Recipes « (y)our food choices™

France has given us so many wonderful things: French Fries, the Eiffel Tower, and berets—just to name a few—but one of the things we love most of all from France is the madeleine—and Champagne, of course. These soft little cake-like and shell-shaped cookies are truly a god send—probably from Eros or Cupid—because after one bite you too will be in love. The cookies were created somewhere in France and Spain but how the cookie got it’s name is still undecided. However, it seems they were brought into vogue by, of all places, Versailles, by Louis the XV and his bride Marie. For Valentine’s Day, what could be more romantic than France, Versailles, and madeleines?

I twisted the traditional madeleine recipe with two different flavors—lemon and raspberry. My inspiration came from a few different sources. First, my good friend Ingrid started blogging at Sweet Comfort Kitchen and Madeleines were her first post, then there’s Rachel Khoo’s Little Paris Kitchen with her raspberry lemon curd interpretation, and finally while googling I stumbled across Coffee and Crumpets’ Red Strawberry Madeleines.

If you’re making dinner for your loved one(s) this Saturday night and don’t want to serve the ubiquitous chocolate lava cake for dessert, but want something easy, light, and a little fun in the kitchen, give these a go. The batter should be made in advance and allowed to rest in the fridge, which means these are ready to go when you are. The only special equipment you’ll need is a set of cute Madeleine pans which you can find at most kitchen supply stores or Amazon, because they have everything. You can also use a mini muffin pan if you’re in a pinch.

Raspberry and Lemon Madeleines

1 1/2 cups plain or all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 stick of unsalted butter, 8 tablespoons melted and cooled
2 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup raspberry puree (1 cup raspberries with 2 tablespoons dehydrated raspberries, 1 tablespoon sugar and a pinch of salt, pureed in a blender and strained)
1-4 drops of red food coloring (optional, but necessary for dramatic contrast)

Lemon Glaze (optional)
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

Whisk together flour and baking powder in a medium bowl. Melt the butter and honey together, add the salt and cool.

In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment add the eggs and granulated sugar; whisk on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5-8 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer and sift flour mixture over the top in 2 additions, folding in after each addition. Add the melted butter and honey mixture and stir until all flour is combined.

Divide the batter in two; add lemon zest and juice to one and raspberry puree to the other. Pour the mixtures into two zip lock bags and refrigerate, covered, for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Let batter stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Generously butter 2 standard-size or 2 mini nonstick or aluminum madeleine pans using a pastry brush and dust lightly with flour; tap out any excess flour.

Snip off a very small corner of the zip lock bag. Pipe some of the raspberry batter into molds and then some lemon in the same molds. Being creative in the process and filling each about three-quarters full. Bake on middle rack until pale gold, 8 to 11 minutes (6 to 8 minutes for mini madeleines). Immediately shake madeleines out. Wash and rebutter molds. Repeat with remaining batter. Dust baked madeleines with confectioners’ sugar or cover with a simple lemon glaze.

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We’ve been fans of “Euro bread” for years. What we call Euro bread is basically a whole grain, seed and nut bread that resembles a brick and is usually found in health food stores. Typically, the bread is thinly sliced and toasts up nicely. We love it with peanut butter (or any nut butter), Nutella, cheeses, smoked salmon, or basically anything we can find in the fridge that we would normally eat on a cracker. One of our favorites is toasted Euro bread, with a smear of keffir cheese, slices of cucumber, pickled red onions, and a few grinds of pepper – crunchy, tart, cool, and tangy. Just thinking about it makes me hungry.

How to make the bread has always been a mystery to us. We assumed it would be super complicated and would require a laundry list of ingredients and special equipment. To our surprise we found the opposite to be true. Yahoo! had a story in their food section from My New Roots about “seed bread.” A google search produced several helpful recipes. The following recipe is easy. The most challenging ingredient to find is the psyllium husks (the stuff in Metamucil). No kneading the dough. No waiting for the dough to rise. All it takes to make the bread mixing the ingredients, waiting for everything to absorb the water, and baking. Once cool, simply slice, toast and enjoy.

To those who care, yes this is gluten-free, and yes this is paleo, and yes this is also vegan. But really, who cares! The only thing we care about is how delicious it tastes. Forget about all the labels and just whip up a batch. Nuts and seeds can vary, just remember to use the psyllium husks or the whole thing will wind up crumbling.

Euro Seed Bread

1 cup multigrain cereal
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/3 cup millet
1/3 cup pistachios
1/3 cup chia seeds
1/3 cup flax seeds
3 tablespoons psyllium husks
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups warm water

Add the multigrain cereal, almonds, millet, pistachios, chia seeds, flax seeds, psyllium husks, and salt to a food processor, pulse 4-5 times, pour into a bowl.

Combine coconut oil, honey, and warm water together. Add to nut and seed mixture then stir to combine. Line a small loaf pan with parchment; add the mixture to the pan and allow to sit for 2 hours or overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Cool, slice, and enjoy.

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