Originally, I thought I would coat these cute little guys in a pink vodka sauce. Then I remembered New Years was only days ago. Something lighter was in order. Drum roll please—so I decided to go with Pesto. Spinach Pesto that is.
This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks—Everyday Food. It’s quick. Easy. Healthy. What more could you ask for?
Spinach Pesto Everyday Food
1/2 c. walnuts 1/2 c. parmesan cheese 4 c. lightly packed fresh spinach leaves 1 garlic clove 1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil Coarse salt and ground pepper
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spread nuts evenly on a rimmed baking sheet; toast in oven until golden and fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely. 2. In a food processor, combine nuts, spinach, parmesan, and garlic; season generously with salt and pepper. Process until nuts are finely chopped. With machine running, pour oil in a steady stream through the feed tube; process until smooth. 3. In a saucepan, add pesto to your cooked homemade noodles. (I also sauteed a couple chopped tomatoes and an onion for extra veggies prior to adding the noodles with pesto to the saucepan.) Cook for 5 minutes and serve.
Pesto will keep for 1 week in the fridge.
I have to be honest, I was nervous how this would turn out. First time making homemade noodles with my new machine. First time making spinach pesto. This could have spelled disaster. Thankfully, it was just the opposite. We ate every last noodle and then wished for more.
This weekend I ventured into the world of homemade pasta. And I’m never turning back. Grocery store, packaged pasta has nothing on fresh pasta. Sure, I’ll still use the grocery store pasta for convenience during the week. But on the weekend, I’m pulling out the pasta maker.
You’re gonna need one of these, assuming you have a KitchenAid:
It’s a pasta press! You can purchase one at William Sonoma. (The link also has a video about the product if you want a sneak preview.) I am ashamed to say, I got this last Christmas. That is, Christmas of ’09. And I’m just now getting around to using it. Lame. I know. I have a couple excuses I could throw out, but honestly there’s no good excuse not to use this beautiful piece of machinery. Homemade pasta is the bomb.com.
Light Wheat Pasta recipe from KitchenAid
2 1/2 c. sifted whole wheat flour 1 c. sifted bread or unbleached flour 4 large eggs 6 tbsp. water 1/2 tsp. salt
1. Place all ingredients in mixer bowl. Attach flat beater and turn to Speed 2. Mix 30 seconds. 2. Exchange flat beater for dough hook. Turn to Speed 2 and knead for 2 minutes. Remove dough from bowl and hand knead for 1 to 2 minutes. 3. Get out your pasta press. Use manufacturers instructions and make pasta!
TIPS • Dough too dry? Add a tablespoon of water at a time. • Dough too moist? Add a tablespoon of flour at a time.
The temperature has turned to cold. Family and friends are gathered in droves. Thanksgiving is in a couple of days and you’re probably wondering what to serve all those people for breakfast. First thing that comes to everyone’s mind—breakfast casserole. Over done. High in calories (save those precious numbers for your turkey dinner). Heavy on the stomach. Try something new this year—Baked Oatmeal. If you have to, think of it as Oatmeal Casserole. Original. Low in calories. Light on the stomach. Best of all, it feeds lots of people! Read more
Whoopie Pies are the new cupcake. Okay, maybe that’s not true but it might be after you try one. Upon eating, it’ll leave you exclaiming, “Whoopee!” Literally.
Whoopie Pies stepped onto the scene through the Amish tradition. As the story goes, Amish wives used their extra cake batter to bake mini cakes. Thou shalt let nothing go to waste. They’d plop some icing in between two small cakes and pack it into their husband’s lunch box. After biting into these little gems, a common response from the male would be “Whoopee!” And there you have it—the Whoopie Pie was born.
Since the previous post tells you how to make homemade pumpkin puree, let’s go ahead and make Pumpkin Whoopie Pies! ‘Tis the season.
FOR THE PIES 3 cups all-purpose flour (I used half AP flour, half whole wheat flour) 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger (original recipe calls for 1 tbsp) 1 teaspoon ground cloves (original recipe calls for 1 tbsp) a dash of nutmeg 2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar 1 cup canola oil 3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
FOR THE FILLING 3 cups confectioners’ sugar 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. Make the pies: Preheat oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside. 2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated. 3. Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until pies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each pie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on pan. 4. Make the filling: Sift confectioner’ sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, beat just until smooth. (I only used about 2 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar.) 5. Assemble the whoopie pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag and snip the end. When pies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the pie. Sandwich with remaining pie, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate pies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.
TIPS: • Runny batter is not your friend. If you find yourself in this situation, you may need to add a little more flour to help a batter out. • Make sure to bake an even amount of pies. • Mini Whoopie Pies make for a good portion size! And they’re cute.
Dear Blog, Please excuse my absence. I had to get a ganglion cyst removed, was in a cast, and couldn’t really bake or type for that matter. But now I’m back! Yours Truly, Fauxmartha
It’s pumpkin time. Well, maybe it’s on the tail end of pumpkin time, but it’s not too late. Too late for what? Duh, roasting your own pumpkins. This year, try forgoing buying that canned pumpkin. Not that it’s bad, but this is so much better. I promise.
The best pumpkins for baking are known as cheese pumpkins or sugar pumpkins. You want to stay away from using the big carving pumpkins (pictured above in the middle). They make for a stringy and watery puree. Unknowingly, I did this last year. And it’s true—watery and stringy. This year, I went with sugar pumpkins. They are small. Decently smooth to the touch. Some may call them cute. And guess what, they’re orange. (Cheese pumpkins are not true orange. Read here to find out more about pumpkin varieties.) You can buy them at specialty grocery stores (Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, etc). I bought mine at the Farmer’s Market. The look tiny but produce plenty of pumpkin meat.
There are several ways to turn a pumpkin into pumpkin puree. Some people cut the pumpkin into chunks and steam them. Others do the same thing, but microwave instead of steam. I prefer the roasting method. In my opinion it’s the easiest and tastes the best, but others may disagree.
Roasting Sugar Pumpkins adapted from MarthaStewart.com 1. Preheat oven to 400°. 2. With a sharp knife, cut slits in the pumpkin so it can breathe while roasting. 3. Place pumpkin(s) in a baking dish with about 1″ of water. 4. Bake for about 1 1/2 hr, until skin is easily pierced. 5. Peel off skin of pumpkin. If needed, use a peeler. 6. Cut pumpkin in half and allow to cool for about 15 min. 7. Scoop out seeds. I used a melon baller to do this. 8. Throw the “meat” of the pumpkin into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. 9. Allow to cool and add to your recipe in place of the canned stuff; or refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze.
Stay tuned to hear where this puree made it’s debut. It’ll leave you saying Whoop-ee!
If there is one thing you could do to change the world what would it be?
World peace.
We’ve all heard this question and answer a million times while watching the Miss America Pageant or Miss Congeniality. What if world peace could be brought…in the form of a cookie?
This is exactly what Dorie Greenspan‘s neighbor thought (Dorie is the author of this recipe). He gave Dorie the idea to dub these cookies World Peace Cookies after exclaiming, “we’re convinced that a daily dose of the cookies is all that’s needed to ensure planetary peace and happiness.” I have to agree with Mr. Neighbor.
Because she’s the brains behind this peace, I’m going to let Dorie describe these decadent morsels. “The cookies are chocolate sables, French shortbreads, but, because they’ve got more brown sugar than white in them, they’ve got more chew than most shortbreads. They’ve also got a generous amount of dark chocolate chunks and enough fleur de sel, moist, coarse-grained French “finishing” salt (i.e., salt to be used in teensy quantities as a spice or condiment), to make them noticeably salty and completely addictive, in the way so many good things with salt are.” This rings music to my ears. My #1 baking philosophy is to use high quality, coarse salt. The contrast of salt makes the sweetness taste that much sweeter. And who can say no to chocolate? So now I have just one question for you—If there is one thing you could do to change the world what would it be?
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour 1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (I used dark unsweetened cocoa) 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature 2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 5 ounces extra-bittersweet chocolate (I used dark chocolate chunks)
1. Sift flour, cocoa, and baking soda into medium bowl. 2. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth but not fluffy. Add both sugars, vanilla, and sea salt; beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. 3. Add flour mixture; beat just until blended (mixture may be crumbly). Add chopped chocolate; mix just to distribute (if dough doesn’t come together, knead lightly in bowl to form ball). 4. Place dough on a sheet of parchment paper. Roll into 1 1/2-inch-diameter log. Chill until firm, about 3 hours or flash freeze for 30 minutes. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.) 5. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat. Using thin sharp knife, cut logs crosswise into 1-inch-thick rounds. Space 1 inch apart on prepared sheets. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies appear dry (cookies will not be firm or golden at edges), 11 to 12 minutes. If frozen, cook about 5 extra minutes. Transfer to rack; cool.
TIPS • Not keen on dark chocolate? Replace it with chunks of milk chocolate, white chocolate, nuts, andes mints, etc. • Place cookies in a cute package, give to a friend, and spread world peace. • Enjoy cookies within 3ish days of baking. They tend to dry out quickly.
I didn’t grow up eating banana pudding that I can remember. I did, however, grow up listening to a ventriloquist, Dennis Lee, during drug free week at school. He had a little monkey puppet that would sing the song “Nana Puddin”. I loved this song as a kid. I had it memorized. I was on my way to becoming the next Dennis Lee. Hmmm, that could’ve been weird. I searched YouTube high and low for the song and came up with nothing. Dang. I thought about recording it so you would know what I’m talking about, but I figured that might be a little over the top, even for me. I have no song to leave you with today. Only a recipe.
This recipe hails from Cook’s Country Magazine. My dad got me a subscription to this magazine a couple months back. It is wonderful. I highly recommend it. Their tagline is “Recipes that work.” How many times have you made a recipe that just down right flopped? Well, the people at Cook’s Country cook through all the good and the bad recipes and provide you with the best recipe. I’m a fan of their show on PBS as well. They have the best tips and tricks out there.
Here’s the “Rich and Creamy” banana pudding recipe. I’ve added my comments in (parentheses). What’s different about this recipe? You roast the bananas. This process draws out the best flavors of the banana. I will never make banana bread or pudding with overripe bananas again. From this day forward, I will roast my bright yellow bananas. As always, read the entire recipe before starting. Pudding can be tricky. But it’s worth the work.
PUDDING 7 slightly underripe bananas (this means bright yellow, no brown spots) 1 1/2 c. sugar 8 large egg yolks 6 tbsp. cornstarch 6 c. half and half 1/2 tsp. salt 3 tbsp. unsalted butter 1 tbsp. vanilla extract 3 tbsp. lemon juice 1 (12 oz.) box of vanilla wafers
WHIPPED TOPPING 1 c. heavy cream 1 tbsp. sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1. Roast bananas. Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and heat oven to 325°. Place 3 unpeeled, (bright yellow) bananas on a baking sheet. Bake until skins are completely black, about 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 min. 2. Make Pudding. Meanwhile, whisk 1/2 c. sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch in medium bowl until smooth. Bring half and half, remaining sugar, and salt to simmer over medium heat in large sauce pan. (I prefer to use a dutch oven.) Whisk 1/2 c. simmering half and half mixture into yolk mixture. (Pour half and half mixture slowly and whisk constantly and quickly. You don’t want your yolks to curdle.) Slowly whisk tempered yolk mixture into saucepan. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick and large bubbles appear at surface, about 2 minutes. (The bubbles are also referred to as lava bubbles. They will rupture. Be warned.) Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. 3. Process pudding. Transfer pudding to food processor. Add warm peeled roasted bananas and 2 tbsp. lemon juice, and process until smooth. (Don’t over process. After making this, I would recommend first processing bananas and lemon jiuce, and then adding in pudding. Over processing the pudding breaks down the compounds you just built in the heating process and leads to a thinner consistency.) Scrape into large bowl and place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding. Refrigerate until slightly cool, about 45 min. (It can stay refrigerated longer if needed.) 4. Assemble and chill. Cut remaining bananas into 1/4″ slices and toss in bowl with remaining lemon juice. Spoon one quarter of pudding into a 3-quart trifle dish and top with layer of cookies, layer of sliced bananas, and another layer of cookies. Repeat twice, ending with pudding. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding and refrigerate until wafers have softened, atleast 8 hrs. or up to 2 days. (I followed the same steps but made individual trifles. I ended with cookies instead of pudding, and it softened just fine.) 5. Top and serve. With electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream, sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form, about 2 min. Top banana pudding with whipped cream and serve.
Have you been sweating alot lately? Feeling like it’s too hot to enjoy the great outdoors? You want to wear your swimsuit to work? Oh wait, you don’t want to be caught dead in your swimsuit? You’ve been thinking, man, oatmeal would really help me shed those last couple pounds. But it’s just too hot to eat this time of year. Think again, my friends, think again. Let me introduce you to Swiss Oatmeal.
I first met Swiss Oatmeal on my weekly breakfast date with my sister. It was a Saturday. We pulled into Corner Bakery thinking we were just going to get breakfast and chat. Little did I know, my world was about to change. I ordered Swiss Oatmeal. It sounded so … European. How could I resist? It was love at first sight. Or should I say bite? Yep, I just said bite.
My affair with Swiss Oatmeal continued over the years. At first, I would just eat it on the weekends with my sister. Eventually I decided I needed to learn how to make it myself. Once a week just wasn’t cutting it. After much experimentation, I figured out how to make this in the comfort of my own home.
Let me tell you a bit about Swiss Oatmeal before I give away the recipe. You eat it chilled not hot. It wont make you sweat. It never sits in a microwave or a pan on the stove top. Just add water. It’s creamy. It’s healthy. It will help you shed those extra pounds. It’s similar to Muesli. It’s very very filling. It’s got all the fiber Dr. Oz has been telling you to eat. It’s sweet. It’s delicious. It has a very interesting history. It’s the easiest recipe on this blog to date. You’re about to fall in love.
Here’s what you’ll need, plus yogurt.
Swiss Oatmeal one serving
1/2 c.-ish of Old Fashioned oats water Sprinkle of Craisins Sprinkle of Currants or Raisins 1/2 Banana diced 1/4 Granny Smith apple diced Brown Sugar to taste 2 spoonfuls or so Plain Yogurt
1. The night before, place oats in a bowl. Cover oats just below the top with water (pictures to follow). Refrigerate overnight. 2. In the morning, drain the water if necessary. 3. Combine ingredients into the oats—yogurt, currants, craisins, banana, apple, brown sugar. Stir. 4. Eat and fall in love.
TIPS • We use a Pyrex bowl and cover with lid. If there’s excess water in the morning, we use the lid to help drain it out. Though, we’ve gotten so good lately that we rarely have to drain anymore. • We only make enough for the next day. • Yogurt is the paste that holds everything together. We use Mountain High Yoghurt—Plain, low fat. You can buy this at Costco or Whole Foods. Using plain yogurt allows us to determine the sweetness. • We prefer currants to raisins in Swiss Oatmeal. They are smaller in size but taste very similar. You can buy them at Whole Foods in the bulk section. • Use Old Fashion cut oats as compared to Quick Cooking oats. Because Quick Cooking oats are smaller in size, they become more mooshy overnight in water. Bleh. • Since we eat alot of oats, we buy them in bulk at Costco. • This is another one of those recipes you can make your own. There is no exact science, so experiment. Add berries, add granola for some crunch, add nuts, add flavored yogurt, add greek yogurt, use honey instead of brown sugar, add wheat germ, and the list could go on and on.
Above: Oats without water. Below: Oats with water.