Flourless Black Bean Brownie

Katt, you inspired this. You made black bean brownies early in this blog, but did not go into much detail about it. I was intrigued, and became even more motivated when I discovered that it will not only taste just like a moist rich brownie, but that it would not need flour. Seeing that I have been obsessed with desserts lately, this is the perfect recipe for me: lots of omega 3 and antioxidants for the babe.

As always I added some of my own twists to make it extra special and unique from the other recipes out there. For one, I added some brewed coffee instead of water to liquify the mixture. Coffee and cinnamon make chocolate taste richer, and you can add in in small amounts to just accent the cocoa flavor.

Ingredients:

• one 15 oz can of black beans – rinse and drain
• A few tablespoons of crushed flax seed
• A few tablespoons of coconut oil
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• a couple splashes of coffee to moisten mixture
• Dash or two of cinnamon
• Walnuts to taste
• 1 egg (optional – flax is a replacement if you blend it )

Black beans rinsed. Mixture of coconut oil, flax seed and beans in my food processor.

Rinse and drain beans, put them in the food processor. Add vanilla, sugar, coconut oil, flax, coffee and cocoa. I know, it is a lot, but my processor could take it. Blend til mixed. Don’t forget the egg (optional with the flax), salt and baking powder. This will fluff it up.

If you want the vegan version of this brownie check out how to make  a flax egg here:

http://www.veganbaking.net/recipes/egg-replacers/flax-seed-egg-replacer

the mixture on the right. Should not be as thick as frosting – maybe just a bit moister. On the right, in the pan and ready to go with walnuts on top. You can add semi sweet chips too.

Spread mixture into a 9″ pie pan and sprinkle on nuts. I pressed them into the batter slightly. Place in the oven about mid height for 20-25 min on 350. let set afterwards for 30 min. It will be super moist, so serve gently. Yum!

Sesame Noodles with Shrimp

Arlo taking a nap while I get my ingredients in order

Heya Katt,

I received a text from Duane yesterday asking “any ideas for dinner?” It has been difficult to cook every night so I thought about something that I could make a lot of and might last a few days. Sesame noodles. I looked at many recipes, warm, cool, taste variations. From all of these I created the best of my own, which can be prepared as a warm or chilled dish. Keep in mind that the combination of these ingredients are to taste – you should decide how spicy, verses sweet, versed tangy you want your sauce. Also decide how saucy you want this dish to be. The sesame oil is pretty strong in flavor, as well as the soy, so you may want to start with smaller portions in the beginning.

Ingredients:

• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 package of linguini or noodle of choice
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• 1 bunch of scallions/green onions (6ish)
• 6 cloves of chopped garlic
• 2 bunches of broccoli
• Fresh ginger (to taste) peeled and finely grated
• 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds (or more!)
• 1 tsp of chili sauce
• 1/4 soy sauce
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 canola oil
• 1/4 sesame oil
• 3 packed tablespoons of brown sugar

Start with some noodle – Linguini is a great choice for me, but you can use any noodles of your choice.

On the right: Bell pepper, scallions, cilantro, toasted sesame seeds

In a medium bowl chop up 1 bell pepper, cilantro to taste (bunch) 6 scallions, and pour in some toasted sesame seeds.

heated mixtures

In a warm skillet combine sesame oil, canola oil, chili sauce, brown sugar, soy sauce and rice vinegar. Add chopped garlic and grated fresh ginger. Cook for a few minutes then add the well chopped broccoli. Cover and cook for 5-7 min. Don’t over cook the broccoli, it should be somewhat crunchy.

add cocktail shrimp

Pour the mixture over the pasta, and add cooked peeled shrimp. mix very well. I added more toasted sesame seeds and chopped cilantro at the end. Place in the fridge for one hour, or serve warm.

Here it is all served up. Gotta go stoke the fire…

La La, Frittata

Arlo with hand knit sweater from friend – may be another month or two before it fits at the rate he is growing! A view of our fields outside the living room window, makes me want to eat some protein.

Hey Katt, I have to say I very much enjoyed your roast post, and it will definitely spawn a rich stew in the coming days. My mom also made something similar which my sister and I un-appreciate-tively called ‘sewer soup’. But we ate it anyway and I am certain it benefited us greatly. I find it amazing that you can make such a thing on a boat – and I can imagine it helped to fortify you two admist the hauling and shoveling (scrubbing, screwing and unscrewing etc.) (;

Not that I am trying to advertise in this blog, but I find that seeing ingredients is a nice visual guide – plus I like certain products quite a lot and living in a small town in southeastern Ohio makes it difficult to get access to certain things. At the same time we are fortunate to have some great local/regional products. Fisher is presenting the Snowville Creamery Whole Milk that we practically live on. Only the good stuff in the ingredients – and their yogurt is awesome too. These cheeses on the right added a nice touch to the frittata, ricotta is something I have been cooking with a lot lately.

Ingredients: all into a 9″ ceramic pie pan

• 5 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup ricotta mixed with one egg and 1/2 cup grated Romano/Parmesan cheese
• Large fresh  mozzarella ball
• finely chopped Asparagus (5-6 branches)
• 1 large clove chopped
• Scoop or two of basil or tomato pesto
• red pepper flakes, salt and pepper

Yup, basically I mixed five eggs together with 3/4 cup of milk and finely chopped asparagus, chopped garlic, and basil pesto. I tore up the fresh mozzarella and mixed together half of the ricotta with an egg. I added some freshly and finely grated Romano Parmesan into the ricotta mixture. The cheeses are placed into the egg and asparagus mixture in lumps. Sprinkle top with dill, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper.

It is a light and fluffy, yet creamy/cheesy savory pie. Also low carb, Duane calls it a crust-less quiche. It was cooked on 350 for about 35-40 min – it will smell ready and fluff up and get a little toasty around the edges.

This one is from last week – the same process but the mixture involves 3 cups of finely chopped fresh spinach, garlic, red pepper flakes and some thinly sliced tomatoes on top for zest. I may have also thrown in a few sun dried tomatoes. Enjoy!

Pressure Cooked Pot Roast

This is my winter boat version of your Roasted Root Veggies.  Growing up in an Irish family, meat and potatoes were the steady mainstay of our meals. One of the most memorable versions of this was my Mom’s  pot roast with potatoes, carrots and onions. Often she made it in the slow cooker, filling the crock pot the night before, so in the morning with only a flip of a switch dinner was started. Other times she would use a pressure cooker with a heavy weighted top on the lid. Going in the kitchen while she pressure cooked was always an intense experience. Her nervously yelling to “STAND BACK!!! IT COULD BLOW!!!” as she raised the weight off the lid and a plume of steam came venting out. This may be why I was first hesitant to learn pressure cooking, but now that I have – I love it! It’s perfect for boat cooking, because of its fast cooking time that still tastes slow cooked, it doesn’t need to plug-in, it uses less fuel and the lid locks so even at sea, it can’t spill, burn you and otherwise make a mess.

Before and after cooking.

Almost nothing could be easier. Simple food, with simple and versatile ingredients. I put a 3 LB Rump Round Roast in the bottom of my pressure cooker venting tray (a little lid with vents on the bottom of the pressure cooker pot). Salt & Pepper meat.

IMPORTANT STEP: You have to add liquid to the pot to create the steam that does the pressure cooking. Add enough liquid to come up just under the vent lid (1 – 2 cups). You can use any liquid you want, but in this stew I used Tawny Port Red Wine, a  sweet dessert wine I got as a gift from work. It made an amazing gravy with it’s complex flavors.

Dice up your veggies to a uniform size. I used hearty root vegetables that hold up well to the cooking time: Onion, Carrot, Parsnip, Sweet Potato, Red Potatoes, Celery (I forgot Garlic). Fill up the pot with as much as space will allow. I threw in dried Rosemary I have left over from the miniature herb cone that was my Christmas tree this year.

To cook I turn the flame up to Med-High till the weight on the lid begins to dance around, then turn it down to Med-Low for 20 min. After 20 minutes I turn the flame off, but it continues to cook until the pressure comes down enough to unlock the lid, another 20-30 minutes.

I scooped out the veggies, and put the meat on a carving board. In a cup I mixed 2 Tbsp of Cornstarch with water till it blended smooth. Turn the heat back on the remaining juices and bring to a simmer. Slowly stir in the cornstarch mixture, constantly stirring the gravy for 5 min. You’ll notice it change consistency and color, thickening up when it is ready.

Filled up a big bowl with meat, veggies and gravy and serve with a crusty warm bread for sopping it all up. A spoonful of horseradish is an excellent complimentary condiment. We warm our’s on the fireplace. Hearty and plenty of left overs.

Roasting marshmallows

Hey Katt, wish you could have joined us Saturday for a marsh mellow roasting party. Duane got the bon fire going and we found jumbo mash mallows at the supermarket. No frills, just the mellow melt. yum. Here is one of our friends from Iran trying out her first all American puff ‘perfectly roasted’ although there is a wide range of opinions about the perfectly roasted marshmallow. Some like a little black from the fire. I am partial toward the evenly brown toasted.

It started off a snowy day and then the sun came out and melted most of it away. Here is Arlo in the foreground with our friend Annie. I made sure he was bundled up – and he practically looked like a marshmallow. Not to be roasted of course.

Makin’ Pies

Hey Lori,

The holidays have come and gone and I neglected to keep up with posting some of the delectible treats made and devoured in that time, including my visit with you when Arlo was born, how naughty! So let me start back with a few photos of the pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin pie we made in December. I can’t recall the recipe but it sure was good.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What’s up Katt – I had to add this pic of Mei Mei and how we made this delicious pie.

Ingredients:

• All butter pie crust
• one 15 oz can of pumpkin
• one 8 oz box of cream cheese
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons spice chai mix (optional)
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 2 tsp cinnamon and nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla

Mix flour, pumpkin, spices, vanilla in a small bowl. In large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Gradually beat in brown sugar and 2/3 cup granulated sugar until smooth. On low speed, beat in 1 egg at a time just until blended. Gradually beat in pumpkin mixture until smooth. Pour filling over crust. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes or until set but center of cheesecake still jiggles slightly when moved. Turn oven off; open oven door at least 4 inches. Let cheesecake remain in oven 30 minutes

Miracle Blueberry Muffins

Hey Katt, it is a miracle that I found the time to make these blueberry muffins and that they turned out so well. I highly recommend this recipe. It consists of a batter and a crumble. For the batter I used three times the blueberries, frozen and organic and it worked out really well (original recipe asks for one lame cup of fresh blueberries). The crumble is butter, spice and flour forked together (what fun) but I added some chopped walnuts and vanilla. Do what you like.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup (1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1/3 cup milk). Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Here is Arlo just about to go into town saying “make more muffins mom!”. They are light and fluffy, and crunchy on top.