Lime Curd

I was leafing through epicurious, distraught that I couldn't remember which curd recipe I used to use... I think it's this one and am cut and pasting so that I don't forget... though, I usually do lime curd instead... now, if only I could remember which chocolate molten cake was the right one and which was the gross one... sigh.

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits
Preparation
Whisk together juice, zest, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Stir in butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes.

Transfer lemon curd to a bowl and chill, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 1 hour.

bulgur veggie burgers with lime mayonnaise

Gourmet | June 2008

by Andrea Albin

BULGUR VEGGIE BURGERS WITH LIME MAYONNAISE

Most veggie burgers must have self-esteem issues, since they're always pretending to be something they're not. But these bulgur burgers don't try to hide their meatless nature and instead celebrate their grain- centric origins with wonderful texture and a hint of Middle Eastern spice.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 hr

Servings: Makes 4 servings
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Ingredients

1/2 cup chopped onion, divided
1 Tbsp olive oil plus additional for brushing
1/2 cup bulgur
1 cup water
1 cup canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
11/2 Tbsp soy sauce
3/4 cup walnuts (2 1/2 oz)
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup packed cilantro sprigs
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
4 slices multi-grain bread toasted

Equipment: a perforated grill sheet
Accompaniments: lettuce; sliced tomato
Preparation

Cook half of onion with 1/4 teaspoon salt in oil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add bulgur and water and cook, covered, over low heat until water is absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in beans and soy sauce.

Pulse bulgur mixture, walnuts, garlic, cilantro, cumin, cayenne, a rounded 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and remaining onion in a food processor until finely chopped.

Form rounded 1/2 cups of mixture into 4 (3 1/2-inch-diameter) patties. Chill at least 10 minutes.

While patties chill, stir together mayonnaise, zest, and juice.

Prepare grill for direct-heat cooking over medium-hot charcoal (medium heat for gas). Put perforated grill sheet on grill and preheat 10 minutes.

Brush patties all over with oil.

Oil grill sheet, then grill burgers on grill sheet, covered only if using a gas grill, carefully turning once, until golden brown, about 8 minutes total.

Serve burgers open-faced on toast with lime mayonnaise.

Cooks' notes:
•Burgers can be cooked on the stove. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook patties, carefully turning once, until golden brown, about 8 minutes total.
•Uncooked patties can be chilled, covered, up to 4 hours.
Nutritional Information

Per serving: 399 calories, 22 g fat (3 g saturated), 4 mg cholesterol, 768 mg sodium, 43 g carbohydrates, 10 g fiber, 12 g protein (nutritional analysis provided by Nutrition Data)

Banana chocolate chip oatmeal bread with strawberry coconut filling...

Mmmm... modified the recipe below a little and changed the milk to 1/4c skim and 1/4c soy yogurt to get less fat and more protein in...took away all sugar. Also took away the blueberries and put a middle layer of strawberries, shredded coconut, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. Good stuff. Oh, and used semisweet chocolate chips instead of the white.

Getting to be a healthy convenient breakfast...yay!

OH's Blueberry Oatmeal Bread Surprise...extremely modified from a Cooking Light--orig posted at end...differences are in bold face


Ingredients

1 cup packed brown sugar
4T vegetable oil
3T butter
2 medium eggs
2 mashed ripe bananas plus enough natural unsweetened apple sauce to make 1 1/3 cups collectively [about 2/3 cup of bananas and rest was applesauce]
1 cup regular oats
1/2 cup whole milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cinnammon chips
handful of white chocolate chips
about a cup of blueberries, picked over

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Cream butter and sugar, add vegetable oil, and then the eggs. Combine banana/apple sauce, oats, and milk; add to sugar mixture, beating well. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; mix well. Add to sugar mixture; beat just until moist. Add in cinnamon chips, white chocolate chips, blueberries and gently fold over. Leave overnight in fridge. Spoon batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan.

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Original Cooking Light Version:

Ingredients

1 cup packed brown sugar
7 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana (about 2 large)
1 cup regular oats
1/2 cup fat-free milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cooking spray
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat well at medium speed of a mixer. Combine banana, oats, and milk; add to sugar mixture, beating well. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir with a whisk. Add to sugar mixture; beat just until moist. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

International Experiments from the past two weeks:

-shrimp wontons...could use a 'lil help
-Chinese vegetarian dumplings...coulda used a bit more salt and practice with forming perfectly round pieces of dough... but getting there...
-samosas...filling worked, need to remember to cut the dough into semi-circles instead of circles
-scallion pancakes (!)--perfect! :D :D :D
-pasta salad with grilled Japanese eggplant, roasted red peppers, and homemade Italian-style paneer...will tell ya tomorrow how this fusion creation works
-spoon bread...needed salt but will be great for putting eggs over, or for a casserole bake


Toldya I was keeping busy! ;)

The perfect chocolate chip cookie

I'm still here. Still cooking too. I've just been a bit distracted by long car trips to Canada and drama. But drama is correlated with stress. And stress is correlated with cooking. Insane amounts of cooking. Which leads me to this post.

There was a great NYTimes article about the perfect chocolate chip cookie, if such a thing exists.


Of course, I was naturally curious and skeptical. And so I began to take steps in achieving my new goal for the summer (either in addition to or instead of my dissertation proposal). The overarching aim is to find "the perfect chocolate chip cookie" that does not require buying mail-order gourmet $30 chocolate feves. In fact, it would be great if making a batch of cookies could cost $10 or less.

Aim 1. Compare the texture of cookies after dough has sat out at 0h, 24h, 36h, and 48h
Hypothesis 1, based on the NYTimes test: Cookies will have the best texture at 36h.
Result. Cookies at 24h had the best texture after baking. 36h and 48h Cookies have better texture than 0h cookies while warm. 0h cookies have better texture than 48h cookies the next day. Results on next-day quality could not be obtained for the 36h cookies due to consumption. This is a limitation to be considered for future studies. Next-day results on the 24h cookies have yet to be determined.


Aim 2. Compare the taste of cookies after dough has sat out at 0h, 24h, 36h, and 48h.
Hypothesis 2. The longer the tastier
Results. Hypothesis 2 was confirmed by three taste testers. This pattern of results remained the next day for 0h and 48h cookies.


Aim 3. Compare the taste of cookies made with Cabot butter and Land O Lakes butter.
Hypothesis 3. Cookies made with Cabot all natural butter will taste better

Aim 4. Compare the taste of cookies made with Gold Medal and King Arthur flour.
Hypothesis 4. Cookies made with King Arthur flour will taste better.

Aim 5. Compare the taste of cookies made with all coarse kosher salt, sea salt, 50-50 coarse kosher and sea salt, and regular NaCl
Hypothesis 5. Cookies made with a mix of coarse and sea salt will taste best. Regular table salt can continue to live outside the house.

Aim 6. Compare the taste of cookies made with hormone-free eggs and regular eggs
Hypothesis 6. Cookies made with the good eggs will taste better.

Aim 7. Compare chocolate chip cookie recipes that use reasonable ingredients. Accepting submissions. Received so far: 2

Aim 8. Compare results of softened butter and melted butter.

Aim 9. Compare cookies that are baked, frozen, and reheated with frozen cookie dough that is then baked.

Aims 1 and 2 were tested with the following recipe adapted from Ghiradelli

1 1/4 cup King Arthur flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp Hain sea salt
1/8 tsp Morton coarse kosher salt
1 stick Cabot butter, softened
1/2c Florida natural sugar
1/2c Domino light brown sugar
vanilla extract
1 large egg
1c Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

Best results were made with balls about 2-3 in in diameter and slightly flattened. Our oven temp is off. The recipe says 375...our oven does cookies best at about 315.

Aims beyond 1 and 2 have yet to be fulfilled... taste testers who are willing to travel and donations are welcome