Autumn food in August

The chilly rain over the past few days, combined with the realization that I won't be able to have Thanksgiving and Christmas food this year, has put me in the mood for some good old-fashioned winter comfort food.

Probably my absolute favorite autumn food is pumpkin. Pumpkin everything. Pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin scones, pumpkin pasta. (Okay, I might be able to get that last one in northern Italy. But Sicily? I'm not sure.) This weekend I took it upon myself to bake pumpkin banana muffins, and their perfect pumpkiny accomplice, pumpkin spice cream cheese.

Yum.

Pumpkin Banana Bread and Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese

But alas, the chilly rain lasted through the weekend and into Monday. And nothing makes an inherently depressing Monday even more depressing than rain! As a result, I was hit with a craving for a steaming bowl of hot, spicy chili, and I had no choice but to indulge in this craving. Sorry, no photos, but it turned out delicious - despite the fact that we didn't have chili powder (oops!) and had to improvise. Here's the original recipe, with the chili powder. Get a nice loaf of bread to accompany it and a bottle of Merlot and you're set for a cozy winter's night...or a slightly chilly, damp August night.

Lentil and Black Bean Chili

1 1/2 cup(s) dry lentils, French-variety, picked over for debris
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion(s), diced
1 large sweet red pepper(s), diced
2 Tbsp minced garlic
3 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp Durkee ground cumin, or other brand
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
29 oz canned diced tomatoes, fire-roasted with chiles, undrained
31 oz canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup(s) cilantro, fresh, chopped

Place lentils in a large sauce pan and cover with water by several inches; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until lentils are tender but retain a little bite, about 10 to 15 minutes; drain well and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, pepper and garlic, stirring often, until vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.

In a cup, combine chili powder, oregano, cumin, cayenne and salt; add to skillet and stir well to combine. Cook, stirring often, about 1 minute.

Add tomatoes and their juice, and beans to skillet; stir well to combine. Cover skillet and simmer so flavors can blend, about 5 to 10 minutes. Fold in lentils and cilantro; serve. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Car Bomb Cupcakes

My friend Carly and I had been eyeing this recipe for months, without a good occasion to make it. My birthday celebration at a beer garden turned out to be the perfect excuse.

Carly baked the cupcakes (which have Guinness baked into the cake) the night before my birthday, and in the afternoon on my birthday we, together with Lael, filled and frosted the cupcakes. Together with the filling (dark chocolate whiskey ganache) and the frosting (made with Bailey's Irish cream), the cupcakes are really out of this world.

As a former professional cupcake decorator, I swirled the frosting on each cupcake, and then we sprinkled cocoa powder on top. We still had a lot of ganache left over, so we squeezed a dollop of ganache in the center of the swirled frosting from a piping bag with a ridged tip, and it looked like a little chocolate flower.

Not only were they beautiful, they were DELICIOUS. A lot of work to make by yourself, but since we made it into a group activity it didn't feel like work at all. And they were the perfect dessert to bring to a beer garden (although when eaten with beer, they tasted a lot less alcoholic than they did when we were assembling them earlier - the taste of actual beer definitely overpowered the subtleties. But no less delicious - they got rave reviews from my birthday guests!)

Here is the recipe for car bomb cupcakes if you want to try them out yourself. 

Cheers!

Royal Wedding Scones

Why yes, I did wake up at 4:45 Friday morning to watch William and Kate get married. (Totally worth it, by the way.) And I figured since I was up and was going to a big brunch at a friend's apartment this morning, that I should do something both productive AND British: bake mixed berry scones! And they were wonderful and berryish and British.

Mixed Berry Scones

Adapted from Alice's Teacup Cookbook

3 cups white whole wheat flour

¹/³ cup sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda

2½ teaspoons baking powder

3/4  teaspoon kosher salt

1½ sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces (I used earthbalance spread)

½ cup blueberries

½ cup raspberries

½ cup blackberries

¼ cup hulled and quartered strawberries

1¼ cups buttermilk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¼ cup milk (for brushing)

¼ cup sugar (for sprinkling)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

2. With clean hands, work the butter into the dry mixture until it is thoroughly incorporated and has the consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Add all the berries and stir well.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour buttermilk and vanilla extract into well. Still using your hands, combine the ingredients until all the dry mixture is wet, but do not knead!

4. Turn mixture onto a floured surface and gather dough together. Gently pat the dough into a disk 1½ inches thick. Using a 3- or 3½-inch biscuit cutter, cut out as many scones as you can and lay them on a nonstick baking sheet. Gather remaining dough together lightly to cut out more scones.

5. Brush the top of each scone liberally with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake the scones for about 12 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Cheers! 

And now for a few photos, just for fun: 

Chocolate Chip Almond Flour Cookies

Excuse me while I take a break from posts about Israel to tell you about these incredible cookies.

I was invited to a seder on Monday night, and I wanted to contribute something really yummy, and I love baking. But anything I baked had to be Kosher for Passover, so that left me with two options: 1) buy matzoh cake flour or 2) bake something gluten-free. So I went for option 2, and found a recipe for chocolate chip cookies made with almond flour.

And they were AMAZING.

Full disclosure: This isn't my picture. It's from the page where I got the recipe. But my cookies looked exactly the same, I swear!

These cookies were amazing. Soft and chewy, you couldn't even really taste the almond flour. They didn't taste nutty. They tasted, well, like chocolate chip cookies! People at the seder couldn't believe they weren't made with flour. My friend's grandmother was raving about them! If you've got the approval of a Jewish grandma, you know you've got a good recipe.


Chocolate Chip Almond Flour Cookies
Adapted from The Joy of Clean Eating

Ingredients:

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium sized bowl combine the dry ingredients.
3. In a small bowl beat eggs, maple syrup, oil and vanilla extract together with a hand mixer.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and beat with the hand mixer until throughly combined.
5.  Stir in chocolate chips and continue to mix until the chips are evenly distributed.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and place tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough about 2 inches apart.
7. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes.  Let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from the parchment paper or foil.  ENJOY!

Mocha Chocolate Chip Scones

Last night my friend Estefi who just moved to NYC hosted a housewarming party in her new apartment. We had wine, sweet potato chips, and pretzels, but we needed something extra special in the mix. So we baked mocha chocolate chip scones.

The scones were easy to make, and delicious to eat, which came as no surprise. They were crunchy on the outside, flaky and buttery on the inside. The taste of espresso was much milder than I expected, but everyone else said they tasted it, so maybe I've just been drinking too much coffee lately and my taste buds have dulled to the taste of coffee. Nevertheless, I might try doubling the espresso next time just to see what happens. But they were a hit, and the whole tray was gone by the end of the night!

Mocha Chocolate Chip Scones
Adapted from The Alice's Tea Cup Cookbook

2 heaping teaspoons Medaglia D'Oro instant espresso powder

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2- inch pieces

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup sugar (for sprinkling)

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

2. Dissolve the espresso powder in 1 tablespoon hot water. Set it aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

4. With clean hands, work the butter into the dry mixture until it is thoroughly incorporated and has the consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Add the chocolate chips and combine well, so that they are evenly distributed throughout the dry mixture.

5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the buttermilk, espresso, and vanilla extract into the well. Combine the ingredients until all the dry mix is wet, but do not knead!

6. Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and gather the dough together. Gently pat the dough to make a rectangle about 1 1/2 inches thick. Using a dough cutter, cut the scones into wedges measuring about 3 1/2 x 4 inches, and lay them on a nonstick baking sheet. Gather the remaining dough together lightly to cut out more scones—just don't knead the dough too much.

*(I used my silicone scone pan, so I just filled the pockets and made 24 scones.)

7. Sprinkle the top of each scone with sugar.

8. Bake the scones for about 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. (It took us 20-25 minutes.)

Super Bowl Scones

I decided to make bacon cheddar scones to bring to a Super Bowl party last night - the hosts provided chili, guacamole and dip, and beer, so I thought these scones would be a nice addition to the spread. 

They came out a little drier than I was expecting and didn't really rise at all, unlike the Lavender Earl Grey scones that practically expanded out of the pan, perhaps because I used half white flour and half whole wheat flour or because I used turkey bacon instead of pork bacon. (I should really stop trying to be healthy when making scones, I know, but I didn't think these substitutions would change it that much!) Either way, they were still cheesy and bacon-y, a little closer to biscuits than scones, and still delicious!

Banana Butterscotch Scones

Dilemma: It was cold and damp and rainy/snowy today, and I had to find some way to use up the butter, heavy cream, and buttermilk that I bought for scones a few days ago...

Solution: Bake banana butterscotch scones. And watch Julie & Julia. Obviously.

Lavender Earl Grey Scones

Anyone who knows me knows that when I bake or cook, I like to substitute the fatty, unhealthy ingredients with healthier options. I like to find alternatives that still taste good, but I'm a big proponent of whole wheat flour and low fat or non-fat dairy products, and I have a hard time baking with butter and cream in good conscience. But I also believe that the first time I make a recipe is not the time to mess around with it, and frankly, if I'm going to make scones, I'm going to make them right. So I followed the Lavender Earl Grey scones recipe to a T (except that I had to use a half cup of whole wheat flour when I ran out of white flour) and, needless to say, they were delicious. 

I also got to use three of my newest baking toys with this recipe - a real marble mortar and pestle from IKEA, an OXO pastry brush, and a silicone mini scone pan.

 Mom grinding up the tea leaves

Scones ready for the oven, freshly brushed with heavy cream and sprinkled with sugar

Lavender Earl Grey Scones
Adapted from The Alice's Tea Cup Cookbook

2 heaping teaspoons Lavender Earl Grey tea leaves

3 cups all- purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2- inch pieces

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup heavy cream (for brushing)

1/4 cup sugar (for sprinkling)

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

2. Steep 1 heaping teaspoon of the lavender Earl Grey tea leaves in 1/4 cup boiling-hot water for 3 minutes. Strain, and reserve the tea.

3. In a coffee or spice grinder, grind the remaining teaspoon of lavender Earl Grey tea leaves to a very fine powder. Place the powder in a large mixing bowl, and add the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir until combined.

4. With clean hands, work the butter into the dry mixture until it is thoroughly incorporated and has the consistency of fine breadcrumbs.

5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the buttermilk, vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of the brewed lavender Earl Grey tea into the well. Combine the ingredients until all the dry mix is wet, but do not knead!

6. Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and gather the dough together. Gently pat the dough to make a rectangle about 1 1/2 inches thick. Using a dough cutter, cut the scones into wedges measuring about 3 1/2 x 4 inches, and lay them on a nonstick baking sheet. Gather the remaining dough together lightly to cut out more scones—just don't knead the dough too much.

7. Brush the top of each scone liberally with heavy cream and then sprinkle with sugar.

8. Bake the scones for about 12 minutes, or until lightly browned.

In addition to using half a cup of whole wheat flour because I ran out of white flour, I also had to bake the scones for an extra 10 minutes. I don't know if that was because of the silicone pan or because of my very old oven, but they needed about 20-25 minutes.

And they came out perfect!

Alice's Tea Cup cookbook

My latest present to myself...get ready for yummy food pictures, soon to come!

Mini Lemon Scones

I made these last week and they were delicious!

Mini Lemon Scone Bites with Lemon Glaze

For the scones:

• 2 c. flour
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 c. butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 t. freshly grated lemon zest
• 1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 c. milk

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Cut the butter pieces into flour until crumbly.

2. Stir the lemon zest into the mixing bowl. Combine the lemon juice and milk andimmediately pour into the mixing bowl. Stir until combined and work dough into a ball. Knead 8-10 times. Let dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

3. On a well floured surface, roll out dough until it is about a 1/2″ thick. With a knife, cut the dough into small triangles. Or, using a shot glass or clean medicine cup, cut the dough into small circles. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden brown on top. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely.

For the Lemon Glaze:

• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 2 t. freshly grated lemon zest
• 1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice (more or less depending on consistency)

1. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and lemon zest. Slowly add just enough lemon juice until you reach the desired consistency for a glaze. (I just squeezed my lemon directly into the bowl and added more as needed. I used almost a whole lemon (roughly 1/4 c. lemon juice) to get the right consistency.)

2. Spoon glaze over the cooled mini scones and let dry. Enjoy!