Ypsi Cooks

Last night a couple of our friends Jesse and Sian got married, so Congratulations! The ceremony was nice and all, but this is supposed to be about food.

Located at Ypsilanti's Corner Brewery, the reception was inviting and casual. The brewery is in an old industrial building which has been converted to a brewing facility, bar, lounge, and beer garden. As guests arrived they were greeted with hors d'oeuvres inside. Served were buffalo wings, veggies, fruit, and chips with fresh salsa. Things then moved outside to a tent that was set up in the Beer Garden and also where the wedding bar was set up. Drinks included wine, iced tea, and lemonade but nobody cares about that when at a brewery. The main drink events were the two beer options. The Tree Fort Ale is a summer style British ale. It is a pretty mild and approachable beer that is a real thirst quencher. The second option was the venerable Red Snapper, which was actually developed across the street from our house. It is a nice amber ale.

Dinner consisted of a buffet presented by Ypsilanti's Sidetracks. Nobody was left out when the mini buns had options like pulled pork, mini burgers, and mini home-made black bean burgers to put on them. Served on the side was potato salad, cole-slaw and baked beans.

After everyone had (nearly) ate and drank their fills we headed back inside for dessert and dancing with a live band. The cake was white cake with raspberries between layers and in the icing. The mastermind behind the cake was Paul Cousins, the owner of Cousins Heritage Inn in Dexter. Jesse and I both worked there, though it closed many years ago when Paul and his wife Pat retired.

When it comes down to good beer and good food and accompanied by good friends and good music it's hard not to have a good time.

Some might say peanut butter is the food of the gods. Slather it on good bread with a little fruit preserve, mix it with some powdered sugar and dip it in chocolate and call it a “buckeye,” stir in some chilies, lime juice and a little soy sauce and toss it with rice noodles. Yup, peanut butter is delicious. In the past week we have enjoyed it in 2 delicious forms: “growing food” dip and crispy peanut butter bars.
“Growing food” is what the kids' daycare calls “healthy food.” It seems like a much more kid oriented term. Every kid wants to be “big.” In our house growing food means low sugar (especially corn syrup), and as whole as we can get it (whole grain, or better yet, sprouted grain, tomatoes not ketchup, etc.). A while ago we concocted a new dip sure to please little ones and adults alike:

Peanut butterlicious dip:
Approximately 2 parts peanut butter mixed with 1 part apple sauce (no sugar added, of course). Add a healthy dose of cinnamon, stir vigorously and you're good to go. Serve with apple slices, whole grain crackers or pretzels, or, if feeling decadent, ginger cat cookies (a cross between graham crackers and gingersnaps). This would probably be great on pancakes, waffles or french toast.

Our Labor Day celebration called for a little less “growing food” and a little more decadence. Tom's family is known for loving peanut butter and chocolate, so when I saw Nigella Lawson's peanut butter bar recipe, I knew this was for them. Then there's my soon-to-be sister-in-law who is a calorie conscientious (and fantastic) gal. How could I make it a little less calorie dense and still have all that goodness? What if I add crisp rice? As I was stirring I thought I had made a huge mistake, but the responses I got as I cut the bars and people snatched the crumbs told me it was a success.

Best natural peanut butter tip ever: store it upside down before opening; it's MUCH easier to stir in the oil!

Crispy Peanut Butter Bars (adapted from Nigella Lawson)
1 scant cup creamy peanut butter (we use the natural style)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 c unpacked dark brown sugar
3 cups crisp rice cereal (we made it with 2 cups the second time, because that was all we had left, and it was still good)

10-12 ounces chocolate, chopped. I use dark, but a blend of dark and milk would be good if it suits your fancy.
1 tbsp butter

9×9 or 7×11 pan, buttered

Mix the peanut butter, butter & sugars until rather smooth. With a spatula “cut” the peanut butter mix into large pea sized chunks. This will make mixing in the rice MUCH easier. Cut in the rice. This will take a bit of time and care, but it's worth it. Once most of the cereal is mostly blended in, pat into the pan and press the top so it is as level as reasonable.
Melt the chocolate & butter (1 min in the microwave, stir and repeat, or in a double boiler). Spread onto the peanut butter mixture. Refridgerate. Cut into small bars (approx. 40) Let it sit out for about 5 min. for easier cutting.

Tuesday was the first day at school for all of us and I didn't feel like spending a ton of time making dinner. So after rummaging through the cupboards and listening to the suggestions of my wonderful wife, I was able to figure something out: Mini-Polenta Pizzas.

We had a log of the polenta that looks like breakfast sausage and I cut that into round slices. I then fried them (more on that later). and then topped them with some other stuff we had: leftover chicken sausage from Labor Day, zucchini, tomatoes from the garden, and some with goat cheese, others with cheddar. Finally I popped them under the broiler for a few minutes, and they were done.

Frying the polenta didn't really do what I was hoping for. I wanted the discs to become crispy, but the crispy stuff stayed in the pan and we ended up with oily polenta.

Most of the time we need dinner quick. It is hard to find a recipe, make sure you have all the ingredients, and actually make the food all before you (or more importantly, your 2-year-old) need to eat. Tonight we do what we do most nights; we made something up. Dried mushroom tortellini with on-the-fly cream sauce.

The sauce consisted of garlic sauteed in butter, then we poured in a little cream (2TBS or so), added some frozen veggies (spinach and broccoli) that we cleaned out of the freezer, then sliced fresh yellow squash, a couple chopped tomatoes from the garden, and some oregano from the jungle in the back garden. A little salt and pepper at the table finished it off. It was pretty delicious.

So Bridgit has mentioned to me a few times that she want's a blog dedicated to food. I like food, so I am indulging her.

I think that we are going to basically blog about the food we eat and the food we want to eat. Maybe even some food we don't want to eat.

A few weeks ago I was reading a blog post about not really liking fig newtons as a kid, along with the recipe for a homemade version that is decidedly worth a try. Many commenters posted, sharing similar feelings about fig newtons. I on the other hand devoured newtons as a child. So, with a container of figs languishing in my dried fruit drawer, I knew had to make it. And am I ever glad I did. The cookie part itself was very good, and the with the fig filling, delicious.

The recipe originates from a gluten free cookbook and a version of it can be found here on Heidi's site 101cookbooks.com. I got the recipe from Julie at dinnerwithjulie and she adds the fresh ginger, which she lists as optional, and I think is absolutely mandatory if you like ginger at all. The ginger cookie-cake with the citrusy fig filling is a wonderful pair.

Eli and I enjoyed them with tea made from lemon thyme we had trimmed off the bush earlier that day.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8M-v7_USAtJs4Ey6vcMKFw?feat=directlink

You may have noticed that I am not the best food (or anything) photographer. Eli might be taking over. Here's a shot he set up and took after I took the one above.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jFF49SnOZEJyeLbmUJDx6A?feat=directlink

Not bad for a 3-year-old with a camera where you can't control the flash.You don't need to use almond meal (especially if you're the mom of a kid with a nut allergy but didn't know it until your kid snuck a piece of PB

About a week ago I received what felt like a flood of herbs. My mom hooked me up with some tarragon (the one thing I wanted to add to the garden this year, plus she gave us an almond bush: good job, mom), our new boarder brought garlic chives from his former garden, and Tom brought home a rosemary plant. I haven't been happy with the layout of the herb and shrub area of our veggie garden, so I took the opportunity to move some stuff while adding the new items. I also cut back the lemon thyme. The bush was huge, probably 1

This is another situation where it would have taken ma a long time (if ever!) to make this bread if it hadn't been an “assignment” from Michelle over at BigBlackDogs, but am I ever glad I did!
This bread had a fair amount of white flour

There wasn't a lot of flavor from the avocado and tomato, especially early on, but the texture was FABULOUS. Tom made them into rolls to go with our salmon cakes (use your favorite crab cake recipe but replace the crab with salmon) for a nice Friday-during-lent meal. We shared it with friends, so we pulled out all the fixins: our pickled beets, shredded carrots and sliced green onions along with the standard mayonnaise and mustard (both from trader joes, both really good). The kids devoured the rolls and the cakes, only separately.

A few days later, we made pizza with the remaining batch. We made a regular pizza for the kids, and for us we used green salsa, chopped “moonblush” tomatoes, chopped green chilies and cheddar cheese. Our guest made some gua

One of my friends had an intense day, so the kids and I decided to make her some cookies. We love to make cookies, with all the measuring and dumping and mixing, it's childhood heaven. I've been working on a low fat, low sugar recipe for a while. Cooks Illustrated created light recipe where you use all butter (no applesauce or other funny stuff), but you melt it, and somehow that means you only have to use half as much.

Well, it's a great recipe, but it has 1 cup of sugar, which is the main ingredient we try to avoid in this house, so I've been slowly reducing it. A half cup provides enough sweetness, but since sugar is important for moisture and cohesion, I have been tinkering with the recipe in other ways to compensate. I perused online for a trailmix cookie recipe and found one that included 1/2 tsp of baking soda dissolved in 1 tbsp of hot water. Wondering if that might do the trick, the kiddos and I set to work on a batch of cookies.

But wait. I forgot. We ran out of cinnamon a few days ago. Grrrrrr. What's an oatmeal cookie without a little cinnamon? Plus, cinnamon speaks to your tastebuds as if it's sweetness, thereby allowing you to reduce the sugar content without totally sacrificing flavor. What's a girl to do without cinnamon? Dorie Greenspan published the recipe for this amazing Spiced Cranberry Bunt cake in the November 2008 issue of Bon Appetit where she introduced me to Chinese 5 Spice*, and aromatic combination of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and other spices. Since then, I've used it here and there to add ore interesting flavor than cinnamon alone.

Using 5 spice, I knew I had to be choose my nuts and fruits wisely. Thinking about the fruit, nuts and seeds I had, I thought a bit of a Turkish/Middle East inspired cookie with apricots and pistachios might work out well. Of course you could always replace the 5 spice with cinnamon and have a quite traditional (only healthier) oatmeal.

Also, sorry about the lack of pictures. Imagine an oatmeal cookie, not totally flat, not a puffy little cake cookie, but a nice normal one. Now imagine it a few shades darker because of the spice and molasses. There's your picture.

*I bought my 5 spice in bulk where I could get just a spoonful for a few cents, just in case I didn't like it. I've been back for more. Twice.

Read more for the recipe.
Turkish Spice Trail Mix Cookies (makes about 30 and are probably healthier than most granola bars)

2/3 c. white whole wheat (or unbleached all purpose) flour
1 1/3 c. oats (preferably old fashioned)
1/4-1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled (in a big enough bowl or pan to mix the following 7 ingredients)
1/2 c. sugar (or 1/2 c. dark brown sugar and omit the molasses, but I'm “frugal”)
1 egg, room temp
1 T. blackstrap molasses
2 T applesauce (or just do 6 tbsp melted butter)
1/2 tsp 5 spice powder (or cinnamon)
1/4 tsp powdered ginger (my ginger loving friend might have liked 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tbsp hot water
1 1/2 cups “stuff”
We did chopped apricots, golden raisins, toasted almonds, pecans, pistachios and sunflower seeds.
The variations are endless: sesame seeds, dried cherries, coconut, chocolate chips, or the classic raisins and walnuts)
2 tbsp chopped candied ginger, optional

Preheat the oven to 325*. If using raw nuts and seeds, place them on a baking sheet in the oven to toast for 15 min or until fragrant. Remove and allow to cool. The oven does not have to be preheated for this.

In the mean time, in a small bowl, pour hot water over the dried fruit

It's difficult to find a good cracker at a good price. I will forever love the buttery-richness of Townhouse, but at the same time I can't eat very many. My health-cosciensouness keeps telling me that they're not very healthy, loaded with tras-fats and white flour, and all that stuff. At the typical grocery store you can take a small step up to wheat-thins, but they are also loaded with fat. And salt. And corn syurp!? Kashi makes TLC crackers which are quite delicious, and quite healthy, but with the way my family consumes crackers, I'd cuickly go broke at the $3+ price point.
I've been wanting to make crackers for some time. I keep looking in my Fannie Farmer Baking Book at the cracker recipes. They look great, but I haven't gotten around to making them. But that's the great thing about joining a bread baking group: they give you homework assignments. We were supposed to make the Master Recipe and use that for a loaf (best peanut butter and jelly ever…), and epi (a fancy loaf that looks like a shaft of wheat which drives Tom nuts so I didn't make it), and crackers. My homework was crackers.

but I myself started with the 100% Whole Wheat recipe.