Pineapple, Cucumber and Mint Salad

I tried this new recipe just last night. On the first reading, I thought it sounded pretty good so I put it on this weeks' menu. When I looked at it again (yesterday afternoon--just before dinner time) I thought it sounded a little weird, although it might be good. But I was committed--I'd already bought all the ingredients--so I made it.
And . . .

Yummy! It is unusual, but very good. :-)

PINEAPPLE, CUCUMBER AND MINT SALAD

1 cup fresh pineapple, coarsely chopped
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 green onions, finely chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (I used oyster sauce)
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

Toss all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

More Marvelous Muffins

Mmm, Mmmm, Mmmmmm!

On May 16 our friends Grant and Janae had their first baby—an absolutely beautiful little boy. And as an excuse to visit (like we needed an excuse) we made a whole bunch of muffins and took some over. I already posted the Blueberry Muffin recipe [just click on the link :-) ], but here are the recipes for the Orange-Cranberry Muffins and the Bran Muffins. (These are also from The Best Light Recipe cookbook.)

CRANBERRY-ORANGE MUFFINS

1 1/2 cups dried cranberries, chopped fine
2/3 cup orange juice
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
tiny pinch of cloves (optional)
2 tsp. grated orange zest [I use a little more--I like it orangey!]
1 cup sugar [I think you could get away with 3/4 cup]
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine cranberries and orange juice in a microwave-safe container; cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 1 minute. Let stand, covered, until softened and plump. Strain cranberries, discarding juice.
Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. You can use cupcake-papers, but I think they're nicer if you just spray the pan. Also, the recipe says it makes 12 muffins, but they must use a bigger tin than I do. This recipe makes 18 muffins in my tins (about 2 to 3-inches across the bottom of each cup).
Process the sugar with the orange zest until pale orange, about 10 seconds. If you don't have a food-processor, just chop the zest very fine and then mix it in with the sugar.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and 1/4 of the sugar together. Set aside.
Beat 3/4 of the sugar and the butter together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating until very fluffy. Add vanilla.
Turn mixer to low-speed and add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating just until incorporated, followed by 1/2 cup of the yogurt, scraping down the bowl as needed. Repeat this process two more times, alternating between the remaining flour and yogurt. Mix just until ingredients are incorporated.
Gently fold in the cranberries.
Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then flip them out onto a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Yum!

And now, the

BRAN MUFFINS

1 cup unprocessed wheat bran
3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup 2% or whole milk (don't use 1% or fat-free. Yuck!)
6 Tbsp. molasses
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray your muffin tin.
Stir the wheat bran, yogurt, milk, molasses and vanilla together in a medium bowl until combined; let sit for at least 10 minutes.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and 1/4 cup of the sugar together; set aside.
Beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Reduce mixer speed to low. Beat in 1/3 of flour mixture until just incorporated, followed by 1/3 of the bran mixture, scraping down bowl as necessary. Repeat this process twice more, alternating between the flour and bran mixtures, until ingredients are just incorporated. Do not overmix.
Gently fold raisins into the batter.
Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out clean, about 18 to 20 minutes.
Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes, flip them onto a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Yum, yum!

Guests and Brownies

Last night Ben and Tami and their cute little girls came over for dinner. Did we think to take pictures of them (or at least the cute little girls)? Well, no. But here is the brownie recipe Ben asked for.

The first time I made these they were yummy and gooey; the second time not so much. But I think the difference was this: The first time I made them was for a big party, and the recipe didn't make enough. So I mixed up a cheap (and I mean probably the cheapest one available) brownie mix and added it to the home-made recipe—but I didn't use a bigger pan. So they were thicker, which probably added to the gooeyness factor. Well, try it out either way—it's a yummy recipe.

BROWNIES

1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. warm water
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder [I am not about to pay for espresso powder just to make brownies with! Instead, I borrowed some Pero powder from my mom—which I'm sure coffee-people would say is NOT the same at all, but I don't know the difference.]
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter [I never remember to buy unsalted butter, but if I have it I use it.]
3 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped fine [buy baking squares, don't use chocolate chips]
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 large egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk flour and baking powder together in a small bowl; set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the cocoa, water, vanilla and espresso powder together; set aside.
MIcrowave the butter and chocolate together at 50% power until melted, about 1 minute; whisk until smooth. Whisk in sugar and salt until completely incorporated. Whisk in the cocoa mixture, then whisk in the egg. [whisk, whisk, whisk!] Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated (do not overmix).
Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray (like PAM). Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
Bake until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 20-25 minutes.
Cool for as long as you can stand to wait. Eat them up!