Monthly Archives: December 2015

Buckwheat – It’s What’s for Breakfast

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Buckwheat maple pancakes stacked ten high. Hey, where’s the tenth one?

It’s new year’s eve in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Why wait for the new year to start adding some more healthful items to our menus? Today’s breakfast featured buckwheat, which boasts 12 grams of fiber in it’s nutritional makeup. Not only were they more healthful than our usual favorite, scratch pancakes for two, but they were quite tasty with their infusion of maple syrup. We wish all of our readers a happy and healthy 2016!

Buckwheat Maple Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup buckwheat flour
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • pinch salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup soy milk

Directions

  1. Whisk together flours, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, maple syrup and soy milk.
  3. Whisk in egg mixture to flour mixture until smooth. Consistency should be thick and not runny.
  4. Heat oiled pan over medium heat.
  5. Use 1/4 cup measure to scoop out batter and drop onto hot pan. Once you see bubbles forming on the top and the edges look a bit dry, it’s time to flip your pancakes. Cook for another 2 minutes.
  6. Keep pancakes warm in a low temperature oven while making the rest of the batch.
  7. Enjoy while hot with toasted nuts, fresh fruit, and real maple syrup.

Sweet Adzuki Bean Twist Bread

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Soft, slightly sweet dough layered with sweet adzuki bean paste. Yum!

This turned out to be a ridiculous recipe mash-up. I had some adzuki bean paste in my freezer – it’s always a good idea to make a big batch of adzuki bean paste because of the time and effort it takes. (Click here for directions.) We’re always happy to have some on hand. It’s delicious in anpan, adzuki rolls, and in other delectable pastries like sweet adzuki bean rolls. It’s smooth and sweet. An added benefit is the high fiber and good source of B vitamins. I searched cutterlight.com for adzuki and was surprised to see how many of our recipes feature this yummy paste. This is definitely a pantry staple for us.

I took the dough recipe from my twisted loaf cinnamon bread and swapped out the cinnamon spread with adzuki bean paste. This bread creation was a meal in itself – a delicious breakfast with a side of freshly brewed joe. It was packed with the delicious flavor of the beans which perfectly complemented the dough. And the presentation was pretty cool, too.

Adzuki Bean Twist Bread

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup lukewarm milk
  • 1 tbsp  granulated sugar
  • 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup adzuki bean paste (recipe here)

Directions

  1. Mix milk, sugar and yeast together in a large bowl. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add the egg, butter, 1 cup of bread flour and salt. Stir well to combine.
  3. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
  4. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
  5. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle, approximately 18″ x 12″.
  6. Spread adzuki bean paste over dough evenly. Leave about 1/2″ border.
  7. Roll up dough jelly-roll style to form a long log.
  8. Cut log down the middle, the long way.
  9. “Braid” by wrapping the two cut pieces around each other, always leaving the cut sides up.
  10. Pinch ends of dough so that they will bake together.
  11. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until golden brown.

 

Internationally Acclaimed Isabel’s Turkish Bean Stoup

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Deliciously tangy and easy to make, you can serve this soup as a vegetarian dish – or add spicy sausage to satisfy your inner carnivore.

When I first met Jack, we were living in two different states. As our relationship grew, we spent more and more time together in each of our locations. After months of dating, it was going to be Jack’s birthday. Being the clever girl that I am, I hid his birthday present behind his refrigerator as I wasn’t planning to be in town for his big day. My genius idea was to call him on his birthday and surprise him from afar. Only a few days later, I get a call from Jack. You see, he had found his birthday present. The man I would eventually marry, I learned, had a penchant for cleaning – really cleaning. He had pulled out the fridge and was cleaning behind it when he came across my hidden surprise.

Fast forward to the present time… earlier this school year, we had a lovely houseguest named Isabel. She eagerly went on Mongolian adventures with us and shared our joy in sharing food. Isabel made a creation for us that we dubbed “Isabel’s Turkish Stoup.” She explained that it has Turkish seasonings and could be served as a stew or could be a soup. Her recipe was vegetarian, which of course, could be altered to satisfy our carnivorous tendencies. But we decided to taste Isabel’s recipe as she created it before making adjustments. We really enjoyed this recipe. The lemon juice adds a delightful tartness that brings all the elements together. We couldn’t get enough. We asked Isabel for the recipe, but as end-of-visits are usually busy, she left our home forgetting to give us the recipe.

Or so we thought…

Isabel is a clever girl, too. After hearing the story of Jack’s penchant for cleaning, she hid the recipe with a letter at the back of the top of the refrigerator. Who looks there, right? Sure enough, Jack decided to clean the kitchen and found Isabel’s recipe as well as a lovely thank you letter from her stay with us.

I was happy to have found the recipe. I whipped up a version of Isabel’s stoup. It was just as delicious as her version. Now, I will share with you, the internationally acclaimed (Isabel is German, we are American, the dish was made in Mongolia) Isabel’s Turkish Stoup. Thank you for sharing, Isabel!

Isabel’s Turkish Stoup

Ingredients

  • 2 cups chopped onions
  • 2 cups chopped carrots
  • 1 tbsp chopped garlic
  • olive oil for sauté
  • 1 cube bouillon
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 cups white beans
  • 4 14-oz cans of tomatoes (about 56 oz total)
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 3 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp marjoram
  • 4 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

  1. Sauté onions in a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot. Cook until onions are slightly translucent.
  2. Add carrots. Continue to cook until the carrots begin to soften.
  3. Add garlic and cook for 2-3 more minutes.
  4. Mix bouillon and tomato paste with water. Add to pot.
  5. Add white beans and tomatoes. Mix well.
  6. Add paprika, cumin, marjoram and lemon juice. Mix well.
  7. Allow mixture to simmer for about 15 minutes.
  8. Serve hot with delicious bread, like pesto mozzarella muffins.

Pesto Mozzarella Muffins

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Savory pesto and that delicious strip of baked parmesan cheese make an irresistible muffin. Soup’s up!

Toward the end of last summer, we began ordering vegetables from a local farmer here in Mongolia. The growing season is short, so we jumped at the chance for local produce. One week, I ordered a kilogram (over two pounds) of basil. Although I thought I had a general idea of what a kilo of basil would look like, my jaw dropped when my order arrived. It was a large grocery bag full of aromatic leaves and flowers. Every spare minute of the next three after-school afternoons were spent processing the basil – destemming, deflowering, and cleaning. After processing what seemed to be a mountain of basil, we made a purée of the leaves with olive oil and froze the end product in ice cube trays which we then packed into plastic zip-top freezer bags for winter use.

The work was worth it. The flavor of my first-ever batch of homemade pesto was phenomenally fresh and bright. It proved to be the perfect ingredient to infuse into a savory muffin to serve alongside a hot bowl of homemade bean soup.

Pesto Mozzarella Muffins

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 large eggs, beaten
  • 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup pesto
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  2. Grease 12 standard muffin cups
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, olive oil and milk.
  5. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture.
  6. Fold pesto and mozzarella into batter until it is evenly incorporated. Do not overmix.
  7. Divide batter evenly into muffin cups.
  8. Bake muffins until are golden and they spring back to the touch, about 20 – 25 minutes. A wooden pick inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean.
  9. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Almond Matcha Snowball Cookies – A Green Tea Twist on a Classic

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The light texture with the rich, complex flavors of matcha and almond put this cookie into the “favorites” category of my recipe file.

The tin of matcha green tea powder in my pantry continually inspires ideas. The powder is easy to use and has a distinctive flavor. I’ve made mini matcha cheesecakes, matcha butter cookies, and even matcha flavored ice cream. At this time of year, Jack always requests Russian tea cakes. He has fond memories of these delightful cookies tied to both Christmas and his grandmother. I thought I would create a recipe combining the texture and look of the traditional Russian snowballs with the inspiring flavor of matcha. This recipe is not shy on flavor. The small cookies give two bites with the pow of almond and the zip of matcha.

Almond Matcha Snowball Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 3 tsp water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 tsp almond extract
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tbsp matcha tea powder
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup sliced almonds
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar, for rolling

Directions

  1. Mix butter, water, egg and extracts together in a small bowl.
  2. Sift together matcha tea powder, powdered sugar and flour in large bowl.
  3. Stir almonds into flour mixture.
  4. Stir butter mixture into flour mixture. Mix until dough forms. Add additional water if mixture is dry.
  5. Let dough chill for 30 minutes in refrigerator.
  6. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).
  7. Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop out dough and shape into balls.
  8. Bake on baking sheet for 20 minutes. Cookies should be lightly browned on the edges when done.
  9. Cool completely on a wire rack.
  10. Roll cooled cookies in powdered sugar.
  11. Store at room temperature in an air tight container.

Makes 48 cookies.

Noodle Kugel – Entirely from Scratch or Not a Kosher Kitchen Kugel

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A rich and creamy dish topped with crunchy noodles and speckled with cinnamon and currants. It’s especially delicious on a cold, snowy Sunday morning.

“Soul food” for us are the foods that stir strong memories and pleasant associations. If you’ve been following this blog, you already know that our soul food doesn’t harken from one location, one culture, or even one group of people. We have an eclectic past – one might say checkered – where food and food associations are always the common denominator.

That brings us to the present where I am in my kitchen in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, with a craving for warm noodle kugel inspired by my Jewish roots. I don’t know who gave me my first taste of this rich, satisfying and sweet dish. Maybe it was one of my Jewish grandmas, who still metaphorically lurk in my kitchen. Noodle kugel is a relatively easy dish with normally available ingredients. This version of noodle kugel has been adapted to my Mongolian pantry, which means I started with egg pasta I made from scratch. I substituted the traditional cottage cheese with homemade ricotta because I can’t find cottage cheese here. The ricotta turned out to be a delicious substitution. And I used currants instead of raisins – just because they are tasty and pack a big bang of flavor into a cute little package. The end result was as satisfying as I remember. I’d like to think mine tasted better than my memory serves if only because of the fresh pasta.

Scratch Noodle Kugel

Ingredients

  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup homemade ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 4 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 3 cups wide egg noodles, cooked al dente
  • 1/4 cup dried currants

Directions

  1. Grease an 8 x 8 inch glass baking dish (20 x 20 cm).
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  3. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together first 6 ingredients.
  4. Gently mix noodles into egg mixture.
  5. Fold in currants.
  6. Pour noodle mixture into prepared baking dish.
  7. Bake for 30 minutes. Custard should be set and top of kugel should be lightly browned.