Do you Dukkah?

Have you ever heard of dukkah? Dukkah is, by definition, an Egyptian dry mixture of chopped nuts, seeds and Middle Eastern spices and flavors.

It most commonly uses Hazelnuts or Chickpeas as a base & then a mixture of sesame seeds, cumin seeds, corriander seeds, black peppercorns, & salt. It is traditionally eaten with bread & olive oil. I found my recipe through Closet Cooking, who also used almonds, which I really liked. I dressed some pork tenderloin with olive oil, salt, & ancho chili powder. Then I coated it with the dukkah. Next, I seared it in some olive oil on the stove & then transfered it to a 400 degree oven for about 12 minutes. I then served it with brussel sprouts & some left over sauces from my husband. Next time I think I will serve it with some sweet potatoes!

The fun part about Dukkah is you can tailor it to your personal preference. I think next time I will reduce the amount of cumin. I can't wait to see how my dukkah evolves for each dish.

You will have enough left over to keep for future uses. I plan to try it later this week on chicken. Here is the recipe:

Dukkah.

1/2 c hazelnuts
1/2 c almonds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 tbs corriander seeds
1 tbs cumin seeds
1 tbs black peppercorns
1 tsp kosher salt

*roast nuts in oven on 350 for 15 minutes
*toast seeds & spices, excluding salt, on stovetop for about 3 minutes
*once cooled, transfer all to food processor & chop.
*add salt

Angel Food Cake with Yogurt & Three Berries.

There must be something in the name Angel Food Cake. Tonight I decided to try out making it from scratch for the first time, & after my experience, I think the name must come from the fact that only an absolute angel would make this from scratch. I might not have ventured had I known what I was getting into, but now that it is all said & done, I am glad I did.

What makes this so painstaking is the fact that it takes 30 minutes, literally, of beating the egg mixture with a hand mixer to achieve the "medium foamy peaks". Once you get past that step it is all smooth sailing, & if I had a KitchenAid Mixer, you probably wouldn't hear me complaining. But, I didn't, so I am. I am including pictures of the peaks so that you know what to look for. I was unsure the whole time if I would ever reach that stage or if I had botched it up some how, but waited it out anyhow. If you mix it they will come. So don't give up!

The results were delicious & quite rewarding after all the time & effort. I topped mine with raspberry yogurt & a mixture of three berries-plain & simple. I have seen recipes that add sugar & cream to yogurt but this would have overdone it for me since the cake is so sweet. Here is the recipe adapted from Alton Brown's.




Angel Food Cake with Yogurt & Three Berries
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cake flour
12 egg whites
1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a food processor spin sugar about 2 minutes until it is superfine. Sift half of the sugar with the salt the cake flour, setting the remaining sugar aside.
In a large bowl, whisk thoroughly to combine egg whites, water, extracts, and cream of tartar. After 2 minutes, switch to a hand mixer. Slowly sift the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed. Once you have achieved medium peaks(30 min), sift enough of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.
Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. (When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry).
Cool upside down on cooling rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.

Deconstucted Sugar Cookie Bags.

I made these to give out to family for Valentine's Day. I attached the homemade valentines Flynn made to the front of them with a rubberband. Flynn loved delivering these & would carry them with the little rubberband around his wrist. This idea came from not wanting to frost dozens of sugar cookies & wanting to be able to package them in a brown paper sack without ruining them. I simply bagged the cookies & then bagged some frosting in the corner of a baggy with instuctions to simply cut the corner & use as a sort of pastry bag to frost their own cookies. I also included a baggy of sprinkles. Convenient for me & fun for those who like decorating cookies!


*i turned the baggy inside out & placed frosting directly in corner so the icing was not messy inside the bag.

Homemade Banana Cinnamon Ice Cream.

All I have to say after making homemade ice cream for the first time last night is, "Why have I not done this before?" Probably the main reason I am asking myself this question is because I used the CuisineArt Ice Cream Maker that I bought from a thrift store years ago & that has been sitting in my garage ever since. If you have never had homemade ice cream before I suggest you try it soon. It is oh so much yummier than any other ice cream, you can make up your own flavors, & it only takes 20 minutes of inactive work! Not to mention the fact that you get to watch it form before your eyes. So fun. We decided to make Banana Cinnamon flavor because that is what Brett always wishes they had at the store. We used, you guessed it, banana & cinnamon. So easy & so good! Here is the recipe so you can convince yourself even more that it is one of the best & easiest things to make homemade!

Homemade Banana Cinnamon Ice Cream:
1 cup whole milk, well chilled
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
1 – 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, to taste
1 mooshed banana+1 teaspoon cinnamon

You simply mix ingredients then dump in the machine.
You add you mixins in the final 5 minutes.

oatmeal pancakes.

I have been having so much fun adding new ingredients to my kitchen. The latest I have been experimenting with is oat flour. I make it by putting my whole oats into the food processor. Simple as that. Such a great way to rotate the bags of oats I have been storing for years.

The first thing I tried oat flour in was Jessica Seinfeld's brownies. I have to say I wasn't quite pleased with the results. I feel as though I might be able to tweak the recipe & come up with a good brownie, but still it's not something I plan to include as a regular part of our diet.

I then did some research online as I was planning for this Sunday's pancake breakfast(new family tradition), & came across several recipes. I chose the healthiest out of the bunch & was quite pleased with the results! Flynn & Brett loved them too. We topped them with maple syrup only, no butter. While I don't think they will satisfy the typical person's craving for pancakes, they are a great way to add oatmeal to our breakfast menu. Neither me nor Flynn are crazy about the texture of regular prepared oatmeal, so this is a great alternative. Plus, I'm all about variety these days at the kitchen table!


Oatmeal Pancakes.

1 cup milk
3/4 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup oat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 large whites
1 tsp cinnamon

*Heat milk until hot, stir in oats and set aside.
*Beat egg whites into a stiff foam with hand mixer or blender and reserve.
*Mix remaining dry ingredients together and stir in oatmeal/milk mixture.
*Fold in egg whites until mixture is well blended.
*Spray pan with nonstick spray and cook pancakes until browned on both sides.

courtesy of stella juarez

Peanut Butter + Banana = Yummy Muffins.

O k. So we are already back to my new cookbook again. The review was a little premature but my assumptions were correct! It's a really great book. Not only does she add the purees to recipes but she uses altogether good ingredients like whole wheat & oat flour. The only thing I don't like is the use of margarine. I'm pro butter.

By far my favorite recipe is these little muffins. The whole family loves them & I have to admit that I sometimes have pregnancy strength cravings for the things. Without further adu, the recipe:

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
by Jessica Seinfeld

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease 12 cup muffin pan or line.

Mix:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup carrot puree
1/2 cup banana puree
1 large egg white

Sift together:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine wet & dry ingredients, but do not over mix, it will be lumpy.
Add another 1/2 cup of brown sugar & barely stir in. (Trust me on this, it makes for the yummiest caramelized globules in the end.)

Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!
(they are really good hot but even better cooled, be patient)

P.s.- I also had a great time making the green eggs with a whole pound of spinach! Flynn got a h u g e kick out of trying them along with the grumpy guy at the end of the book. He actually looked tickled. Oh, & they're really good too. I don't know if I will eat eggs otherwise.

whole wheat love.

Last year I wrote an article for a website about whole wheat. Unlike my husband, I didn't grow up with a barrel in my cupboard & the thought of having one now completely baffled me. I didn't know what to do with it but I really wanted to. I refused to keep the stuff around if I wasn't going to use it. So for the article, I got to know whole wheat. I mean the real stuff. I learned how to grind it myself & in conclusion, decided I needed a better wheat grinder which I plan on getting sometime this year. I also learned how to bake with it. For the most part. I made pizza dough, waffles, cracked wheat, everything but bread. I have always been scared of bread. Considering I have a hard time making a cake from a box turn out correctly, I think this is a reasonable fear. Well, as I made this years resolution, I knew I would need to conquer this fear eventually. Brett started by making fabulous artisan breads, but I still wanted to be able to have sliced bread for grilled cheese, etc. I decided I would begin by researching a recipe. I didn't want anything fancy & I wanted it to be 100% whole wheat if it was going to replace my local bread I already buy. Well, I found it.

The recipe requires no special ingredients & gives exact instructions so I wasn't left guessing. The best part is it makes 3, 9 x 5 loaves so if I double the batch, I can have 2 loaves per week for three weeks! All the reviews are very positive & have great tips & suggestions. It says it freezes well, which I haven't done yet, but it definitely slices well & is very moist. My bread may look a little small because I didn't notice the pans Brett got me were the wrong size, so it made two loaves but still turned out great!

The recipe calls for part bread flour, but I replaced it with all ww flour as suggested in reviews & it was great. In the final instruction it says you can use from 2-4 cups extra flour, but I only needed an extra 1/2 cup. I suggest you try this recipe if you are scared of making bread. If I can do it, anyone can!

The recipe:
Simple Whole Wheat Bread

New collaborative blog!

I was recently invited to become a contributor to a blog started by my friend Megan called Backyard Farming, the Urban Homesteader. It involves our journey to reach our goal, sharing what we learn as we go. The highlight will be the "chicken journals" as Megan & Marisa share there experiences raising chickens in their own backyards! I wrote my first contribution on the new show Jamie at Home on the food network.

Hope you enjoy!