Tag Archives: sea salt recipes

Quinoa Granola

Like everyone else, it’s a new year and I’m trying to be more thoughtful about what I’m making and thinking about whether a recipe can be more healthy! This week I made a healthier granola using quinoa one of the super foods.

Perfect for topping your morning yogurt!

From by the bay wishing you crunchy quinoa food memories!

Maryann

qui-no-a

noun

  1. an annual herb Chenopodium quinoa, of the amaranth family, is a tall crop plant native to the Andean highlands. Cultivated for it’s edible seeds.

Quinoa is considered a super food. It is a high protein grain and contains all nine essential amino acids. Some of it’s many attributes include that it’s gluten free, a metabolism booster, high in fiber content, high nutrient density, low calorie food. Quinoa is best used as you would other grains.

Quinoa Granola

Ingredients

  • 1 cup rolling oats ( do not use quick cooking oats and check label for gluten-free)
  • 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and well drained
  • 1/2 cups pepita (pumpkin) seeds, unsalted
  • 1/2 cup blanched sliced almonds
  • 4 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup orange blossom honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/2 cup dried cherries, cranberries or golden raisins

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt coconut oil in a microwave. I do in 30 second at a time. It may take between 45 to 60 seconds in total. Combine all ingredients except the dried fruit into a mixing bowl, combine well. On a parchment lined sheet spread ingredients in 1 layer. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until brown stirring every ten minutes until mixture is browned. Remove from oven and cool granola. Once cooled add dried fruit. Mix well. Keep in airtight container. It should keep about one week.

 

Bourbon Sugar Chocolate Toffee

Getting ready for the holidays? Baking cookies? Looking for an easy , thoughtful and delicious gift to give friends and family? Look no further and try this recipe for bourbon sugar chocolate toffee.  This is easy candy making , simple just minutes to make. I love to wrap in plastic place in a craft box and share !

From by the bay , wishing you hard candy Christmas food memories!

Maryann

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Bourbon Sugar Chocolate Toffee

Ingredients
1 sleeve saltine cookies or favorite biscuit such as Biscoff wafers
6 ounces butter ( 1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
12 ounces milk chocolate buttons
2 tablespoon bourbon sugar, recipe follows
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt , such as Maldon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil and spraying the foil with non stick cooking spray. Arrange the crackers or biscuits side by side in a single layer on the baking sheet. In a heavy medium size saucepan place the butter and brown sugar. Stir while the butter is melting and then bring to a rolling boil. Remove from the heat and carefully pour over the crackers on the baking sheet trying to cover all the crackers. Place in the oven for about 5 minutes, so the toffee bubbles and spreads across the crackers. Remove from the oven and cover with the chocolate buttons. Put back into the oven for 1 or 2 minutes so the chocolate softens. Remove from oven. Use an offset spatula to spread the melted chocolate evenly covering the entire surface of the toffee. Take 3-4 saltines and crush them into small pieces. Sprinkle on top of the chocolate while it’s still sticky and soft. Next sprinkle the bourbon sugar on top and finally the sea salt. Place the pan in the refrigerator for at least one hour, to cool and set. Once set, break into smaller uneven pieces and serve. Store in an air tight container for up to 10 days.

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Bourbon Sugar

Ingredients

  • 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  • 1 cup demerara sugar
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon

Directions

Preheat oven on the lowest temperature or 275 degrees F. Scrape vanilla seeds into a small bowl; stir in demerara sugar and bourbon. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet and let dry out in oven overnight or minimum of five hours. Let cool. It should feel like sugar again. Can be stored in an airtight container for up to one week.

 

Radish Butter

So it’s Sunday afternoon by the bay and we are anticipating yet another snow storm. Enough already!! I’m wistfully thinking of Spring. One of the vegetables I look forward to in spring is the radish. I love the crisp, fresh and spicy taste of this bright red root. I found this terrific radish recipe from the Lee Brothers. Matt Lee and Ted Lee are founders of “The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue,” a mail-order catalog for southern pantry staples who co-authored The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook and Simple Fresh Southern, which is a must have cookbook for your library. This is their recipe for radish butter which I’m sharing below. Happy Eating!
From by the bay, wishing you some crispy and fresh food memories!
Maryann
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Radish Butter
 
Ingredients
1/2 pound round red radishes, trimmed, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, completely softened
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or ½ teaspoon Maldon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white or black pepper
About 24 thinly sliced rye toast points, toasted slices of French bread, water crackers, 2-inch celery sticks, endive leaves, or romaine heart halves
Directions
1. Put the radishes in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the radish is chopped into very fine dice, four or five 3-second pulses.
2. Transfer the contents to a length of cheesecloth or a double thickness of paper towels and wring out the excess liquid.
3. Transfer to a medium bowl and add 4 tablespoons of the butter.
4. With a rubber spatula, cream the radish and butter together, adding more butter 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture comes together in a smooth, pliable mass.
5. Transfer the mixture to a 2-cup ramekin or bowl, sprinkle the salt and pepper over the top, and serve immediately. (The butter will keep, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
6. Remove it from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving to let it soften. Sprinkle the salt and freshly ground pepper over the radish butter before serving).
 
Reprinted from The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern: Knockout Dishes with Down-Home Flavor by Matt and Ted Lee. Copyright © 2009 Published by Clarkson Potter
 
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes
Yield: Serves 6
Matt Lee is co-founder of “The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue,” a mail-order catalog for southern pantry staples. He is also a food and travel journalist whose work has appeared in Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, GQ, The New York Times and Martha Stewart Living. He is co-author of The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook and Simple Fresh Southern.
Ted Lee is co-founder of “The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue,” a mail-order catalog for southern pantry staples. He is also a food and travel journalist whose work has appeared in Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, GQ, The New York Times and Martha Stewart Living. He is co-author of The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook and Simple Fresh Southern.
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Toasted Quinoa Bourbon Chocolate Bark with Sea Salt

A good friend recently gave me a birthday treat – dinner at the “Waverly Inn”. The meal was magnificent ending with a little treat – chocolate bark with toasted quinoa. It was delicious, the quinoa adds a nice light crunch to the chocolate, much like my childhood favorite crunch bars.  The taste of the dark chocolate is enhanced using a touch of sea salt. I found that little finale to the meal the perfect inspiration for this chocolate bark and what better way to share something so good than to make little boxes of chocolate to share with friends and family. For me, this bark will transport me back to a very special birthday celebration !
 
From by the bay wishing you toasty quinoa food memories!
Maryann
 
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Toasted Quinoa Bourbon Chocolate Bark with Sea Salt
Ingredients
8 ounces high quality chocolate melting candy
2 tablespoons ( pre- rinsed) quinoa
2 teaspoons bourbon
1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt such as Maldon

Directions
Place the quinoa in a small skillet over medium heat , shaking the pan gently until the quinoa starts to puff and darken in color – this will take 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a bowl add the melting chocolate and heat in the microwave for 1 minute. Remove and stir until smooth. Repeat until another 1 or 2 times until the chocolate starts to melt. Keep stirring to finish melting the chocolate. Mix in the toasted quinoa and bourbon. Pour and spread the chocolate onto the parchment lined tray. You can use an offset spatula to help spread the chocolate into a square about 6 by 8 inch square. Sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool and harden. Break into pieces to serve.

 
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