Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Recipes from the last 4 days

Carrot Apple Muffins
On 4/6/07 I used this recipe to make 6 muffins and 4 tart shaped muffins. They came out super moist. I chose this recipe b/c my sister prefers to use whole wheat flour - these don't even use any white flour.

* 1 1/4 c whole wheat flour
* 1/4 c sugar
* 1 t cinnamon
* 1/2 t baking powder
* 1/2 t baking soda
* 1/4 t salt
* 1 c grated carrots
* 1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
* 2 lg eggs, lightly beaten
* 1/4 c milk
* 1/4 c canola or safflower oil (or what have you)
* 1/2 Granny Smith apple, chopped
* 1/4 cup raisins
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Butter and flour standard muffin tins.
  2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine carrots, applesauce and remaining wet ingredients.
  4. Add half the wet to the dry, stir until blended then add the rest.
  5. Spoon into muffin cups and bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
Cinnamon Apple Raisin Tapioca Pudding
I made this recipe today, using Kat's instructions. She is quite right about the love/hate relationship. I hated tapioca the first time I had it when I was a kid. Some time in the last few years I've grown to love jelly balls - in all its forms - especially bubble tea. I had a hankering to make and eat some tapioca, so tried her recipe out. It was quite easy and tasty. I used the tapioca sold at the local French grocery store, and it turned out quite well. Maddie did the finishing beautifying touch of sprinkling cinnamon on top.
  • 1/3 c tapioca
  • ¾ c water
  • ¼ c milk (that's all we had left)
  • 2 c soy milk
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • ½ c brown sugar
  • ½ t almond extract
  • cinnamon
  • 4 spice mix (I didn't feel like grating the whole nutmeg, so used this powder instead)
  • raisins (next time I'd reduce the sugar, as the raisins add a sweetness of their own)
  • 1/3 Granny Smith apple, chopped (good for texture)
  • ~1/4 c grated coconut (I didn't put much of this in and didn't taste it - could leave it out)
  1. Soak tapioca in water for 30 minutes in a medium saucepan.
  2. Add milk, salt, and egg yolks and whisk to blend.
  3. Over medium heat, continue to stir the mixture until it comes to a boil. Turn the heat all the way down and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until tapioca softens. (For this step I didn't read her directions that carefully - I actually just let it cook for 10 minutes total, before coming to a boil - the variety of tapioca I got actually cooks in 7 - there was another box of Japanese kind that took 15 min.)
  4. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites until they are foamy, add the sugar gradually and beat until soft peaks form.
  5. Fold in about ¾ cup of the hot tapioca mixture to the egg whites to temper them and then fold the egg whites back into the tapioca in the saucepan. Whisk over medium heat for 3 minutes.
  6. Add raisins, coconut, and apple pieces.
  7. Cool for about 10 minutes and then add the extract and spices. Serve warm or chilled.
Bao Zi/Bao Tze/Chinese Steamed Buns
I made these on 2 separate occasions. The first time, we had run out of white flour and didn't have any milk and I used fresh cake yeast. Yesterday, I had both flour and milk on hand but tried a different recipe, as well as dried yeast. The second recipe needed modification (the dough was too wet) and didn't bao well (it would open up easily), but did well in roll form. Next time I will probably go back to the first recipe.

I filled the bao with red bean filling, veggie mix filling (cabbage/mushroom/carrot/scallion), or an apple-cinnamon-sugar mixture. The rolls I made with the same veggie mix filling or chopped green onions with salt and sesame oil. I also tried one with a simple sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar. The green onion rolls were good both times, and I liked the veggie mix in roll form. If they had stayed properly closed, I might have liked the bao'ed version more.

Once I perfect the recipe, I'll post it. I forgot to take a picture of the second attempt at steamed buns - they were gobbled up quite quickly yesterday (which was a public holiday).

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