Wild Berry Bunch Oatmeal Cookies w/ Chocolate Chips

I've recently subscribed to NATURE BOX.  This month, I received a package of dried fruits and it tasted so delicious, carry on with the sweetness and tartness of the fruits, it felt perfect to use it for an oatmeal cookie recipe!  It tastes so good, hope you'll enjoy this recipe with any dried fruit combinations you may use.  This cookie had many textures and flavors, MMmm!

Wild Berry Bunch Oatmeal Cookies w/ Chocolate Chips

Yield: 2 Dozen 3" Cookies

Fat & Sugar:

8 oz - Unsalted Butter, at room temperature

16 oz - Brown Sugar

1 tsp - Kosher Salt

Dry Ingredients 1:

12 oz - All Purpose Flour

1/2 oz - Baking Powder

1/4 oz - Baking Soda

3 Tbsp - Flaxseed

Liquid Ingredients:

1 oz - Milk

2 - Large Eggs

2 tsp - Vanilla Extract

Dry Ingredients 2:

10 oz - Quaker Oats (Quick Oats)

Particulates:

4 oz - Sliced Almonds

4 oz - Wild Berry Bunch (Cherries, Cranberries, Blueberries, dried - by NatureBox)

3 1/2 oz - Dark Chocolate Chips (60% Cacao)

Procedure:

1.  Cream 'Fat & Sugar' ingredients with a paddle attachment for 3-4 minutes at medium speed.

2.  Sift 'Dry Ingredients 1' set aside.  Combine 'Liquid Ingredients' altogether, set aside.

3.  Add 'Liquid Ingredients' & 'Dry Ingredients 1' to the 'Fat & Sugar' mix by alternating them and ending with the 'Dry Ingredients 1'.

4.  Add 'Dry Ingredients 2' to the batter and mix until combined, do not over-mix.

5.  Fold in the 'Particulates.'  (Feel free to add any particulates that adds up to 11-12 oz for the batter)

6.  Scoop each cookie with an ice-cream scoop.  Refrigerate for at least 15-20 minutes before baking.  (This will help the cookie hold its shape and not spread too much when baking)

7.  Pre-heat oven 375° F and bake for 12-15 minutes.  Enjoy.

Summer Berries & Almond Skillet Cake

Summer berries are here!  You can always use frozen or fresh berries.  I love the tartness of these berries with the contrast sweetness of the cake.  In this recipe, I've used nonfat Greek Yogurt rather than regular.  It was decadent!  Enjoy! 

Summer Berries w/ Almond Skillet Cake

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup - AP Flour

1 cup - Granulated Sugar

2 tsp - Baking Powder

1/4 tsp - Baking Soda

Pinch of Salt

1 cup - Non-fat Greek Yogurt

3 Eggs

1 tsp - Vanilla Extract

1 - Lemon Zest

1 1/2 cup - Mixed Berries (blueberries:/blackberries/raspberries)

1/4 cup - Sliced Almonds

Procedure

1.  Mix flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and pinch of salt. Set aside. 

2.  In a bowl with a whisk attachment, whip Greek yogurt until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla extract and lemon zest into bowl an continue to whisk until combined. 

3.  Change whisk attachment to paddle attachment. Add dry ingredients altogether and mix until just combined. Do not over mix. 

4.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour cake batter into skillet. 

5.  Arrange berries on top of cake batter, add almonds on top. 

6.  Place in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes.  Serve warm or wait 1 hour of cool time before eating. 

Gluten Free Strawberry Cupcakes

The recipe below is a delicious alternative for a strawberry cake in case you are or know someone that is gluten intolerant.  It tastes so good, kind of reminds me of the taste of Kellogg's Strawberry Cereal.  The cake is moist and has a little of a grainy texture to it (almond meal texture).  As Andrew Zimmerman would say, "It's a texture thing."  Hope you'll enjoy!

Gluten-Free Strawberry Cupcakes
Yield:  1 Dozen Large Cupcakes, 2 Dozen Regular Cupcakes

Ingredients:
8 oz. - Unsalted Butter, softened
1 1/4 Cup - Sugar
2 3/4 Cup - Rice Flour
1/2 Cup - Oat Flour
1 Tbsp - Baking Powder
3 Eggs + 1 Egg White, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp - Vanilla Extract
1 Cup - Low Fat Milk
1 1/2 Cup - Strawberries, diced (reserve 1/4 cup to top off the cupcake before baking)

Procedure:
1.  Cream butter and sugar for 5 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow.
2.  Slowly add eggs in three parts, mix until combined.  Do not overmix.
3.  Sift dry altogether, set aside. Combine vanilla extract and milk altogether, set aside.
4.  Add dry ingredients and milk mixture alternately, ending with the dry ingredients.  Mix until combined.
5.  Fold in 1 1/4 cup of strawberries.
6.  Put into cupcake mold, top off the remaining diced strawberries and bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes.

Santa Monica's Farmers

I finally had the opportunity to go to Santa Monica Farmer's Market!  It's been awhile since I've been here.  I love to stroll along the vendors, you get to see seasonal fruits and vegetables.  I'll even stop by to try some pistachio from one of the vendors there.  

The daikon radish is in season and it's so HUGE.  For $2.50 each and I had to buy one for my mom.  So I paid for it beforehand, as I was about to reach over the basket to grab the one I was eyeing on, the tall man behind me reached over me and grabbed the one I was going to take.  Plus, he took the radish before paying for it (Rawr).  Then he had the nerve to tell the guy to chop off the top of the leaves and discard them.  Shame on him (wasting food), if you can use a vegetable from head to toe, by own means, do so.  He could easily used the leaves for pickling, stir frying, adding to a vegetable soup or what not.  Oh darnit, I should have asked for his top, but I didn't have the guts to.  Oh well, I guess I can do that next time, if it happens again.  Got the daikon radish for my mom, gave it to her, and told her she can pickle them again.  My mom gasp and said, "Give it to your dad, he said my pickling wasn't good last time.  He can make it this time."  What can I say, PARENTS.

 

Delicate vs. Bold Kumquat Marmalade

More Kumquats!

We have a medium size kumquat tree in front of our house.  Every year, the tree blooms more and more kumquats than I can managed.  I wonder if it's the way I remove them from the tree that causes them to do so?  I've seen others harvest them; they simply pluck them off the tree and most of them are  without the stems, but my mom taught me to cut them off with a small portion of the stem on the fruit.  This process allow the fruit to last a bit longer if you don't plan to use them all at once.  Also, by cutting it, you're somewhat enabling it to grow more branches, hence, more fruits the following year.  But that's just my own theory based on my years of harvesting these fruits.  I've only harvest 1/8th of that tree, yikes!

I've made two batches of Kumquat Marmalade, personally, I like the second recipe better because you can taste the kumquat more.  The first batch was bit subtle for my taste buds, but still delicious if you prefer a delicate palate.

How to slice them?

I usually washed them first,  remove all the stems, take each kumquat and thinly slice them two-three slices.  Put the sliced ones in a bowl, and put the unsliced ones in another bowl.  When you finish this entire process, go back to the kumquats that were half sliced, squeeze the kumquat over a strainer (place strainer over a bowl, keep the juices) and the seeds will fall out.  Try not to squeeze the flesh membrane out.  When you complete squeezing all of them out, then sliced them thinly altogether.  Put the juice back into the sliced kumquats.  I think this is much more efficient than slicing and removing the seeds through each kumquat.  This should take you 35-45 minutes.

Delicate Kumquat Marmalade

Yield:  20 (1.25oz) Jars

Ingredients:

60 Kumquats, thinly sliced

1 1/2 Cup - Water

3 Cups - Granulated Sugar

1 Lemon Juice

Bold Kumquat Marmalade

Yield:  20 (1.25oz) Jars

Ingredients:

75 Kumquats, thinly sliced

1 1/2 Cup - Water

3 3/4 Cups - Granulated Sugar

1 Lemon Juice

Procedure:

1.  Sterilize your jar based on the packet instructions, or scrub all jars, wash and rinse.  Place all jars and lids in a pot filled with water, bring water to a boil and let it boil for 15-20 minutes.  Removed jars from pot, let it dry.

2.  Place sliced kumquats and water into a non-reactive pot.  Bring to a simmer, add 3 cups of sugar, lemon juice, and occasionally stir under medium heat for 30 minutes.  Place lid over the pot.

3.  Bring heat back to high, stir continuously for 5 minutes and remove from heat. 

4.  Transfer the marmalade into the jar, close the lid tight and place the jars into a boiling water bath for additional 3-5 minutes.

5.  Remove jars from pot and let cool.  Enjoy!

I'm planning to make some Kumquat Preserves too!  Stay tuned!