a Little Fruity, and a Little Nutty Granola Bars

I adapted this recipe from two online recipes that I came across when looking to make my first home-made granola bars. The first recipe from Gothic Lolita Sewing and the other from Allrecipes.com Playgroup Granola Bars.

The bars are hearty and sweet, made of very simple ingredients, most of which I already had in the pantry. Next time I will try to reduce the amount of butter to make them healthier.

a Little Fruity and a Little Nutty Granola Bars

2 Cups Whole Oats or Oat Blend (i used barley, oat mix)

1 Cup Nuts Chopped (i used sliced almonds)

1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds

1 cup Dried Fruit chopped (i used a mix of golden raisins, cranberries, blueberries, and cherries)

1/2 Cup Butter melted

3 Tbsp Brown Sugar

3 Tbsp Honey

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

sprinkle cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 320 degrees.

2. Prepare a sheet pan with a light spray of oil or a sheet of parchment paper

3. Place the nuts, seeds and oats on the baking sheet and toast them for 5-10 minutes in the oven

4. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Blend in brown sugar and honey until dissolved.

5. Remove nuts, seeds and oats from oven.

6. Pour all ingredients into a bowl and mix well.

7. Pour the mixture back onto the sheet pan. Press the mix into a uniform rectangle, about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. The block should measure about 6 inches by 12 inches.

8. Bake for 30 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and cut into 10-12 portions before the bars cool.

10. Allow bars to cool and wrap in an air tight container. I chose to wrap each individually in parchment paper since the bars were sticky and I wanted them to be easier to grab and go.

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

One of the worst things, for me, is to let food go to waste. I hate the weekly fridge clean-out of left-overs and the rare spoiled piece of cheese.

Today, in the midst of a cloudy skied morning and various cleaning projects, I had to decide what to do with 4 very very very ripe bananas. And by ripe I mean, black and soft. So ripe that you fear moving them will cause a mushy mess.

Some would say that bananas this ripe should be tossed. I, having loved many banana breads, knows the powerful flavor available in a nicely ripe banana.

So, what to make. Banana bread, no. Banana ice cream, no. Cake, well maybe.

My search brought me to this lovely and simple recipe:

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes.

http://www.joyofbaking.com/cupcakes/BananaChocolateCupcakes.html

With a minor modification or two, my cupcake recipe is as follows:

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

• 1 Cup Mashed Ripe Bananas (2-4 Bananas)


• 3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder


• 1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder


• 1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda


• 1/2 tsp. Salt


• 2 Large Eggs


• 1 Cup Warm Water


• 1/2 Cup Milk


• 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil


• 1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Prepare cupcake pans (24 cupcakes total) with paper cups

3. In mixer, blend the water, milk, eggs, oil, vanilla, and bananas until smooth.

4. In a separate bowl, blend the remaining dry ingredients. Ensure that there are no lumps in the mix by sifting if needed.

5. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Blend until well mixed.

6. Portion the batter into each of the cupcake pans.

7. Bake the cupcakes for 18-22 minutes. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick to make sure the batter is well cooked and no longer sticks to the toothpick.

8. Let cool very well before frosting.

9. Frost as suggested below.

Marshmallow Frosting

• 8 Egg Whites


• 2 Cups Sugar


• 1/2 tsp Cream of Tarter


• 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Step 1 - Bring a small sauce pan to a simmer with water. Place the egg whites, sugar and cream of tarter in a heat proof bowl on the pan. Whisk the mixture until frothy and sugar is dissolved. should take about 3-4 minutes.

Step 2- Place the mixture under a stand mixer or hand mixer. Start slow and slowly increase the speed. Mixture will start to turn more white and increase in volume.

Step 3 - whisk on high for 5-7 minutes. Mixture will start to be glossy and very white. Once the mixture starts to hold shape and creates peaks, the whisking is complete.

Step 4 - Once the mixture is thick and holds rounded peaks, lightly mix-in the vanilla.

Step 5 - Use immediately! Will frost 18-24 cupcakes, thick or more if you use less. Will frost one large cake. Can be toasted with a kitchen torch and topped with sprinkles. Images above show the completed cupcakes frosted with a round tipped piping bag.

Blood Orange Sorbet REPOST

Last week began my annual obsession with the most lovely fruit - Blood Oranges.

I was first introduced to the fruit in Italy, my senior year of high school. One morning, waking early to enjoy the european continental breakfast in the lobby of our hotel in Rome, I poured a cup of coffee and a small juice glass of a red lovely glass of fresh squeezed BLOOD ORANGE juice. I was delighted. Blood oranges, being very common in the spring in Italy, we had this lovely treat almost every morning of our ten day trip.

Returning to one the greatest citrus regions of the world, I found blood oranges to be rare and hard to come by. It wasn't until last summer, 2010 that I found one particular farm stand at the local Ventura Downtown Farmer's Market that sold Blood Oranges during the spring and summer. Now, it is my bi-monthly treck to make it to the market and buy a few pounds of these red fleshed juicies and make fresh RED OJ.

But what else to use these special sweet and bitter little gems for...margaritas, done, juice, done of course. But I needed something new and something refreshing.

Blood Orange Sorbet! yes. Via an email from a random food website, I found this lovely recipe for a simple, refreshing, cold treat. http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/02/blood-orange-so/

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

I was searching for a new treat to make for Valentine's Day, but more just to try something new. I came across a recipe for a home made peanut butter cup recipe. I am, of course, a big fan of the traditional Reese's cups and eat them whenever I get the chance. But, to make my own, seemed daunting. I imagined many hours of cooking and cooling and mixing and cleaning, but, alas, only about 1 hour of my Saturday morning was spent creating these delightful treats.

This is the finished treat.


I ran through the recipe, posted on design*sponge website, http://www.designspongeonline.com/2011/02/small-measures-chocolate-peanut-butter-cups.html. I needed a double boiler. Check, I have a glass bowl, sauce pan and a spoon. I needed peanut butter, sugar, chocolate, graham crackers, salt and powdered sugar, check. I decided to add vanilla, since I add vanilla to all my desserts.



I used a mix of chocolate. I had 1 - 1 pound block of Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate. I think it was a 72% Dark. I thought this was a bit dark, so I added some semi-sweet Ghiradelli Chips to soften the richness. They are still VERY RICH still. The chocolate takes a bit of muscle, but it is well worth a good chop to reduce the melt time. Remember-reserve half of the chocolate to melt for the tops of the cups.



I used a silicone basting brush to coat the cups with chocolate. I highly suggest investing in one of these, as they are far easier to clean. I assume that means they are far more sanitary if you use them for eggs and meat preparations.

Ensure that you have coated the edges very well and evenly. I added a bit of extra chocolate to the bottom of each cup to ensure stability of the cup when the paper is removed. Chill the cups for at least 20 minutes to harden cups.


While the first batch of cups cooled, I prepared to melt the second half of the chocolate for the tops. I let it sit over the warm water in the double boiler to start to melt.



The peanut butter filling mix requires that you crush the graham crackers to a powder, leave no lumps or chunks, as they will remain in the peanut butter and later in your cups. I crushed my crackers by hand, but may try to use a rolling pin next time to remove more of the chunks of cracker. I also placed the peanut butter in the microwave for about 20 seconds to loosen it up. This made the mixing process go much smoother, literally.




The peanut butter mixture is easiest divided up before you place it in the cups. I used a teaspoon and scooped a bit more than two heaping teaspoons for each lump of peanut butter filling. I made 24 cups and 24 little piles of peanut butter.



Pat each pile of filling into a flat disk or coin. The cold cups help to hold onto the peanut butter as you place them in the bottom of each cold cup. Smooth out any peaks as they will peak through the top of the chocolate later.

Melt the remaining chocolate until smooth. I portioned about 1 tablespoon of chocolate onto each cup, and added extra to the cups that were not covered. Gently shake the cupcake pan to even out the chocolate over each peanut butter filling. Allow air bubbles to pop and the top to level. You can leave the top smooth, or swirl with your spoon.

Chill the completed cups for at least 1 hour before serving or packaging. Normal cupcake sized cups are best cut into pieces before devouring, be prepared for a very luscious treat.

Even my little one couldn't wait to try them...!

Recipe:

Makes 12 Cups (Double or triple as needed)

3 Cups Dark Chocolate (chopped or chips)

1 Cup Peanut Butter (I used smooth)

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar (sifted)

1/4 Cup Crushed Graham Crackers

1 tsp Sea Salt

1 tsp Vanilla

Steps:

1. Melt 1 1/2 Cups of the chocolate in the double boiler.

2. Place 12 cupcake papers in a cupcake pan.

3. Coat the inside of each paper with the melted chocolate using a brush. Coat well.

4. Chill the chocolate cups for 20 minutes.

5. While the cups chill, melt the remaining chocolate over the double boiler. Keep warm but do not scorch.

6. Mix the peanut butter, powdered sugar, salt, graham crackers and vanilla until smooth.

7. Portion the peanut butter mix into each cup. Flatten the peanut butter filling with your finger.

8. Portion the remaining melted chocolate over each peanut butter filled cup. Lightly shake the pan to smooth the chocolate and remove air bubbles.

9. Chill for at least 1 hour.

10. enjoy!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Blood Orange Olive Oil

This little treat came in my search to make the most of a special olive oil I recently purchased at "We Olive" in donwtown Ventura. The sales person sampled a lovely smooth olive oil with a tart blood orange flavor. The olive is sweet and savory at the same time.

This recipe includes a variety of my favorite ingredients. Olive oil, which is rich and smooth. Blood orange, reminds of my trip to Italy. Vanilla, the woody sweet notes are my favorite of all.

These cupcakes are so simple to make and can made in less than an hour! You could use plain olive oil in these, or hunt down your own special flavor at "We Olive" like I did. Another cool thing, is that "We Olive" will fill your containers with oil or vinegers for a per ounce fee. What a great way to try some new flavors!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Blood Orange Olive Oil

Ingredients

1 1/4 Cup Flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup blood orange olive oil (regular olive oil is okay!)

1 egg white

1/2 vanilla bean (removed from pod)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

How To:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake tin with cupcake papers. Aproximately 12.


2. Mix flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.


3. In seperate bowl, mix egg white, yogurt, vanilla bean, vanilla extract, and sugar until smooth.


4. Blend the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix util smooth and free of lumps.


5. Portion into cupcake papers.


6. Bake until golden grown. 20-22 minutes. Use a toothpick to test if done. If the tooth pick is clean after plunging into a cupcake it is done. If sticky when it is removed, continue cooking until done.


7. Let cool.

Vanilla Bean Frosting

1 Stick unsalted butter, softened

4 Cups Powdered Sugar

3 tsp milk or half n half

1/2 vanilla bean (removed from pod)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Warm milk in microwave for 10-30 seconds. Acoid scalding


2. Add vanilla beans to milk and let stand 10-20 minutes until cool.


3. Blend butter, milk, vanilla beans and powdered sugar until smooth.


4. Allow to set and frost cupcakes. If you prefer a runnier glaze, add 1-2 tsps more milk to thin.


5. Enjoy!

These are very simple and I hope you try this recipe!

Creme Brulee with vanilla beans

This is a recipe that requires a little bit of time, but is worth the wait. Most the time you need is passive, letting the creme brulee cool in the fridge before serving.

The traditional creme brulee recipe is a french one, an translates to burned cream. The recipe is also made in other countries, using a similar process, called a 'burnt cream' or 'trinity cream'. The recipe is one of an egg and cream custard with a hard caramilized crust. The dessert can be served chilled or warm. I prefer chilled.

The recipe also requires some form of heat to caramilize the sugar top. I first used the broiler method, using the broiler feature in my oven. This takes quite a few minutes and heats the custard to a warm temperature. Some comments on recipe boards say that you can wrap the custard in ice, on a pan to offset the heat of the oven. This seems like too much effort! So I purchased a small butane torch at a discount hardware store - Harbor Freight. The $4.99 purchase was the right one to make.

The result a cold custard with a warm, crunchy sugared caramel top. PERFECT.

I would serve this with a lighter dinner, as it is a rich dessert. Serve with a nice cup of espresso or strong coffee.

Creme Brulee with Vanilla Bean

Serves 6

Ingredients:

10 Egg Yolks (room temperature)

1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups non fat half and half (use all heavy cream if prefer a richer dessert)

6 tsps brown or white sugar for caramel top

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.


2. Beat egg yolks in a glass bowl. Bowl can be used later as teh double boiler.


3. Mix in 1/2 cup sugar and the 3/4 tsp vanilla into teh egg mixture.


4. Heat the cream and half and half in a saucpan.


5. Split the vanilla bean. Mix the beans in the cream and add the bean to liquid. Heat to a low simmer. Allow the mixture to heat for about 10 minutes. Do not boil. Stir often to avoid scorching.


6. Remove teh cream from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.


7. Slowly add warm cream to the egg mixture. Stir constantly to avoid scrambling the eggs. This step is called "tempering". It allows the eggs to be warmed to the same temperature as the cream, without cooking or scrambling the eggs. Continue adding teh cream until the mixture is smooth and well stirred.


8. Bring a saucepan of water to a low boil. Place the glass bowl, with cream and egg mixture on top of the boiling water pan.


9. Stir the mixture on the double boiler until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. 2-5 minutes. Do not overcook. Remove from heat.


10. Pour into small baking dishes or ramikens. Place on a baking sheet.


11. Bake for 30 mintes.


12. Remove from oven. Allow to cool to room temperature. Cool in refigerator for at least 1 hour, or overnight.


13. Add 1 tsp of sugar to each dish.


14. Heat under broiler or with a butane torch until golden brown and bubbly. Do not allow to overcook and burn.


15. Serve or refrigerate again until cold again.

Serve with coffee or espresso.

Stuffed Passilla Chile (Vegetarian)

This is an alternative to the heavier, more fattening Chile Relleno. A traditional Chile Relleno is a cheese filled chile, that is battered with an egg and flour mixture and deep fried. The fried chile is served then with a red chile sauce and again more cheese and or sour cream.

I admit, I love these decedent cheesy chiles, but only on rare occasion. They are of course super fattening and greasy! An alternative is a baked version.

This baked stuffed chile substitutes the cheesy filling with a rice and vegetable mix, that is only flavored by cheese. The chiles are baked and topped with a red bell pepper sauce and green avacado cream sauce. These are my new favorite light recipe.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can use most any chile or pepper that is in season or that you have on hand. Use a spicier or milder chile to meet your tastes, the concept still applies.

Stuffed Passilla Chile (vegetarian)

For Stuffed Peppers:

4-6 Passilla Peppers

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1/2 cup diced onions

1/2 cup corn

1 small zuchini, diced

1/2 tsp cumin ground

1 cup cooked brown rice (white okay)

1 cup queso ranchero (or use other crumbly mexican fresh white cheese)

1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

For Red Bell Pepper Sauce:

2 Red Bell Peppers (roasted and skin removed)

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon balsamic vineger

4 ounces plain nonfat yogurt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tablespoon grech chopped cilantro

1 roasted jalapeno skin removed

For Avocado Cream Sauce:

1 ripe avocado

2-4 tablespoons Lemon juice

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro

1 roasted jalapeno skin removed

salt and pepper to taste

Stuffed Pepper Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


2. Roast the pasilla and red bell pepper in oven or on grill. Remove charred skin. I place in a bag to steam for about 5 minutes before removing skins.


3. In a saucepan saute the olive oil, onions, garlic, zuchini and corn until cooked but not browned.


4. Add cumin, rice, cilantro, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes until combined. Remove from heat


5. Add crumbled mexican cheese to the mix. set aside.


6. Slit the pasilla chiles and remove seeds. I leave the stem to hold the chile together.


7. Add the rice mixture to teh chiles. Arrange in 9x13 pan. Top the filled chiles with the shredded monterey jack cheese.


8. Bake the chiles for about 24 minutes. Allow cheese to get bubbly and brown.

Red Bell Pepper Sauce

1. Roast the bell peppers and jalapenos. Remove skins and seeds.


2. Add the remaining ingrediants to a blender and process until smooth. Set aside to serve.

Avocado Sauce

1. Place all ingredients into the blender and process until smooth. Add additional yogurt and lemon if too thick. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the peppers on a plate with a base of the red bell pepper sauce and a side of the avocado sauce. In the future I may serve with pinto beans to boost the protein of the meal. A very nice and fresh dinner. Also, good as a leftover as a chilled salad.