Savory Archives - Baking With Unicorns

It’s Been Too Long!!!

May 26, 2015 by Baking Unicorn Leave a Comment

Hello! Hello!
I am ashamed that it has been so long since my last post. WORST! SORRY!!
I have been crazy busy with school and stuffs and haven’t had time to bake, much less post about baking.
What could I possibly be doing that would take time away from baking? A valid question.

Color Run!

As my last post mentioned, I was taking another yoga training. That is all done now, but certainly took more time from life than I originally anticipated. OOPS! But in the end, it was worth it as I’m now teaching yogas again! YAY! Once the training ended, it was right into midterms! And then apparently, after midterms, the semester gets even harder, and it’s all a lil Unicorn can do to keep his head above the sea of papers and projects that need to be completed by the end of the semester. Additionally, I decided to partake in 2 races, one at the end of April and one at the beginning of May, so training took up a fair bit of time as well (But was worth it as the races went quite well!)

Spartan Unicorns!

But that’s all over now and I’m finally able to take some time to bake and blog about it. There is just one small complication… I currently don’t have a kitchen to bake in. Renovations started the week of finals and continue on. There was once talk of having things done the first week of June…. Something tells me we’re nowhere near that point, but hey! What do I know? So needless to say, the below recipe required very little baking and is actually not a baked good at all. But so it must go until an oven and stove top reappear in my life. Thank you to my mom for sending me a hot plate! This recipe wouldn’t have been possible without that as I need it to boil water on.

Before getting to the recipe, however, I would like to mention this video/song: Leona Lewis “Fire Under My Feet”

I discovered it this afternoon while reading some papers for work. LOVE IT!!!
I had been pondering what video I wanted to place in this post, but after hearing this song there was no question about it. I’m really hoping Leona makes a comeback with this one. Some other contenders for the video spot were:
RuPaul’s “Geronimo“- mostly I just wish I could move my ass like that.
Gin Wigmore’s “Black Sheep“- I heard this in NYC and loved it.
Miley and Ariana’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over“- I was surprised to learn it was the two of them singing. Quite lovely!

There are other songs I could throw on this list, most of which helped get me through the crazy that was this past semester (not bad crazy, but definitely crazy), but in the interest of not posting my entire playlist, I’ll cap it here. So onto the “baking ” part of the post.

I made this tabbouleh for a Memorial day party. Course I would have preferred to bake something, but again, no oven, no baking. So I went with the tabbouleh, mostly because I had just had a delicious tabbouleh at my friend’s restaurant and wanted to see if I could re-create it. I did not do the best job, but it turned out pretty good in the end. I think I need to work on my bulghur wheat cooking abilities. Next time I will use less water when soaking the bulghur wheat to allow it to be less like a mush and more like individual grains. On a side note, other than the bulghur and lemon, the ingredients came from the local farmers market which gives me some odd degree of satisfaction (and also makes it cost alot more).

Tabbouleh
gently based on the recipe my friend gave me and this

Ingredients:
1 cup Bulghur Wheat
1 1/2 cups boiling water
zest of 1 lemon1/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 bunch (~1 cup) Scallions (minced)
1 bunch (~1 cup) mint leaves
2 bunch (~2 cup) parsley
1 cucumber
3 medium tomatoes
Salt and Pepper

1. Combine water, lemon juice, olive oil and ~1 teaspoon of salt together. Then add in blughur wheat, stir, cover, and allow to sit for an hour (again, I think I would use 1 1/4 cups water next time).

2. While the wheat cooks, chop up all ingredients and place in a large bowl. Once the wheat is done, add to the chopped ingredients and combine! Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Allow to chill for at least 2 hours in the fridge to allow the wheat to cool off. Can let it sit longer if you want. I think the flavor significantly improves after it sits for a bit. I left mine overnight and was very happy I did so.

4. Enjoy with pita bread! Or just eat it out of the bowl like I did in the end.

Rosemary, Limes, and Car Trouble

June 10, 2014 by Baking Unicorn Leave a Comment

Sigh.

I’m currently sitting at the side of a pool in Costa Rica. Today is the last full day at the resort I’ve been at. Then, it’s checking out and hoping our flights get us back to the states. It’s been a wonderful time here, with my friend Rose, though not without a few bumps along the way. Our first day here, we both got a bit too much sun. OUCH! The next day, we decided the BEST plan was to drive to a volcano and hot spring park where we could go zip lining. Google said it was 2 1/2 hours away. Lies. Turned out to be 3 1/2 hours. On top of the added hour of driving, we hit a pot hole on our way there and POP goes the tire. Course we didn’t know it was popped, so we kept driving on it for about 30-40 minutes on a dirt road till we got to our destination. OOOPS! Course we waited to change it until after zip lining. Seemed like a fine plan, except that it started to rain on us as we changed the tire. Grumph! BUT, at least we proved to ourselves that we could change a tire! YAY! Life Skills. After changing the tire, it was another 3 1/2 hours back to the resort, about 1 hour of which was in torrential rain. It’s always comforting to see the car in front of you nearly make a head on collision with the oncoming truck. But we survived!!!!

The following day (yesterday), Rose and I woke up early and excited to go to an animal sanctuary. We were told this would be an easy 30 minute drive away. I cannot confirm how far away the sanctuary actually was for us, as we never made it there. Definitely over 30 minutes away though. While on a dirt path to what we thought would lead to the sanctuary, the gas light started blinking. AH!!! Somehow the gas meter went from having 3 notches of gas to having 1 blinking notch! We decided to just keep on going as turning back meant going back along this dirt path we had been on for 20 minutes with no turnoffs. About 5 minutes after noting the gas problem, we came to a Botanical Garden and Waterfall Tour spot. We stopped to ask directions and use the bathroom and were told that 1) there’s no animal sanctuary on the road ahead, 2) there’s no gas station on the road ahead, and 3) the closest gas station was probably 5-10 minutes from where we initially turned onto the dirt road. What fun! Somehow we made it to the gas station without having to push the car there.

But in all honesty, it’s been a wonderful trip. I couldn’t ask for a better travel partner than Rose. We have had a great time, getting massages, drinking and relaxing by the pool, driving around, and enjoying NOT being at our respective jobs. To my excitement, we have seen some adorable iguanas, a gecko or two, and a frog. Sadly, I haven’t seen any red-eyed tree frogs, my favorite frog EVER, and native to Costa Rica. Admittedly, they are nocturnal, and we have been going to bed rather early, so that may be playing some sort of factor. Maybe.

Though it’s gonna be sad to leave, on the bright side, it’s gotten us jazzed up to do this again next year. I’m hoping to convince her that a 10 day biking tour of the Italian coast is the best idea ever…fingers crossed!

In baking news, the recipe below was made the day before we left for Costa Rica. I had planned on bringing them on the plane with me, however that failed epically. They were all gone that night, with nothing left to bring in my bag. Ooops! Guess that means they were tasty. The idea for these guys came from a drink I had at Harlem Public a few weeks ago. It had rosemary, lime, and cucumber in it, and i loved it! And I felt those flavors would be delicious in a scone, so I played a bit with a recipe I found many moons ago from one of my favorite cooking blogs, UseRealButter.com.

Rosemary-Lime Scones
Inspired by This

Ingredients:
2 cups flour+ extra for dusting
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5-7 sprigs of rosemary
2 limes
1 small cucumber
3 oz butter
6 oz heavy cream
2 egg yolks
1 cup confectioners sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment/silpat.

2. combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Remove the rosemary leaves from the stems and dice the leaves. Add to flour mixture. Then zest (is that a verb?) the two limes and add zest (it’s definitely a noun!) to flour mixture.

3. Place butter and flour mixture in food processor and pulse until mixture resembles small crumbs. The butter should be well incorporated at this point, with no huge butter chunks present. Place this mixture into medium bowl again. In a small bowl, combine egg yolks and cream, beating with fork until well combined. Add this to the flour mixture and mix with the fork. The dough will probably be pretty sticky, but should not be clinging to side of bowl.

4. Dust prepared baking sheet with flour. My exact measurement was 2 small hand fulls. Turn dough out onto floured surface and begin to knead dough with hands until all the dusted flour is combined into dough and dough is no longer sticky. Shape dough into a square (or a circle if you like) and then cut into 8 pieces, using the diagonals (if you chose to shape into a square). Space out scones on the baking sheet and then bake for 16-18 minutes.

5. Once scones are done baking, allow to cool thoroughly. While scones are cooling, juice the cucumber and the (now zestless) limes. I used a small juicer I have. If no juicer is readily available, then juice the limes by hand, then place the lime juice and cucumber (chopped into chunks) in food processor and blend until cucumber is completely pureed. Allow the juice to settle, so the the non juice parts float to the top, allowing you to scoop it off. Mix confectioners sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of the juice, combining until there are no more lumps of sugar. Add more juice until desired consistency is achieved. Finally, drizzle icing over the scones.

6. EAT IT ALL UP!!!!

Not baking… but yummy!

February 1, 2014 by Baking Unicorn Leave a Comment

Sorry for my delay in posting anything. It’s been a busy month, despite being on break from school for most of it. I just got back from an interview with the Movement Science Program at Washington University in St Louis. It was great! Two more interviews to go!

On my way to St Louis and back (and ever since to be honest) I was listening to “Cannonball” by Lea Michelle. Overall, it’s a terrible song, but I like her voice. The video (below) is rather boring and unimaginative. I was hoping that she would turn into a cannonball or something interesting like that, but alas, no. She’s in an attic… At least she could have exploded or something, shattering the roof of the attic. Regardless of her video, I enjoy the song’s rhythm and her vocals.

Additionally, I would like to comment on Pink’s Grammy performance last Sunday. I know it’s a week later, and everyone is probably over it, but I’M NOT! I tried to find a good video of it on YouTube, but failed. Look it up yourself if you didn’t see it, or just sit back and take a moment to recall how amazing it was. Sigh…..

Onto the food that I’ve made. I was inspired to make this food after going to an Indian restaurant with my friend. The chana masala was amazing, and their gluten free chickpea roti was DERRRRICIOUS! Just thinking about it makes me hungry! Anyway, I made this a few days ago (but am only getting to posting now), and at that time I was on an “anti-yeast” diet. So nothing fermented (wine was out which made me cry) and no bread. Also no yogurt or cultured foods. No Cheese!!! Randomly, no onions, beets, oranges, garlic, or sugar that wasn’t in other fruits. I was pretty much a vegan who couldn’t even eat bread. TORTURE!! Additionally, I did a lil research and found nothing that really supported this diet as being a useful means of helping joint problems (my doc and I had an exchange of words). I’m off it now, but this recipe comes from that time, which is why it’s not an actual baked good. Baking was too depressing when you can’t eat sugar or butter. Even this recipe had to be modified because of the onion and garlic restriction. If you choose to make this dish, I would suggest adding in the onion and garlic, but it’s quite yummy without as well.

Aloo Gobi
inspired by this!

Ingredients:
1/4 cut olive oil
1 onion (optional)
1 bunch of cilantro, divided into stalks and leaves
2 small jalapenos (This is what I used, but would have preferred serrano)
1 head cauliflower
3 medium red potatoes
5 Roma Tomatoes
Fresh grated ginger
Fresh garlic (optional)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons garam masala

How to make:
1. Chop onion (optional), cauliflower, potatoes, and tomatoes into small cubes. Dice garlic (optional), cilantro (leaves and stems divided), and jalapenos. Keep everything divided into bowls.

2. Heat oil in a large pot. If you’re doing the onions, toss them in now with the cumin seeds and cook until onions become translucent. Or just add the cumin and let is sizzle for ~2 minutes. Next, add in the cilantro stalks, turmeric, tomatoes and jalapenos. Allow to cook in oil for ~1 minute. Then add in ground ginger and garlic. Mix completely. I let it heat up so that it was starting to bubble a little before moving onto the next step.

The Tomato Sauce

3. Add in the cauliflower and potatoes into sauce with ~1/4 cup water. Stir completely, making sure all cauliflower and potato gets covered in the sauce. Then cover the pot with a lid and allow to simmer for ~20 minutes or until the potatoes are easily pierced with fork.

Before Cooking

4. Once cooked through, add in the cilantro leaves and garam masala and mix completely. Remove from heat and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes to let flavors sink in (I found left overs were even more flavorful).

After Cooking

5. Serve with rice and/or lentils. I made a mixture of jasmine rice and french lentils. If you are trying to time things to come out at the same time, when you start heating the oil for the Aloo Gobi, start a large pot of water heating so that it comes to a boil. Use about 8 times as much water as dry rice you intend to cook. Once you put the lid on the Aloo Gobi pot to simmer and cook, throw in your rice into the pot of boiling water. Allow this to boil for the whole time the Aloo Gobi is cooking plus 10 minutes. Then drain rice and BAM! you have rice! (I learned this trick from me mum. No more trying to measure out water and rice perfectly).

WOOT!

A Reenactment… kinda

December 9, 2013 by Baking Unicorn 1 Comment

PHEW! Turkey day is over! Pie have been made. Pies have been eaten. Green Beans have been made (though according to my family, they were “spicy”. LIES! I like to think of them as a pallet cleanser). Green beans have been eaten. Many a bottle of wine, prosecco, and beer have been opened (but not made). Many a bottle of wine, prosecco and beer have been drank (not eaten).
And of course, I documented NONE of it. Of the many things that were baked and cooked and boiled and fried over the Turkey day holiday, I took not a single picture. I did note some recipes, one of which is below!

But let us be perfectly honest, the real reason one celebrates Turkey day is not for the giving of thanks and for having friends and family around you. No no. Admit it. The actual reason that we celebrate Turkey day is because it marks the time of the year when Holiday music becomes acceptable to listen to, on repeat, at full volume. No one can judge you for this because it’s officially the “Holiday Season.” And so of course I did my part in ushering in this season by tapping on the “Christmas!” playlist on my phone and blasting Mariah, J. Simpson, Britney, n*Sync, and several songs from the Broadway Carols album. This music has been playing pretty much nonstop since turkey day. As I type this, I have “winter wonderland” playing in my ears.

I did venture onto iTunes to look for some new music. I recalled that I enjoyed a holiday tune by one of “The Voice” finalists last year, so I went searching for him. Chris Mann is his name, and he has a holiday album. I have yet to buy it, but have listened to most of the songs and find them quite enjoyable. BUT I also found he has a new non-holiday album. I stumbled upon “Unless You Mean it (Remix)” and when it’s not Brit Brit singing about her only wish this year, it’s Chris Mann telling me what I can and cannot say. It’s one of those songs that I will blast in the car and sing at the top of my lungs (and don’t judge me for that. All y’all know you do the exact same thing with your favorite songs.)

OH! and speaking of Brit Brit, she has a new album out. WHAT?!?!?!?!?! I kinda love it. And by kinda, I mean I DO! But by now, you should know that she can do no wrong in my world. NONE!
And Leona Lewis has a pretty fantastic Christmas album out called “Christmas, With Love” I’m hoping that whatever her next album is, it has the stylings of “one more sleep.” LOVE HER!
But enough of my music loving. Let’s move onto the foods!
Now, I admit that this is not a “baked good” exactly. But it was baked in the oven! And it was baked with an ingredient that will be needed for another baking expedition that, if all goes right, will be baked tomorrow. Or Tuesday? Eventually! Anyway, I made these on Thanksgiving Eve, and really enjoyed them. There is a recipe for them, somewhere in my mom’s house. So, sadly I cannot properly credit whoever this recipe comes from, but if you recognize this as your recipe, then lemme know! And thank you for it! T’was delicious!!!!

Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash!
adapted from a recipe by someone awesome!

Ingredients:
2-3 Acorn Squash
1/2 cut quinoa (I used red quinoa this time)
1 small red onion
1 granny smith apple
1 navel orange (original recipe used cranberries)
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (or more. live your life.)
Olive oil
Salt + Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet (I think I technically used a jelly roll pan?) with parchment paper.

2. Wash squash and cut in half. Remove seeds and the extra stringy bits (if you’re feeling thrifty, then you can clean the seeds of the stringy stuff and bake them with some olive oil and seasonings. YUM!). Drizzle a touch of olive oil on cut face of squash and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then spread/rub in the oil/salt/pepper onto entire cut face of squash. Place cut side down onto parchment and place in oven. Let bake for 40-50 minutes. (You’ll notice in my pictures, there’s a pumpkin. That’s cuz I’ll be using the pumpkin in a later recipe!)

3. While the squash is baking, rinse quinoa and then place in saucepan with 1 cup of water, a drop or 3 of olive oil, and salt and pepper. Bring water to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Allow to cook for ~15 minutes. Remove from heat!

4. While the quinoa is doing its simmering thing, chop up the onion and toss into a pan with some olive oil, sauteing until slightly browned. While sauteing, chop up the apple into lil bits. Once the onions are brown-ish, toss in the apple bits and saute for another 7-9 minutes, until apples are soft. The quinoa should be done by now! Place quinoa in a bowl with the apples and onions and mix them together!

5. Peel orange! I tried my best to remove the pith from the orange, so I took a knife to it and scraped the outside, like I was shaving it. Worked pretty well. Then chop up orange into lil bits and add to the quinoa. Throw in some salt and pepper if you wish, and perhaps some red pepper flakes (I did this cuz I like things to burn and make me cry when I eat them. I understand that some people don’t like this sensation. weirdos).

6. Check your squash! They should be easily pierced with a fork. If they are at that stage, then they’re ready for stuffing. Turn squash over and keep on parchment. To the quinoa, add in the cheddar cheese and mix that all up. Then fill the squash with the quinoa mixture. Place squash back in the oven and bake for another 15 or so minutes (or, in my case, whenever you remember that you have put something in the oven and that maybe you should take it out…).

7. EAT!

p.s. HI CECILY!!!! I didn’t realize you read this 😀

The Evolution of Apple Stuff

October 15, 2013 by Baking Unicorn Leave a Comment

I have very strong memories of “Apple Stuff” from childhood. I thought it was delicious!!! (or that’s my memory of it. Perhaps my mom remembers otherwise). If I recall correctly, then Apple Stuff was a recipe that my mom modified from something she found in the newspaper. Quite simply, Apple Stuff is the combination of granny smith apples, raw cashews, and a bit of lemon juice. Throw it all into a food processor to chop it all up, and PRESTO! Apple Stuff!
I made a batch a few weeks ago. Delicious as always and just as I remembered it. As I was munching on my apple stuff, I got to thinking of how this could be incorporated into a baking delight. I started out with thinking of making it into a cheese cake kind of thing, where instead of peanut butter, one uses cashew butter and then adds some caramelized apples on top. This still may happen, but will require a touch more planning and though on my part.
But last Wednesday, we had out weekly lab meeting and there was brie, crackers and grapes. yum! And then it hit me, brie and apples are great together… right? That’s a thing? Maybe? From there, I decided granny smith apples and brie would be excellent together. But a brie cheesecake does not sound delicious to me. That actually sounds terrible and no unicorn in the world would endorse such a thing. So how could I combine brie and apples into a baked good? Course I next went to scone! But I just made a savory scone… Then it hit me, BISCUITS! They’re totally different from scones because they aren’t triangular shaped, right?
So that’s what I have concocted. Brie and Apple Biscuits.
Unfortunately, the brie was super strong, and the apple was not so strong. So they were mostly Brie Biscuits. When I remake these, and I’m sure I will sometime soonish, I’ll probably double my apple and half the brie amount. But what follows below is the recipe that I just used to make this first batch of biscuits!

Brie and Apple Biscuits
modified from J.P.’s Big Daddy Biscuits

Ingredients:
1 medium sized granny smith apple
1/2 lb brie (cold)
2 cups flour + extra for kneading
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter (cold)
1/2 cup milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heavily grease cups of a 12 count cupcake pan. May want to also flour the insides.

2. Place brie on a flour dusted cutting board and have extra flour near by to throw onto brie as you cut it. This helps to separate the brie into distinct cubes as you cut it. Cut the brie into small cubes (~1 cubic centimeter). Place brie cubes, fully separated from one another into a bowl and place back into fridge.

3. Place flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter (cut into ~6 pieces) into food processor and pulse for 20-30 seconds. This will cut up the butter, yielding a coarse cornmeal texture. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

4. Peel granny smith apple, cut into ~8 sections, removing core and seeds. Place this in the food processor and pulse for 20-30 seconds. The consistency of the apple should be like that of a cole slaw. Add apples to the butter/flour mixture. Add in the chilled brie cubes and mix everything together. Slowly add most of the milk. Combine until ball of dough forms. This should be somewhat sticky, but not impossible to handle. If it seems too dry, then add in a little more milk.

5. Turn dough out onto a heavily floured surface and knead for 1-2 minutes. The dough should still be sticky, but not clinging to your fingers and unmanageable. Form dough into a ball and then gently flatten the dough out into a circle that’s 3/4 inch thick. Using a knife, cut the dough into 12 even sections. I did this by first cutting into 4 sections (perpendicular cuts), and then divided each of these 4 quadrants into 3 pieces. Take each wedge and form into a ball. Plop the ball into one of the well greased cupcake cups.

6. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Take out of oven and let cool. I’m not entirely sure how long one should let these cool for. I let them cool for ~5 minutes and then started to take them out of the pan. This was very difficult as the cheese was causing the biscuits to stick to the sides. I’m not sure if this would have been easier if the cheese had cooled. As an alternative, try using cupcake papers next time? Not sure if that would help.

7. Serve warm! Or as my friends Mik and Vani did, serve with pasta topped with eggplant and tomato sauce.

(nom nom… munch)