Lemon Cornbread Cupcakes

I made these cute little lemony cornbread cupcakes to bring over to the grandparents' for dinner tonight (before the season finale of "Downton Abbey"!!). I'm a big fan of cornbread, so this seemed like a good way to make it for dessert. And of course anything with lemon shoots to the top of my baking to-do list!

The original recipe suggests a lemon glaze, which was fine, but next time I make these I think I'll make a cream cheese frosting or just drizzle with honey. Usually I like a citrusy glaze, but it didn't do much for the cornbread. But the actual cupcakes were really good!

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LEMON BUTTERMILK CUPCAKES

From Love & Olive Oil

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cornmeal (preferably coarse ground)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk, room temperature
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced (should yield 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest and 2 tablespoons lemon juice)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Rice Noodles, Fried Egg & Stuff

I LOVEEE Tram's Kitchen in Bloomfield and pretty much every time I go there I get #16, vermicelli noodles. Everything I've had there has been amazing but... #16!!! Sometimes when I get a Tram's craving I try and make something along the same vein as that dish. It's a good recipe to adapt to just use stuff in your fridge. 

This time I had chicken (marinated in orange zest & juice, soy sauce, fish sauce and mustard), cucumbers, carrots, bok choy (sauted with creamy peanut butter, soy sauce and sesame oil), and an egg. Drop the rice noodles (very cheap at Lotus in the Strip!!) in some boiling water for just a couple minutes, drain and load stuff on top, including nuoc mam cham, hoisin sauce, and sriracha. 

Topping ideas:

• cucumber and carrot
• julienne or use a peeler to make thin strips
• grilled or broiled chicken pieces
• cut up chicken thigh, marinate then skewer & grill or broil
• or use tofu or whatever meat you have around
• baby bok choy 
• clean and saute (I like it with some peanut butter, soy sauce and sesame oil)
• side note: add some chicken or tofu and rice and this is another great quick meal!!
• lettuce
• shredded
• bean sprouts
• fried egg
• at Tram's they add cut up egg rolls!!! so good!!
• crushed peanuts
• nuoc mam cham (see recipe below), hoisin sauce, and sriracha

Ribollita

The word ribollita literally means reboiled. Nick, Brittany, and I were pondering the meaning of the word last night while I made this hearty Italian soup. Then I finally gave in and looked it up at work today on Wikipedia. Also, according to Wikipedia the soup consists of inexpensive vegetables, white beans, and stale bread. All of which I had plenty lying around the apartment. The original recipe is from 101 Cookbooks.
I made this soup on Valentine's day because I was impatient while waiting for Nick to come over and make me a surprise dinner (French lentils). It worked out because I didn't have any celery and convienently Nick did. He even brought fresh thyme--better than flowers. We ended up having 2 main courses instead which was ok with me!

3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 small carnival squash, seeded, peeled, and chopped (carrots could be used instead)
1 medium red onion, chopped
1/3 head small red cabbage, sliced thinly
1 entire head garlic, minced (I still have a ton of garlic from the Pittsburgh Project Farm)
1-26 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 can cannelini beans
1 can garbanzo beans
4-5 slices stale bread (I used super stale spelt bread that was way in the back of our refrigerator)
7 large leaves of lacinato kale (dinosaur kale), sliced thinly
grated lemon zest
fresh thyme

In a large soup pot, combine the celery, winter squash, red onion, and cabbage and drizzle with olive oil. Let cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes until softened and more translucent.

Vegan Lavender Earl Grey Cupcakes

This recipe is from a website that has a ton of vegan recipes for those that follow the Orthodox Lenten tradition, which basically means eating vegan for 40 days. For lent this year, I decided to follow the Orthodox lifestyle (except for I'm still eating eggs). Anyways, I could not find the website where I originally got the recipe from so I could not cite it. Sorry whoever you are! You have really good recipes, especially this cake!

Makes about 30 cupcakes or one large 9x13 inch cake.

2 cups earl grey tea
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
2 tablespoons vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons culinary lavender
3 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda

Brew 2 cups strong earl grey tea (or even better earl grey lavender tea, found in the strip district!!!) and let cool.

Meanwhile, either chop the lavender or use a mortar and pestle to crush the lavender.

Sometimes if I don't feel like chopping the lavender, I just throw it in whole. Just expect lavender chunks then if you go that route. Then combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and lavender) and mix with a wire whisk until thoroughly combined.
Combine the oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Then add the earl grey tea and vinegar. Add the dry mixture slowly, bit by bit, to the wet mixture while stirring gently. The vinegar makes the batter foam, so don't worry if that happens.

Once the cake batter is combined, divide evenly into lined cupcake tins. I filled the cupcake tins about 3/4 of the way.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. If making a cake, grease a 9x13 inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes instead.

I like to make a white icing for this cake using powdered sugar, almond milk, and coconut cream.