Thai-Style Mussels

I know my blog has been heavy on the cooking posts, but this turned out too good not to share. These mussels are very quick and simple to make, and taste very much like the kind you’d get in a Thai restaurant.

You’ll need:

mussels
2-4 shallots
2 stalks of lemongrass
2 red chili peppers
fresh mint leaves
lime juice
fish sauce
green onions
fresh cilantro

Wash the mussels, discarding the open and broken ones. Place in a large pot.

Dice the shallots and lemongrass, and thinly slice the chilis. Throw these in the pot with a few torn mint leaves, a generous amount of lime juice, and a dash of fish sauce.

Cover and cook on high for about 5 minutes, until all the mussels have opened. Slice the green onions into curly ribbons (kitchen shears work well for this). Garnish the cooked mussels with the green onion ribbons and fresh cilantro .

 

Grapefruit Poppy Seed Cake with Honey Whipped Cream and Grapefruit Curd

Recently I noticed that grapefruit and coffee compliment each other really well. That got me thinking about the possibility of a grapefruit cake, and this is what I came up with:

It’s one of those dense, rustic cakes that I love, with the poppy seeds yielding a subtle crunchiness. The yogurt and olive oil provide richness and complexity without overpowering the delicate grapefruit flavor. Whipped cream flavored with a touch of honey and fresh grapefruit curd are the perfect accompaniments. That, and a cup of coffee.

Grapefruit Poppy Seed Cake (makes two 8-inch round cakes)
I started with this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but if you compare the two you’ll see I modified it a lot.

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
juice of one grapefruit
zest of one grapefruit
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1/2 cup olive oil, preferably extra virgin
1/4 cup poppy seeds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease two 8 inch round pans.

Sift together the flour and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs, then add the grapefruit juice and zest. Add the olive oil and yogurt and mix until well blended. Slowly add the flour mixture until it is all incorporated. Fold in the poppy seeds.

Pour the batter into the two prepared pans and bake about 45 minutes, until the cake is just starting to crisp at the edges and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then remove from pans and cool completely.

Grapefruit Curd
For this recipe I took my basic lemon curd and swapped out the lemons for grapefruit.

3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp grapefruit zest
2 eggs
2/3 cup fresh grapefruit juice
2 tbsp butter

Combine the sugar, zest, and eggs in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring continuously. Cook until the sugar dissolves and mixture is light in color (about 3 minutes). Stir in grapefruit juice and butter; cook, stirring continuously, for 5 minutes or until the mixture thinly coats the back of a spoon. Cool. Cover and chill (the mixture will thicken as it cools).

Honey Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp honey

Whisk together the cream and honey. With an electric mixer at high speed, whip up the cream mixture until peaks form.

 

Poached Egg with Arugula and Shallots

This is a nice springtime dinner I came up with last night. It looks so elegant, but takes less than 10 minutes to make. The bitter arugula, creamy egg, spicy mustard, and sweet shallots play off each other really well.

You will need:

1 Egg
Butter
1 Shallot, sliced thinly
Dijon mustard
Baby arugula
A thick slice of tomato
Salt and pepper

Get a small pot of salted water boiling for the egg. There are several different ways to poach an egg; I used the vortex method. Use whichever method you prefer.

Meanwhile, sauté the shallots in the butter until they get soft and golden. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, and add a little more butter if necessary. Add about half a spoonful of Dijon (a little goes a long way here) and some water or white wine to make a sauce.

Throw in a few handfuls of arugula and sauté for a few seconds until it is coated in the sauce and the leaves are wilted. Remove from heat and stir in the shallots. Heap the arugula mixture onto a serving dish and keep warm.

Wipe out the pan and get it really hot. Sear the tomato slice on each side, pressing down on it gently, until it is slightly charred. Position the charred tomato on top of the arugula pile, and top with the poached egg. Grind fresh pepper over the entire thing.

 

Spa Water

I’ve trying to cut back on caffeine and alcohol, but I don’t enjoy drinking plain water. So this “spa water” is nice to have around; it’s just water that’s been infused with herbs and other refreshing things.

I made mine with sparkling mineral water, cucumber and lemon slices, and fresh mint. I think rosemary, basil, grapefruit, and gingerroot would be nice additions as well. You could use plain seltzer instead of mineral water, or even regular non-sparkling water.

 

Lamb and Rosemary Soup

This soup is really tasty, and low-carb as well. Adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen.

1 can chickpeas
1 can small white beans
1 cup diced shallots or onions
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup diced carrots
Olive oil
1 Tbsp very finely chopped fresh rosemary, plus a couple whole sprigs
1 can beef stock
3 cans chicken stock
Salt and pepper
1/2 lb. leg of lamb or lamb shoulder meat, all fat trimmed, then cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Rinse the chickpeas and white beans in a colander and let them drain.

Heat olive oil in large heavy frying pan. Add shallots, garlic, carrots, and celery and saute 3 minutes, until vegetables are starting to soften. Add chopped rosemary and saute 2-3 minutes more.

Put vegetables into a crockpot or large soup pot, then add beef stock, chicken stock, and beans. Add salt and pepper to taste (I found it needs a lot to bring out the flavors). Simmer 1 hour.

Brown lamb in same pan you sauteed the vegetables in, adding a little more olive oil if needed. Add browned lamb to soup. Rinse out pan with a little water, scraping off any browned bits, and add to soup. Throw in some rosemary sprigs to infuse the broth. Simmer about one more hour, until beans are very soft and flavors are well blended. Pull out the rosemary sprigs and serve.

 

Spring Cupcakes

Here are the cupcakes E and I made for my housewarming party:

We made the vanilla buttermilk date cupcakes from the The Sweet Kitchen, and a buttercream of our own invention. We’ve made this recipe before and it’s really good.

My rose petal tip was missing so I had to forgo my original plan to decorate half the cupcakes with roses. It’s just as well because I barely had enough frosting to decorate 20 cupcakes with the little flowers. I was surprised by how quickly these cakes disappeared at the party!

 

Chicken Spinach Salad with Warm Ginger Vinaigrette

  

I must be on a ginger kick lately; this recipe for a gingery Asian-style salad comes from Kalyn’s Kitchen. The ginger vinaigrette is phenomenal– I’ve made similar dressings before, but this one is a million times better. Maybe the heat has something to do with it. It was so good that I had to go back to the kitchen and make a second batch.

 

MFK Fisher’s Ginger Hottendots

  

After a delightful Saturday morning at the farmer’s market and LYS, I wanted to go home and bake something. I came across a recipe for these little ginger cookies in Classic Home Desserts, a very comprehensive dessert cookbook that I highly recommend.

This is a recipe of MFK Fisher, who claimed her cookies contain three times as much ginger as is standard. She said she liked to serve them at the end of cocktail parties “to evade trouble with the cops.” 

The cookies are wonderfully chewy, slightly buttery, and very gingery without being too hot. They’re the perfect companion to a cup of black or herbal tea.

M.F.K. Fisher’s Ginger Hottendots

3-3/4 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs ground ginger
1/2 tsp gr. cinnamon
1/4 tsp gr. cloves
3/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)
2 tsp cider or balsamic vinegar

Sift dry ingredients. Cream butter and sugar. Stir in eggs, molasses and vinegar. Add dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Dough can be refrigerated at this point, if desired. Roll dough into 1/2-inch balls or into 1/2″-thick rolls and cut into 1/4″ to 1/2″ pieces and place 1″ apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325° until soft, about 6 or 7 minutes; don’t overbake. They will crisp as they cool. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 15 dozen tiny cookies.

 

Morning Muesli

I usually skip breakfast, which wouldn’t be so bad except I tend to skip lunch as well, and the one-meal-a-day thing is supposed to be really bad for your metabolism. So I few days ago I whipped up a batch of cranberry muesli.

If you get excited by recipes that involve wheat germ and yogurt, like I do, you’ll love this one. It’s low calorie but very nutritious and filling. Here’s the recipe.

Cranberry Muesli (from eatingwell.com)

1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1/2 cup unsweetened or fruit-juice-sweetened cranberry juice
6 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking or steel-cut)
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 tablespoon unsalted sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon wheat germ
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine yogurt, juice, oats, cranberries, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, honey, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl; cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. Makes 2 servings, about 2/3 cup each 

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 209 calories; 4 g fat (1 g sat, 1 g mono); 4 mg cholesterol; 37 g carbohydrate; 8 g protein; 3 g fiber; 190 mg sodium; 266 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Calcium (15% daily value).
2 1/2 Carbohydrate Servings
Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 fruit, 1/2 other carbohydrate, 1/2 fat

 

 

Classic Chocolate Cupcakes

One of my old standbys for chocolate cake is the “Perfectly Chocolate” cake and icing recipe on the back of Hershey’s Cocoa. As far as basic chocolate cakes go, this one is superb, which is funny because most recipes involving cocoa instead of chocolate disappoint me with their blandness.

For C’s birthday I halved the cake recipe to make a dozen cupcakes, and doubled the amount of frosting. Mmm, frosting.

Though I enjoy making elaborately decorated cakes, I think a birthday cake should have a cutsey, homespun look. So out came the cupcake tins and colorful sprinkles and maraschino cherries. C doesn’t like most sweets, but she loved these!