WebliminalBlog

Recipe for Blueberry Muffins

I made some blueberry muffins for the folks at a meeting of the faculty advisory committee for the UMW teaching center.   The following link takes you to the recipe I start with.  This time I sued 1/4 cup corn meal, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, and the remaining flour was all-purpose white. All organic of course.  The recipe in the link below calls for dipping the cooked muffins in  a glaze. I don’t use a glaze and skip steps 9 and 11 in the recipe.  Just mix the ingredients as directed, bake the muffins, and take them out when done.

• Lemon-Dipped Blueberry Muffins Recipe | Recipezaar
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A Place to Bury Strangers

• A Place To Bury Strangers @ Social 12th may 08 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
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• Subcity Radio // View topic - A Place To Bury Strangers - To Fix The Gash In Your Head.
  A Place To Bury Strangers have got it perfect in my book
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I started making this recipe last year after our trip to France. The recipe is from Lulu’s Provencal Table, by Richard Olney, Harper Collins, 1994, ISBN 0-06-016922-2. It seems that a new edition by Olney is the one available at Amazon.com.

This is an example of what the author calls a “flat omelette.” It is a collection of vegetables first fried, then mixed with eggs, and all fried together. The recipe calls for only garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, chard, and eggs. I add another vegetable. So far I’ve tried fresh corn and baby summer squash. I also add some cheese - a soft or semi-soft goat or sheep cheese. One more thing - I also add some chopped herbs, and tonight Lynn made some pesto to have with it. We’ve had this for lunch or supper.

The recipe starts on page 92.
Ingredients:
3 eggs
Salt & pepper
7 tablespoons olive oil
6 garlic cloves, crushed peeled,and finely chopped
1 pound of chard greens (without ribs), parboiled for a few seconds, drained and refreshed beneath cold running water, squeezed thoroughly, and chopped.
1/2 cup of fresh corn or summer squash
1/4 cup of soft or semi-soft goat or sheep cheese
fresh herbs - rosemary, thyme, oregano, fennel - chopped

Method:
Break the eggs into a mixing bowl, and add salt and pepper.
Heat the 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large heavy frying pan over high heat. Add the garlic and let it sizzle for 2 or 3 seconds. Add the chard and other vegetable and saute for several minutes, shaking the pan and tossing repeatedly.
Whisk the eggs with a fork and then add the contents of the frying pan to the chard, and stir until all is a uniform mixture.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a clean pan - use the same one if it’s clean, and add the omelette mixture making sure to spread it evenly with a fork but be sure not to touch the pan with the fork. This helps avoid sticking. Add dollops of the cheese into the omelette. Cover the pan and lower the heat, and cook for several minutes until the body of the pan has noticeably thickened. Then remove the cover, put a flat plate on the pan and turn it upside down. The omelette should come out of the pan very easily. Be careful of any hot oil! Add another tablespoon of oil, if necessary, to the pan, flip the omelette from the plate to the pan and cook a minute or so.

Slide the omelette from the pan to a platter. If it doesn’t come out easily then cut it into 2 to 4 large pieces and arrange them on a plate. Sprinkle all with the chopped herbs and enjoy.

I was looking for tofu cookbooks at the Central Rappahannock regional Library, and came across This Can’t be Tofu!, by Deborah Madison, ISBN 0-7679-0419-2.

I’ve tried 2 recipes and they both have been very good. This one for asparagus and curried tofu is on page 66, and I think it’s pictured on the cover.

Ingredients:
1 carton firm tofu
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons oil
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons roasted ground cumin seed
1 onion finely diced
1/2 pound slender asparagus, tough ends removed, cur diagonally into 3-inch lengths
Several pinches red pepper flakes
4 Roma tomatoes, seeded & chopped
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Instructions:
1. Dice the tofu into pieces about the size of a sugar cube. Simmer in 6 cups of salted water for 2 minutes, then remove with a strainer and pace on paper towels. Wick the surface with another paper towel, then toss the cubes with 1/2 teaspoon salt, some pepper, the sugar, the turmeric, and curry powder.

2. Heat the 2 tablespoons oil in a wide skillet ot wok, add the tofu, and saute over medium-high heat until golden, but still tender, about 10 minutes in all. Turn the tofu so that all the surfaces are colored. Remove to a plate, cover to keep warm, and return the pan to the heat and adjust the heat to medium.

3. Add the 2 teaspoons oil. When hot, add the garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cumin, and the onion. Cook until the onion is translucent, then raise the heat to high. As soon as the pan feels hot, add the asparagus, pepper flakes, and a pinch of two of salt. Saute just until the asparagus is bright green and tender, but not limp, about 5 minutes or so, the exact time depending on the size. Add the tomatoes and tofu, and cook about 1 minute more. Turn off the heat and add the cilantro and remaining cumin.

Presentation:
Slide everything onto a platter (use a bright blue one if you can) and serve immediately.

Notes:
We’ve used any sorts of tomatoes. For example, the last time we made it we used two medium tomatoes. Also, we don’t do much about removing seeds, but do get rid of some of them if it’s convenient.

The author says you can use green beans if asparagus isn’t available. We haven’t tried that.

Serving immediately sounds good but we brought this to a pot-luck party, and it was as as good, IMO, as being freshly prepared.