Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Ultragrain All Purpose Flour in Biscuits & Chocolate Cake

October 20, 2015 by Mary 26 Comments

The flour in our fall MARY’s secret ingredients box seemed to be a surprise for some. But then again, this isn’t just any flour. It is Ultragrain All Purpose flour from Ardent Mills that replaces white flour, cup for cup. In the past, I’ve baked with straight whole wheat flour and some other partial combinations. Sadly, all did not have a good success rate. Not so with this flour!! I put it to the test on biscuits and cake and this Ultragrain multigrain flour performed in a terrific way!!

It is unique in that it’s whole wheat flour that offers whole grain nutrition but with the taste, texture and appearance of white flour. It’s made with specially selected white wheat that’s grown on family farms in Colorado and surrounding states. Naturally milder, sweeter and lighter in color than red wheat, it’s milled using a unique method that retains all of the whole grain nutrition while achieving the consistency of white flour.

Ultragrain All Purpose Flour contains 9 grams of whole grain per serving and twice the fiber of other all-purpose flours.

But this is what most interests me, this flour is unenriched, unbleached, has no bromate, and the wheat is a non-GMO grain. This is a BIG thing! Who needs all that added crap or bleach!

I would even go so far as to say that I would bet that if you have a gluten sensitivity, (not intolerance or celiac) you may find this flour to be ok. Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Check out these biscuit and cake recipes. Notice the lovely texture of both in the photos. The taste and light texture are wonderful, yet this is so much better for you all around without the additives, bleach, or genetically modified base, plus you get the added fiber with 30% of the flour being whole grain. You can have your cake and eat it too!!

SKILLET BUTTERMILK BISCUITS – adapted from Food & Wine Magazine – contributed by Coleen Cruze Bhatti

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cubed, plus more for greasing
2 cups Ultragrain multigrain all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 cups cold buttermilk (I used Kate’s Buttermilk – the real thing)

Preheat the oven to 450° and butter a 12-inch cast-iron skillet. In a large bowl, whisk the 2 cups of flour with the baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add the cubed butter and using a pastry cutter or your fingers, pinch the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles very coarse crumbs, with some of the butter the size of small peas. Gently stir in the buttermilk, just until a soft dough forms.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat it into a 3/4-inch-thick round. Using a 2-inch round biscuit cutter, stamp out biscuits as close together as possible. Gently press the scraps together and stamp out more biscuits. Arrange the  biscuits in the prepared skillet and bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.

So good, you don’t even need butter!

CHOCOLATE CAKE!

This made in the pan chocolate cake is super easy and quick to make. The recipe is from Mollie Katzan. I add a little more cocoa for a super chocolaty taste. Just be sure you’ve thoroughly mixed your dry ingredients and then the wet as well, lifting up the pan periodically so you can check.

You can literally make this in 15 – 20 to mix and then 30+ minutes to bake. Now there’s no excuse not to make a dessert, and it’s even vegan!!

MADE-IN-THE-PAN CHOCOLATE CAKE – serves 9 – adapted from Mollie Katzan

1 1/4 cups Ultragrain multigrain all purpose flour
1/3 heaping cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 cup water
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cider vinegar or white vinegar

Preheat oven to 325°F. Have ready an 8-inch-square glass baking pan. Put flour, cocoa, sugar, salt and baking soda into the pan. Mix it together thoroughly with a whisk and spatula making sure all is blended together and no white flour clumps are visible. Lift up the pan and check to make sure all is blended on the bottom and especially in the corners.

Add water, oil, vanilla extract and vinegar. Stir slowly with a whisk in small circles to blend. As it becomes a batter, mash, scrape, and stir with whisk and spatula until smooth, particularly scraping and blending from the corners of the pan.

Scrape the sides with a rubber spatula and spread it evenly. Clean the edges, then bake for 30 minutes until top bounces back on your finger impression and a toothpick come out clean.

Cool completely in the pan, on a rack. Dust with some powdered sugar (there is no need for frosting) and cut into squares.

I served it with LOVE, a dollop of ice cream and some strawberries for a really pretty and super easy dessert.

Ardent Mills Ultragrain All Purpose flour was one of the products in our MARY’s secret ingredients fall box. You can get your SURPRISE winter box here! Make a great gift and helps us in our support of Feed The Children.

Chelsea Market Baskets Oatie Bites Fruit Crisp

May 27, 2015 by Mary 15 Comments

These little cookies from Chelsea Market Baskets are buttery, crisp, full of oats and totally delicious! This is the sixth item from our MARY’s secret ingredients spring box and I’d say they’re addictive. So, my thought with this recipe was to combine them with healthy fruit to be able to justify eating more of them! In your box, you either got a Banoffee flavor, which Is a traditional Scottish combo of banana and vanilla or Maple Pecan. Either flavor works in this Chelsea Market Baskets Oatie Bites Fruit Crisp recipe.

First, a little background on the heritage of these cookies. Donald Reid started this family-run bakery located in Thurso, Scotland in 1966 using his grandmother’s over 100 year-old recipes. He uses the exact same locally grown oats from the exact same mills that his grandmother used to bake her amazing biscuits and cakes. The recipes are unchanged, and we’re so glad about that!

We get savor these cookies via Chelsea Market Baskets, NYC’s premier specialty food and gift basket store. Owner, David Porat searches the world for distinctly high quality, unique, innovative products with a certain indescribable charm, and we can see why these Oatie Bites fit right in his specifications. Chelsea Market Baskets aims to delight customers through their retail shop in NYC, mail order gift business and wholesale imports. And that they do!

Here’s the recipe:

CHELSEA MARKET BASKETS OATIE BITES FRUIT CRISP – serves 6 – 8

10 large strawberries, washed, cored and each sliced into 3 or 4 thick slices
1 pint blueberries, washed
3 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. cornstarch
1 tsp. lemon juice

TOPPING;
12 Oatie Bites cookies, Banoffee or Maple Pecan flavored
3 Tbs. unsalted cold butter, plus more for buttering pan
1 Tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg, preferably fresh grated

Preheat over to 375 degrees.

Butter an 8” x 8” glass baking dish.

Make sure the fruit is air dried before proceeding. Combine the fruit in the buttered dish. Sprinkle the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice on top and toss all gently to combine with a rubber spatula.

Prepare the topping: Break the cookies into small pieces in a bowl. Sprinkle on cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and place in the bowl. Combine all with a pastry cutter to make the streusel topping.

Distribute the topping evenly over the fruit.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 – 30 minutes, until the fruit is bubbly on the edges.

Serve warm, with LOVE. If you want to be really decadent, you could add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream, but it is not necessary.

This was so good, I’m making it again tomorrow night for a little weeknight dinner party!

The Chelsea Market Baskets Oatie Bites were in our MARY’s secret ingredients spring box. The summer box will mail on June 25th. You won’t want to miss it!

Cit-Trease Peeler

May 25, 2015 by Mary 10 Comments

The pith of any citrus fruit is the most bitter part. You don’t want any piece of it and with this Cit-Trease peeler, you can kiss all those pithy parts away!!

Chef’s Planet, goal in life as a company, is to make your life in the kitchen easy and fun!! They are constantly thinking of new ways to make cooking simpler and more enjoyable!

This clever tool makes it easy to remove citrus from the peel so you can enjoy fresh fruit cut up in a bowl or throw the whole peeled half in a juicer for your smoothie. Simply cut your citrus fruit in half and score the citrus in a complete rotation by placing the blade teeth at the edge of the peel. Continue rotating the citrus and move the Cit-Trease handle in a perpendicular position to the face of the fruit until it pulls away from the peel. Voilá!
You then have a half of an orange that is pure fruit, with no pith at all!

You can use this handy tool on grapefruits, avocados and even squash. Cit-Trease away and have fun!! Kiss all nasty skins and pithy parts goodbye!

Chef’s Planet makes life in the kitchen easier by offering unique, cleverly designed gadgets to fit your active life-style. They are constantly thinking of new ways to make cooking simpler and more enjoyable!

The Cit-Trease tool has a stainless steel blade that will not rust or tarnish, is dishwasher safe on the top shelf and even has a patent pending!

Chef’s Planet Cit-Trease tool was in our MARY’s secret ingredients Spring box. Don’t miss out! Our June box is selling like hotcakes – ships June 25th! Order by June 24th.

Cheese Straw Cornbread

May 22, 2015 by Mary 6 Comments

The buttery, cheesy, delicious Delta Bred Cheese Straws are totally awesome and addictive on their own or served with cocktails. These were one of the first talked about items in our spring box! Comments have come in like “these cheese straws are to die for” and “where can I buy more?” and “The cheese straws were a big hit and didn’t last long at all.” Break them in half and use them to garnish a gazpacho or add some brightness to any salad. Or, you can make this Cheese Straw Cornbread and go straight to heaven.

Putting the cheese straws directly in the cornbread adds a crunchy, cheesy surprise, elevating the humble bread. I made this for a Sunday morning breakfast and it was just divine. You could put some butter on it but honestly, nothing was needed with the extra punch of these cheesy bits. I know you’ll LOVE this!

CHEESE STRAW CORNBREAD – serves 6 – 9

1 cup medium grind whole grain cornmeal (I used Bob’s Red Mill brand)
1 cup of multi-grain flour (or you could use white flour)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup Delta Bred cheese straws, each straw cut into 2 or 3 pieces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter an 8″ square glass baking dish.

Whisk together all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk just enough to combine. Then fold in the cheese straw pieces and let the batter sit for 10 minutes to let the baking powder do its thing.

Gently pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.

Serve warm with LOVE! Enjoy!!

The Delta Bred Cheese Straws were in our MARY’s secret ingredients spring box. The summer box will mail on June 25th.

Banana Nut Muffins with Loacker Chocolate Chucks

May 18, 2015 by Mary 26 Comments

This Loacker Cremkakao chocolate bar is super delicious all on it’s own. Loacker is a family owned business out of Italy and their factory is located at the foot of the Alps near the Austrian border. For 90 years they have been making a variety of light and crispy wafer cookies. In fact, they are the number one wafer cookie in the world! This is their first venture into the chocolate bar business and keeping true to their roots, they have incorporated a thin crispy wafer in the center of this decadent chocolate. (Isn’t that cool?) One bite and you’ll be looking for more, which will hopefully be available very soon as these bars are just being introduced into this country. You, spring box buyers, are the lucky ones to taste these first! Stay tuned for where you can buy more as I know you’ll be asking.

Meanwhile, I made these decadent Banana Nut Muffins with Loacker Chocolate Chunks for a Sunday morning treat. These were beyond delicious!!

BANANA NUT MUFFINS WITH LOACKER CHOCOLATE CHUNKS – makes 12 muffins

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
11/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (preferably freshly grated)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 Loacker 3.07 oz. Cremkakao chocolate bar, cut into smallish chunks

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs.

Smash the bananas and vanilla together.

Loacker Banana Nut muffins - chocolate cut up.

Your chocolate bar should look like this.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Add to creamed mixture, alternately adding the banana mixture, starting and ending with the flour. Fold in walnuts and chocolate pieces. Butter non-stick muffin cups or use paper liners; fill 12 cups with batter, distributing evenly. Bake at 350° for 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm with LOVE. Delizioso!!

The Loacker Cremkakao chocolate bar was in our MARY’s secret ingredients spring box. The summer box will mail on June 25th.

MARY’s secret ingredients crowdfunding – help bring home the bacon!

March 22, 2015 by Mary 17 Comments

My best blogger friend, dear Maureen, over at Orgasmic Chef just contributed to our crowdfunding effort for MARY’s secret ingredients (MSI) all the way from Australia!!! THANK YOU MAUREEN!!! Your show of support means so very much to me and our whole MSI team.

So we are heading into the last week of the crowdfunding campaign and this has been quite an experience. (If you like to sweat, run one!) Please check out this video we made.

Meanwhile we’ve been reaching out for funding in all different ways – meeting with VC firms, people who know people, connections activated everywhere. I’ve decided that sleep is overrated – I’ve had to – as I get very little of it lately but amazingly, I am not tired. I am exhilarated by this mission – our big hairy audacious goal of eradicating hunger. Did you know that over 16 million children go to bed hungry every night, in this country alone? There are about 870 million hungry people worldwide. They are of all ages, from babies whose mothers cannot make enough milk to the elderly with no relatives to care for them. And many poverty-stricken overweight people are actually starving and malnourished because they’re eating all the wrong food – processed, fatty, addictive junk!

So with MSI, we hope to work on both ends of the spectrum – with the products in the surprise subscription box and the recipes I create using them, providing inspiration and encouragement for healthy cooking at home, and then donating a large portion of the profits to Feed The Children.

So we’d love to have you join our initiative and be a part of this big hairy audacious goal to eradicate hunger. There’s unique and lovely rewards to be had. Visit the SmallKnot site to find out more.

And now I’d like to share with you the BEST way to cook bacon.

Nothing says Sunday morning breakfast to me more than bacon and eggs, which is what I grew up with. Only my mother would fry the bacon in a skillet (she got a thin sliced pound that would feed all eight of us at least 2 slices each!) and when it was all finished, she’d make the eggs in the same skillet and baste them with the bacon grease! With all the bacon craze now, my boys are asking me for this, but I just won’t do it. Cholesterol heaven! So these are over easy with just a tiny bit of butter in a non-stick pan.

My husband and I were walking around the city yesterday, on the east side of town, and happened upon this great Spanish butcher shop. Not much English was spoken here (and my Spanish is nonexistent), so my bacon was sliced a little thicker than expected. This actually took about 27 minutes to cook. Typically 18 minutes is ideal.

THE BEST WAY TO COOK BACON
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Use a rimmed baking sheet and line with parchment paper. Lay out the strips of 1 lb. nitrate-free thick sliced bacon. Position your oven rack at the very top and roast for 15 – 20 minutes. Mine usually takes about 18 minutes. Carefully remove cooked bacon with tongs and drain on paper towel lined plates to absorb the grease. This is so much better and easier than frying and clean up is a breeze because of the parchment paper lining. Enjoy!

Help us bring home the bacon and visit our crowdfunding site for exclusive merchandise and deals! (I couldn’t resist!) Spread the word to your community. And thank you so very much – with all my LOVE.

Here is the link: http://smallknot.com/marys-secret-ingredients-1 – The campaign runs until March 27th – this Friday!