After a brief hiatus, Muffin Madness is back! This recipe features a delicious and slightly sophisticated flavor profile, combining white chocolate with apricot and ginger. These muffins are also a bit more decadent and stumble into cupcake territory, so they might make better desserts than breakfast.

Though it may seem intimidating at first, it is quite easy to prepare a muffin with filling, you just might want to warn people before they take a bite! As usual, I felt the recipe was lacking a bit of punch, so I increased the crystallized ginger and added ground ginger (ginger is an excellent taste compliment to both white chocolate and apricot). White chocolate baking bars are normally sold in 4 oz varieties and the recipe only called for 2 oz, so I used the additional amount to top the muffins.

White Chocolate & Apricot Muffins
adapted from Cooking Light

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, minced
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
4 oz white baking chocolate, divided
3/4 cup skim or 1% milk
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large egg
1/2 cup apricot preserves

Preheat oven to 400F and coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, crystallized ginger, baking powder, ground ginger, and salt. Finely chopped 2 oz of the white chocolate and whisk into the flour mixture. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

In a small bowl, whisk together milk, butter, and egg, then pour into the well in the flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir just until all the dry ingredients are moist.

Spoon about a tablespoon of batter into the bottom of each muffin cup. Then spoon 2 teaspoons of apricot preserves into the center of each cup (do not spread over the batter). Top the muffin cups with the remaining batter. Bake for 20 minutes at 400F.

Meanwhile, coarsely chop the remaining 2 oz of white baking chocolate. In a small microwave safe dish, heat on high for 10 second intervals melted and smooth, stirring well in between each interval.

After removing from oven, place muffin tin on a wire rack and allow muffins to cool for 10 minutes before removing. Use a knife to “pop” each muffin out of the tin and place muffins on a sheet of aluminum foil. Scoop a small about (about 1 teaspoon) of white chocolate on top of each muffin and use the back of the spoon to “frost” the muffin. Allow chocolate to cool set before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 12 muffins.

While watching a cooking competition on the Food Network, James and I heard a judge remark that curry powder is not used in authentic Indian cuisine. James was confused, and because I tend to be a walking encyclopedia for all things food related in our social circle, he asked me why. I understood what the judge was stating, but couldn’t exactly verbalize an answer for James.

Curry powder is, after all, a mixture of spices that are often used in Indian food such as cumin, turmeric, coriander, ginger, mustard seed, and cardamom. Logically, one would assume that curry powder is used to make curries. Here is an analogy to assist with explaining curry powder:

Curry powder is to curries as hamburger helper is to home cooking.

Curry is a rather generic term in Indian cuisine, referring to a dish rather than a spice. Curry powder is basically a condensed version of the spices used in curry, a mass produced product of convenience (not unlike hamburger helper, huh?). Using curry powder to make a curry is like using a jar of tomato sauce to create an Italian meal. There’s nothing wrong with it, just don’t call it an authentic meal.

While the spices are the same, cooks in Indian use their own personal blends of individual spices in curries. In India, the spices are readily available, more so then in the west. In the past, it was difficult to obtain the spices used in India (Christopher Columbus, anyone?), and even in today’s global economy, it can be expensive and difficult to purchase all the spices used every day in Indian homes. Hence, curry powder was born as an inexpensive option for the authentic Indian spices.

According to Wikipedia, “curry powder mixtures tend to have a fairly standardized taste.” That being said, there is nothing wrong with cooking with curry powder (unless you are a chef in a cooking competition). Curry powder still has a great flavor and it is much more economical than purchasing all of the spices separately. Not all curry powders have heat, though it is possible to find curry powder levels from mild to hot.

Looking for something to warm you up on a cold winter day? Try this pasta dish with an easy tomato sauce. I selected red bell peppers both for presentation and flavor. Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers are all similar in flavor and referred to as “sweet” bell peppers, which is a nice contrast for the spice in this recipe. Green bell peppers have a slightly stronger, more bitter taste. Of all the colors, red peppers have the highest amounts of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Beta Carotene. Feel free to substitute which ever color or color combination  you prefer.

There are two options for adding heat to this recipe. The first is to use hot Italian sausages. The second is to use sweet Italian sausage or regular bulk sausage then add red pepper flakes to taste (from 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp, depending on your palate). The recipe below is shown using the hot Italian sausage. For the vinegar in this recipe, I used a flavored shallot vinegar, but nearly any variety will do: white wine, red wine, balsamic, or even apple cider in a pinch.

Spicy Sausage & Peppers Pasta

1 box (16 oz) short shaped pasta, such as penne
3/4 lb hot Italian sausage, casings removed
2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips
1 pkg (8 oz) sliced mini bella mushrooms
1 yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
Olive oil
Sea salt
Cracked black pepper
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
1 can (15 oz) low-sodium tomato sauce

In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta, reserving about 1 cup of pasta water, and return to pot. Toss pasta with olive oil, set aside and keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and break apart with a wooden spoon. Add mushrooms and a small amount of olive oil. Saute for 5 minutes, then add diced onion. Season with salt and pepper, then saute 3 minutes. Add red bell pepper and garlic (if using sweet or mild sausage, add red pepper flakes at this point). Saute 3-5 minutes, until peppers are crisp-tender. Add vinegar, oregano, and tomato sauce. Bring mixture to a boil and remove from heat.

Add sausage mixture to pasta and toss. If mixture is too dry, add pasta water a little at a time until sauce is desired consistency. Serve immediately.

Last week, Monica Bhide appeared on the NPR show Talk of the Nation to discuss the American love affair with cookbooks. She recently published her cookbook Modern Spice: Inspired Indian Flavors for the Contemporary Kitchen. During the course of the radio show, she discussed questions she often received from people about cooking. One of the most popular questions: What does is mean to “simmer” ?

At first, I thought it was an odd question. She pointed out, though, that some people have a very small base of cooking knowledge and experience, so the word simmer does not immediately connect to a mental image. She recounts how she describes simmer to people who have no idea what it means, and how difficult it can be in recipes to convey the exact meaning in the instructions.

If simmer, a word used so frequently in recipes, is a mystery to novice cookers and bakers, it is no wonder there are so many stories of kitchen catastrophe. When I first started cooking, I encountered a mental block when a recipe for fudge called for a “full, rolling boil.” I remember peering over the pot, asking myself “is it rolling now?”

Of all the search queries directing people to this site, simmer is by far the most popular term. Before this anecdote, I wondered why people searched for this term. Though I frequently use the word in my recipes, it occurred to me that I have never described what it is to simmer. So, for the record, here is a thorough and complete definition for the term simmer:

Simmer: when liquid is in a state just slightly below a boil. The easiest way to simmer, and this is usually part of the recipe, is to first bring the liquid to a boil. Once the liquid is boiling (bubbles are rising and moving rapidly to the surface and popping), reduce the heat until the liquid is just wavering at the surface with small bubbles that do not quite breaking the surface.

Are you a visual learner? Click here for a video.

James found a recipe on WikiHow for Sbiten, a traditional winter drink from Russian made with water, honey, spices, and jam. Before tea and coffee were popular in Russia, Sbiten was consumed during the long winter months. He wanted to give it a try, so I brewed a batch and it was really good!

There are several variations, but we selected this recipe because we are both fans of blackberry jam. Other recipes include up to 2 cups of honey, which seems like it would be overly sweet. This version has a nice balance of spice and sweetness, along with a fruity flavor from the jam. The blackberry jam tastes great, but you could certainly try other flavors.You could also replace the water in this recipe with red wine to make a drink similar to mulled wine.

Sbiten

10 1/4 cups cold water
1/2 cup honey
16 oz (1 lb) blackberry jam
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
sprigs of mint or cinnamon sticks, for garnish (optional)

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Stir in honey, jam, and spices. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring gently. Remove from heat and set stand a couple minutes to cool. Ladle into mugs and float a sprig of mint on top or add a cinnamon stick, if desired.

Note: spices do not dissolve like salt and sugar do, so there will be sediment left from both the spices and the jam. You could strain the liquid, but it is more enjoyable with the spices.