Starbuck's Style Madeleines in Silicone Pan

I tried several online recipes before adapting my own. I changed two major aspects of the traditional madeleine recipe. First, combining the butter, sugar, and egg before adding the flour keeps you from over-mixing and getting a rubbery texture. Also, increasing the cooking temperature increases the leavening and produces the right texture. Where I think that I haven't gotten it just right yet is using the silicone pan. Everyone recommended silicone, but it doesn't produce the crisp edges I am hoping for. I'd like to get the metal pan and play with this some more.

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons of room temperature salted butter or Fleichmann's Margarine

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs and one egg white

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract or other flavoring (optional)

1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest (optional)

1 cup all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Beat sugar and butter (or margarine) together until fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add one egg and beat until combined. Then add the remaining egg, vanilla, and lemon zest and combine thoroughly. Fold in flour until just combined. Place silicone pan on a metal cookie sheet to prevent flexing. Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into each mold. Bake until golden brown and set, about 10 minutes. Yields 2 dozen.

Sulphites in Foods

I got this list of food from the Canadian Food and Drug government organization http://inspection.gc.ca/english/toce.shtml. It's the best list I've found so far.
Food and products that often contain sulphites

Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer and cider
Bottled lemon and lime juices and concentrates
Canned and frozen fruits and vegetables
Cereal, cornmeal, cornstarch, crackers and muesli
Condiments, for example, coleslaw, horseradish, ketchup, mustard, pickles, relish and sauerkraut
Dehydrated, mashed, peeled and pre-cut potatoes, and frozen french fries
Dried fruits and vegetables, such as apricots, coconut and raisins, sweet potato
Dried herbs, spices and teas
Fresh grapes
Fruit fillings and syrups, gelatin, jams, jellies, preserves, marmalade, molasses and pectin
Fruit and vegetable juices
Glazed and glacéed fruits, for example, maraschino cherries
Starches, (for example, corn starch, potato starch)
Sugar syrups, for example, glucose, glucose solids, syrup dextrose, corn syrup, table syrup
Tomato pastes, pulps and purees
Vinegar and wine vinegar
Wine
Baked goods, especially with dried fruits
Deli meats, hot dogs and sausages
Dressings, gravies, guacamole, sauces, soups and soup mixes
Fish, crustaceans and shellfish
Granola bars, especially with dried fruit
Noodle and rice mixes
Snack foods, for example, raisins, fruit salad
Soy products

Potato Salad

Ingredients: 

2 ½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced

1 teaspoon salt (for boiling water), plus more if desired

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup prepared mustard

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 red onion, diced fine

1 teaspoon whole mustard seed (optional)

1 pinch dill (optional)

Directions:

Boil potatoes on medium high heat in enough salted water to cover them.  When potatoes are soft enough to be mashed with a fork against the side of the pot, remove from heat and drain.  Mix in vinegar, mustard, and black pepper.  Chill.  When potatoes are cool, mix in onion, mustard seed, and dill.  Add salt to taste.

Update: I can't eat this anymore because it is high in sulfur. Now I make a version with Greek yogurt instead.

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Dal with Chai Rice Pudding

This Indian lentil stew and rice desert are flavored by Chai, a spiced black tea ubiquitously enjoyed throughout India. Chai typically contains black tea, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, all spice, and sometimes nutmeg. Many brands don’t give a complete list of ingredients, but use phrases like “spices” or “nature flavors.” I avoid those. You can use store bought chai tea bags, or you can create your own chai tea bags, a great option if you are allergic to a common ingredient in Chai.  To make your own, carefully cut or pull open a black tea bag.  Add a pinch of each of the ground spiced that you want to use to the tea bag.  Use the string to tie the tea bag closed again. You can also create this blend in a tea infuser.  Here you use chai and your slow cooker to create an exotic meal without buying lots of expensive ingredients, making a huge mess in your kitchen, or doing a lot of work. This dal recipe creates a sweet, mild curry. For a more intense experience, add salt and a chili sauce to the lentils to suit your tastes.

Ingredients for Dal:

1 red onion, diced fine

1 red bell pepper, diced fine

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 medium sweet potatoes, diced into ½ to 1 inch cubes

1 ½ cups yellow lentils, picked over

1 chai tea bag

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

4 cups cooked basmati rice

Vegetable or chicken broth (optional)

Ingredients for Rice Pudding:

½ cup basmati rice

2 cups water

¼ cup sugar

1 chai tea bag

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)

Directions:

Sauté onion and bell pepper in oil until tender and beginning to brown. Transfer to a slow cooker. Cut open the chai tea bag and empty contents into the slow cooker. Discard tea bag. Put the remaining ingredients except rice in the slow cooker.  Add enough water (or broth is using) to cover ingredients by at least 1 inch.  Cook on low 8 to 12 hours. Meanwhile, in another slow cooker combine ingredients for rice pudding except vanilla (leave the chai tea in the bag this time). Cook ingredients on high for 4 to 8 hours. Serve Dal over cooked basmati rice and serve rice pudding garnished with pumpkin seeds for desert. For a classic finish, brew hot sweetened chai tea and serve it with your favorite milk or milk substitute. 
Update: I can't eat this anymore because it's high in sulfur.

Food on a Cruise

I just returned from cruising on Carnival Glory from Norfolk, Virginia, to Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas. I used to travel for the joy of eating exotic foods in equally exotic locations, but these days, eating while traveling is a different kind of adventure.
For insurance, I packed food to take with me, such as almond butter packets, organic trail mix, my favorite chocolate bars, instant oatmeal, crackers, and popcorn.
The first day on the ship, we ate dinner in the dining room. I found pasta and steamed vegetables that were fresh, not frozen and precut, so I ordered the pasta without sauce and the vegetables plain. Our waiters brought me olive oil and lemon slices to use as a dressing. I explained my food requests while my husband and our dinner companions enjoyed Indian food, steak and lobster.
The next day, we had purchased an excursion to Atlantis. The cruise directer asked that we not take food off the ship, but I brought unopened almond butter packets. I saw whole fruit in others' bags, so I regretted not packing my trail mix, but I was able to find fresh fruit on the island. Later back on the ship, I started a habit of a predinner of salad, fruit, and a baked potato from the buffet. That night I enjoyed a salad followed by broiled Mahi Mahi with a baked potato and steamed vegetables, which were very good together.
The next day, we explored the capital city of Nassau. We walked to Bay Street and wandered down a side street where a cafe advertising espresso drew in my husband. Since I didn't want coffee, they tempted me with fresh squeezed lemonade with the perfect balance of tartness, sweetness, and refreshing ice water. They assured me that it was made from bottled water and bought ice, and I did not get sick. On our way back, a downpour trapped us into the little indoor mall set up for reboarding the ships. There  a vendor with a small frier and pans covered in foil drew my attention. I bought a pork chop, fried plantains, and steamed rice as she enthusiastically described her cooking preparations and how she grew some of her ingredient. Seasoned with salt and pepper, the tender pork melted in my mouth, and the plantains were fried to soft perfection. We enjoyed them sitting on a concrete pillar under the awning waiting for the rain to stop. It will be one of my fondest memories of the trip along with an unexpected encounter with a sea turtle while snorkeling in Freeport.
Toward the end of the trip, the kitchen began to run out of things, so dinner continued to be steamed vegetables and  plain pasta. Once I tried two bites of the steak, but it was clearly marinated in something that made me a little sick even though I was assured that it was not seasoned in any way.
Lunch on the ship left me with few options, so on the way back I tried the ship manager's suggestion of speaking with the the maître d' the night before to put in a special request. The restaurant staff made cheesecake especially for me, though they couldn't resist decorating the top with a sauce I couldn't eat. The plain pasta also came with a sauce and sauteed vegetables. But everything was made right by the ever attentive wait staff, while my husband enjoyed the mistake cheesecake.
I was somewhat nervous about eating on the ship, but I got sick only a little and only once, so I think that I did pretty well. Though it wasn't the immersion experience of exotic tastes and smells that I appreciated in my life before food sensitivities, I did enjoy food experiences that are memorable in a positive way.

Fizzy Fruit and Berry Smoothie and Ice Pops

It is hot this June in Eastern North Carolina. Pool supplies are selling out at Walmart, and almost every yard in my neighborhood has a pool up already. And it's not even summer yet! I made these two frozen treats to cool off.

Ingredients:
1/4 to 1/2 cup honey, depending on desired sweetness
1 1/2 cups frozen banana chunks
1/2 cup strawberries, caps removed
1/4 cup blueberries
1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
2 cups crushed ice
1/2 cup carbonated water

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Drink right away or freeze mixture in popsicle molds.

Book Review: Sacramental Magic in a Small-Town Cafe by Reinhart

I picked up a copy of Sacramental Magic in a Small-Town Cafe from the Recycled Reader on Tuesday. The author, Peter Reinhart, a member of the Order Christ the Saviour Brotherhood, opened the restaurant, Brother Juniper's Cafe as a form of ministry in the 1960s. I found the idea of opening a restaurant as ministry odd. Reinhart precedes the recipes with stories from the restaurant and from his life. Many of the stories are vivid food experiences that I enjoy reading. I haven't had opportunity to try any of the recipes, but the directions seem very clear and technique is discussed in detail. The chapter that I'm most enthused about is the chapter on making sodas. I make my own strawberry and citrus sodas, but Reinhart has some directions to make ginger ale that I will try this summer. Also, I've asked by husband to try one of the bread recipes. I recommend this book because it is an interesting read even if you don't plan to make the recipes. As I try some out, I'll add to this post how it goes.