Archives for May 2010

Simple and Sweet, A Nice Summer Treat

May 27, 2010 By Anne Simpson

Yes, I know, it’s not summer yet. It feels like it, though, at least around here. I don’t know about you, but temps in the 90s make me think summer. Thank goodness watermelon is now available so I can do something about those summery-thoughts.

This is such a great easy summer side dish, and with the soon-to-be readily available bounty of watermelon, it will be super cheap, too. All you have to do is chop some watermelon and mint and mix them up together, and refrigerate them if you have time. I like to use fresh mint, but if I don’t have any, dried mint works as well. It’s best to refrigerate the salad for a few hours, but if you don’t have the time, don’t sweat it.

Simple Sweet Watermelon Salad
For each serving,
1 cup cubed watermelon
1 tsp fresh chopped mint

Mix the watermelon and chopped mint together until the mint is spread evenly throughout. Refrigerate for several hours to blend flavors, serve cold.

That was QUICK. Hardly any time at all - you can prepare it in the morning to refrigerate all day, or you can just prep it and refrigerate it while you are fixing the rest of your dinner.

EASY, too. It really doesn’t get any easier than this, which is a good thing with the lazy dog days of summer already here fast approaching.

Very CHEAP, also, especially if watermelon is in season and you have a mint plant.

And no question that it’s very HEALTHY, as well. Most people think of tomato as the best source of lycopene, an antioxidant, but actually, watermelon often has even higher levels than the tomato. Mint is also another good cancer-fighter, and helps the digestive tract to run smoothly, easing stomach aches and settling indigestion.

1 Comment Filed Under: On The Table, Sides Tagged With: fruit

Penuche Frosting, Among Other Things

May 22, 2010 By Anne Simpson

Well, I finally have another powdered-sugar free frosting to offer you, but first a couple other things whirling around in my brain that I need to mention before they whirl right back out again:

1. I finally joined the rest of the blogosphere in the 21st century and made a Facebook page for my blog. If you’re on FB, please “Like” my page and share it with all your friends! If you’re not on FB, well what are you waiting for?! Make an account… and then “Like” my page! You’ll find it here: Quick & Easy, Cheap & Healthy Facebook Page. Facebook is a great way to keep updated in between blog posts - I may not have time to write an entire post every day, but most days I can find some time to post a quick status, picture or even an occasional video to my FB page. You’ll be able to see what I’m finding at the farmer’s market, or what new recipes I try (and either succeed or fail!). If you “Like” my page, you can ask me questions or let me know what sort of things you’d like to see on my blog. So go ahead and join in the conversation!

2. I mentioned on my FB page a few days ago that I ordered a couple new cookbooks: Healthy Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, and Allergy Proof Recipes for Kids. The allergy cookbook will be featured on my food allergy blog, but I’m hoping to try out some of the artisan bread recipes and feature them here on this very blog. The artisan bread in 5 minutes a day method seems to fit all my criteria for a good recipe: quick, easy, cheap and healthy! I’m so excited to give it a try, and I’ll keep you updated, here or on my FB page.

And now onto the recipe. This is actually one of my favorite non-powdered sugar frosting recipes that I’ve made several times without fail. Unfortunately, when I got rid of my powdered sugar, I also got rid of my brown sugar, which I had previously used in this recipe. Normally, it’s not a problem to use raw sugar as a substitute for brown sugar because they’re very similar in some ways; but because raw sugar has such a large grain it was very difficult for the amount I used to dissolve adequately in the milk/butter/cream in the recipe. I tried several times without success, and finally determined that a finer grain of sugar is necessary, which led me to evaporated cane sugar. Evaporated cane sugar is really just a step above regular table sugar, but a step is a step, right?

I found the original recipe in my vintage Fannie Farmer cookbook. The finished product is very similar to Caramel Frosting (a big favorite in my DH’s family) but does not have the powdered sugar. You’ll find a million variations of the recipe online and they all vary slightly regarding exact ingredients and proportions, which tells me you can fool around a lot with this recipe and still succeed. Except don’t mess with the sugars! My recipe calls for corn syrup, but since none of the other recipes I found called for it, and I try to avoid that even more than regular sugar, I just eliminated it and it doesn’t seem to affect the outcome. This recipe calls for milk and butter, but a note included mentions that you can use heavy cream instead, which I’ve done with great success.

If you aren’t messing with raw sugar, and have regular and brown sugar instead, use this ratio instead of the one included in the recipe below: 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup regular sugar.

One Step Ahead Penuche Frosting
1 cup evaporated cane sugar
1/2 cup raw sugar
few grains salt
1/3 cup whole milk
2 TBSP butter

Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Once it reaches a boil, allow it to boil undisturbed for a minute or two. Remove from heat and pour into mixing bowl or a heat-proof glass bowl. Allow to cool to room temperature, and then beat until it forms a spreadable consistency. This recipe makes enough to thinly frost a 2-layer cake or 8×10 rectangle, or generously frost one square or round layer. (I personally find it to be very sweet, so a thin layer works for me.)

One tip: Please make sure the mixture is cooled to room temperature before beginning to beat it. Once I got a little impatient and started beating too early and ended up with a frosting so stiff I couldn’t even spread it. I managed to salvage it by adding some milk, but then I added to much and ended up with a very liquidy glaze!

This time, I actually waited long enough to beat it at the proper time, but then I didn’t beat it quite long enough, so I had a nice thick glaze. It was delicious, though, and it looked intentional. I would recommend beating it in a stand mixer if you have one, because that will take less time.

This is not the QUICKest frosting recipe in my arsenal, but that doesn’t stop me from making it frequently. You do have to figure in time to allow it to cool, but what I do is start making it as soon as I remove the cake from the oven. By the time the cakes are cool enough to frost, the frosting is cool enough to beat into shape, so no time is wasted.

Despite all the trouble I had with it, it really is an EASY recipe. Like I mentioned before, you can goof around with the ingredients (except the type of sugar!) quite a bit without messing it up.

Aside from the expensive sugars, it’s a CHEAP frosting recipe. Did you notice how few ingredients there are? A tip on buying the sugars: the evaporated cane sugar is available in bulk for a great price, and the raw sugar is available at Walmart under the brand name Sugar in the Raw. You can occasionally find coupons, either print or online, for that particular brand of sugar.

No frosting is HEALTHY, let’s just make that clear. But this is “a step ahead” of other frostings by virtue of its slightly healthier ingredients. Use it sparingly!

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Chocolate Clouds

May 13, 2010 By Anne Simpson

Meringue is something I never tried because I always assumed it was too difficult and time-consuming. Scratch that. I vaguely remember my mother teaching me to make meringue for a lemon meringue pie, only I don’t remember the result which leads me to believe that it was a tragic failure that I blocked permanently from my memory. Yesterday, though, I was browsing through a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook looking for a (quick, easy, cheap and somewhat healthy) cookie recipe, when I stumbled across a recipe for meringues. As I quickly read through the recipe, I was struck by several thoughts: it’s quick! Wow, it’s easy! Whoa! Pretty cheap, because there are hardly any ingredients. And, huh. Pretty healthy over all.

And so of course I proceeded to make it. It was not an unmitigated success but neither was it a tragic failure. And it was, most importantly, delicious! Like a fluffy puffy little chocolate cloud… mmmmm! So today, I made it again with even better results.

Many recipes for meringue require you to bake them in a very low-heat oven for over an hour, which of course, is not exactly quick. This recipe uses a slightly hotter oven for only 20 minutes, which is considerably faster. Perhaps the result is not exactly the same, but to me the trade-off was worth it for my purposes. If I were giving them as a gift or wanted perfect presentation, I might consider taking the time to bake them for a longer period, but for everyday purposes, I’m satisfied with the quicker method.

One other comment: it took considerably less time to whip the egg whites up to stiff peaks in my stand mixer than it did with a hand mixer. It felt like the hand mixer took approximately forever and then a little bit longer, but I suppose that is something of an exaggeration. At any rate, I will be sure to use the stand mixer next time around!

I modified the recipe slightly by reducing the sugar a bit and adding a little Mexican flavor with the cocoa and cinnamon.

Scroll down for a printable version.

Clouds of Chocolate
1/2 cup sugar (I used evaporated cane sugar - raw sugar, my usual choice, is not refined enough for the task)
2 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon, optional
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Continue beating, adding the sugar mixture 1 TBSP at a time. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. “Stiff peaks” are when the tips stand up straight:

Spoon mixture onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 300F for 15-20 minutes or until meringues are firm and the bottom is lightly golden. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Mix the sugar, cocoa and cinnamon, if using, in a small bowl until combined; set aside. Beat egg whites, vanilla and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.”Soft peak” means that when you lift up the beater, the tip of the peak will fall over. Continue beating, adding the sugar mixture 1 TBSP at a time. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. “Stiff peaks” are when the tips stand up straight. Spoon mixture onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 300F for 15-20 minutes or until meringues are firm and the bottom is lightly golden. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

If you have a cake decorating kit, use the bag to make more uniformly and decoratively shaped meringues.

This method is, without argument, much QUICKer than the traditional. Purists may scoff and frown but we have already established that I am not a purist when it comes to methodology.

I don’t know why I always thought meringues were so complicated. This was so EASY, as easy as any cookie recipe, maybe even easier.

Definitely CHEAP: you’d be hard pressed to find a cookie recipe with fewer ingredients! You can even skip the cocoa and cinnamon to make plain vanilla meringues.

These are some of the HEALTHY-est cookies you’ll find anywhere. If you’re attempting to lose some weight, you’ll be happy to know each little meringue is only 30 calories, and is low fat. Most people know that egg whites are a great source of protein, but they are also good sources of a variety of minerals, including potassium, magnesium and calcium. This recipe also has reduced sugar, another plus.

3 Comments Filed Under: Dessert, On The Table Tagged With: cookies, meringues

More About Coffee

May 11, 2010 By Anne Simpson

You’ll have to forgive me. Coffee is a passion of mine, so it’s easy for me to go on and on about it. There’s so much to say about it, too! Seriously, there are entire blogs devoted entirely to the subject of coffee, so I think I can be excused for allowing a few posts on the topic on my own blog.

I used to drink my coffee with a splash of non-dairy flavored creamer; you know, the CoffeeMate or International Delights kind. Then, in an effort to improve my diet, I began to read books, websites and articles about nutrition, and I stumbled across a description of non-dairy flavored creamer that didn’t really sit well with my stomach. I forget now what book it was, but the description has stuck with me: flavored liquid margarine. Yuck. By that point, I had been avoiding margarine for a while already, and it struck me as rather hypocritical (not to mention disgusting) that I continued to use a margarine-like product while studiously avoiding margarine itself. Such a revelation led me to give up the non-dairy flavored creamer (although I will admit, in the interest of complete and total honesty, that when I encounter said creamer at someone else’s house or at a special event, I can’t help but indulge in a little bit) altogether, and left a rather sad and empty hole in my coffee heart.

I am not one of those people who can drink coffee black. I have, when forced to, but it’s not my favorite preparation. I even weaned myself from sweetened coffee, and can now happily drink unsweetened coffee with a splash (or two) of half and half or whole milk. However, I still like to enjoy a variety of flavors in my coffee, without artificial flavors or other unnecessary ingredients. I tried making my own flavored “creamers” or sugars but that was too much of a pain.

It turns out that the simplest way to add a little flavor to your coffee is by adding it to the grounds before you brew. People around the world enjoy their coffee this way, and it is about as healthy and natural as you can get. And tasty, too!

My favorite flavored coffee is actually a recent discovery by my sister, and it’s the one featured in the picture above: cardamom. I tasted some made by my sister and searched heaven and earth (OK, well a few grocery stores) until I found cardamom and made it for myself. Let me tell you, heaven in a cup! Apparently, this special coffee treat is a favorite in Arab countries. It’s also a nod to my Finnish heritage as Finns add cardamom to just about everything and they are prolific coffee drinkers as well.

I found the cardamom at an Amish farmer’s market for half the price it was available in the store. I believe my sister said she found it for a reasonable price at Whole Foods market.

To make cardamom coffee, all you do is add some ground cardamom to the coffee grounds before you brew. I use a coffee press, and I like to think it intensifies the flavor, but you can employ any coffee-making method with great results. A little bit of cardamom goes a long way - I use 1/8-1/4 tsp for one full French press, which makes about 2-3 8oz cups of coffee.

Cardamom isn’t the only spice you can add to your coffee. I’ve tried all of the following in various itinerations and they’ve all been delicious:

Ground cinnamon
Whole cloves (ground cloves were a bit much for me)
Ground nutmeg
Vanilla

If you like the taste of ginger, you could try dried ginger as well.

Of course, there are other healthy ways to flavor your coffee… but I’ll leave that for another post, because it’ll give me an excuse to talk about coffee some more!

It’s QUICK: just as quick to add a spice before you brew as it is to add flavored creamer afterwards.

What could be EASY-er?

It is CHEAPer by far than purchasing the bottles of flavored creamer, or flavored syrups.

It is so much HEALTHY-er, too. No hydrogenated oils, no artificial colors or flavors, no preservatives, and most importantly, no margarine.

Picture from Autopilot at Wikipedia.

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Easy Cold Brewed Coffee

May 7, 2010 By Anne Simpson

For my birthday recently, I was given quite a bit of cash, so I spent it wisely and used a portion on a new French press. I was deeply in love with my old French press when, alas, it fell off the counter and onto the floor, shattering in a million pieces. I promptly ordered a replacement online, not realizing that my replacement was only large enough to make one (espresso-sized) serving at a time. Oops. Not wanting to waste anymore money on my addiction, I settled for a regular old drip machine that I acquired at a swap party. I was happy enough, but you can bet the first thing I bought with my birthday money was a nice, brand-spanking-new large French press.

It’s a beautiful thing.

And with my beautiful new coffee press, I decided to try something new, at least new to me: cold-brewed coffee. One of my favorite hot-weather drinks is iced coffee (iced tea is a close second), which I usually make with chilled regular coffee and milk. It’s much easier, though, if the coffee is cool to begin with! Cold-brewed coffee can be kind of a tricky process, but not if you have a French press! Using a press eliminates the need for multiple jars, strainers, spoons and what-have-you and really simplifies the process.

Here’s what you do:
1. At night, before you go to bed, place ground coffee in the French press. The amount depends on how much you want to make and how strong you want it to be, but the general rule is 1 part coffee to 4 parts water.

2. Add lukewarm water to the ground coffee. Gently stir the coffee grounds and water together, and place the plunger on top (don’t push it down).

3. In the morning, push down the plunger. Pour the coffee over ice and add milk or cream to taste.

The only trouble with cold-brewed coffee is that there is no way to dissolve sugar in it. Many people find that iced coffee doesn’t require sweetener, and you might also find that the cold-brewed method results in a less acidic and less bitter coffee that doesn’t rely on sugar to render it more palatable. If it’s really not sweet enough for you, here are a few options:

1. Try stevia. It’s now sold in regular grocery stores under several different labels. It’s a natural calorie-free sugar replacement that dissolves easily in cold liquids.

2. Honey will dissolve to a certain extent in cool or lukewarm liquids, but you will probably still end up with a small pile of it at the bottom of your glass.

3. Simple syrup (try this lavender flavored kind), which is often used in iced tea, can also be used in iced coffee. It’s also easy to make: just boil equal parts water and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved. Pour the desired amount of syrup into your coffee.

4. Use sweetened condensed milk to both replace the milk or cream and to add sweetness. It will also add an additional taste to your coffee, so you may not like this if you’re a coffee purist. However, many people all around the world drink coffee with sweetened condensed milk as a matter of course, so it’s a very popular option.

Is it QUICK? Well, certainly in terms of time, cold-brewed coffee is not as quick as any hot-brewed method. However, because you can put it together and let it sit overnight, all the work is done while you are sleeping, and you can wake up with a nice refreshing glass of iced coffee. If you forget or can’t set it going at night, just keep in mind it needs at least 3 hours to steep, just in time for an afternoon pick-me-up.

It’s certainly EASY! It is just as easy as making regular hot-brewed coffee in the French press. Even easier, because you do not have to heat the water. And as I mentioned, using the French press eliminates the need for dirtying extra dishes and the messy process of straining.

It’s just as CHEAP as any kind of coffee. It’s certainly cheaper than purchasing iced coffee at your local coffee shop.

The eternal debate: Is coffee HEALTHY? I have read reports of numerous studies about the affects of coffee and caffeine on the body, and despite the arguments that persist, they all seem to arrive at the same conclusion: coffee (and caffeine) in moderate amounts (no more than 2-3 cups a day) has no negative effect on the body and in some cases may have a positive effect. To your health!