Pear and Ginger Scones

I woke up to a gray sky and a blanket of snow out my window. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to make scones and hot tea, and curl up with a blanket to watch the flakes fall. It doesn't snow here very often, and definitely never this early, but I'm sort of crossing my fingers that we'll get lots this winter because I love it!

It feels like it's been awhile since I last made scones, but these really were the perfect treat this morning. The sweetness of the little pear pieces goes perfectly with the spicy sweet ginger. All thrown into an un-sweet scone batter. Serve them with butter or your favorite jam, or as I did, plain because I think they are that good. If you find yourself with a few more people in your home this week plan on making a batch or two. They're really simple and quick to make and something everyone will enjoy.

I only had three small seckel pears left that needed to be eaten soon, so they're what I used, but if I had four I would have used them all. Jeannette used cardamom, but since I was out, I used all spice. It's not exactly the same, but I still really liked it with the pear and ginger. If you want to make these vegan follow her suggestion for using margarine instead of butter.

We're packing up and moving next weekend, so I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving full of loved ones and great food. Can't wait to see what I cook first in my new kitchen!

Pear and Ginger Scones

Adapted from Everybody Likes Sandwiches
makes 8

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon all spice

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 seckel pears, diced
3 tablespoons diced candied ginger
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond) + 1 tablespoon for topping
2 tablespoons raw or demerara sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 400F. 

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, all spice, and salt. Cut in the butter and blend it into the flour so that it resembles a coarse meal. Stir in pears and ginger. 

Add the vanilla to the milk and pour into flour mixture. Use a wooden spoon to combine and then knead the mixture 4 or 5 times with your hands until it comes together.

Place dough onto parchment paper and pat into a round shape about 1-inch thick. Cut into 8 triangles and place the scones onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with remaining tablespoon of milk and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops of the scones are golden. Serve warm with your favorite jam or a smear of buttery spread.

Black Bean Soup

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever find a place I can happily call home for more than a year at a time. Scott and I have lived in five, going on six different places in the last six years, almost all in Seattle. With each exciting move we make, nothing has ever felt right... or right for us.

When we moved back to the west side of Washington, from Spokane, we settled ourselves in Tacoma. I had never really been here before, except for the zoo when I was little and the year my mom drove me to violin practice with the Tacoma Youth Symphony. Yet it's only 25 miles south of Seattle. We had our suspicions, but they quickly changed.

We've grown to really love it here and have made friends with so many more people in the last year than we ever did our five years in Seattle. The community here is rich and full of supportive people who love this city. It's really refreshing. Plus, a couple months ago we were invited to Monday night dinners. A dinner group full of amazing people that gets together every Monday for a potluck style dinner, they've been doing it for 9 years! To say I look forward to this weekly event would be an understatement. The food is always amazing. The crowd brings everyone from vegans to meat lovers and everyone in between. And I always leave full from dinner and a night filled with laughter and good conversation.

Since our lease is coming to an end where we currently are, we decided to stay in this city and move into a very old (built in 1895) house by the Puget Sound in Tacoma's Old Town area. There are so many great things about this house and I feel like we've carefully gone over every detail of how it will work as a home and a work space. It's far from large, but we can walk to the water in less than five minutes. The bathroom is not much to look at, but the kitchen has more space than I've ever had, even though it still lacks in counter space, I'll make it work.

I mostly can't wait to invite people over. Our place right now is so small it's hard to have 2 or 3 people over without it feeling crowded. We don't even have a place to sit and eat! All the images I take for this blog have been taken on our coffee table or the square foot of counter space I do have in the kitchen. It's been hard work shuffling food down the hall to the living room just to take a photo, I think our new place will make this easier, which means possibly more posting.

Soup, like this black bean version, are one of the many ways I've been trying all these years to make it feel like home. They are warm and comforting, especially this time of year, and there is always more than enough to go around or have as left overs.

I thought this soup was going to be spicier, even after adding in chile powder, it wasn't spicy to me at all though. I made it a little thicker than the recipe said, by not adding as much water, but I think next time I'll try to leave some of the beans whole rather than pureeing the whole thing. As with many soups, the flavor the next day is slightly intensified because everything has had a chance to come together, which means you can make it the day before and it will still taste great.

Black Bean Soup

Adapted from The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook

serves 4

1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil

2 garlic cloves

1 large onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, including leaves, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon cumin

2 teaspoons coriander

1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chile powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 bay leaves

3 cups cooked black beans, drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

cotija cheese, for sprinkling, optional

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. When it's hot, add the garlic, onion, celery, carrots, cilantro, cumin, coriander, paprika, oregano, and bay leaves. Reduce the heat to medium, and sauté, stirring often, until the vegetables have softened, about 10 minutes. 

Stir in the black beans, lemon juice, and enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring the soup to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the water reduces to the point where it barely covers the beans, about 45-55 minutes. Check the water level, adding more if the soup is cooking down rapidly. I wanted my soup to be thicker, so I didn't add anymore water than what I originally put in. 

Remove the bay leaves and puree the soup with an immersion blender or in a food processor. If using a food processor, transfer the soup back to the saucepan. Reheat before serving. Season with salt and pepper, and serve hot.

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cake

Yesterday was my birthday and I honestly almost forgot about it. I mean, I knew it was coming up, but the days are going by so fast, being that this is the busy time of year for our business. Which also explains my lack of posting. But my birthday was great thanks to my wonderful husband Scott. He planned an entire meal for me and a couple of friends and he did such an amazing job. 

He spent a good part of the afternoon picking up all the ingredients and preparing a seasonal feast without asking for my help at all. He even made appetizers! I was impressed, as well as our guests. He even had me asking for the recipe of a particular salad that included roasted cauliflower, endive and kidney beans in a flavorful balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

He said he was planning a dessert for the evening too, but at the last minute I told him I was going to make a cake that I had been craving since I saw it a few weeks earlier.  I think he was fine with that. And after seeing everything he made I'm really glad I jumped in to help, but I mostly really enjoy making my birthday cake anyways.

I've said it before, I'm really not a traditional birthday cake person and prefer less frosting and cloyingly sweet anything. This coconut cake sounded like it was right up my ally, with only a few personal changes made to the original recipe.

The cake itself is far from sweet, there's not very much sugar in the batter, but I love the contrast of the sweet coconut flavor and the bittersweet chocolate. It's more of an everyday cake you might enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee, but that's kind of my style.

The recipe called for 1/2 cup butter, but I thought coconut oil seemed more appropriate and went with that. The original recipe also had only all purpose flour, but I used whole wheat pastry flour for partial instead. I was a little worried it might come out dry because of the whole wheat flour substitute, but it still had a nice moistness to it. I think if I make it again I will add in more coconut milk to help make it really moist, but below I wrote the amount I used.

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cake
Adapted from Bon Appétit

8-12 servings

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

3/4 cup cane sugar

1/3 cup coconut oil

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-inch irregular pieces, divided

1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes

coconut drizzle

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons coconut milk, plus more if needed

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or butter a 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides; dust pan with flour, shaking out excess. 

Sift flours, baking powder, and sea salt into medium bowl. Stir in unsweetened shredded coconut and set aside. 

Cream together the sugar and coconut oil in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with coconut milk in 2 additions, beating just until blended after each addition. Fold in half of bittersweet chocolate pieces. 

Spread batter evenly in prepared cake pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate pieces over batter, then sprinkle with sweetened flaked coconut. 

Bake cake until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, tenting with sheet of foil if coconut  on top cake starts to brown too quickly, 45-60 minutes. Transfer cake to rack and cool in pan.

To make the icing, whisk powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk, and vanilla in small bowl to blend well, adding more coconut milk by 1/2 teaspoonfuls until mixture is thin enough to drizzle over cake. 

Carefully run small knife around sides of cake to loosen. Invert cake onto platter, then carefully invert again onto another platter, coconut side up. Using small spoon, drizzle powdered sugar mixture decoratively over cake. Cool cake completely on platter. The cake can be made up to a day ahead. Cover cake and let stand at room temperature.

Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies with Hazelnuts

I realize this is two cookie posts in a row, but what can I say, I have no control when it comes to cookies and 'tis the season for baking. I also realized after making these that I still have yet to post a recipe for classic plain old chocolate chip cookies and I'm curious if I ever will. I mean, there are so many good ones out there and everyone is so specific when it comes to why their favorite is, well, their favorite. Every time I go to make chocolate chip cookies I tinker around with the recipe so much, adding in and subtracting what I want, that it never ends up being a classic chocolate chip.

I've been playing around a lot with using whole grain spelt flour in my baking. I really like it. The flavor is hard to describe, hardy, but not overpowering. So far it's been really easy to replace the white flour in a recipe with spelt and not have any ill baking effects. If you're new to baking with alternative flours, I'd suggest trying it out, it's an easy switch and I promise you'll barely notice the difference while consuming a whole grain that's better for you at the same time.

I was considering putting walnuts in these, but that's when I spotted some hazelnuts near the back of my fridge. So the change was instantly made. I roasted them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes while I was making the dough, then removed them and let them sit covered by a towel for a bit until I could easily peel the skins off. Don't worry if you can't get them all off, but I still wouldn't skip this step. I also chopped my nuts really finely to get a little bit in every bite. You might remember these hazelnut butter chocolate chip cookies from a while back, I must really like hazelnuts and chocolate together... don't you. They're still two very different cookies, but I promise that if you liked those ones you like these ones too.

Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies with Hazelnuts

makes about 2 dozen

1/2 cup cane sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick), softened

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups spelt flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

Preheat oven to 300˚F and position rack to upper third of the oven. Line cookie sheets with parchment or silpat baking mat.

Cream the butter and sugars together. Add in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour with the salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir just until flour is combined.

Add in the chocolate chips and hazelnuts.

Scoop the dough onto cookie sheets into a rounded tablespoon full. Bake for 10-12 minutes. I like my cookies on the softer side, so I tend to go with the shorter cooking time.

Store tightly covered at room temperature for about 3 days.