aplough, Author at Eat Simply, Eat Well

Tomato & Feta on Baby Gem Lettuce – My Candy Antidote

December 14, 2012 by aplough

Almost looks like summer…

Ohhhhh….! Is anyone else feeling the holiday sugar overload?

I have eaten way to much sugar over the past couple of weeks, and exercised far too little. The combination of feeling compelled to try out all my favorite Christmas sweets, combined with the howling, blowing, snowy weather outside is soon going to spell disaster for my waistline and my fitness level.

But lest you think that my diet consists of nothing but cookies, chocolate, and chocolate-covered sea salt caramels and peanut brittle these days, here’s something I threw together for lunch one day this week that would make a great appetizer for a party as well. Surprisingly – we are still getting tomatoes with good flavor, and since there are so few ingredients in this dish, they should all be pretty fresh. You can substitute endive for the baby gem lettuce and use mint or basil instead of parsley – it’s all good.

So lay off the sugar if only briefly, and try a round of these. The colors fit right into the holiday season and you’ll feel a lot better after a plateful of this than you will after your third cookie. Trust me.

And then strap on your snow shoes and make good use of the fresh powder out there!

Cherry Tomato & Feta on Baby Gem Lettuce

2 heads of Baby Gem Lettuce
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 package feta cheese, diced
small bunch of fresh parsley, mint or basil (or combination) chopped – about 6 tablespoons
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Separate the leaves of the Baby Gem Lettuce from the stem; wash & spin or pat dry. In a small bowl, mix tomatoes, feta, herbs and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Lay the Baby Gem lettuce leaves on two separate plates if eating as a salad or on a larges serving platter if serving as an appetizer. Fill each of the lettuce leaves with the Tomato & Feta mixture. Serve immediately.

It’s a Marshmallow World in the Winter…

December 2, 2012 by aplough

Vanilla Marshmallows with festive swirl

When I was traveling in Europe in 1996, I purchased a book called “Snow Falling on Cedars” by David Guterson published the year before. It was an excellent book as it turned out, winner of the PEN/Faulkner award, but I didn’t buy it because I was certain the writing would be any good, but because I know what snow falling on cedars looks like and the name reminded me of home. (The book is set in the Puget Sound, near Seattle).

Growing up in Washington State, my favorite tree was (and still is) the majestic cedar tree. On the rare winter days when snow fell in the Seattle area and the weather was cold enough to make it stick around for a while, the snow-covered cedars and fir created a winter wonderland. The snow made everything brighter, cleaner – the sounds muffled, the lights glowing slightly fuzzy and dim, through the falling snow – making the world a cozy, magical, slightly mysterious place, especially to a kid.

There’s another part of winter that played a large role during my childhood. On cold days, with or without the snow, we’d warm ourselves up with a cup of hot chocolate after hours spent outside. Usually it was Nestle’s Quik: a big yellow foil-lined, cardboard package with a large-toothed, big-cheeked, rabbit on the front and a plastic lid, if I remember correctly – mixed with hot boiling water, a little cold milk to cool it to a drinkable temperature, and, if we were lucky, topped with a few marshmallows that would bob up and down until they melted into the chocolate liquid or were spooned up by us to be eaten right away.

And now here I am, many years later, sitting in my apartment in Helsinki with snow falling softly outside my window and covering the birch and pine trees with a light, bright coat. I’m reminded of the old Dean Martin Christmas song: “It’s a marshmallow world in the winter, when the snow comes to cover the ground…” It calls for a cup of hot chocolate and something really easy and really special: Homemade Marshmallows.

You’ve probably seen these on sale during Christmas time at Williams & Sonoma, but trust me, once you realize how cheap and easy they are to make, you won’t be shelling out for the expensive handmade ones at specialty food shops, and you won’t be happy settling for the ones that come in plastic bags at the grocery store and are shaped like and look like the plastic covered hay bales seen off in the fields on the side of I-90 or any other freeway either.

Homemade Marshmallows

Whip up a batch and bring them to or serve them at your next party. People, even the ones who proclaim to hate marshmallows, will love them. You can use them in baking (Rice Crispies or Rocky Road Bars, anyone?), plain out of your hand, or topping a lovely, steaming mug of simply perfect hot chocolate.

Homemade Marshmallows
adapted from recipe by Greg Atkinson, Seattle Times Pacific Northwest Magazine, 2005

1. In the bowl of an upright mixter, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let the mixture stand while you make the syrup:
2 packets / 2 tablespoons unflavored powdered gelatine
1/2 cup / 1 dl cold water

2. In a medium, heavy-bottomed pot, combine:

1 1/2 cups / 3 dl sugar

1/2 cup / 1 dl hot water

1/2 cup / 1 dl corn syrup or golden syrup

Stir the mixture over high heat until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is boiling. When the syrup registers 240°F / 115°C on a candy thermometer, or as soon as a spoonful dropped into a cup of cold waters forms a soft ball, it’s ready.

3. With the whisk attachment, start the mixture on a low setting and blend the gelatin and the cold water mixture as you pour the hot syrup in a thin stream into the mixing bowl. The hot syrup will dissolve the gelatin. Once all the syrup is poured in, turn the mixture onto high and continue to beat the mixture until it is whipped into a puffy white meringue-like froth that holds stiff peaks, about 15 minutes.

Note: make sure you whip it long enough. The peaks should stand straight up, not flop at all. If you don’t beat it long enough, you will be disappointed in the texture of your marshmallows.

4. While the mixture is beating, prepare a 9″ square pan. Oil it lightly, then cut a piece of parchment or wax paper to fit the bottom. Sift powdered sugar over the bottom of the pan to cover it completely. Be generous with the amount of powdered sugar you use here as it’ll make it possible to remove the marshmallow from the pan later.

5. After 15 minutes, check your meringue. If stiff peaks have formed, add:

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

And beat one more minute to combine. (If your marshmallow mixture doesn’t form stiff peaks yet, beat for another 5 minutes or so and check again, then add the vanilla).

6. Here comes the messy part. Have a bowl of cold water ready and a rubber spatula ready. Remove the bowl and wire whisk from the mixer. Dip the rubber spatula into the cold water, and use it to scrape as much marshmallow as possible from the wire whisk. Set aside. Dip the spatula into water again, and scrape as much marshmallow fluff as possible from the bowl into the prepared pan. Don’t worry about smoothing it out at this point – just transfer it. Once you’ve transferred as much of the marshmallow as possible, set the bowl aside. Dip your fingers into the cold water and rub your hands together so your palms and fingers are completely damp (not too wet!). Using your hands, smooth the marshmallow fluff down in to the pan. If your fingers start to stick to the marshmallow fluff, dip them in water again. (Once the mixture is smoothed out in the pan, you can now add food coloring if you wish: drip 12 or so drops of food coloring over the marshmallow mixture and swirl with a toothpick or fork tines. I think they look good without food coloring as well). When it is too your liking, sift powdered sugar over the top in a heavy layer and leave to rest at room temperature for at least 6 hours or overnight.

7. After the waiting period, get

a small bowl of powdered sugar

ready, and a clean pair of scissors. Lift the Marshmallow mixture onto a cutting board or clean counter top, and using the scissors, snip the marshmallow into squares. (I cut them 6×6 for 36 total) Roll the cut ends in powdered sugar. Once all the marshmallows are cut, store them in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Tip: All the sticky marshmallow mess on the bowls and utensils will come off easily in hot water. Fill the bowl to the top with hot water, put all the utensils in it, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Washing up will be easy.

Makes about 36 marshmallows.

Coconut-Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies

November 27, 2012 by aplough

Getting into the Christmas spirit…

It’s that time of year again – time for Christmas cookies. Over the next month leading up to Christmas, I plan to share with you a few of my favorites. They will have their origins in different parts of the world – beautiful and tasty snacks I’ve indulged in as I’ve enjoyed the Christmas season in a few different places.

But the first on the list are cookies I found back in the USA, the Fall after I’d purchased my first home and was getting ready to celebrate Christmas in it. They came from a Martha Stewart Living Christmas book, were featured in the December Martha Stewart Living magazine that year, and have been a favorite cookie of mine to make and to gift ever since.

This year, I was asked to make Christmas cookies for a bake sale, and I decided these were one of the cookies I wanted to include. I hope they’ll become favorite with you too. I recommend making a double or triple batch of these as it’s about the same amount of work, especially if you have a big mixer as I do to make short work of the project. After the cookies are all rolled up, I wrap the finished roll in parchment paper, label it, and put it in the freezer. This way, I can cut off cookie slices and bake them as I need them. Something I want to try this year is to slice them, freeze them flat on the pan, and then pack them in a freezer bag so I can more easily pull them out to bake them.

Cookies cooling. You should definitely do a quality control taste at this point.

They are absolutely at their best about 5 minutes out of the oven, still slightly warm and a little bit chewy, but you won’t have any complaints eating them the next day with a cup of coffee or tea, either. To me, they look like a little Christmas celebration, and I’m so happy to be sharing them with you!

One more note: use great chocolate and real butter. You’ll definitely notice the difference. Drop a note at the end of this blog and let me know what you think.

Here’s to the start of the season! Wishing you all the joys it may bring.

For you, my friends!

Coconut-Chocolate Pinwheels
adapted very slightly from Martha Stewart Living

In a bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine and cream together until fluffy:
8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar

Add and beat again until fluffy:
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together:
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Add the flour mixure to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Add and beat until combined:
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

Place the dough between two 12-by-17-inch (in Europe, just use the standard-size, pre-cut pieces of parchment paper), and roll out into a 10 x 15 inch rectangle (25cm x 38cm), about 1/2 inch (1.3cm) thick. Transfer dough, still between the two pieces of parchment paper, to a baking sheet/pan and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Prepare a double boiler, with the water just at a simmer. In the top of the double boiler (or in a bowl placed over a pot of simmering hot water, place:
6 ounces (165g) bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa), chopped
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature

Melt the chocolate and butter completely, stirring with a rubber spatula occasionally to combine well, about two minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in:
1/3 cup / 3/4 dl sweetened condensed milk

Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Remove the top sheet of parchment. Spread the chocolate mixture evenly over the dough to cover the entire surface. Using the bottom piece of the parchment for support, roll the dough tightly into a log. Wrap the log in parchment and chill overnight. At this point, you can also freeze the dough.

To bake:
Heat the oven to 350°C / 175°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the parchment paper from the log of cookie dough and cut the log into 1/4″ (0.6cm) thin slices. Place the dough rounds onto a baking sheet, spread about 1.5 inch (4cm) apart. Bake until the cookies are a pale golden brown around the edges but still pale in the middle, 8 – 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze.

Makes 32 cookies.