Happy Blogiversary - and a Giveaway!

Can you believe it's been one year of Artistic Eatables? I've been chopping, kneading, frying, baking, simmering, and photographing my food for you since October 27, 2009. 

To celebrate, I am offering a giveaway - my first ever.   

I will be awarding one lucky reader a jar of my homemade blackberry jam. (Ingredients: freshly picked blackberries, sugar, liquid pectin)

photo from breadexperience.com

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment with your name, a way to contact you, and tell me your favorite homemade item (canned, baked, whatever!).

Sorry international readers, this prize can only be delivered to US residents.

The comments will be open until Saturday October 30, 5pm. Cheers!

Greek Calzones

I love anything relating to bread, carbohydrates, or flour. Yum.  When my friend Lindsay sent me a link to this new twist on calzones (which are traditionally made with ricotta, mozzarella, and your choice of meat), I couldn't resist.

To "Greek" it up, they've replaced the mozz with feta cheese, which is quite a bit saltier, but don't fear if you're not into what some would consider weird cheeses. The feta is just to give a little saltiness to the otherwise creamy filling of ricotta and spinach. If you don't like feta, consider some of the alternatives I've listed below in my Comments section. 

I love the inclusion of spinach to this recipe, which is surprisingly nutritious but also adds a nice chewy texture that the cheese just can't cover on its own.

Recipe altered slightly from the version on Delish.com

Ingredients

• olive oil for baking sheet
• 1 batch pizza dough
• 10 oz. box frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and patted dry
• 15 oz. ricotta cheese
• 3-6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
• pinch of dried dillweed
  

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine spinach, ricotta, dill, and as much feta as desired.
3. Split pizza dough into four even pieces. Flatten out into large circles.
4. Spoon equal amounts of cheese mixture onto one half of each circle. Fold dough over and press to close. 
5. Place each calzone on a raised-edge cookie sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden.
6. Let cool at least 5 minutes before eating. Serve with desired sides.

Comments

Even with patting the spinach dry, the filling was still quite wet, presumably from the ricotta. You may choose to cut a slit in the top of the calzone so the moisture can escape there; otherwise it might try to leak out the sides.

We ate our calzones plain but I think I would have enjoyed them more with a side of marinara sauce, even though it wouldn't fit with the Greek theme.

Next time I'd also like to try these with some different additions in the filling: perhaps chunks of artichoke hearts, chopped kalamata olives, or even diced sundried tomatoes. If you choose to add something salty, just reduce the feta a little bit to balance out the flavors.

AE Update 10/15/10

As I get over a sinus infection and do a little traveling this weekend, I'll be away from my kitchen more than usual. Please excuse the blogging hiatus! I hope to come back with some delicious treats for you soon.

Fresh Tomato and Roasted Garlic Salsa

Ingredients

• 5-6 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• 2 small ripe tomatoes
• 1 green tomato
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
• juice of 1/2 lime
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cut tips off the top of each garlic clove. Place in small baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 450 degrees until garlic is roasted completely, about 20 minutes.
3. While garlic is roasting, finely chop tomatoes and jalapeno pepper. Mix together in medium bowl.
4. Squeeze each garlic out of its paper and onto a cutting board, mince and add to bowl.
5. Add lime juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Creamy Potato Soup

This soup is SO. EASY. Thanks to a basket of vegetables from my friend Gretchen, I was blessed with gorgeous homegrown potatoes and onions. They've been staring me down the entire week, basically begging to be simmered and pureed. Now, I know that root vegetables talking to me makes me weird, but at least the weirdness comes with clear cut inspiration.

The beauty of this soup, like my Creamy Broccoli Cauliflower Soup, is that the creaminess comes from pureeing some of the starchy vegetables, so if you're not into dairy you can omit it completely. I did add a splash of heavy cream at the end, but it was a smooth soup without it. As a small bowl, this would be a great appetizer course, or could also be served as a great vegetarian / vegan main course with a hunk of warm bread.

If you have less time available to cook this, just be sure to cut your potatoes into smaller pieces; the increased surface area will help them cook more quickly.

Ingredients (serves 3-4 main dish or 5-6 appetizer)

for a vegan or dairy-free meal, replace butter with olive oil and omit heavy cream

for gluten-free meal, be sure to use gluten-free vegetable stock

• 1-2 Tbsp butter
  
• 1 small onion, chopped into small pieces
• 4 small-medium starchy potatoes, such as Russets, washed and chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
• water
• 3 Tbsp or 3 cubes vegetable bouillon
• splash of heavy cream, garnish (could also use a sprig of parsley or oregano in its place)

Directions

1. Heat a stockpot over medium heat. Melt butter.
2. Add onions and cook 5 minutes or so, until they become translucent.
3. Add potatoes and thyme. 
4. Pour in enough water to cover the potatoes. Stir in vegetable bouillon. 
5. Turn heat to medium-high. Cook until liquid boils well, then turn heat down to medium-low and cook until potatoes are very soft. 
6. Remove from heat. Puree using an immersion blender to your desired consistency, or transfer and puree in blender in small batches. Mine still had some small chunks of potato in it.)
7. Dish into bowls. Garnish with a splash or swirl of heavy cream, or a sprig of fresh parsley or oregano if desired.

Real Food.

I've been thinking a lot about my philosophies on food in the past few months. Having issues with low blood sugar, I have grown to see food as a fuel that is necessary for me to enjoy my life instead of viewing calories as bad. I want things to taste good because, why bother eating if you're not going to eat well? Being an artist has also made me want to eat things that are aesthetically pleasing.

photo by HelenPalsson on Flickr

I have realized that one of my life food goals is to make everything I eat from scratch, at least once. Think about all the things you buy prepackaged or premade. Often, it takes as little effort to make it from scratch, just a little extra time. I've found that most of the time things taste so much better that I don't go back to the prepackaged stuff.

Things I've made from scratch, at least once:

• pizza dough
• soft pretzels
• artisan breads, baguettes, rolls
• blackberry jam, peach jam, strawberry jam, elderberry jelly
• dill pickles, bread and butter pickles
• applesauce
• salsa
• mustard
• spice mix - Mexican
• french fries, sweet potato fries
• tomato sauce
• smoothies - peanut butter + banana
• naan (Indian flatbread)
• granola bars
• trail mix
• cakes, cupcakes, pie crusts

Things I'd like to make from scratch:

• English muffins
• bagels
• macaroni, including ravioli and tortellini
• sausage, bacon
• chicken, beef, veggie stock
• ice cream
• mayonnaise
• yogurt
• cheese, especially mozzarella
• wine, beer, limoncello
• honey (with Uncle J)
• marshmallows

Are there other things that should be on this list?

Mushroom, Olive, and Caramelized Onion Pizza

Sometimes we go back to basics. It is cool out; I want the house to be warm with the smell of bread baking and cheese melting. I love using pizza as an excuse to clean out the fridge and finding new combinations of flavors. 

For a long time I didn't like olives at all; now I know that I prefer those that don't come out of a can. Kalamatas are known for their strong salty flavor and beautiful deep purple color. How can you resist purple?

This pizza features the salty and sweet combo. By caramelizing the onions, they cook down and marinate in their own sugars, browning and sweetening up perfectly. I added mushrooms but feel free to add whatever you've got handy; ham might taste good on this too.

Ingredients (makes 1 pizza)

• 1 batch pizza dough
• 1/2 onion, halved and sliced
• 1/2 package white mushrooms, sliced
• about a dozen kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
• cornmeal for sprinkling the pizza stone/pan
• pizza sauce or spicy marinara sauce
• 2-4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• parmesan cheese (freshly grated if possible)

Directions

1. Prepare pizza dough about 2 hours ahead of when you'd like the pizza to go in the oven. Be sure to allow it to rise in a draft free location. If your house is cold, warm the dough bowl.
2. Caramelize onions over medium-low heat. (Cover them, and add a splash of water if you need more steam. Other than that, leave them alone, stirring occasionally. You will see them become translucent, then eventually brown as they cook in their own sugars.)
3. About 15-20 minutes before baking time, preheat oven to 450 degrees. (If you're using a pizza stone, this should preheat too.)
4. When oven is preheated and onions are caramelized, remove pizza stone from oven. Sprinkle stone liberally with cornmeal to prevent sticking. Stretch dough onto stone. Top with sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, olives, and onions. Sprinkle with a generous amount of parmesan cheese.
5. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until crust is golden.

Gavin's Chocolate Cake

All the boys in Dan the Man's family love chocolate cake, but there's one catch - no frosting can be involved. They'll eat it plain, or even with chocolate pudding on the side but don't want anything to do with overly sugary stuff. I originally developed this recipe for Dan's brother Gavin because, if you're going to eat plain cake, why not eat the best? 

The recipe involves making your own cake flour (you'll see that in the strange measurement for flour, and the addition of cornstarch). If you have cake flour handy, just ignore the flour / cornstarch in the recipe, and use 3 cups of cake flour. You'll also want to have toothpicks on hand to check for doneness so you don't burn this delicious treat.

Lastly, if you've never baked with baking chocolate, be sure to get the right kind. You'll be sorry if you accidentally use unsweetened instead of the semisweet baking chocolate called for by the recipe...not that I've ever done that before. Additionally, you can substitute semisweet chocolate chips if you've got those on hand - according to the substitutions on this website, sub in a little over 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips for the 3 1/2 oz. semisweet baking chocolate required in my recipe.

five 1/2 oz squares of semisweet Baker's baking chocolate

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate
• 3/4 cup salted butter (equal to 1 1/2 sticks, or 12 Tbsp)
• 2 1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (unbleached is best)
• 6 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups cold water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 9 x 13 cake pan. Set aside.
3. In small saucepan, melt butter and chocolate together over medium-low heat. Let cool.
4. In medium bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch, and baking soda. Set aside.
5. Pour sugar into large mixing bowl. With electric or stand mixer with whisk attachment at medium speed, pour in chocolate/butter mixture and mix for about 1 minute.
6. With mixer still on medium, add vanilla, then both eggs (one at a time). 
7. Then add flour mixture gradually, alternating with cold water. Scrape down sides of bowl and continue to beat for another minute or two, until batter is fluffy.
8. Pour batter into greased 9 x 13 pan. 
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Check for doneness using toothpick.
10. Let cake cool at least 15-20 minutes. Serve alongside chocolate pudding, whipped cream, or any other sidekicks you might enjoy.

Wild Mushroom Soup

I've photographed a moon crater!

Not really, but I did win the mushroom lottery.

This week, I was gifted with delicious wild edible mushrooms. The most interesting one was the giant puffball. It was the size of a volleyball, and from reports I've received, that is a "normal" size puffball.

What do you do with an enormous puffball and approximately one-and-a-half quarts of beautiful wild, flavorful mushrooms? Make soup!

I developed this recipe to work with mushrooms from the grocery store if you don't have a mushroom fairy-godmother like I do. For the puffball, you'll want white, starchy mushrooms like button mushrooms, although you'll probably need to trim the stems. For wild mushrooms I suggested porcini mushrooms but any tan mushrooms will work, even baby bellas.

By using the mushroom puree to thicken, this recipe stays pretty healthy, but more importantly has a prominent but not overbearing mushroom flavor. The fresher the mushrooms, the better this soup will taste. And by fresher, I mean as close to home as possible. Regardless of the source of your mushrooms, be sure to wash them well before cooking.

Ingredients (serves 4)

for a vegetarian recipe, be sure to use vegetable stock instead of beef stock.

for a vegan recipe, use vegetable stock and replace the butter with olive oil.

for a gluten-free recipe, use gluten free stock.

• 6 Tbsp butter (divided use)
• 1/2 medium immature giant puffball, chopped, or 2 packages white mushrooms, sliced
• 1 lb or so wild mushrooms, sliced, or porcini mushrooms, sliced
• 5 cups beef or veggie stock (divided use)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried thyme (use less if ground thyme)

Directions

1. Melt 3 Tbsp butter in a large stockpot over medium heat.
2. Add puffball / white mushrooms and stir.
3. When mushrooms are browned, add 1 cup of the stock.
4. Simmer over low heat 5-10 minutes.
5. Pour into a separate mixing bowl and puree using an immersion blender. The mixture will be somewhat thick.
6. Return saucepan to medium heat. Melt remaining 3 Tbsp butter.
7. Add onion, garlic, and thyme. Saute until onion is translucent.
8. Add wild / porcini mushrooms. Stir well and cook for about 5 minutes.
9. Add remaining 4 cups of stock and cook until liquid begins to bubble, about 4-5 minutes.
10. Turn heat to low. Stir mushroom puree into soup and cook for another minute.
11. Serve with bread or rolls.

Comments

If you make this recipe vegan (replacing the butter with olive oil), you may need to season with salt and pepper. However, with beef stock it was perfectly seasoned for us.

The soup was light but fairly filling. We had it for lunch with some rolls and everyone seemed satiated. I was pleased that because of the lack of cream or milk, the mushroom flavor stood out. After all, why eat mushroom soup that doesn't taste like mushrooms?

Honey Banana Bread

One of my friends has an allergy to cane sugar, prompting me to develop a dessert recipe that didn't heavily rely on sweetness for its flavor. No cane sugar means no granulated sugar, no brown sugar, and no molasses. Sure, there are artificial sweeteners like Splenda, which contains xylitol, or natural ones like agave nectar. I wanted a sweetener that was natural but also probably already in people's pantries. 

Honey has a lower glycemic index than sugar, which is good for those concerned with high blood sugar. If you buy local honey, you are also ingesting nectar from the plants and flowers in your region, thus helping your body to be less sensitive to allergens. (Just be careful to buy real, unprocessed honey and not a product diluted with other ingredients. Check out this article for more information.)

Ingredients

• 6 Tbsp butter (3/4 stick), softened but not melted
• 3 bananas, very ripe, mashed
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large mixing bowl, mix together butter and bananas with electric or stand mixer (medium or speed #4 using whisk attachment). 
3. With mixer on, pour in honey, vanilla, and egg. Mix for about 1 minute.
4. Add flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix for another 1-2 minutes, until batter looks smooth and creamy.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes.
6. Let cool on cooling rack for 10 minutes, then remove bread from pan and let cool for another 30 minutes before cutting.

Comments

Baking with honey was pretty easy. It required reducing the amount of liquid in the other ingredients (i.e. using fewer eggs and less vanilla) and using significantly less honey than was required for the amount of sugar in my original recipe. 

The color of the bread was what most impressed me at first. It came out of the oven a beautiful golden brown color, with a smooth crust.

As for the flavor, I really couldn't tell that there was anything different about it - the banana flavor was pronounced but not overbearing, just the way I like banana bread. Tasted great without butter but would be great with it. Even with the reduction in liquid, the amount in the honey made up the difference so the bread was the perfect texture.