Blog Archives
Test the Recipe: Hearty Whole Grain Coffee Cake
It can be a lot of fun looking through old cook books. Some recipes you look at wondering what people were thinking back then while others still sound really yummy. Though it’s usually pretty easy to tell the horrific vintage recipes at first glance, sometimes it can be harder to tell for sure which recipes have actually stood up to the test of time. That’s where our new recurring “Test the Recipe” posts will hopefully come to help. We plan to find recipes from vintage cookbooks/recipe cards/magazine cutouts, etc. and test them out. For the first run through we will follow the recipe exactly (barring any possible ingredients that are very hard to find/might not exist anymore in which case we will make the closest possible substitution) and see how it turns out. If it turns out good, then that’s it! Recipe is good to go and you can rest assured that you will end up with something yummy if you make it. If it doesn’t turn out good? Well then we’ll be revisiting the recipe and tweaking it and then posting our version of it as a “We Can Do It Better” post at a later date.
Our first recipe up for trial is from the Quaker Oats Wholegrain Cookbook from 1979.
There’s a bunch of interesting sounding recipes in there, so we’ll probably test some more from there, but first up is the “Hearty Whole Grain Coffee Cake.” I enjoy coffee cake but hadn’t had any for awhile, so it seemed like a good place to start.
Recipe Time: Kare-Raisu (Japanese Curry) カレーライス
I’ve gone on about curry before. But really, what’s not to like? It’s delicious, exotic, good for you, and relatively easy to make (provided you have all the ingredients). One thing that I particularly enjoy is discovering new ways to make curry dishes. Every new one I find is familiar, but has its own little twist on it. A year or so ago, I discovered the concept of Japanese curry. It’s weird to think of it, since curry itself derives from India for the most part, and is also popular in Thai cuisine as well. But Japan? No way. But that’s where “yoshoku” comes in.
Quick Recipe: Apple-Stuffed Baked Apples
A couple of weeks ago we were trying to think of desserts to serve at our fall party that were simple, but yummy. We’d served our Apple Crisp Pizza last year and felt like we should mix it up a bit. Baked apples seemed like a good choice. But we didn’t want to just fill them up with brown sugar and call it a day. So what better way to get the most apple-y apple dessert? Put apples inside the apples of course! Add some pumpkin spice, and bam! Super fall dessert. This recipe is super yummy, and really easy. It’ll impress your friends without stressing you out. And it’s great to serve at fall parties, though you could totally just make some for yourself if you want (which you probably will).
Quick Recipe: Pulled Pork Mango Burrito
I’m about to state an opinion that some people might not agree with, but here we go: pork isn’t really that good unless it’s slow cooked. There’s just something about the meat that needs the benefit of slow cooking to really sing. That being said, one of my favorite and easiest slow cooked pork recipes is pulled pork. It’s delicious and there are also almost always leftovers to use in different ways. One way I came up with to use up leftovers was to use it in a burrito. While places like Taco Bell don’t usually feature pork, at real Mexican restaurants you’ll generally find at least a few dishes featuring it. So while I’m in no way claiming this is an authentic Mexican dish, it’s not that far out there either.
Happy Fall Recipe! How To Make Momiji (Fried Maple Leaves)
For whatever reason, both Meg and I have a soft spot for weird Asian stuff. We love exploring Asian marts looking for intriguing foods and ingredients, both because it’s exciting and because Asian cuisine is legit yummy. Last year however, we happened upon one of the more out-there food ideas we’ve come across, a Japanese snack food called momiji. In short, these are just battered, fried maple leaves. That’s it. They’re a Fall tradition hailing from the village of Minoo (mee-nohh) and actually are pretty yummy. Now trust me, I don’t like lettuce or salads at all. But despite the fact fried leaves sounds kind of bland, these are definitely worth your time for both the fact they taste good, and also just the fun whimsy of eating maple leaves during the Fall.
The Poor Couple's Food Guide 
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