Quinoa Cornbread

Quinoa Cornbread

Quinoa adds protein and fiber as well as a toasty flavor and great crunchy texture to this cornbread. Great with chili or black bean soup.

2 cups cornmeal (I like Bob's Red Mill medium-grind)
1 cup cooked quinoa, divided (I use a blend of regular, red and black quinoa)
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs honey
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbs vegetable oil
2 cups reduced fat buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425°F.
In a large bowl combine dry ingredients with ¾ cup quinoa. Mix liquids together and add to the dry ingredients, stirring until smooth. Turn into a greased 9x9 or cast iron pan and sprinkle remaining quinoa evenly on top. Bake 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden brown and a knife entered in center comes out clean.

Catching Up and Apple Pie

Ok, so I have a little catching up to do. Or a lot of catching up to do. So, here goes...

My last post was about apples and although the yummy Gravenstein apples are long gone now, I do have to catch you up on the piece de resistance of Apple Week: Apple Pie. I used the recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook (my go-to for tried and true baking recipes).

The verdict: This pie took a very long time to make from making and chilling the dough to baking it. The crust could've been a little more golden brown on the bottom and I prefer my apples a little firmer, but all in all this pie was delicious and we happily shared it with the Cousin Crew at a lovely dinner (thanks, Cousin S for the delicious dinner! Maybe if we're lucky, she'll share her recipe for delicious Curried Egg Salad...

Strawberries

For as long as I can remember, I've loved everything about strawberries - their taste, their smell, their color. The first book I could read front to back was a tale of Strawberry Shortcake and her sidekicks Apricot and Hopsalot. To this day I can't think of a better dessert than flaky biscuits with fresh strawberries and real whipped cream.

As usual when I went to the farmers market last week I bought too many strawberries (they were such a good deal!), so I had to come up with some other uses. Here's what I came up with.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Fresh Strawberries:












Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler:

Nothin' Beats Home-baked Bread

I am a baker's daughter, but apparently MO is the baker in our house. Last weekend I came home from a long day working and to my surprise MO had baked a big beautiful loaf of bread! He used the Olive Oil Bread recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and the result was a flavorful, rich, moist bread that we've been enjoying all week. Actually, I finally had to freeze some because the loaf was so big. I think when we (he) make it again maybe we'll try making little rolls - this recipe would make killer dinner rolls. So, the bread was delicious and I may have to share the kitchen more often!

Coconut Macaroons

Since we moved to California, we've been celebrating Passover with our "West Coast family". The first time we were invited, I looked all over to find a dessert recipe that would be appropriate for Passover - no flour, no leavening - and I didn't find a lot of options. So, I called Fat Boy to ask for his Coconut Macaroon recipe. The macaroons are delicious and coconut-y and I drizzled some bittersweet chocolate on top for some extra decadence (actually, macaroons are not so bad for you compared to other desserts). Now, my macaroons are a Seder table staple and the plate is cleaned every year.

Dad would be proud

Well, I promised my co-workers I would bring a breakfast treat for a meeting we had this week, so I took the opportunity to try something in a new cookbook, "A New Way to Cook" by Sally Schneider (I really like Schneider's food philosophy, but wasn't all that inspired by the book as a whole).

Anyway, I made Coriander and Orange Scented Scones (p. 375). I had never made scones before (although I am the daughter of a baker: http://www.fatboybakery.com/ , I frequently fail when it comes to baking things myself), but the recipe seemed pretty simple.

I followed the recipe pretty closely (although I omitted the coriander), but adapted the shaping and baking processes a little. After kneading the dough, I shaped it into a rough rectangle and cut it into 16 triangles (instead of the rounds Schneider suggests) because I wanted "mini" scones. I then placed them on a cookie sheet and put the whole thing in the freezer overnight. Then, I baked them (for about 20-25 minutes at 375 F) in the morning while I was getting ready for work. The freshly baked orange-scented currant-flecked nibbles were a huge hit at work! I can't wait to try some other varieties with this basic recipe - maybe ginger & lemon, cranberry & orange, chocolate chip & almond...any other ideas?