Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

This is a recipe I developed from several sources, after being unhappy with my search for lemon poppyseed muffin recipes several years ago. Besides zesting & ideally juicing the lemon, it comes together pretty quickly, and this recipe makes 2 to 2 1/2 dozen. But why make fewer? First of all, they are delicious so you will eat more than one. Second of all, they are perfect to bring to share with friends or co-workers and gain instant popularity!

 

3/4 c. butter
1 c. sugar
3 eggs
3 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. lemon juice
1 c. sour cream
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. poppy seeds
1 tsp. lemon zest

In large bowl, cream butter and sugar together, and add eggs one at a time. In second bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients alternately with the lemon juice, sour cream, and vanilla. When combined, fold in poppy seeds and lemon zest. The trick with muffins is to make sure it is all combined but not to mix any more than necessary.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 18-20 minutes. Tops can be sprinkled with sugar before baking, or add a sugar and lemon juice glaze while they are warm out of the oven. Enjoy!

Happy Accident Banana Bread!!!

 

Yet again I forgot to take pictures and it got eaten too quick!!  But I am honestly obsessed with this banana bread. Now you guys may not need this, cause let’s be honest, banana bread isn’t that hard, and you are all excellent bakers, but my bread never came out beautiful and brown and amazing the way other people’s did. So now it does. Yay!  Also it’s vegan and I discovered it by forgetting the milk in a recipe I’ve been using for awhile. Hence the name. (Plus Ross is off dairy, so that was convenient timing).

Ok – here’s how.

Heat oven to 170 C.

Mash 4 small – med, 3 large, v. ripe bananas in a bowl.

Add a heaped cup of white sugar. Stir.

Add a half cup of sunflower seed oil. Stir.

Add a dollop of vanilla and two eggs. Yep – Stir.

In a separate bowl mix 1 3/4 cups reg white flour and 1 heaped teaspoon baking soda.

Combine wet and dry, pop batter into a bread tin, pop tin into the oven – leave for 40 – 45 min.

 

And voila, best banana bread ever!   Eat warm.

 

 

 

 

Happy Easter

Okay, There is no recipe in this post, I just wanted to boast about how awesome it is to have a flatmate who works in a chocolate shop. Yes, my Easter present was a chocolate breakfast! The toast had grains of crispy rice in it, the eggs yolks, which are coloured with turmeric, had bits of candied ginger, and basically everything tasted just as delicious as it looks.

How to make Tabouleh

I know it’s been months, literally, since I posted, so I have to beg all of your pardon! I had these photos on my camera since for ages, and I just needed to sit down and upload them to my computer but it never happened. So… Here we go. I make tabouleh a lot, mostly because my grocery store only sells parsley in these huge packages. Most soup recipes just call for a few tablespoons, so what do you do with the extra? The answer is this yummy and versatile salad, based on parsley and grains.

Miso Soup

Delicious Miso Soup makes a healthy breakfast, lunch or dinner.  I adapted this recipe from the book Asian Women Don’t Get Old or Fat.

For two bowls you need:

• 1 tomato
• 1 spring onion
• 1  carrot  
• 2 handfuls leafty greens (Spiach, Kale, Bak Choy, etc) 
• 2 eggs 
• 1/3 cup white rice 
• 2 tbsp Miso 
• 1 tbsp mirin 
• 1 packet of dashi 
• tofu (optional)
• three pots and a pan
• 1 tbsp oil

So the crucial thing here is timing.  You want everything to finish together – otherwise this takes forever.

1. Start by  boiling a kettle full of water and laying out your pots and pans. You want a small pot for boiling eggs, a medium one for cooking rice and a large one for broth.  While the water is boiling heat the oil in your pan on medium high.  Grate your carrot and chop your veg and pop it on once the pan is hot.  (If you are using tofu it gets fried in this pan as well).
2. Once the water is boiled pour it over the eggs and rice until covered and put those both on high to medium high as well.
3. Place the remaining water in the large pot and bring it back to boiling.  When it is empty your dashi packet into it. (Note: If you’re feeling ambitious you can look up dashi from scratch).  You may not need a whole packet as it has a very strong flavour, so try a bit at a time your first time out.) Reduce to simmer and add your miso and mirin.  You can also put in a tablespoon of saki and/or soy sauce if you wish.
4. Stir everything!!
5. Now use the cooking time to get out two large, deep dish bowls and to chop the fresh tomato and spring onion.
6. Now let everything cook and keep stirring.  Turn the eggs off after 7 – 10 minutes, strain and let cool.  Turn the veg/tofu off as soon as it’s blanched and remove from heat.
7. Once the rice is soft drain it and place a large serving spoonful into the bottom of each bowl. (At this time turn the broth back up to boil).
8. Put the cooked and fresh veg over the rice. Peel and quarter the eggs and place them over the veg as well. Add the boiling broth until the bowls are full.
9. Enjoy!!

So I realize this sounds like a lot of work – but once you’ve done it a couple of times it’s actually very easy, it only takes about 20 min and it is amazing! Also you can substitute basically anything into it that you want. Provided you have some miso and dashi this is a perfect ‘kitchen sink’ soup to get rid of those pesky remnants of food. It works with everything.

Roasted Potato Garlic Soup

Ladies… try this. You will not be disappointed.

I just had to share this recipe with y’all because it is SO delicious (and simple to make).  I didn’t have a plan for dinner tonight but I found this recipe and I had all the ingredients on hand.  It was so good I kept sneaking mouthfuls from the pot after I’d had two bowls.  I added a bit more milk and possibly more garlic than they call for.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-garlic-potato-soup/

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