Orange Cardamom Muffins

Introducing Orange Cardamom Muffins. They’re a “wintery” type of concoction, but not by too many ingredients. The cardamom gives it a good kick without being too overpowering and the orange introduces your palate to a taste of what’s coming in future months.

A member of the ginger family of spices, cardamom is known to improve digestion and is most commonly used in Indian and Asian cooking and baking. In fact, Web India gives cardamom the prestigious title of “Queen of all spices.” While you may be a bit wary of putting a “spice” in a muffin, rest assured that cardamom is commonly used in sweet treats and is more like ginger than you think.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cardamom
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
zest and juice of 2 oranges
2 large eggs
2/3 cup yogurt
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and ground cardamom. Set aside.

3. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and orange zest together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, orange juice and yogurt and mix on low speed until the ingredients are well combined. Then fold over the flour mixture in by hand, making sure not to over-mix.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and bake for 15 to 18 minutes.

Makes 10 to 12 muffins.

Adapted from “Good Cooking’s Delicious Desserts.”

The Autumn Leaves Aren’t Drifting by my Window Fast Enough

This weekend was windy. Very windy. God listened to my prayers and decided to distribute some cold weather to the deprived residents of Los Angeles.

It was so windy in fact, that I had no choice but to make some ginger bread crusted pumpkin pie. It came out well, except my brown sugar was very dry before I put it in the pie and that was upsetting.

I love pomegranate.

Grey Skies Keep me Energized

Yesterday, it rained.

And I got happy. I know it sounds strange, but I felt energized. I did some cleaning, I gave Henry a bath, I did some decorating for Halloween, and I spent some time baking and helping my mom make lunch.

We had salad.

And edamame and potato leek soup.

Overall, Saturday was good. One of the best ones I’ve had in a long time. A Saturday where I could just do what I needed to do to get done and feel like I accomplished something afterwards, instead of being plagued by stressful thoughts about what I needed to do and how I don’t have time to do all of it. Amen.

I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts

A couple of weeks ago, I made a cake for a friend’s birthday. I was looking in particular for a recipe that had both coconut and banana in it, as I had made coconut banana cupcakes once and they had been her favorite. I really looked high and low for a good recipe, at one point I decided to just wing it, but Epicurious did not disappoint. I found the recipe, “Banana Cake with Coconut Frosting,” but added coconut flakes in the batter along with the banana.

The recipe called for coconut cream for the frosting, but I didn’t have any, so I just ended up using more coconut flakes! And I added raspberries, just as a personal touch. Plus, more fruit is never a bad thing. It was super soft and for the most part, was met with a good reception. It’s unfortunate that most people don’t have a liking for banana or coconut. Sad really. I don’t know how someone can not like tropical fruit flavors like this in dessert. It was the same when I worked at a chocolate store while I was going to school. There were certain people who absolutely loved the pineapple truffle or coconut cream, but there were certain people who were so turned off that they would literally make a face of disgust when I would offer them one of the aforementioned flavors as a sample. What is wrong with you people?!

In the immortal words of Gus Portokalos, from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” “They’re like toast! My daughter is engaged to a person with parents that are toast. No honey, no jam, just toast! Dry toast!”

End of Summer Mixed-Berry Pie

Oh, Summer. You’ve almost come to an end. I’ve been dreaming of the days where I can wear scarves, boots, beautiful coats and cashmere ever since you began. I’ve been counting down until the moment where I can make gingerbread men, pumpkin pie and peppermint hot chocolate, until I can turn on the oven and relish in its warmth. Oh thank God you’re almost over. Do me a favor, tell Fall and Winter to bring me rain and windy days and maybe, hail and if I’m lucky, even snow.

It’s a lazy Sunday and you know what that means: baking! I decided to commemorate the end of Summer by baking a season appropriate treat, a mixed berry pie, more specifically, a citrus-scented mixed berry pie with an oatmeal lattice crust, courtesy of Epicurious via Bon Appétit magazine.

The recipe called for fresh fruit, but I only had a bag of frozen mixed berries from Trader Joe’s. I thawed and drained them for well over an hour and they almost looked fresh.

I made the crust myself as well. Making things from scratch for some reason, is just always more rewarding then buying store-made supples. It was a lot of hard work, but gratifying in the end. My favorite part of making pie crusts is slicing the lattices to put on top.

The last step was going over the lattice with a well-mixed egg and then sprinkling a bit of sugar on top. It was during this that I realized I hadn’t cross-hatched the pieces. Oh well.

Enjoy with a glass of cold milk or a cup of warm tea.

Edible Gardens: Part 2

Do you see this beautiful tuft of spinach above? I am shedding tears right now knowing that I grew this in my garden. No not really, but I am really proud of myself. I can’t believe I didn’t kill my plants! But wait, there’s more.

Tomatoes! Can you believe this? It looks like I do have a green thumb after all. I was so excited when I saw these little tomatoes. Currently, I have about 10 that will hopefully grow into nice, red robust tomatoes. It’s quite exciting. This is all it takes in life to make me happy. See how easily pleased I am?

Pomegranate! Oh wow so many exciting fruits and veggies. Unfortunately, this was the only fruit that the tree gave, but I don’t mind. Hopefully I can spend some time caring for it so it bears more fruit.

I was so excited about my edible garden that I planted oregano, basil and arugula, which have all sprouted. I honestly love the idea of growing my own food so much. If I had the time, energy and money, I would have a farm. I would love to grow sugar pumpkins to make pumpkin pie with and peppers. I have to say, that growing food is the only reason I love Southern California weather. Fruits and vegetables that regularly have a ’season’ can be grown year round here because of the weather. It’s nice.

Detox and the City

I’ve decided to go on a detox of sorts. This is not only something I want to do to get healthier, but really, it’s a test of my own will power. You see, trying to go on a diet, or detox is nothing new for me. I’ve tried many times, but I’ve never managed to do it all the way. In cases concerning diets, starting is definitely not the hardest part, it’s keeping it going until the end. The only time I managed to lose a significant enough amount of weight that people noticed was in my sophomore year of high school. That summer, I was inside, avoiding the heat and flipping through channels while conveniently sprawled out on my parents’ bed. By chance, I started watching a little old movie you might remember, by the name of “Center Stage.” If we’re going to hold it up to a bar ( no pun intended!), it’s definitely no where near a masterpiece. But nevertheless, it dealt with subject matter that I loved: ballet. That was all it took to get me to motivate myself to lose some weight. I not only watched what I ate, I took ballet classes once a week and walked the rest of the week. I think I lost 10 lbs by the time summer was over. But it didn’t last.

I’m not big by any means, really. I’ve got my height against me, because I’m short. If I was a few inches taller, I could eat whatever I wanted and not care. But unfortunately that’s not the case. Overall, I’d say I would like to and need to lose 15 lbs. Maybe 20.

I found a book I had bought years ago at a discount store called “Detox: Revitalize, Rejuvenate, Revive” by Sara Rose. The inner sleeve reads ” Do you ever feel that you body is tired of the fast food, quick snacks, free-flowing alcohol, choking cigarette smoke and constant stress that seems to be such a part of modern life?”

Yes, Sara, I do.

“If so, you will find within this book a complete guide to detox: the ancient practice by which you can cleanse your body of the toxins that leave you lazy and lethargic.”

Sara goes on to point out that the signs of toxic overload include dry, blotchy, spotty skin (check!), headaches (check!), lack of energy (check!), bloating and constipation (check!) and many more. There’s even a questionairre.

Do you feel tired when you wake up in the morning, even though you’ve had enough sleep? Yes.

Do you suffer from skin rashes, spots around the mouth or eczema? Yes.

Do you live or work in a city? Yes. I love how this is an indication of toxic overload.

Do you have mood swings. Yes, but then again, who doesn’t?

Do you crave certain foods, such as candy or bread? Totally.

Anyway, you get the picture. I’m full of toxins. I’m on toxic overload. I’m infected.

So, I’m going to detox. Whether I will succeed remains to be seen. I hope I make it across the toxic bridge to come out on the other side feeling better, healthier and accomplished. Sara recommends that I not eat any products that contain wheat, cow’s milk, tea, coffee, chocolate or alcohol. Wait a minute, tea?! I love tea. My day does not start or end without a cup of tea. How can this be, Sara? Well, she goes on to say that I can have herbal and green tea. I guess I can make do. She also suggests to replace sugar with pure organic honey or maple syrup.

So what can I eat? Apple, artichoke, asparagus, broccoli, carrot, cranberry, fennel, garlic, ginger, lemon and yogurt are all considered detox superfoods. She recommends blue-green algae, coenzyme Q10, dandelion, kelp and milk thistle as detox supplements.

This morning, I woke up and drank a glass of hot water with the juice of half a lemon squeezed in. This apparently helps flush out your liver. My breakfast consisted of maple pecan granola, with fat free vanilla yogurt and a sliced up saturn or “donut” peach and some grapes. It was delicious. I didn’t eat bread, or butter or honey, and although the yogurt is made from cow’s milk, it’s still a step in the right direction. I feel good.

Fruit Granola

2 - 3 tablespoons of Trader Joe’s Maple Pecan Granola

4 oz cup of Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla Yogurt

1 Saturn peach, sliced

Handful of grapes

Cherry (Sheet) Cake

I put sheet in parentheses because it didn’t turn out like a true sheet cake. First off, I was out of wax paper to put in the bottom of the pan. Second, my pan was not nearly wide enough or long enough as it should have been, and also, I did not sprinkle confectioner’s sugar over the top and cut the pieces in triangles. So my cherry sheet cake, was more of a cherry flat cake than anything else. I found the recipe while browsing Martha Stewart.com, a website that never fails to be a good thing. I had been wanting to make something with cherries for a while now and it just so happened that we had a bag of frozen dark cherries sitting in the freezer.

The difference with this dough and regular cake dough was that it had the consistency of cookie dough and used more baking powder than usual. In fact, the dough turned out amazing, it was light and fluffy, not overly sweet, but just perfect. The cherries were really the icing on the cake.

It definitely didn’t turn out as good looking as the Martha Stewart version, but it tasted great, so I’m ok with it. The recommended cooking time was 35 to 40 minutes, however because my pan wasn’t wide enough and the dough was packed tight, it took the middle section of the cake about 50 minutes to fully cook. Serve with a warm (not piping hot) cup of tea!

Persian and Armenian Cooking: Noosh E Jan!

Today on eHow’s Edible Gardens, Willi and I talked about our favorite cookbooks and recipes. She mentioned a really great one called Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. I am definitely intrigued by this book and from what she said, it sounded great. I have a couple of vegetarian cookbooks, but none of them seem complete. This is especially helpful now, as I’ve recently become vegetarian this year, although I suppose I could be considered a pescetarian because I do occasionally eat fish. A book that I mentioned, New Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies by Najmieh Batmanglij, is one of my favorites. Last year, I asked my mom to get me a book that would encompass all the food she’s made over the years. I started to feel like, that although I loved to bake and cook, I didn’t know much about Iranian cooking or recipes, and that concerned me slightly, because I didn’t want those traditions to die.

You see, although I am Armenian, my family is from Iran, which doesn’t make too much of a difference, because Armenian and Iranian cooking are very closely related, as is Arabic and Greek cuisine. So this book is just a complete encyclopedia of Iranian food. It covers dishes such as Dolma, or Ghormeh Sabzi or Shirin Polo (all pictured here, with photos taken by me) and tons of delicious Iranian and Armenian desserts and pastries.

Persian cuisine is not only versatile and flavorful, but it’s very healthy as well. Vegetables are always used in dishes as opposed to on the side and ingredients such as lentils, saffron, parsley, rose water and a mixture of herbs and spices. When you eat Persian food, you really get a sense of culture from it. The flavors that are combined together make for one amazing people. The great thing is that, if you don’t eat meat like me, the food has so much substance on its own, that omitting meat or replacing it with something like tofu does not change the dish by much.

This is shirin polo. Shirin polo in Persian means “sweet rice” and is one of my favorite dishes ever. The combination of almonds, candied orange zest and saffron in the rice makes for a titillating experience in the confines of your mouth.

It’s not necessarily a dish you make everyday, but reserve for special occasions, such as celebrations or weddings. The colors alone are beautiful, let alone the taste.

Rose water or Golab in Persian is used to flavor food, as a component in some cosmetic and medical preparations, and for religious purposes throughout Europe and Asia.

Rosewater has a very distinctive flavor and is used heavily in South Asian, West Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine

In Iran it is added to tea, ice cream, cookies and other sweets in small quantities. Two of my favorite desserts are akbar-mashti and faludeh, both Persian delicacies that have rose water added to them. Akbar-mashti is a thick creamy ice cream that has rose water (and sometimes pistachios added to it). Faludeh is a Persian sorbet made of thin vermicelli noodles frozen with corn starch, rose water, lime juice, and often ground pistachios as well.

I hope to present more Persian and Armenian recipes on this blog, as I definitely think it’s an undiscovered area of food for most of the U.S. If you’re interested in Middle Eastern recipes, a blog you should be reading is Desert Candy. I read it weekly and the recipes are just amazing. Noosh e jan! (Bon Apetit)

Pumpkin Muffins

So I know I made these in the completely wrong season, but I had a huge can of pumpkin puree in the fridge, because I had to feed a couple spoonfuls of it to Henry to end his bout of constipation. I was originally saving the can for pumpkin pie time in a couple of months, but since it was open and I didn’t want to waste it, I thought I’d make some muffins.

I found this recipe from my new favorite site, Recipe Zaar. It’s pretty simple, that’s why I think these turned out so well - there were no fancy ingredients or methods involved, just plain old pumpkin muffins.

A lot of people don’t line their tins with anything, because the cups are usually reserved for cupcakes, but I like to line them anyway. I’d love to use parchment paper to create the cups, like the muffins I’ve seen at Starbucks.

Ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg - all my favorite spices in one.

Overall, they turned out great. They were moist and bounced back and they baked through really well too. I will probably try this recipe out with whole wheat flour, less sugar and maybe some walnuts next time.