Table Talk » April 2007 Archives

Table Talk Home | February 2010 »

April 20, 2007

Smurf Muffins

Sometimes recipes don't turn out how you want them to. This week I tested a blueberry muffin recipe from Grain-Free Gourmet. It's a simple recipe that uses blueberries, water, almond flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, vanilla extract, honey, and eggs. The recipe has you simmer the blueberries and water until the blueberries release their water and the mixture thickens. I used frozen blueberries. They just seemed to keep releasing lots of water and never really thickened. And also turned very blue! I knew I should have started over with the blueberries, but I was pressed for time, so I said to myself "how bad could it be?" Hmm, the minute I mixed the blueberries with the rest of the ingredients, I knew that I was going to end up with the ugliest muffins that I've ever baked. See for yourself.

These muffins turned out to be the color of a sickly smurf. But they are quite tasty. I brought some to my friend Lisa Allen, the author of Eating Clean, and she enjoyed them. I sent her home with a container of smurf muffins. My husband Tom declared that they looked totally unappetizing. I have to agree with him on that. But they do taste quite good and I will make them again. I want to try them with both fresh and frozen blueberries. My plan is to skip the simmering step and just add the water (or maybe fresh squeezed orange juice) and the blueberries to the rest of the ingredients. Or maybe the simmering step will work better with fresh berries. But first I need to get more almond flour. I used Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour for the smurf muffins. Although Lisa loved the texture that the Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal produced, I’d like to try these muffins with a finer textured almond meal. One of my clients recommended the almond meal from Lucy's Kitchen Shop because it has a fine texture. Maybe a 50/50 mix of fine and coarse almond flour. At any rate, it’s a recipe that I will be revisiting.

Posted April 20, 2007 10:53 AM in Gluten-Free, Test Kitchen | Comments (1)

April 15, 2007

Seared Salmon with Coconut Spinach

This recipe for Seared Salmon with Coconut Spinach has been on my testing pile for weeks. I made it for dinner tonight and it is a winner. It takes minutes to make and is bursting with flavor. I had some leftover basmati rice, so I served it over that rather than soba noodles. The recipe calls for just searing the salmon, but we like our salmon cooked through. After searing for a few minutes on each side, I covered the pan and cooked the salmon until it was cooked through. If you sear it in an oven-safe pan, you can finish it in a 350 degree oven. The spinach was spicy, but not overly hot.

Posted April 15, 2007 10:56 AM in Test Kitchen | Comments (0)

April 13, 2007

Sprouts on Day 4!

Last night I noticed some tiny sprouts in my AeroGarden. The oregano, Genovese basil, thyme, and chives have sprouted. The mint, cilantro, and parsley are all slower germinating seeds. I didn’t bother with a picture because the sprouts are very small.

The AeroGarden lights are very bright, so don’t ignore the company’s suggestion to put the AeroGarden somewhere where the light won’t bother you. The lights are on for 16 hours a day.

Continue reading "Sprouts on Day 4!" »

Posted April 13, 2007 11:08 AM in Kitchen Garden/Farmstand | Comments (0)

April 10, 2007

Chocolate Gluten Freedom Cupcakes

(About 30% of my clients have special diet requirements. The majority of those are gluten-free and have other food allergies.)

Today I cooked for Jayne’s family. Jayne is gluten-free and has other food allergies. She turns 10 this week so I made birthday cupcakes. The plan was that she would take the cupcakes to school to share with her classmates. But, after seeing and tasting the cupcakes, Jayne has other ideas. Her first choice is to keep the cupcakes for herself! Her second choice is to have them at her birthday dinner. She thinks that they are too good to share with her class. I wonder which plan will win out.

These beautiful cupcakes are a slightly modified version of the Chocolate Gluten Freedom Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Rule the World. While Vegan Cupcakes is not a gluten-free cookbook, it has a few gluten-free recipes and since the recipes are vegan, they are perfect starting points for recipes for my clients who are allergic to dairy and eggs. I also made a modified version of the Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting.

I’m thrilled with the taste, look, and crumb of these cupcakes and I’m looking forward to trying more recipes from this book. (How do I know that they were delicious? Well, I got 14 cupcakes from the recipe, one of the extras was for me to sample.

Posted April 10, 2007 11:02 AM in Gluten-Free | Comments (1)

April 8, 2007

Fresh Herbs!

Today I planted my AeroGarden.

This is my way of having a longer growing season here in the frozen north. I ordered it during a recent Springtime snowstorm. I’m growing a combination of the Italian Herb kit and the Gourmet Herb kit. The first signs of life should appear within a week and I should be harvesting herbs within a few weeks.

I like to use fresh herbs in my cooking, but I don’t like buying packages of expensive herbs when I need just a sprig or two. The AeroGarden should solve that problem.

Posted April 8, 2007 11:12 AM in Kitchen Garden/Farmstand | Comments (0)

Read More Entries »

More Information

Search Table Talk

My Favorite Blogs

I Recommend

Visit My Amazon Store

Monthly Archives


	© 2003-2009 Patti Anastasia and Anastasia's Table, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
	Powered by Moveable Type.