Yam and Cranberry Spice Muffins

One of the reasons my posting has been so infrequent of late is that I've been mulling over the usefulness of what I write. See, I don't usually work from a recipe. I just throw stuff in a pot until it tastes right, and that's not the easiest thing to reproduce for other readers.

But, it's the way I cook. So if you're here I'm just assuming that's what you like to read.

Take today for example. I had a roasted and peeled yam in the fridge. I had half a bag of fresh cranberries left over. I decided to make muffins.

Now, muffins are not rocket science. They are hard to render completely inedible, regardless of what you add, as long as you stick to some basic rules.

You need flour, baking powder, eggs, oil, and liquid, the rest is just details. I used to start with a recipe, and then alter it to work with what I have on hand. That helped me to get an idea of proportions. Now, I usually wing it with what I know.

Today, I started with 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour, in a mixing bowl.

I washed the cranberries and put them in a saucepan with just enough water to cover them. I added a glop of sugar probably 2 TBSP and a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg. I let that boil just long enough for the berries to burst and then turned it off and set it aside.

I wanted a pretty dense grainy sort of breakfast muffin. So while the cranberries were boiling I added one cup of rolled oats and two handfuls of millet. (yes, I measure by the handful, it's very scientific.) Then I added 2 tsp of baking soda and 1/4 tsp of salt. (given how the muffins turned out I think next time I would add 1 tsp of baking soda, instead of the second tsp of baking powder. They were a bit more dense than I would like and the soda would hopefully fix that. Let me know :) Then I added a lot of ground ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I several shakes, lets guess 1 tsp each. Or more if you want.

Then I mashed up the yam and added it to the flour mixture along with the cranberry sauce. Then I added two eggs. And then I added 1/4 cup molasses for sweetening, and 1 tbsp of oil.

It was still a bit too dry so I added 1/2 cup of yogurt as well, 1/4 cup at a time until it was right.

I baked them at 325 for about half an hour. And they were all gone less than a hour later.

This recipe made 1 dozen large muffins.

And that my friends is how to bake on the fly. If you've made muffins once or twice you know what the batter should look like. Just make sure you have:

• a rising agent-Baking powder or soda, enough for the amount you have. My rule of thumb is one tsp per cup of flour or dried stuff, minimum.
• A binding agent-the gluten in flour is binding to an extent, but with so much other stuff in it as well you need another binding agent, in this case, the eggs.
• Oil-so the muffins aren't too dry. Again, because of the mashed yam in this I didn't need as much oil because the yam was moist enough.
• Seasoning of some sort-salt, spices, vanilla extract, it depends on what else is in your muffin.
• Sweetener-you can use sugar, honey, maple syrup, molasses, agave nectar, apple sauce, etc. You will adjust the amount of dry or wet ingredients depending on whether your sweetener is dry or wet. If it's dry, like sugar, you will need more liquid. If it's wet, you will need less of another type of liquid.
  
• Some sort of liquid to get things to the right consistency. You could use water, if you want, but that's just boring. I like to use milk, blended fruit, yogurt, buttermilk (Really fluffy muffins with buttermilk) etc. Or you can add powdered milk to the dry ingredient and just add water for a cheaper alternative to milk.

And there you have all you need to try and use what you have in your kitchen already to make some muffins, transforming leftovers into something else entirely.

Good luck.

Saint Patrick's Day Green Mashed Potatoes

Here's a fun idea to serve with dinner for St. Patricks day tonight. As much fun as green beer and cupcakes can be, this way of turning your meal green using parsley actually adds more nutrients to the dish, rather than taking any away. Parsley is a very nutrient dense food, high in anti-oxidants.

Start with 6-8 medium sized potatoes. You can use any kind but I prefer red potatoes because I don't peel my potatoes and the red skins are usually less tough. (There are a lot of nutrients in the skin, vitamin C, folic Acid, minerals, and I like to keep those in the food instead of taking them out.)

Sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil (Extra virgin-it's green :)
6-8 cloves of garlic-minced
4-5 tbsp butter
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk (You can substitute broth for milk with nice results, but it's a little less creamy.)
one thick bunch of parsley
Fresh ground pepper
Goat cheese or cream cheese-Optional and more fatty, but very delicious. The goat cheese adds a nice sharp flavor and protein.

Dice the potatoes. I like to make the pieces pretty small so that the peel is cut up more and there aren't any big chunks in the mashed potatoes.

Place the diced potatoes in a pot and add cold water until it covers the potatoes. Add a generous splash of sea salt. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat until the potatoes are soft through and break apart when you stick a fork in them.

Remove them from heat and drain the water. You can save this salty potato water for use in soups and breads, it's full of minerals. Put the butter in the drained potatoes so it melts right away. (If you are using cheese now is the time to add it too.)

While the potatoes are cooking, in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium low heat, saute the garlic in the olive oil. Be careful not to burn. Stop as soon as the garlic starts to give off a nutty aroma.

Wash the parsley. Coarsely chop the parsley, stems and all.

Place the parsley, olive oil and garlic mixture, and 1/4 cup of milk in a blender or food processor. Blend until the parsley is very small and the mixture is smooth.

Mash potatoes. If you are doing it by hand, mash them and then stir in the parsley and garlic mixture. If they need more liquid add more milk or broth. Add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Your potatoes will turn out green.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day