Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

The very hungry grad students have been, of late, very remiss grad students. While the blog has suffered, our stomachs have not, and we’ll try to bring the site up to date with our most recent cooking experiments sometime in the near future.

I’ve made these whole wheat apple muffins from smitten kitchen twice, and I can’t recommend them highly enough. I brought the first batch as breakfast for my law school car pool (a group of us have joined forces to make sure we get to our 8:30 a.m. class on time), and made the second batch for an Environmental Law Society Bake Sale (benefiting the NRDC and Friends of the Chicago River).

Cook: Katie

Music: Eddie Vedder (mostly this soundtrack)

Lessons learned: Muffins and tea make even the earliest of classes bearable.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins, from smitten kitchen

Click here for smitten kitchen’s Whole Wheat Apple Muffin recipe.*

*I used plain yogurt instead of buttermilk because I had some on hand (thanks for the yogurt maker, Mom!), and I chose Granny Smith apples since they’re a bit tarter. I also put plenty of brown sugar on top, which crystallized well, and the muffins kept for several days.

Additional note: I wasn’t sure if the recipe called for buttering and flouring the paper muffin cups, but it seemed to; I did, and the muffins turned out well.

Crisp Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

Oatmeal cookies, one of the homelier desserts, are nonetheless a personal favorite. I’ve made this recipe from Smitten Kitchen several times, but only recently perfected it. The trick? Baking them for 12 minutes rather than the recommended 13 to 16 (which made the cookies slightly too crisp). The sprinkled sea salt in this recipe balances out the sweetness of the white chocolate, and you’re left with an addicting treat.

Cook: Katie

Music: Kasey Chambers

Lessons learned: Despite my love for Deb’s blog, you don’t need to buy Maldon or fleur de sel sea salt for this recipe. Any run-of-the-mill sea salt (or even Kosher salt) will do.

Also, decrease the baking time!

Crisp Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies, from Smitten Kitchen

Click here for Smitten Kitchen’s Crisp Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookie recipe.

Caldo Gallego

Law school finals and a hectic new quarter have made for very little food blogging recently. Fortunately, this Spanish soup, which I first made in November, has helped sustain me through it all. If you only make one or two soups this winter, I’d put Caldo Gallego on your list. Better yet, it freezes well, so you’ll be able to serve up a taste of Galicia any time you please.

Cook: Katie

Music: Jorma Kaukonen

Lessons learned: I was a little skeptical of this “celebrity” cookbook, but my doubts have been vanquished. Not only did I enjoy this caldo recipe, the cookbook has the best tortilla española recipe I’ve tried to date. (Post to come soon.) Gwyneth knows best?

Caldo Gallego, adapted from Spain: A Culinary Road Trip by Mario Batali with Gwyneth Paltrow

1/2 pound thickly sliced slab bacon, cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 cup dried white beans, soaked overnight in water to cover (I used cannellini beans)
1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 turnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/2 pound Spanish chorizo, casings removed and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 pound kale, stemmed and coarsely chopped

1. Cook the bacon in a large heavy pot over medium heat until most of the fat is rendered, eight to 10 minutes.

2. Drain the beans, add them to the pot, along with enough water to cover them by two inches, and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam, then lower the heat and simmer gently, partially covered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the beans are beginning to soften.

3. Add the onion, potatoes, and turnips, and cook for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened. Add the chorizo and kale and cook for 10 minutes, or until the kale is tender.

Wisconsin Winter Espresso Truffles

Espresso Truffles

The very hungry grad students are on winter break, and I have returned to Midwest to visit friends and family. My lovely friend Emily lives in Chicago and was an awesome hostess when Kevin and I spent New Years in the Windy City. I made these truffles for her as a thank you/New Years gift and gave them to her when I returned to Chicago to help my little sister move in some seriously bitter Midwestern cold. I got the recipe from the Orange Tree Imports Cookbook, a compilation of recipes from the staff of Orange Tree Imports, a great specialty cookware and gift shop with cooking classes in Madison, WI, which my mom managed before I was born, and which has been thriving in Madison for over 35 years.

Chocolate Espresso Truffles (adapted from Glee Brechler’s original Chocolate Truffles recipe)

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (go with Ghirardelli)
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon espresso, Grand Mariner, Kahlua or coffee (I used espresso)
1/3 stick unsalted butter
Bitter cocoa powder

Melt chocolate in top of double boiler. While chocolate is warm, add egg yolks. Stir with a whisk. The eggs will cause the mixture to curdle and form a large lump. Remove from heat and add milk and espresso (or liqueur or coffee). Return the mixture to heat and stir until the mixture is uncurdled, or smooth. Alternatively, if you don’t have a blender, you can melt the chocolate in the microwave — just make sure to microwave it for short periods of time so that you don’t overheat it.

Remove from heat and add butter bit by bit (tip: cut sticks of butter into small pieces beforehand). Whisk the chocolate after each addition of butter. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap. The original recipe suggests refrigerating for 48 hours until hard (the chocolate will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks), but because I needed to give the chocolates to Emily the following day, I ignored this step and actually just stuck the chocolate out in the garage for about four hours (at the time, it was 10 degrees in Milwaukee). The chocolate was workable and still delicious.

Use a melon baller to make balls (the recipe suggests either 24 1 inch truffles or 48 inch truffles) — I eyeballed it, but I wouldn’t make the truffles tooo big, because they are rich. Smooth with hand. Roll in bitter cocoa.

The warmth of your hands is enough to smooth the chocolates, as they melt quickly and easily. If the chocolate becomes too soft to handle, put the mixture back into the fridge (or, um, garage) and chill until hard again (~15 mins).

Cook: Emily

Lesson Learned: A garage in Wisconsin in January works refrigeration wonders.

Tinga de Pollo

I’ve been beginning to experiment with the slow cooker my mom gave me for my birthday — truly, it’s a grad student’s time and money management dream. These chicken tinga tacos (chicken tinga=chipotle and tomato sauce, with shredded chicken) are somewhat loosely adapted from Rick Bayless’s recipe (I’ve been inspired by my dad and sister’s recent foray into Mexican cooking. Also, waiting in line for dinner at Frontera Grill has been a special treat for my family when we visit Chicago). The great thing about this recipe is that you can really swap in the meat you have on hand or on sale. I don’t really like potatoes (ahem, except the mashed or french fried kinds), so I just didn’t include them — there’s plenty of starch when you serve with tortillas, and if you like, you can always add rice to the mix. The recipe also includes the optional addition of chorizo, but to keep this meal on the cheap, I omitted that as well. Honestly, though, the spiced tomato and chicken in this recipe are all you need, and this crock pot provided at least two dinners worth of tacos for us. We used flour tortillas already in our fridge, but the original recipe calls for corn tortillas. I highly recommend serving with guacamole or some freshly chopped avocados.

Tinga de Pollo, adapted quite liberally from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen

2 pounds chicken, into 1-inch-ish pieces (no need to get finicky about chopping, as the meat will fall apart in the slow cooker) [skinless chicken thighs or boneless pork shoulder or boneless beef chuck, etc]
One 28-ouce can diced tomatoes in juice (fire-roasted is definitely best)
3 to 4 canned chipotle chiles en adobo, seeded and sliced ¼ inch thick (to taste; watch yourself with these if you’re sensitive to spiciness; the seeds add additional heat)
1 tablespoon chipotle canning sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 medium white onion, sliced ¼ inch thick (optional, but I included, think it’s a nice addition)
1 1/2 teaspon salt
Queso fresco or even cheddar cheese, optional, for topping

1. Spread the chopped chicken on the bottom of the slow cooker.
2. In a large bowl, mix the (undrained) tomatoes with the chipotles, chipotle canning sauce, Worcestershire, oregano, garlic, onion, and 1 ½ teaspoons salt.
3. Pour the mixture evenly over the meat.
4. Cover and slow-cook on high for 5-6 hours. (my slow cooker seems to heat things much more quickly than others I’ve read about, so this depends on your own crockpot). Pass some time in the library.
5. Return home to a delicious smelling kitchen. Taste and season with additional salt if you think the tinga needs it.
6. Shread/break apart chicken with fork. Serve with warm tortillas, fresh crumbled cheese and avocados, or serve on a tostada.

Cook: Emily

Lesson Learned: A slow cooker is the right answer.

Halloween Bake Sale: Frosted Pumpkin Bars

Every year, I get excited for Halloween. Over the years, I’ve worn costumes ranging from a Corona bottle (college) to the Bill on Capitol Hill (during my last Halloween in DC).

But costumes are only one reason I love fall. I also get excited for the pumpkin and butternut squash recipes that are in season at this time of year. The Environmental Law Society held a Halloween bake sale at the end of October, and I couldn’t resist making this pumpkin bar recipe from my mom.

Cook: Katie

Music: The Weepies

Lessons learned: I think I’m going to try to sub butter for oil in this recipe next time.

Frosted Pumpkin Bars

Cake:

2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 16 oz. can pumpkin
1 cup oil (I would try experimenting with butter instead.)
4 eggs

Icing:

1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese (softened)
6 TBsp butter
4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1. Combine all cake ingredients; mix well. Pour into ungreased 15 1/2 X 10 1/2-inch jelly roll pan (I just used a 9×13 glass baking dish). Bake at 350, 25 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool.

2. Frost with icing: Cream softened cream cheese and butter. Gradually add sugar; beat until well blended. Stir in vanilla.

Halloween 2010: Clue!

Island Spiced Pork

I’m pretty sure if there are saints among us, they’re the people who help us move. I recently had a good friend and her husband over for dinner after she spent an entire day helping me ferry my possessions from Hyde Park to the South Loop. (He was abroad in India at the time and therefore was excused from moving duty.)

I made Island Spiced Pork, which is one of my favorite fall/winter recipes. Enjoy!

Cook: Katie

Music: Les Choristes soundtrack (favorite song: Les Avions En Papier)

Lessons learned: If you read Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals before buying pork, you’ll not only feel uneasy about the whole concept, you’ll feel compelled to purchase it at Whole Foods.

Island Spiced Pork

Ingredients for Pork:

2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 pork tenderloins
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Ingredients for Glaze:

1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 Tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1 Tablespoon Tabasco

1. Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350.

2. Stir together salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon in a bowl. Coat pork all over with this spice rub.

3. Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke. (I didn’t have an oven proof skillet, so I just used a normal frying pan.) Brown pork, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes total. Remove from heat; leave pork in skillet.

4. Stir together garlic, brown sugar and tabasco in a small bowl. Pat the mixture firmly on the tops of the tenderloins. Roast (in a glass baking dish) until thermometer inserted diagonally in the center of each reads 140. ( I just roasted them for about 25 minutes or so — I don’t have a meat thermometer). Take out and let pork stand in baking dish, loosely covered with foil for 10 minutes.

5. Cut pork at 45 degree angle into 1/2 inch slices and arrange on a platter. Pour any juices from skillet over pork.