Raspberry Blueberry Muffins

Fall is just around the corner, and I love it and hate it. I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to long, sunny, cloudless summer days. To tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes are supposed to taste. To flip flops and tank tops. I actually love fall, a lot… but it's short, and just around the corner from fall, is winter and spring. Seattle winters and springs mean nothing but grey skies and rain.

I'm really excited for fall cooking—chili and pumpkin everything—but I don't want to wish away the sun too soon. Stop it with the candy corn, grocery stores, it's still summer! It's only August! I'm trying to soak up the last of this beautiful summer, and eat as much summer produce as I can. Tomatoes, berries, corn, zucchini, peaches…on everything, all the time. 

Use up your fresh summer raspberries and blueberries in these muffins (ps. they're so ripe and good right now!) but don't let fall or winter stop you…in a few months, you can still make them, but with frozen berries. This is the pretty much the basic muffin recipe from Fannie Farmer, which Mel made (with huckleberries) my entire life. Maybe it's a nostalgia thing, but I've seriously never had a muffin I like more than these, flavor and texture. They taste like my childhood. And like summer. And, they're super duper easy. 

PS. Cut open a hot muffin and slather on some butter… trust me, you won't regret it. There's no other way.

Raspberry Blueberry Muffins

Adapted slightly from Fannie Farmer

Makes 12

2 cups all purpose flour 

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 (overflowing) fresh raspberries

1/2 cup (overflowing) fresh blueberries

Course turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375, and grease 12 muffin tins. 

Reserve 1/4 cup of the flour, and toss with the berries. Whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add egg, milk, and butter. Stir until flour is damp and everything is just combined, but don't over mix. Lumps are ok! Gently stir in the flour coated berries. Fill muffin tins, sprinkle with course sugar, and bake for 20-25 minutes. 

Hatch Chile Rellenos

Some like it hot.

And some run to the kitchen to ice their flaming lips and cry like little babies and soak their burning hot hands/faces/mouths in olive oil and ice cream and butter and baking soda.

Guys… I’ll admit it, I’m not a major heat seeker. I mean, I’m a 2 star kinda gal. But really, these peppers were hot. Blazing, blistering, freakin’ hot.

So, everyone knows that Hatch Chiles from New Mexico are like, the bees knees, right? Well, when I saw that Whole Foods had fresh NM Hatch Chiles, I went a little crazy with excitement. I love a good (mild-to-medium) green chile. And Amanda’s boyfriend Pete’s family lives in NM and has a chile farm (ranch?) for crying out loud. With visions of chile rellenos dancing in my head, I tweeted Whole Foods to find out which store had the goods, then sent Amanda to pick up our loot.

Well, unknowingly, Amanda selected peppers from the HOT side of the bin… not the mild-to-medium side. So we made these super beautiful chile rellenos—stuffed peppers that even Pete’s peck-of-pepper-picking (er, growing) mom would be proud of—took a bite, and… holy effing hell. HOOOboy.

Oh. My. Bejeezus. those peppers were hot. I think only 2 in the whole batch were edible! Yowza! Amanda’s hands were on fire from peeling the peppers, my lips felt like they were melting off my face from ONE FREAKING BITE!

The two not-hots that made it into Amanda’s basket were actually really, really delicious. So, you should definitely make this recipe. Tasty green chile peppers wrapped around melty jack cheese, battered and fried up all golden… it’s a winner. But make sure you choose from the mild bin. Or have sour cream/ice/ice cream/fire extinguishers on hand.

Good luck.

Chile Rellenos

Adapted from this recipe 

There are a few steps involved, so be sure to read through the whole recipe before getting started!

10 large whole green chiles, with stems

1 lb jack cheese, cut into strips

1 cup flour                        

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder           

1/2 teaspoon salt                    

1 cup milk

2 eggs, slightly beaten

Oil for frying       

Optional for serving:

Cotija cheese

Sour cream

Red or green chile sauce     

First, you need to blister the peppers and remove the skin: Roast the peppers, either on the grill, under the broiler, or on a gas burner, turning occasionally, until blackened and blistered on all sides.

Put hot blistered peppers in a paper bag, and roll tightly to seal. Let the chiles steam until cool, about 15 minutes. Gently scrape away and discard the skins, slit the peppers open lengthwise on one side (below the stem), and gently remove the seeds.

While the peppers are steaming in the bag, prepare your batter: Whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Stir in eggs and milk until smooth.

To assemble and cook: Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy bottomed pan on medium-high heat. Fill peeled peppers with cheese strips, being careful not to rip pepper, and roll closed. Dip in batter. Fry, turning once, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Lemon Cake with Blackberry Buttercream

I made this cake, and it's delicious, and you should probably make it too. It's also really pretty. My blackberry frosting turned out bright pink (that's all the berries, no food coloring here!), which would be SO CUTE at a girl's baby shower. But I didn't make it for a baby shower, I made it for Amanda's birthday, which was also SO CUTE. 


Guys, I wish I could tell you more about this cake right now, or about how the decoration job on this is "rustic" because I'm super impatient with frosting things (cut out sugar cookies are the worst), but really, I'm a little busy. Catching up on episodes of Parenthood in preparation for season 5. OMG. I laugh. I cry. Every single episode of that show is an emotional roller coaster. I'm out of control. 


Ok, now I just talked about baby showers, Parenthood, and emotional roller coasters in one blog post. Don't get the wrong idea, folks… I know what you were thinking. You and your filthy minds. 




Just make this cake already! 

Lemon Cake with Blackberry Buttercream

Cake

Adapted slightly from Martha Stewart

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 1/2 cups  all purpose flour (or 2.5 cups plus 2.5 tablespoons cake flour)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon zest

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs plus 3 large egg yolks

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup milk

1 lemon, thinly sliced and seeded

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour two 8X2 inch cake pans, tapping out excess flour. 

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest.

In a large bowl (I used stand mixer) beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Turn speed to low and mix in eggs and yolks, one at a time, scrape down bowl. Mix in 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Alternately mix in flour mixture and milk (scraping down bowl each time) beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined.

Divide batter between pans and smooth the tops. Bake until cakes start to pull away from sides of pans, about 32 minutes. Let cool in pans 10 minutes, then run a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto a wire rack.

While cakes are baking, bring remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a saucepan, lower heat, add lemon slices, and simmer for 25 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer lemon slices to a sheet of waxed-paper. Stir remaining 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice into syrup.

Using a toothpick, poke holes in warm cakes on rack. Brush with lemon syrup. Let cool completely before frosting. Decorate with candied lemon slices and fresh blackberries, and drizzle any a bit of remaining lemons syrup over berries. 

Frosting

Adapted slightly from this recipe


1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature


4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup blackberry puree (from about 1 cup of loosely measured blackberries--see below for puree directions)


1 tsp vanilla extract


pinch salt


Puree the blackberries in a small food processor or with immersion blender. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, using a rubber spatula to press the juice and puree through. 

In a large bowl (I used electric mixture with paddle attachment) cream the butter at medium speed for 1 minute. Reduce speed to low, and (carefully, so you it doesn't go flying everywhere) add in the powdered sugar and pinch of salt. Mix until combined, then add the vanilla and blackberry puree. Increase speed to medium, and beat until smooth. 

It might look a bit separated at first, keep beating. If it's too runny, just add a bit more sugar, and likewise, if it's too stiff, add a bit of liquid (either a splash of milk or puree some more blackberries). 

Southwest Quinoa Burrito Bowl...Salad

Some of my gal pals are really into the no-salad-salad, as they call it. The no-salad-salad is basically a big bowl of salady stuff that isn't leafy green and lettuce-like. They throw in a whole bunch of veggies, beans, and baby corn. 

Ugh. Can I tell you something? I hate baby corn. It totally freaks me out. When I was a little kid I loved it...until one time, at a fancy restaurant (ahem, it was the O'Callahan's restaurant at the Shilo Inn in The Dalles, OR... which I thought was like, the fanciest of fancy...it wasn't) I yoinked a baby corn off of Mel's plate when she wasn't looking, and it was pickled or something, and it tasted awful, and I threw up. I've been super anti baby corn ever since that day. PS. this is totally not food-blog friendly, but I have a lot of stories that end with "and then I threw up." 

But I digress, this post really has nothing to do with baby corn or my wimpy stomach. It's all about no-salad-salad.

So anyway, whenever I try to make the standard no-salad-salad, I feel like it doesn't come out quite as good as when my friends do it. It feels like a big, jumbled, incoherent mess. That's why I like themed no-salad-salads. Like Greek-style salads loaded with chickpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes, and olives. Or, my favorite: a no-salad-salad with southwest flair. Otherwise known as a burrito bowl. Can we just call it a Southwest Quinoa Burrito Bowl…Salad? 

This one has so much goodness in it: sweet corn fresh off the cob (not the baby variety, thankyouverymuch), avocado, green onions, tomatoes, cilantro, black beans, and cotija cheese, all doused with fresh squeezed lime juice. You could definitely eat this as is. Or you could make it even better by tossing it with quinoa and a creamy southwest sauce. I vote you do that. I vote you do that right now. 

Southwest Quinoa Burrito Bowl Salad

Serves 4

Creamy Southwest Sauce

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon of each: cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano

Splash hot sauce (I use Tapatio) 

Juice from half a lime

Salt & pepper to taste

For sauce, whisk together sour cream through hot sauce, until smooth and creamy. Save the other lime half for salad. Salt & Pepper to taste. 

Salad 

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 large tomato, diced

1 avocado, diced

Fresh corn off the cob from 1 ear

2-3 green onions, sliced

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1/3 cup crumbled cotija cheese

Juice from half a lime

Creamy Southwest Sauce

Cook quinoa: Rinse until water runs clear, drain. Add to a medium pot with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and cool before mixing with salad. 

Stir together black beans through cotija cheese, and toss with lime juice. Add cooled quinoa, and stir until just combined (gently, so you don't moosh up the avocado). Salt and pepper to taste. To eat, either mix in the sauce, or add sauce to each serving. 

Wine Country or Bust: Sonoma

We went to wine country last weekend for Amanda's big dirty 30 birthday. Can I just move to Sonoma like, right now? 

It was so beautiful there, the people are super friendly, and the food and wine... yep. Loved it. A lot. 

The eight of us (Sonomaballin' Crew 2013...classy as always) rode bikes down little dusty backroads between vineyards, drank a ton of wine (maybe a little too much wine, but who's counting), tasted all kinds of cheese, ate a ton of good food, and went a little crazy in the swimming pool at our rental house. 

Highlights: riding bikes through the most beautiful country side ever, the wine and pizza at Benziger Family Winery, the scenery at Ravenswood, the artwork at Imagery, the picnic we had at Bartholomew Park Winery, the brunch at Girl and the Fig (seriously, get the fried green tomatoes, you won't regret it...and the chorizo, holy hell that chorizo...), Jim from Jacuzzi Winery (he asked if we have "YOLO" in Seattle), and the all around good timing friends I was there with. PS. A few photos here are from Dee, Evan, or Amanda, the rest are mine. 

Weeknight Pasta with Artichokes, Olives, and Sausage

On Friday, along with a bunch of total wackos, I'm going to get in a van, drive up to the Canadian border, and spend the next 24 hours and 200-ish miles competing in a relay race back toward Seattle. It's Ragnar time! This is my 5th year running in the Ragnar Relay! Team Chafin' the Dream, represent! 

If you don't know what Ragnar is, you're missing out. Or maybe you're just sane. Teams of 12 people tag team running for 24 hours straight, relay-style. So, one runner hits the road at a time, and the rest of the team hops along in the vans. Each runner runs three times, with each leg ranging between 3-8 miles. Total distance per person is anywhere from 12 miles to 20 miles. I'm somewhere in the middle. The low middle. 

Leading up to the race is always a bit crazy, as I'm trying to pull my running clothes together, pack healthy snacks, get in a few last workouts, create some crazy costumes, and of course, carb UP! Ok, that last part is a bit of a joke, because I mean, c'mon…carb might as well be my middle name. I carb up to prep for carbing up. 

With all this running around, I've been a little stressed out about getting a blog post up here. Sometimes I get caught up in wild, fancy recipes, trying to think up something you've never seen before. So I forget that simple, easy, every day recipes can be pretty damn good. Like this one. Not only does it help me hit the ol' carb quota, but it's perfect for a busy weeknight (and tastes pretty great, too). It's also perfect for last minute dinners with friends, because it makes a big pot of pasta and comes together like that. Oh...picturing me snapping my fingers when I say "like that." 

My friend Bree threw this combo together one night, and I was blown away by the simplicity and awesomeness of it. Oh yeah...people like every day recipes, too! You can add pretty much whatever you want, but I start with a box of whole wheat pasta, a big can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes, a can of artichoke hearts and black olives, an onion, a bell pepper, and some pre-cooked sausage (I used smoked garlic chicken sausages here...sorry if they look a little...pale and weird). If you wanna spice it up, add garlic and basil, and maybe some red pepper flakes. And definitely top it with parmesan. 


Eat this, and wish me luck this weekend! 

Weeknight Pasta with Artichokes, Olives, and Sausage

Serves 4-6

1 box whole wheat penne pasta (about 13 ounces)

Olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 package pre-cooked sausage (about 4 links), sliced

1 bell pepper, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, diced

Handful of basil, slivered

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I like San Marzano) 

1 normal-size can artichoke hearts, drained

1 normal-size can large black olives, drainedOlive oil

Salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese, grated 

Cook pasta according to package instructions. 

Meanwhile, heat a swig of olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté until starting to brown. Add sausage, and cook for a couple of minutes, add pepper, garlic, and basil, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Drain pasta, reserving about a half cup of pasta water. Add pasta and reserved water to pot with veggies, and stir in tomatoes, olives, and artichoke hearts. Serve with grated parmesan. 

Creamy Coffee Popsicles

Lets talk about coffee for a minute. 

I have a bit of a coffee problem. As in, I drink a ton of it and can't start my day without it. I'm also kind of a coffee snob. I'm not a fan of a certain coffee chain that my city prides itself on—I like small local roasters and shops, a good bold flavor, and no add ons. No sugar-vanilla-double-triple-mocha--latte-whip for me, please. Give it to me black. Hot or iced. 

I'll occasionally add a small splash of (unflavored) cream or half n half if I'm feeling frisky, but never sugar. I just like the flavor of the coffee, alright!? I'll make an exception to my no-sugar-in-my-coffee rule when it comes to desserts like coffee ice cream. Or Vietnamese coffee, with swirls of sticky sweetened condensed milk. 

That's what I was going for with these pops originally, Vietnamese coffee popsicles. But, once the coffee and condensed milk are stirred together and frozen, you lose that swirly separation that makes Vietnamese coffee its own special beast. Instead, they took on a coffee ice cream vibe, and I can dig that. Super strong coffee ice cream on a stick? Ok, now that will appease both my dessert obsession and my coffee snobbery. 

Creamy Coffee Pops
From this pop recipe and this coffee recipe

Makes 8-10 depending on size of popsicle mold

I used David Lebovitz's recipe/proportions, but rather than brewing espresso, I made a batch of cold brew. Seriously, strong, dark cold brew is one of life's greatest inventions. And it's so, SO easy (Make it just to have in the fridge...your life will change). Just plan ahead. The cold brew needs to sit overnight, then pops will take 4-6 hours (or more) to freeze through. Also, these are super strong...and caffeinated. If you're planning on having these in evening, consider decaf coffee grounds. 

2/3 cup of ground coffee 
2 3/4 cups water
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

Add ground coffee and water to a large container and stir until all the grounds are wet. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Strain through cheesecloth and a fine-mesh sieve.

To make pops, whisk together the strained coffee and condensed milk, and pour into popsicle molds. Freeze until solid.