BlogBloghttp://www.johnandelana.com/blog/2013-05-18T11:32:20ZSquarespaceSoft Boiled Eggs to Run Withhttp://www.johnandelana.com/blog/2013/5/17/soft-boiled-eggs-to-run-with.htmlJohnAndElana2013-05-17T13:27:15Z2013-05-17T13:27:15ZI've never made a soft boiled egg. This is a true story. I've always been slightly intimidated by the task, preferring to hard boil the bujeezes out of my eggs just to make sure they are cooked.
This, I've decided, is silly. Because I love a runny yolk. I love how it merges with toast to create that bread-eggy goo that when sprinkled with salt and a little fresh pepper is breakfast magic.
So this morning (yes, I am writing to you same day!), I went for a run. This is not unusual. But today it was. Since my biking accidents, I've been having some trouble running. There's something going on in my right leg that's just not quite right.
But today, I decided I was going to conquer two obstacles together: the lack of soft boiled eggs in my life AND this running business.
So I went for a run. I ran SLOWLY. So slowly, that stationary objects were passing me. And I had to remind myself with every step to keep it slow. I have this problem: I like to jack up the pace like a maniac, thinking faster is better. More is more and so must be better. But much like the eggs, less is sometimes more. Less cooking time, less speed, less less less...
I returned home with a 40 minute easy run behind me, groceries and these flowers in hand and set to the task of making breakfast. I looked up "soft boiled eggs" on the Internet. What a resource, this Internet. What did we do before this? Ask people? I found this article on soft boiling eggs and followed the instructions exactly.
I was not disappointed. I made two soft-boiled-to-perfection eggs, with a little whole wheat bun slathered in coconut butter. Coconut butter is my new favorite kind of butter.
So, go slowly. Make some soft boiled eggs. And stop to smell the flowers.
]]>Fall Down and Get Back Up Again. And Again...http://www.johnandelana.com/blog/2013/5/14/fall-down-and-get-back-up-again-and-again.htmlJohnAndElana2013-05-14T11:00:30Z2013-05-14T11:00:30ZI've had a few biking "incidents" lately. These things happen. And luckily, they haven't been too serious. However, they don't really make you feel excited, or happy, or all, "woooo TIGER BLOOD, I'm WINNING!!"
No. They sorta make you feel slow. And slightly stupid. And owchy. And couldn't Johnson & Johnson make the size bandaid that you need (tarp sized, please), instead of 1,298 sizes that won't work??
Just a suggestion.
And here's another suggestion: taxed muscles, whether from training or from a fall need some recovery and repair. Nutritionally speaking, a good way to get that is through protein. This month, I was featured in Triathlete Magazine's June issue with two sneaky protein-rich recipes.
Sneaky? Yes, they're sneaky because they don't contain meat or fancy protein powders. They contain farro. Farro is a grain that is very high in protein (about 6 grams per 1/2 cup of cooked farro). And you can use it to make any number of things, like the Coconut Farro Oatmeal or Fig Cookies with farro crust.
The recipe for the Coconut Farro Oatmeal is below. For the fig cookies, go check out Triathlete Magazine!
Serves 2-3
Ingredients:
1 cup farro
2 cups coconut milk (not the condensed stuff, the other kind) plus additional for serving
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon maple syrup
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 rounded tablespoons of ground flax seeds
¼ cup dried cranberries
½ cup fresh blueberries
¼ cup slivered almonds
¼ cup shredded coconut (unsweetened preferred, but you can use either)
Instructions:
Measure out the farro, ground flax seeds and coconut milk and pour them into a medium pot. Heat on medium-low on your stovetop adding in the seasonings and sweetener: maple syrup, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg.
Simmer until tender and liquid is absorbed - about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, preheat your oven (or toaster oven) to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment and spread the shredded coconut and almond slivers onto the baking sheet. Toast for about 5-8 minutes, keeping a constant watch on the progress as the nuts will toast quite quickly. Feel free to toss halfway through the baking process to ensure an even browning.
Remove from oven and set aside.
Scoop the cooked farro into serving bowls. Top with a little extra coconut milk, fresh blueberries and dried cranberries. Sprinkle with the toasted almond and coconut mixture.
A special note of thanks to all my Full Throttle teammates who have been so nice and supportive as I continually fell off my bicycle in the past week. Thanks for delivering medical supplies, making me dinner, checking in, checking in again, enduring chatter about my sprained groin...the list goes on. You guys are the best.
]]>May Slice of the Month - Artichoke Mini Pizzashttp://www.johnandelana.com/blog/2013/5/10/may-slice-of-the-month-artichoke-mini-pizzas.htmlJohnAndElana2013-05-10T11:01:12Z2013-05-10T11:01:12Z Here we are in May! May means artichokes, did you know? Now you do.
Artichokes are an art. That's why there's an "art" in them. They take some care and attention, but they are oh-so-worth it. In this recipe, I'll show you how to prune down those 'chokes and poach 'em up all proper and simple for Poached Artichoke and Ricotta Mini Pizzas. Mini pizzas are fantastic for parties and occassions like Memorial Day (which is fast approaching).
If you'd like to download a super-fancy version of this pizza recipe as a pdf, you can head on over to Colavita's Facebook page, like them, and violá! you will have it. It's that simple...just like the 'chokes. Now let's get started.
What You Need:
What To Do:
Heat the oven to 500 degrees. If using a pizza stone, allow the stone to heat up along with the oven for a half hour before baking on it.
Prepare the artichokes according to the recipe below.
Stretch out your dough on a cornmeal-dusted peel into mini pizza sizes: about 4-5” in diameter, and brush the tops with olive oil.
Spread the ricotta cheese over the top of the dough in a thin, even layer.
Place two of the artichoke quarters on top of the cheese, per mini pizza.
Drizzle some Colavita Extra Virgin olive oil over the top, and sprinkle with a little sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and an extra squeeze of lemon juice.
Slide your mini pizzas onto the stone in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and garnish with more freshly chopped mint and parsley.
Instructions for the Artichokes:
Trim the artichokes. Using a sharp knife, cut off the tough outer leaves, removing about two inches of leaves from the artichoke. Also trim one inch from the tops of all the artichokes. Cut the trimmed artichokes into quarters, scraping out the fuzzy heart and stem area.
Rub the artichoke quarters with lemon, and add the all the trimmed artichokes to a bowl filled with cold water and the juice from 1 lemon.
Heat 2-3 tablespoons of Colavita Extra Virgin olive oil in saucepan on your stove top over medium-low heat. Add the crushed garlic, red pepper flakes, mint, parsley and lemon slices and allow to simmer softly for about 3 minutes.
Pour 3/4 cup each of wine and 1/2 cup water to the pan. Drain the artichokes from the bowl of water, and season them with a sprinkle of salt and some freshly ground pepper. Add them to the saucepan and increase the heat to medium.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer, covered for about 20-25 minutes. The artichokes should be tender. Remove them from the heat and reserve for the pizza.
]]>April - The Month in Reviewhttp://www.johnandelana.com/blog/2013/5/3/april-the-month-in-review.htmlJohnAndElana2013-05-03T11:01:05Z2013-05-03T11:01:05Z
A lot happened in April. A LOT. Let's recap, because there's some good stuff you may have missed. There's some good stuff I may have missed...
Shortly after I made and devoured this pizza, I was prepping for my first triathlon of the season in South Beach. I was having some trouble....getting the pedals off my bike for transport. Consider this text exchange with my teammate Joe:
The experience reminded me of my favorite Polite Card:
So I gave it up as a bad job and had someone else do it for me. The good news is that the bike made is safely to South Beach, and I had a successful race. I placed 4th out of the Elite women, even though the swim was a bit rough had me feeling like this:
The chronology of the event went something like this:
1.Butter mixed with Peccorino cheese (DO THIS!!) from Sardinia Restaurant in South Beach:
2. Race time:
3. Cheeseburgers:
Good times.
When I returned, it was time for John's birthday. So we heaved ourselves over to Sammy's Cider Mill for some of John's (and my) favorite Pasta with Vodka Sauce:
Saucy! With all these carbs flying around, I felt it was time to wax philosophical on the subject in a Post About Toast. Do you have opinions on toast? I would like to hear them.
Moving from the familiar (toast) to the new and uncharted, I took a Gastronomic tour of Brooklyn with a couple of chefs and found some stellar new eateries. Read all about that adventure here.
In other news, I'm working on a fun new project. A sneak peek can be found in the header image of this post. I can't tell you what it is yet. But it was be colorful, fun, and full of foooooood! Good for you food, in fact. A topic I've been studying up on in a completely non-official sort of way. It's been inspiring me to make healthier meals, and to create more portable biking snacks, like these powerful muffins:
And speaking of biking...I took a spill off my bike. Now, I've talked about this before, but previous spills all involved me moving nowhere fast and just kind of tumbling over like an idiot. This was was a bit more intense.
I have to give a shout out to my friend and teammate Caitlin and her family who took very good care of me after my incident. This is us before (note the fancy pink uniforms!):
And I won't post an after photo, only to say that the above jersey has a few holes in it. As do these fancy leg warners that go with it:
And yes, I *may* have designed these. And then, subsequently, wrecked them.
It could all have been much, much worse. But please, PLEASE WEAR YOUR HELMETS. I'm begging you. The whole incident had me feeling much like this:
Again.
Anyway, I'm offering you a Speedy Recovery Recipe that is very simple. So simple, that if you're laid-up and can't handle a lot of activity, this should just do the trick. Or a pint of ice cream. Or both.
This recipe is for Baked Eggs with Spinach and Tomato Sauce.
What You Need:
2 eggs
small bunch of spinach (you decide how much)
1/4 cup tomato sauce (or even better VODKA sauce if you have it. See my recipe for that here.)
salt and freshly ground black pepper.
One of those tiny dutch ovens or a ramekin covered with tin foil
What To Do:
Crack 2 eggs into the dutch oven or ramekin.
Throw in the spinach and the tomato sauce.
Bake, covered, in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Have some crusty bread on hand for dipping!
Are you exhausted yet? If not, you may want to sign up for John's next tour of Atlantic City, complete with sub shops, poker, and copious amounts of Kettle One. Let's just assume he looked like this the morning after:
]]>Italian Subs. Golf. Gambling. Atlantic City.http://www.johnandelana.com/blog/2013/4/30/italian-subs-golf-gambling-atlantic-city.htmlJohnAndElana2013-04-30T11:00:54Z2013-04-30T11:00:54ZA couple of weeks ago, myself and a couple of good buddies decided to go to Altantic City for a night of late night partying, gambling, and golf. We did this on the Saturday of Masters weekend, so golf fever was at an all time high. As such, before going out for the night, we locked ourselves in our room at the Water Club section of the Borgata (which was awesome by the way), watched the 3rd round of the "tradition unlike any other" on our big screen, made our own cocktails, and ate subs.
Yes, we chilled in our room and ate subs. I know the thought of 3 dudes eating subs in their hotel room isn't necessarily consistent with the theme of "living it up" for the night, but I had promised myself that during my next visit to AC, I'd sample WhiteHouse's famous Italian Sub. Plus, with the room, tee time (at Atlantic City Country Club) and gambling being expensive enough, a heady bachelor needs to limit the amount of in-casino ATM transactions and cut costs somewhere. So before arriving at the hotel to meet the guys, I picked up subs for me and the boys at White House, Home of Submarines at 2301 Arctic Avenue, in AC, NJ.
Not that we were cheating ourselves by going the sub route. The Italian Sub from Whitehouse is a goddarn beast. The one I'm holding is a "half," and the unwrapped one seen directly above is a "whole." The whole was about the size of my leg. I used a "prop" for scale for those who don't believe me. The sandwiches are as impressive in taste as they are in size; moist, meaty, salty, and scrumptious. It is well packed with Italian cold cut goodness and the bread, while dense, is fresh and a touch forgiving. All of the boys, myself included, are tremendously pleased with our "meal;" particularly with the spare cash to do whatever it is guys do in Casinos:
Like gamble:
And hang out at cheesy but ultimately fun dance clubs:
And, um...
Yeeeah, so. It was a fun night. Too fun, perhaps, because the 8 a.m. wakeup call to ready the group for our 9:40 tee time was coupled with snoozing, swearing and lots of variants of the "what the $%^& happened last night?" type comments which typically follow nights at a Casino and 2 hours of sleep. Needless to say, we arrived on time to tee off at Atlantic City Country Club, a sweet layout of a course with beautiful views...
An old school men's locker room:
Challenging approaches:
And stray foxes:
All in all, a fabulous night in America's Favorite Playground. Should you be looking to sample some authenitc AC cuisine, make it a point to stop by White House for one of their delicious subs. It's the best investment you'll make down there. I can promise you that.
]]>Highlights from a Gastronomic Tour of Brooklynhttp://www.johnandelana.com/blog/2013/4/26/highlights-from-a-gastronomic-tour-of-brooklyn.htmlJohnAndElana2013-04-26T11:00:02Z2013-04-26T11:00:02Z
I have a new job. It involves food: taking pictures of it and designing around it mostly. But I had a special request from the powers that be: Could I escort a bunch of out-of-town chefs to restaurants in Brooklyn for a day?
Do I get to dine with them? Yes.
Do I get a fancy car to take me around? Yes.
Do I get to have wine with lunch/dinner/dessert? Yes.
Do I have a problem with this? No.
What follows are a few highlights from some of the wonderful restaurants we visited, and would visit again. So should you. That's the whole point of this post.
1. The aforementioned fancy vehicle.
2. Pretty wrappings from Mast Brothers Chocolate where we picked up some samples and 4 boxed of truffles. You should check out their new expanded digs if you haven't already.
3. Potlikker: a new favorite of mine. Chef Stephanie prepared everything herself. HERSELF. It was a one woman band. I was only slightly disappointed she wasn't playing a harmonica while she prepared our food. But I guess you could say she was playing the spoons...
4. Kitchy, standing outdoor menu at Potlikker
5. The Gnocchi Semolina Cake with Taleggio Cheese and Fava Beans. Standing ovation, people. Standing.
6. Duck Confit Croquettes. These little gems sat upon a most delicate salad of greens and beats and were finished with a mustard dressing.
7. Dutch Apple Pancake with Fried Oysters and Goat Cheese. Appropriately gooey, fluffy, and crunchy. This giant beast hit all the textural and taste spots.
8. More pretty Mast Bros. packaging.
Next up was Talde. The staff could not have been more accomodating here. They brought us a plethora of tasty dishes...
1. Their fun Asian-patterned plates are plastic. I loved that.
2. Perilla Leaf with Toasted Shrimp and Bacon-Tamarind Caramel Peanuts. Seriously?? These were bite-sized leafy nuggets of taste explosion.
3. The Most Fabulous Kale Salad I've Ever Had. For serious. Fresh and crispy kale was mixed together with pickeled almonds, dried cherries and topped with a slightly creamy miso dressing.
4. The Chow Fun. Oh, and it was fun alright. That circular shape in the middle are wrapped rice noodles. You break them up and mix it with the greens, pork and sauce...this could not be more fun.
5. Crispy Fluke with Cilantro. I wanted to eat the whole thing. There are two problems on a food tour like this: you are sharing, AND you can't eat the whole thing or you won't have room for the meals at the next place. But I would have eaten the whole thing: crispy, sweet and tangy, this fish was perfectly flaky and downright spectacular.
6. The Most Insanely Ridiculous Dessert. I'm still not sure what this was. But it was really good. Better than I thought, because the description of coconut milk, tapioca, grapefruit and Captain Crunch cereal had me skeptical at best. Another mixer (as you can see), it produced a muddle of interesting flavors and textures that had me poking my spoon back in the bowl.
At this point, things started to get fuzzy. And it was getting dark, so I couldn't take as many photos (I don't like using my flash in a restaurant). However, I'll highlight a few more:
1.Franny's Pizza Bianco with olive oil. This dough has it going on. It was the last stop on our tour and I kept reaching for more bread. They also provided us with a stand-out meat platter that included lardo (!!) and some of the best house made chocolate sorbet (smooth and almost creamy) and limoncello (not too sweet), I've tasted to date.
2.Cardamaro: Read about it here. We obtained this bottle and a few others at Buttermilk Channel. Another wonderful spot, where it was, alas, too dark for photos...
3. I did manage this one of their Ricotta and Leek Flat bread. Buttermilk's version of the pizza, the shining star of this dish is the home made ricotta that is so wonderfully creamy, it's almost like eating ice cream. With a hint of lemon, it manages to be refreshing as well.
As the weekend is upon us, I urge you to go check out these fine establishments and order up some (or all) of these dishes. If you need company, give me a shout. But I'm not sharing this time.
]]>A Post About Toasthttp://www.johnandelana.com/blog/2013/4/24/a-post-about-toast.htmlJohnAndElana2013-04-24T11:00:23Z2013-04-24T11:00:23Z
I have many food and memory associations, but I'd like to talk specifically about toast.
Yes, toast.
John and I have been very lucky to have spent every summer since our respective births at the Iaciofano shore house in Beach Haven, New Jersey. Consequently, as the days turns very slowly warmer, I start to think about my food memories that my summers there have given me.
The Shore House (as we Iaciofano's call it) used to be turquoise, have outrageously ugly 1970's furniture, a creak in the wood-panelled staircase, an odd musty-humid smell that was strangely comforting, a white stone yard and a breakfast table nestled up to two, large windows that overlooked the bay.
At this table, my grandmother would have her breakfast while the sailboats drifted lazily (or purposefully, depending on the wind) outside the window like an animated painting.
You may be thinking, "Oh, we are about to learn a Iaciofano family, fancy breakfast recipe!"
But you'd be wrong.
My grandmother always had toast for breakfast. Burnt toast with butter.
I would sit across from her at the table and watch her spackle butter onto her blackened bread, the knife scraaaaape, scrape, scraping across the surface, sending ash-like flakes onto the tabletop.
Even though there was nothing special about this meal, I wanted it. I thought there was something unmistakably grown-up and therefore sophisticated about toast and coffee, even though I couldn't understand why my grandma ate it so charred.
Did she like it that way?
Had she just not mastered the family toaster?
I never asked and it is unfortunately too late to do so.
However, even now, I think there is something somewhat magical about toast. It's the caterpillar to butterfly transformation of a piece of bread taking on a new texture, color, smell and even flavor by spending just a few minutes in its heated cocoon.
These days, I have very specific ideas about what I consider to be a perfectly toasted piece of bread. I don't like mine burned. I like it a nice caramel color – just cripsy enough to allow for some residual chewyness and the absorption of butter or other condiments (should you use them). Too much time in the toaster and you essentially produce bread jerky – a veritable shingle of stiffness in consistency.
Consider the following shade diagram:
Once you have determined your desired level of toasted-ness, you can dress it up. Toast is the perfect blank slate to apply edible accessories and make a....well...a "grown up" dish.
Let's use the above Country White slice as an example. Perfectly bronzed with a light, buttery make-up application, a frilly arugula skirt, topped with a poached egg and a glittering of salt and pepper.
Once cut, the gooey yolk runs into the porous toast, creating a crispy-oozing mess of rich deliciousness. And there's nothing more grown-up than arugula. The bitter smell released by the heat of the cooked egg is like that rare childhood aroma of my mom's perfume when she was getting ready for a night out with dad.
We can make toast more sophisticated still by swapping the bread with a baguette or Italian loaf. Sliced on the bias, lightly toasted and drizzled with olive oil, it becomes the vehicle for any number of cocktail-napkin treasures.
My personal favorites are the Avocado Bruschetta: tangy and smooth with a hint of hot pepper punch.
Also eloquent are Gorgonzola and Roasted Pepper Bruschetta: a dollop of creamy gorgi with slippery peppers and salty capers.
As with much cooking, it's the foundation that's the key. The base, in this case, being a perfectly toasted piece of bread. So crack open a loaf and make some toast...and memories. Sailboats and shore house are optional.
]]>Mo'Town Gets its Margherita Mojo with Millie's Old World Meatballs and Pizzahttp://www.johnandelana.com/blog/2013/4/18/motown-gets-its-margherita-mojo-with-millies-old-world-meatb.htmlJohnAndElana2013-04-18T11:00:42Z2013-04-18T11:00:42Z
Mo'Town. Elana and I were born and raised there. Mom and Dad still live there. No, I'm not talking about Detroit. I'm talking about Morristown, New Jersey: A beautiful Victorian community. A strategic spot for G-Dubs and his troops back in the revolutionary days. And an up and coming downtown section with bars, stores, and restaurants. Nonetheless, how good can a town be without its own Neapolitan/artisan pizzeria? Isn't that a must, these days? Oh, Morristown has one now, you say? Why, yes it does. It's called Millie's Old World Pizza and Meatballs. Since my office is near Morristown, lunch trips to the downtown area happen every so often. Recently, I decided to take a ride into town to check out Millie's.
Right off the bat, Millie's has two interesting - potentially eyebrow raising - things going for it. First, the decor is pretty wild. The inside is like a cross between a Las Vegas nightclub, and a "pimp my ride" garage. Even the staff is dressed as if they moonlight as extras on the set of American Chopper. It's not a subtle or charming vibe necessarily, but entertaining in its own way I suppose; definitely different for a pizzeria. Second, this place has a coal burning AND a wood burning oven (see the two ovens above). Most pizzerias are either/or, but Millie's has both. Quite ambitious, I say! I sample both pies on a recent spring afternoon with some colleagues from work.
Let's start with the "o.k." - the coal fired pizza (top photo), features a crackling, moist, and high crust. Yes, high. The ends of the coal pizza are hayyyuge; to the point where it is almost hard to open your mouth wide enough to eat it. The sauce and cheese are also applied in thick splotches and, to me, are a bit too heavy, strong and rich for their own good. It's still enjoyable, but it's more of an opening act to millie's slightly more main event: The wood fired, Neapolitan pie which is a borderline gem:
I stick to basics by ordering a Margherita that features a beautifully made chewy/charred crust, tangy tomato, milky mozzarella, and well placed, potent basil leaves. The consistency here is just about perfect - my pie is a wondrous blend of sog, soup, succulent, and scorch. I'm impressed. Slight demerit for including grated parm on my Neapolitan Margh, but I'm willing to forgive the minor error.
The bathrooms, like the place itself, are modern, trendy, clean and spacious. Have no fear about running off to tend to some business in this roomy, water closet.
Ultimately, I'd have to say I was impressed with Millie's, particularly with the Neapolitan Pie. It's nice to know that Morristown has a quality, wood-fired pie in its arsenal. I'll be coming back for sure for their other variants of pizza and, of course, to sample some meatballs. Stay tuned.
]]>Training Diary – C'mon, Muffin!http://www.johnandelana.com/blog/2013/4/15/training-diary-cmon-muffin.htmlJohnAndElana2013-04-15T11:00:47Z2013-04-15T11:00:47ZAs the weather (very) gradually warms, I'm getting outside on my bike again. I rode to Piermont, New York, recently with a teammate of mine, Bobby. As per usual, rides to Piermont involve a stop at Bunbury's Coffee Shop for a quick pick-me-up, whether in the form of caffeinated beverage or carbohydrate-filled treat. And by the latter, I refer to muffins.
When biking long distances, it's best to keep an eye on your calorie intake. It's not good to go hungry, but neither do you want to stuff yourself and undo all that hard work. However, the Carrot Raisin muffins at Bunbury's seemed like a good option for a half-way point snack. I usually eat only half, and store the other half in my jersey pocket for later use.
Bobby, however, ate the whole thing. I'm not calling him out on it, it's just important to the story.
A rather steep hill awaits riders almost immediately on the return trip to New York City. As we were ascending this hill, I heard Bobby exclaim forcefully, "C'mon, muffin!!"
He was not talking to me.
Rather, he was demanding of his recently ingested carrot and raisin concoction to do it's job already: get those calories in motion and get him up the hill!
Now, in my time on the Full Throttle triathlon team, I have heard teammates call upon the baby Jesus in the manger, the BVM, random assorted saints (and sinners), their parents and relations, and even OTHER people's parents and relations in an effort to make their legs move faster, express their workout-related frustration, or for no reason at all, just to make conversation.
But the idea of calling up your not yet digested food was new. And, in my opinion, quite appropriate (as it does seem like Jesus, Mary and Joseph may have better things to do than helping any of us climb Ranger Station...like playing Scrabble).
But the muffin...well, the muffin does not. It's entire purpose is to make itself useful.
So after I returned to my apartment and ate the other half of my Bunbury's muffin (along with a lot of other things), I vowed to create some biking-friendly muffins.
The following muffins are loosely based on my mom's banana bread recipe. I made it healthier, and even incorporated the Bunbury's-inspired carrots. So, c'mon, muffin – let's get baking. And biking.
Banana Carrot Pecan Muffins
What You Need:
3 overripe bananas (you can actually freeze ripe bananas for a few days, let them defrost for an hour on your counter top, and violá - you have over-ripe bananas).
1/2 package of baby golden carrots, roasted until soft (instructions below). NOTE: You can use orange carrots, I was just trying to be color-palette consistent.
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup almond milk
1 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 semi-sweet chocolate chips
What To Do:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. If using a muffin tin, line with muffin wrappers, or grease the tin with cooking spray or butter.
Pour the 1/4 almond milk into a small bowl and add in the chia seeds. Allow the chia seeds to expand and get gummy. Chia seeds have essential fatty acids, omega 3's and 6's, and the coolest of all...the word "CHIA" comes from the Mayan language and means "STRONG." Perfect for biking.
Meanwhile, roast the carrots. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and roast in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until soft.
In a food processor, blend together the butter, sugar and eggs. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the bananas, roasted carrots, almond and vanilla extracts. Blend well, making sure to break up all those carrots.
Finally, add in the pecans and chocolate chips, blending just to incorporate.
Fill the muffin tins 3/4 of the way full, and top with a few more broken pecan pieces (it makes them look nice).
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a knife piercing the center of the muffins comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely, then stuff them in your cycling jersey and get riding!
And if you'd like some tips on bananas and when they're ripe, just ask Chiquita:
]]>Things John Eats - A Birthday Posthttp://www.johnandelana.com/blog/2013/4/12/things-john-eats-a-birthday-post.htmlJohnAndElana2013-04-12T11:00:51Z2013-04-12T11:00:51ZToday is John's 32nd birthday. He doesn't want me to tell you this. In fact, we had a conversation about it the other day:
John: I'm happy to see there are no birthday posts in the blog queue.
Me: Not YET.
John: No.
Me: Yes.
And so, here I go, defiantly and publicly wishing my brother a happy birthday to the 3 people that read this blog. I'm hoping Marmo and The Box are already aware of the date, so it's just that one other person...
Anyway! To celebrate this fine date, I have compiled a list of things John likes to eat, with accompanying recipes and entertaining conversations.
John doesn't do much cooking. You might recall the state of his freezer which will illustrate his level of preparedness in that regard:
The state of this appliance often leads to numerous questions from John on what he should eat. Consider a recent one in which he was attempting to revamp his diet, asking me for advice:
John: So, it's NOT a good idea to eat a whole rotisserie chicken for dinner?
Me: Is this a serious question?
John: Yeah.
Me (stunned silence)
Back in the day, John used to eat some interesting things. He would dunk either peanut butter or grilled cheese sandwiches in vanilla yogurt. I found this disgusting. But I was intrigued enough to update the recipe to something palatable:
John's absolute favorite dessert is Marmo's apple pie, which is a deep dish apple pie with a crumble crust. It's a most impressive pie. He even wrote a post about it, here. But his final meal? He would dip a pasta fork in the Vodka Pasta at Sammy's Cider Mill. And I must say, although we don't always agree, I tip my hat to this choice.
John definitely keeps me entertained. Like the time we had the following conversation:
John: Do you have any fake mustaches lying around?
Me: No.
John: Did you check everywhere?
Me: Yes?
This was all in prep for the DiFara video we made. We did not have fake mustaches. But we did dance around John's apartment, pizza peel in hands to the tune of "She Drives Me Crazy".
Video seems to be John's preferred method of blog contribution. Although, he has recently figured out how to use Twitter, which scared the pants off me. Especially when I received this text:
Yes, it does smell like carrots (special points if anyone knows which TV show that is from).
And so, happy birthday to my favorite and only brother!
He dances!
He grows beards!
And he occasionally shows up at my races, hung over, vanquishes the athlete snack bar, and then heads back to bed!
To many more years of chipping golf balls into your bathtub, random gchat and text conversations, open hostility with my 16 pound dog Toby, eating fests, tipsy bike rides down the shore, painful conversations with Aunt Emily (cut your hair, ACDC!!!), philosophical conversations about what I SHOULD be doing with my life, terrifying dating advice and endless hours of the Golf Channel. Endless, people.
I've never made a soft boiled egg. This is a true story. I've always been slightly intimidated by the task, preferring to hard boil the bujeezes out of my eggs just to make sure they are cooked.
I returned home with a 40 minute easy run behind me, groceries and these flowers in hand and set to the task of making breakfast. I looked up "soft boiled eggs" on the Internet. What a resource, this Internet. What did we do before this? Ask people? I found this article on soft boiling eggs and followed the instructions exactly.
