Strawberry-Orange Muffin

What better way to celebrate Spring (and to use some need-to-be-eaten-soon Strawberries)?

Ingredients

• 1 1/4  cups halved strawberries
• 
  
• 3  tablespoons margarine, melted
• 
  
• 2  teaspoons grated orange rind
• 
  
• 2  large eggs
• 
  
• 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 
  
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• Cooking spray
• 
  
• 2  teaspoons sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.


2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a blender, and process just until blended. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking powder, and salt. 

3. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons sugar. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove from pan immediately.

Enjoy!


(recipe founded googling Strawberry Muffin)

***

Lately, my friends are loving me more and more since most of my bakery creations go directly into their tummies. Living alone, it's not safe for me stay at home with the company of twelve freshly baked muffins, ah ah!

Brownies

Quick brownies recipe adapted from Cooking Light


I also tried to make a vegan version of it but it was a huge FAIL, since they didn't cook well and were way too ooey gooey. I really appreciate if you could suggest me a good vegan brownies recipe!

Fudgy Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup Whole-Wheat Flour 

1/2 cup unsweetened Cocoa

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/3 cup Butter

2 ounces dark Chocolate, chopped

(I used Chocolate-chips)

1 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 cup low-fat Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 large Egg Yolks

1 large Egg

Cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, and

salt in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk.

3. Place butter and chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at high for 45

seconds, stirring every 15 seconds. Stir until smooth, and set aside. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup sugar,

milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, egg yolks, and egg; stir with a whisk to combine. Add butter mixture

to flour mixture, stirring just until combined. 

4. Pour batter into an 8-inch square metal baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. 

Enjoy! I surely did =)

They were even better the day after...

***

If you have a yummy vegan recipe for brownies, I'd love to try to make this!

Brown Irish Soda Bread

I wanted to do something irish for St. Patrick's day this year (besides drinking waay too much cider, since I can't stomach bier). The recipe is easy, but since I replaced some ingredients (I couldn't find buttermilk anywhere here!), it came out a little too doughy, nothing too bad that a good splash of almond butter can't resolve, though! 

It's also quite fast and I literally made it while getting ready for going to a photography exposition. I photograph it in the morning though, to avoid that horrible yellow light; I know, I could have use my lightbox but I was running late =)

Brown Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour 
• 
  
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 
  
• 1/2  cup  steel-cut oats (I used rolled oats)
• 
  
• 2  tablespoons  brown sugar
• 
  
• 1  tablespoon  wheat germ
• 
  
• 1  teaspoon  baking soda
• 
  
• 1  teaspoon  baking powder
• 
  
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 
  
• 2  cups  low-fat buttermilk (I used soy milk, since I only had that)
• 
  
• 1  large egg, lightly beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. Coat a 9 x 5–inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, and coat with cooking spray.

3. Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flours and next 6 ingredients (through salt). Combine buttermilk and egg; add to flour mixture. Stir just until combined.

4. Spoon the mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Invert bread onto a wire rack; cool completely. 

Enjoy!

***

Theoretically in Italy no one celebrate St Patrcik's day, especially this year that coincided with the 150 anniversary of the unification of Italy. But...

• One of my best friend is half-irish
• I couldn't care less about the anniversary

(recipe from cooking light)

Let the picture do the talk

Just a picture to induce you to this addicting Roasted Maple and Cinnamon Almond Butter. You won't regret it, I'll assure you!

I love cooking at night, while watching movies, after a long afternoon of studying statistics. It's really a stress-reliever for me..

What's yours? 

I really need some more ideas in this period =)

Soba, Tofu and Broccoli Stir-Fry

Ingredients (for one)

80 gr Soba Noodles

1 small Carrot, chopped 

2 handful frozen Broccoli

Soy sprouts

90 gr firm Tofu, diced

extra-virgin Olive Oil

Soy Sauce

Directions

1. In a small pan heat the oil, add the chopped carrot and let cook for 3-5 minutes, adding some water if necessary. Meanwhile, defrost the broccoli in the microwave.

2. In the same pan add the diced tofu and the soy sprouts, season with soy sauce to taste. Cook until tofu and carrots are lightly brown. In the meantime, grill the broccoli for 3-4 minutes.

3. Cook the noodles in a large pot of salted water until al dente, following the package directions. Drain and season with the tofu mix and the grilled broccoli.

Enjoy!

I actually ate this with a fork since I'm totally incapable of using chopsticks! 

(As you notice it was a sunny day, now it's raining, sooo depressing)

Whole wheat Apple Cake

Studying or baking? That is the problem!


Monday evening I clearly chose the second option and baked a cinnamon-smelling Apple Cake (I absolutely love when my home smells like cakes and cookies, that's not so difficult since my home is very tiny =)


I also believe that baking is the perfect complement of a movie that you're not so interested in (I was watching The Queen that night)

Whole Wheat Apple Cake

Ingredients

2 big Apples, sliced

2 tbsp Raisin

175 gr whole wheat flour

125 ml Soy Milk

100 gr Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 tbsp Pine Nuts

1/2 tbsp Lemon Juice

16 gr Baking Powder

Cinnamon to taste 

Directions

1. Soak the raisin in warm water to soften it.

2. In a large bowl, beat the egg and the sugar and then add the milk. Gradually add the flour and when well mixed add the pine nuts, the lemon juice, cinnamon and the drained raisin.

3. Mix the baking powder to the batter and, as last thing, add the apples.

4. Pour the batter in a baking tin (24-26 cm), lightly oiled and floured. Bake in the preheated oven at 180 grades for 35 minutes.

Serve and enjoy! It's amazing the day after as breakfast with warm milk.

This recipe could be easily made vegan, just replace the egg with an egg replacer (no pun intended!), as 1 tbsp of grounded flax seeds with warm water.

(Vegan!) Chocolate-chip Cookies

For direct request of my brother, I made Chocolate-chip Cookies (sshhh, don't tell him they are vegan!)


The recipe is adapted from Oh she glows, I omitted the nuts since I'm allergic (damn!) and made some other adjustments since I were out of some ingredients and I was too lazy to walk all the way to the grocery store =)

(Vegan!) Chocolate-chip Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup Margarine, at room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)

1/2 tbsp grounded Flax + 3 tbsp warm water

1 tsp vanilla extract (I did not have it)

1 and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2-3/4 cup dark chocolate chips 

Directions

1. In a small bowl whisk together grounded flax with water and set aside for several minutes.

2. In a large bowl, beat the Margarine for about 60 seconds until smooth. Now add in the brown sugar (making sure there are no clumps). Beat for 4 minutes.

3. Place vanilla extract into the egg replacer mixture and stir well (I obviously did not do this!). Now add this mixture to the Margarine and Sugar mixture and beat for another 3-4 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula every minute or so. 

4. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt). Now gradually add this mixture to the wet mixture and mix until just combined. Add in your chocolate chips beat for a few more seconds until combined.

5. Now place the dough into a ball and cover in plastic wrap, making sure to cover all sides. Refrigerate dough overnight or for 8-12 hours. Remove from fridge and allow to come to room temperature for about 60 minutes. 

6. Roll into balls about 1.5 tbsp large and slightly flatten each ball with your hand. The more you flatten it, the bigger the cookie will spread. Place the cookies about 1.5-2 inches apart on the sheet.  Allow cookies to come to warm room temperature for an additional 5-10 minutes. 

7. Bake for 10 minutes at 350F until slightly golden around the edges with a pale centre. Let sit on the sheet for 5-10 minutes before removing from pan. The cookies will firm up quite a bit so not to worry if they are initially soft. (I would totally  freak out if I wouldn't have read this part, since my cookies were soooo soft!)

8. Personal note: eat three Cookies for breakfast

What is your favorite flavor of Cookies? 

Certosa Cheese Tower for lunch

Coming home after classes and not eating the first thing that cross my eyes is a really hard challenge. I was glad I waited, since my lunch was so perfectly cheesy (and it's actually also really fast to assemble!)

Certosa Cheese and Zucchini Tower

Ingredients

1 Zucchina, sliced

60 gr Certosa Cheese

extra-virgin Olive Oil

60 gr Quinoa

Directions

1. Eat a grill. Brush the zucchina slices with olive oil and put them on the grill to cook (about 6-7 minutes) turning them from time to time.

2. Meanwhile, cook the quinoa in boiling salted water (15 minutes).

3. When the slices are done cooking, spread the cheese between the slices. Put in the pre-heated oven just to let the cheese melt (2-3 minutes).

4. Serve with quinoa and lamb's lettuce. Enjoy!

Attention cheese lovers, it's addicting!

Speaking of cheese...

What is your favorite?

Lentil Dal and Confessions (part II)

Lentil Dal

Since in my college city the lack of indian restaurants (or of any ethnic restaurants, for that matter) is embarrassing and I was craving so bad some spicy indian food, I made a uber-easy lentil dal which made my night (that and an absolutely not scary horror film, and usually even CSI scares me, to be clear!).

Ingredients (for one)

230 gr Lentils

1 small Shallot, sliced

1 small Garlic clove, minced

extra-virgin Olive Oil

1/4 tsp of Ginger

1/4 tsp Turmeric

1/4 tsp Garam Masala

Salt to taste

Directions

1. In a small pot, sauté the shallot in some olive oil for 3 minutes until lightly brown. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.

2. Add the lentils and some water (it should just cover the lentils). Add the spices and the salt. Mix well.

3. Let it cook until the water is completely absorbed, being careful not to let the lentils excessively attack to the pot.

4. Meanwhile, boil some brown rice (60-70 gr) in a pot of salted boiling water for 18 minutes or until al dente.

5. Serve and enjoy!

***

It's that day of the week! 

More food (and not only) confessions are coming!

So here they are (missed the first week?), ready to confess your secret behavior or strange food habits (just in the hope to discover you are not the only one =)

My turn:

1. I could eat pizza every day. Seriously. Every day. Actually, before my boyfriend came to live with me (he can cook sooo well), I ate pizza almost 4 times a week. 

2. About that pizza, with ice-cream, they are also my fav foods. I'm aware I have the tastes of a 5-year-old.

3. I hate swimming since I hate put my head under the water. And I'm also terribly afraid of sharks (I know, random).

4. I love when I can walk all day long and consider it my workout for the day.

5. I ate PB straight from the jar. And granola too. And I search for humongous cluster as first thing.

6. I study statistic and econometrics and mathematics but most of the times I count with my finger.

That's it. Your turn! 

(Please join me with the number 5!)

Baked Egg and Spinach

Since I'm totally incapable of doing a poached egg, I've tried another way. No skills required!

Ingredients (for one)

1 Egg

frozen Spinach

(enough to fill the ramekin)

black Pepper, Salt

and Nutmeg to taste

1 small Garlic clove, minced

extra-virgin Olive Oil

skim Milk

2 slices of whole-wheat Bread

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Oil the ramekin. Sauté the garlic in olive oil until lightly brown. Add the spinach and cook them for 2-3 minutes or until completely defrosted.

2. When wilted, spoon into a colander and press out any liquid. Then mix in a bowl with the milk, a good grating of nutmeg, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put the spinach into the ramekin.

3. Crack the egg into the ramekin, and pour around a little of the extra milk. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper, then bake on a tray for about 20 minutes, until the whites are set and yolks are done. Meanwhile, toast the bread.

Enjoy!

My recipe for the contest Eggs in Smoking by Gustosamente


For further information:


Gustosa...mente
Scacco Alle Regine