Spanish inspired cookies that ring Iran

Tonight we're having a potluck, a themeless one because of technical difficulties that prevented us from contacting our family soon enough to insist upon a theme. But Dad's making paella, so I decided to make the bizcocho de naranja that I made a year or so ago when Dad made paella.
To go along with it as well, I figured I should make something else, just in case. So I flipped through The New Spanish Table by Anya von Bremzen and the very last recipe is for Chocolate-Dipped Almond-Stuffed Figs. That definitely caught my eye and I added it to the grocery list. But the dried figs were too expensive and too small at the first store and had too many preservatives in them at the second store. After I made my cake, I remembered having seen a recipe for a pistachio shortbread that I had all the ingredients for, so I measured out my pistachios just to make sure, and then decided to make it. The smell was familiar - like Iranian treats, so the cookies work perfectly for tonight whether I pretend I'm going with the Spanish theme or appealing to my family's preferences.

The scent of saffron and the presence of pistachios placed into something Scottish. It's a multi-ethnic cookie!

But you can find the recipe on page 451 of The New Spanish Table, here or here. The latter also has the recipe for chocolate-dipped almond-stuffed figs that I was going to make until I couldn't find figs and had everything to make the shortbread.

Granola Bar Weekend

I'm not sure what possessed me to make granola bars, but I had some sort of urge to make them on Friday night that was unfulfilled. I made corn tortillas, and when I was done with that, I decided to make granola bars. Mom told me she'd be home soon, so I didn't have enough time. And discovered I didn't have quite enough almonds, and despite having other nuts around, I was determined to use almonds.
So on Saturday, after the SAT (how fitting SATurday), I came home and made granola bars. I did have a paper due on Tuesday, but this is me and when the pressure comes pounding, I do something else.

The granola bars I made on Saturday were straight from The Kitchen Sink, though mine didn't come out nearly as photogenic. And I have an inability to cut things. Oh, and I used cherries instead of cranberries.Other than my parents complaining they were too hard (something I like about CRISPY granola bars), they were good. But I noticed the crumbs after eating them were almost always the whole flax seeds.

So on Monday, while my friend was editing my paper for me, I set out to make another batch of granola bars, but this time without coconut (which somehow sneaked its way in) and with ground flaxseeds (which somehow ended up as a mess in the garbage can.) The wheat germ in the container I couldn't get open was rancid, so for some reason I chose to use oat bran instead (these'll definately clean you out) and I added more honey after measuring (so weight is given for it and the tahini with estimates for volume). I personally liked these better, even though the fruit was EXTREMELY chewy and I left them in the oven a little too long because I chose to ignore to timer and continue what I was working on.



Sesame Pistachio Crisp Granola Bars
makes 16 bars, or however many pieces you choose to cut it into

2 1/2 cups (≈265 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup (≈40 grams) oat bran
1/4 cup (≈20 g) shredded coconut
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 cup (≈150g) almonds
1/2 cup (≈60 g) pistachios
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or 1 tsp. of finer grain salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
130 g honey (that's probably around 1/3 to 1/2 cup, I think)
80 g tahini, a ground sesame paste (that's probably around 1/4 to 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line a 8x8 or 9x9 baking sheet with two perpendicular pieces of parchment paper in a cross with overhangs for easier lifting; grease paper.

Mix together oats, oat bran, coconut, sesame seeds, almonds, and pistachios and spread out on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Toast in oven for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine salt, cinnamon, honey, and tahini in a large saucepan. When the oat mixture has about 5 minutes left, heat over medium heat, stirring, until honey and tahini make are warm and thoroughly mixed. Turn heat to low. Stir in oat mixture and dried fruits.

Press into prepared pan and bake in oven for about 30 minutes or until just turning golden. Let cool completely in pan on rack. Cut into desired size pieces.

Lentils and Peppers

My mom's sick, and I wanted a nice, easy, simple dinner that would be hearty without being too heavy since she wasn't very hungry. I also wanted to use the baby peppers in the fridge that were going bad. I had no expectations for the dinner, and even though it took a lot longer to make than I expected (well, not longer, but I thought I'd have time to sit down and do some homework while the lentils were cooking), it turned out nice. And then Mom went to bed. I still have to do my homework though...

Stewed Lentils with Sweet Peppers
serves 2 to 3

2/3 cup dried lentils
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
pinch nutmeg
pinch allspice
pinch crushed red pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped

for pepper topping:
2 bell peppers, cut into thin strips
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons olive oil

yogurt, for serving

Bring lentils, spices, and enough water to cover by an inch to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat and let simmer, covered, 35 minutes or until tender. Add tomatoes and garlic and cook until most liquid has evaporated.

Meanwhile, coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Toss peppers and onion slices with oil and bake in a 425ºF oven for 10-15 minutes, stirring once, or until starting to brown at the edges.

To serve, portion lentils into bowls, top with a dollop of yogurt, and roasted vegetables and enjoy.

Warm Grain Salad for a Cold Night

Usually I don't make recipes that aren't accompanied by photos. I flip through magazines and am attracted by the pictures. I pick up cookbooks with gorgeous covers that are filled with color pictures. In other words, I judge a recipe by its picture.
Which I realize is totally the wrong way to do things. I mean, I can easily think of a handful of dishes that I love that are absolutely hideous and would take an enormous amound of talent to make appear appetizing. (Ghormeh sabzi is one, I mean, its a dark green stew with brown bobs and chunks of meat and kidney beans bobbing around. If anything, its the kidney beans that might save it.) This dish is not one of those. This picture does not do it justice because we were sick and hungry and didn't have the patience for me to try to get a good picture; my goal here was just not blurry.

Oh, wait, I was talking about a cookbook. I picked up A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop, and couldn't put it back down. I mean, who could when there are gorgeous squash blossoms on the cover and a tomato-goat cheese tart on the back. It made me start dreaming of summer.
And yes, there are 8 pages of color inserts, but I kind of ignored them and flipped straight to the back of the book where the winter section is. And I wasn't dissapointed. I immediated ripped up a piece of paper and bookmarked two recipes. I still haven't even flipped through them all yet. The first one, a warm farro salad with roasted mushrroms and sheep's milk cheese, is what the picture above is of. I had the cheese in the fridge, so why not give it a try?
It was good - though not as good as it could have been, though that is all due to my modifications. The mushrooms, tomatoes, and shallots were awesome after roasted in the oven, and the cheese went wonderfully with it. The only problems were that I forgot to buy parsley and couldn't find any arugula and used spinach instead. It was good with spinach, but I think arugula would have been a bit nicer with it.

Since I didn't change anything about it, I'm not sure it would be right to post it here. So if you want to try it, it's on page 360 of the book.

Now I just need to try a few other recipes from it, like the Carribean Black Beans with Sautéed Plantains.

Beans for Dessert

My favorite Chinese pastry is based on something that isn't even Chinese at all. Red bean paste, which fills my favorite pastries in Chinatown, is Japanese. I think. I hope I just didn't misunderstand everything just now, but I'm fairly confident that what I'm saying is correct.

So after spending Friday in Chinatown for my friend's birthday, I bought some azuki beans on the way home with thoughts of making red bean paste filled mochi, since I figured I could use the rice starch I have to make paloodeh, and Iranian frozen dessert. But then I couldn't figure out how to make the super sticky, smooth, and gooey red bean paste since most recipes I found were for a rustic tsubushi-an, or mashed red beans. Which is totally fine with me, because it means I can make one of my favorite ice cream flavors instead: red bean ice cream.

For some reason, before Saturday, it never occured to me to try to make red bean ice cream. I've been keeping my eye out for matcha powder to make green tea ice cream, and was going to make candied red beans as a topping for it...but the thought of making red bean ice cream didn't occur to me. So when I found this recipe, I knew I had to try it.

So, sort-of following a recipe for tsubu-an, I set of on my quest to make the ice cream. And along the way, ate quite a bit of the extra tsubu-an. I've discovered it's quite tasty cold with some warm oven-roasted rutabaga, topped with some spinach, and wrapped in a flour tortilla. It was a very sweet meal, but that's okay with me.

Red Bean Ice Cream
adapted from Closet Cooking

1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mashed or pureed cooked and sweetened azuki beans (tsubushi-an)or red bean paste
1/2 cup sweeted azuki beans (tsubu-an)*

In a pot, bring milk and all but 2 Tablespoon of the sugar to a simmer.

Meanwhile, whisk together egg yolk and reserved 2T of sugar. Whisk in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk a tablespoon at a time to temper. Whisk the tempered egg yolks into the hot milk in the pot and heat over low heat until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon or has reached 170F or 77C.

Remove from heat and whisk in cream and pureed azuki beans. Let cool and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, 4 hours or overnight.

Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Add whole azuki beans in last few minutes of churning.


*If you want my versian of tsubu-an, which isn't perfect, but works. It came out undercooked a bit while cooked right in other places. Soak beans overnight and then, in a pot combine 1 1/2 cups azuki beans, a heaping half cup of sugar, and water to come about 1 inch above the beans. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until super tender. Add more water as needed.

Will You Be My Valentine?

So Valentine's Day.

It's not exactly my idea of a great holiday. Except for the whole excuse to give people chocolatey treats and not look like the crazy person you are. (What? Is it not normal to give people oatmeal raisin cookies, pumpkin bites, or blondies just because you feel like it?)

So now the sob story. Actually, it's too embarassing and emotionally charged for me so I'll spare you. It boils down to I didn't make it to the store on Tuesday and was distressed. Wednesday was math team (I did pretty well, but got home too late to do anything), and slept in on Thursday. So I wore green and black and said Happy Valentine's Day only in response to the handful of people who said it to me first.

So after school Thursday, a few of my friends came over and while they were playing DDR (okay, just Kate at the time), I whipped up a batch of these heart shaped goodies. Or squares, if you feel like being boring. We (okay, Kate supervised after failing to assemble a parchment triangle, which I also can't figure out) decorated them with a white chocolate drizzle, which made them pretty and festive.


Chocolate & Peanut Butter Crispy Hearts
makes 16 square bars in a 9x9 pan

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup chocolate chips
3 cups crispy rice cereal
white chocolate, melted to drizzle (optional)

In a saucepan stir peanut butter, honey, and chocolate chips together over medium heat until melted and well blended, about five minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in cereal.
Press into a greased 9x9 pan pan, or into a shape on a greased baking sheet if cutting into shapes with cookie cutters. Let cool 1 hour and then cut into desired shape and drizzle with white chocolate, if using.

Bananas, Bread, and Boredom

Okay, that's a lie. It wasn't boredom. It was more like it was Thursday evening and I didn't want to do my homework. I wanted to make butterscotch blondies. But I didn't want them to be dark again. And then I remembered the apricot blondies in the current F&W magazine. But that still had the light brown sugar issue. And then the whole fact that we don't have any dried apricots, and I didn't really want to use dried cranberries.

So I was in the kitchen waiting for Mom with the car to go buy some brown sugar since it was kind of slimy out. Okay, slushy. And the temperature had dropped a few degrees, so it was starting to get icy and I didn't want to fall in the dark, despite my obnoxious colored clothing that makes me easy to see. And there was the end of some stale whole wheat bread and overripe bananas on the counter. So...

I guess it makes sense where I'm going from there. I wanted to use up the bread. It became tiny little cubes, magically. And then two of the gigantic aromatic bananas turned into a olfactory pleasing puree with some milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a single egg for good measure. I wasn't trying to make anything fancy. No water bath or precooked custard for me. This would just be baked soggy bread.

I poured the banana puree over the bread, stirred the gooey mess, and put it in the fridge. Until breakfast today, when it turned out to be a lot richer than I expected. And quite sweet. All it was missing was a nice sauce, some creamy ice cream, or a dollop of whipped cream. Maybe next time.

Banana Bread Pudding
makes 3 8-ounce portions or 6 4-ounce

4 ounces stale bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 large ripe bananas (or about 1 cup pureed)
2/3 cup milk
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons sugar (or less, depending on how sweet you like it)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch salt


Place cubed bread in a medium bowl. In a blender or food processor, blend together bananas, milk, egg, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Pour banana mixture over bread and stir to coat. Let stand 1 hour or refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 3 to 6 small ramekins (4 to 8 ounce). Divide bread mixture evenly. Bake until browned on top and bubbly, about 20 minutes for 4-ounce puddings. Cool for about 5 minutes, and serve in ramekins or run a knife along edge and invert onto a plate.

The Super Bowl Always Needs A Super Dip

Somehow Super Bowl Sunday snuck up on me. I couldn't seem to remember when it was this year. (To my credit, I do know when Super Tuesday is, and its important in this state. Not that I can vote yet.) My family and I have no plans for this evening, other than watching the game, and my dad walked in the door just as the game started. Okay, that's not true. Because the game didn't start at five. I'm sitting here listening to the game as the Patriots run onto the field. The national anthem hasn't even been sung yet.

I can't remember what I'm saying because I'm also watching commercials, though they're mostly for fox shows it seems like. Though I will admit that the commercial for House did catch my attention.

Okay, the NFL Super Ad was also attention grabbing. But I'm not sitting here trying to report live about the Super Bowl.

It was to write about a peanut dip. I've made it before, possibly over the summer if not before then, and my mom even ate it. She's not a big peanut fan, except for sometimes. And it is super easy, just toss it all in a blender (or food processor) and blend until smooth, and serve with some veggies and maybe chips or crackers. I don't like my dip too sweet, so I cut down on the sugar, but the recipe its adapted from uses a lot more. Also, I kind of want to say soy sauce to taste because it depends on the peanut butter's saltiness.


Spicy Peanut Dip
makes about a cup

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup silken tofu (I used "soft" tofu today because I accidentally bought the wrong kind, and it works fine)
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend (or process) until smooth. Serve with crudite. It keeps for about two days in the fridge.

Birdie and Banana

Today in P.E. class I somehow ended up in the last court. Not intentionally, it just happened to be where I went to practice serving with my partner, and then when the teacher created games, defined the boundaries, and the direction of rotation for winners/losers, the very last court was the one I was in. It's suffice to say, I never left the court because there wasn't any further to recede. And one of my friends once again tried to get me to try out for Badminton. She asks every year, and this time was the first time she'd asked that I'd actually touched a racket. I can serve, I just can't do anything else.

Well, as far as badminton is concerned. But today was only my second day, and there's definitely room for improvement. Just like these muffins. Unlike badminton though, I'm not a newbie at making muffins.

We had a bunch of bananas turning brown on the breakfast table. They weren't quite overripe yet, but I've been wanting to make muffins, so they were the perfect excuse. I didn't have enough bananas in the freezer for these muffins. I also noticed shredded coconut in the fridge a few weeks ago when I was cleaning it, so I searched through my binder for the coco nana muffin recipe I'd tried a few summers ago. My notes seemed positive, they just suggested some more coconut extract. Yet I didn't listen to my notes.

The muffins are texturally perfect. Unlike the last batch of apple-oat muffins I made that were gooey and slightly underbaked and chunky, these were smooth and spongy (in that good way) with a nice chewy-crisp exterior. Maybe it's just because I like my muffins chunky with strong flavors, but the understated banana flavor and hidden coconut undertones just didn't impress me. Maybe next time I will throw in chocolate chips or raisins like I did the first time (I actually split up the batter the first time I made it into plain, chocolate chip, and raisin and then didn't record which I liked best).


Coco Nana Muffins
makes 12 muffins
adapted from The Complete Muffin Cookbook by Gloria Ambrosia
I know these weren't absolutely amazing, but the texture was. I feel bad having made these so late in the day and planning on freezing them because I'm scared they aren't studded with fruit, nuts, or oats and will turn to rubber when I reheat them. But if you have dried fruit or chocolate around, I suggest tossing some in. Be careful not to overmix.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar (the original recipe called for 1/2 cup light brown sugar, but I only had 1/4 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup flaked coconut, divided

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 large, I used 5 small)
1 1/4 cups milk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract


Preheat oven to 375F. Grease or line a muffin tin.

Sift the flours, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Reserve 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut, stir in remainder.

In a medium bowl, whisk together mashed bananas and remaining ingredients.

Pour the bananas mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir just until mixed.

Fill each muffin cup almost to the top with batter. Top each muffin with a large pinch of reserved coconut. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Let cool slightly in tin. Remove from tin before completely cool to prevent bottoms from getting soggy.

Straight From The Bag

I remember having homemade coconut macaroons at my best friend's house when I was seven or eight. We were in the kitchen with her mom and I remember saying that I didn't like coconut, but as I dipped the super sweet slightly cooled coconut macaroons into the melted chocolate and placing them on a plate to cool, something changed. I bit into one, and decided I liked the sugar-loaded and semisweet chocolate covered cookie.

I remember that not too long after that when I went to the store with my mom we bought a bag of sweetened shredded coconut and the ingredients listed on the back of the bag to make macaroons. Unlike the usual order of things in the kitchen with Anna teaching me to make pierogi and having me fold the filling into the little pockets as I ran around the house after my homework, I taught her how to make macaroons as per the recipe on the back. Ours weren't dipped into melted chocolate, but ever since then, I haven't passed up a recipe or cookie just because it contained coconut. By fifth grade, Almond Joys replaced 3 Musketeers as my favorite candy on Halloween.

I don't think I've made macaroons since then, though I know I've used coconut a few times since then in baked goods and savory dishes. Just not cookies.

Last week, I reminded myself a bit of the elementary school kid taking charge in the kitchen, armed with a key ingredient whose label contained a coveted recipe. Only this time, that ingredient just happened to be in the kitchen and wasn't sought out to make the recipe listed on its label.
I had a bag of spelt flour sitting on the counter since I made some super-simple peanut butter chocolate chip cookies in November, and I'm sure it is on it way to rancidity. But the recipe side of the bag has been facing me, with a Spelt Chocolate Chip cookie recipe, so last Sunday, after dinner, I whipped up a batch of the cookies, mostly following the recipe. I had an open bag of white chocolate chunks (I've been getting lazy about chopping my own chocolate), so I strayed a bit from the recipe on the bag. But my mom loved them. Granma dubbed them "so-so", and someone in my math class who makes addictive chocolate chip cookies asked if they had a lot of vanilla. I guess a teaspoon could be considered a bit.

Then, last night, I was going to whip a batch of oatmeal-raisin cookies for my aunt and uncle since my aunt after telling her how I'd been keeping cookie dough balls in our freezer, so we can have fresh-baked cookies in twenty minutes after baking off a batch in her oven Friday night. But instead I finally tried the oatmeal cranberry white chocolate chunk cookie recipe on the back of the Craisins bag. (Those things are too sweet. After having another brand for a while, they taste almost like pure sugar.) I was happy with the results, though the yield it listed was wrong. I think they mean tablespoonfulls, not teaspoons for the size of the cookies.

Though I'll admit, I do have some trouble following the recipes as written.

Spelt Chocolate Chip and Nut Cookies
adapted from recipe on back of Arrowhead Mills Spelt Flour bag
makes two to three dozen cookies, depending on size (I use a 2-tsp. scoop)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup turbinado sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 3/4 cup spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup white chocolate chips or chunks
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
3 tablespoons toasted chopped walnuts (or use all pine nuts, I would definitely at least use some pine nuts)

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare two baking sheets (either grease or line with parchment or silpat).

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt until smooth. Fold in chocolate and nuts.

Drop on prepared baking sheet by teaspoonfuls and bake for 10-12 minutes or until done.


Cranberry-Orange White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from recipe on bag of Craisins
makes about 2 dozen small cookies

1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1 egg
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour or AP flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 ounces (about 1/2 cup) sweetened dried cranberries
1/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 375F. Line two baking sheets or grease.

In a large bowl beat together butter, sugar, and orange zest until fluffy. Beat in egg.

In a small bowl, mix together oats, flour, and baking soda. Stir into butter mixture until combined. Fold in cranberries and white chocolate.

Spoon teasponfuls of batter onto prepared sheets. Bake 8-12 minutes or until golden.