🏷️ eating in

Do you think raw applesauce as in
1. Chop apples
2. Blend it like hell.

Will work as well as regular applesauce as a substitute for butter? I have successfully used store-bought applesauce almost completely as a butter substitute but I don't feel like buying those small sealed applesauce plastic cups. And I don't want to take all the time to make "authentic' boiled-in-a-saucepan applesauce.

What do you think? Has anyone tried just using raw applemash as a butter substitute?

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EDIT:
The Original Recipe of the Speculoos for 6 biscuits contains:
8 oz Unbleached All-purpose Flour
5 oz Sugar Dark Brown
5 oz Butter
4 tbsp whole milk
1 tsp Baking Soda
2/5 tsp Cinnamon Ground
2/5 tsp Nutmeg, Ground
2/5 tsp Cloves, Ground
2/5 tsp Ginger, Ground
2/5 tsp Ground Black Pepper

with these crazy Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 speculoos
Amount per Serving
Calories..................324
Calories from Fat.....168.8
% Daily Value for a 2000 calorie diet
Total Fat..................18.76g (28%)
Saturated Fat...........11.93g (59%)
Cholesterol...............51.46mg (17%)
Sodium..................180.47mg (7%)
Total Carbohydrate...36.22g (12%)
Dietary Fiber..............0.18g (0%)
Sugars....................20.51g

Protein......................2.37g (4%)

Estimated Percent of Calories from:
Fat====52%
Carbs==44%
Protein==2%

That would be like eating 118% saturated fat in ONE biscuit.

Alternative ingredients to the Belgian Speculoos
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg

The best way to beat cramps is by increasing calcium intake. I know that yogurt is the BEST way to get calcium in my diet but I keep forgetting to eat yogurt and end up with the most vicious of cramps.

I can get 80% calcium in one little 8oz serving of Yogurt! I am going to burn this figure into my teeny brain. So the next time I am making excuses about there not being an ideal calcium source, I can come here and see plain facts staring me in face.

Plain low fat Yogurt
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 8 oz (227g)

Calories.......................150
Calories from Fat.......30

Amount Per Serving and/or % Daily Value for a 2000 calorie diet

Total Fat........................3 g (5%)
Saturated Fat.................2 g (10%)
Trans Fat.......................0 g
Cholesterol...................20 mg (7%)
Sodium.......................190 mg (8%)
Potassium...................560 mg (16%)
Total Carbohydrate........17 g (6%)
Dietary Fiber...................0 g (0%)
Sugars.........................17 g
Protein.........................11 g (22%)
Vitamin A.....................20%
Vitamin C......................6%
Calcium........................40%
Iron...............................0%
Vitamin D......................35%
Riboflavin......................20%
Vitamin B12..................15%
Phosphorus..................20%

Is Lindt 85% Dark chocolate.

It is probably the only chocolate bar at Walgreens (@Delaware & North) that does not have cloying amounts of sugar and soy lecithin and whatnots that yuck-ify all dark chocolate.

It would have been awesome had they carried the 90% Lindt or even the 85% Valrhona, but they don't. So in their whole dark chocolate inventory, Lindt 85% easily stands heads and shoulders above all the rest.

And yes, I have now sampled each and every single dark chocolate bar they carry or have ever carried (some of them multiple times) so I declare myself a Walgreens (@Delaware & North) dark chocolate expert.

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PS: I admit that I am not a Walgreens (@Delaware & North) expert in chocolate bars other than the dark ones - because I think all non-dark chocolate is mediocre by definition.

I have been learning a lot about stainless steel cookware these past few days. The best guide to pots and pans on the whole internet is arguably this page:

Apparently, when you are buying stainless steel pots and pans, it better to get tri-ply construction for the entire pan (bottom as well as walls) instead of an encapsulated bottom alone. Food is more likely to burn or cook non-uniformly where the encapsulation ends.

According to most cooking pan guides I read through, a complete copper tri-ply with stainless steel is the best type of cooking pan construction but is quite impractical for people on a budget. It is almost like buying a pan made fully out of one of the "precious" metals. The next best thing is aluminium tri-ply construction.

Riveted handles are better. So are pots and pans made of 18/10 (Chromium/Nickel) stainless steel.

Looks like satisfies pretty much all of those criteria... and doesn't break the budget.

My coffeemaker broke LONG ago and I didn't really want to get another coffeemaker because I drink so little coffee anyway. So usually I try one of the million ways of making coffee without a coffeemaker as documented on the net by various random people whose coffeemaker has suffered a fate similar to mine or who are between broken coffeemakers or out camping or don't drink coffee but want to make coffee for their visiting in-laws etc. etc. I think I must be up to at least the 50th way of making coffee without a coffeemaker since mine broke.

Anyway, I was walking down Elmwood when I saw a Melitta coffee-making funnel in a shop window.


I have seen the funnel before but this time as I walked home, realization finally dawned that it is just a glorified version of the average coffeemaker filter basket.


I threw away my coffeemaker framework away when it stopped working but I had re-purposed the filter basket for filtering out water from steamed chickpeas, kidney beans, navy beans, lima beans, edamame and other big beans. I just dug it out, put a paper coffee filter in it (any fine muslin cloth will work), poured in some coffee grounds, just-off-the-boil water and et voilà! I have perfect coffee!

So don't throw those filter baskets away. They make even better coffee than your formerly working coffeemaker. Best of all, the cleanup is super easy. Just wash it as you would any other dish in the sink. No pores to unclog with vinegar etc. When not making coffee, you can always use it to filter water out from steamed big beans.

I was absolutely obsessed with the smell of cranberries all week and was determined to have a cranberry-themed dinner today so I created this eccentric-combination warm open sandwich from scratch. I also went slightly crazy at the coop and bought many new things including a mango and ginger cheese that I melted on this sandwich.



It is out-of-the-world delicious! I wish there were more... It's been a while since I went this elaborate in Buffalo. (I need to blog about the 5 day housewarming cooking marathon I indulged in NYC later...) Before I forget, I need to write down what I did.

1. Finally baked the super-sour-almost-alcoholic bread today using up the 12-grain & quinoa sourdough starter from around a month back. Didn't throw away the top layer of alcohol that had formed on the sourdough starter. As a result the bread was caramelized in places and the flavour is pretty intense. The sourness of the bread equals that of an extremely sharp cheese crossed with sour cream or maybe feta. I also added cranberries and raisins into the dough during the 2nd rising because I thought the sourness might be overpowering. It's quite amazing at how well these dried fruits go along with the super-sour bread.

2. Sliced and toasted a couple slices of the bread in the oven at 350 deg F till the surface went a slightly darker brown (the bread itself was super brown to start with).

3. Added an even layer of super-thin sliced ripe heirloom tomatoes over the toasted bread, followed by a layer of thinly sliced mango and ginger cheese and thin slices of garlic.

4. Put it back in the oven till the cheese JUST melted over the tomatoes, sprinkled a slight hint of rosemary, and drizzled a whisked dressing of extra virgin olive oil and tamari soy sauce (bulk from the coop).

5. Added a whole thinly sliced jalapeño and green bell peppers, thinly sliced red onions and finely chopped cilantro followed by another layer of the mango and ginger cheese and a generous number of dried cranberries and a good sprinkle of hand-ground celtic sea salt (part of the crazy run at the coop).

6. Back in the oven till the cheese completely melted and browned in places and semi-caramelized the red onion.

7. Added even more cranberries after serving on plate. Sprinkled with a dash of pepper and nutritional yeast (Another crazy new trial from the coop. It was slightly funny at first but it kept on getting better and better after a couple bites... Went really went as a dressing to this open sandwich)

Enjoy with Earl Grey, Hot*. ;-)

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PS: Mighty Leaf Organic Earl Grey*: Not really my favourite. Actually, I think it tastes pretty weak and does not come up to my standards of what Earl Grey should be like. Next time, I will stick to Ahmad's or Hedley's.

PPS: The Mango and Ginger cheese is an excellent find!

PPPS: @paul, they are discontinuing the Herbmare original flavour salt at the coop and have the medium bottles on sale for $5 if you haven't noticed already. I kept thinking that I should probably get a bottle but forgot in all the excitement of the "crazy coop run"

Soups are perhaps my most favourite kind of food. I really want a deep three-quart saucepan because I want to make them really fast and more often. When a soup is really thick, the large shallow all-purpose frying pan I use for soups now does nothing to prevent splattering all over the kitchen wall near the stove. I end up having to wipe down the entire kitchen in addition to other cleaning up. It's such a waste of time even though it does keep the kitchen cleaner than it would be if not for this unfortunate soup-pan mismatch.

I am a bit torn over several awesome saucepans on Amazon. I definitely want an all stainless steel body and interior. So all anodized, non-sticks and enamels are out. I am not a very careful or gentle dishwasher so glass lids are out. I am pretty sure I will eventually break them and slice my hand open or maybe both.

I am attracted towards cast iron saucepans but I don't think I actually have the patience to do all the maintenance that a pre-seasoned finish requires. When I see a cast iron pot in any sink, my cleaning OCD kicks in. I know I will end up scrubbing all the seasoning out every time. That sort of defeats the purpose of having a seasoned cast iron pan. And of course, I doubt if I have the muscles to handle the weight of a 3 quart cast iron pot.

So after some elimination, I am staring at this: the 3 quart Norpro Krona Stainless Steel Saucepan:



But sigh. It has only two rather non-specific vague reviews. Do you think this saucepan is worth $35?

at Amazon is apparently this weird looking thing called the Trudeau Bottle Cap Catcher:



REALLY?! Since when did the people shopping for kitchen stuff on Amazon find the desperate need to catch beverage caps top of their priorities? There is not a single review for the #1 bestselling item in kitchen and dining on Amazon. Was some company responsible for the bulk of the sales and gave these silly things away as corporate gifts to their entire workforce... And everyone was like "eh?" so they didn't bother reviewing?

What's even more unbelievable is that it was just released on 15th March this year and beat out every saucepan and frying pot on the site in 3 months? Does that sound reasonable?


Totally ludicrous.

You might think roasting almonds is no big deal, right? You just toss them in a skillet or pan on high or medium heat, wait till they are slightly brownish or maybe put them on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 350-400 degree F and they are done.

But you are dead WRONG. Neither of those methods will EVER give you the tastiest roasted almonds EVAH at home.

THIS IS THE SECRET RECIPÉ!!!!! Tattoo it on your arm if you must.

1. Get a stainless steel cookie sheet. Yes, these are seriously the BEST kind, as I am finding out.
2. Spread natural unroasted raw almonds in an even layer on the stainless steel cookie sheet.
3. Crank up the oven to a low 200 to a max of 220 degree F.
4. Set the oven timer to 2 hours. NO less than 2 full hours.
5. Toss the almonds somewhere around the midway 1 hour mark.
6. Wait for 1 hour more and turn off the oven. Don't take the almonds out. Let them cool in the oven on the cookie sheet.
7. Devour the TASTIEST roasted almonds you will have EVER eaten!!

I read this technique in some vegan cookbook long back but I always went the impatient route. I realize now (having slow roasted them on low heat) just how many pounds of non-awesome roasted almonds I must have eaten over the years.

Non-awesome roasted almonds NO MORE!!!

How many of you cook in cast iron pans and pots? What do you cook in them?

My parents have always made their flatbreads and dosais in cast iron skillets. I always thought they were too unwieldy, uncomfortably heavy and have never wanted them. But my mum pointed out recently that she has nice biceps and I don't, possibly because I cook in light cheap cookware. I don't think that is the sole reason though... but I want to give cast-iron a shot anyway.

If not rippling muscle-building, they might atleast help me brown vegetables and tofu more efficiently and give me some extra iron that I always need.

So what do you guys think? Do you have cast iron pots that you use in your kitchen frequently?