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Lake Champlain Chocolate – Individual Chocolate-Hazelnut Mousse Cakes and A Giveaway

Individual Chocolate-Hazelnut Mousse Cakes, and a Valentine's Day Giveaway {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Update: Giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Corinne of Sparecake for winning! I really loved hearing all your stories about Valentine’s Day – thanks for sharing! And keep an eye out for another chocolate-y giveaway this week…

Between 6th grade and 9th grade, I spent 3 summers at Brown Ledge sleep-away camp on the beautiful Lake Champlain in Northern Vermont. (Actually, I spent 1 summer at Camp Kiniya, then went to Brown Ledge, but BLC is where my fondest memories are from). While 3 summers doesn’t exactly qualify me as a summer camp junkie like some of my friends, I did love those long months, spent swimming in the lake, going on daily 5am horseback rides with the drill team, staying up giggling and swapping stories with my bunkies, singing songs and holding hands in the theater, savoring care packages from my parents and letters (signed “love”!) from my middle-school crush. Sometimes I was homesick, but it was such a positive experience overall – I hope my future kids are able to enjoy it someday.

On drop-off and pick-up days, my parents and I used to spend time in Burlington, getting Ben & Jerry’s and doing other things I can’t really remember. But I do remember eating Lake Champlain Chocolates, and being excited several years later when I found them in Wholefoods. I’ve always associated them with those sunny days at camp. So I was thrilled to see that LCC was one of the sponsors for the Blog Better Boston conference I went to at the end of October, and even more excited when, after the conference, I was able to connect with them to arrange a recipe development/giveaway post.

Lake Champlain Chocolate Giveaway

I knew I wanted this recipe to be something special – something decadent and Valentine’s Day worthy. I’ve had the combination of chocolate and hazelnuts floating around in my mind for days (inspired by a truffle I ate recently), so I knew where to start with the flavors. Lake Champlain sent me three of their select origin dark chocolate bars – a single-origin bar from Tanzania, one from Sao Thome, and an African blend. Before I dove into baking, of course, I had to taste all of them – I wasn’t too thorough, but they were definitely all different. I liked the bar from Sao Thome the best, as it had a round, fruity flavor. The Tanzania bar was smoother, lighter, and sweeter, even though it had a higher cocoa content. The African blend bar was darker and more bitter with coffee-like-notes. I decided that the Sao Thome (70% cocoa) and African blend (80% cocoa) bars would form the base of a dense, almost-flourless cake. The sweeter Tanzania bar (75% cocoa) would be used two ways – in a mascarpone-frangelico-chocolate mousse, and as a chocolate ganache. I’d make individually sized cakes that would be just the sort of dessert you could share on a romantic, Valentine’s Day date.

Individual Chocolate-Hazelnut Mousse Cakes, and a Valentine's Day Giveaway {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

The cake, which was inspired by Pastry Affair’s (actually) flourless chocolate rum cake, came out dark, dense, moist, and not too sweet. By itself it’s very intense, but topped with the absolutely dreamy, boozy, mascarpone-based chocolate-frangelico mousse (which, if you can’t tell, I was SO happy with), and drizzled with a little chocolate ganache it was perfect. Rich, chocolaty, indulgent – just the sort of thing to impress a date… or to eat too much of by yourself when you’re feeling needy.

Giveaway Details: Never tried Lake Champlain Chocolate? No worries! Lake Champlain has generously offered to giveaway a giant heart-shaped box full of chocolate truffles to one lucky reader. To enter, leave me a comment below telling me about your most memorable Valentine’s Day. For one extra entry, follow me (@Kitchen_Door) and Lake Champlain Chocolates (@LCChocolates) and tweet about the giveaway, then come back here and leave me a second comment letting me know you tweeted! The giveaway will close at midnight on Saturday the 26th, at which point I’ll randomly choose a winner. Open to U.S. readers only. If the winner doesn’t respond to me within 48 hours of me notifying them they’ve won, I’ll have to pick an alternate winner.

Disclaimer: Lake Champlain Chocolates sent me some sample products free of charge to develop this recipe, and is hosting the giveaway. I received no compensation for writing this post, and was a fan of Lake Champlain Chocolates way before I started blogging!

Individual Chocolate-Hazelnut Mousse Cakes, and a Valentine's Day Giveaway {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Individual Chocolate-Hazelnut Mousse Cakes

Original recipe overall, but cake recipe was inspired by Pastry Affair. Makes 4 individual cakes; each cake can easily be shared by 2 people.

For the cake:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line an 8×8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Set prepared pan aside. Add the chocolate and the butter to a small saucepan and heat over very low heat until fully melted, stirring the whole time. Set aside and let cool slightly.
  2. Beat together the eggs and sugar until thick and pale yellow, at least 3-4 minutes. Stir the rum into the chocolate mixture, then slowly fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.
  3. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Fold into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula so that the batter rests evenly in the pan (it won’t spread much). Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, with only a few moist crumbs attached. Set cake aside.

For the frangelico chocolate mousse:

  • 1/4 c. mascarpone cheese
  • 1/2 c. heavy cream
  • 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 TBS sugar
  • 5 TBS frangelico (hazelnut liqueur)
  • 1 1/2 oz. dark chocolate (I used LCC’s Tanzania bar (75% cocoa))
  • 1 TBS butter
  1. Whisk together the mascarpone and heavy cream. Sprinkle with the cream of tartar, then beat until cream has stiffened enough to hold soft peaks. Sprinkle with sugar, and whisk in. Beat in the frangelico one TBS at a time.
  2. Over very low heat, melt together the chocolate and the butter in a small saucepan, stirring the whole time. As soon as it is fully melted, remove from heat, and let cool slightly.
  3. Pour warm chocolate over the whipped cream. Whisk in to incorporate. Mousse should be thick and spreadable. Refrigerate until needed.

For the chocolate ganache:

Add the dark chocolate and the heavy cream to a small saucepan and heat over very low heat, stirring until melted. Remove from heat and set aside

To assemble:

  • 1 recipe chocolate-rum cake (above)
  • 1 recipe frangelico-chocolate mousse (above)
  • 1 recipe chocolate ganache (above)
  • 2 TBS chopped, toasted hazelnuts

Use a biscuit cutter to cut four 2-inch rounds out of the cake – save the extra pieces for snacking. Place the four cake rounds on four plates, and divide the mousse amongst the four plates, spreading it evenly on top of the cake. Place cakes in the freezer for 10 minutes to allow mousse to firm up slightly. Remove from freezer, and drizzle with the ganache (rewarmed slightly if necessary). Sprinkle with the toasted hazelnuts, and serve!

10 Cookbook

Cookbook Review: La Cucina Italiana and Classic Spaghetti Bolognese

Classic Spaghetti Bolognese {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

It’s funny, before I really cooked much cookbooks were a single category, filed in my brain under “types of books.”  Now, when I open a cookbook, I instantly start checking off characteristics: single-subject, informational, restaurant tribute, DIY… the list goes on.  It’s kind of like buying a couch.  Before you’ve ever bought a couch, you think – “couches, they’re pretty simple, the only difficult part of this will be having so many to choose from!”  Then you start shopping for couches, and slowly you start checking off things you like and don’t like – skirted couches are out, no plushy cushions, definitely not leather.  Before you know it, your couch-shopping-brain is saying “structured couch, must have arms, wooden legs, a blue-gray linen but not too finely woven, curved back, three cushions not two” and your problem has become that you can’t find the couch of your dreams.

Anyway, couches are not the point.  The point is, cookbooks are all different.  This one, La Cucina Italiana: The Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking, very much fits its title.  Before anything else, it’s instructive. It’s not a book that I’d be likely to turn to for spur-of-the-moment inspiration, but it is one that I would reach for when I had a question – how do you make homemade tomato puree?  Why should you purchase bronze-cut spaghetti? What is the classic preparation of Pasta All’amatriciana?

Classic Spaghetti Bolognese {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

This book was created by the editors of La Cucina Italiana magazine, and covers 21 categories of Italian cuisine in its 450 pages, including fresh pasta, dried pasta, garden vegetables, beef, pork, poultry, lamb, seafood, and desserts. Many of the recipes are photographed step-by-step, making it visually simple to understand the preparations.  Aesthetically, I’m not usually a big fan of this sort of photography, but here it’s entirely appropriate, and very useful.  Folding tortellini, making couscous by hand, peeling and coring celeriac – these are things that aren’t very intuitive the first time around!

One trade-off for having all of this useful information packed into one book?  You lose the personal voice and story.  Many of my favorite cookbooks are my favorites precisely because I can hear the author’s thoughts through their words, because their recipes are accompanied with stories that ignite my imagination. This book is missing that element, but it does make a great reference for preparing the most classic Italian dishes.

Classic Spaghetti Bolognese {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

I have to mention one thing that really frustrates me about this book – the recipe layout. The introduction explains that there are several types of sections in this book – ingredient guides, which cover basic information about the taste and varieties of various ingredients; feature recipes, which are laid out like a traditional recipe, with an ingredient list and numbered steps; and essential methods, which are basic recipes using the ingredient in question, and are laid out paragraph style. The majority of the recipes in this book come from the “essential methods” sections, and while I understand what they were going for with the layout, I find it somewhat irritating not to have a separate list of ingredients and amounts available when I’m writing a grocery list or planning a menu. It may just be personal taste, but I think it would make using these sections of the book a bit more challenging for beginners.

However, overall this book is a well thought-out, thorough, and useful guide to Italian cooking. Because this book focuses on traditional cuisine, I wanted the first recipe I tried to be a classic, so I went with the most classic one I could find – spaghetti bolognese. The preparation was very simple, and after two long hours of the ragu simmering on the stove and making my whole house smell like the North End, Trevor and I finally dug into huge bowls of spaghetti topped with the tender, flavorful sauce and some good Parmesan. The sauce was spot-on, exactly what you might have in your favorite Italian hole-in-the-wall restaurant when you were craving comfort food. Next time I’m definitely making a double batch to freeze!

The bottom line: La Cucina Italiana: The Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking is a great learning book for both beginning and advanced home cooks. While it’s not the most inspiring cookbook I own, its practical information and detailed step-by-step photographs will make it a book that I turn to when I need to know the basics of a classic Italian recipe. The recipes themselves are fairly traditional, and they are well-tested and clearly explained.

Disclaimer: I was sent a free review copy of La Cucina Italiana by the publisher, Rizzoli New York, but I was not otherwise compensated to write this review and all opinions are my own!

Classic Spaghetti Bolognese {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Classic Spaghetti Bolognese

Recipe from La Cucina Italiana: The Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking. Serves 3-4.

  • 2 oz. pancetta, minced
  • 1 carrot, peeled and minced
  • 1 stick celery, minced
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1/2 c. dry white wine
  • 2 TBS tomato paste
  • 3/4 c. whole milk
  • salt to taste
  • 3/4 to 1 lb. spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
  1. Add pancetta to a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until pancetta begins to crisp. Add carrot, celery, and onion to pan, and cook, stirring the whole time to prevent burning, for another 8 minutes, or until beginning to soften.
  2. Add ground beef to the pan and brown, chopping up into small bits with a wooden spoon. Cook until mostly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the white wine, stir to incorporate, and raise heat to bring to a boil. Cook until it has almost completely evaporated.
  3. Add the tomato paste to 1 1/2 c. warm water and stir to dissolve. Add this to the pan, and stir to incorporate. Reduce heat to a low simmer. Place the milk in a pourable container. Add a small splash of the milk to the pan and stir to incorporate. Cook the ragu at a low simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, adding a small splash of milk and stirring every 10-15 minutes, until you’ve used up all the milk. Season with salt to taste (do this at the very end so you don’t over-salt it). Serve ragu over spaghetti with a generous grating of parmesan cheese.

0 Food

Winter Cleanse 2013: Week Two

Winter Cleanse Week Two - Mushroom and Olive Veggie Burger, Pear and Pomegranate Salad

Tah-dah! I have the menu/grocery-list/pictures for the second week of my 2013 winter cleanse! I have some wrap-up thoughts on how this went for me this year, but before I get into that, I want to direct everyone over to the week one post for more info on the reason behind the cleanse, why I even call it a cleanse, how it’s set-up, and more. The only new logistical thing I’ll mention is that the beginning of week two makes use of leftovers from the end of week one, so keep in mind that there will be a little bit more cooking if you do this week as a stand-alone menu.

Now for the wrap-up: overall, I feel better about the cleanse this year than I did last year. I wasn’t as stressed out by all the cooking, in large part due to better planning, and I stuck to the plan more closely than last year. I think having snacks built-in helped, as did writing out by hand each night what was on the plan for the next day, and checking off each thing that I ate (plus writing down any mistakes in an “oops” section – I’ll admit to one fresh chocolate-chip cookie, and a couple days where a little piece of chocolate may have found its way into my belly after dinner). I also think setting aside one night “off” to attend a party I’d known about in advance was crucial – it gave me a special meal to look forward to, and extra dedication to eating well that day and the day before. Having that meal out also gave me perspective on how this might work if I stuck with it all year – knowing that you’re going to indulge ahead of time and treating it as an indulgence that should be balanced with healthful habits before and after is a good way to approach eating in general!

Winter Cleanse Week Two - Greek Egg and Lemon Soup with Chicken, Kale and White Bean Soup

One thing that I didn’t anticipate was the sheer volume of leftovers I ended up with. At first, this was kind of stressing me out – I like to be able to eat all the food that I make/buy, and typically, I only make three or four dinners in a week, so making seven different things meant almost twice as much food, even with most recipes scaled down. I also only have one shelf in a fridge shared with four people, and even less space in the freezer, so between more fresh ingredients than usual and more leftovers than usual, to say I was squeezed for space is an understatement (every time I took anything out of the fridge it was like doing a jigsaw puzzle). Eventually, I snapped out of it and turned on the extra freezer in the basement (sometimes it’s the littlest things that you procrastinate doing…) and stored all the leftovers, neatly labeled, in there. The added benefit of this is that I actually have a ton of “cleanse” food to keep me eating healthy through the next two weeks or so, so I’m planning on continuing with the general plan for the most part.

Winter Cleanse Week Two - Fruit and Nut Pancakes, Granola

The last thing that I want to mention is that this time around, not only did I lose 4 pounds, but I really felt like doing this cleanse gave me a ton of energy (and also protected me somewhat from the flu that’s going around… knock on wood). It’s nice to find that sort of balance, and I hope I can continue to maintain it!

With all that said, here are the logistics for this week:

Weekend prep activities (i.e. things to do when you have extra time that will make the rest of the week a little easier):

  • Make granola
  • Roast broccoli
  • Roast beets
  • Cook hard-boiled eggs
  • Wash and dry spinach, arugula, and kale
  • Make the almond salad dressing for the spinach salad
  • Remove pomegranate seeds and prepare pomegranate gremolata (for pear and pomegranate salad)
  • Make the pomegranate salad dressing
  • Soak chickpeas (for beet and fried chickpea salad)

Menu Attachment
Grocery List Attachment

Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian, nutritionist, doctor, or medical professional of any sort.  I simply wanted to share my personal menu and goals for healthy eating, so please realize that I have tapered this plan to what I feel my own nutritional needs are, and carefully consider your own health needs/consult your doctor before following any diet, cleanse, or detox plan! 

Winter Cleanse Week Two - Beet and Fried Chickpea Salad, Kale and Avocado Salad

Winter Cleanse Menu 2013 – Week Two

Day Eight, Sunday:

Day Nine, Monday:

Day Ten, Tuesday:

Day Eleven, Wednesday:

Day Twelve, Thursday:

Day Thirteen, Friday:

Day Fourteen, Saturday:

Winter Cleanse Week Two - Menu and Grocery List, from Katie at the Kitchen Door

0 Food

Pomegranate & Pear Salad

Pomegranate and Pear Salad {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Alright, guys – one more salad recipe, then I’ll post the week two menu and groceries tomorrow, and then I’ll shut up about cleansing for a good long while. In fact, I have two decidedly non-cleanse-friendly recipes coming up in the next week – think comforting Italian, then think Valentine’s Day planning. I’m excited already. Not that I’m going to give up all my cleanse habits – on the contrary, I plan to continue eating a lot of salads and veggie-based dishes for at least the near future. It’s just that I’m sneaking some indulgences back in there too.

But first thing’s first – salad. This salad is from the November issue of Food and Wine, and was actually developed by chef/blogger/recent-cookbook-author Aida Mollenkamp (check out her new book, Keys to the Kitchen, if you haven’t already). It’s very simple and refreshing and sweet, with juicy pomegranate seeds and fresh pears, just the thing for when you’re not feeling too much like eating a traditional salad but want to get your greens in. Making the dressing, which uses pomegranate molasses, honey, and mustard, is a must. The only thing I changed was the ratios of the pomegranate gremolata to the greens and of the greens to the dressing – the original recipe was made to serve 10, and I certainly can’t eat 10 servings worth of the same salad before it goes bad. I also like my salads a little bit fruit-heavy, so that’s reflected below.

Arugula Salad with Pears and Pomegranate Gremolata

Recipe adapted slightly from Food and Wine magazine. Serves 4.

  • 1/2 c. pomegranate arils
  • 2 TBS fresh, finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 1/2 small shallot, peeled and finely minced
  • 1/4 tsp freshly grated orange zest
  • 2 TBS olive oil
  • 1 TBS pomegranate molasses
  • 1 TBS red wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tsp honey
  • 1 1/2 tsp mustard
  • 5 oz. arugula, washed and dried
  • 1-2 ripe Bosc pears, thinly sliced
  1. To make the gremolata, combine the pomegranate, parsley, shallot, and orange zest in a small bowl. Set aside.
  2. Make the dressing by vigorously whisking together the olive oil, pomegranate molasses, vinegar, honey, and mustard. Season to taste with salt. Pour the dressing over the greens and toss to coat. Divide the greens among 4 plates, and top each plate with a few slices of pear and 2 heaping TBS of the pomegranate gremolata. Serve immediately.

3 Breakfast

Whole Wheat Fruit and Nut Pancakes

Healthy Fruit and Nut Pancakes {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

For the last cleanse brunch meal, I decided it was OK to push the boundaries of my rules and let pancakes onto the menu. In part, I think it makes sense to ease your way back into normal eating habits by creating healthy versions of your favorite foods. If you can eat the foods you crave without all the negative health effects, it’s that much more likely that the benefits of “cleansing” will stick! These pancakes, adapted from SELF Magazine, not only have no sugar and use whole-wheat flour, they also have berries, bananas, and crushed pecans to up their healthfulness.

I was surprised by these pancakes – I was expecting them to be decent, but not particularly good. I just haven’t had that much luck with whole wheat baking in the past, and I also have really high standards for pancakes, having grown up in a house where mixes were sneered upon and a fresh batch of dad’s blueberry-buttermilk pancakes was a weekend staple. However, these healthy little guys ticked off all my pancake check-boxes – they were tender, moist, flavorful, and thick. The fact that I could eat two with a generous drizzle of maple syrup and not feel guilty about it was just an added bonus. I will definitely be making these again!

Healthy Fruit and Nut Pancakes {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Whole Wheat Fruit and Nut Pancakes

Adapted from SELF Magazine. Makes 8 pancakes / Serves 4.

  • 1 c. whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 c. rolled oats
  • 1/4 c. crushed or roughly chopped pecans
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 c. buttermilk
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 1 c. frozen or fresh mixed berries
  • cooking spray or a small pat of butter
  1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, oats, pecans, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to combine. In another medium bowl, mash the banana into a paste, then beat in the egg, buttermilk, and almond extract to combine. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture, and stir until evenly mixed.
  2. Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-low heat, or melt butter in skillet over medium-low heat. Make pancakes using 1/3 c. batter each. Top each pancake with a few berries. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the batter is bubbling on the top of the pancake and the bottom is golden brown, then flip and cook for 3-4 minutes on the other side. Repeat until batter is gone. Serve warm with extra berries and maple syrup. Place any extra cooked pancakes in plastic bags and refrigerate to store.

Healthy Fruit and Nut Pancakes {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

2 Food

Roasted Beet and Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese, Eggs, Pomegranate, Orange, and Almond-Vinaigrette

Roasted Beet and Spinach Salad with Eggs, Goat Cheese, Pomegranate, and Orange {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Don’t tell anyone, but I’m taking tonight off from my cleanse to go out and celebrate my friend’s birthday. We’re going to Masa, and I’m so excited to a) drink margaritas, and b) eat cheesy, meaty, gluten-y things that are decidedly un-cleanse-worthy. I promise I won’t go too crazy – I don’t want to undo all my hard work thus far! – but I am looking forward to the meal.

To make up for tonight’s planned splurge, I made my other main meal today a super satisfying and healthy salad. With loads of spinach, roasted beets, hard-boiled eggs, pomegranate seeds, oranges, goat cheese, and a delicious honey-almond vinaigrette, it’s fresh-tasting and filling enough that it doesn’t need any accompaniments. I made extra hard-boiled eggs and roasted beets so that I can easily make it again throughout the week. I’ll probably bring some to work Monday… having a lunch that I’m looking forward to always makes Monday morning a little easier!

I’ll be back tomorrow with a healthy and delicious brunch recipe (got to ease back into healthy eating after a night out, right?). I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Roasted Beet and Spinach Salad with Eggs, Goat Cheese, Pomegranate, and Orange {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Roasted Beet and Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese, Eggs, Pomegranate, Orange, and Almond-Vinaigrette

Adapted from Serious Eats. Serves 2 as a main.

  • 2 medium beets, greens removed
  • 4 TBS olive oil, divided
  • sea salt
  • 1/4 c. blanched whole almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
  • 1 TBS honey
  • 1 TBS sherry vinegar
  • 1 TBS minced shallot
  • 1 navel orange
  • 1 blood orange
  • 4 large handfuls of clean baby spinach
  • 3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut into quarters
  • 1/4 c. pomegranate arils
  • 2 oz. fresh goat cheese, crumbled
  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Scrub the un-peeled beets and place in the center of a large sheet of tinfoil. Drizzle with 1 TBS of the olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Fold the edges of the tinfoil up to make a sealed packet. Place the packet on a baking sheet, and roast for 1 hour, or until a toothpick can easily penetrate the center of the beets. Let cool for ten minutes, or until they are cool enough to handle comfortable. Slip the beets out of their skins, then thinly slice them and set aside.
  2. Whisk the toasted and chopped almonds, honey, sherry vinegar, shallot, and remaining 3 TBS of olive oil together to form the dressing. Season to taste with sea salt.
  3. Cut the peel and pith from the oranges. Supreme/segment the oranges to remove the membranes. Set the orange segments aside.
  4. Divide the spinach between two plates and drizzle each generously with dressing. Top each plate with orange segments, one and a half hard-boiled eggs, roasted beets, pomegranate arils, and fresh goat cheese.

Roasted Beet and Spinach Salad with Eggs, Goat Cheese, Pomegranate, and Orange {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

1 Cookbook

Greek Egg and Lemon Soup with Chicken, Brown Rice, and Chickpeas

Greek Egg and Lemon Soup with Chicken, Brown Rice, and Chickpea {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

It seems as though we’ve entered flu season. I actually haven’t been sick yet, but I’ve seen several co-workers, a few family members, and lots of blog-friends succumb in the past week or two. I just want to send everyone a big bowl of chicken soup, but that seems unfeasible, given, you know, the logistics of shipping chicken soup around the country, so I made this lovely, thick, Greek-inspired bowl of avgolemono with chicken to inspire health in all of you (and I’m also hoping that eating it myself will help stave off illness a while longer). In particular, Grandma Joyce – I hope you’re feeling much much better!

This is another recipe that’s inspired by Maria‘s Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. I really love this cookbook, but I’m always tinkering with the recipes, which sometimes gives me cooking guilt, as I know it’s not a fair test of the recipe (and that a lot of work goes into recipe-testing for cookbooks to get them just right)! I set out to make this one exactly as written, but realized as I started cooking that I didn’t have any scallions, and that I didn’t have any par-boiled rice on hand, and that I really needed to use up the chickpeas that have been sitting in my fridge. So I sighed, and adjusted here and tweaked there, and made it my own. I promise, I’ll make the next recipe from Maria’s book the way it says to!

Greek Egg and Lemon Soup with Chicken, Brown Rice, and Chickpea {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

As you might have guessed, this is another one for my winter cleanse. It’s great cleanse food – the avgolemono, a Greek technique that involves adding an egg and lemon mixture to thicken hot broth, makes it thicker and more substantial than your average soup, without adding a lot of extra calories. With chicken, chickpeas, and brown rice, it’s filling and warming and lovely. Give it a try… and feel better to all of you who are under the weather!

Greek Egg and Lemon Soup with Chicken, Brown Rice, and Chickpeas

Inspired by Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. Serves 2.

  • 4 c. chicken broth
  • 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, fat trimmed (about 8 oz.)
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed or finely minced
  • 1/4 c. brown rice
  • 1/2 c. cooked chickpeas
  • 1 egg, separated, at room temperature
  • 2 TBS fresh lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)
  • 1/4 c. chopped dill
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Add the chicken broth, chicken, minced/crushed garlic, and brown rice to a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 35-45 minutes, or until both the rice and the chicken are fully cooked – the rice should be tender and the chicken should be cooked through, with no pink in the middle when you cut into it.
  2. Remove the chicken from the pot and place on a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, tear into bite-sized pieces, and set aside.
  3. Beat the egg white with a whisk in a medium bowl until it is white and thick. Lightly beat the egg yolk, then add the egg yolk to the beaten egg white and whisk together. Slowly pour the lemon juice into the egg mixture as you whisk. The mixture should be pale yellow and fairly thick. Slowly add a thin stream of the hot broth-rice mixture to the egg-lemon mixture, whisking the eggs vigorously as you do so, to temper the eggs. Use about half of the broth mixture in doing this. Pour the tempered egg-lemon mixture back into the pan, whisking the soup as you do so. Continue to stir, and add the chicken pieces, chickpeas, and dill to the pot. Cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring, to heat all ingredients through and slightly thicken the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve hot.

0 Food

Winter Cleanse 2013: Week One

Shakshuka and Chickpeas - Winter Cleanse Week One

So I know I’ve been talking about it for a while now, but I finally have the first week of this year’s winter cleanse menu ready to go. I struggle a lot with what to call this “cleanse” – I flip-flop between “cleanse,” “detox,” “diet,” and other typical health-food plan words. At it’s core, it’s really just a healthy eating plan focused on whole foods and vegetables. While I do tend to lose weight while doing it, not every recipe is low calorie, and some even include typical diet no-no’s like cheese, and chorizo. Still, the goal for me is to get a lot of the holiday junk out of my system and fill up on wholesome, nutrient-packed foods that will be kind to my body, so “cleanse” always ends up winning the word-choice battle.

Two Kale Salads - Winter Cleanse Week One

Last year I was a little too ambitious with my cleanse “rules,” and I ended up having a really tough time sticking to them. This year, I’m being a bit more generous with myself in the plan, but stricter about sticking to it. Basically, I try to limit sugar, dairy, meat, and gluten (although I have some whole wheat foods), and replace those foods with lots and lots of vegetables, whole grains, and beans. I have to have a green salad every day, and drinks are mainly water and tea, with an occasional latte built-in as a snack/treat. No booze. It’s not a super strict plan, but I find having everything mapped out and the rules firmly in my mind really helps with my motivation – and so far I feel great (and have lost 4 pounds in as many days)!

Apple Quinoa Cake and Chocolate Bluberry Smoothie - Winter Cleanse Week One

Another difficult part for me last year was the sheer amount of cooking that doing this required. There were definitely nights when I just ran out of energy – in particular, the night I stopped at a cafe and wolfed down a cheesy sandwich because I was too exhausted to think about getting more groceries comes to mind. This year, I put a lot more time into planning and prep so that this wouldn’t be a problem. I got all the groceries for the whole week in one go, and I’ve attached a grocery list (enough for 1-2 people doing the cleanse) for you as well (as well as a menu print-out to hang on your fridge). I also identified all the activities that could easily be done on the first day, Sunday, or any other time that you have a little extra free time, so that making meals the rest of the week would be quicker. I didn’t do all of these in one day, but spread them out over my free time:

Raspberry-Maple Quinoa and Avocado-Grapefruit Salad - Winter Cleanse Week One

A few last notes – the attached shopping list is written for one person to have enough to make all the meals in the first week, plus a little extra (you can’t buy half an onion!). For the most part, I scaled the ingredient amounts down to be enough to serve 2 – one serving for dinner, and one serving of leftovers for lunch the next day. There are some recipes, though, that just don’t scale as easily, and I did end up with a lot of leftovers. I froze all of the leftovers and encourage you to do the same, if you have them – it will just help you to continue eating healthily after the cleanse is over! You’ll notice that the weekends are structured a bit differently, with larger brunch and dinner meals and one substantial snack – this reflects the way I eat during the weekends, but feel free to bulk up these days with more healthy fruit and vegetable snacks (or leftovers from other meals). In general, mixing and matching recipes you like and don’t like is fine – I only have them in the order I do so that meals don’t overlap too much within a day (aka you don’t end up having eggs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and so that leftovers get used up. Last, if you miss a day or give in to something not on the plan, don’t beat yourself up over it – just start again with fresh focus the next day!

Menu Attachment
Grocery List Attachment

Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian, nutritionist, doctor, or medical professional of any sort.  I simply wanted to share my personal menu and goals for healthy eating, so please realize that I have tapered this plan to what I feel my own nutritional needs are, and carefully consider your own health needs/consult your doctor before following any diet, cleanse, or detox plan! 

Bulghur and Cinnamon Chicken, Chestnut Soup - Winter Cleanse Week One

Winter Cleanse Menu 2013 – Week One

Day One, Sunday:

Day Two, Monday:

Day Three, Tuesday:

Day Four, Wednesday:

Day Five, Thursday:

Day Six, Friday:

Day Seven, Saturday:

Update: Week Two Menu is now available!

Winter Cleanse 2013 - 16 Healthy Recipes from Katie at the Kitchen Door

0 Breakfast

Cleanse Breakfasts: Raspberry-Maple Quinoa, Broccoli & Mushroom Scramble

Raspberry-Maple Breakfast Quinoa {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

OK, last pre-cleanse post! Just wanted to get these two breakfast recipes up here so they’re included for the big round-up tomorrow. The first recipe is a favorite of mine, and a frequent breakfast staple, inspired by Heidi a few years back. I use frozen raspberries and stir most of them in at the beginning, so that the whole thing turns pink and has a lovely raspberry flavor. Then I add a few whole ones back in at the end, for that tangy bite. The second recipe is for a roasted broccoli and mushroom scramble – not really a recipe you need, but posted here for convenience of anyone following the cleanse. Both of these recipes are the sort that are infinitely variable, and you can change according to your taste – this is just the way I like them!

I’ll be back tomorrow.

Raspberry-Maple Breakfast Quinoa

Serves 2

  • 1/2 c. quinoa, rinsed
  • 1 c. skim milk
  • 1 1/3 c. raspberries
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 c. pecans
  • 2 TBS maple syrup

Add the quinoa, milk, and 1 cup of the raspberries to a small saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Let simmer, uncovered, and stirring frequently, until quinoa’s “tails” have unfurled, about 15 minutes. Keep a close eye on it, as simmering milk frequently froths up and can make a big mess. Once quinoa is done, stir in cinnamon, pecans, maple syrup, and remaining whole raspberries. Enjoy warm, refrigerate any leftovers.

Roast Broccoli and Mushroom Scramble

Serves 1

  • 1/2 TBS olive oil
  • 5 large button mushrooms, sliced
  • sea salt
  • 1 egg
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1 c. roasted broccoli (roasted with olive oil for 20 minutes at 375°F)

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a saute pan. Add mushrooms and cook until browned, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt. Beat together egg and egg white, then pour over mushrooms. Add roasted broccoli and cook scramble, stirring with a spatula, until eggs have reached desired doneness.

0 Food

Grapefruit and Avocado Salad

Grapefruit, Avocado, and Spinach Salad

Just here to quickly share the recipe for this salad, which is one of the first recipes in this year’s winter cleanse. I started the cleanse today, and so far haven’t cheated! (Except I had one single sour peach ring, because I haven’t seen them in ages, and I love them. I don’t feel bad about it.) I’ll be posting the full menu for week one of the cleanse on Sunday, along with some additional healthy breakfast recipes tomorrow or Saturday. Until then, you can take a peek at last year’s cleanse (week one, week two), or just enjoy this healthy salad, which manages to be both filling and refreshing at the same time.

Hope everyone’s resolutions are off to a good start!

Grapefruit and Avocado Salad with Ginger-Cassis Dressing

Adapted from Bon Appetit. Serves 1.

  • 1/2 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced
  • 1/2 large grapefruit
  • 2 large handfuls spinach or arugula
  • 2 TBS ginger-cassis dressing (see below)

Cut peel off grapefruit and cut supremes away from inner membranes. Layer grapefruit segments and avocado slices over the greens and drizzle with the dressing.

Ginger-Cassis Dressing

Recipe from Bon Appetit. Makes ~2/3 c.

  • 2 TBS finely chopped shallot
  • 2 TBS finely minced fresh ginger
  • 3 TBS high-quality olive oil
  • 3 TBS creme de cassis (black-currant liqueur)
  • 4 tsp sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small tupperware with a lid and shake vigorously to blend. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Store extra dressing in the fridge and shake before serving.