Madhu Knits and Cooks – Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

A Note on Low-fat Brownies

Several weeks ago, I found a 2005 Vegetarian Times recipe
for “decadent brownies” in my recipe folder.
It was a low-fat recipe for supposedly fudgy and “decadent” brownies and
I thought that I had stumbled upon something healthy and marvelous, but in
baking this recipe for brownies, I learned an important lesson: don’t make low-fat brownies.

Well, I guess someone one can make them but only if the
person goes into the process realizing that the brownies will taste low-fat (by
low-fat I mean slightly bland, dry and just not that fulfilling). So why not just make full-fat brownies and
actually enjoy yourself instead of feeling unsatisfied and slightly upset that
the brownies just aren’t that tasty?
That’s an important lesson that I learned for at least myself and my
baking preferences this winter.

For those of you though who have different preferences and
enjoy – for whatever reason – low-fat brownies, you can find the recipe here: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10209. My suggested alteration to the recipe below the picture.

I also added ½ cup of frozen raspberries to the recipe, and
although the brownies were still not delicious or decadent or moist, I do think
they turned out better than if I did not include them (or some other flavorful
additive) in the recipe.

March 24, 2009
Soup Week! Curried Cauliflower Soup and Quinoa Spinach Soup (Both Vegan)

Prior to four weeks ago, I had never made soup. It seems amazing now, but I really thought that soups required hours of work, and that tasty soups require even more work and constant attention to achieve their flavor. Needless to say, I am very pleased that I put those notions of excessive work for an ok product to rest when I made my first two soups — a curried cauliflower soup and quinoa spinach soup, both from the January 2009 issue of the Vegetarian Times.

The recipe for the curried cauliflower soup is now online at: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10790.  The recipe states that the secret ingredient is the apple, which I definitely agree with — it adds a sweetness and complexity to the soup that allows you to really eat a full bowl without feeling bored. I also substituted a hot Madras curry powder for the standard curry powder called for in the recipe to give it more heat, and next time, I might add more of that type of curry powder or more pepper to give it a bit more spice.

I deviated from the recipe slightly by only pureeing about 3/4 of the
soup in a food processor as I prefer soups with less uniform
textures.   Next time I make the soup, I think I'll only puree half of
the cooked soup to enjoy even more chunks of cauliflower and apple in
the soup.   I also will buy a crusty loaf of wheat bread to accompany the soup and truly make its multiple servings (as evidenced by the picture below of how much leftover soup I had) a filling meal.

The second soup I made — a few days after the curried cauliflower soup — was a quinoa spinach soup. It only required an astonishing 5 ingredients, and I added a few extra things from my kitchen to give it more of a kick.   I added in half a jalapeno (chopped) and 1/2 a green bell pepper into the red onion saute. To make it an even heartier soup, I added an additional 1/8 cup quinoa and 1/4 cup water while the soup was cooking. I probably should have added more water because the soup ended up being incredibly thick, which was fine but felt less like a soup when I reheated it. This soup had more of a powerful flavor than the curried cauliflower, and I think made for a more interesting set of back-t0-back 3 or 4 meals. The recipe can also be found online now at: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10816?section=. 

March 15, 2009
Madhu Knits and Cooks Returns — Best Pumpkin Pie EVER

So three months after Thanksgiving, I have finally found the time to post about the pie I made twice during the week of Thanksgiving. Despite how much pumpkin pie folks had consumed that week, this was deemed the best pumpkin pie EVER by all of those who consumed it. I definitely owe thanks to the author of this AllRecipes.com recipe, as well as the Gourmet Cookbook authors for their traditional pie crust recipe which works wonderfully with any type of pie I make! The pie feels incredibly light when you eat it because the eggs are separated, the whites are beaten until soft peaks form, and then you lightly fold them into the rest of the pie mixture. The streusel topping is also a must — I have made this pie without the topping before, and the difference between the version with the streusel topping and the one without is really quite significant.

Another tip when using a homemade pie crust — no need to pre-bake the crust prior to putting in the filling, and I usually put some foil around the edges during the last 30 minutes of baking or so.

The AllRecipes.com recipe can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Brown-Familys-Favorite-Pumpkin-Pie/Detail.aspx.

February 25, 2009
Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Muffins and Philadelphia Style Vanilla Chocolate Chip Ice Cream!

Several weeks ago, I finally found the time to make two new items. First, I had some ripebananas that I wanted to use, and instead of making the standard Moosewood Cookbook banana chocolate chip muffin recipe, I decided that I wanted to make them a bit more substantive and add some oats into them. So I did a little google searching at work (shh!) and found this recipe from AllRecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Oat-Muffins/Detail.aspx).

I added in maybe 3/4 cup of chocolate chips into the recipe as well, made perhaps 15 muffins instead of the 12 in the recipe (some of my silicon baking cups seem smaller than standard). They turned out really well, but I think adding another sweetening agent would be good because without the chocolate chips, they would have been rather bland (I think some people in the comments mentioned applesauce for vegetable oil — that might serve two purposes which would be good).

Another accompaniment that would make them tasty is something that I actually did pair with the muffins — homemade ice cream!

I recently purchased an ice cream maker — yes, an ice cream maker. Williams Sonoma hassome on sale for only $60 so I thought it was such a bargain, that I couldnt say no. Its a Cuisinart 1.5 quart machine, and they added in an extra freezer bowl. Its still on sale here: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/9313347/index.cfm?cm_src=rel.

For my first homemade ice cream experience, I decided to pick a simple recipe with no cooking required. I chose the Philadelphia Style Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Williams Sonoma: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipedetail.cfm?objectid=E2192A50%2D00D5%2D4D3D%2DBCCDF7E7E0EEFEBF. I followed the recipe exactly, except for deciding to throw in some chocolate chips at the end of the freezing process. It turnedout to be the best ice cream I've ever had, but I only finished about an eighth of it before having to throw it away because it had been in the freezer for too long! Unfortunately, I think my current lifestyle is not only suboptimal for making ice cream (and really any sort of food) but also apparently for eating things I make. In a few months, I am hoping to spend some quality time experimenting with different types of ice creams, frozen yogurt and sorbets — just in time for a cold winter, I'm sure. Some of the recipes I want to try are: lavender, green tea, peach, strawberry basil, raspberry, and of course, plenty of versions of chocolate!

September 14, 2008
Theo in a Handknit Sweater — Potentially the Cutest Item I Have Ever Knit

That’s right — I knit that. That super-cute sweater. I made it!

The story: Several months ago, I went over to my former co-worker Emily’s house to see her and her husband, as well as their baby son Theo. Theo was so nice and cute, and I thought it would be great to knit him something so I brought the knitting book One Skein to Emily’s to see what she and Ben wanted. Not surprisingly, they picked the super-cute kid’s colorblock sweater. I got a little delayed finishing the socks that Danielle has, but thankfully Theo was only 1 when we picked out the baby sweater and the smallest size in the book is a size 2. I finally started the sweater this spring, and was able to give it to Theo a few weeks ago — and he’s still not fully a size 2 so the sweater should last through the fall (I hope!). Details about the yarn and the project follow the next picture.

Yarn: I used Gedifra Living superwash yarn that I bought from Elann — my first time using Elann (and yes, breaking my longstanding yarn diet). I used one ball of each of these colors: Cafe au Lait, Mahogany, Winter Squash, Devon Cream, and Ginger.

Needles: I used a size 10 circular needle for the project, and used size 10 dpns for the attached I-cord edging.

Buttons: I picked up two wood buttons at Joann’s — but unfortunately don’t remember what the brand is! They are about 7/8 of an inch each. I did not use a hidden snap for the sweater.

Final product: The front left and right panels ended up being about 0.5 – 0.75 inches longer than the pattern stated, and the back was maybe a 0.5 inch wider than the pattern prescribed — all the better to last Theo longer!

July 3, 2008
I Successfully Teach a Co-Worker How to Knit!

A few months back, one of my colleagues, Jenny, asked me if I could teach her how to knit. I was so overjoyed by the possibility of teaching one of my coworkers to knit, it actually took me a few days to calm down and actually bring in some needles and yarn for Jenny to get started. Within 2 really, really short lessons, Jenny was knitting up a storm — she eventually finished half a ball of peaches and cream cotton yarn in a garter stitch swatch and clearly was ready for a real project.

With two other coworkers, Andy and Sydney, the designer of the wonderful Obama scarf on the blog, we traveled to the My Sister Knits yarn store (a recommended place for anyone in the Chicago area) in Beverly, a neighborhood on the far southwest side of Chicago. Although Jenny wanted to start with a baby blanket as her first project, we convinced her to start with a more manageable scarf pattern. She immediately learned the three additional stitches needed for the scarf — the purl, yarn over and knitting two together stitches — and is making amazing progress on the scarf (even fixing her mistakes on her own!). I can’t wait to see the finished product, and see Jenny start her baby blanket!

July 3, 2008
A Wonderful Obama Scarf!

One of my co-workers’ wife, Sydney, knit up this fantastic Obama logo scarf. It’s the first knit item I have seen with the Obama logo, and I think Sydney did an amazing job. I can’t wait to replicate it at some point, though I’m sure I’ll mess up many times before I am actually able to successfully knit it!

July 3, 2008
Vanilla Cream Pie — My First Pie in Three Years!

The first time I made a pie in May 2005, I had to borrow a food processor from Mike R. (who taught me a good chunk of what I know about baking) because at the time, I was such a cooking novice, I didn’t even own a food processor! I made a banana cream pie with a chocolate cookie crust for my first pie, but was so busy the weekend I made it that I didn’t even get a chance to eat a slice.

I guess that experience of putting so much time into a pie to only let it go to waste dissuaded me from making any more pies as it took three years — until 2008 — for me to make another pie. I admit that I only made the pie because Andy really, really wanted a homemade pie. He wanted a pie with a traditional crust, no fruit, and only plain vanilla cream. So I searched the internet to find a good recipe, and found that most vanilla cream pies have a meringue topping so instead of just doing a cream pie, I followed the trend of putting a meringue topping on the pie. I used the vanilla cream and meringue recipe from this site: http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/t–2100/vanilla-cream-pie.asp and used the traditional pie crust recipe from the Gourmet cookbook. I thought the recipes for both the pie crust and pie filling were perfect, and highly recommend this as a summer treat.

July 2, 2008
Indian-Style Black Eyed Peas
I recently had some really tasty black-eyed peas at my uncle's place, and finally after thinking weeks about how good they were, I asked him for his recipe which was a lot simpler than I expected! This is a good, simple AND healthy addition to any meal.

Ingredients:
- 1 bag dried black eyed peas (I used a bag that yields 6 cups cooked blackeyed peas)
- 1 tsp. mustard seeds
- 1 thai green chili, sliced
- 4 dried red chili peppers, broken in half
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 4 curry leaves, ripped in half
- 3 tsps. vegetable oil
- pinch of cumin
Directions:

1) Soak peas for at least 4 hours — I soaked them for 10

2) After peas are soaked, drain the water. Add fresh water and lots of salt to soaked peas and bring peas to a boil.

3) Boil covered for 20 – 3o minutes (I boiled them for 40 minutes and it ended up being too long. My uncle recommends 20 minutes)

4) While peas are boiling, heat vegetable oil in a small saucepan and add the mustard seeds, sliced thai chili and dried red chilis. Saute under the mustard seeds pop and then add pinch of cumin and the chopped garlic until the garlic browns.

5) Drain peas, and stir the contents of the saucepan into the beans. Also add the curry leaves, mix and enjoy with rice, Indian breads or as a side to any meal.
June 2, 2008
My First Pair of Socks Knit on Two Circular Needles at the Same Time

Several years ago, I was browsing Amazon (or perhaps it was another site?) for a birthday gift for my friend Kirsten, a fellow knitter. I stumbled upon great reviews for this book that teaches knitters how to knit socks on two circular needles. Of course, it was Cat Bordhi’s Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles. I ended up buying the book for my friend, but I never thought about picking it up myself until I listened to a Knit Picks podcast several months ago that mentioned the technique, as well as knitting two socks at the same time. I finally decided that maybe I should put my dpns to rest and try out this new technique with some hand-dyed Herdwick yarn I picked up at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in 2006 (and I am so upset with myself from losing the details of who I bought it from! If I find them, I’ll update this post).

For my first pair of socks knit at the same time on two circular needles, I followed Bordhi’s Cable-top socks, though I ended up omitting the cable top. Overall, I thought the pattern was fairly easy to follow though it took me about 3 times to properly cast on and start the socks with the "Turning the Toe" technique — I definitely needed a lot of patience to do this correctly and move on to the rest of the socks. It also took a lot of patience for me to figure out how to do two socks at the same time, but I found a few helpful websites, especially this one: http://www.az.com/~andrade/knit/twocirculars.html. And Danielle, my colleague who I gave the socks, reports that the turning the toe technique did in fact produce a wonderfully comfortable toe portion of the sock.

A few issues with the pattern: I found the pattern to make socks that were way too large for my feet (I wear a size 7.5 shoe), even though I had followed the 60 percent of foot guidance for the length (the socks ended up being about 1 1/2 inches too long after completing the gusset/turning the heel). I used size 3 circulars to get the correct gauge. The socks picture above and below are 11 inches long , 10 inches from the top of the ribbing to the bottom of the sock and 6 inches from the top to the ankle. There is a 1 1/4 inch double rib at the top of the socks. I’ll have to remember to scale down the patterns a bit when I make other socks in the book.

And knitting two socks at the same time with two circular needles: I took this project on the road a lot and I found that I couldnt find a good way to store the needles/yarn so that it wouldn’t get tangled up — two working socks on two longer circular needles with two balls of yarn ended up taking up a lot of space! I also knit them over a period of 6 months or so, so I cant quite accurately comment on how fast this technique is, but knitting two socks at the same time was FANTASTIC — no more feeling disappointed by having only one finished sock!

I look forward to starting another pair soon, especially after seeing Danielle’s reaction to getting this pair!

April 16, 2008