MOVING to a NEW BLOG!

I have changed the focus of my cooking quite dramatically since I first started Rachel's Cooking in 2007. I felt it was time I changed the name of my blog as well. My focus is now on Traditional Real Foods and minimalistic living. I would love for you to join me at:

Harvest Spice Granola

What better way to start a winter day than with some hearty granola?! This one is packed with proteins and healthy fats to keep you (or those hungry kids!) full longer and with plenty of energy to start the day.

Harvest Spice Granola


Ingredients:

9 c. oats

1 c. sliced almonds

1 c. walnuts*

1 c. almonds*

1 c. pecans*

1 c. cashews*

3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 c. pumpkin seeds

1 c. sunflower seeds

1 c. butter

1 c. honey

1/2 tsp. salt

----

1 c. dried Currants (or other harvest-y fruit)

Directions:

Melt butter and honey together with salt, take off the heat to add vanilla. Pour into oats/nuts, bake at 250˚ for 2 hours, stirring once. The thinner it is spread out on sheets, the crispier it is. Also, if you turn off the oven and allow it to sit for a couple hours cooling off in the oven it crisps up nice- I do it at night, turn if off when going to bed and pull it out in the morning. I use parchment paper so it slides off easier and I bake mine in two 9" x 13"   baking pans. Add fruit after cooling. Store in air tight container.

* I purchase all these nuts whole in large quantities, place in them in the food processor for a few whirls and then add them to my oats, etc.

Always add the nuts before baking granola and the dried fruit after it's out of the oven (fruit burns).

Cherry Vanilla Granola

This was my best seller at the Farmer's Market this summer. And in all honestly, it's my favorite as well. I love the sweet vanilla crunchiness and the tart cherries. In fact, I have some in the oven right now making the whole house smell delicious!

Cherry Vanilla

9 c. rolled oats

2 c. sliced almonds

1 c. butter

1 c. honey

1/2 tsp. salt

2-3 Tablespoons vanilla

---

1 c. dried tart cherries

Melt butter and honey together with salt, take off the heat to add vanilla. Pour into oats/nuts, bake at 250˚ for 2 hours, stirring once. The thinner it is spread out on sheets, the crispier it is. Also, if you turn off the oven and allow it to sit for a couple hours cooling off in the oven it crisps up nice- I do it at night, turn if off when going to bed and pull it out in the morning. I use parchment paper so it slides off easier and I bake mine in 2 9" x 13"   baking pans.

Always add the nuts before baking granola and the dried fruit after it's out of the oven (fruit burns).

Hurricane Irene Detox - Guest Post!

From The Self Healing Kitchen Series by Nina Chanpreet Singh


Detox, retox, rinse, repeat!

Stuck in a post-Irene stupor? Recovering from too much T.V./FB/Twitter or power outages, sleepless nights, flooding, stormed in partying?  Nerves still wired?  Can’t seem to kick that headache, dull achy pain, or skin inflammation?  

Changes in barometric pressure, such as the drop we experienced across the east coast over the last few days, can often cause headaches and asymptomatic aches and pains. Not to mention the frenzy of preparing for a trumped up disaster, anticipating and waiting for the worst, tending to our own needs and those of our loved ones, rummaging through wetness and dark in the aftermath, being trapped indoors for longer than we want to be (a luxury for most of the world!). For some of us in NYC, Irene brought a welcomed pause from the rush of our daily lives - even bringing us closer in community to one another whether partying, long phone conversations, old fashioned companionship, good movies and books. For others, Irene charged through flooding homes, taking away lives, turning neighborhoods upside down and destabilizing lines of power and transportation.  A few of us are still deflooding our lives or waiting for the power to come back on.  Whatever Irene brought you in the interplay of creation and destruction, we all will need some much needed TLC to reset our systems, minds and bodies back to normalcy as the city (and the rest of the east coast) resumes its pace and gets back on two feet.

On Sunday morning, after waking up with a throbbing headache to the discovery that Irene was all play and no action in my corner of the world and after a long night of anxiety, dehydration and exhaustion...trapped in a cycle of drinking water, peeing, talking to friends, texting an old flame and repeating...I decided I needed to do something to shift back into my body and out of the storm clouds. No amount of sleep, hydration, tea, soul food or managing my thoughts was relieving my headache. As someone who is not headache prone and does not take allopathic medicine like pain relievers, I was almost out of ideas until the bathroom tub I had filled the night before annoyed me so much I decided to take a bath in my carefully conserved water. And that’s when I remembered a bath recipe my healing teacher Jill once recommended to me as an invigorating, etheric cleanse that also happens to be amazing for skin:

2 cups sea salt

2 cups baking soda
2 tbsps ginger
*5-10 drops lavender or other essential oil
*fancy bath petals (courtesy of my dear friend Lisa)

*optional, my self healing modifications

I only had one cup of sea salt and baking soda left so I cut the recipe in half in keeping with the same ratio and it was just as potent. While bathing, I sunk into a deep state of peace - singing, playing with the bubbles and bath water, massaging it all over my body, rubbing my back and feet all the while listening to some of best of Bollywood (avoid watching the video, it will ruin the movie, and enjoy the music!).  Bollywood is forbidden territory in my world, I never tune in except on the extremely rare occasion that I am allured by its more irresistible qualities leading me to play the same song on repeat for days. I waltzed out of the tub dripping and dazed, headache free, restored, revitalized, clearer, and much more at peace in my mind and body.  Not to mention a new layer of glowing, soft skin.

No tub? Try sudsing with a mixture of equal parts baking soda and sea salt added to double the quantity of water and a few drops of an essential oil (if you have some on hand) in a hot steam shower.  You can also add a few drops of an essential oil to a sink full of hot water before you luxuriate in the shower.  Just remember to feel the tenderness of your skin, your heart beating, breathing in and out, tracing the length of your limbs the expanse of your chest the softness in your belly pure life force filling you from head to toe. Thanks, Irene!

Disclaimer: The mix of baking soda, sea salt and ginger can be too invigorating, stimulating and heating depending on your body type, so use your caution in discovering what works for you.

~~

Stay tuned for more from the Self Healing Kitchen Series with Nina on her soon to be launched blog, the Kitchen Table Community. In the meantime, you can leave a comment here or contact her at nina@kitchentablekids.com.

Nina Chanpreet Singh is a writer, educator and consultant. She is the Founder of Kitchen Table Kids which teaches children intercultural and social emotional skills in hands-on cooking classes.  She also invented a method of culinary instruction and chef training that she calls Culinary Kinesthetics. Her recipe/memoir was recently published in the NY Times bestselling cookbook by Molly O’Neill, One Big Table.  She writes, speaks, teaches and consults about a variety of topics ranging from bhangra dance and cultural identity to food history and public health to education and technology. She holds a Master of Science in Education and has over 8 years of training in holistic health education.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

The recipe you've been looking for! So, my non-gluten-free friends actually like these better than the regular ones I make! They did hit the spot! The texture is not a typical yeast bread texture, it's really hard to describe, but it seems to be that way with all the GF breads. I don't think I will ever enjoy GF as much as I enjoy yeast breads, but this is a close 2nd and an excellent substitute.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

wet:

6 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup milk

1 tablespoon yeast

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

dry:

3/4 cup corn starch

1/2 cup millet flour

1/4 cup brown rice flour (omit if you live in a dry climate)

1/4 cup potato starch

2 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

make a "ball" of dough.

Directions:

Mix together wet ingredients, then mix dry ingredients in a different bowl and add to the wet ingredients, mixing and adding more brown rice flour if necessary, in order to make a "ball" of dough. Loosely cover and allow to sit in a warm area for 2-3 hours and let rise. Flour a large piece of parchment paper, place dough on flour, sprinkle with more flour and top with another piece of parchment paper. Roll out to about 1/4" thick. Remove the top piece of parchment paper.

Filling:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Spread the butter onto the rolled out dough

1 cup organic sugar

1/8 cup molasses

Mix together and then add:

place dough on flour,
sprinkle with more flour

3 tablespoons saigon cinnamon

Directions:

Mix the sugar, molasses and cinnamon together and sprinkle/spread over the butter. Roll up Jelly-roll style, using the parchment paper to help roll it up. Cut into 8 equal pieces and place in greased 9" x 13" baking dish. Let rise 1-2 more hours in a warm area (You can bake them now, they don't rise a great deal- the timing is very flexible.) and then bake approximately 20 minutes at 400˚.

Frost while warm.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup (4 ouches) cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

sprinkle with more flour and top with
another piece of parchment paper

pinch of salt

Directions:

Blend thoroughly and spread over cinnamon rolls.

Roll out to about 1/4" thick. Remove
the top piece of parchment paper.

Spread the butter onto the
rolled out dough

Mix the sugar, molasses and cinnamon
together and sprinkle/spread over the butter

using the parchment paper to
help roll it up

Cut into 8 equal pieces

Lingonberry Scones

Being Swedish, I've known of lingonberries since I can remember, so when I first thought of all the different scones to make, I figured I should make a lingonberry scone. But it's not so easy to find them! I thought I could just get some dried, but couldn't find them anywhere. Not that it surprised me not to find them in Montana, but I went over to Washington state for a couple weeks, and I was surprised not to find them there. I was able to visit IKEA while there (*LOVE!*) and they sell lingonberry jam, so I grabbed up several jars. Lingonberries are similar to cranberries in flavor. This is definitely a delicious scone!

Lingonberry Scones

 

• Ingredients:
• 2 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 cup organic sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup lingonberry jam

• 1 egg
• 
  

Directions:
The easiest way to do this is in a food processor*.  Put dry ingredients in food processor, whir slightly to mix. Cut butter into chunks and put in the food processor and whir until mixed and crumbly. Beat egg, sour cream and jam slightly, pour into food processor, whir until dough forms a ball.  Place on greased (or parchment paper) baking sheet and press into a circle, about 8 inches. With a sharp knife, cut into 8 pieces (pie/triangles). Bake 20** minutes at 400˚. 

*If you do not have a food processor, you can do this by hand. Cut the butter into chunks, add the dry ingredients (mixed slightly) and use a Pastry Blender or a Hand Mixer to mix until crumbly. Beat egg and sour cream slightly and then add to butter/dry ingredients and mix in with a wooden spoon, or knead by hand. The warmer the dough gets, the stickier, so you could start with frozen/grated butter if you are going to use your hands. 

**I do 20 minutes on my stone baking sheet, regular baking sheets will probably be a few minutes less. Serve warm or completely cooled.

Apple Cinnamon Scones

Apple Cinnamon Scones

• Ingredients:
• 2 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 cup organic sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dried apple pieces
• 1/2 cup sour cream

• 1 egg
• 
  

Directions:
The easiest way to do this is in a food processor*.  Put dry ingredients in food processor, whir slightly to mix. Cut butter into chunks and put in the food processor and whir until mixed and crumbly. Add dried apple pieces. Beat egg and sour cream slightly, pour into food processor, whir until dough forms a ball.  Place on greased (or parchment paper) baking sheet and press into a circle, about 8 inches. With a sharp knife, cut into 8 pieces (pie/triangles). Bake 20** minutes at 400˚. 

*If you do not have a food processor, you can do this by hand. Cut the butter into chunks, add the dry ingredients (mixed slightly) and use a Pastry Blender or a Hand Mixer to mix until crumbly. Beat egg and sour cream slightly and then add to butter/dry ingredients and mix in with a wooden spoon, or knead by hand. The warmer the dough gets, the stickier, so you could start with frozen/grated butter if you are going to use your hands. 

**I do 20 minutes on my stone baking sheet, regular baking sheets will probably be a few minutes less. Serve warm or completely cooled.