tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89837469851821052882008-05-11T22:39:36.212-04:00Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-37005277807916250562008-05-11T22:05:00.006-04:002008-05-11T22:39:36.241-04:00

Although the banana cake I'm about to share with you is quite delicious, it worries me. Or rather, the amount of kitchen cabinet space that I have been dedicating to alternative flours is worrying me. At this point, what was once the appropriately-sized home of a tub of all-purpose flour and a sack of whole wheat has become the dangerously small hideaway for white whole wheat, whole wheat pastry,

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-74096317955913361942008-05-04T13:39:00.007-04:002008-05-04T17:57:28.030-04:00

I'm sure I've said it before, but I'll say it again: breakfast and brunch are my favorite meals, especially when it comes to entertaining. Dinner parties are fun, lunch is cute, but there is something so cozy and friendly about brunch, and I love waking up to bake muffins or whip up a batch of buttermilk pancakes. This weekend we had some friends over for brunch, and kept it simple with

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-16306290194438969892008-05-02T22:22:00.008-04:002008-05-02T23:47:21.347-04:00

First things first: I have a wee bit of virtual housekeeping to take care of. If you look to the right of this post, you'll see a whole bunch of fun stuff, some of which could use a little explaining. As you might notice, Red Ramekin is now a featured publisher on Foodbuzz. Honestly, I have no idea a) how we became a "featured publisher," or b) what a "featured publisher" actually is. But it

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-76987106081765779662008-04-28T13:13:00.009-04:002008-04-28T19:58:23.315-04:00

Oh yay! That time of month again - the Daring Bakers strike again, and the culinary blogosphere is dotted with all manner of adorable frozen cheesecake pops. The pops were this month's challenge, hosted by Deborah, of Taste and Tell, and Elle, of Feeding My Enthusiasms. I was delighted as I did my usual food-blogs-of-the-world tour yesterday evening, as I had the chance to see some lovely

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-87558005871036178312008-04-20T16:28:00.008-04:002008-04-22T12:59:40.612-04:00

I know, I know...it's been a slow blog month for me. Just when i thought I'd have all the free time in the world, little things started popping up - apartment searching, catch-up schoolwork, weekend trips - that have been keeping my posting at bay. Luckily I've still had ample time to cook, and in addition to some new sweet baking experiments (recipes coming soon, I hope!), I've been playing

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-65704678664406160802008-04-15T12:02:00.001-04:002008-04-15T13:47:00.276-04:00

A while ago, Mia picked up a copy of Deborah Madison's "Vegetable Soups." It's a beautiful book, with lots of vibrant, colorful pictures, and lots of recipes for vegetable soups. I like soup a lot, and I especially like making vegetable soups, because they're easy, they look good, and they're delicious. They require no particular skills, and they're basically impossible to mess up. Plus, I

jvhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00293297715002105539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-28269499854770785872008-04-07T12:44:00.006-04:002008-04-08T11:29:18.435-04:00

Taste so damn good? I think you can guess the answer to that question. We've made homemade pita a few times now, but I've finally been inspired to blog about it because of the various pita incarnations that came out of our most recent batch. On Friday night we had the pleasure of entertaining two friends who, luckily, don't mind showing up to dinner at the scheduled time to find their hostess

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-27581287436790519952008-04-06T13:42:00.008-04:002008-04-06T14:50:29.860-04:00

I promised nibs, so here they are: Making their rounds through the culinary blogosphere, cacao nibs seem to be everywhere these days. They are folded into buttery and chocolatey cookie doughs, sprinkled atop chic pasta dishes, and here at Red Ramekin, tucked into my favorite treat: biscotti. I was so excited about using cacao nibs that I made two batches of biscotti with them. One was adapted

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-22710590025192422632008-03-30T18:26:00.008-04:002008-03-30T19:15:21.766-04:00

Remember the epic French bread post? And all of those amazing Daring Bakers? Well this month's challenge has now come and gone, and I managed to pull it off at the last minute, during our trip to California. The recipe this time was decidedly less involved, and allowed for plenty of adaptations and creativity: Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake. The host of this month's challenge was Morven,

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-14385556086123664882008-03-24T01:04:00.013-04:002008-03-24T13:58:32.218-04:00

Wow - it has been so long since the last Red Ramekin post! I didn't realize just how long it had been until I signed into Blogger to check up on my little baby blog...it has been neglected for the past three weeks, and I am very sorry about it. I won't let it happen again, I promise. These past few weeks were pretty busy for me, but now I'm one huge step closer to graduation and I should have

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-34183527430357025642008-03-02T16:35:00.011-05:002008-03-02T21:25:31.625-05:00

Now that I've come down from my Daring Bakers high, I thought I might give you a little window into how I like to bake when I don't have a 15-page recipe staring me in the face. As you might imagine, most of my baking occurs sans 15-page recipe (like my French?). For me, baking is one of those things that I can get really, really into. As in, if I make any more scones/cookies/bread/muffins/

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-22280823714106581072008-02-26T23:48:00.018-05:002008-02-29T08:00:55.165-05:00

The moment you have all been waiting for: Red Ramekin's first foray into the exciting and borderline cultish world of the Daring Bakers. "The Daring Bakers?" you ask. "Wow, you must know basically nothing about the culino-blogosphere," I chortle, possessed and covered in flour. It's OK, though, I'll explain anyway. The Daring Bakers is a baking group composed of lots and lots of food bloggers

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-72140834602616879512008-02-21T08:08:00.009-05:002008-02-26T23:46:00.788-05:00

I've decided to institute a new rhetorical policy in my life. Since I'm chronically indecisive, and since I'm always trying out new foods and new recipes, from now on any "favorite" dishes of mine will have to be the favorite of the day. Otherwise, everything would be my favorite. When I first started making my chickpea salad, it was definitely my favorite salad. Such texture! So lemon-minty!

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-54203341129975170712008-02-14T09:21:00.004-05:002008-02-16T11:03:11.794-05:00

Valentine Scones (makes about 5 scones) 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour 1/2 c. all-purpose flour 3 tbs. sugar 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt 1 egg, beaten 1/4 c. buttermilk 2 1/2 tbs. cold butter milk, for brushing tops sugar, for sprinkling In a large bowl, mix together flours, sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder. Cut cold

jvhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00293297715002105539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-72185699320665662222008-02-12T22:59:00.008-05:002008-02-13T21:46:25.507-05:00

So the time has finally come for us green redramekin-ers to take the plunge and participate....yes, you guessed it...in a food blogging event. For those uninitiated into the ways of the professional food blogger, suffice it to say that there are lots of food blogging events. The premise is this: a blogger "hosts" an event by challenging other bloggers to create a special dish/photograph/recipe/

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-564404926611707282008-02-10T21:25:00.000-05:002008-02-10T22:33:04.163-05:00

I know it's been a while, and I do apologize to all you faithful readers. I'm entering a rather busy time of the semester right now, and sadly will not be able to post as much as I have been over the past few months. But don't worry, come March 24th, I will be dedicating most of my time to you. Well, to cooking at least. I will, of course, try to get the occasional post in when I have some free

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-60448143100087637732008-02-03T22:53:00.000-05:002008-02-07T11:48:36.042-05:00

I really like the pizza we make at home. We get to choose exactly the toppings we want, and we know what goes into the dough. But the truth of the matter is, we have neither an oven that gets up to 800 degrees nor a 30-foot peel for sliding pizzas in and out of such an oven. New Haven, CT's Wooster St. has at least three such pairs. So, naturally, we rented a ZipCar and headed for New Haven.

jvhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00293297715002105539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-74516449701889738382008-01-28T23:26:00.000-05:002008-01-29T12:59:47.998-05:00

I really can't believe that I haven't posted about our incredibly delicious, itty-bitty, whole-wheat biscotti. We've made them several times now, and for various occasions: Thanksgiving, Christmas (they make fantastic gifts), dinner parties, and that time I felt like eating 20 biscotti in one sitting. Ok, that happens every time we make them, but I'd still call it an occasion. Jonathan posted

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-10961856573758948112008-01-28T14:07:00.000-05:002008-01-28T23:23:34.718-05:00

Even though I've been trying to cook more recipes lately, I still find it difficult to stick to someone else's plan. Last night we made spinach meatballs, which began as a recipe from Claudia Roden's unbelievably beautiful book of Jewish cooking. The recipe calls for beef or veal, and we opted for turkey. It calls for two eggs, and we used one. The only seasonings it calls for are nutmeg, salt,

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-53867398031659112082008-01-24T22:05:00.000-05:002008-01-29T12:12:05.421-05:00

I've been toying with the idea of making my own granola for a while now. It just seems so....me. What could possibly be more exhilarating than taking an ubiquitous grocery item and health-ifying it (i.e. cutting fat and sugar and experimenting with some wacky tastes)? I had a little time on my hand this past week, so I decided to give it a go. I'll start off by saying that granola, while

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-60917577741794053182008-01-23T20:30:00.000-05:002008-01-29T12:12:05.423-05:00

Wow, that was a mouthful. I mentioned a few posts ago that we were fortunate enough to host a small dinner gathering last week in Jonathan's apartment. There were just four of us: Jonathan and I and two lovely guests, but it was certainly occasion enough to spend a little time preparing the menu, do some rare day-ahead planning, and even purchase a novelty item or two (this time it was goat's

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-48435829197612405122008-01-18T12:16:00.000-05:002008-01-23T22:28:55.117-05:00

Stanford Shopping Mall, Palo Alto, California: We walk into the store, our eyes suddenly dancing and darting as we take it all in: shelves piled high with chef's blades, delicate wire whisks, heat-proof mixing bowls. And then our glance alights on the belle of the baking ball: the artisan copper-plated KitchenAid stand-mixer (oh baby), gleaming in all of its glory and reflecting the soft

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-73873506120694200122008-01-17T21:44:00.001-05:002008-02-13T21:47:18.895-05:00

I'm not going to be modest tonight - I have really been in a cooking groove lately. From delightful goat's milk-cardamom ice cream to a white bean stew (which served as the base for some incredible baked eggs this morning) to the minty-lemon lamb kebabs we had tonight, everything has been going my way. Culinarily, at least. I am already planning some exciting posts to share those new recipes,

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-4131376286951903702008-01-16T21:32:00.000-05:002008-01-24T00:59:38.034-05:00

First things first: it's been an embarrassingly long time since my last post. But, just when I was starting to get really annoyed that things like exams and studying were taking up my precious maniacal blogging time, I realized that I was done with all of that. At least for a few days. Seven semesters down, one to go. Then it's going to be maniacal blogging time whenever I want it to be! That

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8983746985182105288.post-60405016846379735792008-01-06T23:54:00.000-05:002008-01-23T22:40:28.942-05:00

After a holiday hiatus, we are back in the ice cream making business. Well actually, it's not really a business, and in fact, it's not really ice cream, either. Our latest creation is a dangerously delicious almond milk cremolata, which is a frozen custard that uses almond milk instead of cream as its base. We were first introduced to the concept of cremolata during dinner at Oleana, which I

Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09845851099174859716noreply@blogger.com