Whole Bean Vanilla Cookies
I was pulling the sad remnant of a vanilla bean from a bag of sugar the other day, and it got me thinking about using whole vanilla beans. The entire pod. I'm sure this isn't a unique concept, but for whatever reason, it's not something I'd ever considered before. I started thinking it through a bit, and landed on the idea of pureeing a whole pod in a food processor to use in something. Perhaps adding some sugar to bulk it out the vanilla bean a bit (so the processor blades would have enough ingredients to work with). After a bit of experimenting, I landed on these little cookies. I love them! They are super simple to make - snappy, small, and fragrant, with a sloppy kiss of vanilla, and a right hook of salt to balance everything out. Any tiny pieces of vanilla bean that survived the processor are a bit like having vanilla-kissed flecks of raisins cut into the dough.
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Whole Bean Vanilla Cookies (with recipe)
Sunchoke and Cashew Stir-fry
I have a baby wok. It is cast-iron and metallic grey with a crackly surface texture, something reminiscent of elephant skin. My wok has a round bottom, two handles, and aspirations - or rather, I have aspirations for it. It is simple in shape and material, and will eventually be able to tell its own story through the patina it will develop on its surface - the sort of thing that takes time, and countless meals. This relatively new addition to my kitchen has been sitting on my stove lately next to my old cast iron pan - one black and slick, the other young and fresh with barely a bruise of color beyond the grey. If you have a minute, I'll tell you how it got here. This all started when Grace Young took me wok shopping in San Francisco's Chinatown a few months ago.
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Sunchoke and Cashew Stir-fry (with recipe)
Favorites List (7.6.12)
Hi friends, I was slow pulling this one together (apologies!), hopefully you'll find it worth the wait. There are some real gems down below, and some must-reads/watch links. xo -h
- Herb-infused clara con limón
- To Watch: The Upsetter
- G + D + S: Fly Better Tips
- Just the right amount of scary for a 3 1/2 year old.
- A recipe is not always the place to begin.
- Especially the coyote.
- Inappropriate Test Responses
- Samin's Exuberant Berkeley Kitchen
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Favorites List (7.6.12)
Rice and Sesame Pancakes
After traveling quite a lot this spring, summer has taken on a completely different rhythm. As most of you know, because of this, I've been keeping close to home, and it's nice. Saturday mornings are my favorite, and they've developed their own little ritual. I get up early and go to the farmers' market, driving the back way, through North Beach, where it's quiet, empty, and peaceful at that hour. At the market I look at the bay and the bridge, and buy eggs, and favas, and strawberries and flowers, and sometimes get cappuccinos with friends. Wayne bakes bread while I'm gone, and when I get home we stand around slathering butter on slices while chatting. I unload my bag, and set to work trimming flowers for the house. I start a pot of brown rice, which I use throughout the week in any number of things - to stretch...
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Rice and Sesame Pancakes (with recipe)
Cinnamon Vanilla Sunflower Butter
This one is for my sister - a lifelong sunflower seed enthusiast. I flipped to page 205 of Marisa McClellan's new book, Food in Jars, and there it was - a recipe for homemade Cinnamon Vanilla Sunflower Butter. Here's the thing - if you have sunflower seeds, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla bean paste (or pods), you can make it right now. It takes next to no time. As I'm sure you can imagine - it's perfect on good toast. But you can also thin it out to the consistency of (a sweet) tahini - great with apples or pears, or as a component on grilled sandwiches.
This sunflower seed butter calls for what might seem like a lot of cinnamon (and vanilla bean paste, for that matter). Have faith, it all works out nicely. I've made this...
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Cinnamon Vanilla Sunflower Butter (with recipe)
Rose Petal Granola
One of the things I wanted to do for QUITOKEETO was include a short list of recipes. Little recipes related to products in the shop, highlighting how I actually use them in my own kitchen. Somehow, in the flurry of the past week of box building, label printing, and tape tangling, I forgot to post one of my favorites - a rose petal granola. So, I thought I'd share it here. It's a variation on the granola in Super Natural Every Day, made with rose petals, walnuts, currants, and black pepper.
I make this granola with these rose petals or(!) with rose petals I leave to dry completely in a sunny spot on a parchment-lined baking sheet. It takes just a day or two. But If you go this route, be sure to make them from...
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Rose Petal Granola (with recipe)
Kale Market Salad
There's a small restaurant in our neighborhood known for great pizza. And yes, the pizza is on point. But, really, it's their salads I crave - substantial, always changing, made from whatever looks great at the market. I'd tell you the name of the place, but scoring a table is already enough of a wait. It's Ragazza. I ordered a ringer of a salad the other night, and have been making a version at home in the days since - kale, farro, lots of avocado, carrots and fennel tossed with a creamy green garlic dressing. It's as good as it sounds. The version I've been making is down below, or you can check out the version Sharon makes with little gem lettuce here (scroll a bit).
To prep the fennel and carrots,...
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Kale Market Salad (with recipe)
Recently on 101 Cookbooks
Welcome to my recipe journal, I'm Heidi. This is where I like to write about the recipes that intersect my life, travels and interests. I write cookbooks, love natural foods, take lots of pictures, do a good amount of globetrotting, and like to make lists of favorite things.
