HoMeMade Honey Ginger GrahaM Crackers

Hey Ma,

Ok, so that soup you posted yesterday looks seriously delicious. I'm going to have to make it very soon, particularly if this cold weather we've had for the last couple of days sticks around any longer (you never know what October will bring here in the Bay Area). Thanks for giving me the recipe. I like having your recipes to cook from (and from other people I love). It's such a nice way to feel connected to someone.

Anyway, this weekend something really exciting happened: I baked for the first time since M was born. I love baking, like love love love love it. I find it incredibly relaxing and gratifying. Following a recipe requires just enough attention to keep my brain from spiraling away from me, but not so much attention that I can't get some really good thinking done while my hands work. I've been wanting to bake--longing, really--but what with the general chaos of our lives these days a window simply hadn't presented itself.

John and M went out to run errands for a few hours the other morning and G was still asleep. I decided doing something I really wanted with this time was more important than doing homework, which is what I--no joke--do with every second I have to myself these days (ok, I shower, too). I needed to fuel myself a bit and so I poured a cup of coffee, put on Loretta Lynn and busted out my cookbooks.

Aaaahhhh...


I decided I would try to make something I'd never made before--never even had a homemade version of before, in fact. As I perused my copy of "The Craft of Baking" by Karen DeMasco and Mindy Fox I stumbled across a recipe for homemade graham crackers. I checked the fridge and pantry and, having the ingredients (ok, having the ingredients needed if I halved the recipe...close enough), immediately set about baking.

I'm going to share the recipe as I slightly modified it with you. The only warning I'll give is that you definitely want to roll your dough for these as thinly as you dare. I think Dad would really enjoy these (they're not super sweet at all) and, based on the fact that they disappeared from the counter within a day, I'm guessing just about anybody else would, too. I can't wait to make them for M when she's a little older (you'll notice I punched mine with Ms in her honor). I have high hopes of making my own marshmallows and chocolate sometime, too, and preparing entirely homemade s'mores. If you're lucky, we'll be living close enough for you to stop by when I finally get around to this project.

Anyway, I love you. Back to the books for me.

xxoo
R


ingredients
you can double this recipe
1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (plus more for rolling)
1/4 c. whole-wheat flour
1/4+1/8 tspn. kosher salt (I'm sure there's a better way to articulate that measurement, but it's evading me right now)
1/4 tspn. baking soda
1/4 tspn. cinnamon
4 oz. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, at room temperature
1/8 c. packed light brown sugar (dark brown probably would've been better, but we didn't have it)
1/8 c. granulated ginger sugar (this was sugar I had leftover from making Dad candied ginger)
1/8 c. orange flower honey

method
In a bowl, mix well the all-prupose flour, whole-wheat flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. In your electric mixer (oh wait--you don't have one) fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and honey. Mix until well combined. In two additions, add the dry ingredients, letting the first addition fully incorporate before adding the second.

Flatten the dough into a rectangular shape, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place in the fridge until chilled, at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days (supposedly you can freeze the dough, too, for up to a month).

When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet (I have a silpat, but parchment paper would work I'm sure). On a lightly floured surface, unwrap your dough and roll it into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Cut the dough into rectangles the size that you desire (mine are roughly 2"x4") and use a spatula to transfer them to your baking sheet. You can reroll your dough scraps once to cut out more cookies. Using a fork, pierce each rectangle (I did two Ms and a line across the middle so the grahams would break in half nicely).

Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating halfway through.

Yum!

Glorious Granola

Rachel here: My mom suggested making scones for this post (stay tuned for a future post featuring these), but I desperately wanted to make granola and so here we are. I've been eating it on-and-off for breakfast for years and, for about the last month, combined with some plain yogurt and fresh fruit, it's been my breakfast of choice. Anyway, there's really not much to say about it except that it is significantly better when homemade. And speaking of homemade, though the specific recipe posted below is my own concoction, it is very closely related to the granola I learned to make while working at the Homemade Cafe (they don't have a website, but if you ever find yourself in the Bay Area make your way over to 2454 Sacramento Street in Berkeley for a breakfast that most certainly won't disappoint...if you're lucky, John will be cooking). Enjoy!

Ingredients
4 c. rolled oats
1/4 tspn. salt
1/4 tspn. cinnamon
1/4 tspn. all spice
1/8 tspn. cloves
1 c. walnuts (broken)
1/2 c. almonds
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
1/2 c. whole ground flax seed meal
3/4 c. honey
1/4 c. canola oil
dried cranberries

Method
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Heat honey and oil on the stove until combined and pourable. Pour over bowl of dry ingredients and combine well (this will get stuck in your rings, so definitely take them off if you care about them at all). Spread evenly over a cookie sheet (I put my silpat down first, which makes cleaning up a non-issue). Place in oven, removing and stirring to redistribute granola every 10 to 15 minutes. If granola starts to brown before it is dry, leave oven door ajar. Remove granola once dry feeling (it won't feel completely dry, but will finish this process as it cools). Let cool. Add dried cranberries (or any other fruit you like) to taste. Personally, I like a lot so I threw in several generous handfuls. Place in an airtight container. Yum!



Janet here: I have basically been eating granola just about every day for, oh, decades. I mix it with yogurt and I am ready to start the day. I had never made granola, however, until today. I just assumed it was very complicated — all those ingredients! — and figured it was just something hippy dippy people did. I was a little nervous about making this, too. Again, I just thought it was going to be complicated and a flop.
I was wrong.
Simply put, I may never eat store-bought granola again. This homemade version is so superior it's like I don't even know what I was eating all those years. I created this recipe after trolling around on the web. It's a conglomeration of things I read on Chowhound under Best Homemade Granola and my go-to cooking goddess, The Barefoot Contessa.

Homemade Granola

Ingredients
4 cups rolled oats
1 1/2-2 cups nuts (I used sliced almonds, pecans and walnuts)
about 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
a large handful or so of sunflower seeds
1/4 cup canola oil
about 1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup or so of dried fruit (( used blueberries, but I could see adding cherries, apricots, bananas, etc.)

Method
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Toss all the ingredients into a large bowl except the fruit. Heat the oil and honey in a pot and whisk together. Take it off the heat; add the vanilla, and then pour the liquid into the bowl and stir everything together. Place in two large roasting pans on one layer. Cook for about 40 minutes until golden brown, turning every 10 minutes or so. (I set the timer so I wouldn't burn it.)
After you take it out of the oven, mix in the dried fruit. Let cool. It will crisp up as it cools. Store in an airtight container. Delicious!

Salad for Lunch

Rachel here: Ok, so after your delicious breakfast of muffins, why not do a little bit of cooking ahead over the weekend to give yourself an equally special lunch? I don't know about you, but lunch is sometimes the only pause in my day where I can regroup and touch base with myself. For this reason, I usually try to bring myself something that I both enjoy and provides a good amount of fuel for the second half of my day. In this regard, I am looking for a good balance of protein, carbs and good fat to tide me over until dinner. Anyway, this week I head back to school and so I wanted to come up with something that would brighten my spirits and give me some energy mid-day, but that would also be easy to bring along with me. Hence, we're doing lunch salads for this post.

So, before I give you this recipe, I should confess that I strayed ever so slightly from the recipe in a way that I would not advise (although only for aesthetic purposes). The recipe advises that you cook each type of bean separately. In a moment of moving-induced hubris/laziness, I opted to throw all of my dried beans in one pot. The end result is that all of my beans got mashed except the biggest ones (pinto in my case). It tastes completely fine (the partner even had seconds last night), but when I make this dish for company (which I most certainly will because it is such a fabulous blend of flavors) I will take the time to cook each bean to perfection in its own little pot. Anyway, here's the recipe from Chez Panisse Cooking by Paul Bertolli with Alice Waters.

Salad of String Beans, Shell Beans, and Tomatoes
serves 6

Ingredients
3 c. fresh shell beans (the more variety you use, the more colorful your salad will be)
4 oz. mixed string beans
2 small red tomatoes, diced (the official recipe calls for you to peel the tomatoes, too, but I didn't and I can't see why you would in this scenario)
1 large yellow tomato, diced (again with the call for peeling that I, again, opted out of)
3 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley
8 salt-packed anchovy filets, soaked, squeezed dry, cut in half lengthwise and tossed in 2 tspn. olive oil

For the dressing:
1 small red onion (4 oz.), finely diced
3 T. red wine vinegar
1/4 tspn. salt
1/8 tspn. freshly ground pepper
1 small clove garlic
4 salt-packed anchovy filets, soaked and squeezed dry
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method
Prepare the vinaigrette in a small bowl. First, combine the onion and the vinegar. Add salt and let it dissolve before adding the pepper. Pound the garlic and anchovies into a paste in a mortar and then add to the rest of the dressing ingredients. Add in olive oil. Set aside until after the rest of the salad is finished.

Cook each type of shell bean in its own pot with 1 quart of water and 1 tspn. of salt. When tender, remove from heat. Combine all of the shell beans in one container and leave enough cooking water in just to cover the beans. Place in refrigerator until cooled.

Parboil your string beans. Cook each type separately if there is significant variation in size; if not you can throw them in one pot together. Remove from water with a slotted spoon once they are tender but still holding their crunch. Place on a plate to cool (cooked string beans are like sponges so definitely do not leave them in water as they will turn to mush) and put in refrigerator.

Once all of your beans are cooled, drain off all water and combine beans in one bowl. Season the tomatoes with 2 T. of the vinaigrette and 1 T. of the parsley. Add salt, pepper and vinegar to taste (beans can handle a strong vinaigrette!). Pour the rest of the dressing over the beans, garnish with the remaining parsley. Arrange the tomatoes over the beans. Pour any remaining juices over everything and add anchovy strips to the top.

In the picture above you will see my alternate approach to serving this salad. I kept the string and shell beans separate, as well as the tomatoes and anchovies so I can assemble the salad in portions as I want to eat it. Pretty easy to make and you have a delicious and very healthy lunch for the week! I plan on bringing a piece of crusty bread along with me to soak up the dressing this week.



Janet here: The first time I made this recipe from The Barefoot Contessa Parties!was for a crowd of colleagues who were at my house for a brainstorming retreat about what we wanted to do next with our publications during the next year. Everyone loved this salad, and the ideas we came up with innovative and interesting. Was it the food? Who can say for sure, but I personally believe food can have that kind of impact on what happens. I mean, how many magical dinner parties can you remember where the food was sub-standard? I can't think of a one. Take it for what it's worth. This much is certain: You won't go wrong with this one.



Chinese Chicken Salad
serves 12 (but you can easily halve so you don't have to wait for a throng to make this tasty dish)

Ingredients
8 split chicken breasts (bone in, skin on)
good olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 pound asparagus, ends removed, cut into thirds diagonally
2 red bell peppers, cored and seeed
4 scallions (White and green parts, sliced diagonally)
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds toasted (Toast by placing on dry saute pan and cooking over medium heat for five minutes or until browned)

for the Dressing
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Method
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35-40 minutes until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin (hard to do I know) and shred the chicken in large, bite-size pieces.

Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes until crisp yet tender. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain. Cut the peppers into strips about the size of the asparagus pieces. Combine the shredded chicken, asparagus and peppers in a large bowl.

Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Happy eating!