Get 'em While They're Hot!

I'm such a sucker for traditional holiday foods. And I don't mean meals and dishes that are tradition for my own family or culture. I love scouring the internet and my cookbooks for recipes that are traditionally made and consumed on any holiday or season, even if it isn't one that I happen to celebrate (which might help explain to my coworkers why I have a Jewish cookbook at my desk...). So I spent a few hours this morning looking up recipes to different breads that are traditionally baked for Easter and Passover such as Challah, Tsoureki and Italian Easter Bread. I still may try one of these over the weekend (seriously that Italian Easter Bread is gorgeous) but I really wanted something to do today while I was at home and nothing was open. So Hot Cross Buns seemed like the perfect thing! They commonly pop up in bakeries and grocery stores around Easter and are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, with the white cross on top being a symbol of the Crucifixion of Jesus.

Since it WAS Good Friday I was basically stuck with what I already had in the kitchen so I had to make a few substitutions and changes. I was light on yeast so I had to let the bread rise a little longer than usual (but I left the recipe as the "normal" amount). I also didn't have an orange but saw quite a few recipes using fruit peels or orange zest so I left it out but I also included in the recipe because I think it the citrus would add a really nice flavour. I definitely will include it next time! And I randomly added apple cider because my dough turned out a bit drier than I expected and I thought the apple flavour would go nicely with the spices.


Now I've never actually had a Hot Cross Bun. It's one of those things that always sound really good but when I see them in person I find I don't really want it. And I guess it's because they sound like they should be a sweet, sticky bun but really they are closer to a cinnamon-raisin bread in bun form with a glaze on top. I think the name is a bit deceiving. But you know what? They're really delicious! I can't believe I've held out so long. Slightly sweet and full of yummy spices, these are totally the kind of thing that sneak up on you. You might think they're "just ok" at first but pretty soon you're sneaking bits off the plate and can't stop. A little bit of work since there are a few glazing/icing steps but totally worth it, and the end result is so pretty! Good Friday might be over but there's still time to make these for Easter or really any other day of the week :)

So you may be wondering what I was doing baking Hot Cross Buns today when Lent isn't technically over until Sunday and as previously noted, I gave up baked treats for Lent. Yes, I cheated. But it was PLANNED! Adam and I spent the last week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and I never intended to try and keep it up while we were on vacation. And since I'm not actually doing it for religious reasons anyway, what does it matter right?? Anyway there's my excuse. I know it's pretty sketchy but at least I have something to write about!


Hot Cross Buns
adapted from the Guardian
200ml milk, plus a little more for the egg glaze
50 ml apple cider (optional)
1 cinnamon stick
½ tsp cloves
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp ground ginger
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups bread flour
½ cup butter
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground ginger
2 eggs
125 g mixed dried fruit (I bought a mix that had california raisins, sultana raisins and dried cherries)
Zest of one orange

Icing
3 tbsp flour
water
1 tsp icing sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Sugar Glaze
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 tbsp boiling water

1. Bring 200ml milk to a gentle boil with the cinnamon stick, then turn off the heat and leave to infuse for up to 1 hour. I didn't actually have the patience to wait so I only let it sit for about 20 minutes, which is also why I added some more cinnamon to the recipe. I'm not really sure you *need* to infuse the milk but it's probably a nice touch if you have time. Heat back up until it's warm to the touch and mix the strained milk with yeast and 1 tsp sugar. Set aside.

2. Measure out AP and bread flours into a large mixing bowl and grate butter into the bowl. Rub the butter in with your fingers until it's well combined and then add the rest of the sugar, spices, salt and orange zest if you're using it. Stir until well mixed.

3. Separate one egg and set aside the yolk for the egg glaze. Beat the white and other whole egg slightly.

4. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture, and add the beaten eggs and the yeast mixture. Stir in, adding the milk mixture and enough extra liquid (I used apple cider, you can use either water or more milk) to make a soft dough - it shouldn't look or feel dry. Knead for about 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until the dough feels smooth and elastic, then lightly grease the bowl and put the dough into it. Cover and leave in a warm place until it has doubled in size – 1.5-2 hours.

4. On a lightly greased counter top, punch down dough and and knead for a minute or so and then flatten it out and scatter the fruit mix on top. Roll up like a cinnamon roll and knead again to spread the fruit around evenly. This might be a bit tricky so don't worry too much if the fruit keeps falling out of the dough...just push it back in!

5. Divide dough into 16 equal pieces and roll into bun shapes. Place on a greased cookie sheet and score a cross into the top of each with a sharp knife. Cover and let rise again in a warm place until doubled in size - about 40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit or 220 degrees Celsius

6. Make the egg wash: Beat together the reserved egg yolk with a little milk. Make the icing: Mix the reserved flour with sugar and salt and enough cold water to make a stiff paste. Spoon icing mix into a piping bag or sandwich bag and cut a very small bit off the corner to make your own piping bag.

7. Paint buns with egg wash, and pipe a cross on top. Bake for about 25 minutes or until tops are golden.

8. While the buns are baking, mix 1 tbsp icing sugar with 1 tbsp boiling water. When the buns come out of the oven, brush them with the sugar glaze before transferring to a rack to cool.

Cooking for Vegetarians

  Many people worry about having vegetarian guests over for Thanksgiving, especially as the Thanksgiving dinner is a traditional meat eater's feast.
If you're hosting Thanksgiving at your house this year remember that most vegetarians do not need a "meat equivalent" at Thanksgiving. Traditionally Thanksgiving has been mostly about the food, but more importantly it's about families, friends, togetherness, happiness and peace.
If this is your first time hosting a vegetarian for Thanksgiving or if you have just recently become a vegetarian yourself, then have a read of these 10 tips for ensuring that your vegetarian guests, and you as host, will be thankful for this Thanksgiving:

  1.Be sure to check exactly what your vegetarian guest does and does not eat. Some vegetarians are happy to eat animal products such as milk and eggs, whereas others are not.
  2.Keep cooking utensils separate to prevent "cross-contamination" between meat foods and vegetarian foods - this is something that many non vegetarians overlook, but something which is very important to vegetarians.
  3.Bake a portion of stuffing outside of the turkey.
  4.Make a small portion of vegetarian gravy.
  5.Check the labels of the food your are preparing for the vegetarian guests to ensure that they do not contain any less obvious meat products e.g. gelatin.
  6.Prepare lots of side dishes of vegetables such as sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, green beans and so on, but leave them plain.
  7.Use vegetable oils instead of animal fats for frying, and vegetable shortening like Crisco for pie crust.
  8.Offer plenty of breads, beverages, fresh fruits, and non-gelatin desserts, which are suitable without modification for most vegetarians.
  9.Invite your vegetarian guest to prepare a "Tofurky" or vegetarian "turkey equivalent" entree to share with you the rest of your guests, or if you're hosting Thanksgiving, prepare a small one. Your meat-eating guests might just be curious enough to want to try it!
  10.Ask your vegetarian guest for some tips or recipes to complement their vegetarian choice. You may even find that your guest is happy to help out in the kitchen or bring a dish that they have prepared themselves. You should not think that a dish from home as an insult to your cooking; seem it as a desire to share traditions at Thanksgiving. Even meat-eating homes can benefit from a healthy vegetarian recipe.
Hopefully these 10 tips will allow your vegetarian guest, you and your other www.adjanibali.com

How To Make Your Vegetarian Menu

  When you first think about changing your diet from a traditional diet to a vegetarian diet, it may be confusing. You are changing the dietary habits that have been with you your entire life.
When you start your research, you will find the fundamentals of being a vegetarian and the foods may not seem all that appealing. But as you research further, you will find that a vegetarian menu can be filled with delicious, colorful foods that are rich in nutrients.
   Planning your vegetarian menus is probably the most challenging part of your change. When you cut meat out of your diet, it is not only the taste, but also the texture that you may have a hard time adjusting to. To assist yourself in adapting to a vegetarian diet, there are substitutions that you can use.
Substituting beans for meat is an excellent source of nutrition for a vegetarian menu and there are such a variety of beans that you can make virtually a different meal everyday and not duplicate it for months.
If you want to keep the texture that meat offers, you can use a soybean based Tempeh, it offers the texture of meat without any of the animal byproducts. Tofu is also another option you can use in place of meat. Health food stores sell these products in abundance.
If you are also cutting dairy products out of your diet, there are soy-based products that are pleasing to the palate. Milk, margarine and yogurt are now available in soy. They have the same nutritional value as dairy products.
   When you have made the decision to switch to a vegetarian menu, you are committing yourself to healthier eating habits. This goes for snacks too.
Virtually all nuts are excellent snacks for a vegetarian menu. They can add tremendous flavor to any dish as well. Cashews, almonds, peanuts and sunflower seeds can accentuate any dish.
A vegetarian menu does not mean that you have to give up the foods you love. It is merely modifying the menu. There are so any variations to the vegetarian menu. By visiting your local health food store, you will find thousands of menu items. You will find yourself creating your vegetarian menu as you walk through the store.
You will be amazed at how many different products there are on the market today for a vegetarian menu.
When you decide to adapt a vegetarian menu, you are taking steps to improve your lifestyle. With the choices that are available today in vegetarian menus,
website ; www.adjanibali.com
Email :adjani_bali@hotmail.com

Sweet Petite Cupcakes with Sugared Flower Petals

With the flutter of incoming Spring, all sorts of "rites of passage" events begin unfolding all across the U.S.  One of the most important to juniors and seniors in high school is "The Prom".

In our homeschooling world, we have what is called "The Gala".  I know, we could have just called it "The Prom" but we just have to do things a bit differently...

For a teen girl, this means shopping for formal dresses and pretty sparkly shoes, pampering the nails and toes, and booking a hair salon for that romantic and elegant "up-do".

But the swirling thoughts in this mother's mind were "What should I bake for the pre-party?".  It should be sweet, elegant and petite.  That's when I eyed these hydrangea flowers at the market.  They were so soft, fragile, and velvety.

Something with sprinkles and flowers sounded like a good idea.  Little petite cupcakes.

The girls spent the day in full girlie preparation for the evening Gala.  Toes were polished, hair was curled up in ringlets.  My daughter and her sweet friend Mary are huge Jane Austen fans and this is their modern day version.

I spent the day making crystalized flower petals.

When I snipped off a hydrangea petal and held it upside down, it was in a nice little heart shape.  These could be the adornment for the tip of my petite cupcakes.

The Limosine was parked outside.  The belles of the ball and the dashing young gentlemen all arrived. Along with the fun and frolic came my petite cupcakes with their crystalized flower petals.  Photos were capturing the moment and sweet bites of small treats were savored.

The day was ending for my baking quest to make  little sweets to bring for their gathering.  The night was just beginning for these young ladies and gentlemen, who were all swept  into the waiting limo, ready for hours of dining and dancing.

Sweet Petite Cupcakes with Crystalized Flowers:

Cupcakes:
(adapted from Martha Stewart's cupcake recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time; scrape down bowl, and beat in vanilla.
3. Add flour mixture and milk alternatively, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
4. Divide batter evenly among liners, about three-quarters full each. Bake until golden and tops spring back to touch, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer pans to wire rack; cool completely.

Frosting:

I must admit.  My first batch of frosting was a dismal failure.  At room temperature, the butter cream frosting I made started to droop and sag on the cupcakes.  I decided to buy canned cream cheese frosting.  It worked beautifully.  It has the texture and strength to really sit up and hold the sprinkles.  

Flowers:

Whisk the whites of one egg until bubble and frothy.  Take a small paintbrush and lightly coat the flower petals.  (Snippets Notes:  I do one or two petals at a time and then sprinkle with sugar)  Lightly sprinkle the petals with sugar.  Let air dry in a safe spot over night until stiff and sparkly!  

Starting My Garden Early

Last year when I started this blog , the growing season had pretty much ended ... So I was not able to delve into the growing side of Good Food .   Now that spring is here , I can :))  Our last frost date here is the 3rd week in May ,   most years I usually try and push that date by a couple of weeks , with mixed results. This year , I'm trying to get smart about it all, Ive FINALLY started a garden journal , instead of just scribbling things on a calendar ! I started planted seeds March 28th ,  more than a month earlier than I have before.   With  the help of a little mini greenhouse I built on the bottom shelf in my kitchen , and a few cold frames.. I'm hoping for this to be my most successful year ever :))  I also got a real jump start on things by planting 3 rows of garlic , and a couple of onions last fall :)) Things are looking good !!

I turned the bottom third of a kitchen shelf into a propagator/grow room .

This was the 1st green thing in my garden ,  The garlic I planted last October :))  I used the leaves I raked up as a mulch to help them thru our winters.  

On the warm days Ive been bring them outside to start hardening them off.  

I tried a row of Romaine , directly sowed on 3/28 ..  took a bit but it came up , the pot to the right was started the same day ( but inside ) a cold frame is covering this lettuce patch . 

Planting the lettuce ,  I like to soak the soil 1st to make it easier to separate these tiny plants 

Things are growing well,  everything has sprouted ,  Ill have lots of tomatoes this year , maybe even enough to do my canning with :)) 

I never planted enough Basil ,  but that will not be the case this year , 60 or so have been started so far , with at least that many being started today  as well.  

Peas sure do sprout quickly .. 5 days and they have already broken ground.  

Red Peppers are a different story , these took about 3 weeks to pop up  

Mystery seeds , I'm thinking Squash or Cucumber . 

My Garden in the early morning light ,  I free-cycled most everything in my garden ,  the cold frames are old packing crates , and cupboard doors  :))

 My Good Food Revolution is changing for the better , look for more gardening , and farming posts , as well as recipes, food porn , and kitchen tips & tricks :)
 Since its Earth Day today , its time to move away from the PC , and go plant something .   Happy Gardening !!

Handicapping 2012

... would seem to be a fool's errand. Consider these facts:

• We're running $1.5T deficits - far higher than anything we've ever done before.


• The Fed is printing $600B a year of unbacked dollars to cover these deficits, something they've never done before.


• Gold and oil are hitting new highs with regularity.


• The EU is facing an existential crisis because of debt and it looks now like both Greece and Portugal will have to restucture their debts, wiping out tens of billions of dollars of bonds held by private, European banks.


• The full effects of the Japanese earthquake have yet to be felt as the Japanese are borrowing like never before in an environment where their total debt is higher than ever before.

If there are large, ahistoric forces at work in the world and large, important parts of the world are unstable, why would you think that historical analyses of presidential races would apply?

It's a better bet that at least one major event will occur in the next 12 months that will have a dramatic affect on our lives than it is that some pundit can use statistics from a relatively stable previous few decades to predict the next presidential election.

Friday Finds

I was doing some internet browsing this morning and I wanted to share with you some awesome deals I found.

I recently joined zulily.com and while browsing through their site, I found a shop by Laura Ashley.  They are currently having a sale up to 55% off! They specialize in organization, and my most favorite, baskets!

I saw these adorable green lined baskets there.

Photo Credit: Laura Ashley - Zulily 

They are currently on sale for $29.99! You can also get a 3-piece set for $19.99 and a 4 piece set for $24.99. They also have black baskets with a black design lining, and white baskets with a red design lining. 

I also found a store on zulily called Whim. They make very cute aprons and kitchen towels. Here are a couple of my favorites. 

This one is for women is on sale for $10.99

This is one of the kids aprons they sell, on sale for $9.99 

Happy Shopping! 

Pass this on (Barcelona Bloggers' meeting)

A couple of weeks ago, Laia and I attended to a blogger meeting here at Barcelona. We had a lovely brunch at Marmalade, a restaurant that we both love!

(Pictures here)

 

 

 

 

Laia and I shared our brunch: pancakes and eggs benedict! So delicious!

During the brunch will be raffled different things. Laia won a Kukuxumuxu shirt, very funny; and I won a Smash! dress! I'm turning it into a skirt, 'cause I would not use it as a dress; but I really love it!

Belén, from Fashion Shoes, won another lovely shirt by Kukuxumuxu!

 

 

 

It was a great morning, and we had lots of fun. After the bruch, Laia and I walked together around Barcelona and took some pictures of ourselves. 

  

 Dress - Primark

Hat - H&M

Shoes - Blanco

Socks - from when I was a child

We met some gorgeous people, as Belén, or Gemma from Blessed Vanity ... pure love!

Btw, in two weeks Laia and I, with some other friends, would be at Murcia!! We're attending to SOS Festival, I cannot believe I'm seeing Suede, The Bloody Beetroots and MGMT! And Editors for the third time!!

It's raining at Barcelona, and I'm so happy about that...!

Tea Leaf Eggs 茶叶蛋

Remember my dozen eggs? The best way to use up old eggs, is to make a batch of hardboiled eggs, because they not only peel easier, but can keep in the fridge for about a week or so and serves as my emergency real-food protein snack when I feel a bit peckish. Since Easter was coming up, I thought it'd be a great time to create some naturally patterned and coloured tea leaf eggs.

Tea leaf eggs are a favourite traditional chinese street snack. Apparently, in Taiwan, tea leaf eggs are common in their convenience stores, and my taiwanese friend just loves them. It's commonly sold as street food, especially in pasar malams (makeshift markets) in Singapore too. The key ingredient here is the star anise, which, along with the other spices and the fragrant tea, perfumes your kitchen with tempting aromas.

Tea Leaf Eggs 茶叶蛋

Ingredients

4-8 eggs, however much you can fit in the saucepan/ can eat

2 black tea leaf bags, or 2 tbsp loose leaves (if you have chinese tea e.g. my favourite oolong, or pu-erh, or tie guan yin, or assam tea, it'd be even better!)

2 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

2-3 cloves

1 tsp five spice powder

1 tsp sugar (unrefined cane sugar)

4 tbsp soy sauce (naturally brewed, I use tamari, which is wheat-free and more intense)

2 cups water

Method

1. Make the best hard-boiled eggs i.e. 15 min.

2. Crack the eggshells with a spoon.

3. Return the eggs to the saucepan with all the ingredients added, bring to a boil, and let simmer for 2h. If you can, let it marinade overnight for better flavour and colour. (Or even longer. I like them more 2 days later. And even more 3 days later.)

4. Serve with a little of the broth/brew.

By cracking the eggshell, you get a beautiful marbled appearance, and the flavour and aroma of the spices seep into the cracks and infuse the egg. It's not just style ok, this egg has substance.

This is part of Fightback Friday, Tasty Tuesdays, Tuesday Night Supper Club.