Whole Wheat Soda Bread with Pumpkin Seeds and Dried Apricots

You are going see for yourself in the next few posts that I wasn't kidding about working my way through refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. You might also find yourself slightly amused by the kind of ingredients that accumulate in my kitchen. Recent trends you might notice: dried apricots, raw seeds, winter squash, potatoes, and frozen corn (our CSA farm has no problem growing potatoes or corn, even in weird growing years like this one). At first I was shy about this repeating of ingredients and contemplated staggering my recipes so that there wouldn't be five in a row featuring dried apricots. But then I thought those of you who might actually be making the food I rave about (and I know of at least two of you and I love you love you love you!) would appreciate some options to help you make use of those less familiar ingredients that you perhaps acquired only to try out some of the recipes posted here. What I'm trying to tell you is this: I'm not boring. I'm helpful.

Moreover, my primary talent in the kitchen is indeed my resourcefulness, and what better opportunity to highlight that gift than when I am in purge mode? (I will spare you certain details however, e.g., hot dogs, boxed risotto, and failures.)

Thanks for understanding!

On to the dried apricots!

I shared this bread with my dear girl Lisa the other day and she said, "is this one of the breads Michael made?" (Michael is my husband, the family breadmaker.) I was so excited to say, "No! I made it!" Because soda bread, by definition, doesn't have yeast, which scares me, so I can handle it. And I sort of love it. It's dense and a little chewy (but in a good way - chewy delicious) and it's rustic and hearty, excellent for soaking up soup or stew. (Which I imagine is what they do with it in Ireland?) It's also really great with a big slab of salted butter or a thick slice of hard, well-aged parmesan cheese. Irish soda bread: easy AND versatile! Also it freezes perfectly and thaws easily in the microwave or overnight on your counter.

Before we get to the recipe, I just want to make a note of one ingredient that is decidedly optional: fennel seed.

I used ground fennel seed in my version of this bread and I liked it a lot, especially when I ate it alongside a lemony-ginger butternut squash soup. But fennel has a distinct flavor of its own - it's more than an accent in this bread. If you like fennel and have it on hand, ground or whole, go to town. But if it's not a spice you are terribly fond of, skip it and you won't be missing out on much. It's by no means the best part of the bread. (The best part is the apricots.)

Whole Wheat Soda Bread with Pumpkin Seeds and Dried Apricots

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Yield: 4 large servings, or 6-8 small

1 1/3 cup whole milk*

1/3 cup apple-cider vinegar*

3 cups whole wheat flour, plus more for surface

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground fennel seed or 2 teaspoons whole fennel seeds (optional)

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2/3 cup wheat or oat bran (unprocessed)**

1/3 cup wheat germ (untoasted)**

1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds (a/k/a pepitas)**

1 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat. Mix milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and let stand for about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and fennel seed. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut in butter until the mixture is sort of sandy, with some larger bits. Add bran, wheat germ, pumpkin seeds, and apricots and stir until everything is evenly incorporated.

Pour soured milk into the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until dough is sticky. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Using floured hands, gently form the dough into a round, dome-shaped loaf, about 7 inches in diameter (mine was more like 10 inches). Transfer to baking sheet. Dust with wheat germ or bran or more flour. Score an X into the top with a sharp knife. Bake until loaf is golden brown, about an hour, rotating half-way through to allow for more even browning. Let cool on a wire rack.

* You could substitute 1 2/3 cup of buttermilk or plain yogurt thinned with a tablespoon of water.

** These items are found in the refrigerated bulk section of our grocery store. They might be hard to find at big stores, but I'm sure Whole Foods or something comparable would have them. You could use all bran (as the original recipe calls for) rather than part bran and part wheat germ.

Finally, this is, I suspect, an extremely forgiving recipe. Regular flour, any kind of whole wheat flour, or spelt flour would probably work fine. Raisins or currants are the norm in Irish soda breads and could replace the apricots. Any seed or nut could substitute for the pepitas, or they could be omitted entirely. Enjoy!

Corn Chowder with Salmon and Poblano Chilies

Hello! And I'm sorry for the spotty performance this month. I've been focused on working my way through our refrigerator, freezer, and pantry, rather than making exceptional, photogenic food lately. Plus I'm gaining weight faster than I'd like during this pregnancy, which tempers my enthusiasm for cooking and baking. (It unfortunately does not have the same effect on my enthusiasm for eating). I couldn't even rally to make something in honor of yesterday, which was National Chocolate Cupcake Day. (I kid you not. I heard it on MPR and they are truth-tellers. (Want more fun? Check this out.)) So I'm just a little behind in having post-worthy recipes for you. But some have trickled in, deliberately and even accidentally, and I have a couple I'm still working on for your reading (and viewing and making and eating) pleasure.

An example of an accidental post is today's soup. Don't get me wrong - when I throw a pound of salmon and whipping cream into a pot, I expect something good. But this concoction was way better than good - super delicious actually, shared with company, and worthy of second servings - and was initially galvanized by little more than my desire to use up all the corn I'd frozen and potatoes I'd stored from this summer's CSA bounty. When the internets led me to a southwesterny corn chowder that I could invision being a lovely home for the beautiful salmon filet I'd picked up at the farmer's market the weekend before... well, one thing led to another, and here we are.

This soup is wonderful.

Also, it's getting to be quite the season for soup, isn't it?

Corn Chowder with Salmon and Poblano Chilies

Adapted from Bon Appétit, September 2002

Yield: 4 large servings

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature, divided
• 2 tablespoons flour

• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
• 2 large poblano chilies, seeded, chopped
• 5 cups corn, fresh or frozen and thawed a bit
• • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 pound firm potatoes, scrubbed, rinsed, and cut into a 1/2" dice
• 1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 pound salmon filet, skin and large bones removed, cut into 1" pieces
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish

Using a fork, mix 2 tablespoons butter and flour in small bowl to blend; set aside.

Mince onion and celery by hand or in food processor. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onion-celery mixture and chilies; sauté until soft, about 6 minutes. Add corn, coriander, cumin, sugar and cayenne. Stir for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Add potatoes, chicken broth and cream, bring to boil. Reduce heat. Whisk in butter-flour mixture and simmer 15 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through and flavors have blended. (Now would be decent time to taste test.) Add salmon and simmer until just cooked through, about 3 minutes longer. Stir in cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot, with a sprinkle of cilantro and maybe some tortilla chips and a big smile, if that's all you have on hand.

Apricot-White Chocolate* Scones

[*Technically, these are Apricot-Coconut White Chocolate Scones, but that is a long name and also I know some people don't dig coconut as much as I do, so I thought I'd specify in the recipe what specific white chocolate I used (the kind with coconut in it) and I'd go on and on about how delightful it was, but plain old white chocolate would be a perfectly acceptable ingredient as well, as made clear by title of post. I'm so accommodating!]

Do you remember when I mentioned, a few weeks ago, as an aside in a post that had nothing to do with America's Test Kitchen (hereinafter "ATK"), that each recipe I've tried in the ATK cookbook - specifically The Complete ATK TV Show Cookbook 2001-2010 - produced the best version I've ever tasted of whatever the recipe was for? Well, I wasn't kidding. Admittedly, I've only made a teeny tiny fraction of the possibilities that the ATK cookbook provides (because the book is huge), but, so far, without fail, each recipe I have attempted has resulted in something incredible. My famous best-ever nachos are adapted from the ATK cookbook. I've also made super tasty black bean soup, butternut squash risotto, "smashed" potatoes, and - seriously - even their instructions for perfect quesadillas are truly perfect!

While I was on maternity leave last year my dear former neighbors lent me their Cooks Illustrated magazines, and then my Aunt Tammey gifted me her older volumes, and I became obsessed. The experimentation that these folks conduct on a regular basis is just unbelievable. They are so dedicated. I wish I could work with them or at least be a taste-tester. They are scientific, culinary geniuses. Infusing chicken broth with butternut squash seeds in order to make a more flavorful butternut squash risotto without throwing in too much butternut squash? Brilliant. Cooking down a portion of the blueberries into a syrupy jam ribbon in order to make more flavorful blueberry muffins without dumping more blueberries (which will inevitably sink to the bottom, duh) into the batter? But of course!

I consider everything they say 150% accurate and reliable and I never veer from their instructions, even if I do maybe mess with ingredient/flavor profiles regularly since that's my M.O.

(Don't even get me started on their product reviews, or the fact that I got a 12" nonstick skillet based on their recommendation, or that I ditched using Pacific Organic Chicken Broth because their tasters said it was reminiscent of mushrooms.)

So, while the romance started with the magazines about a year ago, and things got serious when my friend Amber let me borrow her older version of the ATK cookbook for several months, I officially fell head over heels when Amber got me the current issue of the ATK cookbook earlier this past summer. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this cookbook has changed my life. I love it. We're going to get married. You're all invited.

But enough about my love life. Let's talk about scones.

Scones are, theoretically, so wonderful. Soft on the inside, shiny on the outside, just-enough-crumb, not-too-sweet, a little British, and super versatile. These are all the things I think of when I think of scones. And, because my dreamy thoughts get the best of me whenever there is a case of pastries in front of me, I frequently get suckered into buying a coffee-shop scone when, time and time again, they are hard, dry, stale, and sickeningly sweet. All 650 calories of them are more worthy of the waste bin than my waistline. (That was my lame attempt at a pun. A+ for effort?) But I never learn. Especially when they have white chocolate in them. And they so often do, right?

(Every time I see a white chocolate-apricot or white chocolate-raspberry (or blackberry or strawberry) scone, I want to buy it and eat it immediately. I love white chocolate. In kind of a weird way, given what a weird food product it is. I think it comes down to the fact that it's mostly sugar. I LOVE SUGAR. )

What could be better in a scone than white chocolate? COCONUT WHITE CHOCOLATE. Actually I ended up with the coconut white chocolate bar pictured below totally on accident. I just didn't read the label properly at the grocery store. But I'm grateful for my scatterbrainedness in this instance because it was super super super super good. That's four supers. That's GOOD.

This post is unbelievably long and rambly. I'm sure you've noticed that and I just want you to know that I've noticed too and I'm slightly mortified and it's because I've been writing this post on and off for like a week and that's not the writing approach that works for me, especially when I'm as enthusiastic about my topic as I am about these scones, so it's disjointed and I've lost momentum and really all I wanted to say the whole time was this:

THESE ARE THE BEST SCONES EVER.

BECAUSE THEY ARE FROM THE BEST COOKBOOK EVER.

AND THEY HAVE WHITE CHOCOLATE IN THEM.

P.S. YOU SHOULD BUY THE ATK COOKBOOK.

They taste like what you want the scones to taste like at your local chain coffee shop.

They smell good too. Even my tiny daughter couldn't wait for them to be done.

You should really really really make them. And then invite me over for tea.

Apricot-White Chocolate Scones

Adapted from The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2010

Yield: 8 perfect scones

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/4" cubes

1/3 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots, soaked in hot water for 10-15 min and drained well

1/3 cup white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate or - better yet - chopped coconut white chocolate

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Scatter the cubed butter evenly over the top and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal with a few lumps, about 8-12 pulses. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the dried apricots and white chocolate. Stir in the heavy whipping cream with spatula until the tacky dough forms. Transfer the dough and any leftover dry bits onto your counter or a cutting board and knead the dough by hand just until it comes together into a sticky ball (see pictures above - mine took about 5 good squeezes and flips). Cut the dough into eight wedges and place them on a baking sheet. Drizzle or brush some cream or milk on top of each scone. Bake on middle rack for 12-15 minutes, or until scones are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes.

(These freeze beautifully. And I didn't do anything fancier than thawing them in the microwave.)

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To close, I have a question for you friends and relatives and occasional accidental readers: how'd you like the 10-days of CSA thing? The format worked well for me because it kept me focused and productive and committed. I'm thinking of doing it again. Here are my ideas: 10 days of Soup... or Pancakes... or Cookies... or Eggs... I had some other ideas but they are escaping me right now. If you like the format and want to see it again, and/or if you have ideas, please let me know! Thanks, man!

Grilled Cheese Fit for a King Pregnant Woman

Hi again and happy October! We are having a beautiful October in Minneapolis, with cool nights and sunny, warm-ish days. The leaves are all falling off the trees and I'm more appreciative of seasons this year than ever before, likely because we've actually had seasons this year in Minneapolis, whereas last year we were robbed of both fall and spring.

My family is in between travels right now, enjoying almost four whole weeks at home until we head to New York and then California. When we're home for this amount of time I do a better job of having a well-stocked, organized kitchen, and we eat more meals at home.

Sometimes I even make myself a really giant, restaurant-quality lunch during these periods of domesticity. Lately, I feel quite justified in doing just that, as I am with child and was also a nursing mother until about four days ago, and mama needs her calories.

This sandwich is phenomenal.

phe·nom·e·nal

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or constituting phenomena or a phenomenon.

2. Extraordinary; outstanding: a phenomenal feat of memory.

3. Philosophy Known or derived through the senses rather than through the mind.

Oh you heard me.

The only thing that could make it even more extraordinary, outstanding, or known or derived through the senses rather than through the mind is the addition of crispy bacon. But my fetus probably doesn't need nitrates.

Grilled Cheese Fit for a King Pregnant Woman

From Yours Truly, crafted during an intense moment of personal need

2 large slices delicious freshly baked sandwich bread*

Earth Balance buttery margarine or real butter

handful of raw sunflower seeds

1/2 ripe avocado

1 medium super ripe, bright red tomato, sliced and seeded

1 to 2 ounces cheese**, sliced about 1/4" thick

seasoned salt, or salt and pepper

In a non-stick skillet, toast the sunflower seeds for about 2-3 minutes over medium heat, until starting to brown.

Meanwhile, generously coat one side of each slice of bread with butter or margarine. Once sunflower seeds have browned a bit and are fragrant, turn the stove off and remove the seeds from the pan so they don't continue to cook.

On one slice of bread, squeeze out the flesh of your half avocado and spread it as evenly (but thickly) as possible on the side that is not buttered. Sprinkle the toasted sunflower seeds on top and then the tomato slices. Salt and pepper to taste. Finally, gently add the cheese slices, careful to avoid overhang, and top with the second slice of bread, buttered side out.

Turn on the stove to medium and carefully place the sandwich in the still-warm skillet. Toast for about 3 minutes or until down-side is lightly browned, then flip (I use two spatulas to do this). Toast for 3 more minutes or so - if cheese is not as melty as you'd like, place a lid on the skillet for a couple minutes (I always do that). Cut in half and enjoy!

Note that this sandwich probably has a thousand calories, each one of them as delicious as the next. The butter/margarine is not the issue - I used less than a tablespoon and it was plenty. It's the cheese and avocado, which you could of course use less of. Or you could split it with someone, if you are not a pregnant woman.

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*My husband made a really great loaf of sandwich bread in our long-term-borrowed bread machine, and that's what I used for my sandwich and appears in the above pictures. It's v. molassesy and hearty. I've pretty much eaten the whole loaf on my own. Here are the ingredients for a 2 lb loaf in case you want to make it in your own bread machine or with your hands. (But I'm not a bread maker, so I don't have by-hand directions for you.)

1 1/2 cups water

4 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup gluten

1/4 cup molasses (we used blackstrap)

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons butter

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

**Pick one that would be good for melting and note that the more flavorful the cheese is, the more it will overpower the other ingredients. I used a mild colby jack.