Knitter in the Kitchen

A couple of weeks ago I made Szechuan-Style Tofu from the March 2010 issue of Cooking Light. This one is totally a winner — it is very easy, has great flavor, and goes perfectly with rice.

Mods
:: I could not find matchstick-cut carrots, so I used 3/4 cup shredded carrots.
:: I also could not find bottled ground fresh ginger, so I went for jarred chopped ginger (found in the spice aisle). Seemed to work fine.
:: Omitted the peanuts

This dish is definitely going to be a regular on the meal rotation!

I was wandering around Crate and Barrel the other day with a gift card burning a hole in my pocket when Baked: New Frontiers in Baking caught my attention. I will admit that the brown and orange book jacket drew me in because I love those colors together. But I also remembered seeing this book mentioned on a baking blog months ago and thinking that it sounded interesting. Written by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, it contains the most popular recipes from their bakery Baked, which they opened in Brooklyn in 2005.

The first recipe I flipped to was for banana espresso chocolate chip muffins. Oooh. The second recipe I landed on? Chipotle Cheddar Scones. Oooh again! And the book was on sale! So of course, I forked over my gift card and the book came home with me. I spent quite some time pouring over it before baking anything — it’s a great read.

The banana espresso chocolate chip muffins are super moist, light, and fluffy. The banana and chocolate flavors are strong. I would say these muffins are probably the best I have ever made. The one thing I would change for next time is to increase the amount of instant espresso and dissolve it in a bit of water first to see if that yields a stronger flavor. But overall, the muffins were absolutely delicious!

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins
From Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito
Recipe posted with permission

1 1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill each cup about three-quarters full. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Move the muffin pan to a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and allow them to finish cooling on the cooling rack.

Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

I have a great enchilada recipe in my repertoire already, but that didn’t stop me from trying the Tex-Mex Beef Enchiladas from Everyday Food magazine. I cut this recipe out a long time ago…it’s from the June 2006 issue, to be exact!

They look very similar to the ones made from The Pioneer Woman recipe I used previously, and to be honest I can’t tell the difference taste-wise either. Since the Everyday Food recipe takes less time, it will probably be my go-to recipe from now on.

Notes:
:: I don’t measure 1/4 cup of ground beef per enchilada. I just eyeball it, but my guess is that 1/4 cup is too much. I don’t want my enchiladas to burst.
:: One pound of ground beef (increased from 3/4 lb) yielded 16 enchiladas for me, so you definitely need more than 8 tortillas.

A couple of weeks ago I sewed up a matching tissue holder, zippered pouch, and drawstring pouch for a birthday gift. I paired linen fabric with a bright Robert Kaufman print, both from my stash. I tweaked the measurements from this great drawstring bag tutorial to create a bag in the desired size. I discovered that I really like making drawstring bags! The most time-consuming part for me? Sewing the drawstrings! I thought about buying them, but I really liked the idea of matching them with the fabric.

All packed up and ready to go!

As a baker, I shy away from making bread. I feel somewhat intimidated by yeast-based recipes and I’ve only ever used yeast a couple of times — once for no-knead bread, and once for classic cinnamon rolls. Then I saw Brooke’s post about her homemade pizza, and I was inspired to try my hand at making pizza from scratch.

I used Giada’s Pizza Dough recipe and followed Brooke’s example of throwing in some chopped fresh rosemary and cheese into the dough while mixing. I had some problems with the dough — it was much too wet, and in hindsight I should have added more flour before attempting to take it out of the food processor. Me struggling with removing the overly sticky dough was not a pretty sight. The recipe didn’t indicate how long or at what temperature the dough should be baked, so I experimented. I decided on 400 degrees for 4 minutes without toppings, and then an additional 15-20 minutes with toppings added (depends on whether you are making a wee 6-inch personal size pizza like the one shown above or a 12-inch). The dough tasted pretty good — the fresh rosemary in it certainly made a difference. A single batch yielded enough for one 6-inch and one 12-inch pizza.

For the sauce, I adapted the Exquisite Pizza Sauce from allrecipes.com based on user reviews. I omitted the honey, anchovy paste, and dried marjorom, and let the sauce sit overnight in the fridge instead of just thirty minutes. It was yummy! This recipe is a definitely keeper.

I kept the toppings simple. I think the key to avoiding soggy pizza is to go light on the toppings. I used a grated three-cheese blend (Romano, Parmesan, and Asiago), mushrooms, bell peppers, olives, and basil.

I had fun making the pizza and it was tasty, so I plan to do it again! Next time, I want to try Smitten Kitchen’s really simple pizza dough. Do you have a favorite pizza dough recipe to share?