Fit For A President

My boyfriend recently surprised me with a new cookbook titled, Politics and Pot Roasts, An Unofficial, Unauthorized and Completely Unclassified Cookbook by Sarah Hood Salomon. It's an interesting, fun, and educational read, filled with some of the "favorite" recipes of over 40 U.S presidents and their wives. Starting with George Washington and rounding up with George W. Bush, I got a kick out of learning about our former president's food preferences as well as tidbits on entertaining styles of the presidential families. I decided to try this simple and quick recipe for Corn Muffins from the collection of Ida McKinley who was the wife of our 25th president, William.
According to the author, the recipe was first published in 1896 in The Canton Favorite Cookbook by the Ladies of the First Baptist Church in Canton, Ohio. The simplicity of this recipe makes it very appealing--it can all be made using just one bowl and one wooden spoon for mixing, and the muffins turned out moist and light with just a hint of sweetness. My boyfriend took one bite and declared them "presidential-tasting!" Okay, you be the judge. Enjoy!

Mrs. McKinley's Corn Muffins :
Preheat oven to 425 degrees farenheit
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 egg
1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Mix the dry ingredients together. Beat egg lightly and add to the dry ingredients.
2. Pour in milk and melted butter.
3. Mix until everything is just moistened.
4. Spoon into muffin tins, about two-thirds full.
5. Bake at 425 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Yields 6-8 muffins

Sunday Morning Banana Crumb Muffins

Aside from banana bread, which I love, I'm always on the lookout for new and delicious ways to use up those overripe bananas that sit on my kitchen counter or that I have hidden away in my freezer. One recipe that I have made before and loved is for banana crumb muffins which I discovered on Allrecipes. They were a huge hit when I made them the first time for a brunch party and I decided to make them again this weekend. Like most banana bread recipes, everything can be done by hand, no need to use your electric mixer for this one! It's also one of the easiest and quickest recipes to put together, and would make a very nice addition to say, your Mother's Day breakfast table, perhaps? Happy Mother's Day to all you moms! This post is dedicated to my own mother, who was a fabulous cook and who gave me so many beautiful and wonderful memories. She has been my inspiration for this food blog. Thank-you, Mom!

A Bran New Day

I love a good bran muffin. I seriously would choose to eat a delicious bran muffin over a chocolate brownie any day (well, okay, how about on most days)? But the bran muffins I've tried from various bakeries over the years have let me down either in the way of taste or in ingredients. Many of them have been way too sweet or very high in fat which is why I much prefer making my own muffins whenever I can. This recipe is one I've had my eye on for a few weeks now, and comes from the cookbook, Nancy Silverton's Pastries from the La Brea Bakery. Nancy Silverton is, in my book, one of the queens of bread and pastry making, and I'm a huge fan of her two restaurants here in Los Angeles, La Brea Bakery and Campanile. I am also a huge fan of these bran muffins and I hope you will be too. They came out moist, slightly chewy, with just the right amount of natural sweetness from the pureed raisins and brown sugar. Enjoy them with a big cup of coffee and you're good to go!

Bran Muffins (adapted from Nancy Silverton)
ingredients:
2 cups unprocessed bran
1 and 1/2 cups golden raisins
1 and 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon orange extract (or use 1 teaspoon finely chopped orange zest)
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup canola oil
1 extra large egg
1 extra large egg white
1/2 cup unbleached AP flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt

directions:
1. Place oven rack in the middle position and preheat to 350 degrees F.
2. Spread the bran on a baking sheet, toast for 6-8 minutes until toasted; stir half-way through so it doesn't burn.
3. In a small saucepan, stir together 1 cup of raisins and 1 cup of water, simmer on low heat until the water is absored, about 15 minutes. Place in a blender or food processor and process until pureed.
4. Pour the bran into a large bowl, add buttermilk and the remaining 1/2 cup of water and stir to combine. Stir in the raisin puree, orange extract, and brown sugar.
5. Add the oil, whole egg, and egg white and mix well to incorporate.
6. Sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the raisin mixture; add the remaining whole raisins and stir to combine.
7. Spoon the batter into prepared muffin tins, filling the cups to just over the rim.
8. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the muffins are well browned and firm to the touch.
yield: about 10 muffins

Sunday Morning Breakfast--Bran Muffins

I’ve been baking so many muffins these days that sometimes I think this site should be named “PBJ on Muffins!" Seriously though, I just love a good muffin, especially when I’ve baked it myself.
One of my favorite kinds is the classic bran muffin. I must confess that I used to frequent Winchell’s Donut Shop almost on a daily basis on my way to work just for their bran muffin. Theirs were about the size of a very large baseball, was super sweet, and had lots of raisins speckled throughout. I loved it! These days though, a sugar-laden, humongous muffin isn’t really what I should be, or want to be putting into my body. Nope. Instead, I try to bake with more whole grains and less sweeteners while at the same time, still producing a muffin that is satisfying and delicious to eat. I adapted this recipe for bran muffins from the farmgirl fare blogsite. They're made with whole wheat pastry flour, honey and molasses. You can do your own variation by adding dried fruit or nuts if you like. I personally enjoy the full flavor of the bran so I like mine simple. Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Wholesome Bran Muffins (yields 12 standard size muffins)
Ingredients:
2 cups wheat bran
1 cup oat bran
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup soy milk or regular milk
2/3 cup lowfat plain yogurt
1/3 cup coconut oil (can substitute with canola oil)
1/3 cup pomegranate molasses (or regular molasses)
1/3 cup honey

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F; grease a standard size muffin pan (I use an olive oil cooking spray).
2. In a large bowl: combine the first 6 ingredients and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, milk, yogurt, oil, molassess and honey and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
3. Fill the muffin cups with batter (I was able to fill pretty much to the top)
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool for 10-15 minutes, remove from the pan and eat them warm or allow to cool further on a wire rack.

Blueberry Banana Puffins

I've been baking muffins lately. Last week I baked a batch of pumpkin bran muffins that I've been munching on during my morning commute to work. These make the perfect simple breakfast plus they're packed with lots of healthy oatmeal and bran, and are very low in fat and sugar. This time around I added some beautiful Turkish dried apricots that I bought at the grocery store. Plump, sweet, and juicy, dried apricots are a great way to add some zing into baked goods like muffins and cookies.
On Sunday morning though I wanted to bake muffins that I thought my blueberry-loving-boyfriend might like. So, I baked him "healthy" banana and blueberry oat bran muffins and surprisingly, he liked them!

I only say surprisingly because I've tried out several muffin recipes in the past for my BF and so far, he wasn't impressed with any of them. Til now.

These muffins (recipe here) take only a few minutes to prepare and to bake. I thought I messed them up when I realized I forgot to add the baking powder and this was when I was already putting the batter into the muffin tin! So, I threw the batter that was in the tin back into the bowl, tossed in the baking powder, gave the mix a few stirs, and hoped for the best.

Though the muffins didn't rise as high as I hoped, as you can see from the picture, they didn't turn out half bad. I call them pancake-muffins or "puffins" because of their flat tops. Best of all, these puffins tasted delicious, were moist with a bit of chewiness in the texture, and with oat bran thrown in, are even good for you. Did I tell you my boyfriend ate two of them that morning?

Something Even My Trainer Would Eat!

I love oatmeal. I often eat it for breakfast, sometimes I even snack on it (straight-up, right from the box, just remember to chase it down with lots of water), and I particularly like cooking with it (as in, oatmeal cookies!).
Another person who really loves her oatmeal is my fitness trainer, S. I diligently meet with her once a week for our one hour work out. Even at 5am, she’s got to be the most bubbly and energetic person I know. She's a huge fan of oatmeal and for the last several years of knowing her, she has enthusiastically touted the wonderful health benefits that this grain has to offer. S ought to know too. She's a body builder with a killer physique and practices her philosophy of healthful living every day of her life. So, when I took out my trusty oats-only cookbook called Oat Cuisine (don't you just love that title?), I searched for something that would make S proud and something that would make my taste buds happy.
This recipe for Pumpkin Bran Muffins sang out to me. I substituted applesauce for the oil to make it even healthier and brought a batch of these to S one morning. She not only loved how they tasted but asked me for the recipe too!
So simple to throw together, they make a wonderful snack or a quick breakfast when you don't have time to make that big bowl of oatmeal.
Just bake a bunch and freeze them for the week ahead. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Oat Muffins (adapted from Oat Cuisine by Bobbie Hinmann)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 and 1/3 cup wheat bran
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinammon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup canned pumpkin--get the kind that has no sugar added to it, just plain pumpkin
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated fresh orange rind
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees; lightly grease 10 muffin cups with a nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix the first six ingredients together and make a well in the center.
3. Mix the pumpkin, applesauce, maple syrup, milk, vanilla, and orange rind together well.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients and mix until blended (do not overmix the batter).
5. Stir in the raisins if using.
5. Evenly scoop the batter into each muffin cup.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.
7. Remove muffins to a rack and cool.
Yields 12 muffins.