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Recipes

ginger lemon muffins

Jordan’s parents came over for breakfast on Saturday. I was thinking of making coffee cake, but then I stumbled upon these muffins on Molly Wizenburg’s blog Orangette. The picture was so cute I just had to make them.

Marion Cunningham’s Fresh Ginger Muffins, adapted from The Breakfast Book and Orangette
Yield: 12 muffins
One (~3-ounce) piece of unpeeled ginger root, washed well
¾ cup plus 3 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. grated lemon zest
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk (I also decided that there is just no point in buying buttermilk when I can make it myself and have about cup of delicious homemade butter as the by-product. Want to learn how to make butter from scratch? Check out our post butter! homemade butter!)
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. baking soda

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a muffin tin.

Cut the unpeeled ginger root into large chunks. Process the ginger in a food processor until it is in tiny pieces; alternatively, mince by hand. Put the ginger and ¼ cup sugar in a small skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has melted and the mixture is hot. This takes only a couple of minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon zest and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Add to the ginger mixture.

Put the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the butter for a second or two, then add the remaining ½ cup sugar, and beat until smooth. Add the eggs, and beat well. Add the buttermilk, and beat until blended. (At this point my batter looked a little curdled – ew – but after I added the dry ingredients, it looked like regular batter and tasted just fine).

Add the flour, salt, and baking soda, and beat just until smooth. Add the ginger-lemon mixture, and beat to mix well. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Serve warm with fresh, salted butter

Conclusions: Absolutely delicious (and totally adorable)! I ate two right out of the oven (and wanted another). The ginger is surprisingly subtle, considering how much ginger goes into these muffins, and the lemon is a lovely companion. I will certainly be making these again! And, you have to try the homemade butter! It is soooo good.

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

oven roasted fish with citrus

Tonight’s dish was inspired by a recipe in The Chronicle for a quick week-night dinner.  I prepared it as directed in the recipe last week and with my own twist this week.

Oven roasted fish with fennel and grapefruit, or with lemongrass and ginger
1 – 2 fillets of a mild, white fish (I used rockfish)
2 T fronds from a nice, fresh fennel bulb OR 1 stock lemongrass, cut into slivers
1/2 grapefruit, juiced OR 1 t fresh ginger, minced and 2 T lemon juice
2 T butter, cut into small pieces
Salt and pepper
Lemon, for serving

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Place fillets on a large piece of tin foil. Liberally salt and pepper both sides of the fillets. Lay the fennel fronds on top of the fish. Crinkle the sides of the tinfoil up a little and squeeze the grapefruit juice onto the fish. Top with the butter and close the foil package. Cook for 15 – 20 minutes, until the fish is just flaky. Be careful when opening the foil packet, the steam inside is really hot!

Serve fish with a fennel salad OR cabbage salad and a grain. We had wild rice the first night and jasmine rice the second time.

Conclusions: Tasty, seasonal, super easy and pretty healthy (although not the most photogenic). This recipe is also incredibly adaptable to different seasonings and flavors …  it may just become a weeknight favorite.

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

baking therapy: brownies, continued continued

Yep, another brownie attempt. I am very determined.  And some good news: I’m almost there. The recipe below, plus a few tweaks, may just be the one. I’m not going to rejoice yet, but I am feeling pretty good.

Classic Chocolate Brownies, adapted from Ghirardelli Chocolate
Makes 16 brownies
1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Guittard)
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate baking bar (I used Scharffen-Berger semi-sweet baking chocolate bar)
1/2 c butter, cut into pieces
1 t vanilla
2 large eggs
3/4 c plus 2 T flour
1/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square baking pan. Chop the 4 ounces of semi sweet chocolate bars into 1-inch pieces. In the top of a double boiler, melt the chopped chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Stir the brown sugar and vanilla into the chocolate mixture. Add the eggs and mix well. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture, mixing well until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 45 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into 2-inch squares.

Conclusions: Crusty top! Chewy sides! Fudgy middle! Pretty darn good. I even wanted to eat more than one (which is my true test of a good dessert – I’m usually pretty burnt out after one serving so if I want another, it must be really good). BUT, since I’ve decide to be really picky about this project, the top could be crustier, the brownie chewier and the middle a little less fudgy.

The Tweaks

1. Use all Guittard chocolate chips (or other lesser-quality, but still decent baking chocolate) instead of the 4 oz of Scharffen-Berger. The Scharffen-Berger chocolate is just too good (I cannot believe I’m saying this, but I think it may be true) and makes the brownies a bit too chocolatey.

2. Cook those little guys for even longer. The original recipe recommended 25 – 30 minutes. I did 45 and they were still a bit mushy. The extra cooking time hopefully should make the brownies a bit crustier and chewier, and less fudgy.

I think I will give my updated recipe a try this weekend for the Superbowl. You know I’ll be reporting back!

-Emily