Zucchini Muffins

Wow! I haven't posted in a long time.. but this doesn't mean I haven't been cooking. I'll often post pics of my food on Instagram or Twitter. You can follow me on both @TheCleverCook.

I'm so happy these muffins were a hit at work. This post is for you guys!

Don't cringe cuz there's something green in a muffin! You'll love them and won't even taste anything green- Promise!

Ingredients

• 3 cups Zucchini, grated
• 2/3 cup Butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 tsp Almond extract
• 3 cups Flour
• 2 tsp Baking soda
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp Ginger powder

Here we go:

1. Preheat oven to 350 C. Have 2 medium-large bowls ready.
2. In one bowl, place the zucchini, butter, sugar and mix. Then add the eggs and almond extract, mix well.
3. In the other bowl, add in the remaining 5 dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Begin adding about a cup or so at a time of the dry mix into the wet mix until well blended.
5. Once everything is mixed in, go ahead and start filling up your muffin pan. Should be ready in about 40-50 minutes when they're nice and golden.                                          

This recipe will yield about 12-14 muffins depending on how full you fill them up. Enjoy!

Mint Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup Flour
• 1/3 cup Bitter sweet Cocoa
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 2/3 cup Sugar
• pinch of Salt
• 1/4 cup I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, softened
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1/2 Milk
• 1 1/4 ounce Creme de Menthe baking chips

These are the mint chips 

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Blend with a whisk. Set aside.
• In a larger bowl, place butter and sugar. Mix with a spoon until sugar has blended well. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.
• Add half the flour mix and stir. Alternate with adding half the milk. Stir.  
• Once all blended, stir in the mint chips.
• Spoon the mixture into 12 paper cups in a muffin pan.
• Bake for about 20 minutes or until muffin bounces back to the touch.

Cranberry Jelly

This recipe was given to me by Haik's aunt. I changed it a little to make it my own- and based on what I had handy. This is full of spice and flavour, you'll quickly realize how you've been fooled by what's in that can of cranberry sauce! This is the real deal- well the original recipe is the real deal, this is a close second place.

Ingredients

• 24 ounces  Fresh Cranberries
• 1 cup Jack Daniel's Honey
• 1 cup Cranberry Juice
• 10 Cloves
• 1 tsp whole All Spice
• 1 whole Nutmeg, crushed
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 1 Peel of a Navel Orange
• 2 Tbsp Honey

This sweet liquor is part of my own twist

Freshly rinsed cranberries

This is everything in the pot ready to cook

Directions

• Rinse cranberries. With a handful at a time, place on a cutting board and squish them with the side of a Chef's knife. Then place in a medium sized sauce pot.
•  Pour the juice and whisky in the pot.
• Place the remaining ingredients in a Bouquet Garnie. Crush the nutmeg with the side of a Chef's knife You may choose to leave the orange peel out loose if you manage to have it a big piece.
• Simmer until liquid has reduced in half. 
• Remove from heat to let cool.
• Stir in the honey once it's cooled. 
• It's that easy.

Note that the texture will become more jelly-like once it's cooled down. This  sauce is tart, spicy, sweet and sour.

This is a Thanksgiving/Christmas staple, but you can enjoy this any time this season.

I like to have this on toast for breakfast. Although this can easily be added on top of any poultry too.

HAPPY 2012!

I thought I'd start off the year with a new look for TheCleverCook blog!

My goal this year is to keep this blog updated weekly!

This Sunday I've caught the cooking bug. I'll be posting my new recipes once they're done.

I wish happy baking and cooking for everyone, enjoy eating and share your awesome food with me too!

Rosemary Potatoes

This one is good all year round, as a side dish, especially with turkey. This is my fave way to eat red potatoes. The aroma draws you in, and then you can't stop eating them.

Ingedients:

• Baby Red Potatoes, quartered
• 2 Tbsp Can't believe It's Not Butter (you can use whichever butter/oil you prefer)
• 1-2 tsp dried rosemary leaves (if you use fresh rosemary,chopped, you can use more)
• Cracked Black Pepper, to taste

Get Started:

• Boil the potatoes in water in a deep pot until tender, about 20 mins (depends on how full your pot is)
• Strain, and place potatoes back in pot
• Add the rosemary and butter, stir

Ready to EAT!



Green Bean Salad

Refreshing, cold salad to escape the heat. It's so simple and easy to make, there's no excuses for this one. I made this recipe by eye, so use the vinegrette  and ingredients according to your portion size.

Ingredients:

• Green Beans, a bunch, whole
• Red Onion, thinly sliced, less than a quarter onion.

Vinegrette

• 50/50 Dark Sesame Oil and Apple Cider Vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Get Started:

• Snip the tips off the beans, wash and place in a pyrex glass container with cover.
• Place in microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes. Let stand afterwards for another 5 minutes.
• Transfer to a tupperware container, add the onions.
• Prepare in the vinegrette in a small bowl, or by eye over the beans.
• Stir, and set in the fridge to cool and marinate. This should be about 20-30 minutes

Ready!

Spicy Muscles

This recipes is a little large, considering that the container of muscles from Costco comes only in one large size (2.72Kg!), so this can easliy feed 4-6 people, and this is including a refill for each person, cuz they're that good.

Ingredients:

• 1pk Fresh, Live Muscles, washed, beards removed
• 796mL can of Crushed Tomatoes
•  5 Jalapeno Peppers, thick slices
• 2 TB dried Oregano
• 2 heaping tsp Tumeric
• 1 inch piece of Ginger, sliced

Get Started:

• Use a large braising pan with a cover, place on MED-LOW heat, add the crushed tomatoes, oregano, tumeric. Stir to mix spices evenly.
• Cut the peppers and ginger, add to the pan.
• Rince the muscles and add them to the pan, stir them about using a large spoon and cover.
• Let it cook, and stir occasionally until muscles have opened, roughly about 15-20mins, make sure to let it cook a bit longer if your pan is really full.

Ready to Eat!