Category Archives: Entertaining

Sprouted Hummus, Raw and (Pregnancy-Friendly) Nearly Raw Versions, Step by Step with Pictures

Posted on May 4, 2013 | 1 comment

Who doesn’t like hummus? If you have made it at home, then you know how much more delicious and economical it is compared to store-bought hummus. Try this recipe, starting from dried chick peas or garbanzo beans to take it to the next level. Sprouting them gives an extra nutritional boost, as well as an extra sweet, nutty creaminess. And starting from dry saves a lot of money and improves the taste and texture. I have really been preferring dry beans over canned in general, and they just shine in this sprouted hummus recipe.

Sprouting Chick Peas (Garbanzos)

Sprouted Hummus: Step by Step with Pictures

  • 1 cup dried chick peas or garbanzo beans
  • fresh, filtered water (reserve cooking water if cooking)
  • 1/4-1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/4-1/3 cup tahini
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic
  • juice of 1/2-1 1/2 lemons
  • salt
  • pepper
  • cumin, cayenne, paprika
  • (optional) zatar for serving

Special equipment: blender or food processor; coarse cheesecloth; colander

1. Sprouting: Rinse and then soak the chick peas in a bowl in fresh water, covering them up at least twice their height. We have a water filter for drinking water, and I prefer to use that. Soak for about 8 hours, they should grow and plump up. Rinse the beans in a colander, rinse out the bowl and then return them to the bowl. Add a very small amount of water, they should not be covered, just a little wet at the bottom. Cover loosely with a coarse cheesecloth and place in a cool (room temperature) place, out of direct sunlight. Every 8 hours, rinse the beans and the bowl and repeat. Continue until you see 1/4″ sprouts on most of the beans, about two days. Discard any mushy ones.

Sprouting Chick Peas on Baby Birds Farm

2. Cooking: (optional) Any kind of raw sprout is unfortunately on the “avoid” list for pregnant women, as —cats out of the bag— I know now. To eliminate any risk of bacteria AND retain much of the nutritional value, simply cook the beans for one minute only. Rinse the sprouted beans and cook in fresh water. Bring to a boil for one minute. Drain, but reserve the cooking liquid.

Nearly Raw Sprouted Hummus on Baby Birds Farm

3. Blending: In a good blender or food processor, add the beans, 1/2 – 1 cup of the cooking liquid (use fresh water if you did not cook your beans) and the rest of the ingredients. Start with the smaller suggested amounts. When using dried beans instead of canned, you will need to use more liquid then you are used to. If you find your blender struggling, add a little more of the cooking liquid or water. For reference, on a variable speed Vitamix, I blend for 30 seconds on “4”. Taste (and have your kitchen helper taste.) I often decide to add more of one or more ingredients, so try adding up to the larger suggested amounts.

Hummus and Toddlers: a good blend

4. Yums: Serve topped with zatar, paprika and/or a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy!

Sprouted Hummus on Baby Birds Farm

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Posted in Entertaining, Food, Healthy Recipes, Recipes for the Whole Family, Step by Step with Pictures

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Happy New Year! (And Baked Brie)

Posted on December 31, 2012 | 1 comment

Happy New Year’s Eve everyone!

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. (The conversation did continue over on the Baby Bird’s Farm Facebook page, so join us over there!)

Baked Brie with Spiced Fig and Pear

While watching my daughter open presents over FaceTime video-chatting last night, my sister-in-law pulled a baked brie out of the oven. Too bad we haven’t invented that food transporting machine they have on Star Trek! She did inspire me to make some baked brie to bring over to a NYE party tonight. We will be going early and leaving even earlier as Baby Bird is joining us.

Although this is more of a “semi-homemade” recipe than a from-scratch deal, I thought I would share my baked brie recipe as it is always a crowd pleaser.

Easy Baked Brie Recipe

  • 1 sheet of frozen Puff Pastry Dough (or frozen pie crust sheet)
  • small (4″-8″) wheel of brie or camembert cheese
  • filling of your choice (options follow)
  • (optional) 1 egg or a little milk

Preheat oven to 400°F. Allow the dough to defrost according to package instructions. For best results, use a rolling pin to evenly roll out the dough and erase any crease marks.

Place a round puddle of the filling in the middle of the dough. Place the cheese on top of the filling and wrap the dough around it. Flip it over and place onto a pie pan or casserole dish. Expect the cheese to pool out some during baking. Brush a little beaten egg or a splash of milk over the top of the dough.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the crust is browned and the cheese is soft. Serve warm with sliced baguette, crackers and/or fruit.

Filling Ideas

  • Mushrooms and shallots sautéed with marsala, sherry, wine or brandy, and a fresh herb, such as thyme or tarragon.
  • A spicy jam, such as habanero-mango or jalapeño.
  • Apricot jam with dried cranberries and almonds.
  • Sliced pears or apples with or without fig preserves.

You could also make two small baked bries, one sweet and one savory. Any other ideas for fillings??

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Chestnut Bundt Cake — Naturally Gluten Free and Delicious

Posted on December 4, 2012 | 3 comments

Well, this next recipe isn’t quick or simple, and the featured ingredient, chestnuts, may be seasonal, but turns out they aren’t likely local unless you live in Italy. Not much of an endorsement? Well it turned out to be delicious, gluten-free without trying to be, and to be honest, I just want to remember it so I can make it again! Chestnut recipes are actually not that plentiful on the internet. Dessert chestnut recipes at least.

I kind of stumbled upon this recipe in a round about way. I impulsively picked up a bag of fresh chestnuts at Trader Joe’s, thinking it would be a fun way to get into to the holidays. When I lived in Spain, street venders came out once the weather turned chilly to sell fresh roasted chestnuts. So, last week our house filled with the smell of chestnuts roasting… while I yelled at Baby to stay back from the oven each time I opened it, “HOT!” (She loves to say “hot” now.) From my time in Europe, I also had vague memories of a sweet paste made from chestnuts and set out to make that.

I roasted the chestnuts according to the package. They were okay. I kind of felt like I was eating acorns though. Then I found this video on how to make chestnut puree from fresh chestnuts. After roasting and peeling the chestnuts, you boil 2 cups of them in 2-3 cups of water with 1 cup of sugar and a vanilla bean (I used two vanilla beans.) They boil for 30 minutes and are then pureed with a little orange zest. Mine tasted delicious but it never got super smooth. Perhaps I should have roasted them longer or if I had a better blender, but mine still had a little bit of texture to it. Don’t get me wrong, I still ate quite a bit straight from the spoon. Sugar and vanilla definitely highlight and feature the somewhat bland taste of chestnuts.

I still wanted to do something good enough to share with friends as we were going to a holiday party. I thought the little harder bits of chestnuts would be less than ideal in a creamy dessert, like a Mont Blanc, but good in a cake. I finally found the recipe below deep in a foodie thread and it ended up being delicious… sweet, but not too sweet, and with an excellent crumb. As a bonus, the recipe calls for almond meal instead of flour which was perfect since one of my good friends is gluten intolerant. One thing: learn from my mistakes: I greased my pan but skipped flouring it. I should have “floured” it with almond meal. I also let my cake cool over night in the pan. Uggh, it meant that the cake was really hard to get out. Mine actually fell apart a little. I had to think on my feet and patched it together with a little melted unsweetened chocolate, mixed with half and half and a little sugar. That was probably another happy accident as well!

Chestnut Bundt Cake Recipe

Recipe found in a thread on chow. The original poster said that her “mum uses the French sweetened chestnut puree in tins in the baking section at Wholefoods.”

Whip/beat together
300g/10.5 oz. confectioner’s sugar
400g/14 oz. sweetened chestnut puree (store bought or recipe follows)
200g/7 oz. butter (I used 4 oz.)
7 egg yolks

Add:
300g/ 10.5oz ground almonds
1 good pinch baking powder

Add carefully without overbeating:
7 stiffly beaten egg whites.

Pour into a greased and floured baking tin or bundt mold. Bake for 60-65 minutes at 350F/180C.

Notes:

  1. The poster suggested reducing the butter by half. I was happy with the results from 4 oz. or 1 stick of butter.
  2. To easily make this cake gluten-free, substitute the flour with almond meal when preparing the pan or bundt mold.
  3. You can tell this isn’t an American recipe as the ingredients are listed by weight instead of volume. For a snazzy-looking, reliable, and reasonably priced kitchen scale, try the Escali Arti 15 Pound, 7 Kilogram Digital Scale. (Today the purple one is half off!)

Fresh Chestnut Puree (made from fresh chestnuts)

  • 1 pound of fresh chestnuts
  • 2-3 cups of water (enough to cover the chestnuts)
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1-2 vanilla beans
  • zest of one orange
  • (optional) splash of cognac

Step 1: Preheat oven to 425° F. With a very sharp and pointy knife, cut a small “X” into the flattest side of each chestnut. Roast the chestnuts for 20-30 minutes, until the skins start to peel at the “X”. (Note: another option might be to boil the chestnuts.) Once they are cool enough to handle, but before cooling completely, peel off the tough outer shell and brown inner skin.

Step 2: Boil 2 cups of the roasted and peeled chestnuts with enough water to cover them, and 1 cup of sugar. Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and add the seeds and the bean to the pot. Boil for 30 minutes until the liquid has reduced to a syrup. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Step 3: Remove the vanilla bean and puree the chestnuts and syrup with the orange zest and optional cognac in a food processor or good blender. (I skipped alcohol since I shared a little with Baby.) Add a little more water, as needed.

 

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Posted in Dessert, Entertaining, Food, Recipes for the Whole Family

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Mike’s Pumpkin Cheesecake with Cranberry Gelée

Posted on November 19, 2012 | 3 comments

Along with my favorite Chocolate Espresso Pecan Pie, another holiday dessert I have made a couple years in a row is this Pumpkin New York Cheesecake with a Cranberry Gelée topping. The recipe (and photo) comes from one of my friends from high school.  Mike shared: “I had the plain Cheesecake recipe ever since my first job in 8th grade as a busboy. It is still to this day my favorite cheesecake. It lends itself to flavor variations quite well, but for my money, you just can’t beat the pumpkin variety.”

Pumpkin New York Cheesecake with Cranberry Gelée Recipe

Makes two cakes: Divide everything in half for one.

CRUST:
8 cups ground cinnamon graham crackers
3 sticks melted butter

Add butter to crumbs until mixture molds in your fist. Then press evenly into 2 buttered 9” spring form pans. Bake 10 minutes at 375° F.

FILLING:

Soften 3 – 8 oz packages of cream cheese. Beat cream cheese together with 3/4 cups sugar until fluffy.

ADD:
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 cup sour cream
MIX WELL.

IN SEPARATE BOWL:
Mix:
One large can of pre-seasoned pumpkin pie filling
5oz evaporated milk
2 eggs
Increase spice as desired, remembering that the cheesecake will dilute the flavor a bit.

COMBINE FILLINGS

POUR into graham cracker crusts

BAKE at 350° until center is firm.
(Note: Baking in a water bath will prevent the top from drying out and cracking.)

LET COOL completely.

Topping
Cranberry Gelee Topping for Pumpkin Cheesecake

2 Cups Fresh Cranberries
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
A sprinkling of fresh orange peel zest
1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries with 1/2 cup water and cook over moderate heat until they begin to pop, about 5 minutes. Let cool. Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Strain the puree through a fine sieve. Rinse out the saucepan.

Add the sugar and 1/4 cup of water to the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until dissolved. Stir in the orange juice and strained cranberry puree. Let cool.

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 2 tablespoons of water, and let stand until softened, 5 minutes. Microwave for 10 seconds or until completely melted. Stir to make sure it’s smooth, and then whisk the gelatin into the cranberry mixture, and pour over the cake; shake it gently to even out.

Refrigerate until set, at least one hour and up to two days.

Remove cake from fridge 10 – 15 minutes before serving. Tastes better when it’s not quite so cold.

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Chocolate Espresso Pecan Pie

Posted on November 13, 2012 | 2 comments

The holidays are coming! My favorite part of getting ready for the holidays has to be baking. I’m happy to share my favorite recipe, a chocolate espresso pecan pie, with you here. It is, just as the title implies, a pecan pie made more decadent, yet less cloyingly sweet, with dark chocolate, espresso and cocoa nibs. Cocoa nibs are 100% chocolate, in its raw and natural state. They are crunchy, slightly bitter and remind me vaguely of fresh peanuts. I’ve made this pie at least half a dozen times and it never disappoints! Serve with fresh whipped cream, a cup of black coffee, and you have my perfect dessert.

This year, while transcribing the recipe for the chocolate espresso pecan pie, I decided to research alternatives to the original recipe’s suggestion of corn syrup. Apparently in Louisiana, cane syrup is considered traditional in pecan pies. Others have also used maple syrup and honey. I think using brown sugar plus a little bit of liquid would give a great flavor, complementing the pecans. I will probably end up using the same as last year: a mix of brown rice syrup and organic, non-GMO, corn syrup.

Update (1/2/13): I made the pie again for Christmas with honey in place of the corn syrup. I highly recommend warming up the honey until it is liquid, and even watering it down a little, before adding it in. If not, thick honey will be hard to mix by hand. I personally felt like I could taste the honey, but my family liked it, and some even preferred it.

Chocolate Espresso Pecan Pie Recipe

Recipe adapted minimally “Chocolate Espresso Pecan Tart” from Evan Kleinman of KCRW’s Good Food

  • 1 (9-inch) unbaked all butter pie crust (recipe follows)
  • 6 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate, broken into chunks
  • 3 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup brown rice syrup, homemade cane syrup, honey, maple syrup or corn syrup
  • 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 Tablespoon Trablit Coffee Extract
  • 1 1/4 cups pecans
  • 1/4 cup Cocoa Nibs

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Scatter the chunks of chocolate over the pie crust.

In a medium bowl with fork beat eggs slightly. Add sugar, syrup, butter and coffee extract and stir until blended. Stir in pecans and Cocoa Nibs. Pour into pie crust.

Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Notes:

I sometimes brush the bottom of the uncooked crust with a little egg white, just before filling. I also keep the crust, once it is in the dish, in the fridge up until the last minute, to keep the butter in it cold. (The chunks of butter are what create flakes!)

All Butter Pie Crust Recipe

Makes a double crust. Since the chocolate espresso pecan pie only needs a bottom crust, use the other half for a quiche, a pumpkin pie or freeze for an easy pie crust in the future. From The Baker’s Dozen Cookbook via eggbeater.

  • 2 Cups all purpose flour
  • 4 Tablespoons sugar (optional, I usually omit)
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 8 ounces unsalted butter
  • ice water, to incorporate

Cube butter evenly and freeze. Place all dry ingredients in the bowl of a Kitchen-Aid mixer. When butter is frozen, use paddle attachment with mixer on the very lowest setting, and drop butter in a few pieces at a time. Stay close by. Put ice and cold water in a measuring cup. When the chunks of butter are slightly larger than pea size, dribble in the ice water until dough does not appear dry and JUST begins to come together. Turn the dough out onto a dry surface and push together with the heel of your hand. Try not to knead or overwork the dough, you want it to come together so you can roll it out. This dough can be used right away! This amount makes enough for a top and a bottom. If you are not going to use it right away, double wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 3 days or freeze for up to a month.

 

  

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