Spring Chives

It's Spring and chives are in bloom. This Allium is solely grown for its leaves. Separate the tiny florets of the chives' pink flower and garnish your favorite soup, sprinkle minced chives into your breakfast scramble, add a handful of sprigs to any potato dish, toss with roasted vegetables and fold into biscuit dough or gougeres batter.

Banana Nib Brittle Muffins

Theo Chocolate's Fantasy Flavor Bars add a whimsical element to classic recipes. Today, I baked with Theo's dark and crunchy Nib Brittle Bar. This chocolate bar pairs beautifully with bananas; I chopped it into bits and folded it into my classic Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin batter in place of the ever traditional chocolate chips. If you like your muffins on the sweet side then make sure to add an additional 1/8 cup - 1/4cup sugar, as the nib brittle bar has 70% cacao content versus the typical 60-65% I use for this recipe.


Tasting Notes:
Day 1 & warm from the oven:
Moist, fluffy, oozing chocolate and not overly sweet.
May need to add 1/8-1/4 C more sugar.

Day 2:
Moist, chocolate brittle crunch, not overly sweet.
Although I prefer my banana bread less sweet than other muffins, I may add 1/8 C more sugar in the next testing.

Vanilla Almond Cupcakes with Bittersweet Fig, Fennel & Almond Frosting

These cupcakes are gluten & dairy free! Perfect for Travis' tummy and any vegans out there.

For the cupcake use Vanilla Almond Cupcake recipe.

This frosting was inspired by Theo Chocolate's Fig, Fennel & Almond Chocolate Bar; a delectable bittersweet chocolate perfumed with fennel and studded with figs & almonds.

Vegan Cupcakes

This afternoon I baked cupcakes without eggs and butter. Instead, I played around with Moskowitz & Romero's Vanilla Gluten Freedom Cupcakes from their Vegan cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. Substituting oil & flax seeds for the traditional butter and eggs.

Vegetable Gardening

Sugar Snap Peas

We are planting a vegetable garden with our family this year. I have the delightful job of helping with the seasonal layout and planting (my days spent as a farm intern are coming in handy). Travis helped with the garden design and leveling out the raised beds with his dad. Travis' mom and I planted all sorts of veggie starters and seeds today. We hope the frost has passed!

Cumin Dusted Pork Loin with Candied Orange Sauce

This dish comes together quickly for a weekend family meal. Toast 1 1/2t cumin seeds in a dry skillet until fragrant. Mix together the toasted cumin seeds, 2 garlic cloves, 1/4-1t red chile pepper flakes, 2t orange zest, 1t sea salt, 1/2t black pepper and pound into a paste using a mortar & pestle, or pulse together in a food processor. Rub the paste onto a 1 1/2lb-2lb pork loin, cover and leave in the fridge to marinate for 3-5 hours, pull the pork out of the fridge 30-45 minutes prior to roasting.

Preheat the oven to 45o degrees F. Place the pork in a roasting pan on the center rack in the oven and roast for approximately 20-25 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and roast for approximately 10-15 minutes until the internal temperature is somewhere between 140-145 degrees F.

Pull from the oven and let rest at room temperature for 10 minutes prior to slicing.
Meanwhile, bring the juice of an orange and scant 1/2 cup of honey to a boil, reduce by half or until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Pour over sliced pork loin and serve with fresh orange slices.

Buon Appetito!

Teeny Tiny Superheros

Tabbouleh is traditionally made with Bulgur wheat; I take the gluten-free route by toasting Quinoa & Millet then simmering the two together until light and fluffy.

I also add Kalamata olives & fresh cilantro, shhhh don't tell the Traditionalists!

Quinoa is a complete protein, with an essential amino acid balance close to ideal. If grains and seeds were villains and superheros, then Super Quinoa would surely be the most powerful of Superheros!

Millet is the perfect sidekick packed full of protein and plenty of Vitamin B. This tiny seed actually increases the level of serotonin in our brain and helps promote the feeling of well-being, optimism and peacefulness.

I am not a huge advocate of measuring cups and spoons outside of baking. However, I'm quite particular about measuring when it comes to rice, grains & seeds. It is so disappointing to partake in a mushy, lumpy, heavy grain dish or a dish that is so dry the grain is crunchy and not cooked properly. I'm all for al dente and tadig, but not at all a fan of undercooked grains and rice.