Simple pleasures

My friends Ali and Dan have had a standing invitation for tea at my house--I have this amazing loose leaf tea that my dad brought back with him from a business trip to China and I promised to share it with them. Ali calls to say they are on their way this afternoon... and I realized: I have no crumpets, no cookies, nothing but tea!



mmm tea.

But what could I make in 10 minutes???

Rice crispies of course! They can do no wrong.



But 10 minutes wasn't quite enough. I had to resort to desperate measures.





Rice crispie treats always save the day.

I don't have a consistent recipe--today I melted a bag of mini marshmallows and 3/4 of a stick of butter in the microwave with occasional stirring. Then I added 7 cups of rice cereal and pressed it into a 9x13 pan. The key to making the top even it pressing it down with greased wax paper. Really though, these are pretty impossible to ruin.

These are so good, I'm taking them 2,300 miles with me

No really, I am. I am flying across the country to visit my boyfriend this weekend (awwww) and I knew there was only one thing to bring with me.

Only one thing for two reasons: these are AMAZING, and my boyfriend is boring and really only ever wants me to make three things. Tiramisu, chocolate chip cookies, and...





HOMEMADE OREOS!



I also made mini oreos! Everything is better in mini form. Like my housemates! They are fun-sized!



I first saw this recipe on SmittenKitchen. She got them from 'Retro Desserts' by Wayne Brachman
Homemade Oreo


Chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

Filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375 degrees.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2-3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.

cuppies!

That's pronounced 'cup-pies'; sadly, they do not rhyme with 'puppies'.

Really, I just made an apple pie, but divided out into my cupcake pan.



I had enough pie dough and apples left over to make another pie in my mini pie pan. There's nothing to scale, so this looks a lot like a regular pie. I assure you, it is indeed mini.



Even after 6 cuppies and a mini pie, I had pie dough left over.

Enter the crust pie! My housemates had yet to be introduced to their joy: pie crust mixed with brown sugar, sprinkled with cinnamon... best eaten while piping hot.



I didn't take a picture of them after they were out of the oven--they didn't last long.

You do not need a recipe for apple pie.

My crust is 2 cups and a few tablespoons flour, into which I cut in 2 sticks of cold butter. Use a pastry cutter or 2 knives until it's a nice crumbly thing, and then add 3-4 tablespoons of cold water. Knead until it comes together in a ball. Roll out half, refrigerate the other half til you need it.

The filling? I peel and slice apples until it looks like I have enough to fill a pie (I did 4 medium ones here), then I pour in brown sugar, cinnamon, some white sugar maybe, and a few handfuls of flour. Mix, taste, adjust. It really can't be ruined. Promise.

desperate times call for desperate dinners

Final exams are stressful. Sometimes, so stressful that I make raspberry pancakes for dinner.



These are half whole wheat; any more whole wheat and they have a decidedly un-pancake like texture.

These were of course a success--I think I aced that exam!

Falafel burgers!

I rarely eat meat, and I probably should try to work on getting more protein in my diet. I don't have a grill, and summer in Ann Arbor does not lend itself to broiling. Even baking I try to do late at night.

Bean burgers should be tasty, but so often veggie burgers are overpriced and kinda sucky. I tried Mark Bittman's nut burgers a few weeks ago and they were fantastic. So filling and more satisfying than any other vegetarian burger I've eaten.

He also gave a recipe for a bean burger, and I knew I had to try it with chick peas. I love falafel and pretty much anything I've ever eaten made from chick peas.

The recipe is simple and very adaptable.



People with a real food processor, or even a real blender could probably just toss everything in together, and skip chopping the onions and mixing the ingrediates.

Sadly, I must get by with a smoothie maker.


mmm chick pea burger smoothie...

The recipe suggests that it makes 4 burgers, which I found accurate when making nut burgers. Chick peas, however, yielded six large burgers:



5 of these went right in the freezer. Cooking for one is frustrating sometimes.

3 minutes a side on a skillet with olive oil et voila!





They tasted quite a bit like falafel! I do prefer nut burgers, which are so good that I am NEVER buying commercial veggie burgers again. These are still great, and would probably be amazing with some tahini sauce and some lemon.

Bean Burgers

Time: 20 minutes, with cooked beans

2 cups well-cooked white, black or red beans, or chickpeas or lentils, or 1 14-ounce can, drained
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup rolled oats (preferably not instant)
1 tablespoon chili powder, or the spice mix of your choice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
Bean-cooking liquid, stock or other liquid (wine, cream, milk, water or ketchup) if necessary
Extra virgin olive oil or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn.

1. Combine all ingredients except liquid and oil in food processor and pulse until chunky but not puréed. If necessary, add a little liquid for a mixture that is moist but not wet. Let mixture rest for a few minutes.
2. With wet hands, shape into patties and let rest again for a few minutes. (Burger mixture or shaped burgers can be covered tightly and refrigerated for up to a day. Bring back to room temperature before cooking.) Film bottom of a large nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron skillet with oil and turn heat to medium. When hot, add patties. Cook undisturbed until browned, about 5 minutes; turn carefully with spatula and cook 3 or 4 minutes until firm and browned.
3. Serve on buns with mustard, ketchup, chutney or other toppings.

Yield: 4 servings.
adapted from The Minimalist

Godzillas! Raaaarrr!

Okay, these aren't actually called "godzillas". They are gozlemes, and they are a traditional turkish pastry-ish thing. I can eat them just fine, but I have no idea how to say them. Goze-lay-mays... gozz-lemms... gozz-laymas... godzillaz?

I actually first had them in Italy and thought they were some kind of folded pizza contraption. Instead of tomato sauce and mozarella, these are filled with spinach and feta and are simple but delicious.

The dough was sticky but these rolled out like a dream



I did not capture the step in which I covered half of that with spinach and feta. Or where I folded it in half and pinched the edges closes and brushed it with olive oil.

But they moved seamlessly into a skillet



It got to nearly 90 degrees today, we have no AC and I'll try any dinner that does not involve me turning on the stove. Yay skillets!

and with 3 minutes a side they are quick, and after a long day's shopping I was too hungry to wait!


(photo courtesy of Patti, who assisted in eating them, photography, and dessert)


(side note: I love my teakettle!)


Godzillas!
or gozleme, whatever.

3 cups flour
8g package instant dried yeast
pinch of salt
1 tsp sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
6 oz. spinach (I use baby spinach)
200g feta cheese, crumbled

In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt and sugar.
Add 300ml tepid water and olive oil and stir with a fork until the liquid has taken up all the flour. (note: I found this dough quite sticky and added quite a bit more flour.)
Knead the dough for 5 minutes until elastic and form into a ball.
Place back into the bowl and cover with plastic film.
Stand in a warm place and allow the dough to prove for 30 minutes to an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Once the dough has proved, cut the ball into four portions. Keep the dough you aren’t using under cover.
Roll each piece of dough out into a circle the size of a large dinner plate.
Place a quarter of the spinach over half of the circle and then top with feta.
Fold the dough over and enclose the filling by pinching the edges together.
Preheat a flat hotplate, or a large frypan on medium-high heat.
Brush the bottom of the gozleme with olive oil and place on the hotplate.
Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the dough becomes crisp and golden brown.
Turn over and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
Remove from the oven and cut the gozleme into 6 pieces using a pizza cutter.

I found this recipe from the blog "Milk and Cookies"