Simple For Recipe: April 2018

Wednesday, 25 April 2018

Caraway Meatballs with Honey Chilli Glaze

These crowd-pleasers are sweet, spicy and with a hint of caraway and garlic! Caraway meatballs coated with honey chilli glaze are great on any appetizer tray, used as the pitta sandwich filling as the main, or served over rice for a weeknight meal.

500 g Ground beef
25 g Dried breadcrumbs
1 Egg
2 tsp Caraway seeds
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp Coconut oil
1-2 clove Garlic, minced
2 tbsp Honey
1 tsp Chilli flakes
Thyme leaves

Combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg and caraway seeds in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the mixture into 10-12 equal portions and roll each portion into a ball.
Heat coconut oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until cooked through.
Stir in minced garlic and cook briefly. Add the honey, chilli flakes and cook, stirring, until the meatballs are evenly coated. Taste and season. Garnish with thyme leaves.

Labels: beef

Wednesday, 18 April 2018

Spelt Flower Bread

Three layers of almond chocolate spread sandwiched between soft sweet spelt bread and twisted into a flower shape, this spelt bread is amazing both for its appearance and its taste. It's not at all difficult to make and perfect to bring to a garden tea party or an afternoon snack.


365 g Refined spelt flour (or 330 g Whole spelt flour+1 tbsp Kaniwa seeds) 30 g Raw sugar 18 g Fresh yeast, crumbled Pinch of salt 30 g Butter, melted and cooled slightly 175 ml Full fat milk, lukewarm 2 Egg yolks 150 g Almond chocolate spread 30 g Butter, room-temperature and cut into small pieces 1 tbsp Almonds, chopped Egg white for glaze

Whisk the lukewarm milk, raw sugar and fresh yeast in a jug. Place the refined spelt flours (or whole spelt flour and kaniwa seeds) and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture and egg yolks. Stir until a soft dough forms.
Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes or until smooth. Knead in butter pieces until dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm draught-free place to prove for 1 hour or until dough doubles in size.
Punch down the dough and knead shortly on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 4 even portions. Roll out each portion of dough into a round, about 25-cm/10-inch.
Place the almond chocolate spread into a small bowl and warm it in the microwave for about 30 seconds to make it easier to spread onto the dough.
Place a disc of dough on a piece of baking paper and spread 1/3 of almond chocolate spread over. Top with another disc of dough and spread another third of almond chocolate spread and repeat one more time. Now cover with the last disc of dough. Transfer it to a baking sheet or a springform pan.
Take a small drinking glass and place that in the centre of the dough as a guide. Use a sharp knife and cut the dough into 12 or 16 wedges. Take each section of dough and twist. You can leave them as they are or pinch two sections of twisted dough together.
Now cover the dough with a kitchen towel and leave for 30-40 minutes to allow the dough to rise. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Once the bread had risen, brush the surface with egg white and sprinkle the center of the dough with the chopped almonds. Bake the bread for 20-25 minutes until nicely golden brown.

Labels: bread, Chocolate, Kaniwa, Nuts and Seeds, Spelt

Sunday, 15 April 2018

Slow-Cooker BBQ Ribs (Fall off the bone tender)

My Father-In-Law makes the best ribs. He spends all day smoking them and then grilling them to perfection. They taste absolutely amazing and can't be beat.

This recipe is for all of us rib lovers that need a super easy recipe that has great results with very little hands-on time.

These ribs start out with a dry rub and are cooked in the slow-cooker without adding any additional liquid. The ribs will release their own liquid as they cook and there is no need to add any extra. Then, once they are tender, you brush them will barbecue sauce and broil until they are charred and absolutely perfect.

These ribs are so so so tender. You can pull the bone out without any effort. These will definitely satisfy that rib craving. I served mine with My Favorite Twice Baked Potatoes and it was an incredible Sunday dinner.

Slow-Cooker BBQ Ribs
(Printable Recipe)

1 1/2 Tbl. smoked paprika
1 Tbl. packed light brown sugar
1 Tbl. kosher salt
2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 (2 1/2 - 3 Lb.) racks St. Louis-style spareribs, cut each rack in half
1/2 c. favorite barbecue sauce, or more, if desired

In a small bowl, combine paprika, brown sugar, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder; set aside. Pat ribs dry with paper towels and coat all over with rub. Arrange ribs vertically with thick ends pointing down and meaty side against interior wall of slow-cooker (ribs will overlap). Cover and cook until ribs are just tender, around 6 to 7 hours on low.

Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and set a wire rack in pan. Using tongs, carefully transfer ribs, meaty side up, to prepared rack. Let ribs sit for 10 minutes to allow surface to dry out. Adjust oven rack 3 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Liberally brush ribs with 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce and broil until sauce begins to char, about 4 minutes. Remove ribs from oven, brush with additional sauce, if desired. Tent with foil and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Cut ribs in between bones to separate and serve.

Jenn's Notes: This also works if you want to cover the ribs with the rub the night before, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Then, add to the slow-cooker in the morning.

Cooking method and rub adapted from: Cook's Country

My Favorite Twice Baked Potatoes

Labels: Main Dishes, pork, Slow Cooker

Wednesday, 11 April 2018

Blood Orange Einkorn Muffins with Poppy Streusel

Blood orange and poppy seed muffins with nutty einkorn and Greek yoghurt topped with a generous streusel, easy and quick, make a wonderful addition to your morning coffee/tea or a lovely dessert. Feel free to bake these in regular sized muffin tin or in a loaf pan. If blood oranges aren't available you can use regular oranges.

Muffin Batter	Poppy Streusel
1 Organic blood orange 100 g Einkorn, ground into flour 50 g Ground poppy seeds 50 g Ground almond 20 g Chia seeds 10 g Baking powder 2 Eggs, medium 110 ml Coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly 50 g Coconut sugar 1 tsp Vanilla extract 150 g Greek yoghurt, full fat	50 g Einkorn, ground into flour 30 g Ground poppy seeds 20 g Coconut sugar 40 g Butter

Preheat oven to 190C/375F and lightly grease a 6-hole jumbo muffin tin.
Wash the blood orange under hot water and rub dry. Finely grate the peel and squeeze 3 tablespoons of juice from the blood orange.
Mix together the flour, blood orange zest, ground almonds, ground poppy seeds, chia seeds, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut oil, coconut sugar, vanilla extract, Greek yoghurt and blood orange juice. Working very quickly, pour the wet ingredients into the dry and barely mix together with a fork. Don't overmix it.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Combine all the ingredients for the streusel and divide it among the muffins. Bake in the center of hot oven for 25-30 minutes until risen and browned.

Labels: Einkorn, Fruit, muffins, Nuts and Seeds

Tuesday, 10 April 2018

Walnut Buttermilk Lemon Cake

Walnut Buttermilk Lemon Cake

Source: Maida Heatter's Best Dessert Book Ever (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 125.

Recently, the New York Times published a story about Maida Heatter's East 62nd Lemon Cake. I tried another lemon pound cake recipe today that is equally good. This one is sprinkled with chopped walnuts and has a strong lemon flavor.

You will need about 5 or 6 lemons for the recipe (for the cake and the glaze). Three of the lemons will be zested. As the cake gets done, your house will smell like a bakery!

Also note that cake flour is called for instead of all-purpose.

This is a very easy recipe to make and quite delicious. Of course we had to try it immediately but we are going to try and freeze some of it for a get-together next week. Even though a glaze is involved, I think it should be fine since it is absorbed into the cake.

Cake

2 cups walnuts, chopped into medium-sized pieces

Finely grated rind of 2 or 3 large lemons (I used 3)

1/3 cup lemon juice

3 cups sifted cake flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 cups granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

5 large eggs

2/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350. Butter or grease a Bundt pan and sprinkle with fine bread crumbs.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Mix the lemon juice and the lemon zest. Set aside.

Mix the butter until soft. Add the sugar and vanilla, mixing well. Add the eggs one at a time. On low speed, add half of the sifted flour mixture. Add the buttermilk, beating well and then add the remaining flour mixture.

Stir in the lemon juice and then the walnuts.

Turn the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for about an hour, until a cake tester comes out clean and the cake springs back when gently pressed.

Glaze

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Mix the two ingredients together while the cake is baking. Stir occasionally.

When the cake is done, let it stand for 10 minutes and then turn it out of the pan. Place it on a wire rack with parchment paper or foil underneath. Brush the glaze over the entire cake and let it completely cool.

Labels: cakes

Saturday, 7 April 2018

Andes Mint Brownies

Hi, how is everyone doing? Life has been so crazy lately and I haven't been posting as much. Not sure if that will change anytime soon, but I'll try to post as much as possible.

This recipe is back from 2011 and these brownies are still a family favorite. It was long overdue to re-share them with all of you.

If you like Andes Mints then you will LOVE these brownies. They are a chewy brownie with a layer of mints in the middle. I have made them so many times and they come out perfect every time. I love biting into the soft brownie and getting a snap from the mints. The flavor is rich and minty and very refreshing.

You might want to plan on sharing these with friends and neighbors or you will be very tempted to eat the entire pan by yourself.

Andes Mint Brownies

adapted from: Paula Deen

(Printable Recipe)

1 1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
3 c. sugar
4 large eggs
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3 boxes Andes Mints (individually wrapped)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 pan. In a medium bowl, combine melted butter and cocoa, stirring well; set aside. In a large bowl, beat sugar and eggs at medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Slowly beat in butter mixture. Add flour, salt and vanilla beating just until combined. Spread half of the batter in pan. Unwrap each mint and place, side by side, covering batter completely. Carefully spread remaining batter over mints, sealing to edges. Bake for 35 minutes. Let cool in pan completely.

Labels: Bars and Brownies, Dessert, My Favorite Sweets

Wednesday, 4 April 2018

Ruby Chard Salad with Walnuts and Cranberries

This salad is a healthful, easy, and fast way to prepare different types of chard. Keep it vegan or add crumbled Feta, blue or goat cheese, which pair really well with earthy sweetness of bright, vibrant ruby or rhubarb chard.

Salad	Dressing
1 bunch Young tender ruby chard, washed, drained and chopped 5 Scallions, chopped 1/4 head Heart-shaped purple cabbage, sliced 50 g Dried cranberries 50 g Walnuts, toasted	2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp Maple syrup 1/2 tsp Sea salt 1/2 tsp Black pepper, ground

Wash and dry the ruby chard thoroughly. Remove the stems. Cut leaves into 1 inch pieces. Slice stems in half then into 1/2 inch pieces. Thinly slice the heart-shaped red cabbage.
Place the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, salt, and pepper in a glass jar. Shake until well combined.
In a large bowl, combine the chard, scallions, and cabbage. Pour dressing over the salad and toss until evenly coated. Toss in the cranberries and toasted walnuts. Serve immediately.

Labels: Fruit, Gluten Free, Nuts and Seeds, Salads

Sunday, 1 April 2018

New book on the way from Maida Heatter!

A commenter brought my attention to an article that appeared in yesterday's New York Times. It discusses Maida Heatter's rise to fame and features her recipe for 62nd St. Lemon Cake. At 101, she still resides in Miami Beach and is currently working on a compilation of her fan's favorite recipes with her niece. The book is to be published in the summer of 2019!

Simple For Recipe