the most delicious muffins in the world

(i'm not exaggerating)

i so wish that i could take credit for this recipe, but, alas, kudos must go to the delicious life for her carrot muffins with cream cheese filling.

the only changes i made to the existing recipe were to omit the raisins and walnuts (i just don't like "surprises" in my baked goods) and to substitute confectioners sugar in the cream cheese filling portion.

these muffins were a hit at home and at work. they'll make you appear to be a cooking goddess.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots

cream cheese filling

4 oz cream cheese - softened

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

sift dry ingredients together. in a separate bowl, combine the carrots, egg, and oil and mix. add carrot mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well.

scoop mixture into greased (i used butter) mini-muffin tins. add dollop of cream cheese mixture to each muffin. bake for approx 25 minutes in a pre-heated 350 degree oven.

potato, leek and sorrel soup

in an effort to use all of the veggies from my csa, i made a soup tonight that contains 4 different items from this week's haul.  its turned out quite nicely, and i'm going to freeze most of it (sans dairy).  the soup was complemented nicely with a hearty rye bread.

1 tablespoon butter

2 slices bacon - chopped

1 medium onion - diced

1/2 cup carrots - diced

1 leek - sliced

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon flour

1 quart chicken stock

1 cup water

1 lb potatoes - diced in 1 inch cubes

1 bunch red sorrel (seen at right) - cut off stems and slice thinly

2-3 sprigs summer savory

cream (approx 1 tablespoon to 1 cup soup)

parmesan - grated to top soup

melt butter in large pot, add bacon, onions, carrots and cumin.  saute over medium-high heat until onions are translucent.  add leeks and saute until leeks are soft.  salt and pepper to taste.  add flour, stirring constantly until flour dissipates into the mixture.

add chicken stock, water, potatoes and summer savory.  cook over medium heat until potatoes are cooked approx halfway through.  at this point, add the sorrel, salt and pepper to taste, and cook over medium heat until the potatoes are soft.  

let soup cool and puree the mixture.  prepare soup to order:  cook over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon cream per 1 cup soup (or more if desired).  top with grated parmesan.  enjoy!

veggie & goat cheese lasagna

its been a fun summer (a little too fun for blogs posts) and i've been making good use of my csa veggies.  just before taking a two week trip (food photos to come), i was becoming buried in summer squash.  i also had to empty the fridge before the trip.  this lasagna is a result of using only ingredients (excepting the noodles) that i already had in the fridge.  the result was delicious. 

3 cups marinara

3 lbs summer squash - sliced

1 cup onion - diced

2 leeks - sliced and sauted in 1 tablespoon butter

8 ounces ricotta

8 ounces goat cheese - room temperature

1 egg

2 tablespoons fresh parsley - chopped

bechamel sauce (1/2 cup butter, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup cream)

8 ounces whole wheat lasanga noodles - cooked

to prepare bechamel sauce:

melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat, gradually add flour to melted butter, stirred constantly to blend flour into butter.  once all flour has been blended, cook on low for 2-3 minutes.  slowly add cream to mixture, and cook on low for 3-5 minutes.  remove from heat, blend with 3 cups marinara (makes a pink-ish orange sauce).

to prepare squash:

in 1 tablespoon butter, saute diced onion until glistening.  add squash, salt & pepper.  saute for 3-5 minutes over medium heat (do not over cook).

to prepare cheese mixture:

add ricotta, goat cheese, parsley and egg; mix well 

to layer lasagna:

spoon thin layer of marinara/bechamel sauce on the bottom of the pan and top with noodles, then layer, sauce, leeks, squash, cheese mixture, noodles, sauce, etc.  top the casserole with cheese sauce.  bake at 350 degree for 45 minutes to an hour.  let cool, slice and enjoy!

slightly southern swiss chard

i originally crafted this recipe for the mustard greens that came in my last csa pickup.  from growing up in the rural south, i was familiar with cooked greens (collards, mustard and turnip greens), but i hadn't cooked with them before.  as a dutiful cook, i began with the basics.  about these greens, mark bittman, merely said that they were a green of the South that are "traditionally boiled to death with smoked meat."    i turned to one of my southern culinary gurus, mama dip.  

this recipe is a compromise between my southern tastebuds and my desire to keep the nutrients and integrity of the fresh greens.

i found my adaptation worked very well with rainbow swiss chard (i didn't even have to blanche it first).

1/4 yellow onion - finely chopped

3 slices bacon - diced while raw

1 bunch swiss chard (or other green - the heartier the green, the longer the cooking time)

1/8 chicken stock (water will do)

dash red pepper flakes (to taste)

salt and pepper

in large saucepan saute onions, add salt and pepper, add chopped bacon and cook over medium high heat until bacon is crispy.  add swiss chard, stock, and red pepper.  cook uncovered over medium heat until chard is wilted and stock evaporates (5-7 minutes).  serve over polenta (see below).  note: in the photo, i have more liquid than i would have liked, thus i reduced the amount to add for the recipe.  however, the rainbow chard is just so pretty, i couldn't resist showing it cooking.

2 cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon butter

1/4 cup tomatoes - diced

3/4 to 1 cup quick-cooking polenta (more or less depending on how thick you like your polenta)

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese (or whichever you like, a white cheddar also works nicely)

salt and pepper

add stock, butter and tomatoes to a large sauce pan.  bring to simmer.  slowly stir in polenta.  turn heat off, add cheese and stir until blended.

cooking away my csa

i've joined cooking away my csa, a group of food bloggers who will be sharing their csa-product recipes at least once a week on their blogs.  thanks to flour girl for creating this group - its a great way to make sure that we all get the most out of our csas.

eating well magazine will be posting some of the recipes as well.