ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday Plan B

Apple Oat Bran Muffins
Have Your Cake and Eat It Too Copyright 1993

Butter-flavor no stick cooking spray
1 ½ Golden Delicious or Granny Smith apples I used Gala
2 large egg whites
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons apple cider or apple juice I used low-fat buttermilk
3 tablespoons canola or safflower oil
1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
½ cup unsifted all-purpose flour
½ cup unsifted whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup oat bran
½ cup seedless raisins
granulated sugar

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Coat the muffin cups with cooking spray.
2. Peel apples and grate on medium-size holes of box or mandoline grated to make 1 ½ cups grated apples. I used the large holes on my grater.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, cider or juice, oil, brown sugar, and apples. Set a strainer over the bowl and add both flours, the baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir and sift the dry ingredients onto the egg mixture. Add the oat bran and raisins and stir well to blend.
4. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle a little granulated sugar over the batter. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in a muffin comes out clean. (Watch these closely after 15-20 minutes.) Cool the muffins in the pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, then gently pry them for the pan with a fork. Serve warm. They're good when they're not warm too!

Makes 12 2 ½-inch muffins. Per muffin (with juice or cider) : 145 calories, 3 g protein, 4 g fat, .4 g sat fat, 27 g. carbs, 156 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol.

This wasn't supposed to be my contribution to this week's ARF/5-A-Day Tuesdays over at Sweetnicks. Sunday night I made a Cauliflower, Potato and Pea Curry from Food and Wine Magazine's Quick From Scratch Herbs and Spices Cookbook. I decided not to blog about is as I don't think words and phrases such as 'gag', 'nauseating', 'almost puked' and 'I'd rather stick my head up a baboon's ass than ever smell that odor again' belong in a food blog. I was still sickened by the thought of this dish the next day, long after it was in the trash and moved out of the kitchen. I don't think it was the recipe, I think it came down to their being some flavors and aromas that I just don't care for and this dish fell squarely into that category.

As much as I hated the curry dish, I love these muffins. I've actually made these several times, although not recently and never with buttermilk. They were moist and delicious but they were on the small side. They probably would have risen a taller if I had adjusted the leavening agent since I replaced the liquid with buttermilk. I know there are 'formulas' for that since buttermilk is more acidic than most liquids (but is it more acidic than apple cider or apple juice??). Anyone have any suggestions in this regard for next time? Should I have gone with just baking soda and if so, how much?

Although Gala apples are high in antioxidants, I didn't use the skin here, which is where most of the antioxidants in apples are found. But I used 2 whole apples in these so each muffin has 1/6 of an apple, raisins (which are rich in antioxidants), whole wheat flour and oat bran. They're low in fat and although the fiber wasn't in the nutritional breakdown, I believe the author mentioned in the text that each muffin had 2 grams of fiber. Not a earth-shattering amount of fiber but I give kudos any time a food has any measurable amount of fiber. Personally I think these would be great packed in a lunchbox. I packed one in my lunch bag, in fact.

I really need to try more recipes in this book. I really like the author's approach - she crunches the numbers but she seems to have really put an effort into getting a quality final product.

Question of the Day: What was your worst culinary failure?

Another shot at macaroni and cheese

Baked Macaroni
Joy of Cooking Copyright 1931, 1936, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1975

Boil in salted water:
4 oz macaroni, 1 cup
Drain it.
Preheat oven to 350 degreed.
Place layers of macaroni in a buttered baking dish.
Sprinkle the layers with:
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Beat until blended:
1 or 2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon paprika
a few grains of cayenne
1 slice pimiento, optional I omitted this
¼ cup chopped green peppers or 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, optional I omitted this
1 tablespoon grated onion, optional I added this
Pour this mixture over the macaroni. Sprinkle top with dry bread crumbs, dots of butter and grated cheese.
Bake the macaroni about 40 minutes.

I made this a few weeks ago but never got around to posting it. It didn't wow me but I happen to personally know a few people (well, at least one) who like this type of baked macaroni and cheese so I thought it was worth sharing. I guess I'm just not a fan of custardy baked macaroni and cheese. I like my mac n cheese to be ooey and gooey. I really wanted Alton's Brown's stovetop version when I made this but I didn't have evaporated milk on hand. I should have made Horn and Hardart’s Baked Macaroni and Cheese again. I loved that recipe but I always think that no matter how good my mac n cheese turns out that there is always a better recipe out there.

Can I be honest? Joy of Cooking is just not one of my favorite cookbooks. No where even near the top of the list. Sure, it has a recipe for practically everything and it's been around forever but it just doesn't have that cookbook 'magic' I look for in a cookbook. It's comprehensive, I'll give you that, so if you need a recipe for kidneys or brains, you'll probably find one there but I don't think it necessarily has the 'best' recipes.

Question of the Day: Is there a dish that you keep trying a new recipe for, searching for the 'best' version or maybe a version you remember from your past?

I guess sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't

Venison Paprika
301 Venison Recipes: The Ultimate Deer Hunter's Cookbook Copyright 1992

¼ cup shortening I used canola oil
2 pounds cubed venison
1 cup onion, sliced
1 small clove garlic, minced
¾ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon dry mustard
1 ½ cups water
dash hot pepper

water and flour to thicken

Melt shortening in large skillet. Add meat, onion and garlic. Cook and stir until meat is brown and onion is tender. Stir in ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, salt, paprika, mustard, hot pepper and 1 ½ cups water. Cover and simmer for 2 to 2 ½ hours. Blend flour and water, stir in gradually to meat mixture. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Serve over noodles.

Some of you may recall that weeks ago I really liked the venison from the latest deer my husband killed. Well, we ate it twice more (not in new recipes) and I found myself wondering if I had been secretly hypnotized and I had finally snapped out of it - I didn't care for it again. So this time I soaked this meat in salted water first, then buttermilk and hot sauce before making this dish. I also made this the night before we ate it for dinner, since it had such a long cooking time, and I think that helped the (good) flavors develop. I actually liked this a lot. My two-year old scarfed it down too.

The deer this meat came from is now staring down at me in my living room (my husband is an aspiring taxidermist) . It's a little unsettling.

Since I wasn't sure if I would be able to eat this, instead of noodles I made Alton Brown's Stove-Top Mac n Cheese, a recipe from the Ugly Binder, to go along with this. I've made this many, many times. Randi made it recently, if you want the recipe. You can also find it on the Food TV site too. I used all the odds and ends of cheese I had building up in the refrigerator. I suggest putting the recipe together and then just adding as much cheese as you think is necessary because personally I think it calls for more than it needs (and I love cheese!).

This cookbook is a sloppy collection of venison recipes, many quite similar, maybe some exactly the same. They were sent in to deer hunter magazines and collected from other sources. Many have the same name - there are several 'Venison Paprika' recipes, as well as several 'Venison Stroganoff' recipes, for instance. It doesn't really inspire a lot of confidence since I don't get the feeling that anyone tested these recipes, but it makes up for that with the sheer volume of recipes to chose from. I've learned to look for recipes with stronger flavors (or at least some sort of tomato base) because those seem to be the recipes I like to use venison in. This recipe would also be good with beef or pork.

Question of the Day: Are you going to be cooking anything this weekend?

Pasta with a twist

Tex-Mex Cavatappi
Food and Wine Magazine’s Quick From Scratch Pasta Cookbook Copyright 1996,2001,2002,2004

2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 pound ground beef I used ground turkey
1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
2 cups (one 16-ounce jar) chunky tomato salsa I used chipotle salsa
¾ pound cavatappi
2 teaspoons lime juice or red-wine vinegar I used red-wine vinegar
¼ cup chopped cilantro or parsley I used parsley
6 ounces cheddar cheese, grated (about 1 ½ cups) I used a cheddar-jack blend
Lime wedges for serving (optional)

1. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over moderately high heat. Add the ground beef (or turkey) and cook until well browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, salt and pepper. Add the salsa and simmer over low heat to allow the flavors to combine, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the cavatappi until just done, about 13 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss it with the sauce, lime juice, cilantro and 1 cup of the cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup cheese and serve with wedges of lime if you like.

A while back I bought an expensive jar of chipotle salsa from the wife of a coworker. I think the brand is Wildtree Herbs - it's one of those party sales thingies but there was no party, just a book. A book of expensive products.

So, of course, if you pay $8.00 for salsa (16 oz, not the big jug like Costco's peach manga salsa - yum), you aren't going to run home and eat it with store-brand tortilla chips, right? So this was just sitting on the shelf, waiting for it's moment. I saw this recipe several times before my brain clicked in and I remembered this salsa. This was such a perfect use for this salsa. I'm not sure how good this recipe would be with an 'everyday' jarred salsa - get something sassy! The only ripple was that this dish had extra tang since I added the red-wine vinegar but since lime juice was the second ingredient in this salsa, I probably didn't need to add that ingredient.

This was super, super, super (yes, three 'supers'!) simple. Not even and onion or clove of garlic to chop, just a bit of parsley, which really isn't essential (there's probably cilantro in most salsas). The cavatappi is such a beautiful and fun pasta shape but I took the last bag off the shelf and I'm frightened I won't be able to find it anymore. I have the worst time finding the pasta shapes I want (you can't even get small shells locally!)

As you can see, I'm just addicted to these Food and Wine Magazine's Quick From Scratch Cookbooks. I just can't say enough good things about these books. I'm definitely grabbing them if the house burns down.

They say salsa is the most popular condiment.
Question of the Day: How much salsa do you consume?

Time for something sweet

Brown Mountain Cake
Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook Copyright 1959, 1972

1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
3 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
3 tblsp. cocoa
1 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
½ c. warm water

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Soft together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa; add alternately with buttermilk to creamed mixture. Stir in vanilla and warm water. Pour batter into a lightly greased and floured 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) about 45 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool cake on rack. Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting.

Creamy Chocolate Frosting
Hershey’s 1934 Cookbook Copyright 1992

2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup cocoa
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon light corn syrup (optional)
5 to 6 tablespoons milk

In a medium bowl, stir together powdered sugar and cocoa; set aside. In small mixture bowl, beat butter until creamy; add ½ cup powdered sugar mixture, corn syrup, if desired, and vanilla, beating until well blended. Add remaining powdered sugar mixture alternately with milk until of spreading consistency.

I had buttermilk that I needed to use up and I thought my coworkers were due for a treat. This simple chocolate cake recipe is what I settled on. I like the light hand with the cocoa in this. This was so moist and stayed moist (in a lidded Pyrex baking dish) even though I work with a small team and it can take us a few days to finish off a cake. This is definitely a recipe I'll use again.

I'm not usually a big fan of chocolate frosting on a chocolate cake but since the cake recipe suggested a chocolate frosting, I went along this one time. I think a vanilla buttercream would have worked very well here too. Or a light mocha frosting. Or a peanut butter frosting.

Another winning recipe from the Farm Journal's Country Cookbook.

Question of the Day: If I told you that you could have any cake that you want right now, what kind of cake would you ask for?