Blueberry coffee cake... muffins!!

I love blueberries and anything made with blueberries (almost as much as I love chocolate and anything chocolate-covered or chocolate-filled ;-)). This morning I felt like having a slice of Blueberry coffee cake for breakfast, but then I looked up the recipe and I found out how time consuming (and messy!) it would have been to make a coffee cake from scratch. You know what's easy, though? Muffins :-) So I thought I'd make some coffee cake-like muffins. I wish I could post pictures of the finished muffins, but they were gone by the time I was done typing this recipe :-)

Since I have been trying to avoid things I am sensitive to, I decided to make this recipe wheat- and dairy-free. But I promise you can't tell! Also, I made a small batch, so feel free to double the ingredients to make a full batch (12 muffins).

Ingredients:
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup vanilla almond milk
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- 1 cup unbleached spelt flour
- 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice (or brown sugar)
- 1 tsp alluminum-free baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- a pinch of salt
- 2 Tbsp Earth balance dairy-free buttery stick

Preparation:
1. Prepare the blueberry filling (recipe below) and move it to a bowl to let it cool down.

2. Turn on the oven to 375.

3. In a large bowl, mash the buttery stick with a fork until creamy - then add dry ingredients and mix manually with a whisk, pressing any chunks of butter sticks until it's all well mixed into a coarse texture.

4. In a small bowl, beat the egg, then add the almond milk and lemon extract and keep beating until well combined.

5. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and work the mixture with the whisk until well combined. It will be thick and sticky. Divide this mixture more or less evenly into 6 muffin cups.

6. Grab the bowl with the Blueberry filling and divide it also into the muffin cups. With a toothpick, gently stir/swirl the filling into the dough a little.

7. Sprinkle the streusel topping (recipe below) onto the muffins and bake for 20 minutes.Turn off the oven and leave the muffins in for 10 more minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool.

8. If you want to reach breakfast Nirvana, enjoy one with an imitation-London Fog latte (Earl Grey steeped with hot soy milk instead of water, and sweetened).

Blueberry Filling:
1. In a small saucepan, mix the following:
- 1 cup unsweetened frozen blueberries
- 1 Tbsp evaporated cane juice
- 1 Tbsp lime juice (lemon will work too)
- 1 Tbsp water
- 1 Tbsp brown rice flour

2. Stir to combine, and place over medium-low heat. Stir every now and then, and when the blueberries have thawed, take the pan off the heat and mash the blueberries with a fork a bit. Stir again and place back on the stove, stirring every now and then until thickened and bubbly.

3. Pour into a glass or ceramic bowl and let cool to room temperature.


Streusel Topping
1. In a small bowl, mash 2 Tbsp Earth balance dairy-free buttery stick with a fork.

2. Add the following:
- 2 1/2 Tbsp evaporated cane juice
- 2 tsp spelt flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp Earth balance dairy-free buttery stick

3. Mix with your hands, then sprinkle on the muffins before placing the tray in the oven.

Recipe: Middle-Eastern Turkey Meatballs

I love turkey. It's tastier than chicken, and for some reason I find it more filling. My husband, on the other hand, does not like turkey. He tolerates turkey at Thanksgiving because it comes with gravy and cranberry sauce (and a pile of mashed potatoes, and a slice of pumpkin pie at the end!) but at any other time of the year, it's no turkey for him. He categorically refused to even taste these, but both my daughters gobbled them up. The 9 year old, who is kind of a picky eater an intolerant to wheat and dairy, ate 8 (!!) and asked me to save the rest for her school lunch. Needless to say, I'll be making these again.


Ingredients:
- a little over 1 pound of lean ground turkey
- 1/3 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, minced
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp ground mustard seeds*
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4-1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper*
- 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground cumin*
- olive oil spray
- extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, lightly salted
- 1 cup water
- 2/3 cup white cooking wine

Preparation:
1. In a large bowl, mix the meat and all the spices, while the quinoa cooks in lightly salted water.

2. When cooked, drain the quinoa and mix with the meat and spices. Start shaping your meatballs, using a heaping tablespoon of meat for each.

3. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a frying pan then spray the rest of the pan with the olive oil spray. You want it to be well coated, but not dripping with oil.

4. In a pan, mix the broth and water and bring to a boil.

5. Warm up the pan and add 8-10 meatballs to it, without crowding it. Lower the heat to medium and shake the pan back and forth every few minutes, to sear the meatballs on each side. As soon as they star browning on the outside, remove them with a slotted spoon and drop then in the boiling broth to finish cooking (about 8 minutes). With a slotted spoon, drain them and move them to a warm plate, then cover with a lid.

6. Spray the pan again and add 1-2 tsp of olive oil, and keep searing the meatballs then cooking them in the broth, until all meatballs are done.

7. Pour the white wine in the pan and stir with a spoon, removing all the browned bits from the bottom. Then add the meatballs, tossing them in the pan until they are lightly caramelized and there's no wine remaining at the bottom of the pan.

Serves 4-6.

Serving options:
- Serve the meatballs warm, with brown/Jasmine rice on the side. In this case, reduce 1 cup of broth and 1/2 cup of white wine in a pan and pour some over each portion. Accompany them with steamed broccoli sauteed in olive oil and garlic.
- Serve the meatballs over baby spinach or baby arugula, topped with 1-2 Tablespoons of Yogurt sauce (recipe below) and a chunky salad without balsamic vinegar.
- Cut the meatballs in chunks and stuff them into a pita, with cut-up cucumber, tomato slices and sprouts, and top with a 1-2 tablespoons of yogurt sauce.

Yogurt sauce
Mix these ingredients in a small bowl:
- 1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt (possibly organic)
- 3 large basil leaves, julienned
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 3 Tbsp water
- 1/4 tsp yellow mustard
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


I chose the second option, and served the meatballs on top of baby arugula, with yogurt sauce drizzled on top and a modified chunky salad on the side, made with cherry tomatoes and smaller chunks of cucumber and slices of red onion. I chose to leave it without dressing, because it was a nice palate cleanser after the spiciness of the meatballs, arugula and yogurt sauce.




*freshly ground spices are SO much tastier than bottled ones. The only ground spices I buy are nutmeg and coriander, the rest I grind while cooking or right before I need them. Keep an extra pepper mill or two for this purpose, or use a mortar and pestle.

Recipe: Simple Tomato Sauces

Photo by Kitchen Wench

Oh, boy, this post took a while to show up, didn't it? I apologize, life got in the way :-) But finally, as promised , here are my two favorite tomato sauces: one is a popular vegetarian pasta sauce, the other a classic ragù – and true to Italian form, the latter is my mom's recipe.


Sugo all Puttanesca
(Harlot's Sauce)
Serves 4-6

Puttanesca is traditionally an uncooked tomato sauce, but that calls for fresh tomatoes. Because that is too much work for most, I modified the recipe slightly so it can be made with canned tomatoes and still be full of flavor.

Ingredients:
- 4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 3-4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
- 8 large fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 cup black olives such as Gaeta, sliced
- 1 Tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
- salt and cayenne pepper flakes to taste
- 1 large (28 oz) can cubed plum tomatoes (I like Muir Glen)

Preparation:
1. In a sauce pan, warm the olive oil, then add the garlic and sauté briefly, just until golden. Add the cayenne flakes, stir, the immediately add the tomatoes. Lower the flame to the minimum, stir to combine, cover and let it cook for about 10 minutes. If you notice the sauce thickening too much, add a few tablespoons of water and lower the heat more.
2. Add the capers and black olives, cover again and let it cook for another 10 minutes.
3. Turn off the sauce and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the basil leaves into thin strips. Then open the pot and add 1/4 teaspoon of salt and just a shake of cayenne pepper. Add the basil, stir, close the post and let it rest for another 5-10 minutes, to give the flavors the time to blend.
4. Open the pot, taste the sauce and add more salt or cayenne if you like. Keep in mind that when using cayenne flakes make the sauce develops and increases the longer the sauce is ready, so perhaps wait until it's time to serve it before you add more.

Notes:
- Don't chop the basil leaves too much in advance, because the oils that give flavor to the sauce will oxidize. When using fresh basil, it's important to chop/tear the leaves at the end of preparation, with the flame off, so the sauce absorb all the flavor of the delicious fresh basil :-)
- I know 1/4 of a teaspoon doesn't seem like a lot – however when using capers, the saltiness of a dish is a little unpredictable, even when they have been rinsed, so it's best to start with only a little salt and then take it from there.



Simple ragù
Serves 6

- 4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 onion, minced
- 1 Tablespoon minced parsley
- 10-12 oz ground beef, preferable organic and/or grass-fed
- 1/4 cup red cooking wine (optional), I use an inexpensive Shiraz
- 2 MSG-free vegetable buillon (broth paste) cubes
- 1 large (28 oz) can cubed plum tomatoes, blended in a food processor
- 1 cup of water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut in half

Preparation:
1. In a large saucepan, warm the olive oil and sauté the onion and parsley briefly.
2. Add the ground beef and sauté, stirring and breaking up chunks as needed, until very little pink remains.
3. If using wine, add it now to allow the meat to absorb the flavor. Lower the heat a little.
4. When the wine has almost been absorbed/evaporated, add the tomatoes and stir to combine. Add the water, bay leaves, buillon cubes and carrot, stir and lower the heat to medium.
5. When the sauce starts bubbling, lower the heat to keep it at a gentle simmer. Stir, partially cover with a lid and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly and it's nice and fragrant.
6. Turn off the heat and let the sauce sit for 10 minutes, then taste and add a little salt if needed.

Note:
- I prefer to make my sauce a tad on the bland side, because I always serve pasta with grated Parmesan, which is quite salty. If you are avoiding dairy and plan on serving your pasta without cheese or replacing it with nutritional yeast, you can add a little salt to the sauce. But be careful not to make it too salty, for that cannot be corrected.
- I hate to get bossy but this has to be said: Please don't serve any Italian dishes, particularly pasta dishes, with the "Parmesan" product that comes in shakers/canisters, often found in US pizza parlors – it's truly an abomination and it will spoil the flavor of the delicious sauce you have just made. Purchase freshly grated Parmesan or a small chunk of it and grate it yourself over each plate: that is the flavor you are looking for when cooking Italian dishes. I'm not even sure you'll like the dried "Parmesan" flakes after tasting the real thing, anyway ;-)

Bertolli giveaway winner!

The Bertolli giveaway was very popular! Last night I counted up the entries and selected a winner, with the help of Random.org.

And the winner of

3 Bertolli Premium Pasta Sauce pouches




and

a GE microwave oven

is...


Deborah! Congratulations! I have e-mailed you, please get back to me within 48 hours to reclaim your prize!

All of those who haven't won – I'm sorry I can't give you a microwave, but I can, and will, give you my favorite pasta sauce recipes. For real this time! In the next post!