Fridge Fun

I was inspired by these fantastic photos of people’s refrigerators , and so I decided to take a picture of my fridge to share with you. You will also note that, in addition to having lots of condiments, I am nowhere near the photographer that Mark Menjivar is. Can’t win ’em all…

Sweet N’ Sour Cream

A lovely assortment of fresh berries with Sweet N' Sour Cream for dessert

This has always been a summer treat in my house–I personally just like to dip fresh fruit (particularly raspberries) in it, but we’ve also used it as an alternative to whipped cream to top fruity summer baked goods. I believe there is some fancy french name for this, but I don’t know what that may be…

All you do for this is mix some brown sugar into sour cream (this is one place where I really notice a difference between low-fat and full-fat sour cream). For dip for a dessert-sized portion of mixed berries, I usually mix two heaping spoonfuls of sour cream with a spoonful of brown sugar. Mix in the brown sugar and let it set a short while until it’s all dissolved.

Stuffed Dates

Got this from Rachel Wilkerson‘s excellent rundown of Thanksgiving recipes. But I think these puppies are awesome enough to deserve their very own blog post. Also, unlike Rachel, I don’t think the cheese is optional. I’ve made them three times now, and they’ve always been a hit!

Dates, the big ones, the best quality you can afford (it’s actually easier to buy the ones with the pit still in)
Bacon
Gorgonzola cheese

Pit the dates, and replace the pits with a similarly sized and shaped bit of cheese.
Cut the slices of bacon in half, and wrap a half-piece of bacon around each date.
Bake at 400* for 20 minutes, turning halfway.

They’re best slightly warm but not hot (about half an hour after coming out of the oven).

Ta-da! A filling, impressive, and easy appetizer! I made these the other day, chilled them, then reheated them at a party and they were still delicious.
Enjoy!
Emma

(No picture, because while they are DELICIOUS, they are not photogenic)

Lasagna tart

I had a vegetarian friend over and wanted to make something substantial, so I went for a lasagna tart from 101cookbooks. I couldn’t find ricotta at the store so I used cottage cheese, which I like in lasagna anyway. I used 250g, about 1 cup. I also layered parmesan cheese (by eye and taste) over the cottage cheese in each layer.

I did find that the wholemeal olive oil pastry was incredibly difficult to roll out unless quite a lot of water was used. It was very flakey and kept falling apart and was rolled thicker than I usually roll butter-based pastry. I may have to practice a few more times. I didn’t find that the taste of the lemon zest came through either so feel free to skip that. There was also a lot of leftover pastry even though it was quite thick, so I lined a few new mini tartlet tins I wanted to try out. Rolling it out thinly for the small tins was much easier; if you have small tins and don’t mind the tedium, use them instead. I baked them for 20 mins.

Group GORP

A recent mixture of GORP based on what I had in the cabinets

Got some sort of group excursion that will require snacks? This is what my friends and I did in high school for trips. Have everyone bring one or two items to contribute to a snack mix. Throw everything into a really big bowl or bag, give it a shake/stir and then divvy it up into individual snack baggies. Generally it’s a good idea to have the leader/adult/most boring friend bring the base–some kind of cereal or pretzel, usually. My favorite contributions were always Swedish Fish candies and honey bbq Fritos. Other good additions are mixed nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, shredded coconut, Goldfish, flavored or yogurt pretzels, cereals, etc. Pretty much anything sturdy enough to handle some jostling will make a tasty addition to a sweet and savory mix. Though this can be a healthy snack, that really depends on your friends…
Have fun!
Emma

Lobiani (Georgian Bean Bread)

I made this recipe from Darra Goldstein’s excellent The Georgian Feast. I brought it to a Super Bowl party, and it was a big hit–a savory, finger-food that’s quite filling but also a little different. The texture wasn’t the same as the lobiani that I bought on the streets of Tbilisi, but it was still very good. My friends suggested, though, that they would prefer a different spice blend; I’m not sure what would be good though. Any suggestions?

Makes 2 incredibly large breads (fortunately you can freeze it after you cut it)

For dough:
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) softened butter
2 eggs
2 cups sour cream (light worked fine)
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda, divided into quarters

For filling:
1 pound dried kidney beans, soaked overnight to soften
3 or 4 medium onions
2/3 cup vegetable oil (yes, you do need that much or else it gets dry)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons salt
Black pepper to taste

one egg yolk to brush on top while baking

Cream the butter. Beat in the eggs and sour cream. Mix in flour to make a soft dough.

On a well-floured board, roll the dough to a 15 x 18 rectangle. The dough will be INCREDIBLY sticky at this stage, but it will calm down fast, so just do your best the first few times. Sprinkle the rectangle with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Fold the dough into quarters and reroll, repeating the baking soda, fold, re-roll procedure until the baking soda is used up. Place the dough into a floured bowl, cover it and leave to rise for 6-8 hours indoors or 2-3 hours in the sun.
For filling: Boil the kidney beans for about one hour. Drain, and then mash. Dice the onions and sautee them in the oil until soft. Stir the onions (and oil) into the kidney beans, and add the spices. Divide in half, and set aside.
Before you start assembling the bread, preheat the oven to 350* F. When the dough has risen, divide it into two parts. Roll each out in a large circle, keeping the inside of the circle thicker than the outside. Place the filling in the center, and bring the dough up around it, forming a sort of ball. Flatten this out, to a large disc. Brush the top of the bread with beaten egg yolk, and bake for 40-45 minutes until browned.

Enjoy!
Emma

Blueberry Banana Bread

I made this recipe yesterday and found it DELICIOUS, but I thought the directions and ordering of ingredients were a bit confusing. I haven’t made any substantive changes to the recipe, I’ve just rewritten it a bit for clarity.

Makes two loaves of bread, or one loaf and one tray of muffins.

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
3 medium mashed bananas
1/4 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
2 cups frozen blueberries

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream together the egg and sugars. Add wet ingredients and mix, then dry.
Add the mashed bananas and mix.
Fold in blueberries, coconut, and pecans if using.
Pour into greased loaf or muffin pans.
Bake at 350* F for about an hour for a loaf, and about 20 minutes for muffins.
Cool slightly, loosen, and turn onto a baking rack to cool.
When cool, wrap in plastic wrap and keep refrigerated.

Enjoy!
-Emma

Sick Tea

This is what I always have when I have a cold (as I fear might be soon). The tea itself is actually strictly optional; it’s the lemon, honey and ginger that will feel wonderful on a sore throat, and will supposedly help your immune system.

In a mug, mix together approximately:
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon honey
1/2 inch fresh ginger, roughly chopped or about a teaspoon of ginger from a jar. Don’t use dried!
(1 tea bag of your choice, optional)
Hot Water

Mix it all together, and feel better!

Greener Pastures

Our dear Juliet, who brought you Stuffed Peppers, Profiteroles, and Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies has started her own cooking, baking and crafting blog. If you’d like to see what she’s up to, you can visit her here: http://jooolzzz.wordpress.com/
-Peoplewhoeat

Blue Cheese and Apple Omelet

I’ve been playing around with sweet and savory quite a lot lately–savory fruits, sweet veggies and the like. This recipe in particular was inspired by my host mom in Tbilisi. I don’t know her actual recipe, so I’ve been messing around with this for awhile to come up with something similar. I don’t think this is all that close to hers, but it’s really good!

(In other, totally unrelated news, my 90s plates from Goodwill were the ones they had in My So-Called Life)

Ingredients:
1 small apple
2 cloves garlic
black pepper
ground cinnamon
butter

2 eggs
a splash of milk
cream cheese (optional)
Blue Cheese that will melt (I like Cambazola or Blue Brie..especially the Saga brand)

Cube the apple and slice the garlic into chunks slightly smaller than the pieces of apple. Sautee the apple and garlic with the black pepper and cinnamon.

While the apple and garlic are sauteeing, beat together the eggs and milk (and if you choose to use cream cheese, it will make the egg part creamier). I learned that one of the tricks to making a good omelet is to make sure your mixture is thoroughly and smoothly beaten together.

Remove the apple mixture from the pan and put it aside. Add a bit more butter to the pan, and turn the heat up to medium high. When the butter is melted, pour in the eggs and swirl the pan to coat evenly. As you go, lift the edges so the uncooked egg can run under and cook.

When the omelet is mostly firm, place the cheese on top of one half. Add the apple mixture to that half. When the cheese is melted, Slide the omelet out of the pan and onto a plate.

In my opinion, this works equally well as a nice breakfast, or a quick dinner.

Enjoy!
Emma