Posted by Natalie on September 21, 2010 · 12 Comments
When it comes to hot drinks, I’ll always choose tea over coffee. I don’t know what it is about coffee.. I love the smell, but I just can’t get into it. I’ve never been into caffeine. So when
Rhiani picked Coffee Break Muffins for this week’s TWD, I made my tried-and-true choice and used tea instead.
Not too long ago, the amazing folks at Yogi teas sent me four boxes of tea to sample. Four whole boxes! Amazingly generous. I’ve tasted them all in their classic form, and I’ve been waiting to showcase the tea in a baked item for some time. These muffins were the perfect fit. I used Yogi’s Aztec Sweet Chili tea for its warm flavors, which I hoped would compliment the cinnamon and brown sugar in the muffin recipe.
(Side note: I LOVE Yogi tea! They have lots of tasty and creative tea flavors. I’m a big supporter of their
teas for women, but I like their other herbal teas, too.
Check them out!)
I used both dry tea and hot tea in the recipe as replacements for the coffee and espresso powder. I also added a bit of cinnamon sugar on top. My muffins baked up quickly in about 15 minutes (I only made 6). I can’t believe I actually waited until they were cool to try them! I was pleased to find that the tea shined through and you could really taste the flavors. The muffins were moist, too, which is amazing, since there really isn’t much to them! I will definitely make this recipe again, and I’m eager to try it out with other tea flavors.
My changes to the recipe:
-substitute 1 tablespoon of dry tea for the espresso powder (contents of about 4 tea bags; measure yours to be sure)
-substitute 1 cup of hot tea for the coffee (I used an extra bag when steeping for a stronger flavor)
Thanks for the great pick,
Rhiani!
Posted by Natalie on September 20, 2010 · 3 Comments
Voting is open for the first PFB Challenge, “Ready, Set, Blog!”
To vote for Oven Love, click the button in the top right of my page that will take you to my profile. On my profile, you’ll see “My Trophies” on the left side. Click the first trophy. You’ll be taken back to my post where you can click “Vote for this Entry.”
Or, just click here. This link should take you right to the voting page.
Voting is open from today until September 23 at 6PM Pacific Time.
400 Winner will be announced on September 24 and will advance to the next challenge.
Thanks so much for your support!
Posted by Natalie on September 20, 2010 · 1 Comment
Dang.. I haven’t pulled out the ol’
Great Bread button in way too long! I enjoy making bread, and it doesn’t even bother me when it takes a long time or lots of kneading. That being said, it’s always nice to find a recipe with little effort involved, too.
Most everyone has heard of the infamous no-knead bread, yes? It swept the nation last year (ish?) and everyone sings its praises. I tried it ages ago, but ended up scorching one of my cast iron pots and hadn’t repeated the recipe since. Recently, as I was searching for inspiration on Tastespotting, I ended up at
Kiss My Spatula, where I was reminded of the no-knead bread and decided to have another go at it.
The thing that really convinced me to try the bread again was the tip she offered- slip parchment paper under your loaf! I was dumbfounded, and sad that I hadn’t thought of it originally. Let that be a lesson to you- use parchment!
My version is slightly altered from G’s, but not too much. I just switched it up to add a little personal flair. Hers isn’t far off from the original no-knead, so neither of us can take credit for this magical stuff. I really like the mix of sesame seeds and steel-cut oats. I wasn’t sure if they would blend well, but the texture is excellent, and I’m sure I’ll be making it again. Husbands everywhere (definitely here) love crusty bread. It’s just science.
This isn’t 100% whole wheat, but I wasn’t in the mood to fiddle with the vital wheat gluten. 100% whole wheat baking is a story for another day, and we’ll get to it, I promise.
And for some extra inspiration, check out these bread recipes from F&W..
Get baking!
Whole Wheat Sesame Oat Bread
(Based on Kiss My Spatula‘s changes to the original No-Knead Bread recipe by Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery, NY Times Article, and revised articles by Cooks Illustrated and Breadtopia)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup steel cut oats
- 4 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 1/4 cups bread flour
- 1 1/2 tsp table salt or 3/4 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 1 tbsp white distilled vinegar
- 1/4 tsp instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon wheat germ
- 1 tablespoon wheat bran (you can use one or the other, I just had both on hand so I used the combo)
Method
Whisk flour, steel cut oats, sesame seeds, yeast, and salt in large bowl. Add water and vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy, sticky ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
Lay 12X18-inch sheet of parchment paper inside 10-inch skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle. Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment-lined skillet and spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours.
About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place 6-8 quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (with lid) on rack, and heat oven to 475 degrees. Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch-long, 1/2 inch-deep slit along top of dough. Sprinkle with wheat bran and wheat germ.
Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot (let any excess parchment hang over pot edge). Cover pot and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature before slicing.
Don’t forget to enter the Food & Wine giveaway!
FOOD & WINE is giving away a year-long subscription to a lucky reader from Oven Love. Click here to enter and read official rules here.
This post is part of a series featuring recipes from the FOOD & WINE archive. As a FOOD & WINE Blogger Correspondent, I was chosen to do four recipes a week from FOOD & WINE. I received a subscription to FOOD & WINE for my participation.
Posted by Natalie on September 18, 2010 · 6 Comments
I know, you’ve heard of kale chips. They were all the rage back at the beginning of 2010. Everyone and their Great Aunt Mildred blogged about them. I can’t believe it took me until September to get around to baking them. Talk about procrastination! For shame. But three cheers for another healthy recipe, right? I was kind of going overboard on the sweets.
Why would you want to eat a big bowl of greens? Because,
A) They’re good for you.
B) They satisfy crunchy/salty cravings.
C) They actually taste good.
D) They take little to no effort to make.
Are you sold?
If you haven’t heard of kale chips, what you see is what you get. Crispy, salty kale. You toss the kale in some olive oil, roast it for 10-15 minutes, then season it, and you’re done. The kale goes from a drab, bitter green to a tasty, crunchy chip. You can even use them with dips. Just try it once, and you’ll see. I won’t twist your arm.
I used F&W’s recipe for crispy kale, shown below. I didn’t get a chance to try the
Lemon Yogurt Dip, but I will next time- looks delish. I’d love to mess around with some other seasonings, as well- maybe a curry version, lemon pepper, garlic, barbecue.. good thing these are vegetables!
Crispy Kale
1 pound curly kale, stems and large inner ribs removed
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I went a little easier on the oil, maybe 2 tbs)
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 375°. In a bowl, toss the kale with all but 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Spread the kale on 2 baking sheets and roast in the upper and lower thirds of the oven for about 15 minutes, until crisp; shift the pans from top to bottom halfway through. Season the kale with salt and pepper and transfer to a large platter.
Don’t forget to enter the Food & Wine giveaway!
FOOD & WINE is giving away a year-long subscription to a lucky reader from Oven Love. Click here to enter and read official rules here.
This post is part of a series featuring recipes from the FOOD & WINE archive. As a FOOD & WINE Blogger Correspondent, I was chosen to do four recipes a week from FOOD & WINE. I received a subscription to FOOD & WINE for my participation.
Posted by Natalie on September 16, 2010 · 19 Comments
Just that title makes me hungry for another helping!
In case you missed it in the last post, I’ve been chosen by the good folks at
Foodbuzz to feature a month’s worth of
Food&Wine recipes on Oven Love. Cool, right? They’re also sending me a year’s subscription to Food&Wine- amazing!
What’s more amazing is that you, too, have a chance to win a year’s subscription! How cool is that? One of you fabulous readers will get Food&Wine delivered to your doorstep for a year. All you have to do is click that little widget on the top right (under my Project Food Blog button, click that, too!) and follow the directions from there. Easy peasy.
Back to the recipe. I was already planning on making a butternut squash lasagna before this whole Food&Wine thing started up. So I did a little searching and found a recipe for
Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage, pureed it, and used it as part of my lasagna. Perfection. The base recipe for the lasagna came from
My Kitchen Addiction– go visit now, you’ll love her!
These pictures are just oozing fall, aren’t they?
The lasagna layers go like this:
-pureed butternut squash with sage
-sage infused cream sauce
-fresh mozzarella
-noodles
I even managed to make it a somewhat healthy. The cream sauce is made with fat free milk, and butternut squash has got to be a superfood or something. One sixth of the recipe is 6 WW points, which isn’t too bad for a lasagna. Just one of many fall dishes (and F&W dishes) to come.
PS- You can still make this if you don’t feel like roasting your squash. You can get squash puree in the freezer section or get frozen cubes of squash as a shortcut. I totally recommend the real thing, though, just sayin’.
Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna
1 batch Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage (recipe follows)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped2
2tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups milk (I used skim)
1 ounce Romano cheese (you can sub Parmesan if you like), grated, divided in half
Kosher salt (to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
Freshly ground nutmeg (to taste)
8 lasagna noodles (I use the no-bake type, but cook ahead of time if the package calls for it)4
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded
Preheat the oven to 375.
In a food processor, puree the butternut squash and sage mixture. Add water, as needed, until smooth. Set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the sage and flour, and stir until bubbling. Slowly and stirring constantly, pour in the milk. Bring the mixture to a boil. Turn of the heat and add 1/2 oz Romano cheese and season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
In an 8×8 square baking dish, spread a bit of squash puree. Top with a layer of sauce, a layer of mozzarella, and a layer of noodles. Repeat the layers three times. Top the final noodles with the remaining sauce and mozzarella cheese (no squash layer). Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 oz Romano cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes until the cheese on top is brown in spots. Top with minced sage and serve.
Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage
One 3-pound butternut squash-peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch dice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 sage leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Preheat the oven to 425°. In a large bowl, toss the butternut squash with the olive oil and sage and season with salt and pepper. Spread the squash on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast in the oven for about 40 minutes, until tender and lightly browned, tossing once half-way through. Transfer to a bowl and serve.
FOOD & WINE is giving away a year-long subscription to a lucky reader from Oven Love. Click here to enter and read official rules here.
This post is part of a series featuring recipes from the FOOD & WINE archive. As a FOOD & WINE Blogger Correspondent, I was chosen to do four recipes a week from FOOD & WINE. I received a subscription to FOOD & WINE for my participation.
Posted by Natalie on September 15, 2010 · 9 Comments
Remember my epic Bake-N-Blog fail with those
fig cupcakes? Well, today I get to redeem myself with another Bake-N-Blog event. My sweet (real-life!) friend Jess at
jesstagirl and her officer decided to host a
Bake-N-Blog today. To tell you the truth, I was dragging my feet about joining in at first. The fig cupcakes really blew my baking ego. But, last night I came to my senses and realized that supporting Jess was more important to me than risking another cupcake fail. And that brings us to today’s cupcakes!
My cupcake choice this time around is Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Cream Filling (from
Ming Makes Cupcakes, of course). These immediately reminded me of
Hostess Cupcakes, so I decided to add the signature swirl and rename them to make them my own. I think they came out a lot like the original, but with a lot fewer fakey ingredients.
My go-to chocolate cake recipe is cocoa and oil-based, but this cupcake was cocoa and butter-based. I was pleasantly surprised with the recipe- they stayed more moist than I thought, but that could be all of the yummy cream inside. The chocolate ganache was simple as well- just chocolate and cream. I think these would be super cute in a kid’s lunchbox, but only as an occasional treat. They are filled with frosting, after all.
I think they’re just the cutest!
Here’s the recipe (you can click on it to enlarge).
I’m so glad this recipe worked out. Relieved, really.
I’m back in love with cupcakes.
Thanks, J!
Posted by Natalie on September 15, 2010 · 3 Comments
It’s not quite fall here in GA, but the hubs requested chili recently and I had to oblige. The Steelers’ first big game was on Sunday, and that was the perfect occasion for chili and cornbread-related items. I think they won because they knew I had already made a delicious meal and didn’t want to ruin an otherwise lovely day. So considerate.
The fine folks at
Grafton Village Cheese Company sent me this little treasure chest of cheeses, so I wanted to accompany the chili with something cheesy as an excuse to try out these fine looking goods. I highly recommend this cheese, especially for cooking. The cheddars are very sharp, which means you can still get a great cheddar flavor after the cheese mellows in the cooking process. Check them out- they’ve got cheeses of all ages.
I used the two-year-old Vermont Cheddar in the Cornmeal Waffles. It’s covered in wax, so you know it’s fancy. My favorite part is the back of the package, where it says “8 oz gold bar.” Ha! Never thought I’d have a gold bar in my house.
I’ve never had a savory waffle before, but I certainly recommend them. After all, you can waffle just about anything these days (
will it waffle?). I got this recipe from
La Kocinera, and I like it a lot, but there are a few things I would change. The recipe calls for chopped nuts, which I was unsure of, but Kocinera said they were essential, so I went for it. I would definitely nix the nuts next time. They were just a little strange to me. I think I’d also add some crumbled bacon to the batter, duh. Should have thought of that before! Otherwise, super yummy and a fresh take on cornbread.
The chili recipe was adapted from
LuLu At Home. Her picture sucked me in. No complaints on the chili, it was yummy and made me long for cooler weather (what’s new?). I hope you people in the north are enjoying your long pants.
Fall is coming, people! I will welcome it with open arms when it arrives (in November).
PS- Oven Love has been chosen to feature
Food & Wine recipes for the next month, courtesy of
Foodbuzz. I think it’s going be a blast, and I’d love to know what Food & Wine recipes you’d like to see me make. Check out
their website and comment about it here or
become a fan on facebook and comment there. Thanks so much- can’t wait to start!
Red Bean Chili
Ingredients (serves 4-6):
5 garlic cloves, finely diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1-2 jalapeno, seeded, finely diced
Salt and pepper for season
1 can whole or diced tomato
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup frozen corn kernel (I omitted these, for some reason I don’t think corn belongs in red chili)
Grated cheddar cheese, diced red onion and cubed avocado for garnish
Directions:
Brown beef in a large skillet in 1 tablespoon olive oil until no longer pink. Set aside.
Add another tablespoon olive oil to skillet and saute onion and garlic until fragrant but not browned. Add carrot, celery and red pepper, cook for 2 minutes until soft. Add jalapeno and saute for 5 minutes. Return beef to pan and heat through, season with salt and pepper.
Add beer and scrape up any brown bits from bottom of the skillet.
Add tomato, chili powder, paprika, cumin and cocoa powder. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 2 hours.
Gently mix in kidney bean, corn and lime juice. Simmer for another 30 minutes.
Garnish with cheddar cheese, red onion and avocado. Serve with cornbread, tortilla chips or rice.
Cheddar Cornmeal Waffles
from La Kocinera
1 cup All-purpose Flour
1 cup yellow Cornmeal
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoon Salt
1 8-ounce package Sharp Cheddar Cheese
½ cup toasted, chopped Pecans (I would omit these next time)
3 large Eggs
1 cup Buttermilk
1 cup Club Soda
1/3 cup Canola Oil or Vegetable Oil
Sift or whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in cheese and pecans.
In a separate, medium-sized bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, club soda, and oil, stirring to combine; gently stir into dry ingredients just until blended.
Using a ¾ cup measure, spoon the batter onto a preheated, lightly greased waffle iron. Cook 5-10 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Serve warm with chili and extra cheese on top.
Posted by Natalie on September 14, 2010 · 16 Comments
Friends, this week I had a stroke of TWD genius. The chosen recipe was Dorie’s Cranberry Upside-Downer, picked by
Sabrina of Superfluous. I had a couple of cranberries in the freezer, but I wasn’t really feeling ready to break them out. Then I found some champagne grapes (at WalMart, of all places!) and it was love at first sight. Do you know about these little gems? They’re teeny-tiny, super sweet grapes, also called
Black Corinth grapes. Adorable. They make me want to throw a wine-and-cheese soiree and drape them all over my house (and serve this cake, of course).
I’ve never baked with grapes before, but I’ve always been interested in doing so. I’ve often thought about trying to make a grape pie, which I didn’t think existed until
I googled it. I thought this cake came out just beautifully for my first crack at the grape thing. The grapes look like juicy little jewels atop that cake, don’t they? It turned out as more of a spoon cake because of the extra moisture from the fruit and the loads of butter involved. It’s definitely not very WW friendly (I think 6 points for 1/12 of the cake.. yikes!), but it’s worth a little splurge. You people must wonder how I lose any weight with all of these decadent posts.
So, my changes to Dorie’s recipe were as follows:
-substitute 2 cups champagne grapes for 2 cups cranberries
-omit cinnamon
-use walnuts
-glaze with grape jelly or jam
I opted to keep the walnuts in because I thought it would be reminiscent of
Waldorf salad and the like. It worked well- the crunch was welcome with such a soft and spongy cake. I’m serious about the wine-and-cheese party.. I’m going to have make this again when there are people around to eat it.
Thanks,
Sabrina, for the great recipe pick that sparked this idea!
Posted by Natalie on September 12, 2010 · 14 Comments
Today marks the beginning of my participation in
Project Food Blog! Maybe you’ve been reading Oven Love since the
first post (Hi, Mom!) or maybe you just started reading today. Whether you’re an old friend or a new face, I just know we could be pals, and I want you to get to know me a little better. So here are a few of
my favorite things.
making scratch versions of store-bought favorites.
One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in the kitchen is that you CAN recreate store-bought favorites and restaurant guilty pleasures at home. Discovering that was so freeing for me! Now, when I have a grocery store craving for something I know is full of preservatives and just awful for me (Oreos, I’m talking to you), I just work on my own version.
homemade spaghetti-os
taking you back to basics with a gourmet flare.
I think things in the kitchen should stay pretty basic. It’s amazing how simple, fresh foods can make you look like a rockstar chef. Some of my favorite and most impressive dishes are the ones that showcase seasonal ingredients with simplicity. When you have good ingredients, they speak for themselves.
zucchini and herbed ricotta galette
making creative and fun food on the fly.
Everyone is busy. It’s just a fact. But I learned recently that mommies are especially busy, so being able to create a meal out of what’s on hand is a skill I’ve been using often. It’s like all the excitement of a quickfire challenge in my own kitchen, except without the time limit, or the prize money, or Padma.
quick corn and goat cheese grits with bacon
sharing my favorite borrowed recipes.
I think this is a big part of being a blogger. When you’re making and posting yummy food, you’re going to stumble upon some other people making and posting yummy food, and you’ll want to try it yourself. I love sharing recipes with you that I know will be great because my blogger pals have already given them the thumbs up. The food blogging community is just the best. I’ve also been known to sneak in a magazine recipe or two (look out for exciting Food&Wine news soon).
snickerdoodle blondies
getting people excited about cooking at home.
The economy bites, duh. Lots of people are cooking from home now, but not everyone enjoys it. I think cooking at home is twelve billion times healthier and more rewarding for families than fast food and tv dinners. I love to show you simple recipes that can make you look like you have a gourmet chef living in your spare bedroom. (Think about it, Jamie Oliver?)
simple watermelon limeade
so that’s kind of my philosophy on blogging, in a few nutshells.
other favorite blogging things, just for fun:
i like to use exclamation points! sometimes too much, but i like to be enthusiastic.
i often make lists in my posts (see above).
i write like i talk. call me sometime, you’ll see.
i like vegetables, but also cake, and BLTs, and oatmeal and avocados. and crumb topping.
Food blogging here at Oven Love has been a great experience for me and I wouldn’t change a thing. There are over 1,700 other fabulous bloggers in this competition, and I don’t want to brag, so I’m not going to. I’ll just say that I think we’ve got a pretty good thing going here at Oven Love, and I hope you agree.
Voting for this challenge starts on September 20. I pinkie promise to remind you later, since now we’re besties and all. Wish me luck!
Posted by Natalie on September 11, 2010 · 2 Comments
Forgive me in advance for all of the guac puns..
but this stuff is guaclicious. It’ll knock your guacs off.
let’s Guac and roll! okay, out of my system.
Anyone who’s anyone loves guacamole, which obviously means we’re all guac lovers here. If you’re not, you will be, since adding bacon to a recipe is like sprinkling it with love and deliciousness.
This isn’t really called BLT guac, since there’s no L, just B&T, but
I have a thing for BLTs and I wanted to rename the dish and pretend I came up with it on my own. It’s actually a recipe from Rick Bayless’ new book,
Fiesta at Rick’s. This guy is like the king of Mexico, if you haven’t heard of him.
Usually I change recipes to my own taste, but this one already had everything I wanted and nothing I didn’t. Make sure you don’t leave out the chiles en adobo- they’re essential. They add the most delightful smoky flavor that will have you full-on eating this concoction with a spoon. Easy peasy.
Best guac since sliced guac.
BLT Guacamole
(or Bacon Tomato Guacamole)
From Rick Bayless’ Fiesta at Rick’s
- 5 strips medium-thick bacon (full-flavored smoky bacon is great here)
- 3 medium-large (about 1 1/4 pounds) ripe avocados
- 1/2 medium white onion, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
- 2 or 3 canned chipotle chiles en adobo to taste, removed from the canning sauce, stemmed, split open, seeds scraped out and finely chopped
- 1 medium-large round, ripe tomato, cored and chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup (loosely packed) coarsely chopped cilantro (thick bottom stems cut off), plus a little extra for garnish
- Salt
- 1 or 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
In a large (10-inch) skillet, cook the slices of bacon in a single layer over medium heat, turning them occasionally, until crispy and browned, about 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels, then coarsely crumble.
Cut around each avocado, from stem to blossom end and back again, then twist the two halves apart. Dislodge the pit. Scoop the flesh from the skin into a large bowl. Using an old-fashioned potato masher or a large fork or spoon, mash the avocados into a coarse puree.
Scoop the onion into a small strainer and rinse under cold water. Shake off the excess water and transfer to the bowl, along with the chipotle chiles, tomatoes, cilantro (save out a little for garnish if you wish) and about 2/3 of the bacon. Gently stir to combine all of the ingredients. Taste and season with salt, usually about 1/2 teaspoon, and enough lime juice to add a little sparkle.
