Cooking the Candle 79 Cookbook

Avocado Salsa

Why is it so hard to find perfectly ripe avocados? I went to four stores, and I did finally find some, but it doesn't always work out that way. Here's a trick that one of my chef friends taught me: take the hard avocados and put them in the food processor with a little olive oil. Works like a charm. And you're only adding healthy fat to something that is already healthy fat, so if you have a party and you're in a bind, I highly recommend it. You're avocados won't be chunky but they'll taste perfectly ripe.
In this case it wasn't necessary and I got a nice, chunky avocado salsa. Which is to say guacamole. Whatever you want to call it, it was a big hit at our holiday party and I should have made more!
Recipe on page 11.

Spiced Apple-Plum Jam

This weekend we still had apples left from apple picking. They really needed to be used or thrown out, so I made jam. It was my first time, and I almost talked myself out of it because it seemed intimidating to sterilize jars, and I have heard so many stories of my mom's friends trying to make jam and having it turn out way too runny. As with everything kitchen related though, you just have to do a little research and follow instructions, and it turns out to be perfectly simple. We also had some prunes left from making plum cake, so I combined the two fruits and added some spices. It's great for afternoon tea with scones, especially when it's cold outside.

Spiced Apple-Plum Jam

Fresh prunes, cut in half and de-stoned

Apples, peeled, cored and cut into pieces

How much fruit you use really depends on how much you want to peel and chop. I don't peel the plums, because it's a royal pain in the butt, and because I think the skins add a little texture to the finished product that's perfectly good. I used about 1/3 plums and 2/3 apples, which is a good ratio for a firmer consistency jam.

For every 2 lbs of fruit, I used:

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1 cup of sugar or more (this depends on how sweet you like it, and you just have to taste it as it cooks)

I put everything in a big pot and let it cook down, on low heat, stirring occasionally. I had some pectin handy, but it turned out that I didn't need it. The jam came out the consistency of chunky apple sauce, so it was fine. If you like it a little firmer, you could add some pectin, following the instructions on the package.

While the jam cooks, wash the jars well and put them in the oven at 235 degrees for 20 minutes. Leave them in the oven, so that they are hot when you put in the jam (this will prevent the glass from cracking). Wipe any jam from the rims and then screw the lids on tightly. 

This is all I did. I let everything cool and then refrigerated the jam.

If you are making a huge amount and are worried about spoilage, you can submerge the filled jam jars in boiling water for 5 minutes. I only made 3 jars, which I knew were getting eaten soon, so I didn't bother.

Beautiful Carrots!!

Hi all! It's been a really busy couple of weeks and I'm still catching up, so, for today, I just thought I'd share these totally psychedelic purple carrots with you!! Groovy, right?

Shiitake I can't believe it's not Bacon!

Sometimes a vegetarian gets a craving for bacon. So she goes to the store (or the alternative New York diner that caters to vegetarians .... Curly's on 14th St., or Dizzy's in Park Slope come to mind) and gets some tempeh bacon, or some other kind of soy product that's supposed to simulate pork. And no matter how long you fry it, it ends up just being this limp strip of salty soy, that may taste ok, but doesn't satisfy any kind fo craving.
A few weeks ago, my friend took me to Sun in Bloom, which is a fantastic vegan cafe here in Park Slope, where I wish I could eat three meals a day! It's that good! And I ordered an avocado sandwich, and it came with shiitake bacon. Now, I've worked in a vegan restaurant for 5 years and I do a lot of recipe searching, but this delicious morsel completely slipped by me.
Well, I googled the recipe. It was developed by chef Elliot Prag at the Natural Gourmet cooking school, and it turns out to be the easiest thing to make. So I ran to the co-op, bought a huge bag of shiitake mushrooms and made bacon!! I swear it comes closer to the real thing than you can possibly imagine! It's crispy, it's fatty, it's salty! The perfect food!
A huge bag ends up making not very much. V. and I planned on saving some for sandwiches and salad, but then we picked a little off the sheet pan to taste. And then it was all gone. Oops!


Shiitake Bacon


shiitake mushroom caps (you can't buy too many)
olive oil
sea salt


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Slice, or chop the mushroom caps into pieces (not too tiny, because they shrink a lot). In a bowl, toss with olive oil (the mushrooms soak up the oil, so give it a good drizzle, without drenching them). Spread out evenly on a sheet pan. Sprinkle generously with sea salt.
Bake for about 1 hour, tossing with a spatula, every 15 minutes or so.
When the mushrooms are crispy, remove from the oven and cool. 
They will keep in an airtight container for a few days, if you have that kind of self-control.

Kale Chips

Full credit for this post goes to my friend Allison, who made crispy kale the other night when we went over there for dinner. She inspired me to make some at home, and here it is...! I only used one bunch of kale, and it didn't make very much (especially after I munched down the entire first pan, the second it came out of the oven). I could easily have made 4 bunches and it would be gone by tomorrow!

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Pull the kale off the stem and tear into large-ish pieces (they shrink a lot as they bake). In a bowl, gently massage enough olive oil into the kale to thinly coat each leaf (for one bunch I used about 2 tblsp.).

Arrange on sheet pans so there is only one layer. I sprinkled with salt and nutritional yeast, but you could use just salt and pepper or anything else that sounds appealing!!

Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Keep checking on the chips after the first ten minutes though, because you don't want them to burn. They're done when they feel brittle.

Thanks Allison!

Green Glow

Jamie and I did a great spring cleanse last month, inspired by the book, The Seven Day Cleanse. We felt like a million dollars during it (though the last day or two were definitely challenging, ESPECIALLY as I was still preparing food for the kids!) and we've found quite a few new recipes that we continue to use regularly. One of my favourites is this green smoothie called the Green Glow. I am completely addicted to the minty taste of it, and the incredible colour that is created when it is blended!!!! Enjoy:-)

1 lime, peeled (I never have limes and always have lemons, so that's usually what I use)
4 green apples
1-inch piece of gingerroot
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/8 avocado

(I usually add a bunch of fresh spinach leaves to the juicer as well, as it hardly adds anything to the taste but increases the green health factor!!! And I also tend to add 1/4-1/2 of an avocado, because more has got to be better, right?!!!)

Put everything but the avocado through your juicer. Then combine juice with the avocado in your blender and blend on high until smooth. Enjoy

Apple Rings

We are FOREVER trying to come up with healthy snack foods that everyone likes, in order to feed these bottomless pits we call children! I'm astounded by how many times they complain of being starving 15 minutes after we've eaten a huge meal, so my goal in life right now seems to be creating healthy and affordable snack foods that they can grab on their own!

We had a bag of apples that no one seemed willing to eat, and finally it came out that everyone thought they tasted gross. So one night Jamie had the brilliant idea of pulling out our dehydrator (something we use a tonne in the summer for camping meals) and dehydrating the apples into rings. Because they didn't like the taste of these specific apples, we put lemon juice and cinnamon on them before hand, but since then have done another batch up plain and the kids LOVED both of them. Pear rings are also a HUGE hit, and now I'm excited to try all sorts of other fruit - melons and blueberries and mangoes. Those will probably wait until the summer, though, when they're more readily available - for now we've included jars of dehydrated apples and pears to our snack list!

Granola

We're big granola eaters in this family - I love it as an evening snack when I'm feeling peckish, and now that Jamie has to get up so early on the days he drives into work, he likes a meal that he can bring along with him and eat once he arrives in the office. We haven't found a brand that we like in the grocery stores, so have been experimenting with homemade ones. We quickly discovered that we don't like granola made with molasses, so have scratched those recipes from our list - and then last weekend I tried out a combination of a few recipes I'd read and came up with a version we both really enjoyed. I still may tweek it a bit here and there, but since that's more to personal tastes, I thought I'd share the recipe so far. I'd love to hear other versions that you make, as it's fun to change up our breakfast foods every once in a while!

Homemade Granola

6 cups of oats (we use a combination of regular oats, quinoa flakes and barley flakes)
4 cups of seeds and nuts (things like sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chopped almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, shredded coconut, raisins, cranberries, etc - essentially a combination that appeals to you!)
2 cups of flour (I tried adding a bit of wheat bran, but I think that made it more bitter)
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch sea salt
2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup orange juice (we used mango juice as that's what we had)
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract

Mix all of the ingredients well, and place on a baking sheet or two. Bake in a 300 degree F oven for 45-60 min, turning the pans every 15 minutes or so to ensure even browning. Store in an airtight container.

I love to eat this with half yoghurt and half applesauce, while Jamie prefers his with a little milk. Enjoy!

Homemade Marshmallows

My daughter Tiegan was definitely born with a sweet tooth. I swear she has a sixth sense, and can smell a box of chocolates hidden a mile away. So I find we end up eating more 'junk' food than I'd like, and although I haven't managed to cut sugar completely out of our diet, I'm always trying to find ways to reduce it and also to cut out a lot of the dyes and chemicals. So when I heard about a blogging friend making homemade marshmallows, I knew I had to give it a go. We are serious s'more makers in the summer, and hot chocolate drinkers in the winter, so I could see making a few batches of these throughout the year, they were declared yummy by all. Most importantly, by Tiegan!

Homemade Marshmallows

2 tbsp Gelatin (I'm sure there's a vegan alternative, I'm just not sure it would be the same amount?)
1/2 cup Cold Water
1 cup Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Water
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 Vanilla Bean
Butter and Icing Sugar for preparing dish

Butter baking dish very well and then dust evenly with icing sugar to prevent the marshmallows from sticking.

Pour gelatin and 1/2 cup cold water into large mixing bowl. Let sit 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour maple syrup, 1/4 cup water and sugar into saucepan. Split vanilla bean, scrape seeds into syrup mixture and then add vanilla bean pod.

Cook syrup mixture over medium low heat. When mixture begins to boil, set timer for 11 minutes and continue to cook without stirring. After 11 minutes, remove syrup mixture from heat and discard vanilla bean pod.

With a hand mixer or stand mixer, gently mix gelatin to break up for about 3 seconds. Then with mixer running on low, slowly add hot syrup. Mix on low for 1 minute, then increase to high and beat 10 minutes more.

Pour mixture into the prepared dish. I used a spatula to spread mixture evenly in dish, or you can also wet your hands and use those.

Lightly sprinkle powdered sugar on top of marshmallows and let sit for four hours or more. Once they are set, use a knife to cut them into squares, or use a cookie cutter to make shapes. We did some squares, but also made mini hearts for gifts - they're the perfect size to slip into a hot chocolate!





I'd still like to seek out a recipe using real marshmallow root to try on our next batch, and I also imagine it would be fun to flavour the marshmallows with peppermint extract, or a favourite liqueur.

Applesauce...

Is applesauce worth blogging about? Everyone knows how to make it, right? (Peel and chop apples, add a little water, cook until soft). I might as well write about the toast I made this morning (place bread in toaster and turn on).

But I like applesauce, and it's one of the few things I actually made this week. And I'm having fun taking pictures of all the food that comes out of my kitchen.

And there are surprisingly many questions that come up when you tell people you're making applesauce...

Do you add cinnamon and nutmeg? (I did, but V said it made it taste too much like pie filling and he would have preferred it without. Personally I think this is a good thing...pie filling for breakfast, woohoo)!

Do you add sugar? Never!! The sugars concentrate as the apples cook and it was soooooo sweet as is!

Do you puree it after it's cooked? This is a personal preference of course, but I think the thing that makes homemade applesauce so unique is its chunkiness. So you could throw it in the food processor, but then it would taste like store-bought and you'd have more dishes to do! :)

So actually applesauce is a very nuanced and delicate thing to make and not like toast at all.

But I do like toast! And taking pictures! And it is another one of the few things I made this week...

4 Crostini make a party!

Crostini are officially my new favorite party food! One trip to the farmer's market and we could have made endless variations on this theme!!!

Here's what my friend Jeanne and I came up with this past weekend (everything was on thin slices of pre-toasted baguette):

Roasted Butternut Squash

We cubed the squash and roasted it in the oven for about 30 minutes (400 degrees) with garlic, chopped onion and salt. When done, I tossed everything with some chopped sage. Jeanne massaged some dandelion greens with salt, to wilt them, and chopped them too. A little olive oil on the bread, then the dandelion, then the squash! Yum!

White Bean Puree and Kale

In the food processor, mixed a can of cannellini beans with fresh garlic, fresh thyme, salt and pepper. Spread that on the bread. Sprinkled some lemon juice on chopped, steamed kale. Laid it on top. Done.

Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta

Chopped heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh garlic and a tiny bit of salt.

Cashew Cream and Sauteed Mushrooms

In a food processor, mixed raw cashews with enough water to make a spreadable paste. Added salt and pepper.

Sauteed chopped cremini and shiitake mushrooms in olive oil with garlic, salt and a little white wine. Let everything reduce till the liquid was cooked off.

For the non-vegans we had the same slices of baguette with melted organic cheese and sliced fresh figs.

Leftovers biscotti!

Sometimes I end up with lots of little bags of dried fruits and nuts in the cabinet, left over from various baking and cooking projects. When I can't stand the clutter anymore, I make biscotti to use up all the little bits.

They're time consuming, but very easy to make, and they make the apartment smell so good!

My vanilla ones had dark chocolate chips, hazelnuts and dried cranberries.

The chocolate ones had macadamia nuts (there were only 10 or so left, so finding one in a cookie is like finding a golden nugget), walnuts, cranberries, white chocolate and dark chocolate.

Oh, and I used whole wheat flour, so they're almost healthy! Ha!

3 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (regular all-purpose flour works great)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 cup sugar (I like the sweetness to come from the chocolate and fruit, so I use relatively little sugar)

2 teaspoons vanilla

Any additions that sound good to you. I add a little extra of everything, but 4 cups of nuts (any kind, preferably pre-toasted) and a 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips are a good place to start.

Pre-heat the oven to 325 F

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

In another bowl, beat the eggs with the yolks, vanilla and sugar with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes.

Mix in the dry ingredients, then the chocolate, nuts and fruit.

Grease a sheetpan and shape the dough into 2 logs with floured hands. You're going to be slicing the logs later to make your biscotti, so again, any with and height that appeals to you is good!

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the logs start to turn golden.

Remove from the oven and let them cool, at least 30 minutes. Cut into slices with a serrated knife.

Lower oven temperature to 275 F. Bake the slices until golden and crunchy, another 30 minutes or so.

For the chocolate biscotti I replaced 1/2 cup of flour with cocoa powder.

Just going to do this....

Hi!

So after lots of thinking and talking about it, I'm just going to get this blog started. For now it's going to be all about what's happening in my kitchen, though it may expand to explore other projects....art, craft etc....whatever inspires! And who knows what Erica will contribute...it's all very exciting!

I came home from my 4 day trip to Erica and family in Ottawa, inspired to cook more. I do already feel like I cook and bake more than most New Yorkers, but that really isn't saying much! So on Sunday morning I made Alton Brown's pancakes (so much butter and soooo perfect), which Vernon had with a Field Roast veggie sausage, and I slathered mine in plain yoghurt and fresh strawberries, with maple syrup. Totally decadent!

Then I finally made the vegan energy bars from the Rebar cookbook (which is a great book, by the way)! I adapted the recipe a little bit to what I had in the kitchen. They turned out great. The only thing I would have preferred is if they had been a little less soft, but the nuts gave them a good bite anyway.

I wanted to give a few of them away, so I wrapped them in parchment and baker's twine that my mom sent from Germany. They were cute, but it's a bit of a time-consuming way to wrap them!

Vegan Energy Bars (adapted from Rebar modernfoodcookbook)

dry mix:

2 cups muesli (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup - 1 cup vegan chocolate chips (I like more!)

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

wet mix:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup "flax eggs" (recipe below)

1 cup applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

Flax Eggs

1/4 cup flax seeds

3/4 cup water

Grind flax seeds in a food processor until powdered. Add water and process for 5 mins.

Any extra can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days!

Pre-heat oven to 350 degress and line a 9X13 inch pan with parchment. Combine wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls. Mix everything together. Spread the mixture on the pan and bake about 18 mins. Cool. Cut into pieces. Wrap, and store in the fridge. I think they taste best at room temperature, so take them out before you want to eat them!