Apricot Quick Bread

So the in-laws visited this past weekend, and with them they brought pounds and pounds of fruit. Cherries (5 lbs), plums (1 lb), cherry plums (3 lbs),  kumquats (1 lb), tangerines (3 lbs), pineapple (2 lbs), angelcots ( 2lbs), and apricots (3 lbs). We already had our own fruit-- mangoes, necarines, apples, and bananas, so it suffices to say we are overwhelmed and the threat of rotting fruit and flies is weighing heavily on us. When I opened the bag of apricots, some of them were already starting to go. What to do? I'd already made an apricot cherry crumble just a few weeks ago, and I didn't want to go that route again. I was already plotting a pie with the cherries, so I didn't want another pie. I wanted something quick too, something I could whip up for brunch on a Sunday morning before the in-laws left. After much searching, I found this, from the Sun Sentinel website:

Easy Apricot Bread

2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 / 2 cup firm-packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 / 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 pounds fresh apricots, peeled, pitted and pureed*

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 / 4 cup vegetable oil (we use canola)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour well a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and cinnamon.

In another smaller bowl, combine the apricot puree, eggs, oil and vanilla; mix well.

Add the apricot mixture to the dry ingredients, mixing just until blended. Do not over mix. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven 55 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan 8 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate overnight for easy slicing. Makes 16 servings.

Per serving: 143 calories, 29 percent calories from fat, 5 grams total fat, .5 grams saturated fat, 27 milligrams cholesterol, 23 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams total fiber, 11 grams total sugars, 20 grams net carbs, 4 grams protein, 168 milligrams sodium.

*Use a food processor fitted with the metal blade or a good blender to puree the apricots.

My thoughts:

1. First off adjustments. I put in a heaping teaspoon of cinnamon, and I used half a teaspoon of almond extract and one and a half teaspoons of vanilla extract. I also baked the bread in two loaves because it did NOT fit in a 9" by 5" loaf pan. It needed the full hour. I left about a half an inch of space for the bread to rise, and that was fine.

2. Overall taste? Nothing exciting. The apricot flavor was really overwhelmed by the bitterness of the whole wheat flour and then extracts. But it was soft and not very sweet, which apparently pleased the in-laws

3. It basically reminds me of a pumpkin bread-- the fruit puree is providing the moisture in the place of more oil or butter. 

4. It may be better with white flour, and perhaps with a cream cheese glaze or something to add a little more flavor or tartness.

Nectarine-Cobbler Cornmeal Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

• 5 1/2 ounces (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 medium ripe peaches (about 1 1/4 pounds), skins on, pitted, and cut into 3/4-inch wedges
• 1 cup coarse yellow cornmeal or polenta
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh lavender, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried lavender
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat, using a pastry brush to coat sides with butter as it melts. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar evenly over bottom of skillet, and cook until sugar starts to bubble and turn golden brown, about 3 minutes. Arrange peaches in a circle at edge of skillet, on top of sugar. Arrange the remaining wedges in the center to fill. Reduce heat to low, and cook until juices are bubbling and peaches begin to soften, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat. 
2. Whisk cornmeal, flour, baking powder, lavender, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat remaining stick of butter and 3/4 cup sugar with a mixer on high speed, until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl. Mix in vanilla and cream. Reduce speed to low, and beat in cornmeal mixture in 2 additions.
3. Drop large spoonfuls of batter over peaches, and spread evenly using an offset spatula. Bake until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer skillet to a wire rack, and let stand for 10 minutes. Run a knife or spatula around edge of cake. Quickly invert cake onto a cutting board. Tap bottom of skillet to release peaches, and carefully remove skillet. Reposition peach slices on top of cake. Let cool slightly before serving.

Death by Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

So I wanted to make the "Artpark Brownie" recipe from Ruth Reichl's hilarious memoir Tender at the Bone for the bookclub meeting were having to discuss the book, but life got in the way.

So, these cookies:

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 9 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cut up
• 3 large eggs

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
• 6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped

• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter four cookie sheets.
• 2
  Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Melt the semisweet chocolate and butter in a double boiler over barely simmering water. Beat the eggs and granulated and brown sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until creamy. Beat in the chocolate mixture and vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients, chocolate chips, pecans, and white chocolate.
• 3
  Drop tablespoons of the dough 4 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Use the bottom of a glass to flatten the cookies slightly. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 8-10 minutes, or until cracked on top. Transfer to racks to cool. Yield 24 cookies.

Link: http://www.rd.com/food/death-by-chocolate-cookies-recipe/















My Thoughts:

Beet Burger

So this weekend, we came back from a long vacation to a sparsely stocked fridge. But we did have a few beets and I knew it was time to make these beet burgers from the post punk kitchen that had caught my eye a long, long time ago.


The recipe:

1 1/4 cups cooked, cooled brown rice 
1 cup cooked brown or green lentils, cooled, drained well
1 cup shredded beets
1/2 teaspoon salt
Fresh black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme, rubbed between your fingers
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel (or finely crushed fennel seed)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
3 tablespoons very finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons smooth almond butter
1/2 cup very fine breadcrumbs

Olive oil for the pan

Peel beets and shred with the shredder attachment of your food processor, then set aside. Change the attachment to a metal blade. Pulse the brown rice, shredded beets and lentils about 15 to 20 times, until the mixture comes together, but still has texture. It should look a lot like ground meat:

Now transfer to a mixing bowl and add all the remaining ingredients. Use your hands to mix very well. Everything should be well incorporated, so get in there and take your time, it could take a minute or two.

Place the mixture in the fridge for a half hour to chill.

Preheat a cast iron pan over medium-high. Now form the patties. Each patty will be a heaping 1/2 cup of mixture. To get perfectly shaped patties, use a 3 1/2 inch cookie cutter or ring mold (I have pics of how to do it here.) Otherwise, just shape them into burgers with your hands.

Pour a very thin layer of oil into the pan and cook patties for about 12 minutes, flipping occasionally. Do two at a time if you’re pan isn’t big enough. Drizzle in a little more oil or use a bottle of organic cooking spray as needed. Burgers should be charred at the edges and heated through.

Serve immediately. But they taste pretty great heated up as well, so if you want to cook them in advance, refrigerate, then gently heat in the pan later on, then that is cool, too.

My Photos:

My Notes:

1. Used the food processor and it was clutch in shredding those beets.
2. Brown rice was good-- I didn't really wait for it to cool before I mixed it in.
3. I used several cloves of garlic and upped the amount of dry spices used and almond butter
4. The dough was very sticky and easy to mold. Made for easy cooking.
5. The DH fried them on the pan, and complied after several reminders to try for 8 minutes per side,
6. Delicious. Crunchy on the outside, but not dry on the inside at all. Not sweet. Great flavor-- I really like the fennel.
7. We doubled the recipe and had about 16 small-medium patties.