Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

You wouldn't have to do this, but if we don't eat these on the day we make them we throw them in the freezer and reheat when ready.

Makes 12 muffins (or one loaf)

from 100 Days of Real Food

• 1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour (white whole-wheat is nice)
• 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ⅛ teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup oil (OR ¼ cup oil, ¼ cup applesauce)
• ½ cup sugar 
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (from the flour down to the salt). In a separate bowl, mix all remaining ingredients.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in wet ingredients. Stir together thoroughly with a fork, but do not overmix.
4. Generously grease a large loaf pan or put muffin liners in a muffin pan and then pour in the batter.
5. For a loaf bake for approximately 30 – 40 minutes and for muffins bake for approximately 18 - 22 minutes. Check for doneness by making sure a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Sister Lathan's Chocolate Sauce

This sauce is, uh, not healthy. When I was little we made it often to eat on ice cream for Sunday dessert. I could drink it (and have).

1 1/4 cube butter

1/2 cup cocoa

2 cups sugar

1 can evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter into a medium bowl. Add all other ingredients and stir. Microwave for 45 seconds, stir, and repeat several times until sugar is dissolved and mixture is fairy smooth and thick. Pour into a blender and blend until smooth. You could also use an immersion blender. Come to think of it, if you have a high-performance blender with a soup setting, you could throw all of these ingredients in and let 'er rip. Best served warm, although you can refrigerate and warm it when ready.

This makes a lot of sauce--enough for a crowd. 

Oat Blender Pancakes

We usually have blender pancakes for dinner on Sunday evenings. One night we were out of wheat berries so we did steel-cut oats instead, and it became a thing. These are super fast and healthy to boot. If you hope for a thick buttermilk pancake these are not for you...the structure is somewhere between a crepe and a regular pancake, and because they have no gluten, they are incredibly tender. Our kids love them, both with butter and syrup and with fruit puree.

yield: 12 pancakes

1.5   cups milk

1   cup steel cut oats

2   tbsp canola oil 

2   lg eggs

2   tbsp granulated sugar

1   tbsp baking powder

.5   tsp salt 

Blend steel cut oats and milk for a minute or so, or until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and pluse 5-10 times. Allow to rest 5 minutes. Pour in 1/2 cup portions onto a greased, hot griddle, and cook about 1 minute. Flip and cook 30 seconds. Serve immediately or keep in 200-degree oven loosely tented in foil.

[Adapted from the Blendtec cook book]

Red Lentil Curry

A friend asked for this recipe, and when I went to the American Test Kitchen cookbook to get it for her, I realized that I had changed almost every ingredient. So I claim some credit for this.

total time: 45 min (includes 20 min simmering time)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 onion minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons curry powder (or 1 t garam masala, but who has that?)

3 cups water

1 1/4 cups red lentils, picked over and minced

1 cup coconut milk

1 tablespoon sugar (I know, I know...but it makes it taste a lot better)

Saute onion in oil until softened, about 5 min. Add garlic and cook until fragrant (15 seconds). Stir in all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, partially cover, and cook until lentils break down to form a thick puree, 20-30 minutes. Salt to taste.

Serve over rice (we do brown rice). 

Test Kitchen Pancakes

We make these when we are looking for a more traditional pancake (i.e. when we have company). Our go-to pancake is actually blender oat pancakes that are much thinner. Someday I will need to get Dad's be all/end all hotcake recipe, although his commitment to whipping the egg whites has scared me off in the past...

2 cups flour (you can do half or all whole wheat, but expect heavier/drier)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 cups buttermilk (we usually put 2 T vinegar in the 2-cup measure, fill the rest with milk, & let sit a few min)

Whisk dry ingredients in a bowl. In separate bowl, whisk egg, butter, and buttermilk. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients, pour buttermilk mixture into well, and whisk gently until just combined (a few lumps will remain). Take care not to overmix.

Heat up a pan or griddle, and make the pancakes!

yield: 16 (4-inch) pancakes

*Pumpkin pancake variation: I have added up to 1 cup pumpkin puree + cinnamon/nutmeg/ginger for an autumn twist. It turned out much tastier than the dedicated pumpkin pancake recipes we have tried.

One-Hour Whole Wheat French Bread

This recipe is originally from The Food Nanny (she uses white flour). I love it because it is ready in under an hour, even with rising time. This bread might not have the most sophisticated flavor, but I have found that it is hard to go wrong with hot bread that can be started at 5PM for a 6PM dinner.

• 
  
• 1½ cups warm water
• 1½ tablespoons (2 packets) active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons sugar, divided
• 2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup gluten flour (Bob's Mill or other)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Melted butter, for brushing on loaves (optional)
• 
  

1. In a small bow, combine water, yeast, and sugar. Stir just to combine and cover with Let the mixture stand while you mix everything else.
2. Blend the flour and salt in a mixer with dough hook (or in a food processor). Gradually add water. You will probably need to add a half a cup or more of additional flour, but add slowly and watch for the dough to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Once it forms a ball that you can handle, stop adding flour. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead briefly, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
3. Cut the dough in half and shape the halves into baguettes. Place in baguette pan (or just on a cookie sheet), cover with a dish towel, and let rise in a warm place about 30 minutes, or until doubled..
4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees and place a shallow pan of water in the bottom of the oven to create stream. Bake 15 minutes or until they have a hollow sound when tapped with a knife. If desired, brush the tops of the loaves with butter halfway through baking. For a softer crust, brush with butter when they have finished baking.

Grandma's Apple Pie & Crust

I got this recipe from Karine when I was in college and trying to impress a boy. It is Grandma's recipe. One time I watched Alton Brown make an insanely complicated pie crust to fit the description of "tender" and "flaky". That's all fine and good, but I grew up with this kind of pie crust, so it's what I crave. Fortunately, hubby likes it too.

5-7 apples (I know that most people say golden delicious, but we have tried it with lots of varieties)

1/2 cup sugar 

2 T flour

1/8 t salt

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

1 T lemon juice

Peel, slice, and core apples. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

Crust (enough for a double crust)

2 c flour

1 t salt

1/2 c oil (canola or very mild olive)

3 T cold water

Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Make a well and add oil. Mix with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle water over top to help the mixture stick together. Divide in half and roll out between pieces of saran wrap. Pie it up, crimp edges, cut a few slits to let the steam out, brush top with milk & sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 on a cookie sheet to prevent spills. Cover pie edge with foil to prevent burning, remove foil after 20 minutes and bake 20 minutes more (or so). Remove when golden brown.

Frangos

Fringes are hard to describe...soft, fluffy balls of chocolate deliciousness. Grandma Harris made these at Christmas, and we often use them on our Christmas goodie plate.

1.5 lbs milk chocolate (we have used semisweet and even bittersweet chocolate chips)

1 large 12-oz cool whip (actually...we whip 1.5 cups of cream instead)

1 t peppermint

Graham cracker crumbs

Melt chocolate, fold gently into whipped cream, then add peppermint. Refrigerate for several hours. Use a spoon or cookie scoop to make into 1-inch balls, roll in graham cracker crumbs