My ruminations on my life, my family, cooking, baking, and whatever else comes to mind
As a treat for dinner I got myself a half dozen oysters – Penn Cove Oysters this time. They were a little harder to shuck, and I got a couple shell fragments inside as I worked my way around, but I did manage pretty well, and they were very good 🙂
I used this recipe as a starting point for this very good apple bread. I did half granulated white sugar and half light brown sugar, used pecans instead of walnuts, and ended up needing a bit more oil and some water to bring the batter together. It turned out great, and I’m sure my coworkers will be happy to help eat the results tomorrow morning 🙂
Apple Pecan Bread
Makes 2 loaves (about 24 servings)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup water
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped to make 2 cups of pieces
1 cup chopped pecans (about 4.5 oz)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 8-inch by 4-inch loaf pans with nonstick spray and set aside.
Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs lightly and add the canola oil, vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and water, stirring to combine well. Add the flour mixture and stir to form a thick batter, adding a bit more water if necessary. Fold in the apples and pecans.
Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans and bake for 45 – 50 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. Let the loaves cool for 10 minutes in the pans before turning them out onto a rack to finish cooling.
A couple restaurant reviews today from today’s adventure outside the house 😛
First, we tried out Bob’s Burgers and Brew for lunch. They just opened a location on Everett Mall Way, and we were curious. There are a few other locations throughout Washington, mostly north. They have a good assortment of burgers, grilled sandwiches, salads, and a few entree plates, as well as a breakfast menu that looked quite good. I quite liked that I could get a salad instead of fries. They seem to put their “savory sauce,” some mayo concoction, on most everything, but it wasn’t overwhelming, and they’re happy to leave it off if you ask. I tried the Fresh Mushroom Burger today, and Shaun got a Grilled Savory Chicken Burger. We both quite liked our meals. Next time I’ll have to try the Squirrel Sandwich 🙂 It’s a grilled roast beef, swiss cheese, and tomato sandwich made on sourdough bread. Sounds right up my alley. We’ll definitely be going back here.
Next we stopped by Gelato’icous, a pretty new little gelato and coffee shop, also on Everett Mall Way. It’s tucked back in a little shopping center, a bit out of the way, which I think might be hurting it business-wise, sadly, because I really want them to stay around! We were the only customers in there. The owners were very nice and very enthusiastic about their gelato and pastries, and oh my goodness were the flavors good. I tried the chocolate, pumpkin, creme brulee, and salted caramel flavors and ended up getting a little dish with a small scoop of pumpkin and a small scoop of chocolate. I’ll have try some of the fruit flavors next time. Definitely an occasional treat, but hopefully a regular one too 🙂
So, yeah, this week has not been so great calorie wise, and I probably won’t loose any weight this week, but hopefully I won’t gain either, as I’ve been keeping moving and my Weight Watchers tracker says I should be okay by a slim margin 😛 The new restaurants today were fun, and the sanity break in middle of some overtime was definitely worth it. We stopped by Target today too and got their new seasonal penguin mugs and some other little decorations and some candy to take into work. Good stuff 🙂
After a long day at work followed by a trip to a zoo-like grocery store thanks to the rush hour timing, I needed a pick-me-up, and these adorable slipper socks were right in my path on the way to the check-out line. They’re not my planned November socks, but they’re fun, so you get bonus socks this month 😀 and a bonus shot of Emma, who thinks these should be her toys.
This was a great recipe, once again inspired by one courtesy of Central Market. Theirs used more butter and olive oil, and a bit less wine, but my version is healthier, and was very good. We’ll be doing this again for sure! Simple sauteed zucchini and yellow squash completed the meal.
Shrimp Scampi
Serves 2
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb peeled and deveined medium to large shrimp (I used 31-40 count)
12 garlic cloves, minced
1 small bottle (187 ml) dry white wine (I used chardonnay)
1 tbsp butter
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or 1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
Heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the shrimp in a single layer and cook for 1-2 minutes or until turning pink. Flip the shrimp over and add the garlic. Cook for another 30 seconds, until the garlic is turning fragrant. Add the wine, butter, pepper, salt, and parsley, and cook for another 2-3 minutes to reduce the wine by 1/3. Serve hot.
More good stuff in this week’s box 🙂
Apples-Honeycrisp
Apples-Honeycrisp
Butter
Free-Range Eggs
Lettuce-Baby Heads
Tomatillos
Tomatillos
Onions-Yellow Storage
Garlic-Bulb
Cabbage-Savoy
Broccoli
Broccoli
Starting from my basic risotto recipe I added sauteed chopped chanterelle mushrooms and just a little finely grated black truffle on top to this version for a rich and delicious side dish. The black truffle is of course easily omitted; I just saw them in Central Market next to their gorgeous local chantarelles, and had to get a little one to try. At $240 per pound, I grabbed the smallest one, for a bit under $8, and it was perfect for this little batch of risotto. The earthy richness was a really nice addition that I’d definitely do again for special occasions. This was a side for a top round lamb roast along with some roasted brussels sprouts.
Mushroom Risotto
Serves 2
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp olive oil, divided
8 oz chanterelle mushooms, coarsely chopped
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup arborio rice
1 small bottle (187 ml) chardonnay or other somewhat dry white wine
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 oz black truffle (optional)
Pour the chicken broth in a saucepan and place in on a burner over medium low heat.
Pour 1/2 tbsp of the olive oil in a large skillet and put in over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute until tender, 3-4 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and all the liquid to a bowl and set aside.
Add the other 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and the butter to the skillet and place it back on the heat, reducing the temperature to medium. Add the garlic and cook until just turning golden and fragrant. Add the rice and stir to coat well. Cook the rice in the oil until the grains start to turn translucent and are a little bit toasted, 1-2 minutes. Add the wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Continue stirring until the wine is nearly all absorbed or reduced away, 2-3 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup of the chicken broth and stir it into the rice. Continue stirring regularly as the rice absorbs the liquid. When the liquid is almost all absorbed, add another half cup of broth and stir again. Continue in this manner until all of the broth is absorbed and the texture is tender and creamy, adding the mushrooms and parsley with the last half cup of broth. This will take about half an hour. Taste a few grains of rice to see if they are tender, and if not, add some water, a quarter cup at a time, and continue to stir and cook until the new liquid addition is absorbed.
Spoon the risotto onto plates and, if desired, top with a little freshly grated black truffle.
Another tasty stand-by dinner of ours, beer roasted chicken. To save some dishes, I put some little fingerling potatoes in the rimmed baking sheet. They stayed dry and got pretty crispy throughout the cooking process, only getting a little beer and chicken baste at the end as I removed the pan from the oven. This was a very nice fall meal 🙂
Tonight we had chicken piccata with some roasted sweet dumpling winter squash and roasted broccoli. The broccoli paired especially well with the piccata and I’ll definitely pair the two in the future!
Another good box 🙂 I now have both rye and hard red wheat flour to make some good bread in the coming week.
Winter Squash-Sweet Dumpling
Hot Peppers-Mixed
Apples-Honeycrisp
Apples-Honeycrisp
Flour-Rye
Free-Range Eggs
Lettuce-Baby Heads
Winter Squash-Bush Delicata
Onions-Yellow Storage
Carrots-Orange
Broccoli
Beets-Red Ace
