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Back to Bread Baking: Rosemary Asiago Focaccia

7 Jun

So, it’s been a very strange two months.

The first week of April, I woke up suddenly with back pain so excruciating, Joe and I had to cancel our annual trip to Boston for PAX East. Things deteriorated from there. My joints swelled randomly and massively, there were weeks at a time when I could not walk, and I was in constant, excruciating pain. After a long two months of MRIs, x-rays, labs, and doctor appointments, I was finally diagnosed last week with rheumatoid arthritis. While things haven’t improved greatly (yet), I am much more comfortable and have a treatment plan to move forward.

Needless to say, I wasn’t doing much cooking. The last couple of weeks I’ve had a little more energy, my hands hurt a little less, and I have started to cook some meals and get back to baking. I’ve been going for a lot of comfort foods like meatloaf, soups, and homemade pasta. But what really feels like home to me is baking bread. So when my rosemary plant decided to offer this…

I knew a really good focaccia was on the way.

Let’s get back in the kitchen together!

Rosemary Asiago Focaccia

Bread:
2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
2 tbsp. sugar
3 1/2 to 4 cups bread flour
1 tbsp. kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
1.5 oz. finely grated asiago cheese

Toppings:
2 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
1 oz. coarsely grated asiago cheese

Dissolve the salt in 2 tbsp. of water and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the yeast, sugar, and water, and let stand until foamy, 5-10 min.

Turn the mixer on low speed and slowly add 3 1/2 cups of flour to the bowl. Add the salt water and olive oil, and once incorporated, add the chopped rosemary and finely grated asiago cheese.

Once the dough comes together, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. (You can also knead this in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, I just enjoy doing it by hand.) Add flour as needed if the dough is sticky.

Form the dough into a ball and transfer to an oiled bowl, tossing to coat in the oil. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap or a towel and allow the dough to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and adjust a rack to the lower third of the oven.

Lightly oil a baking sheet and turn the risen dough out onto it. Gently stretch the dough into an oblong shape about ½ in. thick.

Let rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

Gently dimple the dough with your fingertips. Brush the surface of the dough with olive oil, and then sprinkle on the coarsely grated asiago cheese and chopped rosemary.

Bake the focaccia for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown all over. Allow it to rest at least 15 minutes before slicing.

This bread reheats especially well in the toaster or conventional oven (if you don’t finish it all in one day!)

While I often find the road ahead daunting and uncertain, I am lucky to be surrounded by supportive people, and have hobbies like cooking and yoga that ground me and offer me a meditative space. And I’ll keep writing to you here as often as I can, because food is meant to be shared and I will always be happy to share with you.

Ciao for now,

Neen

The King’s Crispy Treats

26 Mar

I went on a granola bar making binge recently. First I had a friend who was traveling who I thought could use a snack, and then I was in a show with a lot of long hours and heavy lifting, so I made tons of bars for the whole cast.

Then Joe spoke up. He doesn’t like oats, or the texture of most dried fruit. What kind of bar could I make for him? I remembered a Kashi bar that he used to eat that had chocolate covered pretzels in it and a sort of crispy cereal base. I considered that banana chips weren’t chewy and so I added those to the equation, and that’s when it hit me. Add some peanuts and peanut butter and you have something approximating Elvis’ beloved fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches in breakfast bar form. With a little added chocolate because yes, please!

Elvis Bars

  • 3 ½ cups crispy rice cereal or puffed rice cereal
  • ½ cup roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped
  • ½ cup banana chips, roughly chopped
  • ½ cup chocolate covered pretzels, roughly chopped
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 3 tbsp. peanut butter
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp. salt

Line an 8×8 in. square pan with parchment and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the cereal, banana chips, and peanuts.

In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter, honey, vanilla, and salt. Cook until the mixture just starts to bubble.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the peanut butter until smooth.

Add the peanut butter mixture to the cereal mixture and stir well to combine.

Wait 15 minutes for the mixture to cool slightly, and then add the chocolate covered pretzel pieces.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and press firmly into an even layer. Chill in the refrigerator for two hour before cutting into squares.

I wrap them individually in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Crispy, chewy, sweet, and salty. Delicious! Hope you enjoy these royal treats soon.

Ciao for now,

Neen

Belated Birthday Post: Cinnamon Cupcakes with Toasted Italian Meringue

1 Aug

When I woke up on my birthday last month, I had a strange lack of ingredients in the house. Less than a stick of butter, no powdered sugar, and no milk specifically. Not ideal for someone wanting to make birthday cake with frosting, but certainly by no means an impossible task.

What I came up with was actually pretty delicious and reminded me a lot of a cake I used to make for Joe a lot when we were first dating. As for the icing, normally I’m a buttercream kinda lady, but toasted Italian meringue may have won my heart over. It was light and crisp on the outside, and soft and marshmallow-y inside. A perfect companion for this warm, spicy cinnamon cake.

Cinnamon Cupcakes with Toasted Italian Meringue

Cake Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 3 oz. unsalted butter
  • 1 oz. cream cheese
  • 1 whole egg and two egg yolks
  • 1/2 tsp. almond extract
  • 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt

Italian Meringue Ingredients and Recipe Here

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand blender, cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the whole egg and egg yolks one at a time, mixing between additions and scraping down the bowl. Then add the almond extract.

With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the yogurt and the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, scraping the bowl between additions, until everything is just combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cups.

Bake for 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

To frost, spoon or pipe the meringue on top of the cupcakes and then place under a broiler for 15-30 seconds or use a blow torch to lightly brown the meringue.

These were a pretty delicious way to celebrate #32, I have to say. I bet they’d be great with other toppings too, like maple buttercream, or a crisp brown sugar and oat crumble. Give them a try soon!

Ciao for now,

Neen

Sunday Morning Sweets: Old Fashioned Cake Doughnuts

26 Mar

If you were snowed in, work was cancelled, and you had all of the necessary ingredients, tell me…

Why wouldn’t you make doughnuts?

Sure it takes a little time to do it properly, but it wasn’t like I was going anywhere on that February morning.

A lot of people don’t like frying, because they’ve had bad experiences with poorly-fried food. I get it. Believe me, greasy food makes me queasy too. If you keep a thermometer in the pot, fry in small batches, monitor the temperature between batches, and drain food properly, you will end up with almost as much oil in the pot as you started with. Less oil leaching into the food, no greasy texture.

I am always a fan of peanut oil for deep frying as I think it has the most neutral flavor, but you can use anything with a high smoke point.

Since I was snowed in at the last minute on this occasion, I decided to make cake doughnuts. I prefer to allow yeast doughs to rise overnight and we didn’t have that kind of time.

Old Fashioned Cake Doughnuts

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ tbsp salt
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 teaspon cinnamon
  • 2 eggs
  • 1⁄4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup whole or 2% milk
  • 4 cups flour
  • Oil for frying

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.

20150222_114358In another bowl, Combine the sugar with the melted butter, milk, and eggs, and blend well.

20150222_114605Slowly add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and beat until you have a batter that comes together, but is very soft and sticky.

20150222_114623Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for one hour.

After chilling, roll the dough out until it is about ½ in. thick.
20150222_122147Cut out doughnuts with a pint glass or biscuit cutter, and then cut out center holes with a small cookie cutter or shot glass.

20150222_122235
20150222_122554Fill a deep skillet with about 1 ½ in. of vegetable or peanut oil, and heat the pan until the oil is about 360 degrees.

Add doughnuts gently to the hot oil, cooking a few at a time so that the oil temperature stays between 360-375 degrees. Once you see golden brown around the edges, flip the doughnuts so that they cook on both sides. Total cooking time is about 2-3 minutes for doughnuts and about a minute for doughnut holes.
20150222_124221Remove the doughnuts using a spider and drain on a cooling rack inverted over a layer of paper towels.

While warm, glaze or sugar as desired. For this batch, I dipped some in cinnamon sugar and others are topped with a simple powdered sugar, milk, lemon zest, and vanilla glaze and sprinkles. I love crazy flavor combinations, but sometimes simplicity is perfect.

20150222_12375520150222_12545720150222_125746

And I have to say that toasty coffee, pajamas, and doughnuts is a pretty fantastic way to spend a Sunday morning with your sweetie, snowed in or otherwise.

Ciao for now!

Neen

Satisfy My Soul: Sweet Potato, Chickpea, and Collard Greens Stew

14 Jan

Long-time readers of this blog will no doubt remember the “Mystery Food” series. For a couple of summers, I participated in Community Supported Agriculture programs in the NoVA area. Basically, it’s like buying stock…only more delicious. You pay a lump sum to a local farm at the beginning of the growing season, and once a week receive a box full of whatever has been harvested that week.

What I miss the most about it is that it forced me out of my comfort zone. I had to plan meals around whatever appeared in that box—and during some times of the year that meant figuring out what to do with massive quantities of squash, apples, or greens. Kale must grow really well around here, because boy-howdy did I eat a lot of kale those summers.

So when my friend Heather tipped me off to a special deal on Relay Foods, a grocery delivery service that sources from local stores, restaurants, and farms, I was excited to find they had their own version of this CSA-type share called a Bounty Box. Cha-ching! Time for vegetable roulette. I ordered one and anxiously anticipated what might appear on the porch.

There were some glorious pink lady apples, a jug of fresh apple cider, a nice fat little tomato, some white potatoes, watercress, curly kale, an enormous pile of collard greens, and several very hefty sweet potatoes. I was definitely pleased with the haul, but a little thrown for a loop. Confession time: I never buy sweet potatoes or collards. I have nothing against them, but I just never buy them or cook with them.

20140106_170432

Nothing like a mystery box to let your mouth know what it’s been missing! Seasonal food is awesome, because it’s exactly what the earth has to offer at that moment—and wherever you are, it’s probably exactly what your body is asking for too. Think about it: Collards packed with vitamin c, k, and soluble fiber (not to mention factors that regulate immune function) and sweet potatoes full of fiber, beta carotene, vitamin c, vitamin b-6, and potassium. Yep, mother earth definitely knows you need some protection against flu season. And nothing says yummy winter food like a stew…

Sweet Potato, Chickpea, and Collard Greens Stew

  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp. smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp. coriander seeds
  • ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
  • ½ tsp. cumin
  • 3-4 cups collard greens, large ribs removed, roughly chopped
  • 1 15.4 oz. can of no salted added chickpeas, drained, or 2 cups of dried chickpeas soaked overnight
  • 2 large sweet potatoes (approximately 1 lb.), peeled and diced
  • 2-3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Begin by heating the olive oil, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, and coriander seeds  in a large pot over medium heat. Heat for about one minute, and then add the chickpeas and stir to combine. Cook the chickpeas until lightly browned, about 5-7 minutes. Remove, and set aside.
20140109_171922Add the onions to the pot and cook until soft and somewhat translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook one minute more, stirring frequently so that the spices don’t burn.

Add the diced sweet potatoes to the pot and cook for 10 minutes.
20140109_173252Once the sweet potatoes have softened slightly, add enough vegetable or chicken stock to the pot to just cover them. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce and simmer for 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are very tender.
20140109_174255Remove the pot from the heat and blend or mash the soup until you like the consistency. I like to leave some chunks of sweet potato, rather than making this smooth like bisque.
20140109_180547Return the pot to the stove over medium heat and add the collard greens and chickpeas. Simmer the soup for 10-15 minutes or until the greens are tender.
20140109_191507Serve hot, garnished with some roasted chickpeas, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds for some crunch.
20140109_191523
Nothing like a bowl of something hearty to warm your body and soul on a cold January evening. And a reminder that sometimes being thrown out of your regular routine leads to a whole new experience of comfort, ease, and culinary satisfaction.

Ciao for now,

Neen

Dreamy Creamy Greens: Vegan Broccoli and Spinach Bisque

12 Jan

Happy New Year, dear readers! I am so grateful to all of you who visit and spend some of your time perusing the blog. I can’t believe that Neen’s Notes celebrates its SIXTH birthday this year. Here’s to another year of sharing and cooking wonderful things together.

Like many, I find myself reflecting at the start of a new year on the goals I did or didn’t accomplish, what brought joy or sadness, and even how I changed on a physical and spiritual level. 2013 forced me to re-evaluate myself in the deepest, most raw way. Losing the “definition” of who I was when I lost my job forced me to acknowledge that I was defining me by an occupation that could change at any moment. Gently, I let it tug me toward finally making the leap to start yoga teacher training, let myself go deeper and find a better sense of self and how I connect and interact with everything and everyone else. And I guess it’s pretty obvious that it has been a powerful and eye-opening experience thus far.
I enter 2014 stronger, more flexible (in mind and body), and eager to learn.

Though I don’t make new year’s resolutions, a general mantra of adding more good to life and causing less harm overall has been at the forefront of my mind. And for me, part of causing less harm and adding more good to my culinary life means less meat and more plants. Even as a conscious omnivore who sources animal proteins from local, sustainable sources as best she can, I can’t deny that eating animal protein is an indulgent choice. It has a greater impact on the environment, is less economical than producing plant protein, and is cruelty toward a sentient being. So rather than beat myself up for not going full vegetarian or vegan, I’m simply focused on adding more good to life, learning more plant-based recipes and techniques, and eating more plant-based meals. Taking and wasting less overall is something that would make me feel like a better citizen of the planet.

And of course, anything worth cooking is worth making delicious. This week, I’m sharing a soup that hits all the right notes: It’s creamy, comforting, rich, and earthy, is loaded with health benefits and cleansing ingredients, and is free of most common allergens (gluten, nuts, and dairy). It might not cure whatever influenza plague seems to cling to most cities in the winter months, but I’d call this the best tasting preventative medicine I’ve ever had.

I loved cream of broccoli soup growing up, but always bogged down with milk and cheese. Nothing quite like a rich, salty, cheesy bisque surrounding little florets of broccoli. And while there’s nothing wrong with fat in your diet, I thought “we can do better!” Let’s give the body a break–digesting dairy is difficult. In fact, a whole lot of people lack the lactase enzyme almost entirely. Instead, our friend light coconut milk comes in here and brings the creaminess to the party, while simultaneously raising HDL levels and helping improve the blood cholesterol profile. Broccoli helps to modulate the body’s immune response because it’s loaded with vitamin c and and iron, and the addition of spinach brings even more iron, vitamin a, folate, b vitamins, calcium, potassium, and omega-3 fatty acids (talk about a super-food). Ginger adds a special spiciness to the blend, and can also soothe an upset stomach and act as a mild anticoagulant and improve blood circulation. Finally, the soup is simmered with a piece of kombu, an edible sea vegetable that contains a large amount of glutamic acid, which brings that savory, umami taste to the pot. Kombu is a great way to achieve an earthy flavor and body in soups without adding animal protein. It’s also rich in iodine that helps regulate the thyroid, which in turn, helps you stay hormonally balanced and healthy. Why aren’t you eating this yet??

Oh…my bad. Here’s how to get it:

Creamy Broccoli and Spinach Bisque

1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 leek, scrubbed and cut into 1/2 in. coins (discard dark green parts for use in stocks or broths)
1 in. piece of ginger, chopped
3 cups broccoli, rough chopped
3 cups spinach, rough chopped
3 cups unsalted vegetable stock (or water)
1 piece kombu
1 cup light coconut milk
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and leek to the pan and cook until mostly translucent, but not browned, 5-7 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook one minute more.
20140112_101930Add the spinach and broccoli to the pot and mix well.
20140112_102337Add the broth and spices, raise the heat to high and allow the soup to come to a boil. Once it is boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer.
20140112_103524Add the kombu to the pot and simmer until the broccoli is tender, about 10-15 minutes.

20140112_102729Remove the pot from the heat, discard the stick of kombu, and puree the soup in a blender (working in batches to avoid splatters), or using an immersion blender. Add the coconut milk and return the soup to the stove over low heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
20140112_104033Serve hot, garnished with fresh herbs.

20140112_12094520140112_121018Treating yourself to this soup is a gift in so many ways. Not only does it taste rich and velvety, it feels like it was meant for comfort on a cold winter day, and all those health benefits are a present for your body. And because it’s free of animal products, gluten, and nuts, it’s something you can share with a great majority of folks. And you know, I think food almost always tastes better when shared.
Ciao for now,
Neen

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