Tag: recipe

Buckwheat

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Dry storage, Ingredient, Using3 Comments

I’ve found many reasons to love buckwheat: it’s gluten free, packed with protein, and easy to prepare. Get buckwheat recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
My first memorable encounters with buckwheat groats were in Russia. In the United States, roasted buckwheat groats are typically sold as “kasha,” but in Russia, all the каша I ate as a hot breakfast cereal was a mix of grains. My Russian friends tended to cook buckwheat on its own—traditionally in an oven until it softened to a porridge—and serve it as a savory meal more than a sweet one.

I’ve since found many reasons to love buckwheat. Despite its name in English, it’s not a type of wheat: it’s actually a gluten-free seed in the same plant family as rhubarb. So if wheat isn’t on your diet, buckwheat is your friend. Unlike some gluten-free grains, it’s packed with protein and amino acids. Soaking it removes some of its phytic acid, which can make it easier to digest. A presoak also speeds up the cooking process—instead of a slow bake in a low-temp oven, you can have it ready from the stovetop in 5 minutes for a modern take on каша сименуха, a traditional Russian breakfast, or for an easy dinner with roasted vegetables.
Learn to make Buckwheat Porridge with Mushrooms and Eggs and Roasted Vegetables with Tofu and Buckwheat

Beans and Cornbread

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Dry storage, Ingredient, UsingLeave a comment

Homemade vegetarian baked beans can have the perfect balance of sweet and tang. Get bean recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
Baked beans can be a vegetarian’s guilty pleasure. Cans on the store shelf often make up for the lack of bacon by upping the sweetness factor, taking the beans out of the “healthy food” realm and putting them in the same category as store-bought granola and sweet potato fries. It’s unfortunate, because when cooked properly, vegetarian baked beans can have the perfect balance of sweet and tang.

I’ve always found canned vegetarian baked beans to be cloyingly sweet. Then I got hooked on beans in tomato sauce when I lived in London. These navy beans stewed in tomato sauce and popped into a can aren’t exactly gourmet, but the first flavor on my tongue wasn’t corn syrup. The Brits are great fans of them as beans on toast. As filling as this meal was on a backpacker budget, a stand in Covent Garden went one better: for a few quid, I could get a giant, piping hot jacket potato smothered in these beans. Since then, I’ve upscaled the beans, but I still love to serve them in baked potatoes.
Learn to make Vegetarian Baked Beans and Baked Polenta

Squash and Rice

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Dry storage, Ingredient, UsingLeave a comment

Squash and pumpkins keep far longer than you think and can be eaten from sunup to sundown. Get winter squash recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
Our winter squash and pumpkin crop yielded little last year, and as I packed away other storage veg, I thought I would have to do without a cold-weather stash. But as daylight waned, friends and family kept sending me home with squash, most fearing it would spoil before they could use it or lacking inspiration for how to prepare it.

If you’re in that camp, this week’s post should both quell fears and inspire delicious meals. Winter squash and pumpkins keep far longer than people think, particularly if they’re properly cured and stored. And they can go in a range of meals, from breakfast to lunch to dinner to dessert. As a bonus, they’re easy to prep and cook ahead for multiple quick, unexpected meals, like risotto and curry.
Learn to make Thai Squash Curry and Squash–Mushroom Risotto

Sourdough Bagels

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Baking, Fermenting, Ingredient2 Comments

Many commercial operations make soft, fluffy bagels. You can do far better at home. Get sourdough recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
My first attempt at sourdough bagels followed our backcountry adventure last summer: it was a win for its poke bowl and huckleberry sourdough pancakes but a loss in the bagel department, when I had to resort to supermarket bakery “bagels.” Our county’s only bagel shop closed years ago, so the only local option was closer to squishy rolls than chewy, dense bagels. I started testing my own version as soon as we returned home.

Some research revealed the main problem: many commercial operations steam their bagels. It’s quick, cheap, and easy to automate for massive batches, but the bagels are soft and fluffy. (I’m not even sure the supermarket went this far; more likely, they took their hamburger bun dough and poked a hole in the center.) As with soft pretzels, bagels really want to be immersed in boiling water before baking. Boiling the dough lets its starches gel, forming a firm crust that surrounds a dense interior after baking. Without this step, you’ll end up with a texture and flavor closer to a bread roll. Although some bakers swear by a water bath spiked with honey and others go au naturel, I find a soda bath, similar to the one used for Sourdough Pretzel Bites, adds flavor and color.
Learn to make Sourdough Bagels and Bagel Breakfast Sandwich

Sourdough Pretzels

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Baking, Fermenting, Topic3 Comments

Sourdough pretzel dough is straightforward, there’s a trick to the crisp “shell” and soft center. Get sourdough recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
Have you ever decided to try a recipe for the first time for a party? That was our first attempt at Sourdough Pretzel Bites. Several years back, George and I volunteered to prepare a fondue-themed surprise party for a dear friend. We bought about 10 kinds of cheese and made several sweet and savory fondues: classic Emmenthaler, cheddar and beer, Gruyere and wine, gjetost, Brie and shiitake, squash and cheddar, Spanish Manchego, bagna cauda, and of course chocolate. I guess that 30, maybe 40, people passed through the house that night, poking various dippers into every fondue pot we could get our hands on.

Our first sourdough soft pretzel attempt disappeared quickly that night, but in the years since I’ve tweaked and perfected the recipe. The dough is straightforward; where opinions vary widely is in how to achieve a crisp “shell” and soft center. German soft pretzels have long been dipped in lye, an alkaline substance so caustic that it’s used to clean clogged drains and requires gloves when handling. As much as I love traditional flavors and techniques, I wasn’t ready to introduce that element into my kitchen.

The eminent Harold McGee has recommended sodium carbonate, sometimes called soda ash, as a replacement: simply bake sodium bicarbonate, also known as the common kitchen staple baking soda, at a low temperature until most of its water and carbon dioxide evaporate. On the upside, your pretzels will have that traditional bite; on the downside, this “baked soda” will still irritate your skin. So I prefer standard baking soda in my soda water bath. It may be less traditional and less flavorful, but it balances well with the sourdough tang and doesn’t eat into my hands.
Learn to make Sourdough Pretzel Bites and Beer–Cheese Dip

Sourdough Focaccia

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Baking, Fermenting, TopicLeave a comment

Sourdough isn’t traditional for focaccia, but it’s one of the few sourdough breads you can cut and eat hot. Get focaccia recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
I see all types of bread as an easy snack, but focaccia stands out among them. I’d buy it oven-hot as a street snack in Italy, and that flavor has stuck with me decades later. It’s tempting to think of focaccia as a deep-crust pizza crust or sandwich bread and load up on toppings and fillings, but it really rises best in the oven when it isn’t overloaded and shows off its heavy glug of olive oil when other flavors don’t take over.

Although sourdough isn’t traditional for focaccia, the tang pairs beautifully with silky olive oil. It also makes the dough forgiving of busy schedules; instead of having to watch to ensure it doesn’t overproof, you can slide the pan into the refrigerator and bake it at your leisure. But one of the greatest perks of sourdough focaccia is that unlike many sourdough breads, you can cut it and eat it hot. This also means it doesn’t keep as well, so I make a small loaf in a single 9- by 13-inch pan and bake often. Besides snack food, the hot bread works well with a bowl of Tomato Juice Soup or on an appetizer plate with pickles, homemade cheese, and sliced fruit.
Learn to make Savory Sourdough Focaccia and Sweet Sourdough Focaccia

Holiday Cheers

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Refrigerating, TopicLeave a comment

Choose a simple shaken eggnog for a cozy evening in or tom and jerry batter to mix once and pour often. Get cocktail recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
Every year, when nights start to crackle with cold and I’m cozying up to the woodstove, my alcohol tastes shift. Instead of a gin and tonic, I order an old-fashioned. We buy more bottles of whiskey and fewer bottles of tequila. And I even find space for the occasional rich milk-and-egg drinks like eggnog and its warm cousin, tom and jerry.

I’ve made many variations on eggnog over the years before settling on a quick recipe that makes a pair of drinks at a time, perfect for an evening in. You’ll note it uses raw egg. I always recommend fresh eggs from a well-kept flock, but I became even more confident in the recipe when I learned that a scientist at Rockefeller University found bacteria can’t stand up to a mixture of raw eggs and 20 percent alcohol.
Learn to make Homemade Eggnog and Homemade Tom & Jerry

Gingerbread

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Baking, Topic3 Comments

Get a healthy dose of ginger and find out why some baking old-time techniques still work. Get gingerbread recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
I may not have red hair, but in the kitchen I’m definitely a ginger. You’ve probably spotted this from the regular appearance of ginger on the blog—ginger-flavored syrups and marmalades, ginger-spiked beverages, Pickled Ginger, Gingerbread Pancakes, and for the ultimate hit, Triple Gingersnaps and Triple Ginger Cake. So it seemed highly appropriate to add two more traditional ginger recipes to the lineup this month: gingerbread in cookie and loaf forms.

When I went digging for family variations of these recipes, I found some surprising ingredients and techniques. I decided to pick apart one of my grandmother’s well-used recipes, from her 1930 Fruit and Flower Mission Cookbook. What is the purpose of the vinegar? Why is the baking soda dissolved in water? Why do only some of the recipes in her book call for egg? I had to know more. Find out what I learned in the recipe and its tips and tricks.
Learn to make Old-Fashioned Gingerbread Cookies and Gingerbread Loaf

Mashers

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Dry storage, Topic, UsingLeave a comment

Everyone has a favorite mash, but you can please them all with 5 or fewer ingredients. Get mashed potato recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
Happy Thanksgiving! Hopefully your kitchen smells warm and spicy and you have many hands at work preparing the day’s spread. This foodie holiday holds many memories for me—from family gathered around Grandma Tiny’s table to “orphans” meals with friends to today’s version with family and friends and the hope that snow will be in the air. It’s been 25 years since I’ve eaten the main attraction of the table, but it remains a celebration—probably because I easily fill a plate before the turkey passes by.

I rarely think of mashing potatoes outside the holiday season (unless I want to use up yogurt whey). Instead, I bake them, roast them, and braise them; I turn them into salad, soup, curry, and gnocchi. Perhaps it’s the cranberries—a dollop sits so beautifully in a pile of mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes. So when these tart berries are in season, the potato masher comes out to play.
Learn to make Tangy Potato Mashers and Sweet Potato Mashers with Coconut Milk

Fall Beverages

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Dry storage, Topic, Using4 Comments

Need cold and hot nonalcoholic beverages for your next gathering? Look no further than Golden Milk and Switchel. Get beverage recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
I first tasted golden milk at a yoga retreat in Costa Rica. Who knew that a warm beverage would be so delicious in that hot, tropical climate? But it was the perfect drink to follow an intense day of working our bodies.

When I moved from just writing about good food on the Twice as Tasty blog to making it for live events, I needed cold and hot beverages, alcoholic and nonalcoholic, to fit every season and occasion. Golden milk immediately came to mind as a warm, alcohol-free brew. I enjoyed it under the hot sun, but it’s just as delicious for fall holiday family gatherings and parties when snow is coming down. For home use, I make just the paste and keep it on hand so that I can make a mug or two at a time. For a gathering, you can prepare a full batch; place it on the table next to a chilled switchel, and you’ll find people happily swapping between the two.
Learn to make Golden Milk and Switchel