Irish Colcannon balls

Colcannon is a popular Irish dish typically made with potatoes and cabbage. I'm not certain why but some say it is eaten around Halloween and can be used to predict marriage- this tradition is really beyond me. But I do know that it more resembles mashed potatoes with bits of cabbage, as well as some other herbs and spices folded in. I used a version of a traditional Colcannon recipe to make my own healthy appi-teaser balls.

Before I go any further, I did a bit of research and found some answers to this interesting tradition. People would hide charms or rings or thimbles in the green speckled Colcannon dishes on Halloween. When an unmarried lady found the prize in her dish she would then put the mashed Colcannon with the prize into a sock and hang it on her door handle. The first man to enter her house was the future husband. What a way to live..."kids it all started with the mashed Colcannon on Halloween....and that's how I met your mother ;) 

Oh and there's a Colcannon song I found that musicians have actually posted videos of on youtube...

Did you ever eat Colcannon, made from lovely pickled cream? 
 With the greens and scallions mingled like a picture in a dream. 
Did you ever make a hole on top to hold the melting flake? 
Of the creamy, flavoured butter that your mother used to make?

The chorus:
Yes you did, so you did, so did he and so did I.
And the more I think about it sure the nearer I'm to cry. Oh, wasn't it the happy days when troubles we had not, And our mothers made Colcannon in the little skillet pot.


How fun! Next Halloween I'm totally going to do this. But, in the meantime I'll continue to make this  traditional Irish dish into balls...perhaps I'll call them the nontraditional Irish balls. 

The basic differences between the traditional and the nontraditional (my recipe) are the substitution of white potatoes for sweet potatoes, the addition of extra spinach/kale, and baking the mash into balls for a pop-able snack time treat. I'm sure there are many many recipes using different spices and herbs and varying amounts of butter, cream, and what have yous, but I won't get into all that. I modified a recipe from fatfreevegan.com and have added a link to the original recipe. http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/03/colcannon-puffs.html

If you decide to open the link and look at this recipe, the only difference is I used sweet potatoes instead of potatoes, used spinach instead of kale, and used way more spinach than recommended to make greener in terms of color and in health. Enjoy! 
(Exit stage right to a sweet melody of the Colcannon song playing in the background)

whole wheat cinnamon graham crackers

Obviously I want to conquer the world like Pinky and The Brain, obviously. But in the meantime while I get all the blueprints of master conquery together I can conquer (or try to) the kitchen. I'll be a spinning in my mouse wheel creating and modifying recipes. 

I aim to eat a lot of whole foods that are unprocessed, natural and fresh. Or at least if they are processed they are done so without adding preservatives or other additives. Adding high fructose corn syrup to jam and applesauce or adding oil and sugar to peanut butter is totally necessary  It makes me so mad because I don't want to put those things in my body and there are sometimes little options to avoid these products. But aside from me, the sad thing is is that a lot of people are unaware or simply don't care about the extras in their foods. Because it can be hard to find pure or natural products in the stores, I have started to make a lot of these products myself. I've made applesauce, pearsauce, yamsauce, jam, canned fruit without sugar, cookies, muffins and breads without butter or oil, yogurt, soft serve frozen yogurt,  biscotti, granola, and so much more like homemade healthier graham crackers.

Graham crackers are a recent obsession of mine. They are delicious with applesauce and/or peanut butter and a banana, which are all staples in my daily diet. I found a recipe a while ago that had homemade graham crackers in order to make your own graham cracker crust. I went ahead and made the crust recipe because I wanted to make a dessert, I didn't have store bought graham crackers and was too penny pinchery to go out and buy a box. I did a search on the internet (and in my cupboard) and had all the ingredients for this graham recipe. I was delighted, as I'm sure you can imagine. 

I have now made the crackers a few times and each batch is pretty different, only because I play around with the ingredients a lot depending on what I have or what I want to try. But I posted a link to the original recipe below. I have had success replacing the oil with a mashed rip banana to make a little healthier. Other things I have tried was adding banana extract instead of vanilla, I've used whole wheat pastry flour and spelt flour rather than regular whole wheat because it's less dense. I almost always triple the amount of cinnamon and sometimes add nutmeg or cloves to create a little Fall cracker explosion. You could even add canned pumpkin instead of the oil (or my banana) for Fallish flavors! It's all your choice. Have fun, have a ball, bake 'em all! 

You can roll out the dough on parchment paper and cook as one large sheet of dough. Then, after they are baked you just crack the sheet into pieces of any size. Or if you have a cookie cutter you can also do it that way like sugar cookies. 

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/11/04/smores-graham-crackers/ 

Seitan

Some call it say-tan, others say satan (yeah like the devil). But regardless of your thoughts on the pronunciation, this creation is a little bit or bite of heaven. Make no mistake about it; they taste like chewy pockets of Thanksgiving stuffing. The recipe I modified included mushrooms, sage and thyme, so you see how they'd resemble stuffing. 

Seitan is often called "wheat meat" or more descriptively as non-soy, meat substitute. It is made from vital wheat gluten flour, which actually is not a flour at all. It is the protein component of wheat flour,  or in other words the main protein in wheat flour. Vital wheat gluten is 75-80% protein because of the processing method where most of the bran and starch is removed. These proteins are responsible for the rise, texture and crumbs of breads and therefore often used for baked goods, and can be used as a lower carb option "flour" too. However, vital wheat gluten is also the main ingredient in fake meat products like seitan, or in Asian cuisine for mock duck, and even in Tofurky products. The description below from Happy Herbivore explains it again. 

"Although vital wheat gluten looks like a flour, it's not a "flour" like whole-wheat is a flour, rather it's powdered gluten. Gluten is the protein found in wheat. Its what gives bread its shape and pizza dough its elasticity. Vital wheat gluten is just the protein in a powdered form. It is made by washing wheat flour dough with water until all the starches dissolve, leaving just the gluten behind." http://happyherbivore.com/2012/01/what-vital-wheat-gluten/

So, the main ingredient in my mushroom and garlic seitan balls is this vital wheat gluten. Like I starting describing before my seitan balls included ingredients like mushrooms, thyme, sage, garlic, onion and veggie broth, which in combination closely resembles a stuffing recipe. Yummm delicious!

I've been obsessed with the seitan I made all week, so now it's all gone and time to think about making more. I don't think I'll even bother changing the recipe I used because they were so tasty.  

To make the seitan I first put the garlic and mushrooms in the food processors and pulsed until it was chopped in smaller bits. Then added those to a bowl with the rest of the wet ingredients and mixed. I then combined the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and added the wet ones in. I mixed again until it resembled dough and rolled out small ping pong balls. I baked them on  a cookie sheet with aluminum foil at 350 until they started to brown. I overbaked them probably because they were a little harder than I wanted. I really cannot say how long to bake them but I  would guess more than 15 minutes , you'll just have to keep an eye on them. 

wet ingredients
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
dry ingredients
• 1 cup vital wheat gluten flour
• 1/3 cup whole wheat pastryflour
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoons onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Yogurt making from chef Ryann

In the 5025 Corbett test kitchen this week a second try at making homemade yogurt was attempted. (I have dreams that someday, maybe in my retirement years, I will work in the Bon Appetit kitchen as a recipe tester.) My first attempt involved almond milk and a sub par incubator for the fermentation process. There were a lot of steps with this technique that were questionable. Like using a crockpot for the incubation phase or using almond milk in place of cow's milk, what was I thinking? The crockpot method didn't work for me because my crockpot cools pretty fast so the milk sat basically at room temperature overnight, rather than at a balmy 115 degrees like it should have. This explains why the result was just as the starting product, regular almond milk. Nope, it never set or got thick and creamy like yogurt should be because of the lack of heat. The fact that it was almond milk rather than cow's milk may have also contributed to this failure. But I read reviews where others had success with almond milk...they must be lying...

Anyway, the second attempt was magic. I woke up like it was Christmas morning ready to open my incubator to see what gifts I'd been given. Let me back up a few hours first though (ohhh the suspense). I did more research after my first failure to find other methods for yogurt making (it was an obvious place to start since my first flop failure). I found some very interesting facts about milk. Did you know that if milk is heated to 185 degrees, or just below boiling, it reduces the risk of bacterial growth? This is so important because of the long incubation phase needed to set the yogurt. I also learned that when milk is kept at a constant warm temperature (about 115 degrees) for 8-24 hours the live cultures you add will break down the lactose (the milk sugars). The milk sugar breakdown is what lactose intolerant people are unable to do, thus it causes all kinds of unpleasant GI symptoms. However if the live cultures break down the sugars for you during incubation then all people including the lactose intolerant can enjoy homemade cow milk yogurt. I know, it's wild. It's science! It's mmmmmmagic. 

I better explain all the tools and ingredients needed for this as I have already mentioned some. Obviously you need cow milk (whole, reduced fat or non fat). You'll need about a half cup of organic yogurt that has live cultures in it. It can be plain or flavored as long as it has live cultures. A double broiler, or make shift one, and a cooking thermometer are also needed. Last, a camping or mini picnicking cooler is needed for incubation.

The Process: 

Prepare the incubator: find your cooler and dust it off. Put a towel on the bottom of it. Set the cooler aside to use later.  

Prepare your tools: You can sterilize the thermometer and measuring cup in the boiling water you'll need for the next step. Sterilizing also helps to reduce bacterial growth. 

Heat the milk: heat a 1/2 gallon of milk in a double broiler to at least 185 degrees, make sure to keep under 200 degrees. Stir the milk while it's heating so it heats evenly and doesn't burn on the bottom. 

Cool the milk: Remove milk from the heat and let it cool in the pot to about 115 degrees. It takes about 20 minutes to cool on the counter. You can speed this up by placing the pot into a cold water bath, but be careful not to let any water get into the milk pot. Use your thermometer to check the temps.

Add the cultures: Once cooled to 115 degrees, add the 1/2 cup of store bought yogurt and mix well. 

Get ready for the incubator: Pour the milk from the pot into two large mason jars and close with lids. Find two other mason jars, fill them with boiling water, and close with lids. Put all four jars in the mini cooler on top of the towel and pull the sides of the towel up over the jars to cover so the jars are wrapped up to trap the heat. Close the lid of the cooler and let it sit for at least 8 hours, or longer. I've heard the longer you let it incubate the thicker it will become.

Below are two websites that also have a recipe and tips for reference. Check them out. It seems there are a lot of ways to do this, but find what works for you.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/09/diy-homemade-greek-yogurt-recipe.html?ref=search

http://lifewithlampnsofa.com/2012/05/12/homemade-vanilla-yogurt/

almond joy cookies

Should I be a butcher? A baker? Or a candlestick maker? Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub.

I often don't recognize that I am the exception and not the rule with my kitchen creation crazes. I am delighted to spend all my free time standing above the black and white tiles, hovering over the counter tops and floating back and forth in my 10 x 2 foot kitchen space to access ingredients, bowls, utensils, or the oven/stove/microwave appliances. It never seems lonely, although I am almost always alone. Nor is it boring or quiet as thoughts and ideas are racing like a endorphin high athlete in my head. I had for a while starting putting on a Radiolab episodes while I cook, but realized that I would completely zone out and not listen to the witty banter between Jad and Robert. So instead of feeling bad about the lack of company or missed opportunities to learn about sciencey things in my free time, I started to appreciate my thoughts and creativity. I realized that I am expanding my mind in others ways. But when I start expanding my belly too this kitchen craze may need to be halted.
So, I woke up Sunday morning and wanted to make a treat before I went to work. I wanted to use the shredded coconut I bought weeks ago.  I thought about the other ingredients I had and decided to try a 'almond joy graham cracker cookie.' I made a basic cookie dough, except used flax meal in the place of an egg, and added chocolate chips and the shredded coconut to the batter. I also had some graham crackers left over from my sister's visit and crumbled a few sheets in the dough in attempt to add a honey graham flavor. The dough was wonderful! Plus, I could eat as much as I wanted because it didn't have raw egg in it! Not that the raw egg factor has ever gotten between me and the dough, I always eat the dough, but there are some that worry about this. Just think, if Gaston from beauty and the Beast can pop all those raw eggs why can't I? And if my parents let me do it as a kid, why not continue the habit with a healthier and stronger body. Seriously, I ask. Ponder it. Will you be a great parent and let your kids eat the dough? Keep in mind it's something kids remember FOR EV ER!

Coconut and chocolate chips, 
oh my!

To continue on, I didn't bake the cookies after stirring up the dough because I honestly have been enjoying the dough balls more than the baked cookies. I always end up telling Scott that once they are baked I don't like it anymore. I have baker bias. The flavors are just different after they come out of the oven, probably a combination of being drier and not as sweet. But this time I did a tester bake batch and only put a few dough balls in the oven. Just as expected, I was disappointed with the baked cookie. The graham cracker crumbs made the baked cookie turn out a little more stiff than normal, whereas the graham crumbs in the dough created little crunchy pockets of goodness. I'm pretty happy that I had the foresight to not put all my eggs in one basket, or all my cookies on one sheet. Real life lessons learned about real insignificant problems. Who needs Radiolab? (I still do.)

They're baked

    

DIY: Roasting coffee beans

A few weeks ago I played in a trampoline dodge ball tournament. It was awesome as you can imagine with soft rubber balls flying, nailing people in the head, back, stomach, legs..all body parts counted. On top of the traditional dodge ball shenanigans, imagine a huge netted bouncy trampoline that could easily hold over 2 dozen people. It's every kid's (and adult's-let's be real) dream come true.

 Jump, throw, duck, laugh, cry... play ball!

After we took second place in the tourney and scored a case of beer, a small group of us went to a local pub and sat around a cozy outdoor fire pit. Two of my teammates had recently started roasting their own coffee beans and were talking about how easy it was. They were telling us that the unroasted beans ('the 'green beans'), are easy to buy and can be roasted in the oven on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes. The lack of bitterness was the major difference between home roasting and store bought roasted beans, oh duh and the freshness of roasting and grinding your own beans only as you need them. They roast once a week and freshly grind each morning for a delicious cup o joe. 

Below is a picture of the 'green beans,' simply meaning they are unroasted. As you see we roasted ours in a cast iron skillet, rather than in the oven on a cookie sheet. Unless you have a convection oven, your beans are at high risk for burning on the bottom and thus not roasting evenly. With the cast iron or "frying pan" method, you just need a skillet on medium to low heat. No oil or anything else needed but beans. In order to prevent burning and to ensure an evenly roasted bean, we stirred constantly stirred the beans around the pan. It only took about 10 minutes until they were dark in color (almost black), much like you would find whole beans at the store. They crack and pop and smell  when they are roasting; it's a fun process and again sooo easy. It is definitely well worth every extra step step in comparison to buying already roasted whole beans or buying ground coffee. Plus, as if you need another reason, plus the green beans that we bought were only $6.50 a pound! 

When life presents green beans, make em black and drink up! 

Wanted: Cream of tartar

Today I tried to make cookies to take to work to share with my coworkers. I had a recipe for a "skinny lemon poppy seed cookie" that I was excited to try. I only recently started to like the flavor of lemony sweets, but still cannot even think of eating lemon meringue pie, yuck. My grandma is said to make a delicious pie and family members even request she make it for family parties. But still, I want nothing to do with that lemon treat. But the cookies I decided to try. 
I have had this bag of poppy seeds for well over a few months, dare I say years even. It was time to use them, and with my new found like for lemon it seemed like a winning idea to make lemon poppy seed cookies. I found a lightened up recipe and set up my stuff in the kitchen with a fresh cup of coffee. The one ingredient that I didn't have was cream of tartar, but after researching I thought I could  just substitute it by adding more baking powder. Spoiler alert: it turns out that there is no good substitute for the tartar. If you don't have it, don't fake it. My cookies turned out flat, yes actually flatter than a pancake and so sad looking. However, the batter was so delicious that I will probably try to make them again and actually harness the magical powers of the tartar. 
I also added crushed rosemary to the batter and will absolutely do it again the second time around. So instead of bringing my fun coworkers fresh baked cookies I just left them on the pan, flattening in the center even more like a cooling cake. Before I left for work though I peeled a cookie off the aluminum foil and tasted it and would have loved if it was fluffy. Better luck to myself next time. 
My ingredients from most to least amounts added include:
corn flour (b/c this was what I had on hand), sugar, butter, flax seed meal, water, poppy seeds  baking powder, salt, lemon juice and zest, and rosemary. 

This is my Grandma, she's the
queen of baking!

This is what they were supposed to look
like from the original blog :) 

But this is what they turned out like
without having the tartar...

Look how flat and depressing