Beet Bread, the quick kind

Beets are awesome: shredded raw or roasted and warm, I rarely have them around for long enough to do anything with them other than just eating them straight up.  Luckily, I've been busy and not cooking much, so when i got to them this week, my beets were tired, shriveled, and soft. So I decided I would bake with them!

Here's my thought process: zucchini bread is delicious. So why wouldn't beet bread be equally delicious?

I scoured the interweb for some beet quickbread recipes, but to my surprise, could not find any.  So I took a zucchini bread recipe from epicurious and ran with it. I still can't get over how beautifully color-saturated the batter was, and how all that color dissipated after being cooked. But nonetheless, the bread was delicious! (pictured above with a basic cream cheese-lemon spread, the slightest bit sweetened).

Recipe
Adapted from Epicurious.com's Sweet Potato and Zucchini Bread:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cups sugar (1.5 would have been better)
  
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups grated beets (raw) 
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
  

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together all the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in medium bowl; mix together all the wet ingredients (sugar through vanilla) in a large bowl, then add the beets, then the dry ingredients and then the walnuts.
I cooked them in mini loaves, so it only took 40 minutes. If you're making a big loaf, count up to 80 minutes of bake time (or until a toothpick comes out clean).

As noted in the recipe, next time I'll use a bit more sugar (I cut the amount in 1/2 from the recipe I was following) and I think I might try using zucchini along with the beets because i think it would be pretty... And i have to play around with the spices a bit more... any recommendations are welcome!

Breakfast REmaKE

This is what I like to eat for breakfast. Every day. Who said breakfast had to be sweet, anyway?

Ingredients:

Sesame Ezekiel Bread
Whipped Cream Cheese & herbs*
Cucumber
Cracked Pepper
Sea Salt

*to make whipped cream cheese, add 1 T milk to a brick of cream cheese, cut up some herbs (chives, dill, basil- in this photo I've used rosemary) and whip with a hand beater. So simple! So delicious!

Zucchini Ginger Cupcakes (aka what you do when your father sends you a box full of zucchini in the mail)

My father is a sensational gardener. And harvest time has come in Colorado. So, how do you get rid of extra zucchini? Send them to your daughter in the mail. That's right, the other day the mail man left a box full of summer squash and zucchini from my father's garden on my door step. And this got me thinking, how many different ways can I use 4 pounds of zucchini? My mind immediately went to zucchini bread. But, I wanted something a little jazzier than a loaf. So I thought, how about zucchini muffins? Epicurious saw those muffins and raised them ginger, cupcake, and cream cheese frosting.

I know, I know. Zucchini cupcakes? Zucchini cupcakes? Well, let me tell you, these cupcakes were absolutely wonderful.

The first bite you think, mmm, this frosting is good. The second bite you think, these cupcakes are pretty tasty. The third bite you think, huh is that orange and ginger? With the fourth, fifth, and final bite when you shove the whole cupcake in your mouth, you are too busy being bowled over by deliciousness to think any more. And even after you are done, the ginger sparkles in your mouth, lingering and reminding you of the whole experience.

The cupcakes were no more complicated than quick bread and the icing took 4 minutes. You could also omit the icing (or keep it) and serve it for breakfast.

For the 'dry ingredients', you use both crystallized and ground ginger to give the cupcakes their wonderful spice. For the crystallized ginger, I pulsed it in my mini-food processor, but you could probably mince it very finely with a knife.


Once the crystallized ginger is ready, mix it with the orange zest and other dry ingredients.
(The orange zest is wonderful in this recipe. It brightens all the other flavors).

For the wet ingredients, grate 2 cups of zucchini. The coarse grates add such lovely color and texture to the cupcakes; they are key. I just pressed hard on my box grater and it did the trick.


Mix in the other wet ingredients. A tip from Mark Bittman: use the same measuring cup for the oil and honey, and measure the oil first. This way, the honey doesn't stick to the sides of the cup. Brilliant!

Add the flour mixture. Stir until just incorporated.

Spoon into liners.

I baked them at 350 degrees for 21 minutes, until the cake tester came out clean.
Let them cool for 10 minutes and remove to a wire rack.

While they were cooling, I whipped up this marvelous cream cheese frosting. I used the measurements form the epicurious recipe, but I borrowed the method from Joy of Cooking.

Mix the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla.


Once that is blended, add 1/2 cup of sifted confectioner's sugar. Joy of Cooking claims that sifting the confectioner's sugar helps give you smooth icing.

Mix that at high speed for 3 minutes or so, until light and fluffy.

Stir in the ginger, cinnamon, and orange zest.
(The flecks of spice are so very pretty)

As soon as the cupcakes are cool, get the frosting assembly line together and frost! I garnished the cupcakes with just a touch of orange zest.


Zucchini Ginger Cupcakes (adapted from epicurious.com)
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1/3 cup (1 3/4 ounces) crystallized ginger, coarsely chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp grated orange zest
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder (which I completely overlooked!)
2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (2 medium)
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup honey
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla

For the cream cheese frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, measured and then sifted
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp grated orange zest

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with paper liners.

Pulse crystallized ginger in food processor until finely ground. Mix crystallized ginger with flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, orange zest, salt baking soda, and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, whisk the zucchini, olive oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until just incorporated.

Spoon batter into muffin pan. Bake 20-24 minutes until golden brown and a tooth pick comes out clean. Let stand in pan for 10 minutes. Remove to rack and cool for an hour before frosting.

(This diverges from the epicuiorus recipe a bit. I used the measurements from the epicurious recipe, but I let the Joy of Cooking be my guide for the technique). For the frosting, mix the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until just incoporated. Add the confectioner's sugar and beat on high speed for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Stir in ginger, cinnamon, and zest.

Frost top of cooled cupcakes and, if you want, garnish with a little orange zest (Ina Garten says she always likes to add a little garnish to clue people into what is inside the dish. And, I always like hints of orange.).

Note: even if you omit the baking powder, don't worry, they come out just fine... Oh the problems of reading recipes on-line...

A taste of Philly

When Emmanuelle and I lived in Philadelphia, we would often stop at the Metropolitan Bakery, pick up some millet muffins, and enjoy them while sitting in Rittenhouse Square. A little sweet, a lot of crunch: a perfectly simple, perfectly delightful muffin. I was recently in Philadelphia and a visit to the Bakery inspired me. So, voila: Millet Muffins


(Please note the new Le Creuset Ovenmitts!)

(Don't you adore how the millet looks?)


Millet Muffins (Metropolitan Bakery recipe)
1 cup millet
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp kosher salt (the larger crystals really do enhance the flavor experience)
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
3/4 c unsalted butter, softened
1 c brown sugar packed

Preheat oven to 375. Butter 12 1/2 c muffin cups.

On a baking sheet, toast millet completely in one layer until lightly golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Cool millet completely.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the millet. In another small bowl, stir together eggs, milk, and vanilla. Set aside. Cream well the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Alternately, beat in the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Do not over beat. Spoon batter into prepared cups, and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20-25 (*see below) minutes. Cool muffins 5 minutes before turning out.

The muffins came out splendidly; I just had one for breakfast. Every now and then you get a hint of the kosher salt, which is a pleasant addition. *I baked them for 20 minutes, and while not overdone, next time, I might start testing them around 18 minutes. I find muffins get dry easily, so over baking does them no favors.

A side note:
I think creaming butter and sugar for at least 2-3 minutes makes a big difference. At that point, the mixture gets light and fluffly, not just combined. Emmanuelle, I would be curious to hear your thoughts on this step of the baking process.

A bientot!