Beet Marmalade: The Easiest Homemade Condiment

Want to impress your friends? This homemade beet marmalade should do the job. It's incredibly easy to make, and a great flavor combination.

All it takes is some cooked beets, lemon, ginger and sugar. The marmalade thickens as it cools, so don't be surprised at the consistency. Wait for it to completely cool in sterilized jars before spreading it on your favorite toast. Better yet, you can spread it on this great coffee cake to add a bit of savory to the sweetness.

I would like to say thanks to my cook-the-book partners. This is our last installment from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book. We started in July and ended today, with 13 chapters under our belts. I never would have tried half of what I did, so thanks for the ladies who blogged alongside me: Rachel, Aimee, Emily and Claudie. We had Sammy join us for a good bit of the book, too. It has been a pleasure getting to know each of you and I am amazed at the community that we have formed through our online alliance.

Enjoy the beet marmalade, and have a very happy and healthy new year!

Beet Marmalade

Ingredients:

• 4 medium-large beets, cooked and peeled
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 large lemon
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger

Method:

1. Put the beets in a food processor and process until coarsely chopped; or mash the beets by hand.
2. Transfer the beets to a heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir in the sugar.
3. Put the lemon and ginger into the food processor and process until finely chopped; or chop them by hand.
4. Add the lemon and ginger to the beet mixture and stir to blend.
5. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the marmalade has thickened a little.
6. This takes about 20 minutes – remember that the marmalade will get thicker considerably as it cools.
7. Remove from the heat and put up in sterilized jars if you are not going to use the marmalade for a month or more otherwise it will keep well in the refrigerator.

To learn how to sterilize jars, click here.

Marion Cunningham's Great Gluten-Free Coffee Cake

 I made a variation of Marion Cunningham's great coffee cake this morning. I used gluten-free flour and lactose-free sour cream. Maybe that makes the cake sound less tasty, but believe me, if turned out very well, and tasted almost like the real deal.

I've been working on gluten-free recipes for a few years. They always are good variations on the theme of the original full-wheat flour versions. They never taste exactly the same, so I wouldn't want to mislead you. It's a matter of getting used to a lighter textured pastry, a flavor change from the original. Different isn't always bad, just not exactly the taste you remembered.

Lacotse-free sour cream was a revelation to me. The texture is not the same, but the flavor is just as good and has brought back potato chips with onion dip into my life. I've never made a cake with sour cream, but had heard it would be extra moist, so I went to work.

I've never used a Bundt pan before. The batter was much thicker than I thought it would be, but it worked, I think, because of the baking soda. The cake turned out really light and crumbly. Not sure what kind of texture full-wheat flour would have yielded, but I was pleased with the results I got.

This is our second to last installment of the cook-the-book series of Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book. Check out the posts by my blog partners:  Rachel, Aimee, Emily and Claudie.

Great Gluten-Free Coffee Cake

from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book

one 10-inch tube cake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (make your own or use this one from Gluten-Free Pantry)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup lactose-free sour cream (I used this one from Green Valley Organics)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or Bundt pan.
2. Put the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat for several seconds.
3. Add the sugar and beat until smooth.
4. Add the eggs and beat for 2 minutes, or until light and creamy.
5. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and stir with a fork to blend well.
6. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until smooth.
7. Add the sour cream and mi well.
8. Spoon the batter into the pan.
9. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a straw comes out clean when inserted into the center.
10. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes in the pan.
11. Invert onto a rack and cool a little bit before slicing.
12. Serve warm.

Let the Christmas Cookies Begin: Lemon-Iced Cookies

It's raining hard here, which means it's really almost Christmas in San Francisco. Isabella and I did some Christmas window shopping this weekend. Ingredients for Christmas cookies are showing up in our kitchen; Christmas tree is being purchased tomorrow.

Above is a picture of Noel's version of Gran Fran's lemon-iced cookies. Delish! Noel's an excellent baker, so I left the documentation to her. My cookies never quite look as good as hers, though they do taste delightful.

I wanted to share a recipe, but also these gems of Christmas-pictures past of the Claro kids. These were on Facebook already, so I figured my siblings can't complain about me posting them here....

 The little one in the grey dress is me. Kind of looking like a crazy monkey. I think there is at least one picture of each of my sisters wearing this dress. I know there are shots of me in the dress with the cherries Noel is wearing, and the blue dress Danielle has on. I never had the pleasure of wearing the funky heart-printed one Nicole has on, nor Chris' very awesome plaid pants.

How about those late '70's collars? I see tinsel on that Christmas tree. No idea Gran Fran used to allow that, must note for future Christmas

Gran Fran wrote a wonderful post that evokes memories of grandmas getting ready for Christmas in their community. The recipe for her lemon-iced cookies was included in the post. They're a wonderful addition to your traditional Christmas cookie repertoire.

And, finally, a picture of my daughter and her two local cousins enjoying some sparkling cider (no, it's not beer) at Thanksgiving dinner. These are who I bake for these days. Not too shabby, huh?

So let's start this Christmas season off right and get some baking done!

(All pictures are cookies made with standard all-purpose white flour. You can replace white flour with Gluten Free Pantry's All Purpose Flour Mix)

Angeletti –Lemon-Iced Cookies

Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use Gluten Free Pantry's All Purpose Flour Mix)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Icing

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• Grated rind of 1 lemon
•  2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• Colored sprinkles (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift togther flour, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and granulated sugaruntil fluffy
4.  Add eggs one at a time; mix well after each addition.
5. Mix in vanilla.
6. With mixer on, gradually add flour mixture; beat until dough comes together.
7. Gently roll bits of dough into  1 to 1-1/2 inch ballsand placeon lightly buttered or parchment-lined baking sheet.
8. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. To cool cookies, transfer them to wire cooling rack set over a sheet of waxed paper.
9.  In a medium bowl, stir together confectioners’ sugar, lemon rind, and lemon juice to form a smooth glossy icing.
10. When cookies are cool, dip tops in icing and return to wire rack.
11. Shower with colored sprinkles if desired. Let cookies remain on wire cooling rack until icing is firm.

Trout Fried with Oatmeal: The Breakfast Book

Here we are again, it's Cook the Book time. This chapter of Marian Cunningham's The Breakfast Book is all about breakfast meat. Somehow, I found a fish dish.

I've never made trout before. My favorite way to eat it is smoked on toast with mayo. The recipe I found calls for trout, but it's encrusted in oatmeal and then fried. All signs pointed to yes for me, so I gave it a try.

The flavor was great, the fish was moist. The almond milk I used added a little bit of nuttiness to the oatmeal, so it was all good. If I could just get past the smell of the fish itself, this would be one of my go-to breakfast dishes.

My mother always has something to say about how fishy fish can smell. I hadn't ever experience this level of fishiness-of-the-fish before. Whoa! I made this two times because the first time I made it, the smell turned me off so much, I was afraid to eat it. The second time, I made it as soon as I got it home from the market, but the smell was the same. I do have an extra sensitive nose, which may have contributed to my reaction.

You may have a different experience, so I ask you to please give this a try, and to let me know. I hope you enjoy the flavor as much as I did!

Check out the posts by my cook the book partners:  Rachel, Aimee, Emily and Claudie.

Trout Fried with Oatmeal

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup milk (I use Almond Milk)
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup shortening, or a combination of oil and butter
• 4 trout
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Lemon wedges

Method:

1. Pour the milk in a large deep plate and spread the oatmeal on a piece of waxed paper. If you want a finer-textured oatmeal than the flakes, whir the rolled oats in a food processor.
2. Put the shortening in a large skillet and heat it over high heat.
3. Dip each trout in the milk and then in the oatmeal, coating each side completely,
4. Put the trout in the hot shortening and turn the heat down to medium-high.
5. Salt and pepper hte trout and cook for 3 to 4 minutes; then turn the trout and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on the other side – don't overcook.
6. Remove from the pan and serve with lemon wedges.