Carrot Muffins

When I was a little girl I was obsessed with eating carrots because someone had told me once that they were good for your eyes. Having grown up with a father who was born cross-eyed and blind as a bat, I ate carrots religiously. Needless to say, I have to carry a pair of glasses around in my purse for long-distance reading. Sigh.

Anyways, carrot cake is one of my favorite things. And around the holidays, its got that perfect flavor combination that makes you feel all warm and holiday-ish; nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon. And carrot muffins, because of the aforementioned flavor combination, are just fantastic paired with a fresh cup of coffee.

Lastly, this recipe packs THREE CUPS of carrots into 24 muffins which means lots of veggie goodness and fiber. I made these last Christmas and my mom, who is really not a pastry person at all, devoured two a day and my roommates made all 12 of a batch disappear in a day. But that’s ok! They’re so healthy! So go ahead and whip these up and you’ll have something to look forward to when you drag yourself out of bed in the morning – in fact, these just might be good enough to get you out of bed in the first place.


Carrot Muffins
Makes 24 muffins (but I usually half the recipe….)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
4 large eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrots
1 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Line 24 cupcake molds with papers, or butter and flour them.

Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots, walnuts and raisins, if using them. Divide batter among cupcake molds, filling 3/4 of each.

Bake cupcakes 14 to 18 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let cool in pans for five minutes or so, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing them.

Vanilla Scented Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup

Here’s a secret Biquick would not like you to know: homemade pancakes are SO easy to make…and they’re delicious! If you are, like me, someone who has a whole shelf in the pantry devoted to baking supplies, I guarantee you have what it takes to make pancakes.

I use Alice Water’s recipe for buttermilk pancakes, and since no normal person has buttermilk just lying around (nor should they – that stuff is deadly rich!) I use a mixture of plain yogurt and milk as a substitute. You can also use flavored yogurt (I LOVE peach flavored yogurt in this recipe and use Apricot Jam instead of strawberry syrup).

Anyways, the strawberry syrup part of this recipe came about because I had some strawberries lying around that were about to go bad and I just couldn’t force myself to toss them, so I decided to make a syrup – something that is always a good thing to do when you have fruit that’s just not quite good enough to eat but can make a lovely sauce.

I don’t like really super sweet syrups and its important, to me, to preserve the fresh fruit taste. The syrup recipe is simple – strawberries, water, sugar, and lemon juice all boiled down to a thick sticky delicious mess. And vanilla-scented pancakes are even delicious by themselves, with some melted butter and powdered sugar if you don’t have any fruit for a syrup. This is a quick and delicious breakfast that takes less than 20 minutes to whip up and is sure to impress should you have guest or just some hungry roommates.

Vanilla Scented Pancakes (makes about 4-6 pancakes)

¾ cup flour
1tspn baking powder
½ tablespoon sugar
½ tspn salt
1 tspn vailla extract
1 egg
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup yogurt (plain or fruity – your call)

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl
2. Mix together egg, milk, yogurt, and vanilla. Stir into flour mixture.
3. Add melted butter and mix thoroughly. Cover the batter and keep in the refrigerator for 15 minutes for the fluffiest pancakes. Heat a non-stick griddle over medium-low heat (coat with butter if you’re feeling really bad)
4. Pour batter over the griddle and cook about 4 minutes on each side, checking often to make sure they’re not burning.

Strawberry Syrup
½ pound hulled strawberries (tops removed)
¼ cup water
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Bring strawberries, water, sugar to boil in large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil uncovered 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and adjusting heat to prevent mixture from boiling over. Add lemon juice. Strain, pressing on solids and pour over pancakes, icecream, cheesecakes, or what have you.

LA in the rain; Braised Short Ribs and Parsley Root Mashed Potatoes

So, the rain has finally arrived. Everyone loves the chance to curl up on a couch with a warm blanket, a fire, and a cup of hot cocoa – it’s the best way to while away a rainy day. Until you have to pull on your rain boots, button your coat, grab your purse and splash right out into that very same rainy day you were so blissfully watching pass by just a little while ago.


In Los Angeles, a rainy day is a cause for celebration and complaint. For the natives, a rainy day is a break from the status quo and a reason to point our fingers towards the rest of the country, accusingly – a chance to say “aha! See? It’s not perfect and sunny all the time. We know what its like to have weather.” And then we stick our tongues out.

But because it’s so rare people freak out. Nobody in Los Angeles knows how to drive in the rain and the terrible traffic for which we’re famous only gets worse. And as the temperature drops below 60, Angelenos race to bury themselves under layers of wool, leather, and polar fleece creating a highly undesireable sartorial situation.

A rainy day, however, is always good for slow-braised meats. The hearty aromas fill the house and the oven’s heat is welcomed by chilly wet hands. I decided to make short ribs last night, in anticipation of the rain – the sky was already dark and heavy and was glowing the faint orange it always does before a big rain. Our apartment doesn’t have central heating and if it wasn’t for the little electric heater I got on Saturday, I’d be freezing my little buns off.

Short ribs are satisfying, rich, and delicious. They’re fatty and tender and perfect for one of those rare Los Angeles nights when the whole city is bracing for a storm. These short ribs are an example of comfort food at its best and most indulgent, and paired with a side of parsley root mashed potatoes, some quick-roasted boiler onions and carrots, a glass of good red wine, and Ella Fitzgerald’s Christmas album? Bring on the rain, baby…I’m ready.

Braised Short Ribs (serves 2)
2 lbs short ribs
3 oz pancetta
1 cup dry red wine (I used a Merlot)
2 cups beef stock
1 carrot, cut in half
1 celery stick, cut in half
1 medium onion, quartered
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 tspn dried
2 garlic cloves, quartered
1 tspn whole black peppercorns
1 tspn sea salt

1. Begin by rinsing short ribs, drying thoroughly and salt-and-peppering all sides.
2. While preparing the short ribs, place the pancetta in a thick-bottomed pot over medium-high heat and render out as much fat as you can. Remove the pancetta.
3. Place short ribs, bone side up in the pancetta fat and brown on all sides – about 2-4 minutes a side. Remove the short ribs to a plate or bowl and drain off any excess fat but be careful not to lose the browned bits on the bottom of the pot.
4. Pour in red wine and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Reduce red wine to about 1/3 cup – it should take about 10 minutes.
5. Pour in beef stock, vegetables, herbs, peppercorns, and salt. Stir the mixture to distribute evenly around the pot. Place the short ribs, bone side down, on top of this mixture and turn heat up to high. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Place the lid on top of the pot and simmer for an hour.
6. After an hour, using tongs, flip the short ribs so that they are bone-side up. Simmer for another hour, loosening the lid if its simmering to rapidly. Simmer for another hour.
7. Flip the short ribs again so that they are bone side down again.
8. After a half an hour check (by gently lifting the short ribs and shaking them gently) to see if any of the bones have fallen away from the meat, simmer for another half an hour and check again.
9. When the short ribs are fork-tender, and you can easily shred some meat off with the tines of a fork remove the short ribs from the pot and set aside. With a slotted spoon, discard the vegetables and any bones that may have fallen off during cooking. Turn the heat up to very high and let the sauce reduce down to a syrupy consistency. It will probably take about 15 minutes. If you want a very pure sauce, pour the braising liquid into a clear bowl and, either using a spoon, or a baster, skim the fat from the top. Remove the skimmed liquid to the pot and reduce down to a thick sauce.
10. Pour the sauce over the short ribs and serve.

Parsley Root Mashed Potatoes (serves 2)
*These are great to serve with the short ribs because the citrusy and earthy taste of the parsley root contrasts nicely with the richness of meat and the sweet reduction.

2 parsley roots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
½ pound of yellow potatoes cut into fourths
1 cup of chicken stock
2 cups of water
1 tablespoon butter
¼-1/3 cup of milk (whatever you have on hand is fine)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine chicken stock, water, potatoes, and parsley root in a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil until fork tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Strain and pour potatoes and parley root into a large bowl. Combine with milk, butter, salt and pepper. Using a stand or hand mixer whip all the ingredients together until they are light and fluffy. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Curry Me Happy

Come summer time, when you're living in an apartment with the most pathetic little AC unit that couldn't...turning on the oven is just about the least appealing act one could endeavor. This situation is just as ripe an opportunity as any for fresh salads. I can't say I don't love a good salad, but being a committed carnivore, a salad all by its lonesome just usually doesn't satisfy. Sure, I can throw in some nuts or seeds for protein, fill it up with fresh veggies, or just make the perfect vinagrette - but the little voice in my stomach still cries out for meat.


Which makes chicken salad even more perfect. Chicken salad is one of my newer obsessions - as long as its rife with celery, cranberries, and not too much mayo. One of my favorite chicken salads is, in fact, a curried chicken salad and there is just nothing that hits the spot more dead-on in the middle of summer. That being said, I scoured the web for a perfect curried chicken salad recipe to quench my craving and finally found one that had recieved nothing but rave reviews from fellow foodies on epicurious.com.

Their recipe used mangoes for sweetness, cashews for crunch, and red onions for tang. I decided to replace all of the above with dried cranberries, celery, and green onions. Oh. My. God. Was it good! Just to make a good thing better, I piled it high on La Brea Bakery's whole wheat - with a malty flavor and little specks of sunflower and other delicious little sead - and topped it all off with a little spring salad mixture just so I felt ok about all the mayonaise (low fat!) that went into my chicken salad. However, speaking of mayonaise - I generally can't stand the stuff unless its in a chicken salad which is why the recipe on epicurious.com was even more perfect - it halved the mayonaise by pairing it with yogurt (Greek - 2%!).

So, if you (like me) just can't bear the thought of applying heat to an already over-saturated apartment, go ahead and whip yourself up some curried chicken salad - the only heat involved will be in your mouth.

Curried Chicken Salad (adapted from Gourmet)

1 1/2 pound (or less) chicken breast
1 3/4 cup chicken stock
4 cups water
3 celery stalks (I like to use the paler ones of the heart)
4-5 green onions, white and pale green parts only
A handful and a half of dried cranberries
3/4 teaspoon honey
3/4 tablespoon lime juice (freshly squeezed)
3 1/2 - 4 tablespoons curry powder (depending on how spicy you like your salad)
A little less than 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayonaise

Bring 4 cups water to a simmer with chicken broth in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan. Add chicken and simmer, uncovered, 6 minutes. Remove pan from heat and cover, then let stand until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and cool 10 minutes. Chop into 1/2-inch pieces.

While chicken is cooling, whisk together mayonnaise, yogurt, curry, lime juice, honey, ginger, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add chicken, scallions, cranberries, and celery and stir gently to combine.

Munchen Potatoes

No matter the season or time of day, I can always eat potatoes. In the morning with eggs, at lunch with a salad, or for dinner swimming in the juices of something just roasted. Some of the best potatoes I’ve ever eaten were in Germany. In an outdoors beer garden in Munich, browned in drippings of some sort with caramelized onions and caraway seeds, garnished with fresh parsley and chives. It sounds so simple, but it was so perfect. So perfect, in fact, that I took pictures of it – to remember the best meal of my whirlwind trip around Europe by train.


At the time, however, I didn’t know that it was caraway seeds that had given my potatoes the distinct flavor and after spending much time ruminating and, finally, giving into the power of google was happy to discover it was something I could run to the market and buy. Caraway seeds are the same spice used to flavor rye bread – they have a flavor similar to anise, or fennel seed, but are very distinct and are very unique to Bavarian cooking (which is, overall, simply delicious). This is a warm, sautéed version of this particular combination of flavors, but there is also a cold, somewhat pickled version of this potato salad that I’m going to try and share with you soon.


Although the recipe is simple – the point is to get familiar with a new spice, not necessarily something difficult or complicated or creative. Lately, I’ve been cooking on a back-to-basics mentality – trying to find that perfect marinara sauce, a good chicken salad, new flavors with which to braise chicken, or other recipes that are always good to have at hand.
So now I can have my favorite Munich potatoes anytime, and in the process be brought back to that lovely beer garden, my sun burnt feet (not surprising – as they hadn’t been exposed to sunlight in 4 months!), the nudist park we stumbled through, and that time we ran screaming (drunkenly, I’m afraid to say) through a train station in Berlin trying to find the train to Munchen.

Caraway Potatoes
1 large white potato, sliced thin and into quarters
1 small onion, sliced thinly
½ tspn caraway seeds
1 tblspn butter
salt and pepper
fresh chives and parsley to garnish

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add caraway seeds to toast lightly and open up their flavor.
3. Add potatoes and onions, spreading them out so that they make a layer on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Cover the pan for about 2 minutes before stirring. Repeat the process until the potatoes are nice and browned and the onions are soft and lightly caramelized.
5. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and chives. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy a little taste of Bavaria.

Make at your own risk

I have a confession to make. About twice a year, I allow myself to indulge in the pleasures and delights of KFC. However, they’ve finally closed the one in my home town – most likely to make room for yet another healthy lifestyle restaurant (those fools!) - and so I’ve had to go in search of my own fried chicken recipe to fill the void.
Ina Garten makes an oven-fried chicken recipe that I’ve tried but that, shockingly, failed to please. I spent a lot of time trolling the internet for a good replacement but never found one that really whetted my appetite and so I made up my own.
Fried chicken is a tricky thing to make – its harder than one would surmise. Its very difficult to get the coating nice and crispy and brown without leaving the chicken inside raw in the middle. You’ll usually end up with a burnt outside if you wait long enough to get the chicken fully cooked, which is why baking it the rest of the way is such a brilliant solution. Even my favorite blogger had a lot of trouble with her fried chicken.


There are multiple ways to approach fried chicken. Many cooks insist on a buttermilk bath for anywhere from a few hours to overnight (Ina insists on overnight), and then there is the question of the coating: eggs? Flour? Cornflakes? My solution is to use all three – the cornflakes give it a nice crunch that you don’t otherwise get with just flour. I don’t personally do a buttermilk brine, but I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt. Buttermilk is acidic, so it gets into the meat and gently tenderizes it, as well as gives it a really nice rich flavor.
I think the key to any good fried chicken is a double dip in the batter/coating mixture…and I like to get all my flavor in the coating, rather than into the chicken. So I insist that if you give this recipe a whirl (which you should) that you do the same. And so, without further ado, my fried chicken.

Fried Chicken

*for the chicken, you can use however much you want, and whichever pieces you prefer. I usually just go for legs because they’re yummy, cook quickly, and are pretty cheap. If you’re making thighs and/or breasts, you’ll have to double your cooking time.

6 chicken legs
1 cup (or more) Vegetable Oil – enough to fill the pot up about 2 inches
2 large eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 ½ cup flour
1 cup corn flakes, crushed by hand or in a food processor
1 ½ tspn paprika
½ tspn dried ground marjoram
2 tblspns salt
1 tblspn ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350.
Set a large heavy pot over medium high heat. You want to heat it until the you can see the oil start to slither across the pot, but not so hot that it’s smoking. Once you’ve put the chicken in you’ll know if its too hot or not hot enough – the chicken should start to brown in about 3-4 minutes.
For the batter:
Whisk together the milk and eggs in a medium sized bowl.

For the coating:
Gently mix together the cornflakes, flour, paprika, marjoram, salt, and pepper until it is evenly blended. Pour onto a large plate and spread it out to make an easy coating station.

1. Once you’ve washed and dried your chicken, place it in the batter mixture, making sure its evenly coated. Hold it over the batter, letting the excess drip off. Place it in the flour mixture and coat evenly. Repeat, dunking it in the batter again, and giving it a final coating in the flour mixture before placing it in the hot oil.
2. Repeat the steps with the other pieces of chicken, letting the oil get hot again in between batches and removing the chicken with tongs once it is nice and golden brown.
3. Place the finished pieces on a non-stick baking tray and once all the chicken has been fried, place the baking tray in the oven.
4. For legs, cook about 25-30 minutes. For any other pieces cook about 40-45 minutes. Once you’ve taken the chicken out of the oven, let it cool for a minute.

Also, a note: Once you’ve finished frying, take oil off the heat and let it cool for at least an hour. Do NOT pour cooking oil down the drain but, throw it away.

Grab Your Pastels and Play Croquet

While I spend my summer unsuccessfully seeking employment under the hot summer sun of Los Angeles, I find myself appreciating more and more the saving grace that is cocktail hour. What better way to while away the afternoon than with a nice cold glass of something refreshing for the palette and soothing to the body?
My personal preference for cocktail hour is anything with gin. I’ve never been a girl for brown liquor, and while vodka is clean and blends easily, I just can’t honestly say I love the taste. But who can resist the cool, crisp, and herby flavor of juniper berries – a taste borne of high altitudes – on a simmering summer day? And to all those of you who think you don’t like gin, let me assure you that the drinks I am about to describe will surely change your mind.

The first recipe is inspired by my favorite cocktail in the whole world, its called an Ellison at the bar on 12th and 2nd in New York where I first discovered it and its almost too delicious to be safe. It’s a mixture of gin, cucumber (trust me!), mint, lime juice, tonic water, and just a touch of sugar. The cucumber’s the real showstopper and an unexpected hit – it’s a cool flavor but gives a refreshing sweetness, too.

The second drink is one I’ve stolen from my cousins in Connecticut. Like any East Coaster worth her salt, the girl knew just what to do with a bottle of Hendricks Gin (my favorite, btw) and some ripe summer raspberries. The drink involves muddled raspberries, thyme, and sugar. Don’t balk at the thyme – its got a nice citrusy and earthy taste that contrasts nicely against the gin and the fruit.
So don’t hesitate – come 5 pm, get yourself a nice afternoon cocktail, sit back, and enjoy the summer sun.

The Ellison(ish)
For one drink:
3 thin-medium cucumber slices
4-6 mint leaves
Juice from ¼ lime wedge
½ teaspoon of white sugar
1-2 shots gin
Tonic water to fill the glass
In a glass or a bowl, muddle together cucumber, mint, lime, and sugar. Use the end of a wooden spoon if you don’t have a professional muddler or anything that you have handy – you just need to make sure you release the oils from the cucumber and mint. You can either pour gin directly into glass that has been muddled OR if you have a boston shaker on hand, fill it with ice and shake muddled mixture and gin together, straining out muddled mixture. Last, add tonic water to get to your desired strength and enjoy.


The Eloise
For one drink:
5-7 Raspberries
1 teaspoon sugar
2 sticks thyme
Juice from ¼ lime wedge
1-2 shots gin
Tonic water

Start by mixing raspberries, sugar, and lime in a glass. Muddle together and let sit for a few minutes, so that the sugar and raspberries form a syrup. Pour mixture into boston shaker and pour in gin and ice. Shake and strain mixture. Add tonic water to taste and garnish with a raspberry strung on a stick of thyme.

Scotland

So, I’ve found myself in Edinburgh. Ok, not found, but worked very hard to get myself in Edinburgh. Although not a particularly culinary mecca, I have my reasons – this is a city of literature and ask anyone who has braved a full-length conversation with me, you can bet that I went just as crazy for books as I did for cooking.

Although not a city famed for its food, Edinburgh is home to the fried Mars Bar, fried pizza, probably the only KFC in the United Kingdom, and also Scotland’s national dish, Haggis (a sheep’s stomach that is filled with ground beef, lamb, oats, and various spices and then boiled to perfection). So much for a rich culinary tradition, eh?

This is a place where pudding can either mean some kind of sausage (always pork, oh how the Brits do love their pork!) or a tasty desert. However, this is also the birthplace of the scone and who doesn’t love a good scone? So, in the tradition of celebrating my new home for the next five months (and because it was the only baked good I could make with my limited kitchen supplies – I don’t even have a whisk! A whisk!), I made scones. Blueberry scones, to be precise.
If you’ve never made a scone before, you’ve gotta try it. They’re the easiest thing in the world to make even on a Tricity Bendix stove-oven, aptly named Tiara (see above picture for proof), if you want to satisfy a baked-goods craving – no tools required. Seriously. All you need is your hands and a butter knife (and, if you’re in the UK following an American recipe, an online measurements converter).

Blueberry and Cream Scones
2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup currants (I used dried cranberries, and chopped them into smaller bits)
1 cup heavy cream

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in large bowl or work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Whisk together or pulse six times.
3. If making by hand, use two knives, a pastry blender or your fingertips and quickly cut inbutter until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few slightly larger butter lumps. Stir in blueberries. If using food processor, remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Add currants and pulse one more time. Transfer dough to large bowl.
4. Stir in heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until dough begins to form, about 30
seconds.
5. Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and knead dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Form scones by either a) pressing the dough into an 8-inch cake pan, then turning the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, cutting the dough into 8 wedges with either a knife
6. Place wedges on ungreased baking sheet and bake until scone tops are light
brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.