Back to the Foodie

The second time around, I made certain I had all of the ingredients on hand so I wouldn’t have to try to save the recipe with substitutions. Chewy also didn’t fit with “angel food” and although I may have created the world’s first recipe for a chewy cupcake, I had hopes that the second round would be much better. It became a small battle between me and this cake that I didn’t love. I began to appreciate the recipe when the flavoring ingredients were added to egg whites that were beaten until fluffy. It smelled and looked good. Of course, I had to taste it and in the spirit of somewhere between a foodie and Homer Simpson, I risked possible food poisoning and tried the fluffy, flavored egg whites. Absolutely and addictively delicious. (On a side note, if anyone fancies themself a muscle head this would be a high-protein, low-fat treat which tastes better than those funky protein shakes sold at the health food store!) Next came the folding in of a flour mixture that took a longer amount of time than I am used to. I reminded myself not to rush through it as I tend to do with everything, because this cake was not going to defeat me the second time around. After all of the flour was folded in I had to see if the flour made much of a flavor difference too. There wasn’t much of a difference in flavor, but better to wait until the cupcake is actually baked!

After the first tray of cupcakes were taken out of the oven I couldn’t believe how light and airy they looked. NOTHING like the box stuff someone had tried to pass off as angel food cake. The real test, however, was the first bite: sweet, airy, not chewy. Wow…angel food cupcakes are GOOD! Of course, they didn’t rise as much as I’ve heard angel food cupcakes are supposed to, so it’s going to take another round of baking to figure out why they didn’t rise. Cupcakes 1.5 : Monica .5

Overall, everyone loved the cupcakes and they were all eaten before noon. I know I did something right if the cupcakes don’t last beyond noon.  I’ve also discovered the dark side of angel food cupcakes: they are so light and airy and just sweet enough that you really can’t have just one. At least I can’t. With a regular cupcake, depending on how rich it is, I really can limit how much I have. With angel food cupcakes, however, I had to look the other way as I walked by each batch of freshly baked cupcakes. Light, fluffy, and deceptively irresistible. That’s WHY everyone loves angel food. If knowledge is power, at least now I know to beware of the charm of the angel food cupcake! Round 3 coming soon…

Did you ever hear the story about the cook who suffers injuries while using a pressure cooker to prepare a meal? It usually involves the word exploded or explosion, or “boom!” and is followed by a warning to be very careful because one mistake in handling the cooker, or even buying a pressuer cooker that is not high quality will lead to the same fate. I did as a kid, and for fear of being the one *lucky* person whose pressure cooker would definitely explode, I swore I’d never buy one of those things. I know I’m not alone in this sentiment as the pressure cooker’s volatility has been the basis for it’s reputation, causing fear in many, many pepole. Admit it, somewhere deep down in your psyche resides the fear of an exploding pressure cooker… A few years ago I was fortunate enough to spend time with a family that made the most amazing homemade Indian food I’ve ever had. I always enjoyed the company and the meals, until the pressure cooker came onto the scene, at which point my fight-or-flight response would kick in and, not wanting to admit the flight response was winning, I’d silently debate on whether to stay in the room or slowly make my way out. It’s funny now, but back then I really hated being close to the one thing that could explode if it was faulty in any way.

My aversion to pressure cookers began reversing when I started learning more about them. Pressure cookers save an incredible amount of time, which is especially useful when so many of us have busy schedules. Black beans take 2 -4 minutes in a heated pressure cooker while cooking on the stove takes hours. Pressure cookers also allow food to retain more nutrients than boiling because less water is used. Quick and healthy…not sounding so bad but not convinced yet…maybe it would be worth experimenting with one some day. What brought me over to the pressure cooker camp was the fact that I’d reduced the amount of meat I eat and wanted to make sure I was consuming an adequate amount of protein in my diet by incorporating more lentils and beans into it, but needed a fool-proof way to make them. Fool-proof? Beans and lentils are suppoosed to be fool-proof…anyone can make them?! Right and Wrong!

Let me tell you about my relationship with lentils and beans. I could eat them every day but, having grown up on homemade black bean soup, lentil soup and first-round fried beans made from small red central american beans, the idea of canned beans turns me off. Even after rinsing them very well I just can’t bring myself to enjoy them. Sadly, beans are the one dish I always ruin when I try to make myself. It seems ironic that someone from Central America who likes beans can’t cook them without ruining them. Unrequited foodie love. Rejected by the legume family. Part of the problem is I usually end up forgetting to check on them, plus preparing them, though in reality simple, feels like a pain. Soaking overnight requires dirtying a bowl that I’ll have to wash, and boiling them for two minutes, draining and setting them aside for an hour seems pointless.  Both the overnight and quick soak methods work and I can at least get through that part of the process successfully, but if I can get one batch of beans or lentils to come out perfect it’s because the stars are aligned and not because of my skill. So, here comes the pressure cooker to the rescue! Yes, the one kitchen tool I feared the most is now the hero of this story.

Some basic pressure cooker info:

I opted for a stainless steel pressure cooker because stainless steel will last forever if you take good care of it, but they come in aluminum also. Buy the largest size cooker you will need. Food like legumes and grains expand, limiting how much you can cook at once, so depending on the amount of servings you need to prepare, a larger pressure cooker will save you some additional time. The cooker will take under five minutes to heat up, at which point the pressure regulator will start rocking and you will hear a hissing and rattling sound. Start timing once the rocking begins. Use a timer if you have a tendency to forget because it is possible to dry food out in a pressure cooker.

To break in my newly acquired pressure cooker, I made a batch of black beans. Here are general directions for making black beans in a pressure cooker:

Soak the black beans. There’s no getting around it, but the quick soak method doesn’t seem so bad when the beans will only take a few minutes instead of hours to cook. Don’t forget to drain them!

Put 1.5 cups soaked black beans in the pot and add enough water just to cover them.

Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and some salt to taste.

Turn the cover of the cooker so that its handle is lined up with the bottom handle and add the pressure regulator to the cover.

Turn the heat on high, and cook according to directions. In this case the time was about 6 minutes after the pressure regulator started rocking.

After the beans are cooked, turn off the heat and allow cooker to cool on its own. 

Here is a pic of the first batch of black beans made in my pressure cooker:

Amazing isn’t it…no having to constantly check on them, and in under ten minutes they are tender and delicious. I think my diet is about to get much healthier.  Eat your lentils and beans!

Indian food is one of my favorite cuisines. The hot spices, fragrant curries and seasoned basmati rice captivate the senses. A good Indian stew is perfect in the Fall and Winter and if you can take the heat, in the Spring and Summer too.  Here’s a very easy recipe for Chicken Vindaloo that I found in an Essentials series cookbook. Don’t be discouraged by the lengthy ingredient list, they are worth picking up at the store if you don’t already have them in your cupboard, and you will be rewarded with a delicious meal:

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp. mustard powder

1.5 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

5 tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tsp. brown sugar

2/3 cup vegetable oil

8 garlic cloves (crushed)

3 red onions (sliced)

4 skinless chicken breasts (bite size chunks)

2 small red chiles (seeded,chopped)

1 lb. potatoes (peeled, chopped)

1lb. chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp. tomato paste

salt/pepper

Optional: red food coloring

Combine the cumin, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, mustard, and ground coriander in a bowl. Add vinegar and sugar, mixing well.

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet and add the garlic and onions, turn heat to medium and stir for about 5 minutes. Add chicken, allowing to cook for 3 minutes before adding chiles, potatoes, tomato paste and chopped tomatoes. If you’ve opted to add a few drops of food coloring, add it as well. Now incorporate the spice mixture and add salt and pepper. When the mixture boils, reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer for at least one hour. Remember to stir occassionally. I personally recommend allowing the vindaloo to simmer for longer than an hour if time permits. Serve with basmati rice.

Serves 4.

When I first started baking I was lazy and didn’t pay attention to how I measured flour.  I either poured flour directly into the cup or scooped it out of the bag and packed it down to make sure the entire cup was full of flour.  Then I learned about how using a knife to level flour would lead to a more accurate measurement.  Not fully understanding the significance of precise measurements, I started packing the flour in the cup and then leveling, proud of myself for learning a new technique.  There was one detail I overlooked for quite some time:  flour should not be packed.  And what about using a spoon to fill the measuring cup or scooping it out of the bag?  Back then, I’d never even heard of spooning flour and when I first learned of it, the impatient me instantaneously decided the extra minute it would take to spoon flour would be a waste of a minute when there were so many other things I wanted to get to. So what’s the difference?  The desired end product in baking is a light airy cake, so incorporating air is the key. The best way to do this is as follows:

1. Loosen it up!  Stir the flour in the bag to unpack it: flour that sits for a long period of time will settle leading to packed flour.

2. Take the thirty seconds to spoon the flour into a measuring cup: doing so will incorporate a small amount of air into the flour.

3. Resist the urge to pack the flour down in the cup!  More isn’t better in this case.

4. Level the flour with a knife so no excess flour gets into the recipe.

And there it is…how to properly measure flour!  Happy Baking!