Pecan Cinnamon Cookies

Naming this blog took me a long time to do. I had been throwing the idea around for months, had teamed up with someone else, then decided to do this on my own, and all the while I changed the name of this blog almost weekly. I wanted something that explained my favorite things about cooking, and maybe a bit more about myself. That's when I came up with "Cinnamon Daydream."


The "daydream" part of the title is easy- I am a big daydreamer and I love reading. Also, the word daydream symbolizes creations and possibilities, which hopefully will manifest themselves here in food creations!


As for the cinnamon... Well, you see, so far I have been holding out on you. I have yet to share my absolute obsession with cinnamon. It is a deep, rich, spicy, sweet and mysterious spice. It makes everything taste better (doubly so for breakfast foods). I understand why the Egyptians, Greeks, and Hebrew used it for religious purposes and why the Europeans sailed around the world looking for the most direct route to its source. If I was only allowed once spice for the rest of my life, this would be it. I would give up basil, rosemary, garlic, salt, dill, and even black pepper.


With that in mind, it was only a matter of time before I had to share baked cinnamon goodies...

Pecan Cinnamon Cookies
(from The Golden Book of Cookies)

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg


3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C) and grease two cookie sheets.


Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the egg, beating until just blended. Slowly mix in the flour, baking powder and salt until you have a smooth, even dough.


In a separate bowl, combine chopped pecans and cinnamon. Roll the prepared dough into small balls and roll them in the cinnamon-pecan mixture until completely coated. Place on greased cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the cookies have flattened and are golden brown.

Strawberry Apple Kale Ginger Juice

On top of my fridge is a collection of appliances that we rarely use. Among them is a juicer. It was free and Keith begged me to take it, saying "I'll use it!"


Six months (and half an inch of dust) later, I'm now learning how to use it since I'm not allowed to get rid of it. I am currently on a soft food diet because I just got my wisdom teeth out, so it seemed like a good time to try juicing out.


This juice recipe has sweetness from the strawberries, the crisp tart taste of the apples, and the zing from the ginger, but none of the kale flavor!





Strawberry Apple Kale Ginger Juice

5 large Pink Lady (or Granny Smith) apples
6 strawberries
6 kale leaves
2 inch piece of ginger


Cut the apples in half, and then into quarters. Top the strawberries and peel the ginger. Put everything into your juicer, according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Here is the recipe for home-made pitas I made with my hummus. These taste so much better than store-bought that it is unfair to even compare the two!


A word of advice: If you find yourself thinking, "I should clean my oven today.... Nah, I want to make pita bread."


Retract that. Clean your oven. Make pita bread another day. Because when you heat your oven to 500 F, it tends to burn the things on the bottom of your oven and you set off your smoke detectors. Multiple times. And your apartment neighbors get annoyed. Just sayin'.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread
(inspired by Kitchen Meditation and Epicurious)


1 1/8 cup warm water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 tsp honey
1 packet active dry yeast


Proof the yeast in the warm water and honey for 10 minutes, until it is foamy. If the yeast doesn't froth, throw out and start over. Add the oil and both types of flour, and knead on low or by hand for 10 minutes (if kneading by hand, add a little flour as you are working the dough to keep it from becoming sticky). Stop kneading when the dough is elastic and smooth.


Put the dough in a large oiled bowl and cover with a clean towel (not terry cloth). Let stand in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 90 minutes.


Prepare baking sheets with a light dusting of cornmeal. Punch dough down, and divide into 8 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, work the first piece with your hands so that it forms something resembling a circle. With a floured rolling pin, roll out the piece of dough until it is approximately 6 inches in diameter and of equal thickness. Place onto a prepared baking sheet. Continue with the remaining 7 pieces of dough.


Cover with clean towels and let stand for 30 minutes.


Preheat oven to 500 F (260 C). Put one oven rack in the lower third of the oven, and remove all other racks. Working in batches (I did two batches of 3, and one of 2), transfer pitas into the oven. Cook for 2 minutes on one side, flip with a pair of tongs, and cook for 1 minute on the other side. Immediately put into a brown paper bag until cooled.





(I was not making these for pita pockets, but for those of you who are interested... Some of my pitas formed pockets and some did not. I would say that I had a 50% success rate. It seemed that the ones I left in a minute longer puffed up better.)


Serve with home-made hummus (I posted recipes here)! Or fold up and enjoy with gyro-style sandwich toppings.

Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Today started out bright, sunny, and warm. It was a nice little preview of spring, and it got me in a spring cleaning mode. I didn't sit down from 9:30am - 6:30pm, and I feel that I really accomplished a lot today.


One of the things I did was to try out a few hummus recipes and whole wheat pitas. I was unable to find tahini, and I am not able to eat lemon, so the hummus is not entirely authentic... But they taste great anyway!

Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus

1 (15 oz) can of garbanzo beans, drained
6-8 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1-3 cloves garlic, minced (depending on preference)
3 basil leaves, finely chopped
1-4 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste


Follow directions below.





Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
(inspired by Back to Her Roots)

1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans
2-3 roasted red peppers (fresh, or jarred and oil-packed)
1-3 garlic cloves, mined (depending on preference)
1 handful fresh parsley (approx 3 tbsp)
1-4 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste


Follow the directions below.




Put all of the ingredients but the olive oil, salt and pepper into a food processor. Mix until smooth, adding the olive oil while mixing until the desired consistency is reached. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.



Tips:

Peel the garbanzo beans for smoother hummus. To do this, pinch a bean between your fingers. The skin should pop right off.

For better taste, substitute 1 tbsp of the oil the tomatoes or peppers came packed in for 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Sweet Potato and Kale Frittata

When I originally introduced myself, I promised cooking fiascoes. I'm happy to report that I have no had any major disasters since I started this blog. Until I tried to make a frittata.


Why was I trying to make one? Well, I bought kale for the first time over the weekend. The beautiful little bouquet of organic, purple-tinted leaves has been sitting in the bottom of my fridge for three days, crying out for love while I steadfastly ignored it.


So I did what any sane person would do. I Googled. And apparently, frittatas and kale are soul mates whose destinies were written in the stars...


Ahem.


The problem came from the pan I was using. It isn't oven proof. "No problem," I thought optimistically. "I will just flip it like a big omelete!" Forgetting, of course, that I am incapable of flipping a simple 2-egg omelete on a good day.


When flipping failed, I tried cooking it covered on low to get the middle and top done. Still failed. I ended up with a burnt bottom and runny top. In the end, I flipped the monster onto a greased cookie sheet and finished it off in the oven. Not as pretty, but it got the job done.






I am posting the recipe and instructions anyway, because the frittata itself actually tasted extremely good! (According to Keith it "tastes amazing with a shit-ton of ketchup," but you can ignore him. That's what I do.)

Sweet Potato and Kale Frittata
(inspired by Eggs on Sunday)

Olive oil
2 red potatoes
1/2 of a sweet potato
1/2 of a large yellow onion
2 cups chopped kale stalks removed
1 cups sliced baby bella mushrooms
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp thyme (or other dried herb)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste



Generously coat the bottom of a large oven-proof pan with olive oil and set on medium heat. When heated, add sweet and red potatoes, and onions. Add mushrooms and garlic after 10-15 more minutes (before potatoes get too soft). Cook until the mushrooms start to brown, add the kale and cook until it wilts. At this point the potatoes should be soft, but not mushy. Cook longer if needed.


While you are cooking the vegetables, mix 8 eggs in a separate bowl. Whisk vigorously so that the eggs are light and fluffy.


Season the vegetable mixture with salt, pepper, and thyme. Sample your veggie of choice. Adjust seasonings as needed. When you are satisfied, add the eggs straight into the skillet. Use a spatula to flatten the top layer (it helps if you have an even layer in the pan before pouring the eggs in). Preheat your oven's broiler setting.


Cook the eggs until the edges and bottom are set (the top will still be runny). Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and place in the oven directly under the broiler. Take the pan out when the top is just beginning to brown and the eggs are done.