Zucchini Date Nut PowerBalls

Iron rich, fiber-filled, dairy free, gluten free and naturally sweetened: it’s no exaggeration to say that these little wonders fueled my son’s entry into this world, at least from a nutrient perspective. So it’s especially satisfying (in that warm and fuzzy full circle kind of way) that he happily devours them now. And since life has become primarily about my capacity to nourish both myself and my toddler one-handed, I try and keep these on hand unending; for lunch boxes, frenzied run-by scarfings en route to daycare drop-off, and, my personal favorite, a dessert you can truly feel self-righteous about.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (170 g) lightly packed grated zucchini

• 1 cup (225 g) packed pitted Medjool dates

• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (or applesauce, or mashed banana)

• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil ( or unsalted butter)

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt, or to taste

• 2 cups (200 g) rolled oats, divided

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate or chopped nuts—or both!

Process

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Soak your dates in hot water for 5-10 minutes while you prepare the rest of the elements. This will soften them + make them easier to process.

2. Grate the zucchini on a box grater. Use paper towels to squeeze some of the moisture out—it doesn’t have to be completely dry. Set aside.

3. Into a food processor—add the soaked dates, pumpkin, melted oil/butter, cinnamon, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. Process until very smooth, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed. Let the processor run for at least a minute.

4. Add 1.5 cups of the rolled oats and pulse a few times, just long enough to roughly chop the oats.

5. Transfer that mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup rolled oats, the zucchini, and the chocolate or nuts (if using) until thoroughly combined.

6. Using an ice-cream or a cookie scoop, mound the dough ( about 3 tablespoons worth) onto the baking sheet. Don’t press them down, just leave them in nice little mounded balls.

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until semi-firm to the touch and starting to get golden brown on the bottom.

   **Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 to 5 days, or you can freeze them (tightly wrapped and sealed in an airtight container) for 2 to 4 weeks.

Picky Toddler Muffins-As-A-Meal

The goal here was a protein focused, fiber filled muffin that would please my picky toddler, and fuel him enough to quiet my unending concern over his caloric intake. They are full of healthy fats (olive oil, yogurt), whole grains, colorful produce (carrot/apple/zucchini) and taste sweet enough to please without unnecessary sugar. Perfect as a fast breakfast, lunchbox treat or car-ride quiet maker.

A few notes:

• This is designed to be a one-bowl recipe! Dishes be damned. There’s no need to mix the dry ingredients separately, as long as you thoroughly mix the baking soda + baking powder into the wet ingredients before adding the flour(s). 

• Use a scale if you have one! It can make a big impact on accuracy.

• If your kiddo is really sensitive to seeing any color in their food, I suggest using a food processor to pulse up the veggies as small as possible (vs. grating which yields subtly visible “strands” in the finished muffin).

• For extra protein: you can add up to 3 Tablespoons of a collagen based protein powder (do not use Whey protein, which will affect texture). You can also top the muffins with flax seeds for extra fiber + omegas.

• There are lots of possible swaps here:

• For the veggie/fruit component–you can use any combination of apple, carrot + zucchini interchangeably.

• For the flour: I like ½ whole wheat and ½ white, but you can use all white if you like—using all whole wheat will yield a more dense muffin. You can also substitute a GF flour blend 1-1 if desired.

• For the Greek Yogurt: feel free to use any DF yogurt alternative—or use sour cream if that’s all you have on hand.

Ingredients

• Dry

• 1 cup (120g) whole wheat flour

• 1 cup (120g) AP flour 

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ½ tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp kosher salt (use ½ tsp if using fine grain or “table” salt)

• 2 tsp cinnamon

• Wet

• ½ cup oil (Olive Oil or Vegetable–I like Olive for the nutrients!) 

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 3 large eggs

• ⅓ cup unsweetned full fat greek yogurt

• ½ cup granulated sugar

• 2 packed cups (300g) grated fruits + veggies (carrot/zucchini/apple)

• Optional Add-Ins

• ⅓ cup currants (or raisins-or really any dried fruit you like, chopped if in larger pieces) 

• ½ cup finely chopped walnuts (or any nut you like) 

• Rolled Oats or Flax Seeds (for garnishing the tops)

Process

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2. Prepare your 12 cup muffin pan: either spray the muffin pan liberally with nonstick spray or use muffin liners. 

3. Grate your fruits/veggies on a box grater + set aside.  ** see note

4. In a large bowl: Combine oil, eggs, sugar, yogurt, salt, cinnamon and vanilla and whisk until fully combined, then fold in the grated fruits + veggies and any optional add-ins you’ve chosen. 

5. Sprinkle the baking soda + baking powder evenly over the wet mixture and use a spatula to combine them really well

6. Sprinkle in your whole wheat + all purpose flours and use your spatula to gently fold until no visible flour remains. Don’t overmix–it will make for tough muffins! 

7. Portion your batter evenly into 12 muffin cups–filling them almost all the way to the top. Sprinkle the tops with your rolled oats/flax seeds (optional-but nice!) 

8. Bake for roughly 15-20 minutes (time depends heavily on your oven, so watch them carefully @ the 15 minute mark and remove as soon as the center is set and has a slight “spring back” to the touch. 

Each Muffin Contains

• 238 Calories

• 6 grams protein

• 10 grams healthy fats (primarily olive oil + walnut)

• 4 grams fiber

BBQ Pulled Pork and Vinegar Slaw Sandwich

Few things resurrect the summer's of my youth better than BBQ pork. Towel draped around my neon one-piece, hair still dripping from the pool, two hands around a pillow soft potato bun stuffed with the wonder that is sweet, spicy meat cooked until it's falling off the bone. This recipe yields the sandwich filling of my dreams: juicy, smoky, sweet and spicy shreds of succulent pork shoulder and to contrast + compliment, a simple 3 ingredient slaw that cuts through the richness and adds a much needed crunch to the otherwise unapologetically squishy affair.  Confidently filed under the "set it and forget it" category, it comes together in 20-30 active minutes and then decamps to the slow cooker for 8-10 hours while you sleep (or mosey around town). 

Make it for a summer cookout and let the experience of eating it be a great big beautiful saucy mouth mess.

Ingredients

Spice Rub  

• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground fennel seed
• 1/2 tsp cayenne 
• 5 Tbls brown sugar
• 1 Tbls kosher salt

*This mix will be divided between the pork + bbq sauce 

BBQ Sauce

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tblsp brown mustard
• 2 tsp hot sauce (any kind will do)
• 1 Tblsp liquid smoke (I used Wright's brand)
• 2 Tblsp Worchestershire Sauce
• remaining spice mixture

Pork

• 5-6lbs bone-in pork shoulder
• 1 cup beef or chicken stock 
• 1 large yellow onion
• 5 cloves garlic 

Slaw + Dressing

• 2 small heads of cabbage (1 red, 1 green or whatever you have available), shredded
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 3 sticks of celery, finely diced
• 2 tblsp dijon mustard
• 3/4 apple cider vinegar (white or rice wine will do too) 
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 Tblsp sugar
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper

Method

1. Combine all spices in a small bowl and whisk together.
2. Set your pork shoulder on a cutting board or inside a wide metal bowl and coat with 3 tablespoons of the combined spice mixture, rubbing it confidently into all the cracks and crevices and reserving the remaining spice mix for the BBQ sauce.
3.  Peel + quarter your onion, peel and smash your garlic cloves.
4. Combine all the ingredients for the BBQ Sauce in a medium bowl and whisk until well combined. 
5. Lay your pork into the slow cooker (fattier side up) and surround it with the onion quarters and garlic cloves. If it helps it to fit better, you can cut the shoulder piece into two large/equal sized chunks.
6. Using a 2 cup measure, combine 1 cup of stock with 3/4 cup of your prepared bbq sauce and pour over your pork until it covers the meat by about 2/3. If you need a little extra liquid to do the job, you can use water, bourbon, beer or more stock! Set aside the remaining BBQ sauce to put to later use!
7. Set slow cooker to high for 8-9 hours (or low for 10-12). You can ignore it completely until the last hour or so when you should give it a poke to check on its progress. You're looking for it to completely fall off the bone and easily come apart with two forks. 
8. Once the meat is at desired tenderness, pull the pieces from the cooking liquid and begin shredding using two forks. "Pull" to your desired consistency, then toss with the reserved BBQ sauce to taste*.
9. Combine all slaw veggies in a large bowl, using a small bowl to whisk up the mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar and olive oil for the vinaigrette. Toss the dressing with the veggies just before you're ready to serve* 
10. Pile the pulled pork high on the softest, whitest, naughtiest buns you can find and top with the vinegary slaw.

*Some like a sloppier "joe", others prefer a drier blend. Feel free to add all the sauce, or reserve some to dollop on each sando as-desired. 

*Tossing the slaw with the dressing too early will compromise the crunch! Wait until you're ready to eat. 

Barley, Butter and Berries Cake

It's late "winter" in Northern California and there's clear evidence of its tenure in my kitchen. Despite my earnest intentions to venture out into society, I find myself gravitating most weekend afternoons toward the sweet bakes and the slow stews, a long stream of podcast chatter swirling in the background, the cat encouraging a nap. I still crave the late-season snowstorms of the mid-atlantic which (while muck-making and hassle prone) provide a courteous excuse to stay inside, snuggle things, shun the concept of seize-the-day in favor of savoring it. Since my move West, I've turned to baking projects as a stand-in for snow-days in the perennially temperate climate of San Francisco. Because who can feel guilty about not leaving the house when there's a stick of butter in need of encouragement up to room temperature on the counter-top? 

This infinitely variable, two-bowl, fuss-less cake has punctuated the impromptu garden parties and casual Sunday dinners of my adult life. It's so easy it hardly earns its "cake" category, and yet it delivers all of the moist, buttery decadence you want from the term while looking like a snapshot from   Bring this to a pot luck and you'll piss off anyone else who brought a dessert. The batter doesn't need its hand held and you can adorn it with almost anything you'd like. When the season encourages it: ripe strawberries. For an elegant spin: halved fresh cherries and a bit of almond extract. Today, my market had a bounty of raspberries and so here we have it, in all of it's jammy-puddled glory. 

Ingredients

• 1 stick (8 Tblsp) Butter, at room temp
• 1 cup white sugar + 2 Tbsp (reserved) 
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 tsp vanilla (may sub 1 tsp with the extract of your choice) 
• 3/4 cup (75 grams) barley flour
• 3/4 cup (94 grams) AP flour*
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1lb berry of your choice
• Optional: powdered sugar for an elegant dusting once cake has cooled and heavy cream for whipping (unsweetened) into soft peaks to serve alongside. 

*AP Flour is heavier than barley flour. Feel free to use all AP flour if it's what you have. If you do, use 1.5 cups AP (188g). The barley imparts a nice nuttiness and texture, but the cake will still be delicious without it. 

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F and use 1 tbsp of your butter to liberally grease a deep 9 or 10 inch circular pan (a spring form will yield a shorter cake, 9 inch cake pan a taller one) .
2. In a medium bowl, combine your flour(s), baking soda and salt and whisk well. Set aside.
3.  In the bowl of an electric mixer and with the paddle attachment, combine 7 tblsp of softened butter with 1 cup of sugar and beat until creamed and fluffy (about 3 minutes). If you do not have an electric mixer, don't panic. It helps but isn't 100% essential. Get busy employing some elbow grease to beat these magic compounds together until they look like a fluffy white cloud. 
4. Slowly add the milk, egg and extracts to the creamed butter mixture. The butter will seize up once the cool liquids hit it and no matter how much you mix, you will not get a cohesive blend. Don't worry! Once you add your dry ingredients, this will sort itself out. 
5. Add your dry mix to the party and give it a few gentle folds until the flour has just disappeared and the mixture comes together. As with all batters, don't over mix! The tenderness of your cake depends on it.
6. Plop your batter into your pan (it will be much thicker than pancake batter, thick enough that it needs schmearing). An offset spatula works beautifully for this, but the back of a spoon dipped in water will do. Smooth the batter so it evenly covers the pan. Then, in whatever style suits you push the berries down into the batter in a single layer so that about 3/4 of their height is submerged. You'll have to cram them pretty close together to get em all in, but it's for the best. 
7. Sprinkle your reserved 2 Tblsp of sugar atop the surface and plop that puppy in the oven. After 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 325. Let bake for 50-60 minutes more until a cake-tester comes out clean. 

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I've made (and eaten) more chocolate chip cookies in my lifetime than is morally acceptable. During a summer spent assisting in a pastry kitchen in Manhattan, it was my primary task to produce the salad-plate sized stunners (their signature item) for the daily line out the door. It was only in this grueling repetition that I gained confidence in two facts:

First, that letting dough rest for 24-72 hours contributes to a VAST improvement in cookie quality. For a genius breakdown of all the scientific reasons for this (and every other cookie element) consult this beautiful amalgam of baking science. 

Secondly, that you are entirely in control of where your cookie falls on the many sided taste and texture spectrum: chewy<>crispy, thick<>thin, cakey<>doughy, salty<>sweet, and perhaps the most debated: how much chocolate is too much? This recipe is for my perfect chocolate chip cookie, which is to say one with a dense structure, a crisped caramelized edge, a slightly doughy center, a hearty dose of flaky sea salt and a modest amount of chocolate. The humble cookie is a playground for contrast and I happen to think the gargantuan shingles of chocolate that are trending these days drown out the subtle, buttery delicacy of a really incredible dough. 

So there you have it. Make these cookies on a day where self-restraint is high, stick them in the fridge for a day or four and then watch (and smell) as they bake their way through the miracle of the Maillard Reaction.

Ingredients

• 8oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda 
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tsp good vanilla extract 
• 12 oz bittersweet chocolate chips 
• Maldon sea salt (optional garnish)

Method

Source: Adapted from "Seven Spoons" by Tara O'Brady

1. Melt your butter very slowly on a low flame until no solids remain, but before it bubbles.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk well and set aside
3. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and both sugars. Whisk to combine until the sugar has broken down and the mixture is smooth. Then, add your eggs one at a time, whisking well to combine. Lastly, add your vanilla and give it one last whisk. 
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and, using a spatula, gently fold until the flour begins to disappear. Stop before it disappears completely, add your chocolate chips and then give it a few more stirs.
5. Lay out a large sheet of wax paper on your counter top, plop the mound of cookie dough into the center of the sheet and use the wax paper to wrap it like a log. No need to fuss here--it's nothing but a storage method. Once you have the log, twirl the ends (like a tootsie pop) and plop the whole thing into a large ziplock bag and into the fridge until you're ready to bake. (24 hours minimum, 72 max before moving to the freezer for later use)
6. When ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 360 degrees F and line your baking sheets with parchment. Pull off balls of dough and roll into balls of your desired size. I find the sweet spot for size is about 3.5oz of dough, wielding finished cookies the size of CD's, but they work just as well in smaller format. 
7. Line up your dough balls on your parchment-lined baking sheet and very gently (with only the heel of your palm) give each one a little smush. You want the surface to remain flat, but the entire mound to become more of an plateau, less of a ball. Sprinkle some crystals of maldon sea salt atop the raw dough and bake for 10-12 minutes-- and remember, cookies will continue to bake from residual heat once removed from the oven, so always err on the side of under-done. 

Love Bait (Chocolate) Buttermilk Bundt Cake

Normally I'm not the sort to insinuate that a one can cook their way into a relationship, but this bundt is far from the creamed jello molds of a fifties edition "How To Catch a Man" home-ec book. It's bold, naughty, decadent, sinfully moist and scarcely able to hold in its bountiful crumb (see above evidence). The batter is dominated by high-quality dark chocolate, laced with espresso and tenderized by a hearty dose of buttermilk. A hint of bitterness in the ganache glaze perfectly contradicts the sweet cake, and while this chocolate bomb is a strong independent woman who needs nothing to thrive; some real whipped cream and a few ripe raspberries certainly don't hurt. 

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 3 ounces (85 grams) high quality dark chocolate (65-72%)
• 1.5 cups strong, hot coffee
• 2.5 (500g) Sugar
• 2.5 cups (315g) Cake Flour*
• 1.5 cups (130g) high quality, unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 3 large eggs (at room temp)*
• 3/4 cup neutral oil (Grapeseed, Canola, Vegetable)
• 1.5 cups Buttermilk
• 2 tsp vanilla 

For the Ganache Glaze

• 3oz bittersweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed

Method

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. and prep your pan with butter or cooking spray and a light dusting of flour. (This is one sticky cake, so get it good and greased)
2. Finely chop chocolate, set in a small bowl and pour the hot coffee on top. Let mixture stand, whisking occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
3. In a large bowl, sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
4. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, beat the eggs on medium-high until they go a darker yellow and thicken slightly (about 3 minutes).
5. Add the oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs one by one, beating until incorporated.
6. Add your dry mixture to the wet ingredients in two rounds, stirring until the clumps have only just disappeared. Be v. chill about this and don't over mix or you'll get tough cake!
7. Pour gently into your prepped bundt pan and toss that puppy in the oven for 60-70 minutes (start testing at 55) or until a cake tester/toothpick/sharp knife comes out clean. 
8. Once cake has cooled, set about making your glaze. Get your heavy cream nice and hot on the stove top and pour it over the 3oz of bittersweet chocolate. Give it a moment to do its melting and then start to whisk until all the chocolate has melted and the mixtures' gone a lovely homogeneous brown. Add the vanilla and your cubes of butter and continue stirring until butter is melted and the ganache is shiny and smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes (you want it thickened but still warm enough to pour).
9. Set your cooled cake on a cooling rack (so that the runoff ganache can drip off instead of puddling around the edges of the cake). Then, take a ladle (or large spoon) full of the ganache and move it slowly around the center line of the cake ring. As for those perfect streaks, the cake will do all the work for you--so long as you keep your pour steady, the ganache will naturally flood down the valleys in the sides of the cake, forming a lovely uniform pattern.  

Notes

• Cake will keep for 2-3 days (well covered of course)
• Though it produces a more tender crumb, if you don't have cake flour, you can definitely substitute sifted AP flour. It will still be delicious. 
• If you don't have an electric mixer, you can absolutely do the whisking of the eggs + wet ingredients with a little elbow grease, the old fashioned way.
• This batter would work just as well for a two-layer (9inch round) cake with the filling and frosting of your choice.

Lazy Day Beef Barbacoa

The doldrums of winter are upon us. Or as I like to frame them, the chance to stay in all day and stew: in the culinary sense of the word at least. Maybe it's Sunday and the rain is giving you a great excuse to honor your body's deep desire not to get out of sweatpants and slippers. Maybe you're in a mountain cabin with all your friends and want to wow them with dinner but also want your hands free to play dominos and hold a wine glass through the afternoon. This is the dish for you. The effort is front loaded with a quick no-fuss whiz in the food processor, and then the day is yours to do with what you wish, so long as you're in sniffing distance of the (very) low set oven while time and a barely tangible simmer does all the work. In under 4 hours you'll end up with a rich, complex and hearty dish that will make you feel like a wizard (if the wine doesn't do that first).   

Ingredients

• 2lbs Flank Steak
• 2 Tbls Olive Oil
• Juice of 1 lime (2-3 Tbls) 
• Juice of 2 Oranges (3/4 cup)
• 1 Tbls Fish Sauce
• 2 Tbls Soy Sauce
• 4 Garlic Cloves
• 2 Tbls Tomato Paste
• 1 Tbls Cumin
• 1 Tbls Coriander
• 2 Tbls Dark Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Sweet Baby Peppers (roughly chopped)
• 1 bunch Cilantro (leaves and tender stems used separately)
• 3 Whole Dried Ancho Chiles
• 3 Whole Dried Guajillo Chiles
• Kosher Salt

Gear

• Food Processor or Blender
• Dutch Oven (or alternate heavy pot)

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 275 degrees F. 
2. Re-hydrate the dried chiles by setting them in a small pot of water and simmering over low heat (covered) for 20 minutes.
3. In the meantime, measure and combine all ingredients (besides the meat of course) in your food processor. When the chiles are decently plumped, add them to the food processor party and blend to a smooth puree (reserve the water that the chiles were in). The texture should wind up like that of a loose salsa.
4. Start heating up your dutch oven on the stovetop at a medium high flame. Add a hearty tablespoon of olive oil. When it begins to shimmer, lay your steak down in the pan and give it a good hard sear (roughly 2 minutes on each side). Feel free to peek and check for a nice brown crust, but otherwise let it be!
5. Once sear is achieved, remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour your blended sauce around the edge of the seared steak. The sauce should come up to about 2/3 height of the piece of meat and fully cover the bottom of the pan. If you come up a bit short, pour in some of that reserved chile water to compensate.  
6. Cover the dutch oven and chuck it in the oven. Feel free to take a peek at it on the hour, but it will likely take a solid 3 and needs no tending to for the duration. The meat will slowly render its fat, bathing in that flavor bomb marinade and filling your house with heavenly savory scents. You'll know its done when the meat easily falls apart and the sauce has reduced considerably. 
7. Using two forks, shred the meat right inside the pot to a desired consistency. Stir to combine it with the remaining sauce and form a homogeneous, succulent mixture.  

Serving Suggestions

• Sweet n' Savory: Roast a sweet potato (cut in half lengthwise) with a little olive oil and salt. Then pile a few hearty spoonfuls of the shredded beef on top of the halves. (Optional: mix in some cooked black beans) Finish with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt and fresh chopped cilantro. The sweetness of the potato pairs beautifully with the spicy meat.
• Taco Style: Warm some good tortillas straight on the burner until they're beautifully charred, load them up with the shredded meat and top with sliced avocado, crema, some pickled onions, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.