Fruit: A slacker's delight

Snacks need not be difficult to prepare.

Fresh fruit is one such treat — ready-made for your enjoyment and rich for the senses. Think of crunching into a Granny Smith apple, biting down on a succulent mango, gobbling a handful of raspberries or wiping peach juice from a loved one's chin. Mmm.

Aim for fruit that's in season. Choose locally produced, where available. Farmers' markets are great if you're interested in super-fresh, and in minimizing your carbon footprint.

Be sure to pack fruit carefully for the trip home. Keep it away from tins and other sharp-edged items. Upon arrival, store your treasures in a cool area, perhaps in the crisper of the refrigerator.

I keep a wire basket of apples on the dining room table. I like my fruit visible and at hand. Moreover, it makes for attractive decoration.

And edible decorations are tops in my book.  :-)

Mulling over mulled wine

Had guests coming last weekend, so in addition to a few baked treats, I thought I'd try my hand at a mulled wine, a traditional winter beverage.

"Mull" simply describes the process of preparing a drink via heating and spicing. The charm, of course, lies in the drink (usually a wine or ale) being served warm, and in the rich, comforting aroma it gives off.

Just the thing to help turn people's minds away from cold, damp weather.

There are many regional variations of mulled wine and a great many recipes floating about. I've tried a couple of them myself. I was intrigued, though, when I tripped across this recipe by Jamie Oliver.

Hey, from Jamie Oliver. It's gotta be good.

And it was good. Tasted great, in fact. The smell was pleasant, too.

Other pluses were that it was straightforward to prepare and all ingredients were readily available.

The wine was still quite pleasant to sip a day or two afterwards, either at room temperature or slightly re-heated. The wine-infused fruit offered quite a treat, also.

Extra tips:

• While Mr Oliver's directions call for an Italian red, either red or white wine can be used for mulling. Depends on what you prefer, and on what taste you're going after. I'd automatically turn to red, as I generally enjoy reds more.

• For mulling purposes, there's no need to pay dearly for a wine. However, do taste-test your chosen vino — a little heat and a few spices are unlikely to salvage a wine that is just plain dreadful. (I used box wine and it turned out well.) FYI, I'm told that oak-aged wines do not make good candidates for mulling.

• Avoid mulling in pots made of aluminum. This metal will react with the wine's acids, producing an off taste.

Oh, baby: Carrots (follow-up)

Continuing from yesterday, I just did a spot of research on the origin of baby carrots.



Here's the scoop:

Baby carrots really are immature versions of the popular root vegetable. So nobody "invented" them, though specialty growers do breed them for use at this early stage.

But someone — specifically, a Californian farmer by the name of Yurosek — did create baby-cut carrots. These are formerly imperfect carrots trimmed in two-inch lengths so as to resemble baby carrots. And baby-cut carrots are now insanely popular.

No wonder. Baby-cuts are pre-washed, quick to pack, etc., etc. Every bit as convenient as genuine baby carrots — and quite often cheaper. A true marketing triumph.

So, hurray. Baby carrots (whether bona fide or manufactured) are an easy means of upping your raw-veggie quotient.

And any which way you slice 'em, carrots are a great alternative to junk food.

Oh, baby: Carrots

Baby carrots are fast becoming one of my snacking standards. I've taken to carting a handful to work.

Many other veggies beg for delicate handling and packing. Or have pitifully short shelf-lives. Or just plain require too much fuss.

But baby carrots? They're crispy, sweet, convenient. Practically bombproof.

Give me a tomato and it will languish in my workplace fridge. With luck, half may get eaten; half or more will surely rot away. Same for zucchini.

These kinds of vegetables — which I love, don't get me wrong — are just tough for me to eat when they're in an unadorned state. And having to jazz up each and every bite gets tiresome.

But baby carrots I can gobble by the handful, just as they are, so they're gone long before they're at risk. Yup, my hat is off to whoever invented these treasures.

Hmm, that's a good question. Just who did invent baby carrots?

I'll do some research and get back to you. Tomorrow.

More holiday treats: Chocolate truffles

Truffles sound exotic. So much so that I was always too intimidated to try making them, thinking them complex and perhaps beyond my reach.

In truth, chocolate truffles are not difficult at all. I finally made some last Christmas as presents for family members.

Packaged in a gift box lined with colored paper, truffles make an attractive seasonal treat that anyone would be proud to give or, ahem, receive.

Chocolate truffles
Ingredients, per dozen:

• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 3.5 oz dark chocolate, chopped finely (even easier is to use dark-chocolate chips)

How-to:

1. Place whipping cream in heavy-bottom saucepan. Apply medium heat until boiling, then dial down to low-medium.
2. Maintain light boil and stir constantly until cream reduces to one-half original volume.
3. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until mixture is smooth.
4. Transfer mixture into glass container. Refrigerate (uncovered) until mixture is firm (about 4 hours).
5. Scoop up approx 2 tsp of mixture, forming it into a ball.
6. Decorate as you please (see below).

If the amazing taste combo of whipping cream and dark chocolate isn't enough, there are many ways to add an extra flourish to your truffles. Decorating is simply a matter of sprinkling, rolling or dipping.

I enjoy:

• cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• ground nuts (e.g. almonds, pecan)
• coconut
• crystallized ginger

Other options include:

• grated chocolate
• cake "sprinkles"
• powdered sugar
• crushed candy canes.

Creating your own little gems is a blast. I strongly encourage you to give this recipe a try.

Oh yes, you can refrigerate truffles (covered) for up to three weeks. But they rarely last that long.

A sight for soy eyes: Marinated soybeans

The next few posts are directed at vegetarians — along with the veggie-curious and veggie-tolerant. Each recipe features soybeans (or soy products).

Soybeans have enjoyed a long history as a food crop. Introduced from Asia to the west in the 1700s, they have, in contemporary times, constituted a significant portion of the diet of many vegetarians.

Despite documented benefits, concern has arisen recently regarding potential health risks of soy. It appears, though, that these problems are most likely associated with extreme dietary practices.

In other words, occasional consumption of soy — as part of a balanced diet — is fine. All the same, it may be prudent to choose less processed forms and to avoid making soy one's sole source of protein.

This recipe, like those following over the next few days, has been clipped from my old cookbook, the one I gave as a gift to Fred long, long ago.

First up is marinated soybeans.



Note: Pre-cooked soybeans may be purchased in tins.

Or you may cook from dried by:

1. soaking beans in water overnight, 
2. bringing them to boil, and 
3. simmering for 3+ hours.

Christmas cookie time

I'm not always keen on the holiday bustle, but now and then it's a real pick-me-up to prance about the oven and crank out some baked goodies. Hard to feel anything but merry when the ginger and cloves get to wafting through the kitchen.

I love a number of things about these particular beauties. For one thing, they hold just the right gingery bite. The blackstrap molasses kicks in some extra richness, too.  

I also love the texture, especially how the top surface turns crackly, like the bed of a dried-out lake. Even when these cookies are baked to less than a full-on "snap", the multigrain flour imparts a real crunchiness as you bite on through.

Oh, and they're pretty good for you, given how they're multigrain and all. Plus, blackstrap molasses is a fine source of iron, along with calcium, magnesium and potassium.

Ginger cookies
Wet ingredients

• canola oil – 3/4 cup
• blackstrap molasses – 1/4 cup
• egg – 1
• brown sugar – 1 cup (packed)

Dry ingredients

• multigrain flour – 2 cups
• baking soda – 2 tsp
• salt – 1/4 tsp
• ground cloves – 1/2 tsp
• ground cinnamon – 1 tsp
• ground ginger – 1 tsp

Decoration

• white sugar – 1/4 cup

How

1. In large bowl, stir together all ingredients from the Wet list.
2. In small bowl, add all ingredients from the Dry list.
3. Stir Dry mixture into Wet.
4. Form dough into 1" balls, roll in sugar and place on lightly greased cookie sheets (2" between balls). 
5. Bake at 375°F for 10-12 min (or until center is firm).
6. Remove and place on cooling racks.

FYI, my recipe has been adapted from this one.