Design*Sponge: Not Your Average Mess

photo from Design*Sponge

Who doesn’t love Fridays? They are the wrapping up of the work week and the gateway to the weekend, those two blissful days free from work.

There are, however, reasons unrelated to the work week as to why I love Fridays.

Let me explain: These days, instead of wasting time on Facebook to fill my already-full free time, I’ve taken to the much more constructive pursuit of reading blogs. Food blogs, design blogs, personal blogs — they are all quite interesting reads.

Inevitably every Friday afternoon I find myself on the blog Design*Sponge and suddenly remember that every Friday they post a blog called “In the Kitchen With.” These posts feature a recipe and fabulous photos from some sort of designer. Three great things are rolled into one blog post: a new recipe, inspiring photos and a peek into the life of a designer.

Last Friday Design Sponge featured “In the Kitchen with Eunice Moyle” of Hello!Lucky. Eunice shared a recipe called Eton Mess, which is very similar to the pavlova I made a couple weeks ago. You’ll have to read the actual post to learn why the recipe is called Eton Mess, but having eaten this while I was in England, I can attest that it is a good kind of mess — a mess even your mother will like.

Mmm mmm Muesli

The other day I was standing in the cereal aisle contemplating the many boxes of cereal. This was, after all, a rather important decision: partly because I’m a longtime breakfast-believer and want to give this most important meal of the day its fair chance and partly because, well, I’m not a morning person. If I’m going to get up in the morning, my breakfast cereal better be worth it.

The commercial boxes of cereal had too much added sugar (and is it true they spray-paint on all those extra vitamins?) and the healthier made-by-the-local-gourmet cereals seemed overpriced. I wanted whole grains, seeds, dried fruit and minimal added sugar. What’s a girl to do? Make her own cereal.

Purchasing only a couple extra ingredients at the store, I was able to pull from my cupboards most of the makings for a satisfying Muesli. I started by mixing two different whole grain cereals from Trader Joe’s, the regular rolled oats and the rolled oats, barley and rye (about 6 cups total). Then I added sliced almonds. I would have to sacrifice the sweet, crispy clumps found in granola because I wasn’t willing to add that much butter or sugar to my cereal. Instead, I added just enough cinnamon, melted butter and warmed honey to cover the oats (about 1 tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons honey). Spreading the oat mixture out on a rimmed cookie sheet, I baked it in a 350º oven for 15 minutes when it was beginning to turn golden brown. Next I added the fun stuff: dried cranberries; raw, hulled pumpkin seeds; sunflower seeds; ground flaxseed; and sesame seeds.

How did it turn out? Toasting the oats with a little bit of honey softened the oats’ raw edge and added a hint of sweetness. The nuts and seeds provided crunch, while the cranberries added a tart, sweet element. As for the flaxseed, I was just happy there was something else good for me in the cereal. Now, I just have to figure out what I want to put in my next batch of Muesli.

Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake

This weekend I made lemon poppy seed pound cake. The recipe calls for a kugelhopf pan, which is similar to a bundt pan. The mini bundt  pan we have makes six mini bundt cakes — perfecting for creating little cakes to gives as gifts.  Since I wanted to cook all the batter at once and the mini bundt pan only used half the batter, I also used a medium-sized bundt pan and a tart pan, yielding little cakes of all shapes and sizes. The hardest part of the recipe was greasing and flouring the pans, but don’t skimp on this step because the success of the final cake depends on being able to come out of its pan. I also added 1/4 cup poppy seeds to the batter.

For Cake
2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup finely grated lemon zest
2 sticks (½pound) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ cup whole milk
¼ cup fresh lemon juice

For Glaze
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Special Equipment
a 2-quart kugelhopf pan

Make the Cake
Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 325*F. Butter and flour kugelhopf pan, knocking out excess flour.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and zest in a bowl. Beat together butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture, then milk and lemon juice, alternately in 3 batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating until just combined.

Spoon batter into pan and smooth top. Bake until cake is golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then invert onto rack to cool completely.

Make the Glaze while the Cake Cools
Gradually whisk confectioners’ sugar into lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth and thick.

When cake is cool, set rack over a baking sheet. Drizzle glaze over cake, letting ti drip down sides.

Serve cake with strawberries, if desired.

Clean-Out-the-Fridge Friday

In many workplace kitchens, Friday is clean-out-the-fridge day. I decided to implement that same work ethic to my fridge at home today. Though the steamed cauliflower and asparagus braised with red bell peppers and onions was delicious a couple nights ago, I was hankering for something different today.

The answer: an immersion blender to turn those veggies into a bright spring puree I’ve been seeing in all the magazines. I reheated the veggies on the stove with some milk and then blended away. The milk had watered down the intense vegetable flavor so I added some chicken broth to add another level of flavor. A splash of sherry vinegar brought depth, while a handful of fresh thyme added freshness. To garnish, Greek yogurt and more thyme. Voila — a tasty soup to proves that eating leftovers isn’t quite so painful after all.

Chow

My mom and I recently had breakfast at the new Chow restaurant in Danville. I’ve been lucky enough to go to Chow several times since it opened last summer, but it was my mom’s first time. While Chow has ample seating indoors (and a fireplace!), we chose to sit outside because the weather was sunny and warm.

My mom had the Mexican Scramble, which has  eggs, avocado, chiles, cheese, sour cream, salsa and black beans on tortillas. I have ordered this scramble before and it was declicious! It is a very large portion — enough for two people or to take home for lunch.

I had the Cafe Fanny Granola with yogurt, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. I wasn’t too hungry so this was the perfect size. And just the right proportions of fruit, granola and yogurt.

There are also Chow restaurants located in Lafayette and San Francisco’s Sunset and Castro districts. Open from breakfast through dinner, Chow’s mission is to serve “healthy, high quality comfort food at affordable prices.” While not all of the food on the menu is strictly healthy, the food certain is high quality, affordable and always delicious.

Green Bean Salad with Pumpkin Seed Dressing

The dressing for this delicious new take on a classic green bean-and-tomato salad resembles a Mexican pesto. Green pumpkin seeds and olive oil form the base for the dressing, while garlic, cilantro and cumin add kick. The dressing makes about twice as much as needed, but keep the extra on hand to dress other salads throughout the week. This salad is a perfect accompaniment to grilled tri-tip and grilled sweet onions.

Serves 4.

Start to Finish: 30 minutes.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) green (hulled) pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
3/4 pounds haricots verts or slender green beans
2 small tomatoes (1/2 pound total), halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-wide strips

Method:
Toast pumpkin seeds in a dry small heavy skillet over moderately low heat,  stirring frequently, until puffed but not browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.

Reserve 1 tablespoon seeds. Puree remaining seeds in blender with oil, water, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, salt, and 1 tablespoon cilantro until smooth.

Cook beans in a 4-quart saucepan of boiling well-salted water, uncovered, until just tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Drain, then plunge into a bowl of ice and cold water to stop the cooking. Drain beans again and pat dry.

Arrange beans on a platter and drizzle with two thirds of pumpkin seed dressing. Top with tomatoes and remaining dressing and sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon cilantro and reserved pumpkin seeds.

From The Gourmet Cookbook (Houghton Mifflin 2004).

A Springtime Pavlova from Tartelette

Last month I was reading the beautiful food blog,  Tartelette, and was captivated by the pavlova guest blogger Sass & Veracity had contributed to the blog that day. That afternoon my mom came home from the market with fresh berries, kiwi and a charge to make a dessert for the evening, the first of our Easter-weekend feasts. No problem — the pavlova would be the perfect dessert.

I’ve made pavlovas before but was intrigued by this recipe because it called for vinegar, which I had never seen in a meringue recipe. I’m not sure what the vinegar does, but the meringue whipped up and baked very well. We also did not have any superfine sugar on hand, so I blended regular granulated sugar until it was superfine and used that instead. All in all, the recipe was quite simple and tasted very good.

From the crisp, white meringue to the tangy lemon cream filling to the berries and fruit bejeweling the top of this treasure, the pavlova was a delicious kick-off to our Easter weekend.

Visit Tartelette for the recipe.