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Archive for January, 2010

Friday, January 29, 2010

Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Muffins

While there aren’t many foods I absolutely won’t eat, I cringe when it comes to anything with artificial raspberry flavoring. It’s funny because I absolutely love raspberries, but I don’t think there’s anything worse than the fake flavoring. The absolute worst is raspberry vodka. Ugh! I would probably never buy a raspberry muffin for fear it would be all imitation-tasting, but when I saw a recipe for Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Muffins, I knew I needed to make them. While it called for fresh raspberries, they were nowhere to be seen in my grocery store, so I grabbed some frozen ones, which are a fine substitution. These are the perfect Valentine’s Day muffins!

The combination of fresh raspberries (OK, or frozen) and dark chocolate makes me super happy. The recipe was written in the metric system, which was tough because I never really paid attention in school when we were supposed to be learning all of that. Thank goodness for Google! I’m going to write it out how I did it because I think the muffins came out just lovely. Also, the recipe called for super-fine sugar, but Shaw’s didn’t have that either, so I used regular and had no issues.

Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Muffins (Makes 12 smaller ones or 9 large ones):

2 C flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 C sugar (granulated or super-fine)
1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter (14 tablespoons)
3/4 C plain yogurt
1/2 C water
2 eggs
3.5 oz. dark chocolate, roughly chopped
5 oz. raspberries (fresh or frozen)
2 T granulated sugar
Powdered sugar for dusting

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Combine flour, baking powder, and sugar in a large bowl and make a well in the center.

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Melt butter and remove from heat. Stir in yogurt and water. Then add the eggs, stirring well afterwards.

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I had a little Mitzi under my feat the whole time. I spent about 5 days with her and think I’m going through separation anxiety without her now! I don’t think she left my side (but mostly my lap) for the entire 5 days I was with her. Isn’t she adorable?

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Pour the wet ingredients into the well in dry ingredients and stir to combine. It’s OK if there are lumps. There probably will be.

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Chop up your chocolate. I used these awesome little chocolate bars from Trader Joe’s that came in a 3-pack. It ended up being a little over 3.5 ounces, but when is too much chocolate a bad thing?? Especially when it’s dark chocolate!

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YUM.

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Now, fold the chocolate and raspberries into the batter.

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Stir it all together.

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And put into prepared muffin tins. I had a muffin tin, but only had cupcake papers, so my muffins are a bit smaller (the recipe ended up making about 12, but it will be less if you actually make them muffin-size).

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I filled the tins almost to the top and that seemed to work well. Also, sprinkle some granulated sugar on top of the batter before popping into the oven.

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Bake at 375 degrees for about 30-40 minutes.

And serve! On a Valentine’s Day plate, if you have one. Sprinkle the muffins with a little powdered sugar too, if you like.

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These are the perfect muffins for waking your honey up on Valentine’s Day. Or making for friends and family. Or for just eating the entire batch yourself. What? Raspberries are fruit and dark chocolate is healthy, right? I brought my muffins home with me to greet my sister and Adam home from Hawaii! And we’ve been nibbling on them all week.

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They’re best right out of the oven when the chocolate is all melty and gooey. But you can also pop them in the microwave for a few seconds if you’re eating them later. And they still taste fabulous cold as well!

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This muffin is such a lovely combination and you’ll have a tough time finding someone who wouldn’t like it. I absolutely love these muffins for Valentine’s Day, but would gladly eat them the whole year through.

[Sues]

Labels: muffins

23 Comments »

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Lunch at Taberna de Haro with Clementines from Spain

A couple weeks ago we received an email asking if we’d like to participate in a demonstration lunch at Taberna de Haro, where Chef and owner Deborah Hansen would showcase three new recipes she created featuring Clementines from Spain. The timing couldn’t have been better since both Sues and myself have been poppin’ clementines like crazy lately; we were both excited to see alternative ways to cook with them and incorporate them into dishes. They’re really the perfect fruit. So easy to peel, virtually seedless, juicy, and delicious!

A little before 1 o’clock this afternoon, we met Richard and Rachel, two other Boston bloggers, along with Sarah and Elizabeth the lovely PR ladies for the Trade Commission of Spain and Clementines of Spain, at Taberna de Haro. The restaurant, filled with touches of Spain, is cozy and comfortable and the entire time we were there I forgot I was in Brookline. The decor, warmth, scents, and overall feeling at Taberna de Haro provided a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of the busy city. The restaurant also has a perfect little patio that opens once the weather in Boston starts cooperating… which I’m beyond excited to enjoy this year!

We all made ourselves comfortable in the kitchen and watched Chef Hansen begin to prepare each dish and talk about why she loves cooking with Clementines from Spain. She explained the importance of buying fruit in season and also how clementines are truly “fast food” because they require little effort to eat and are the perfect snack to enjoy on the go. I definitely related to this… I can often be found grabbing handfuls of clementines before I leave the house to munch on throughout the day. They’re refreshing and nutritious and a great source of vitamin c during the bitter cold winters!

First on the menu, Escarole Salad with Clementines and Pomegranates. Incorporating nice wintery greens such as escarole and frisee created a substantial salad bursting with lots of unique flavors. Chef Hansen also used arbequina olives which are delicious! I need to get my hands on some of these as soon as possible, so flavorful with a bite of salt which played nicely alongside the citrusy clementines.

Next up on the menu was the Tuna Tartar with Clementine Juice and Red Vermouth. It was so interesting to see the clementines incorporated into this protein dish. Most of us are used to eating clementines on their own but it was exciting to see how the fruit mingled with, not only the tuna, but the other ingredients of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, sweet red vermouth, pimenton picanted (hot paprika from Spain), white wine vinegar, and soy sauce. This was a big hit!

For dessert we enjoyed Clementine “Brazo Gitano” (Gypsy’s Arm). It is a traditional recipe which consists of whipped cream rolled in yellow cake. Chef Hansen enhanced the recipe and put her own spin on it by brushing the cake with clementine syrup (all kinds of deliciousness!) and adding candied clementine segments to the whipped cream. I love a dessert that isn’t overly sweet. This had such a subtle and refreshing sweetness. Oh, and we all had two slices… because we don’t believe in wasting, but really, our bellies wanted more

(there is nothing better than homemade whipped cream…slurp! Sues asked to lick the bowl… which is why we’re friends)

(Food bloggers are so intense… we don’t skip a beat when it comes to the photo opps!)

While we indulged in our 3 courses, we also sipped a delicious wine, listened (enviously) to Chef Hansen talk about her annual trips to Spain and the times she lived there. She talked about the benefits of enjoying good, fresh, seasonal foods. She is passionate about what she does and it easily shows. This afternoon was filled with wonderful food, kind company, lots of learning, and great conversations about topics we love. And we were all given our own crates of Clementines from Spain to take home, which I’m sure I will devour in a matter of days. Oh… also, the weather in Boston today was above average and sunny, finally. So overall, it was a terrific day!

More about Clementines from Spain:

• Since the number of people visiting food banks is on the rise, The Trade Commission of Spain is sharing the deliciousness of clementines by donating crates of Clementines from Spain to Feeding America in Boston. We love companies who do good things and give back!

• All of Chef Hansen’s recipes mentioned in this post, can be found here, on the Clementines from Spain website.

Taberna de Haro
999 Beacon Street
Brookline, MA 02446
617.277.5609
(St. Mary’s T stop on the C Line)

[Chels and Sues]

Labels: clementines from spain, taberna de haro

6 Comments »

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

White Chicken Chili

If I said it once I said it a million times. Sometimes I’m scared to check Closet Cooking’s blog because I KNOW whatever I happen to see I’m going to NEED to make for dinner that night. Sigh. This is kind of annoying when I’m not in the mood to cook or I already know what I’m making (God, Closet Cook stop making such amazing meals!!). But it’s great if I want to cook and don’t have a clue what to make. The other day, I headed over to the blog to see what Kevin’s been up to and I saw the White Chicken Chili. Done. Dinner planning is so easy with Closet Cooking around.

And you have to admit, this Boston weather (and I’m pretty sure the California weather even!) calls for a nice bowl of chili. If you’re in the mood for a different take on chili, this is absolutely perfect.

White Chicken Chili (serves 4):

1 T olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 T cumin (ground)
2 (4.5 oz.) cans of chopped green chilies (I found them at Trader Joe’s)
2 jalapeno peppers (sliced)
3 C chicken (cooked and shredded)
2 (19 oz.) cans northern beans (drained and rinsed) (I used cannellini instead)
2 C chicken stock
1 t oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 T masa (or cornmeal)
1/2 C milk
Cheddar, shredded (for topping if you’d like)
Avocado (for topping, again, if you’d like!)

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I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of chicken would work best for this chili, so I asked my mom. She said to buy bone-in chicken breast, rub some olive oil and salt and pepper on it, and stick it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. So, I did!

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While the chicken was baking, I got to chopping.

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Of course, I used my Chef’n Garlic Zoom again. I’m kind of obsessed!

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I heated my olive oil in a pot. And sauteed the onion until tender, about 5-8 minutes.

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Then I threw the garlic and cumin in, too and sauteed until “fragrant,” about one minute.

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While the onions were sauteing, I took my chicken out of the oven. I let it cool a bit and then I shredded up the 3 cups I needed.

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I added the green chilies, jalapenos, chicken, beans, chicken stock, oregano, salt, and pepper. Since I only had one can of the green chilis, I added 3 jalapenos, instead of 2. Whoo! Bring on the heat! Seriously, though.

Now, I brought the mixture to a boil, reduced the heat, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

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I mixed the masa and the milk together and mixed that into the chili, letting it simmer for another 10 minutes. The masa helped the chili get nice and thick!

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I served the chili with a little shredded cheddar cheese on top and some sliced avocado. I also toasted up some nice bread to accompany.

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This chili had an awesome bite to it! It was definitely spicy, but not overly so. But if you’re not a fan of heat, you’d probably do well to cut down on the jalapeno (but you need to include at least one! SO much flavor!). Oh, and you might want to scrape the seeds out too. I don’t because I love the extra spice!

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The chili is really pretty healthy too, packing in lots of protein. Plus, it was super filling and made me feel all warm and cozy. If the weather is going to be cold and miserable outside, you may as well feast on chili inside! Preferably while watching trashy reality television. Like The Bachelor. No, I’m not kidding. It’s the perfect winter watching, chili-eating show.

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The sun is actually finally coming out in Boston this morning (this morning did not look very hopeful!), but I’m still kind of in the mood for more chili. And bad reality television. What can I say? It’s just something that winter does to me!

[Sues]

Labels: chili

9 Comments »

Monday, January 25, 2010

Volunteering, It Makes the World Go ‘Round.

“If you ever wonder if miracles still exist in 21st century America, you need only to look into the faces of those who receive them, and into the eyes of those who give them.”
(IMEC, improving healthcare for the world’s poor)

Last week I was searching around the internet for ways to contribute to the Haiti relief efforts. I’d made a small monetary donation but for some reason it didn’t feel like enough and that feeling kept lingering in the back of my mind. I knew there was more I could do, ways I could give my time. I stumbled upon IMEC, which is an organization that collects, organizes, and ships medical equipment around the world to serve doctors who serve the poor. I saw they needed volunteers for Saturday so I called and told them I was interested and asked what I had to do, if I had to go to a training session etc. The friendly voice on the other line simply said “Just come on in!” He said they were expecting about 80 volunteers to show up and needed help packing up medical supplies to ship to Haiti. Perfect.

(the flags on the map show the countries IMEC has worked with… so many!)

So along comes Saturday morning, I drive up to North Andover, Mass, the neighboring town to my hometown of Andover, and walked into a warehouse filled with people (definitely seemed like more than 80!) and was immediately greeted by one of the staff members. She asked what group I was with, to which I replied, “uhhh, I came by myself?” She introduced me to the first group we saw, which was a family- a father and his two daughters, ages 11 and 14. They were newbies at this too and right away they explained to me what I had to do in terms of selecting boxes of supplies from the massive heaps around the warehouse, adding them to our shipping palette in an organized “tetris-like” manner, and labeling each box with a number which corresponds to a sheet that says the contents of the box.

Every person in the warehouse, give or take a handful of employees, was there volunteering. It blew my mind (and gave me hope) that so many people were willing to give up their Saturday morning and afternoon to contribute to such a great cause. Everyone had tons energy and positivity and I didn’t hear a single soul complain. There were families, church groups, nurses, coworkers, and friends, all there working in teams in an attempt to make things better.

(a selection of some of the boxes filled with medical supplies)

(everyone busy at work!)

(I had the same sneakers as the 11 year old in my group, who happened to be the youngest person volunteering. We were automatic best buds for the day, of course!)

(my teams’ first palette all wrapped up and ready to go!)

(The president of IMEC, Tom Keefe, explaining the history of the organization and the desperate need some countries are in for basic medical supplies. He also took the time to thank all of the volunteers and said for every motion we take, packaging and labeling each box, it’s one motion closer someone in need is to getting help.)

I believe it was one of the church groups who was volunteering that provided the rest of us with lunch.. lots of sandwiches, chips, fruit, and desserts! I wasn’t planning on eating until after, but what a nice little surprise!

After a quick lunch we got back to work to finish up our second palette. Each palette had to be a certain height, so we used this handy wooden tool to measure our progress:

We labeled each box we selected to put on our palette with a number and wrote the contents of the box on the numbered sheet we were given. Lots of items such as latex gloves, diapers, needles, breathing circuits, leg braces, face masks, and bandages were included. Basic necessities we may not think much of when we step into a hospital room here, but other countries are greatly lacking, especially when disaster strikes.

I spent about 4.5 hours Saturday doing this and if it didn’t end at 2pm I would have gladly stayed longer. It was an eye opening experience that I hope to be involved in more often. Being a part of things like this not only makes me appreciate what I have but really opens my eyes to what others around the world need. I was lucky enough to be teamed up with a wonderful family, with two girls who were not only polite, welcoming, and kind but they were there because they, too, wanted to do good things.

I’d love to get a group of fellow bloggers and our readers together one day soon to pitch in and help IMEC accomplish more of what they need. The organization is made up of 90% volunteers so without people like us, what they do wouldn’t be possible and those who are in need wouldn’t receive these crucial supplies. If anyone in the Boston area is looking for volunteer opportunities you can contact IMEC directly or shoot me an email if you have any questions or are interested in going together!

To good things,

[Chels]

Related Posts: About We are not Martha, It will be a fabulous thing!, I Want Hi-Hat Cupcakes, Contact, Shop,

Labels: haiti relief efforts, IMEC, volunteering

12 Comments »

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Malasadas (Hawaiian Donuts)

Warning!!! Turn back now if you don’t like deliciously fried foods!! Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

When I was in Hawaii, I discovered malasadas at the southernmost bakery in the country, Punalu’u. And. I fell in love. I’m telling you right now there’s absolutely nothing healthy about malasadas. They’re best described as a cross between a donut and fried dough, which I think says it all. So very good and so very bad all at the same time, right? Upon arriving back home, I discovered that it’s difficult to find malasadas in Boston. Not able to live without them for very much longer, I took it upon myself to make my own.

The recipe I used was not the best recipe, but I think I made the appropriate changes to it (it was really poorly written and confusing). I’m not even linking to the original recipe because it was such a disgrace and I made a million changes to it. Side note: Is nutmeg even meant to be in malasadas? Because it was in the ingredient list and then never told me where to add it. So I just threw some into the dough mixture.

Malasadas (Hawaiian Donuts):

1 T rapid rise yeast
1/4 C warm water
3 C flour
1/4 C sugar
1/8 t nutmeg
1/4 C butter, melted
3 eggs
1/2 C evaporated milk
Vegetable oil for frying
1/2 C sugar
Powdered sugar for sprinkling

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Ever since I made those cinnamon buns last month, I’ve been obsessed with using yeast. I know I sound crazy, but it’s just such a cool little thing and I’m loving it. Especially the fast rising instant variety.

Mix the rapid rise yeast with the melted butter, evaporated milk, water (120-130 degrees), 3 beaten eggs at room temperature, nutmeg, 1/4 C sugar, and half the flour.

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Mix it well. And let it sit for 10 minutes.

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Add the rest of the flour and mix well. Then let it rise in a warm, draft-free area for about an hour. Or until it doubles in size.

This is what mine looked like when I finished mixing in the flour.

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And this is what it looked like after the hour was up. Gah, I love yeast!! And I’m a big nerd.

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Now we’re ready for the FUN part. Let’s get our fry on. OK, so you want to heat your vegetable oil to 375 degrees. You should have a candy thermometer to ensure your oil is at the right temp (if it’s too hot, your malasadas will burn on the outside and not cook through on the inside. And if it’s not hot enough, they’ll just sit in there and get gross).

Make 2-3 inch balls with your malasada dough. And cook for about 6 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.

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Because the temperature of the oil was right, the dough balls floated to the surface. Which meant i had to turn them to make sure they got cooked on both sides.

Oh hi, I love frying things.

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Set the malasadas on a paper towel to cool a little bit. Try not to pop them in your mouth right away. You’ll burn yourself.

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Then either roll the malasadas in 1/2 C sugar or put in a bag with sugar and shake.

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Sprinkle with a bit of powdered sugar.

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And dig in. To amazingness. I was instantly transported right back to Hawaii. Well, kind of. But I was pretty much in heaven eating warm, fried, doughy, sugary goodness.

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But unlike when I was in Hawaii, I don’t have to put on a bathing suit any time soon, so I didn’t feel so bad about eating more than one.

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These were wonderful, but not exactly what I had in Hawaii. Does anyone have the ultimate malasada recipe? I really need an excuse to make these again. And soon! Or else, just give me something else to fry that will be delicious. Bonus points if yeast is involved.

[Sues]

Related Posts: Grilled Peaches!, Pumpkin-Swirl Brownies, Pumpkin Fudge, Peanut Butter Toffee Cookies, Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip Squares,

Labels: Hawaii

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Archive for January, 2010

Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Muffins

Lunch at Taberna de Haro with Clementines from Spain

White Chicken Chili

Volunteering, It Makes the World Go ‘Round.

Malasadas (Hawaiian Donuts)

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