Chocolate cupcakes!

These chocolate cupcakes come from a cookbook that I've wanted for a long time, but couldn't bring myself to shell out $25 for: BabyCakes! (Yup, they're gluten-free, sugar-free, and vegan.) Since I had to return a gift to Anthropologie and couldn't find anything else in the store to exchange for it, I decided this was a good time to buy.

To be honest, I was actually pretty skeptical about how these cupcakes would turn out...now I'm a believer! They're delicious. If you're willing to buy a lot of non-traditional baking stuff (totally worth it!), I highly recommend them. (Oh, and because I'm waiting for the frosting to chill, I don't have a pic--they're the ones on the cover.)

Cupcakes:
1 and 3/4 c. garbanzo-fava bean flour
1/2 c. potato starch
1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c. arrowroot
1 T. plus 1.5 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. xanthan gum (fun to buy!)
2 t. salt
1 c. coconut oil
1 and 1/3 c. agave nectar
3/4 c. applesauce (unsweetened)
3 T. pure vanilla extract
1 c. hot water or hot coffee (I used coffee)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line muffin tins.
Whisk together all the dry ingredients and then add the oil, agave, etc. (the liquids), stirring until the batter is smooth. Pour approx. 1/3 c. batter into each cup, and bake on center rack for 22 minutes. After 15 minutes, rotate the tins 180 degrees. Let the cupcakes stand in tins for 20 minutes, then cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container in the 'fridge for up to 3 days.

Frosting:
1.5 c. unsweetened soy milk
1/2 c. dry soy milk powder
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (for more milk chocolate-y frosting, replace 2 T. of the cocoa powder with soy milk powder)
1 T. coconut flour
1/4 c. agave nectar
1 T. pure vanilla extract
1 c. coconut oil
2 T. fresh lemon juice

In a blender or food processor, combine everything (except oil and lemon juice) and blend for 2 minutes. Slowly add lemon juice and oil (alternating) until fully incorporated. Refrigerate for 6 hours. Frost!

"Christmas Goose" and Red Cabbage

I was paging through the Schumacher cookbook a few weeks ago, and came upon this recipe for Christmas Goose. Schumacher's was a restaurant in New Prague, MN near my grandparent's farm that made lots of German and Czech foods - a combination of both my maternal grandparents.

Not having yet made a plan for the day, goose roasting and eating with loved ones seemed as good a project as any. Plus I saw that geese were on sale at the Seward (turns out they are pretty pricey). I later learned that my grandfather loved goose, but that my grandma wouldn't let him cook it in the house - only outside (probably on the outdoor stove he used for making maple syrup). The goose turned out delicious. They are much fattier than other fowl (I have plans to render the fat at some point), and also dry out more easily - hence the large amount of water in the recipe. *I also made the Red Cabbage recipe from the cookbook, which was amazing.


1 Goose, 6-7 pounds
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 T. caraway seeds
1 large peeled onion
1 quart water
*My Goose was over 9 pounds, which meant longer cooking. I also used almost twice as much of the salt/pepper/caraway.

Remove all internals from the goose cavity (see photo). Save the liver, heart, gizzard, and neck (I used this to make gravy.) Remove wings at elbow joint (this required some bone snapping and the use of a knife). Wash goose thoroughly making sure cavity is clean. Season inside and outside with salt, pepper, and caraway seeds. Stuff cavity with whole, peeled onion. Place in roaster on top of wings and neck bone with one quart of water, breast side up. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 3 1/2 hours (this one cooked over 4 1/2 hours). Goose is done with this handy tip: pull legs in opposite directions, if they spring back the goose is not done. Please note in the top left photo that the leg was definitely sprawled when removed from oven...no spring action was occurring!

When the goose is tender and ready, drain off water and fat. Return to oven, uncovered for 10 minutes to dry and crisp skin (mine was already dry and crisp, so I skipped that step). They recommend a cranberry-orange sauce, but my dinner party determined that the trifecta of goose, potato, and gravy was a stellar combo. yum.

Super fast couscous bowl

Like Megan, I've been eating a lot of heavy stuff lately (cheesy dough in particular!), so this dish--inspired by a blog post I read about sun-dried tomatoes--is a welcome change. I've been using couscous from a box (Near East's Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil) but it's also really easy to make couscous from scratch.

Because this is something I just throw together, there are no precise measurements:

1) Prepare couscous.
2) In a frying pan, saute garlic and red pepper flakes (to taste) in approx. 2 tablespoons olive oil (I use the olive oil from the sun-dried tomato jar). Add a handful of almonds, stirring frequently so they don't burn. Add chopped sun-dried tomatoes (as many as you'd like) and then a fistful of arugula, cooking until it wilts. Squeeze some lemon juice on everything. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3) Put couscous in a bowl, top with arugula mixture, and add feta or goat cheese. Super easy!

Turkey noodle soup with homemade egg noodles

After purging most of the cream puffs, fudge, cookies, chex mix and other super healthy leftover x-mas food, we were left with a Ziplock bag of turkey. E was craving soup, and I was about to buy a bag of frozen egg noodles to make mom's turkey noodle. Luckily, I had the following sudden insight: hey, wait a minute, those suckers can't be that hard to make. Less than 30 minutes later, we had a very tasty pot of turkey noodle soup and not a drop on our new aprons.

Egg noodles:
Mix 2 C flour, a pinch of salt, 2 eggs (beaten), 1/2 C milk, and a tablespoon of butter for about 5 min. Let sit for 10. roll and cut into desired shapes. Toss them into hot soup and boil for a few minutes.

Wild Rice Salad

Lately wild rice and I are having a torrential love affair...I already had wild rice with milk and maple syrup for breakfast. Which can be beat only by wild rice porridge (grind the rice in a coffee grinder and cook it 1:4 parts water) - also with milk and maple syrup. So here we are: a family recipe that my mom and her sisters make a lot. Winter salad is singing to me tonight - particularly since I've been eating lots of cheese, meat, and cream.

Incidentally, since I am bringing you along on the wild rice affair, here is a great article by Winona LaDuke about ricing in Minnesota and the industrialization of "wild" rice (3 pages...it just looks longer). Support the White Earth Land Recovery Project - their rice is at the co-op.

This is not the most precise recipe. I'll put in my estimated amounts, but it is very flexible.
2+ cups wild rice
2-3 carrots, diced small
2-3 celery stalks, diced small
1/2 c+ mixed raw, unsalted nuts (cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc)
1 c. dried fruit (craisins, raisins, currents, diced apricots...)
2 scallions, chopped
1/2 c. frozen peas (maybe more)
handfuls of chopped parsley
juice of 1-2 lemons
salt
olive oil drizzle

Cook the rice according to the instructions, then mix all ingredients together.

couscous!

So I took a brief hiatus from the blog (but not entirely from cooking) in order to finish up a semester of student teaching. Charming as those kiddos were, they really cut into my time for culinary adventures. Alas, it's been all about easy around here, and couscous has been a welcome addition to the regular rotation. It's quick, it's easy, it's cheap, and it's tasty, right?
Here are two recipes from my straight aunt Martha. While you might not use them to dazzle your dinner guests, it's possible you'll find that you happen to have all (or at least most) of the ingredients on a cold winter night, thus preventing a last-minute run to the grocery store.

#1 Couscous with chicken and orange
1 cup couscous
1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken
1/3 cup pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 navel orange, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
coarse salt and ground pepper

In a medium bowl, pour 1 cup boiling water over couscous. Cover and let sit until tender, 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. In another medium bowl, combine chicken, pistachios, orange, mint, oil and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Toss couscous with chicken mixture.

I'm quite sure we had neither mint nor pistachios, but it hit the spot anyway.

#2 Couscous with spinach and onions
1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chicken broth
some spinach, chopped
1 cup couscous
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt, pepper, whatev.

In a saucepan, cook and stir onion and garlic in hot oil until tender. Add the broth and spinach. Bring mixture to a boil and stir occasionally. Add in couscous; stir to combine. Cover, remove pan from heat, and let stand 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Add remaining ingredients; stir to combine.

russian tea cakes.

this recipe is from smitten kitchen. they're absolutely delicious. nutty and buttery and especially good with coffee.

russian tea cakes:

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 cup pecans, hazelnuts, or other nuts, toasted and finely ground (i used pecans)

1/8 tsp cinnamon

using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until well blended. beat in flour, then nuts. divide dough in half; form each half into a ball. wrap separately in plastic and chill until cold, about 30 minutes.

preheat oven to 350. whisk remaining 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and cinnamon in pie dish to blend, set aside.

roll chilled dough by 2 teaspoonfuls between palms into balls. arrange on baking sheet, spacing 1/2 inch apart. bake until golden brown on bottom and just pale golden on top, about 18 minutes. cool cookies 5 minutes on backing sheet. gently toss warm cookies in cinnamon sugar to coat completely. transfer to rack and cool completely.