Cilantro Greek Yogurt Sauce/Dressing

Found this online from www.gimmedelicious.com and decided to make it because I had a bunch of cilantro languishing in the fridge and one of my unofficial resolutions this year is to let nothing (NOTHING!) go to waste, especially fresh herbs because (a) they're pricey and (b) they're so good!

So.

Ingredients
2 cups cilantro leaves and stems (about one bunch)
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream (or greek yogurt)
3-4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup lime or lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 jalapeno or serrano pepper deseeded (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
a little agave or other sweetener

My Notes:
1. I used a bunch from WF and it was the right amount
2. I used all Greek yogurt and no sour cream. Tastes lovely. If made with sour cream it might be thicker which would work better for a dip. As a spread, Greek Yogurt is fine. 
3. I used closer to 1/8 cup of lemon-lime juice (the ones that grow at mom's house), which I found to be enough. I think if using lime, could maybe use the whole 1/4 cup
4. I used 1/2 a serrano, deseeded
    I also added agave -- a few squirts in because I found it tart. 
5. I minced the garlic and pepper before putting in the blender
6. I put the yogurt and oil at the bottom of the blender, and it worked like a charm-- no having to open and stir a ton of times.
7. Didn't need much salt (maybe not even any?) because the whole milk green yogurt has enough I think
8. Tastes better the next day IMO
9. I used in a bowl, and spread on toast. so yummy.

Fudgy Turtle Brownies

I saved this recipe because of the pictures.


Ingredients:

Cream Caramel

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/3 cup heavy cream, room temperature

Brownies

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for dish
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Kosher salt
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (1 1/2 cups), plus 2 ounces melted
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups pecan halves (8 ounces)
• Flaky sea salt, such as Jacobsen, for sprinkling

• Step 1
  Caramel: Combine sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until sugar has dissolved and mixture boils, about 5 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook, swirling pan occasionally and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush, until mixture turns medium amber, 3 to 4 minutes more. Carefully add cream in a slow stream (mixture will bubble vigorously). Remove from heat and stir until smooth. Let cool until caramel thickens slightly but is still pourable, about 10 minutes. Makes 1 cup. Use immediately.
• Step 2
  Brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Line bottom and long sides with parchment, leaving an overhang; butter parchment.
• Step 3
  Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt. In a large heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pot of simmering water, melt chopped chocolate and butter with oil. Remove from heat. Add both sugars; whisk until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla; whisk until glossy, 1 minute. Add flour mixture; stir just until combined (do not overmix). Pour batter into prepared dish; smooth top with a spatula. Arrange pecans on top in a single layer.
• Step 4
  Bake until a tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer dish to a wire rack; let cool completely.
• Step 5
  Drizzle caramel over brownies; let cool until set, 30 minutes. Drizzle with melted chocolate; sprinkle with flaky salt. Let chocolate set (refrigerate for a few minutes, if desired), then cut into squares and serve.

Notes:
1. I would totally make these again, they are fabulous.
2. I didn't use their recipe for cream caramel-- I had some leftover salted caramel sauce from another recipe that I wanted to use up. I also therefore didn't add flaky salt, although
3. In my oven, I baked it for 40 minutes, but it probably should have come out earlier because the edges were overdone.
4. I otherwise followed the recipe entirely (maybe not sure about the darkness of the brown sugar). I didn't need the entire 8 oz of pecan halves.
5. Yum

Chewy Ginger Rye Cookies

I made these for a holiday cookie swap at my office. I loved them! They were soft and yummmay. Not super gingery though :) This is from Bon Apetit

In this cookie, rye flour pulls double duty, pairing with molasses and ginger in both the deep, toasty batter and the crunchy streusel topping. It adds an earthy-nutty dimension (and absorbs more molasses than all-purpose flour) for a smoky, caramel-y, rye whiskey-esque finish. The result is something like gingerbread, but softer and way more delicious. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup (128 g) all-purpose flour
• 1¼ tsp. baking soda
• 1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. ground cloves
• ¾ cup (110 g) plus 6 Tbsp. (60 g) rye flour, divided
• 3 tsp. ground ginger, divided
• 1¼ tsp. kosher salt, divided
• ⅓ cup (50 g) finely chopped crystallized ginger
• ⅔ cup robust-flavored (dark) molasses
• ¼ cup (packed; 50 g) dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large egg yolks
• 6 Tbsp. (90 g) raw sugar

  
  

  RECIPE PREPARATION

  • Whisk all-purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ¾ cup rye flour, 2 tsp. ground ginger, and 1 tsp. salt in a medium bowl to combine; add crystallized ginger and toss until coated and evenly distributed. Whisk molasses, brown sugar, and ¾ cup melted butter in a medium bowl to combine. Add egg yolks and whisk just until egg yolks are absorbed but mixture is still very dark, about 10 seconds. Add dry ingredients and fold until no streaks of flour remain. Let sit, uncovered, at room temperature 30 minutes (batter will thicken as it sits).
  • Meanwhile, place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 375°. Whisk raw sugar, remaining 6 Tbsp. rye flour, remaining 1 tsp. ground ginger, and remaining ¼ tsp. salt in a small bowl to combine. Add remaining room-temperature butter and smash together until mixture resembles clumpy wet sand; this is your streusel topping.

    • 
      

      Using a 1-oz. ice cream scoop, portion out dough (about 2 Tbsp. each) and roll into balls between your palms. Working one at a time, toss balls in streusel mixture to coat and place on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 3" apart. Bake 1 sheet of cookies until they have spread and are slightly cracked and just set around the edges and streusel is lightly browned, 8–10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on baking sheet. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Bake remaining sheet of cookies.
    • Do Ahead: Dough can be rolled into balls 2 weeks ahead. Freeze on a baking sheet; transfer to resealable plastic freezer bags. Let sit at room temperature 30 minutes before rolling in streusel and baking.

      
      

Xx

1. I didn’t have robust molasses and through all my googling I determined that blackstrap molasses would not work so I used the regular kind. Could be why I didn’t really feel the “rye whiskey” finish they describe although I’m pretty good with that.
2. I found the dough was quite soft even after letting it rest for 30 minutes and it spread in the oven too. In the future m, is refrigerate it for longer.
3. I rolled them into 1pz by weight balls
3. The streusel didn’t look as cool on my cookies because they spread too much boo.
4. I legit used crystallized ginger from the Whole Foods bulk section this time and not candied ginger. It’s a pain to chop either way.
5. These cookies are soft and yummy and I would make again.

Pecan, Oat, and Dark-Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

Made these cookies once before for a friend who is gluten and dairy free. I wanted to make them again to see if I still liked them, and I do!

Notes

My thoughts
1. Nutty. I did pull out the food processor to grind out the pecans
2. I used 72% chocolate. I liked it.
3. I halved the recipe and that’s probably a good thing. It’s hard to eat a full batch of these with just two people.

Pic:

Streusel banana bread

This recipe is from Martha—it was featured in a collection about “Morning Stars”—great breakfast baked goods, and it was described as a marvelous cross between banana bread and coffee cake. I mostly saved the recipe because the pictures were so beautiful (the link should work to see them).

https://www.marthastewart.com/1537880/streusel-banana-bread

Ingredients

Streusel

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Cake

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed until smooth (1 cup)

Directions

Streusel

• Step 1
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees with a rack in lower third. Butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan; line with parchment, leaving a 1-inch overhang on long sides. In a bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in butter and pecans until small clumps form and mixture is evenly moistened. (Streusel can be made ahead and refrigerated, covered, up to 3 

  Cake

  • Step 1
    In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together butter, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk; stir in bananas. Make a well in flour mixture and pour banana mixture in. Stir together until just combined (do not overmix). Spoon half of batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle half of streusel evenly over batter. Add remaining batter, then sprinkle remaining streusel evenly over top.
  • Step 2
    Bake until golden brown and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour, 20 minutes. (If top is browning too quickly, tent with foil.) Let cool in pan 20 minutes, then transfer using parchment to a wire rack. Let cool completely before serving.

My pictures and thoughts:

My thoughts:

1. I used very sour kefir in the place of buttermilk. I used large eggs, I measured everything out by volume. I used two frozen bananas (that were superripe when I froze them) that I defrosted and mashed and one not frozen banana. I immersion blended the bananas to get rid of all the lumps. I had leftover streusel from the ginger cookies recipe (which I haven’t yet posted, whoops) and even though it was different-ish (spelt flour, turbinado sugar) I just added some unsalted butter and chopped pecans into it and used it anyway. I actually really like the subtle crunch imparted by the turbinado sugar in the streusel and would consider repeating that. Because I used leftover streusel, there wasn’t a ton so I skimped on the middle layer so that the top would be covered—which was a shame because the internal layer that was there was delicious. 

2. Probably because my streusel was not made with a recipe, it sort of sank into the cake and flattened, but it was still fabulous. The cake itself is plush and yummy. 

3. In my oven at 350, it was done after about an hour (I took it out at an hour and six minutes just to be safe.
4. I would totally make again, as it is still pretty good four days later. I would consider trying to replace some flour with whole wheat, but certainly not all.

Celeriest celery and potato soup

Made this recipe from Food52 because we had so much celery in the fridge and no firm plans on how to use it up. Same story with some potatoes on the counter.



Ingredients:

Ingredients 

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 7 to 8 ribs celery, roughly chopped
• 1 pound (usually 1 or 2) russet potatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 3 cups water, plus more as needed
• 1 tablespoon chicken broth concentrate (such as Better Than Bouillon)*
• 1 teaspoon celery seed, crushed in the palm of your hand
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven. Sauté the celery, potato, and onion until slightly softened, 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Add the water and chicken concentrate (*or 3 cups of your favorite stock), bring to a boil, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Sprinkle in celery seed. In a blender or with a stick blender, puree soup until smooth, adding more water or stock as needed for desired thickness. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

So my thoughts: 

1. Came together easily. I used Dutch baby potatoes because that’s what I had. 

2. I added the full teaspoon of celery seed but I think I should’ve been more conservative, because it really had a bitter taste that came through. 
3. So the bitterness is there a day later. I would make this soup again but adjust the seasoning. Add garlic, less celery seed, maybe some paprika, etc. 

Chocolate Chip cookies with rye flour and dairy free

Made these cookies because I’m trying to reduce the amount of dairy I consume (it’s going ehh) and I had the recipe saved for a while.

I was intrigued by the rye flour in there and the walnuts (I love cookies with nuts!)

Recipe from Real Simple magazine

Meet a better for you chocolate chip cookie that we might even prefer to the back of the bag recipe. Thanks to coconut oil, these cookies are moist and chewy on the inside and crispy around the edges—the best of both worlds! The recipe uses white whole wheat flour, which has the texture and flavor of all-purpose flour but four times the fiber. Chopping your own chocolate (versus using chips) is worth the extra couple of minutes: that way you'll have bits and pieces of chocolate in every bite, with molten pockets throughout.

Ingredients:

1¼ cups white whole-wheat flour 

½ cup rye flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¾ cup extra-virgin coconut oil, in solid form

¾ cup granulated sugar 

½ cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg 

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup chopped dark chocolate (about 6 oz.)

¼ cup chopped walnuts, toasted 

How to Make It

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together the whole-wheat flour, rye flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Beat the coconut oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until blended, about 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture and beat just until combined. Fold in the chocolate pieces and walnuts. Using damp hands, shape the mixture into 28 balls and place on the prepared sheets. Bake until the edges are lightly brown, 12 to 14 minutes.

Mmm

My notes: 

1. I toasted the walnuts and chopped them up. I also used 72% dark chocolate that I chopped 

2. I half liquefied the coconut oil so that I could measure it better and then let us solidify in the measuring cup before making the recipe. I tried to avoid using the electric better but eventually pulled  it out because I just couldn’t get the coconut oil to cream with the butter by hand (it was just clumpy). 

3. Baked it in our oven for 12 minutes, but next time would pull out even sooner because the bottoms of these cookies over darkened. 

4. Cookies have a nice domed shape to them, and taste best when cool. They are crispy— perhaps if I’d pulled them out a wee bit earlier they’d have been chewier on the inside. 

5. I would totally make these again, as they are delicious! I’d consider just using chocolate chips next time to see if eliminating the chocolate shreds, there’s less browning on the bottom of the cookie. 

Pics