quite that big and they still came out great.  Spread chocolate mixture over the oat mixture. Using your fingers, dot remaining oat mixture over the chocolate.  

Bake in a 350 degree oven about 20-25 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.

Polenta with Sausage and Fresh Mozzarella

 

I’m not really sure what’s happened since Februaryof 2010, but it seems that was the last time I made polenta.  Very bothersome.  I happen to really love polenta.  A lot.   I have no easy explanation for why or how it has been thusly neglected for almost 2 years, but that’s the thing about polenta.  It’s just not a show-y extrovert kind of food.  It doesn’t jump up and down and squeal “oh, make me! Make me!”  Rather, polenta is a bit of an introvert in the food world.  It’s a reserved, simmer slowly, take its time, quietly delicious sort of thing that is easy to miss when you’re busy making this and that.  And now I feel really bad.

But to make amends, I decided to make this beautiful recipe I found in my Cucina Italiana magazine.  I love Italians.  They would never forget to make polenta.  And not only would they remember to make it, this is what they would do to it… they would simmer and reduce a delicious tomato sauce to spread on top with chunks of Italian sausage, and then they would top that with fresh mozzarella, bake it until it gets all melty and luscious and then drizzle it with olive oil and cracked pepper.  In my next life I will be Italian.

 

Oh, man is this good.  Mostly in the past (when I’ve remembered), I’ve made the creamy, spoon-able kind of polenta, but this is the kind of polenta that you let set up and thicken and become a delectable vehicle for any number of sauces or toppings.  I did have to alter the recipe a bit because that’s what I do, and I’ve noted those changes in the recipe below.  I have also included a few ways to get this on the table a little quicker.  But good polenta takes time.  It’s not difficult or complicated, but like most introverts, it will require time, patience and a bit of your attention now and then.  In the end, you will be magnificently rewarded.  Lovely stuff.

Here’s the recipe…

Polenta with Italian Sausage and Fresh Mozzarella

Click here for a printable recipe

Recipe adapted from La Cucina Italiana

Serves 6-8

Polenta may sound like a lot of work, but it really isn't.  It just takes a little time and some stirring now and then. I've altered the original recipe to add a little more flavor to the polenta (a little milk and parmesan cheese). And although I didn't change it in the recipe below, I'm not really a big fan of sliced chunks of link sausage in dishes like this, so might I suggest that you remove the sausage from the casings and pinch off 1/2-inch bits, dropping them directly into the sauce to cook.  These turn out like little sausage meatballs and are much more tender without the sausage casings.  And feel free to use spicy Italian sausage if you prefer. And you can certainly simplify this recipe by substiuting any good quality marinara sauce you might have on hand, and even adding some crushed red pepper if you like.  And if you're pressed for time, each part of this can be made ahead of time (like days ahead), refrigerated and then assembled and baked when you're ready to serve it. Awesome!

4 cups of water
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups coarse polenta

1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 (14-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes in juice (preferably San Marzano)
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1/2 pound Italian sausage (bulk or links)
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped thyme
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
freshly ground black pepper

Spray 2 8 or 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray

In a large saucepan, combine the water, 2 tablespoons oil, bay leaves and 1 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil.  Slowly add the polenta in a thin stream, whisking.  Reduce the heat to medium and cook, whisking constantly for 2 minutes.  Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon.  Cook and stir for 20 minutes and then add the milk.  Continue to stir until polenta is thickened and tender, another 20 minutes.  Stir in the grated parmesan cheese, taste for salt, remove and discard the bay leaves.

Transfer the polenta to prepared pans, spreading evenly with a rubber spatula. Let the polenta cool completely in pans on a wire rack.

Run the tomatoes through a blender (hand blender), or food processor until fairly smooth.  In a large saucepan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat.  Add onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, about 10 minutes.  Add tomatoes, wine, whole sausages, thyme and 1 teaspoon salt. 

Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, 30 to 40 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Heat oven to 400 degrees with a rack in the middle.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove sausage from sauce and cut into 1/2-inch thick rounds.

Turn out polenta rounds onto prepared baking sheet.  Top with sauce, spreading sauce to 1/2 inch from edges of polenta.  Arrange sausage and cheese on top.  Bake until cheese is melted and just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.  Serve warm, with a drizzle of oil and a sprinkle of pepper.

Buttermilk Angel Biscuits

 

Happy new year, everyone! Yes, people, I have returned from my self-imposed blogging exile just in time to catch you when you're probably still in the throes of your post-holiday food coma and not the least bit interested in cooking, eating or planning the next meal. Great. But someday soon I promise you will return to the kitchen, and when you do, you will thank me for insisting that you make these ethereal little biscuits.

But before I tell you about them, how have you been? I really have missed you these past couple of months. Remember how I told you in my last post that I was going to spend my little hiatus getting my camera and computer equipment cleaned and researching new recipes and stuff like that? Nah. Didn't do any of that. I had such great intentions, but mostly what I did was barely manage to keep up with my crazy life and all the holiday shopping, cooking and partying. So now I need a vacation. But so do you, right?

Seeing as how neither of us is going to get one, I thought it might be nice to just cook you something super delicious. These little angel biscuits are so dang good that if you’ve been avoiding your kitchen since the holidays, these should send you running back there like your hair’s on fire. I mean it. These are the lightest, airiest, fluffiest and easiest biscuits ever. OK, the box of Bisquick is way easier, but no way are they this fluffy. I heart fluffy biscuits.

There have been several recipes for angel biscuits floating around the past few months and I really meant to make them during the holidays. I won’t bore you with all the reasons I never got around to it, but I must say they made a pretty great post-holiday treat.

And when I say they’re easy, I really do mean it. I know because I made them 3 times in one afternoon. If that seems excessive, it’s just that evidently I needed to practice being stupid. I forgot to put the baking soda in the first batch (I must tell you about these later); I accidentally set the oven to convection on the second batch and they got a might too toasty; and then (thank goodness) the third batch was just right.

About those first biscuits that didn’t get the baking soda… they were so good. They didn’t rise much, so no fluffiness, but they came out like a heavy, sort of doughy dinner roll, but kind’ve flat, and I honestly could have eaten 5 or 11 of them. So if you forget the baking soda, do not despair.

Happy New Year! I wish you lots of good eats in 2012 starting with Buttermilk Angel Biscuits! And as if they weren’t enough to jump start the year, it seems that angel biscuit sliders are pretty dang amazing too…

Here's the recipe...

BUTTERMILK ANGEL BISCUITS

click here for printable recipe

Recipe adapated from Favorite Recipes Press via Relish magazine

I made a few changes from the original recipe to make it even easier. If you have a food processor, you can throw these together in no time. The original recipe said it would make 18 to 24 biscuits, but that really depends on how thick you cut them. If you like your biscuits tall (which I do), roll the dough out to about an inch thick and you will get about 12 biscuits. If you want more than that, just roll the dough out a little thinner. These are good no matter how big they are.

Ingredients

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablesppons sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup shortening, cut into pieces

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.2. *To the bowl of a food processor, add the dry ingredients and pulse a few times to mix3. Add the shortening and pulse a few more times until it forms little pebbles in the flour.4. Add the buttermilk and yeast mixture and pulse until it forms a sort of sticky ball. 5. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead two or three times, just to form a ball and roll out to about ¾ to an inch thick.6. Using a 2-inch cutter, cut out the biscuits and place them in a greased pan.7. While the oven preheats, let the biscuits rise slightly (about 20 minutes). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes at 400F. Eat while warm.

*If you don’t have a food processor, no worries. Just mix your dry ingredients in a large bowl and “cut in” the shortening using a pastry cutter or two knives. I used the two-knife method to cut shortening and butter into my pie crusts for years before I had a food processor. Just angle the knives towards each other like scissors, sort of chopping through the flour until the shortening is the size of little pebbles and then continue with the recipe, adding in the buttermilk, etc.