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Blog

Filtering by Tag: roasted veggies

a sweet potato kind of day

Andrea

You're going to say it isn't possible...but it is.  I found another use for the cranberry ketchup.  :)  Today at work I was fretting a bit about the fact that the batch of cranberry ketchup (CK) I made last month is nearing its 4-week birthday.  Now I don't know for sure that it will go bad on its 28th day in existence, but that was the rough estimate I was given when I asked sweet Erin of Care to Eat for the recipe, and I didn't want to take any chances of wasting a single drop.  I was also thinking about baking because, well, I think about baking a lot.  The two thoughts eventually converged and I began to think about ways I could incorporate the CK into a baked good other than simply smearing it across the top (which is an excellent way to use it, don't get me wrong).   090112-bread-6 I've loved the different swirl breads I've seen pop up over the holidays, but have never attempted one myself.  I thought about banana bread with a cranberry swirl...yummy for sure, but I had no overly ripe bananas on my counter.  Cinnamon bread with a cranberry swirl?  I couldn't find or come up with a plain cinnamon bread recipe to modify.  Sweet potato bread with a cranberry swirl?  Now we're talking, I just happened to have a baked sweet potato sitting on the top shelf of my fridge.  But wait...Sweet Potato Apple Bread with a Cranberry Swirl?  Ding Ding Ding! 090112-bread-11 090112-bread-2 I started with the recipe I came up with for BSI: SWEET POTATO a couple of months ago.  This batter is a bit thicker than typical bread or cake batters, so I wasn't really sure how to incorporate the cranberry swirl in.  The hubb helped me wing it...we just cut 6 slots in the top of the bread batter in the short direction of the pan, then pulled a knife across the long direction.  As you can see, it looked like a big mess.  At this point I wasn't sure what I was going to get after it spent 50 minutes in the oven.  I'm still a very novice baker and am definitely learning by doing, or actually learning by taking plenty of chances that often result in big messes. 090112-bread-3 I was pleasantly surprised when I peaked in the oven after 45 minutes and all seemed well.  And the smell...oh. my. goodness.  It took me right back to the holidays.  I gave the bread an additional 5 minutes to set up then pulled it, placing it on a rack in the pan to cool for 10 minutes.  It fell a bit after sitting, I'm sure the cranberry goo contracted as it cooled and lost air bubbles, causing the bread to cave in a bit.  I was absolutely terrified to flip the pan and release the loaf. 090112-bread-4 Another pleasant surprise...it released perfectly. 090112-bread-5 After letting the loaf cool on the rack without its pan for 40 minutes, I couldn't resist slicing it to see how successful our swirling method had been. 090112-bread-7 I wouldn't call it a swirl, per se, but the CK added a lovely touch to the sweet potato apple bread, both visually and orally.  I will DEFINITELY be making this recipe every year, along with the cranberry ketchup.  :) 090112-bread-8 Sweet Potato Apple Bread with a Cranberry Swirl Ingredients:
  • 1 medium baked sweet potato, mashed (about 1-1/2 cups) 
  • 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp apple sauce
  • zest from 1 orange
  • 1 cup peeled, chopped tart apple (pink lady, granny smith, etc.) 
  • 1-1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup of cranberry ketchup* or other cranberry preserves
Method:
  1. Preheat oven to 350*.  In a small bowl, mash the potato and add the brown sugar, applesauce, orange zest and egg.  Mix well.
  2. Add the chopped apple to the wet mixture.
  3. In a larger bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold together.
  5. Pour batter into greased loaf pan.  Smooth top of batter, than cut 1/2-inch deep slits in batter across short direction of pan.  Pour cranberry ketchup of preserves into slits, then drag a knife across long direction of pan to pull preserves through batter.  Do not overwork.
  6. Bake for 50-55 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
*  If you would like the recipe for cranberry ketchup, please send me an email.  The recipe is directly from a cookbook and I am not comfortable with publishing it on the blog.  Thanks!  Oh!  The hubb and I did have dinner tonight too.  And it was a lovely dinner, it just got overshadowed by dessert as so many great meals do (in my world anyway). Dinner:  Roasted Pork Tenderloin and Veggies.  It doesn't need much of an explanation, the pictures speak for themselves.  Although I do want to say that the tenderloins are from our favorite local pig farmer, Babes In The Wood.  So so so good. 090112-d1 090112-d2 090112-d3 I hope you all had a fabulous Monday!
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categories baking, dinner
tags apple, bread, cranberry, roasted pork, roasted veggies, sweet potato

on the right foot...

Andrea

I started the first day of 2009 right...with a bowl of oats.  I've missed my oats these past few weeks as I've been cleaning out the fridge, freezer and pantry. Breakfast:  1 cup prepared rolled oats, a splash of hemp milk, a dash of vanilla, a small handful of raisins and 1/2 an apple sprinkled with cinnamon and turbinado sugar.  On the side a piece of whole wheat bread smeared with 1 tbsp almond butter and a drizzle of cranberry "ketchup". 090101-b1 The hubb and I lazed around the house most of today, it was lovely.  I caught up on some blogs, but not nearly as many as I need to!  Maybe tonight I can finish up...  Before going out for some errands today I made a quick lunch to keep me from stopping for something I would regret. Lunch:  A big ol' salad with romaine, spinach, yellow bell pepp, cucumber, dried cranberries, some crumbled feta cheese and light ranch dressing.  090101-l1 On the side, a Stoneyfield Farm yogurt.  I can't wait for my Oikos to return to the shelves!!!  I did pick up some Fage yesterday but want to finish up the last couple Stoneyfields I already had in the fridge before they go bad. 090101-l2 Snack:  One of our errands today included a stop at Target.  I was feeling light-headed and a little nauseous so I picked up a Luna Peanut Butter Cookie bar.  It tasted ok, but did help me feel much better. Has anyone else ever heard that eating black-eyed peas on New Years Day will bring good luck in the upcoming year?  I can't remember when or where I heard this, but yesterday as I was making our grocery list I thought that black-eyed peas sounded like a fantastic idea.  Who can't use a little extra luck in the new year?!? Dinner:  Black-Eyed Peas on brown rice, maple roasted beets, carrots and brussels sprouts and oil-free cornmeal muffins.  Say goodbye to my lovely tree...I think this post will be its last appearance.  :( 090101-d7 I soaked about 1 pound of dried black-eyed peas in water for about 4 hours this afternoon.  After rinsing the peas, I returned them to a large stock pot and covered them with 8 cups of chicken stock (about 1" of stock over the peas). I added
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 ham steaks, chopped
  • salt + pepper
brought to a boil, and let simmer for about 30 minutes. At this point, to my surprise, the peas were done! I wasn't ready for them yet so just kept them on low heat on the stove.  If you don't have the hours to soak ahead of time, you could skip the soaking step and just cook the peas on the stovetop for 2 hours. 090101-d4 090101-d8 For the roasted veggies, I chopped
  • 1 large carrot
  • 3 small beets
  • about a dozen brussels sprouts
and drizzled them with about 1 tbsp of olive oil.  They went into the oven on 400* for 30 minutes.  I pulled them out and drizzled maple syrup across the veggies, tossed them, and stuck them back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes. 090101-d5 They weren't quite as maple-glazed as I would have liked for them to be...I'll add more syrup next time. The Oil-Free Cornmeal Muffins are a recipe I adapted from one of my favorite baking books, Sweet & Natural Baking by Mani Niall.  I was looking for a quick corn muffin recipe because corn bread and black-eyed peas belong together.  This one did not disappoint, I loved it! 090101-d1 090101-d2 The muffins don't crumble like traditional cornbread, but they are wonderfully flavored and very moist. I will definitely be making them again! 090101-d3 I enjoyed my muffin with a bit of Earth Balance spread. 090101-d6 Oil-Free Cornmeal Muffins [adapted from Sweet & Natural Baking by Mani Niall] makes 8 muffins Ingredients:
  • 1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 2 tbsp turbinado sugar
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1/2 cup agave nectar
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs
Method:
  1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350*.  Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray.
  2. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cornmeal, turbinado sugar, baking soda and salt together. Make a well in the center.
  3. In another medium bowl, whisk the agave nectar, buttermilk and eggs together.  Pour into well and stir with a wooden spoon just until combined.
  4. Spoon the batter evenly into 8 of the muffin cups.  Bake until the tops spring back when pressed lightly, about 18 minutes.  Cool for 2 minutes, run a knife around the inside of the cups to release the muffins and remove them from cups.
Now I'm off to finish straightening up our house, put away Christmas and get ready for work tomorrow. Blech.  I can't believe I have to work tomorrow!  I really can't complain because I've had most of the last two weeks off, but its difficult to get motivated to go in for just one day before the weekend...   I hope you all have a lovely evening!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
tags black-eyed peas, cornbread, oats, roasted veggies, salad