Low Fat "Brownies"

I tag these as "brownies" instead of brownies because I believe some things are sacred. The combination of butter, sugar and chocolate that creates the divine fudgey nature of the brownie cannot be faked. Using anything other than those magical three foodstuffs with a few extra ingredients to make it all come together is absolutely required if you're going to call your result a brownie.

Despite my propensity for using what Shawn calls "fake sugar", I do believe that dessert should, in general, be dessert and use the real thing. That being said, if the result is not appreciably degraded by using fakes, then I see nothing wrong with lowering the calories. For instance, making cheesecake with fake sugars rarely has much of an impact on the resulting product since its the fat which carries most of the load in making cheesecake the delight that it is. Also, sometimes people simply want to lower the poor nutritional profile of their sweets and making some modifications can help with that.

Brownies are one of those things which notoriously cannot be faked because both the butter and sugar are essential to the texture and richness. I have made a type of "Amish brownie" before which used applesauce instead of butter. It was good, but more of a dense cake than a fudge brownie. It was by far the best fake I've ever made, and I've made some pretty miserable fakes with Splenda granular. You can try and replace the butter, but you cannot reduce the sugar in cakes in my experience. The result will always be like rubber if you use fake sugar.

I was inspired to find this recipe while reading a food review blog called "Nutritious Junk". The writer of that blog included a recipe and a picture of what appeared to be completely normal-looking brownies. I have some confidence based on my experience with Splenda-based baked goods that the brownies in her picture were not the ones you'd see if you used the recipe she detailed. In fact, I'm pretty sure you'd get a piece of brown rain boot material if you followed that recipe.

I found this recipe on Recipe Zaar. It's supposed to be a clone of a box mix of low fat brownies called "No Pudge". I have no access to such treats since I'm living in Japan, but I had read positive reviews of this brand's "No Pudge Fudge" before. Getting back to the recipe though, it has a lot of variations listed by readers and the author. You can include egg whites, or not. You can include wheat gluten, or not. The egg white version is supposed to be more cake-like, so I opted to leave them out. Wheat gluten is supposed to make them rise a bit better. Here is the recipe that I tried:

• 1/2 tsp. vital wheat gluten
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup plain, low-fat yogurt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  

Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the yogurt and vanilla extract then stir until just blended. Don't mix it anymore than necessary. Spread in a greased 8" x 8" pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Centigrade) for 25 minutes. I used a glass dish, so your baking time may vary. Don't overbake it because it may kill the fudge-like texture.


These brownies look exactly like the picture of them on Recipe Zaar. They aren't, however, indistinguishable from normal brownies as many reviewers say in the comments on Recipe Zaar. They definitely are different from the real thing in terms of taste and texture. They are fudge-like and have a pretty good chocolate flavor. They're more like moist cake though than a brownie. The top does not get crispy or crackly like real brownies. Unsurprisingly, they also taste different. They don't taste bad, but have an unusual taste because of the yogurt.

Another thing to keep in mind is that these are lower calorie than normal brownies, but they aren't low calorie. If you cut these into 16 servings, each is a small portion for 80 calories each. You have to ask yourself if the pleasure you get from these is worth it when you can have other small treats for the same number of calories. I think these would be best used for someone who has dietary concerns related to fat and cholesterol consumption rather than as a lower calorie replacement for brownies or chocolate treats. Frankly, I get more pleasure out of a 100-calorie pack of York wafer bars than I get out of an 80-calorie brownie made with yogurt.

I tried these both alone and as part of a reduced calorie brownie sundae (with reduced calorie vanilla ice cream). They remind me a lot of a type of low-fat cookie that my husband I used to buy many years ago made by a company called "Heaven Scent". Those cookies are no longer made by that company. I'm guessing that they discontinued their low fat cookie options when that fad died off. I have a sense that one could make a cookie out of these by reducing the amount of yogurt or adding in an egg and more flour. They definitely taste fine, but are not really a brownie.

Update: I served 5 of these at a get-together with a few former coworkers and they both seemed to really enjoy them. I was told they didn't really taste low fat or "healthy". I ate one of them and my guests consumed the other four, so I think these are possibly even better if you serve them to people who don't know what sort of fakery is going on. I also felt they were better the next day than the first day.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Spicy Creamy Carrot Soup

I've been testing out recipes for carrot-based soups for quite some time and haven't been happy with most of the results. Either the mix of spices is wrong, too weak, or too strong. One thing that I was trying to avoid was making it a sweet soup (as many call for orange juice or sweet potatoes), curried carrot soup or a very gingery soup. I can't understand the point of making a carrot-based soup sweeter by adding other sweet components since carrots cook up fairly sweet anyway.

I wanted the carrot soup to taste like savory seasoned carrots. After several failures, I finally gave in and added some damn curry powder. It turns out that adding a bit of curry flavoring cuts the sweetness of the carrots. This was the best one so far, though it still wasn't exactly what I would have hoped for. It's a recipe I made up after reading a lot of others, and finding none of them to my liking.

• 3 large carrots, peeled, and sliced (about 1 lb./500 grams)
• 1 medium white onion, diced
• 2 cups chicken stock (1 can, I used Swanson's)
• 1.5 cups milk (I used low fat, but full fat is fine)
• 1 tsp. curry powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (or peel and mince a garlic clove)
  
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
• dash black pepper
• salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp.)
• about 1/2 tbsp. butter and 1/2 tbsp. oil for sauteing

Heat a large soup pot over low to medium heat then add the butter and oil. Immediately toss in the fennel seeds and cook until fragrant and a little toasted. Add the diced onion, curry powder, and garlic powder (or minced garlic if you're using the real thing) and stir. Cook until the onions are slightly softened (about 5 minutes). You'll need to stir them occasionally. Add the carrots and stir everything around. Cook for a few minutes then add the chicken stock, milk, and a shake of black pepper. After the soup just starts to boil, put a lid on it and lower the temperature to the point where it is simmering rather than boiling. Cook covered until the carrots are tender. I cooked mine for about 45 minutes, though this was likely longer than necessary. Puree the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Taste and add salt as desired.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Shoddy Souffle

I hate souffles.

The souffle (no, no accent; I can't be bothered to figure out how to type one) is a creation that inspires well-documented fear in amateur cooks, ostensibly because experienced ones have shared their horror stories regarding the fluffy disastor-in-waiting. A "good" souffle is many things: poofy, yet rich; airy, yet filling; springy, yet cohesive; and, perhaps most importantly, challenging, yet delicious.

Inspired by my friend Shari's gentle prodding (or insistent demand, depending on who you ask) that I attempt a recipe she discovered, I took it upon myself to make my first attempt at this mysterious juxtaposition of conflicting descriptions. Naturally, I had to try a "non-traditional" souffle recipe as my first creation, and just as naturally, it was a miserable mess, and met none of the criteria I so painstakingly listed in the paragraph above. Never one to turn my back on a delightful "disaster post", I now proudly display my failed dish of banana pudding and bubbles in order that these mistakes never be made again. I must warn you, however, that some of the images (including the one at the top of this post) contain graphic depictions of unappetizing culinary creations, and as such, should not be viewed while a) eating, b) in the dark, alone, c) pregnant, or d) a master chef.

Banana Souffle

(Stolen from Tasty Eats At Home )

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas, mashed

3tbsp water

1/3c plus 1tbsp sugar

1/2tsp cornstarch

pinch of cinnamon

4 egg whites

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 400F

Procedure

I like to get all the required ingredients together so I can look at them prior to starting. That way, when I forget something, I can see that it was because I forgot it in the first place and not because kitchen gnomes came in and stole the salt.

Prior to attempting the preparation, butter and sugar 4 ramekins (or, in my case, a single souffle dish) and set aside. Mix the water and the 1/3c sugar in a small saucepan and set over medium-high heat until it reaches a boil. In the meanttime, mash the hell out of those bananas (or cheat, and use a food processor, blender. Cheater.) and mix the cinnamon and corn starch into the mashed goo. Verify that the sugar has dissolved in the water and remove the saucepan from the heat. Stir the banana sludge into the syrup until thoroughly incorporated and set aside to cool.

The recipe's creator notes here, and I re-emphasize: make sure the mixture cools to room temperature before proceeding. It shouldn't take long, but if it's overly warm, it'll break apart the whipped egg whites and screw up your bubbles later on.

While the mixture is cooling, add the egg whites to a mixing bowl (ideally the bowl that goes with your stand mixer. ... What? I can cheat too. Shut up!) and mix until slightly frothy. Add the salt and continue mixing until the "soft peaks" stage is reached. Be sure not to overmix! When finished, bring the banana slime back to the equation and set it alongside the egg whites, just so they know who's boss.

Despite my intimidation technique, the ingredients didn't seem to take me very seriously, judging by my result.

Now that the ingredients have been put in their proper places, it is time to fold. Gently fold the egg whites into the brown goo, and don't over-fold: some white streaks are fine, as you want to retain that bubbly action for the rising portion later.

Hungry yet?

Pour the entire mixture into your ramekins (or souffle) and place them (it) into the oven. After it's in, reduce the heat to 375F and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until it has puffed upwards and the top has browned.

Not so ugly now, is it?

Lessons Learned

Lessons? An interesting question, seeing as how I'm not confident that any one thing went wrong. I suspect I under-mixed my eggs and had overly-soft peaks, as they did not mix well with the sludge portion of the dish. What is probably a greater problem is my use of a souffle instead of smaller ramekins; I suspect I should have modified the baking time to compensate, but even after trying that, it simply didn't want to set. I had a soup in the center and a beautifully browned exterior.

That said, I really don't have any problem eating dishes that look unappetizing, but I simply didn't care much for the flavor of this. The banana-cinnamon combination didn't work for me, and while I'm not a big fan of banana to start with (at least not as a stand-alone flavor), the combination created something that smelled particularly strong and tasted cloyingly sweet. The flavor problems I can probably simply blame on my palate, but the overall process simply didn't work for me. Next time I'll probably try a standard souffle recipe (utilizing egg yolks) and see if that causes similar problems. Given that I'm still adjusting to a new oven, uneven cooking temperature may be part of the issue as well. Long story short, I hate souffles.

Bread Machine Hamburger Buns

In Japan, I can't buy hamburger buns unless I go to an import shop. There are a few Japanese-made buns, but they are also only sold in the "gaijin ghetto" areas. For the record, the "gaijin ghetto" in Japan isn't some poor area with disadvantaged people. It's a very wealthy area full of people who are here on expense accounts and can afford maids and cars and to buy food from home all of the time.

My husband bought a bunch of American hamburger (you can't buy all-beef burger in my local markets - it's a pork/beef mix) and we've been waiting for the serendipitous appearance of the proper buns for him to eat them. Unsurprisingly, the burgers have been languishing in the freezer and the bun genie hasn't shown up to grant our wish.

If you don't have access to hot dog or hamburger buns, you may not realize how important they are to enjoying these foods. A good burger bun has to be soft, but not so soft that it squashes. It also can't absorb too many juices and turn all pink and icky. It also can't be too hard or the burger will tend to squish out or be hard to bite into. Finally, it can't be too sweet. One problem with all of the Japanese buns and rolls is that they're all noticeably sweet, even when they're designed for sandwich-making.

I decided to give in and try to make my own buns, but I'm also lazy so I wanted to do part of it in the bread machine and I didn't want to go shopping for special ingredients. I found a well-reviewed recipe on Recipe Zaar, but I didn't have bread flour so I decided to modify it to suit what I usually have on hand. Mainly, I had to use all-purpose flour and whole wheat.

The recipe as modified for my needs is:

• 1 1/4 cup slightly warm milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp. Canola oil
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten (can be reduce and replaced with flour)
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• melted butter for brushing

Put all of the wet ingredients into your bread maker's pan then the whole wheat flour. Add the remaining dry ingredients except the yeast which should be placed in a well in the flour. Use the bread machine's "dough" setting to prepare the dough.

When the dough cycle has completed, roll the dough out (divide if necessary to accommodate your rolling space) and cut using a glass or biscuit cutter about the right size for your buns. Brush with melted butter. Allow to rise until doubled in size and bake at 350 degrees F./180 degrees C. for about 15 minutes. Note that my oven tends to be slow so your time may be shorter. I also use porcelain baking sheets which are slow to heat.


These made buns which were tender and soft, but I think they puffed up too much. I added 1/4 cup of vital wheat gluten to offset the fact that I wasn't using bread flour (which is higher in gluten) and the fact that I was using wheat flour (which often needs gluten to boost its rising power). I think I'll use the same recipe in the future, but roll them thinner and cut them smaller.

The texture is actually very much like what you'd get from a good commercially made hamburger bun. I was really quite pleased with how they turned out (except for the size).

by Shari (Orchid64)

Best Pancakes Ever

Sometimes I just want to eat something because I like it rather than it being good for me. This is pretty much the case all of the time for my husband when it comes to things like pancakes. While I will compromise and eat whole wheat pancakes at least half of the time to make sure that I'm not overdoing the white flour, he has no interest in such compromises. Honestly, I don't blame him.

For quite some time, I've had a print-out of a recipe from Joy of Baking that I've used for pancakes. The printed recipe is starting to seriously show its age, and I have no confidence that the Joy of Baking site will remain forever (though it has been around for a very long time!), so I'm going to repeat my version of the recipe (which is slightly modified) here for posterity. I have more confidence that Blogger will be around for ages rather than an individual cooking site.

The main changes I've made in the original recipe are for expedience and to make thicker pancakes. The Joy of Baking version calls for melted butter as the fat component and I just use Canola oil. Since pancakes are always buttered anyway, I just don't see the point of fussing with using melted butter in the batter. I'm sure it would lend more flavor, but not enough for the added effort. It also calls for a full cup of milk and I reduced that to 3/4. In fact, I think it might be better if your like thicker pancakes to drop that down to 2/3. Sometimes, I also add about a 1/4 tsp. vanilla or a dash or two of cinnamon to the batter, but the syrup I make (yes, I make my own syrup) now contains vanilla so I haven't been bothering.

Here's the recipe:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tbsp. white sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp. Canola oil
• 3/4 cup milk

Beat the egg, oil, salt, sugar, and milk (and vanilla if using) together until completely blended. Sift (or sprinkle) the flour and baking powder (and cinnamon if using), over the wet ingredients. Mix it until well-incorporated, but not necessarily until lump-free. A few small lumps are fine. You don't need to over-mix.

Heat a non-stick griddle or skillet over medium-high to high heat. Make sure it is thoroughly heated then add sufficient butter to coat the bottom of the pan. You can make any size pancake you like, but I usually use 2 tablespoons of batter for each pancake. The important point is flipping them at the right point. If you flip them too soon, they will break apart. If you flip them too late, they won't be fluffy. If you flip them twice, they will be tough. Flip them when the edges are slightly dry and bubbles just start to pop through the top of the center.

This makes about 10 pancakes that are 4 inches in diameter. It's usually more than my husband and I can eat in one sitting so I either put the remaining batter in the refrigerator and use it the next day or cook up all of it and put the remaining pancakes (usually 3 of them) on a wire rack to cook then reheat them in foil in the toaster oven.

You can also make homemade "pancake mix" using this recipe by putting together all of the dry ingredients and using about 1 1/4 cups of mix with 1 egg, 3/4 cup of milk and 2 tbsp. oil. I usually mix up the dry stuff the night before and leave it in a covered plastic bowl and just add the wet ingredients in the morning, but I only do one back at a time rather than prepare a lot of mix.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Cardamom Vanilla Coconut "Jelly" (Gelatin)

Quite some time ago, my husband picked up a case of coconut milk at Costco. I occasionally use coconut milk in curries or stews, and I've been wanting to try it in other types of dishes. Unfortunately, I've not done much experimenting and the cans are not getting any younger. Through link hopping, I ran across a recipe for coconut jelly. In the U.S., "jelly" is what we spread on our toast, not what we call a gelatin-based dessert like this. However, in Australia and Japan, it seems, they call them jellies.

No matter what you call this, it's a wobbly, almost pudding-like dessert which is pretty tasty. I should note that I haven't exactly tried the recipe as I'm going to list it here because my result was far too sweet. I'm placing the modified recipe here so that, when I repeat this in the future, it'll be at a more appropriate sweetness level. I made a mistake when modifying the original recipe and used half as much coconut milk but the same amount of sugar, so mine is actually twice a sweet as it should have been! I used a full cup instead of a half cup, as should have been the case when scaling down the recipe.

Cardamom Vanilla Coconut Jelly:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 5 grams gelatin powder (about 1.5 tbsp.)
• 1 green cardamom pod
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar or granular Splenda (or 12 Splenda packets)
• 1 cup cold water
  

Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan and add the sugar (or Splenda) and cardamom pod. Heat the coconut milk until quite hot but not boiling. Crush the cardamom pod with your spoon after it is softened (to release more flavor). Pour the hot coconut milk into a bowl (making sure the pod goes with it). Cover the bowl to keep the liquid warm.

Wash the saucepan and add 1 cup of cold water. Add the gelatin powder and allow it to sit and dissolve for about 10 minutes. Heat the water and gelatin until quite hot (again, do not boil) and make sure the gelatin is dissolved. Add the coconut milk mixture and heat over low heat, stirring occasionally. Heat it for about 10 minutes (making sure it does not boil).

Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Allow it to cool until you can comfortable handle it. You can now pour it into whatever mold you want to use. Note that you will either need to skim the mixture with a mesh scoop to get out the cardamom bits or pour into your mold through a strainer (I just used a tea strainer for mine). I just used a silicon muffin pan and a couple of very small ramekins. Refrigerate overnight before unmolding.

All but one of mine popped perfectly out of the mold. I'm mainly annoyed at myself for making them so damn sweet that I'm not getting the full subtle flavor effect that I'm sure is masked by the double sweetness. I'm still going to eat them, or at least try to. Mine made 8 servings at about 80 calories each (if made with Splenda). Because I used full fat coconut milk, there was a little waxy "crust" on the top which helped give the jelly stability when I removed it from the mold. If you look closely at the picture above, you can see it as a slightly whiter disc on the bottom. This separation is likely fattier than the rest of the jelly and you can choose not to eat it if you want to save a few calories.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Taco Salad

Sometimes I want to eat a little lighter than a burrito when I make Mexican food for my husband. I also don't mind saving a few calories by eliminating a huge tortilla from the meal. So, I opt for a taco salad, and I realize that this is more about assembling than cooking, but it's Shawn's blog and I'll write whatever I want to. So there.

Anyway, you can use any sort of Tex-Mex seasoned meat that you like, or you can follow my recipe. The main thing is that you don't really use much meat in this meal so it's best used as a healthier alternative to burritos or tacos or to use up small portions of leftover meat. I make the following for the meat portion:

Burrito meat filling:

• 1/2 medium onion or whole small onion, diced
• 1 small green pepper, diced
• 1 fresh tomato, diced
• 1.5 lbs (about 700 grams) ground chicken or turkey
• 1 tbsp. oil
• taco seasoning packet (or whatever seasoning you favor - about 3 tbsp. is good if you use a bulk mix)
• 2 cups water

Heat a skillet and add the oil. Swirl to coat the bottom of the pan with oil and add the onions. Cook them until they've softened just a bit then add the green peppers. Cook until the peppers are slightly wilted. Add the tomato and cook until it disintegrates. Push the vegetables off to the side of the skillet and cook the meat until slightly brown on the other side of the pan. Note: if you use a fatty meat like beef or pork instead of chicken (or turkey), you will want to remove the vegetables, cook the meat, and drain the oil. After the meat is cooked, add the taco seasoning, and water and cook until all of the liquid has cooked off (or do whatever the packet instructs you to do).

For the salad:

• leafy greens (about 4 large leaves), washed and torn into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 medium tomato, cut into 8 wedges
• *green onions (not scallions!), chopped
• 1/4 can re-fried beans (about 3-4 tbsp.)
• 6-8 tortilla chips, roughly crushed (I used chili lime Guiltless Gourmet)
• 2-3 tbsp. meat mixture (as described above)
• salsa as desired
• 2-3 tbsp. grated cheese (any type with a strong flavor like Cheddar is fine)

Place an even bed of greens on a dinner plate. Mound the re-fried beans in the center of the greens. Evenly place the tomato wedges around beans. Spoon the meat mixture on top of the beans, allowing it to tumble off naturally. Sprinkle cheese in the center and then scatter the chopped green onions all over. Drizzle salsa over the tomato wedges and greens. Salt the tomatoes if desired, then scatter the crushed tortilla chips around the bean mound in the center.

To eat this getting the full benefit of all of the ingredients, use your fork to grab some of the beans, meat and cheese in the center and then spear the vegetables and chips from the sides.

The main point of eating this instead of a taco or burrito is that you only use enough meat for flavor and the beans add texture and fiber. You also have a much lower fat meal if you use baked chips instead of fried ones and get in a ton more vegetables.

*Green onions have a small bulb which is not much bigger than the long slender green portion. It has a distinct, but not overbearing flavor which adds a lot to Mexican dishes when sprinkled on them.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Chickpea Shepherd's Pie

About 8 months ago, I bought a case of chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) because it was about 50% cheaper to get them by the boatload. This was a case with 24 cans and I knew I'd have to eat them all myself because my husband won't eat any sort of bean. I've used them in a lot of recipes (though the majority have gone into hummus), and this is one of my favorites.

I didn't base this on any existing recipe, but was inspired to give it a try after reading a review for vegetarian shepherd's pie on the "Heat and Eat Review" site. I figured that I'd just do what I normally did for the same dish with meat with possibly a few alterations to make up for the lack of savory flavors, so this was essentially made up on the fly, but worked very well.

Chickpea Shepherd's Pie

• 1 can chickpeas, drained and thoroughly rinsed
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1/3 large carrot, sliced and diced
• 1/2 green pepper, diced
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 beef or vegetable bouillon cube, dissolved in 1 cup very hot water
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch, dissolved in 1-2 tbsp. cold water
• salt (to taste - about 1/2 tsp., but it depends on your bouillon)
• 3-5 cups mashed potatoes (I used instant mashed potatoes)
• 1/2-1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste (optional)
• 1-2 tbsp. Canola oil

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the oil. Once the oil is warmed and coats the bottom of the pan evenly, add the garlic and onions. Saute them until the onions are softened then add the pepper and carrot. Cook the vegetables for about 5-10 more minutes until the pepper is a little wilted looking. Stir in the chickpeas and allow it to cook for about 5 minutes to get the temperature of all of the ingredients to about the same level.

Add the water with the dissolved beef bouillon cube and the Worcestershire sauce. If you want to add tomato paste (I didn't, but mainly because I forgot to do so), add it now. Stir, cover with a lid, reduce the heat, and allow to simmer until the carrots are cooked. Depending on how much liquid remains, you'll have to either remove the lid and allow some of it to boil off or just use it as is. The liquid amount factors into how much "gravy" you get. If you want less, let more boil off. If you want more, add in more water.

Reduce the heat to low and slowly add about half of the dissolved cornstarch. As it heats, it will thicken. Stir in as much of the cornstarch as seems necessary to get the desired thickness. If it becomes too thick, add more water. If it is too thin, pour in more cornstarch. Taste and salt as necessary.

When the chickpea mixture is done, spoon it into a lightly greased baking dish. Spoon the mashed potatoes on top of the chickpea mixture and sprinkle with cheese. The quantity of potatoes you'll need varies based on the size of your dish and how thinly you want them layered. If you use glass, you can heat the pie in the microwave until the cheese is melted. If you use metal, you'll have to bake it at 350 degrees until the potatoes are hot and the cheese is melted.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Baked Oatmeal

I have a love-hate relationship with oatmeal. Actually, it's mostly a "hate" situation, to be honest. My main consumption of oatmeal comes from hiding it in baked goods like bread so that its gluey, gloppy nature does not have a chance to manifest itself.

Yet oatmeal still beckons to me on several fronts. It's dirt cheap when you buy it in huge boxes of the plain stuff at Costco. It's also better for you than most other things you can eat for breakfast because it has a low glycemic index and good amounts of fiber and protein. If it just didn't feel like gruel or prison food, I'd try to choke it down more often.

To that end, I've tried various baked oatmeal recipes on occasion and found that they were lacking. I finally came across one that works (for me at least), but I don't remember exactly where it came from so I can't credit the creator. Of course, all of the recipes you see scattered around the internet are hardly unique. Most people are just taking other people's work and passing it off as if they just whipped it up off the top of their heads, so I don't feel too guilty about not linking to the recipe.


Don't get me wrong about the desirability of this dish. It's still oatmeal. It's in no way going to compete with a doughnut or a danish, but it is less disgusting than conventional oatmeal. It has a somewhat "cakey" texture to it and the oatmeal isn't gluey. It's nice enough, mind you, but mainly it's a delivery method which is far less objectionable than usual.

Baked Oatmeal:

• 1.5 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 tbsp. melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 packets heat stable artificial sweetener (optional - I used Splenda)
• 1 tbsp. honey or syrup (for serving)
  

Mix everything together and pour into a lightly greased baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. (180 degrees C.) until firm and set in the middle. Serve with about a tablespoon of honey or syrup drizzled over the top. Makes 3 modest or 2 large servings.

I didn't actually use a greased dish. I just tossed everything into a glass baking dish, stirred, and baked. I wouldn't do that with a metal baking dish though, and I did have a bit of a hard time getting the residue off of the top part (though it didn't stick to the glass at all on the bottom). You can make this ahead and just keep it in the refrigerator for a day or so. I just warmed mine up a bit in the microwave for about 30 seconds before eating and it was quite good.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Red Wine Pasta Sauce

Boredom is a powerful motivator. Well, it is for me. Some of us find that boredom motivates sitting slack-jawed and staring at the nearest wall, or television, whichever comes first. It was a sense of gustatory boredom which set me virtually thumbing through the pages of Nibbledish for recipes. Of course, since I'm in Japan, I had to make a fair number of modifications to use food stuffs that I can actually purchase without going to an import shop and/or spending my nest egg. Here's the original recipe on Nibbledish which includes such exotic items (for me) as Italian sausage and celery (which I hate, and costs a lot, so I skipped it).

Here is my modified recipe:

• 3/4-1 lb. ground pork (depends on how meaty you want your sauce)
  
• 1/2 large onion (or 1 small one)
• 1/2 large carrot
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 fresh tomatoes
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/4 tsp. dried sweet basil
• 3/4 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp. (fine) hot pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 1 cup red wine
• 1/3 cup whole cream
• salt to taste (I used about a teaspoon)

Preheat a large skillet so that it is good and hot before you add the meat. There is no need to add oil to the pan! Cook the ground pork over medium to medium-high heat until slightly browned. Drain off as much fat as possible. While the pork is cooking, cut the onion into quarters and pulse in a food processor to coarsely chop. Add the onion to the cooked pork and stir in.

While the onion is cooking, peel the garlic clove and blitz it in the food processor until it's in tiny pieces (or mince it with a garlic press). Peel and slice the carrot and toss it into the food processor and process it until it is in tiny pieces. Add the carrot and garlic to the pork and onion mixture. Stir well and allow to cook for about 5-10 minutes.

Sprinkle the flour onto the top of the meat then stir well to mix. Add the red wine and allow the mixture to cook and thicken such that the wine reduces by at least a third. Add the canned tomatoes and dry spices (except the salt) to the mixture. Core and quarter the fresh tomatoes and puree them well. Add to the mixture, heat to a vigorous simmer, cover, and lower the heat. Allow the sauce to gently simmer for about a half hour. The carrots should be cooked and the flavors developed. At this point, taste and add salt as needed. Finally, stir in the whole cream. Serve over your favorite pasta.

If you think the flavors are too strong, you can add more cream than I did, but I liked it fine as is. This makes an immense amount of sauce. I'd guess that this is the equivalent of two big jars, only with a lot more heft because of the meat.


I'm sure the wine features heavily into the final taste profile. I used part of a bottle red wine our landlord gave us as a gift. It's pretty good wine, or at least Shawn tells me. I actually hate wine. Just a sniff of it makes me want to stick my tongue out and go "bleeech." However, it was damn good in this sauce.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Corn Potage Soup

Note: updated on January 3, 2010 to allow for the use of canned corn

No, all of my recipes will not be for soup. I've just been in a soup sort of mood as of late. This is a bit peculiar because it's been so damn hot and one would think that drinking hot soup (not to mention preparing it) would not be appealing, but there you go. Part of the thing is that homemade soups are so healthy and taste so much better than store-bought soup that it's hard to resist the urge to have them. The urge to make them is utterly resistible because of the humidity let off by the process, but I'm a trooper.

For those who don't know, corn potage is a corn and potato soup with a milk or cream base. I never had it when I lived in the U.S., but it's popular in Japan. You can buy it as a powdered soup, and I have actually done this many times in the past. In fact, I sent Shawn a packet of said instant soup more than a year ago, and he never sampled it despite our shared reverence for corn. This recipe does involve some ritual sacrifice of corn on the cob, but I'm sure the corn gods understand.

This is a hearty soup and can substitute for a starchy side dish like potatoes or rice. In Japan, a lot of people have corn soup with bread for breakfast.

Corn Potage Soup:

• 1 large potato (peeled and cut into small cubes)
• 2 ears of corn on the cob (corn cut off, cobs saved) or 1 standard-size (14 oz./400 gram) can of corn with juice
  
• 1 small or 1/2 very large onion (diced)
• 1.5 cups milk (I used low-fat, but any is okay)
• 1 cup water (omit this water if you're using canned corn)
  
• 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cubes chicken consomme
• butter (enough to coat the bottom of your soup pot)
• salt, pepper (to taste)

Heat a medium-size soup pot and melt butter over medium heat. Add the diced onions and minced garlic and cook until softened and the garlic becomes fragrant. If it starts to burn, turn down the heat. Stir in the corn kernels and diced potato and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the milk, water (don't add water if using canned corn!), chicken consomme cubes, and pepper. Heat until the consomme has dissolved, stirring occasionally. Place the corn cobs into the soup, heat to boiling, cover, and reduce the heat so that the covered pot is vigorously simmering. If you're using canned sweet corn, dump the entire can, juice and all into the pot instead of using the corn on the cob and cobs. Simmer until the potatoes are cooked through (about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your cubes). Stir about every 10 minutes.

Remove the cobs. Cool the soup and pour it into a blender or use a hand mixer to puree to a smooth consistency. Note that the blender will do a better job, though the hand mixer is easier because you can puree it in the soup pot. Taste the pureed soup and add salt as necessary to enhance the taste.

I had to add about 1/2 tsp. salt to mine, but I think that the amount you add will be very dependent on your consomme flavoring. Some have a lot of salt in them already and others do not. Add more potatoes to make a thicker soup (or, if it's after the fact, add some dehydrated potato flakes/instant mashed potato buds to thicken it), or reduce the water or milk.

This is a great soup to have with bread or with croutons that you allow to get soggy in the soup.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Greetings, great multitude of Carl food blog readers. I'm sure you're all warmly welcoming me to Shawn's little corner of the internet. He's kindly permitted me to breath some life into his wheezing blog while he continues to procrastinate on posting his own content. Of course, he didn't grant me admin privileges so I can't go back and insert insults into his posts (though he can do so for mine so I guess I had better watch my mouth).

At any rate, I no longer have a personal blog so I'm going to use Carl's Kitchen as my dumping ground for recipes that I want to keep. The difference between my posts and Shawn's are that his are glorious failures for the most part and I'm only going to be noting my successes. That doesn't mean I don't have my own spectacular failures, but rather that I don't have the time to note them for posterity (not that Shawn has the time either, as is evidenced by his lack of posting).

At any rate, I'm going to start with this roasted red pepper soup recipe which I modified based on a recipe at eCurry. Though this soup was really good, I have to warn anyone who tries it that I got sore spots under my tongue and my gums ached after eating this a few times. I'm guessing it was a bit too much capsicum for me, but I ate it anyway because it was damn tasty.

Here's my recipe:

• canola oil sufficient to cover the bottom of the pan
• 2 Welsh onions (white part only), sliced thinly
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 medium to small red peppers (roasted and sliced)
• 1 can Swanson chicken stock
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
• salt to taste
• 2-3 tbsp yogurt cheese*
• croutons for serving
  

Coat the bottom of a heavy-bottomed soup pot with the oil then cook the Welsh onions and garlic gloves over medium heat until softened. If they start to stick or burn, add a little water and lower the heat. Add the roasted red peppers and cook for about 5 more minutes. Add the chicken stock, salt, and pepper and heat to a boil then cover, turn the heat to low, and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Allow the soup to cool to the point where it is safe to handle in your blender, then put it in the blender and blitz it until it is smooth. Add the yogurt cheese and blitz it until the blend is smooth. Serve warm or cold with croutons.

I had this both warm and cold and slightly preferred it warm. I'm not sure how it'll reheat though given the yogurt component. I'd recommend only reheating it to a point of being barely hot. It's a very smooth soup with a velvety texture and probably could double as a sauce for chicken in a pinch.

*Yogurt cheese is plain yogurt which has been allowed to drain such that most of the whey has separated out. It is thick and resembles sour cream in texture and somewhat in flavor. I usually make it by suspending a coffee filter full of yogurt affixed to the top of a glass with a rubber band overnight.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Pan-Fried Mystery

It may not look horribly appetizing, but all things considered, it wasn't bad!

Like many meat-eating american males in my age group (read: alive), my experience with tofu in the past has been somewhat limited. I've never really considered that a shame, but I've also never had the distaste towards the stuff that appears evident in those who are not vegetarians. However, while I don't despise the stuff, let's face it: meat tastes better. Thus, it should be noted that I used tofu in this dish simply to remain true to the recipe (and to experiment with an ingredient I rarely use); it could certainly be made with chicken or beef and probably have a bit more depth of both flavor and texture to it as a result.

When I first discovered this recipe, I earmarked it simply for the novelty. It seemed like a dish that would help ease my way into working with the gooey soy substance and, if it resulted in a failure, would still result in a mixture of beans, mushrooms, and sauce that would still be tasty. That said, the end product turned out fairly favorable; I'm not sure I'll be making it again (or at least not without some modifications), but it did help me develop some techniques that are fairly common in asian-style cuisines.

Tofu Stir-Fry with Snap Peas and Mushrooms

(Stolen entirely from The Kitchn)

Ingredients

For the sauce:

3/4c chicken or vegetable broth

3tbsp soy sauce

1tbsp rice wine vinegar

2tsp sugar

2tbsp corn starch

For the not-sauce:

5tbsp vegetable oil

1/3c corn starch

1 block (14oz) extra-firm tofu, cut into cubes

10oz small mushrooms, quartered

8oz snow peas

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch green onions, chopped

Heat a standard wok or skillet to medium-high heat.

Procedure

Before starting work on any of the major ingredients, it's important to prepare the sauce. Mix the broth, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved. Add the corn starch and whisk until it has incorporated. Set the mixture aside; it won't be used until near the end of the process.

Place the 1/3c corn starch into a small bowl and toss about half the tofu in the powder until well coated. Add about 1tbsp of the oil to the wok and let it heat up until just before the smoking point (if it starts smoking, just ease off the heat a bit). Place the tofu in the wok and let it sit for about a minute before attempting to move the pieces. Flip the pieces over completely to start cooking them on the other side, and let them fry for another minute. Remove them to a plate lined with a paper towel and repeat this entire process for the second half of the tofu chunks. Set the entire batch of tofu aside.

Add another tbsp of oil to the wok and let it heat back up. Add the mushrooms and fry, tossing or stirring frequently to prevent burning, until they have browned and shrunk to about 2/3 their size (they will be releasing moisture during this process; when no more steam is coming off, they are ready). Add the snow peas and garlic and continue tossing/stirring for another 10-15 seconds (longer won't hurt anything, but I prefer my vegetables nearly raw in most cases, so didn't see the need for a longer cook time).

Whisk the sauce mixture made at the start of all this to ensure that the starch re-distributes through the liquid and add it to the wok. Continue cooking, stirring periodically, to reduce the sauce to the consistency you desire (note, however, that the sauce will thicken as it cools as well, so err on the side of caution and don't overcook). Allow the sauce to come to just above room temperature before adding the onions and tofu; this will allow the sauce to continue to thicken, helping to reduce softening of the fried tofu. Additionally, green onions are better fresh, so we don't want the sauce to end up cooking them.

Serve alongside rice or by itself, according to your preference!

Lessons Learned

This was a fairly straightforward recipe; I must give credit to the folks at the Kitchn (or whoever they stole it from) for putting together a very good procedure to work with. That said, I found the tofu fairly bland; I might consider marinating it for a half hour or so in a flavorful broth of some sort to infuse a bit more into it. Also, the dish was very salty, and came across as imbalanced. I would've preferred a sweet note of some sort, perhaps adding some oyster or hoisin sauce to the mix to balance things out. A bit of heat might help as well, but I've never been a big fan of overly-spiced dishes either.

All things considered, I may give this recipe another shot with some meat instead of tofu, simply to see how things need to be changed in order to accomodate it.

Sweetening the Nut

Pictured: Not my peanuts.

Lest one of my rapidly-dwindling readers decide to make a wise remark, I'll just preface this by stating that I am fully aware that peanuts are not nuts; however, "Sweetening the Legume" certainly doesn't have the same ring to it. That said, brace yourselves for yet another of my infamous culinary disasters, which unfortunately seem to happen with frightening frequency. My initial goal of creating my own delicious honey-roasted peanuts (thereby sticking it to Mr. Peanut, the greedy bastard that charges so heavily for these things) remains a distant sight that will hopefully be reached with some minor tweaks to the current recipe.

My more avid readers will find it entirely unsurprising that I stole this recipe from The Kitchn add to the lack of surprise, despite their claims to the contrary, I can safely assure you, the readers that I hold so dear, that the Kitchnfolks who oringially posted the recipe almost certainly didn't even bother attempting it before giving it shining accolades. If they had, I'd like to think that they would have been willing to level with the Internet at large by pointing out that the recipe is very poorly balanced and doesn't work at all (I'll elaborate in greater detail towards the end of this post). However, I do think that the recipe shows promise for tinkering, so it may as well be documented for posterity.

Honey-Roasted Peanuts

(Stolen from The Kitchn)

Ingredients

16oz. Roasted unsalted peanuts*

1/3c Honey

1/2c Sugar

*I don't know that I've ever been able to find roasted unsalted peanuts anywhere. Even if they did exist, they'd be too expensive for this recipe to be cost-effective for anyone other than the aforementioned Mr. Peanut himself. Thus, I settled on using salted peanuts and eliminating the kosher salt from the original recipe. I know that would result in a small sacrifice in texture, but I made up for it with sugar instead.

Preheat oven to 350F

Melt the honey in the microwave until it is liquified and runs smoothly (probably about 1 minute). Make sure not to let it go too long, lest it burn and become unpleasant. Also, don't touch it. Hot honey burns are painful. Pour the peanuts into a large mixing bowl and prepare to make a mess.

Sure, they look innocent now...

Drizzle the melted honey over the peanuts and mix thoroughly. This will require some effort, as honey tends to be somewhat sticky, and honey-coated peanuts like to stick to anything that makes contact with them.

At this point, one hopes that coating the peanuts in salt will help with the stickage. Yeah, let's see how that works out.

Sprinkle the sugar over the peanuts and stir to coat (as best you can). Spread them out onto a well-greased baking sheet and bake for around 20 minutes, stirring frequently to ensure that the peanuts don't burn. You want them to brown, but that's about it. Let them cool before attempting to handle (naturally).

You can't really tell, but the spatula is stuck there. I couldn't remove it. I ended up shooting the entire thing, bowl and all, into the center of the sun. Now I need a new spatula.

Lessons Learned

You will note that I unfortunately did not retain a photo of my actual finished product (I know, you're shocked that the picture up top is not a real result, right?). Suffice it to say that this recipe produced what I would charitably describe as "a gooey mess". See, honey is sticky and messy at room temperature, which is the temperature at which most peanuts tend to be stored. Therefore, coating the peanuts in said goo and then setting them out simply results in peanuts that pack up into clumps and leave a honey-sugar residue on the fingers. This result, while tasty, does not meet my definition of honey-roasted peanuts.

To fix this result, I think it might help to add some of the sugar to the honey during the microwave process in order to create a solution that has been hypersaturated with sugar. One might note that sugar itself is solid at room temperature; therefore, more sugar makes more solid. Baking the peanuts at a lower temperature for longer might also help, as the baking process eliminates water from the coating, which would (hopefully) result in a more solid glaze. Of course, this is just speculation until my next attempt, which should be coming soon!

Death of a Stupid Man?

Some things defy explanation. They must be taken on faith; you either understand it or you don't. I believe the image above is all the explanation most people will need in order to understand this post. Unlike all of my other posts thus far, this doesn't contain a recipe, images taken during preparation, or fancy lessons learned during the process of making this monstrosity. Instead, I'm posting a single image: one that conveys all that needs to be said.

The wonder depicted at the top of this post is known as the Coronary Burger (at least as far as I know), and may be one of the most awesome things in the universe. It may also be the cause of my untimely death--that remains to be seen, of course. As may be evident, it is a burger, but in place of buns it utilizes two grilled cheese sandwiches. Naturally, no burger is complete without bacon, which is amply represented by four slices piled atop the patty itself. Condiments are necessary as well, of course: slight mayo on both "buns" and an ample portion of ketchup (read: half a bottle).

Some may call me crazy for making this creature, and crazier still for eating it. I pity those unfortunate souls, for they shall never understand the wonder that is this burger. It was a marvel to behold and a delight to consume. While my heart may not appreciate the years I just took off my life, I consider the sacrifice well worth it. Attempt at your own risk!

The Red Cake of Courage

Red velvet cake (or cupcakes, as the case may be) seems to be one of those odd culinary devices that holds a strange fascination for a lot of people, be they chefs or cupcake enthusiasts. I had never heard of them until the last year or two, and I must admit, I was curious as well. It's relatively unusual to have such vivid colors in one's baked goods, and although I've never really been as fond of cupcakes as I am of some other desserts, they certainly are one dessert that's easy to share.

The approach of Valentine's day seems to trigger some primeval drive in food bloggers to post their versions of this recipe, and while I haven't monitored things this year to see if this trend continues, I figure I may as well do my share. Cliche or not, I'm planning to make these again this weekend to share with a friend of mine who suffers from Celiac's, which obviously complicates baked goods. In order to ensure that she's properly impressed, I decided to do a test run of the recipe to sample on some unsuspecting coworkers; that way, I could make any necessary adjustments well ahead of time and be properly impressive when the time came. This plan, as it turns out, was unnecessary: the damn things turned out perfect as far as I'm concerned, and thankfully is all set to go again this weekend. Let's hope they're the success that they should be!

Red Velvet Cupcakes
(Recipe stolen and modified from Paula Deen)

Ingredients
Cupcakes
2.5c Gluten-free flour blend*
2tbsp Unsweetened cocoa powder
1tsp Baking soda
1tsp Salt
1tsp Xantham gum
1.5c Sugar
1.5c Vegetable/Canola oil
2 Eggs
1c Buttermilk
2tbsp (1oz) Red food coloring
1tsp White vinegar
1tsp Vanilla extract

*Since this recipe was largely stolen from a non-gluten-free version, standard AP flour will work just as well in a straight-up substitution.

Frosting
2.5c Powdered sugar
16oz Cream cheese
1/2c (1 stick) Unsalted butter
1tsp Vanilla extract
1/2tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 350F

Procedure

Note: The area in which I tended to deviate from Paula's recipe is mostly in the manner/order in which the ingredients were mixed. These steps (or the inspiration for them) were borrowed from various other sources, which I unfortunately forgot to make a note of.

Mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and xantham gum in a medium mixing bowl with a fork--note that since you're attempting to aerate the mixture somewhat, there is no such thing as too much mixing at this point. After the ingredients are properly blended, set the dry mixture aside. Add the oil and sugar to a second mixing bowl (ideally the one attached to a stand mixer) and start mixing at medium speed. Continue mixing until the ingredients appear to have made a gooey paste.

Mixing the sugar and oil together for a few minutes allows them to form a weak emulsification; the eggs we add next will help maintain it.

While the mixer is going, pour the buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla in a cup or small bowl. Mix the contents briefly with a fork to ensure that the coloring is distributed thoroughly. Returning to the mixer, add the eggs to the sugar paste, one at a time, ensuring that the first has completely vanished before adding the second. As mentioned in the caption above, the eggs will help ensure that the sugar and oil remain mixed properly by preventing them from separating into their individual components. To finalize this process, add 1/4 of the dry ingredients with the mixer on low speed (adding it on medium will result in a large cloud of powder coating you and your kitchen). I say this finalizes the process because the oil/sugar substance will be bound to the dry mixture, preventing the aforementioned separation; we only add 1/4 of the mix because there isn't enough liquid in the bowl to properly coat the entire batch of dry ingredients. Consequently, you now add 1/3 of the wet mixture. Continue in the same manner, alternating wet and dry (with the 1/4 and 1/3 ratio, you should start and finish with dry additions) until both mixtures have been incorporated in the bowl. At this point, the red color is ... evident.

I recommend tasting the mix to see if anything seems off. My gluten-free flour blend lends a peculiar taste to baked goods pre-baking, but my batter was still rather tasty.

Note: I suppose now is a good time to mention that if you're making this using standard AP flour, do not overmix! Lumps are OK, but overmixing will lead to activating the gluten in the flour, which will result in chewy cupcakes. Of course, since I was working gluten-free, I didn't worry about this!

Line a muffin tin (12 spots preferred!) with cupcake liners and fill each container about 2/3 to 3/4 full of the batter (I find that an ice cream scoop works well for this) and bake at 350F for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. At this point, your cupcakes should look edible, yet adorable.

I was rather proud that I didn't slop much all over the pan. You must be duly impressed.

Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for a few minutes until they can be removed to a wire cooling rack (or a countertop; I'm not picky). This recipe makes somewhere between 20 and 24 cupcakes, depending on how ambitious you are with your batter scoops. While they're cooling, cream the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar together in a bowl (ideally the same bowl used for the cupcake batter--after cleaning it, of course). If you're using an electric mixer, I strongly recommend that you start on low speed for the first few minutes. After the sugar has been completely incorporated, speed things up to medium-high until the consistency seems right (spreadable, but not too airy). At this point, sample the frosting to see if it's up to your standards; you can add up to 1.5c of additional powdered sugar if desired, but I find that this tends to kill the kick from the cream cheese. Frost the cupcakes generously and gorge as desired!

Lessons Learned
As I mentioned early on, the transformation from glutenized to gluten-free for this recipe was quite seamless; quite frankly, I was pleasantly shocked. My gluten-free experiments have mostly been great so far, but I was worried this one would require a few iterations. Here's hoping the gluten-free friend they were designed for is as impressed as I was!