Raspberry Cobbler

I got this recipe while working at an organic family farm last summer in Hoopa, CA. I tried my first fruit cobbler while there and fell for it immediately. I only ate it once while there, and today was the first day trying out the recipe. It felt like a success after positive reviews from roommates, but next time I'll probably add less lemon juice because part of it felt a bit too tart, and maybe a little less water.

The crust is pretty amazing because of the whole wheat flour though.

Ingredients:
4 cups berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Batter:
1 c sugar
6 Tbsp butter
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c unbleached flour
1 1/4 c milk
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Topping:
1/4 c sugar - this amount of sugar can vary depending on taste.
3 T flour
2 1/2 c water (boiling - add at the end)

1. Put berries in deep dish and sprinkle with lemon juice.
2. Cream butter and 1 c sugar.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Add with milk to make a batter.
4. Spoon batter over berries.
5. Mix 1/4 c sugar and 3 T flour and sprinkle over batter.
6. Pour 2 1/2 cup boiling water over the sugar and batter.
7. Bake at 375 degrees for about 1 hr or until crust is done. This may be made with other berries or fruits.

Tabouli

Ingredients:
3 bunches of parsley
1 c bulgur wheat
2 tomatoes, diced
3-4 persian cucumbers, diced
1-2 bunches green onions, finely chopped
1-2 bunches mint leaves, finely chopped
Salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon juice to taste

1. Soak bulgur wheat in water. Cook 1 c bulgur wheat with 1 c water until water absorbs.
2. Process parsley. Mix with other ingredients and add seasonings to taste. Having a food processor is excellent for ease of finely chopping parsley. Otherwise it can be a nightmare to chop by hand, or by magic bullet - not worth the effort.

Quinoa-Tahini Salad

Courtesy of holyfigtree:

Quinoa is a grain-like seed known for its high protein content.
Ingredients:
1 c dry quinoa
2 c water
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c red onion, diced
1 of ea. yellow, green, red bell pepper diced
2 bunches of cilantro, finely chopped

Tahini dressing:
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/3 c Tahini (stir before measuring)
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin powder or seeds
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1. Bring 2 c water to boil, add quinoa and cover at low simmer for 15 min. It's ready when seed's germ becomes a tiny curl. Drain.
2. Combine quinoa, garbanzo beans, bell peppers, onion, and cilantro.
3. Mix in Tahini dressing.

Couscous Salad

Ingredients:
1.5 c dry couscous
4 Persian cucumbers, diced
cooked garbanzo beans
sliced kalamata olives
1-2 tomatoes, diced
feta cheese

Cook couscous with 1.5 c water. Set aside to cool. Mix everything together and drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt to taste.

Some tantalizing pictures

Shrimp Fettucine with Lemon Sauce and Arugula


Taiwanese Night
Beef Noodle Soup

Dumplings



Indian Night
Dinner Plate


Table setting: Chicken Tikka Masala and Lentil Daal



This is a quick rekap of what we've done together as a cooking club - I hope to find the time later (probably summertime) to post the recipes and stories behind them if I can still remember.

Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

My roommate found this recipe from her magazine, and it was sweet of her to think of my egg allergy and baked them one weekend in January. They are very addicting, mainly because I love the fibery bites of rolled oats mixed with chocolate chips. I should try this recipe with raisins instead of chocolate chips next time, but chocolate is irresistible.

Recipe (courtesy of magazine - not sure of the title)-makes 40 small cookies

2 c walnuts
3 tbsp canola oil (I used grapeseed oil - currently anti canola oil)
1 c light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c oat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 c rolled oats
1 1/2 c chocolate chips

1. Blend the walnuts in a food processor. When ground into fine meal, add oil and continue processing until mixture has tendency of peanut butter. Scrape down sides of processor periodically to ensure even processing. Transfer to bowl.
2. Whisk sugar and 1/2 c water in saucepan and bring mixture to boil. Pour brown sugar mixture into walnut butter, add vanilla and stir until no lumps remain.
3. Process 1 1/2 c instant oats to make oat flour (if oat flour is unavailable). Whisk oat flour with baking soda, salt, cinnamon. Stir oat flour mixture into walnut mixture and cool for 10 min. Fold in oats, then chocolate chips.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
5. Shape cookie into 2 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Flatten cookies with bottom of drinking glass dipped in water. Bake 8-10 min or until cookies begin to brown and tops look dry.
Cool 3 min on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

I don't have wire racks and just leave them on the baking sheet. It seems to work fine. The only flaw that might be with the cookies is that they fall apart easily, but I prefer them to be undercooked and crumbly.

Vegetarian Spring Rolls

I had made this with a friend before, but tonight I just made them by myself. While it is a simple procedure, I still find it takes longer to do than desired, but that's how it is with any homecooking.

Basic recipe:
Red leaf lettuce
Dill
Mint leaves
Sliced green onion (1 inch pieces)
Persian cucumber, sliced
Cilantro
Other ingredients you can add: chives, sliced carrot, vermicelli
Roll them up in rice paper (dipped in warm water for 2-3 seconds) as you would a burrito.

Peanut dipping sauce:
1/2 c peanut butter
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp soy sauce (I used Bragg's aminos which almost taste the same but have less sodium content)
1/4 c water
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp - 1 tsp chili garlic sauce

Mix the ingredients and microwave for 30-40 seconds. I had microwaved the sauce for almost a minute and it looks a bit dried out. It was still good though, just looked darker.

Rolling evenly sized, symmetrical spring rolls is still in the works, as you can see. Whether they are lumpy or not, they still taste refreshing. The extra dill and cucumber made a nice garnish.