Whole Wheat Bran Muffins

As much as my boyfriend enjoys my new hobby, he is definitely not looking forward to the numbers on the scale crawling up with each new post I make. Neither of us is, really. So, he thought it would be a good idea for me to balance it out with some healthy baking. These muffins are perfect because they’re small and filling and an awesome breakfast. And it has a lot of our favorite things in it. I did an online search for bran muffins and couldn’t find any that I completely liked, so, I made my own.

Ingredients:

• Non-stick vegetable spray
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unprocessed wheat bran
• 1/2 cup milled flax seed
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups reduced fat buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Directions:

1 - Preheat oven to 400*

2 - Line muffin cups with paper liners. Spray liners with non-stick spray.

3 - Whisk flour, bran, flax seed, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt in bowl. Stir in carrots, raisins, coconut, and nuts.

4 - Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl. Whisk in eggs, then buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon peel.

5 - Mix in dry ingredients.

6 - Divide batter among cups, filling about 3/4 full.

7 -Bake muffins until browned on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Cool on rack

Mushroom and Leek Tart

I had a lot of cooking firsts last night:

*making dinner without any meat in it, on it, or next to it.

*cooking with puff pastry

*making my own salad dressing (which I did without a recipe. Go me!)

*working with leeks

And, I have to say, despite all my inexperience, I made an excellent dinner. I’ve always been a little intimidated of making anything involving dough. I have yet to perfect (or even do it well) the art of rolling out dough and after looking at the recipe for puff pasty I decided last night wasn’t the night to attempt it. (I think next week may be time for me to face my fear because I got some new mini tart pans and I’m anxious to make fruit tarts!) Anyway, after perusing through Martha Stewart’s Pies & Tarts (and after convincing myself that there was nothing wrong with using pre-made dough), I decided this would be the perfect introduction to tart making. I used this as a chance to take my store bought puff pastry to get familiar with it and see what would work and what wouldn’t.

So, here it is, my revised version of Martha Stewart’s recipe (her recipe was for leeks and olives):

Ingredients:

• 3 large leeks, white and pale green parts only
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 box store bought puff pastry, thawed
• 1 large egg with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
• 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 5 crimini mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 2 ounces gruyere, thinly sliced

Directions:

1 - Cut leeks crosswise into 3-inch pieces; halve each piece lengthwise, then cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips. Rinse well to remove any grit, and drain.

2 - Melt butter with oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add leeks and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are tender but not browned, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in thyme. Remove from pan and set aside to cool to room temperature.

3 - Return pan to stove and bring heat back to medium. Add mushrooms and the rest of salt to pan and cook in oil and butter left over from cooking the leeks. Cook until slightly tender. Remove from pan and set aside to cool to room temperature.

4 - Trim dough to a 14-by-6-inch rectangle. (If necessary, overlap edges of two smaller pieces to form a large rectangle. Press down edges of overlap to seal.) Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Score a 3/4 inch border on all sides (do not cut all the way through). Brush border with egg wash; sprinkle with grated cheese. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

5 - Preheat oven to 375*. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Press down on center of shell with an offset spatula, leaving the edges raised. Arrange leeks end to end in within borders of crust. Scatter mushrooms over leeks. Bake until crust is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Using a wide spatula to lift to check bottom of crust; if it’s still soft bake an additional 3 to 5 minutes.

6 - Arrange Gruyere cheese over top. Using a spatula, slide tart to wire rack; let cool slightly. Cut crosswise into pieces; serve warm or room temperature.

And the complete dinner:

I made the salad with mixed greens, granny smith apples, and chopped walnuts. I made the dressing using white wine vinegar, coarse ground mustard, olive oil, honey and salt.

I can NOT get enough of the sweet/savory combination. I love it. I’ve made these several times before, but I think this is my best batch yet. I did a few different things this time. First, I substituted one tablespoon of butter for one tablespoon of bacon grease. And, second, I rough chopped some bacon instead of chopping them in to smaller pieces. The cookie recipe I used is my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (from Martha Stewart’s Cookie Cookbook).

Ingredients (revised from original to make bacon cookies):

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) minus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon bacon grease
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt (I do just a pinch because the bacon will add enough salt)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (I usually use 1 1/2 tablespoons)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips (Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate is my favorite)
• 1 pound of bacon, fried until brown and crispy, cooled, then chopped

Directions:

1 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and bacon grease with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips, then stir in the chopped bacon.

2 - Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper

3 - Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely.

Stalzy's

Today my boyfriend took me to this great new Deli on Atwood called Stalzy’s. It’s owned by a chef he used to work for at his former job who’s a super nice guy so we were excited to patronize his business.

This place was a lot bigger than I thought it would be.

And super cute!

And the sandwiches….

…delicious! This is the Roast Beef & Muenster w/Lettuce, onion and horseradish mayo.

And huge too! This was my sandwich! Stalzy’s Triple. Corned beef, pastrami, turkey pastrami, swiss, creamy slaw, russian dressing, on rye. Everything was super fresh and the bread is from Madison Sourdough. The pastrami was AMAZING. Definitely check it out. :)

2701 Atwood Ave., Madison, WI | http://stalzysdeli.com/

This is what the french baguette was turned into...

Topped with tomato confit, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella and balsamic vinegar. And this was dinner…

spinach salad w/bleu cheese, dried cherries, sliced almonds, and tossed with a white wine vinaigrette and bistro steak made by my boyfriend. Delicious! And, not to make the dinner too fancy schmancy, I had mine with chocolate milk. ;)

French Baguette

My second attempt at making a french baguette. I can’t quite get it right. I need a lot of work with my rolling for sure. But…ah…it tastes so good. :)

Vanilla Cupcakes

I am a sucker for anything with frosting on it. So, cupcakes are the perfect treat for me and these cupcakes are A-MA-ZING! The rich and creamy frosting is the perfect compliment to these light, fluffy cupcakes. I rushed the frosting a little because I was so excited to taste it with the cake, so, I suggest beating it until they are really thick. It still tasted delicious, but I didn’t get the height I wanted when I iced and decorated the cupcakes.

Cake Ingredients (from The “”Magnolia Bakery Cookbook”):

1. 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1 - preheat oven to 350 degrees

2 - line muffin pans with cupcake liners

3 - In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flours and add in four parts, alternating with the milk and the vanilla extract, beating well after each addition. Divide batter between muffin cups. About 3/4 full.

4 - Bake about 20 - 22 minutes.

5 - Cool completely before icing.

Traditional Vanilla Buttercream Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very soft
• 8 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I would add more because I think the flavor gets lost in all the sugar)

Directions:

Put butter in large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and the milk and the vanilla extract. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add the remaining sugar gradually, 1 cup at a time,until icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. (you may not need all 8 cups) Add food coloring, if desired, and mix thoroughly.

Use and store icing at room temperature. Refrigerating will cause it to set.