Ratios & Refrigerators, Oh My!

I just got a new cookbook that I'm super-psyched about called Ratio, by Michael Ruhlman!

This book has been answering all my burning baking & cooking questions! In theory, you can take the basic ratios given in this book and create just about anything your little hearts desire without ever relying on another cookbook again! I have yet to put this to the test but you can bet I'm going to be doing some serious baking in the near future! In the name of Science, of course!

For those who don't know the origins of Pound Cake, it got it's name because the recipe calls for equal parts (about 1 pound each) of butter, sugar, egg, & flour. (Hint: how you mix your cake can make all the difference.) What I'm really curious about though, is the taste. A professional cook, and friend of mine, once tested this traditional little recipe and said that the result was not as tasty as some of the more fine-tuned versions we have today. Of course, adding a few extra flavors like vanilla, salt, lemon zest & lime zest will greatly improve this and I guess that's really the point of having these handy ratios! With a little imagination, I can make an endless variety of Pound Cakes!

So be sure to stay tuned for my latest cooking experiments! Tonight I plan to make homemade pasta for the first time (and without a rolling pin or pasta roller! Yikes!)! Necessity is the mother of invention and that means it's time to get creative!

Speaking of creative inventions, check out this article about a nifty project by Jihyun Ryou on how to Reverse Engineer the Refrigerator!

Ryou researched old-school, 'oral knowledge' about how to preserve your food without using a refrigerator!

Some of these tricks I knew, like keeping potatoes in the dark or throwing a few grains of rice in your salt shaker to absorb extra moisture, but some were completely new to me and absolutely fascinating! I can't wait to have a system like this set up in my own kitchen one day! People rely so much on technology these days that we forget how to really observe the world around us and work with it instead of against it. Way to think outside the box!

Low-Fat Granola Bars & Poached Pears!

Here we are again!

Sadly I did not get around to doing the coffee shop review like I had planned this weekend. Instead I made granola bars and poached pears!

The granola bars were because my boyfriend and I seem to go through about 2 boxes of these a week and I'm looking for a healthy (and cheap!) alternative!

This recipe was taken from the Cookin' Canuck and her pics are awesome! I apologize for the 'ruggedness' of my pics but I kind of forgot I was planning to blog all this until I was almost finished!

My only complaint about these granola bars is that the texture came out kind of gummy, and I'm wondering if I did something wrong! Maybe I didn't bake them long enough? Or I should have toasted the granola longer? Does anyone have any recommendations to fix this??

The taste is also not very sweet, since it has no added sugar. All the sweetness comes from the banana, cranberries and the sugar-free apple sauce. I shouldn't really be surprised since I was looking for a healthy recipe, but the Cookn' Canuck recommends adding a couple tablespoons of maple syrup or honey, and I think this might be a good idea. I also substituted walnuts for the pecans, as that's what I had on hand. As it is, it kind of has the taste and consistency of bread. Not horrible, but kind of straaaange for a granola bar.
(*Note- these taste better the more I eat them! Maybe they're like one of those cakes that has to sit so that all the flavors meld into each other... definitely tastes better after a day. Also, my boyfriend likes them and he's very picky. And DON'T add to yogurt, tastes way better on their own.)

Low Fat Granola Bars with Bananas, Cranberries & Pecans

Yield: Makes approximately 24 bars.

From the kitchen of Cookin Canuck. www.cookincanuck.com

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cup oats
• 3/4 cup roughly chopped pecans
• 3 large, ripe bananas
• 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed (or flax meal)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a 9- by 13-inch baking sheet with parchment paper, with about 1 inch of parchment paper overlapping the sides.
3. Spread out the oats and chopped pecans on a baking sheet. Place in the oven until they are lightly toasted, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
4. In a medium bowl, mash the bananas with the back of a fork. Stir in applesauce until combined.
5. Transfer the oats and pecans to a large bowl and stir in dried cranberries, ground flax seed (flax meal), cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
6. Stir the banana mixture into the oat mixture until well combined and starting to clump together. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and press down evenly.
7. Bake until the bars are golden brown and starting to separate from sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
8. Use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan. Let cool to room temperature, then cut into bars.



Before I put it in the oven!



9. Serve or store in an airtight container.

After I put it in the oven!

As for the Poached Pears, I made this for a movie night with my friends and it was a smash! This is a combination of two poached pear recipes I got from working as a pastry cook! It's very easy and relatively painless to do! After making the pears, I served them warm with a couple scoops of vanilla ice-cream and some caramel sauce! A-Maz-Ing! I have also tried this with Basil Ice-cream and Cardamom Ice cream and it's verrry lovely! The caramel really pulls everything together and if you want you could also add some crumbled Sandies (or Sable as we called them in the kitchen), graham crackers, or nuts for some added texture!

Poached Pears:

-4 Cinnamon Sticks

-4 Bay Leaves

-4-5 Boshc Pears (Anjou will also work)

-Equal parts sweet, white wine & water (I used Moscatto as that's what I had on hand, but I highly recommend Riesling!) I ended up using 3 cups of each, totalling 6 cups of liquid, but it should be enough liquid to cover your pears!

-3/4 cup of honey

-1/2 tsp of Vanilla or 1 Vanilla Bean

-Zest of 1 Lime

-Zest of 1 Lemon

Directions:

-Peel the pears and put everything in a large pot.

-Bring to a boil and then bring down to a simmer.

-Simmer until the pears are slightly translucent and a knife will go easily into the pear.

-When the pears are done (about 45mins), scoop out the pears and let them cool. They will continue to cook slightly due to residual heat in the pears so be sure to remove them from the liquid or the cooking process will continue even after you have turned off the heat!

-Strain out the spices and zest and continue to boil the liquid in a clean pot. Simmer this down until it resembles an amber, sticky syrup.

-After the pears have cooled you can split the pears down the center using a paring knife and scoop out the seeds with a spoon or melon-baller. I also like to carve out the stem, using a knife in a small 'V' incision.

-Store the pairs in the syrup and serve warm.

Alternate recipe for syrup:

-After you have made the syrup, you could also mix this into 2 pints of heavy cream.

-Put the Cream/Syrup mixture into the fridge to cool and once it has chilled whip the cream for soft, pear flavored whipped cream (aka Chantilly Cream)

-Serve chilled whipped cream with warm pears on a bed of crumbled Sable cookies.

Simmering Pears! Oh My!

Remove Pears & Let Cool.

Reduced Syrup and Pears

Pears with Seeds & Stems Removed.

Pears in Syrup- YUM!

A Review of Failure

Well, I've been feeling a little blegh lately. I think I've got a case of the Winter Blues. Not to mention, feeling a little discouraged by my lack of sales... is it the season, as so many of my friends suggest, just a slow time for retail everywhere? Is it my costs are too high or my lack of selling history? Is it my designs?? Part of me is afraid to fail (of course) but part of me is also afraid to succeed! I have to admit that there are things I could be doing to help my sales, but I just can't seem to make myself DO them! I have that restless feeling where I know I have things to do, but I have no desire to do them. Partly because I'm afraid of what would happen if it works... it would mean that my business will go from dream to reality (not usually a bad thing), but it also means added responsibilities, being held accountable to others, and  stepping into the unknown. I'm feeling a bit like a failure right now, disappointed in myself, and completely unmotivated.

I miss my other passions in life, mainly cooking and coffee. And I reaaaally miss Summer! I briefly had another blog once upon a time that was dedicated to adventures, getting out of debt, and reviewing NY coffee shops. But I have since abandoned it and I miss that too. Is it possible to have too many passions in life? At one point I was upset at having gained 20 pounds in 2 years! (I blame my boyfriend) and I was determined to loose it. I actually managed to loose about 19 before the holidays hit but I've gained 7 back! I've been trying to loose it again, but so far it's been a half-hearted effort where I see-saw between loosing and gaining the same 2 pounds. Just plain old UN-MOTIVATED!

The good news is I've been spending more time with my friends and I've started reading again! I've also started cooking again (not good for my weight loss lemme tell ya!). I feel like I've been doing good things for my soul. So why do I feel like such a failure?!

Well, they say it's not the failures that define you, but how you deal with them. Just pick yourself back up and keep going! And that's what I plan to do. With a few minor changes...

I've decided to incorporate my coffee shop reviews into the Defiant Designs blog and whatever else tickles my fancy! Stay tuned for a new review and in the meantime I've got some basil ice-cream at home begging to be spun! Look out world!