Even More Soup!

Hi All,

I know it's been over a year since my last post, and anyone who reads my blog (all 10 of you) has probaby given up on me, but I'm still here and still cooking.

This post is not about a recent meal, but about one from a month or so ago.  I used to make this amazing red lentil soup with garam malasa from a recipe I got from Epicurious. I made it a lot, every couple of months probably.

The soup is really good made according to the recipe. The wonderful mixture of spices make it a very flavorful soup.  I've made it many times in the past exactly according to the recipe, though sometimes adding chicken or chopped up veggies like peas, celery, or summer squash to the soup to make it a bit heartier.

I haven't made this soup in several years, and when I went to make it a couple of months ago, I was surprised that it didn't turn out like I'd remembered. It was much soupier than I remembered--more brothy, not as thick. Also the flavors were a bit flat.  I'm not sure why.  So I doctored it up a bit by adding some more spices, a little maple syrup (it needed some sweeteness to balance out the spices), and a can of coconut cream (like coconut milk but thicker--I got mine from Trader Joe's).  The result was so good!  It was even better than I remember the original being.

I think next time I might add one or two additional carrots, grated, to the soup. This would add some sweetness, and I could leave out the maple syrup.  This soup is delicious just plain, but it would also be very good with some chopped-up, leftover veggies and/or chicken thrown in.

Here's my version:

Red Lentil Soup with Garam Masala and Coconut Cream
Adapted from Epicurious
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/red-lentil-soup-with-garam-masala-14125

INGREDIENTS

2 ½ cups dried red lentils (about 1 pound), picked over and rinsed
2 medium onions, chopped fine
1 medium carrot, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons salt or to taste
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¾ teaspoon ground cumin
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cayenne
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon mild Madras curry (I used Williams Sonoma's coarse Madras curry)
6 cups water
1 Tablespoon Better than Bouillon Vegetable Base dissolved in 2 cups hot water (or 2 cups vegetable broth)
1 can (13 oz.) coconut cream or coconut milk (if using coconut milk, reduce water by 1 cup)
1 - 2 Tablespoons honey or maple syrup

PREPARATION

In a bowl soak lentils in water to cover by 2 inches for 1 hour and then drain well.

In a 4-quart heavy saucepan cook onion and carrot in oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden and carrots have softened. Stir in salt and spices and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Stir in lentils, water, and broth and simmer until lentils fall apart, about 20 minutes. (Old lentils may take longer to cook.) Let soup cool slightly.

Transfer soup to a blender in batches and purée ½ to ¾ of the soup then add back to pan (or use an immersion blender). Pureeing thickens the soup, but you still want some of the texture of the lentils. In pan heat soup over moderate heat, stirring, until hot. Add coconut cream and stir until well combined--do not let the soup boil. Add honey or maple syrup to taste. Adjust salt & seasonings if necessary. Best the next day.

Some notes:

• You definitely want to use red lentils. These are quite different tasting than regular brown or green lentils. Red lentils are much more common than they used to be, so you should be able to find them in your regular grocery store. If not, try a Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, or a natural foods store.
• I usually use yellow onions, but white are also fine.
• The recipe doesn't specify the type of chili powder, so I used what I had, which was Spice Islands Chili Powder. I've used Gebhardt's in the past.
• I love Better than Bouillon! I usually have the chicken base on hand, but since I was going to be sharing this will my friend who is a vegetarian, I made it with the vegetable base instead. BtB vegetable base is so much better than regular vegetable broth! If you don't have vegetable broth or BtB, you can use chicken broth instead. I would not recommend beef broth as it is too strongly-flavored.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Next time we'll continue the curry theme with Sweet and Spicy Curried Nuts!

P.S. I'm sorry there are no pictures, though this isn't the most picturesque soup being a sort of orangey-brown color, but it is delicious!

Breakfast Report

This time around it's a (very) short dinner report followed by a longish breakfast report. I don't have a lot of time during the week between work and class to cook and write posts.  Plus, it's usually dark at night (gosh, really?) by the time I finish cooking, so I can't get decent photos.  Natural light makes everything look better.  If I try to take photos using the kitchen light or the flash, the food never seems to look that edible.  As a result, I seem to end up writing these long posts on the weekend.  Maybe in the summer when things slow down a bit (ha!) and it's lighter later, I can post during the week sometimes.

Dinner Report

     Friday and Saturday I made BBQ Pork Ribs in the oven and chili.  The ribs were a little tough--a bit gristly, but the flavor was good.  Trader Joe's makes a pretty good Kansas City Style BBQ sauce.  The chili was yummy, but I have a feeling it's going to be pretty spicy when I have it for leftovers!  And that is the end of the dinner report.

     I don't usually have a lot of time to make breakfast during the week.  I like sleep too much to get up early enough to cook much more than an egg for breakfast or to just grab some yogurt before work. On the weekends, if I feel like it, I sometimes cook breakfast (if I get up before 11).  Sometimes I just eat leftovers.  I also sometimes make coffee, again if I feel like it and if have half & half or milk on hand for it.  This weekend I made spiced coffee and quinoa porridge.

Quinoa Porridge

Tri-colored quinoa

     If you are not familiar with it, quinoa (keen-wa) is the edible seed of a pseudocereal plant (not a grass like true cereal plants) that is actually related to beets and spinach. It's not a grain though sometimes it is referred to as a grain and it's naturally gluten-free, so for people with gluten intolerance or who don't digest grains well, quinoa can be a nice alternative from what I've read. It's cooked like rice and can be used in many recipes in place of rice.  I've had it before several times but always as a savory side or main dish.  My mom made a really delicious cheesy, broccoli quinoa recipe a few years ago when, at the time,

     I'd only had quinoa once before.  I had just cooked it in water with onion soup mix (a recommendation from James).  However, I misunderstood (my fault entirely) and used the whole packet of onion soup mix instead of half, and the quinoa was overwhelmingly oniony.  Not so tasty.  The cheesy, broccoli quinoa was a huge improvement.

Quinoa looks a little like lentils close up but doesn't taste anything like them.

     I've mentioned in previous posts that I am trying to make recipes that I've pinned to my Cooking board on Pinterest.  I pinned a recipe for quinoa cooked "cereal" or porridge a while ago and another just recently.  I decided to try making one of the recipes this weekend, which I did...sort of, because once again I've mashed up two different recipes.  These are Quinoa Porridge with Blueberries & Pecans from Closet Cooking  and Maple-Pecan Quinoa Porridge from Momtastic. The recipes are very similar in some respects: quinoa cooked in milk with maple syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla topped with pecans before serving.  They differ in that the former cooks for only 15 minutes, is very soupy, and has fresh blueberries.  The latter contains a tablespoon of brown sugar and a peeled and grated granny smith apple which is added halfway through cooking.  After 15 minutes of cooking, the apple is added and then the quinoa is cooked for another 10 minutes.  The quinoa is less chewy, the extra cooking time allowing the quinoa to soak up more of the milk.

     I didn't like the idea of quinoa swimming in a bowl of hot milk, so I decided to use the milk to quinoa ratio and cooking method from the Momtastic recipe but the spices from the Closet Cooking recipe.  I left out the fresh fruit because I thought I'd add some raisins to the finished dish.  I love dried fruit and nuts on oatmeal and figured that it would be good on this cooked "cereal" too.

     Unfortunately, when I set out to make my breakfast this morning (which ended up being brunch because I didn't get up until after 9), I realized that I only had 3/4 cup of milk.  I had a couple of tablespoons of cream, so I added that and a few tablespoons of water.  I ended up with a little less than 1 1/4 cups of milk for 1/2 cup quinoa.  I added the maple syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla to the milk right at the beginning, added the rinsed quinoa, and brought the whole lot to a boil.  Then I reduced the heat and simmered it for 15 minutes.  The quinoa was very soupy at that point and stil pretty chewy.  I gave it a stir and let it cook for another 10 minutes with the lid cracked.  I checked it again--still soupy but getting there.  I gave it another 10 minutes and it was just right.  Most of the milk had been absorbed and the quinoa was just slightly chewy.

Raisins and pecans were a good addition.  If you're interested, this is a bowl I made in ceramics class last year.

     I gave it a taste and decided against adding more sugar.  It was hardly sweet, but the milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and maple were all clearly there in the taste.  I didn't want to cover that up with sugar.  I did add some golden raisins and toasted pecans.  It was good.  Different from what I normally eat for breakfast, but I liked the combination of flavors & textures.  The first recipe, which also called for 1/2 cup quinoa said it was for 1 serving, but it was too much for me to eat the whole thing.  Quinoa swells up a great deal when cooked.  It was definitely more than a cup when cooked.  I ate a little more than half and was completely satisfied.  I'm going to save the rest and see if it's still edible when reheated.

Spiced Coffee

     I do enjoy my coffee.  Most of the time I'm happy with a nice strong cup of coffee with some half & half and a dash a sugar (ok, maybe a little more than a dash, but I can drink it black or just with milk too).  Sometimes, though, I like flavored coffee. Not the crazy stuff like raspberry, chocolate, almond, marshallow creme flavor, but I do like hazelnut or cinnamon, things like that. The problem is that many of the flavored coffees either don't taste very good, or they are artificially flavored (or both).  So, I decided to make my own.

     The idea originally came from my friend James.  Years ago, I was over at his house for dinner.  He made coffee after dinner and put some cinnamon in with the grounds in his French press.  It was really good.  I didn't really remember though until last summer, I think, when I was making coffee to chill and keep in the fridge.  Starbucks gets expensive.  I don't remember exactly why I thought of it but suddenly remembered James putting cinnamon in with his coffee and decided to try it.  It turned out quite tasty.  During the fall, what with the various specialty flavored coffees about, I decided to experiment.  I finally came up with a good spiced coffee that is all natural and, since I make it myself instead of getting it at Starbucks, considerably cheaper.

Spiced Coffee

I have a 4 cup coffee maker.  If you have a larger pot and usually make 10 or more cups, experiment with the amount of spices. If making 10 or 12 cups, try doubling the spices first (instead of tripling) then adjust up if the flavor is too light.  For my coffee maker I use:

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 pinches ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

I just sprinkle the spices and vanilla on top of the grounds and brew as normal.  It's really good hot or cold.
(I recycled this photo from a previous post, but it's pretty, and I didn't take a photo of my coffee today, so you get this one again.)

References:
http://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/quinoa-march-grain-of-the-month
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

Spaghetti Squash Is Not Pasta (and That's All Right With Me)

I keep pinning new recipes to my Pinterest Cooking board, so I have to keep trying new recipes.  I don't want my Cooking board to get too full.  Once I try a recipe, I move it to a different board.  I had found a recipe for spaghetti squash months ago but hadn't tried it.  Spaghetti squashes were on sale when I went to the grocery store so I decided to try the recipe.  I've had spaghetti squash before, but I didn't like it as a substitute for pasta.  I kind of have an issue with foods trying to be substitutes for other foods to make dishes more healthy or lower calorie (I refuse to use the word "skinny." I want to scream every time I hear that word used to describe food or drink.).  There's generally a reason I like a dish a specific way.  If I'm going to eat spaghetti squash, I'm going to eat squash--not fake pasta.

Because I can't leave well-enough alone, I started looking at more spaghetti squash recipes.  I stumbled across 2 baked dishes, one featuring squash with chard and another with squash as a Carbonara type dish.  I decided to mash-up the two recipes and see how it turned out.  They were pretty similar recipes with eggs & cheese as a base.  I love a good Carbonara dish, so I used that recipe as a start and threw in spinach (instead of chard) and some spices.

It turned out good. Lots of flavor, but not too rich or heavy.  I liked the combination of veggies with the eggs, cheese, and spices--a little rich but lots of freshness from the squash & spinach.

Here's my version of the dish:

Baked Spaghetti Squash & Spinach Carbonara

3 cups cooked spaghetti squash
4 cups uncooked baby spinach, torn into pieces
4 ounces pancetta, diced
1/2 small yellow onion, diced
2 large eggs
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cups coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 inch (or similar) baking dish.

In a heavy skillet, cook the pancetta over medium heat until it starts to get crispy and much of the fat is rendered off.  Pour off much of the fat.  Add the onions and cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until soft and beginning to brown. Add the spinach and saute until wilted. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl whisk the eggs, then whisk in the ricotta. Fold in the cooked bacon, spinach, and onions, then 1/2 cup of grated cheese and the spices.

Mix the squash strings into the egg and onion mixture. Spread in the baking dish and top with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese.

Bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until firm and golden on top.  Let it cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Carnitas!

I love carnitas.  They are one of my favorite things to order in a Mexican restaurant.  I love the juicy, tender chunks of pork flavored just right with the wonderful crispy edges where the flavor intensifies.  Carnitas always seemed a mystery to me.  How do they make it so tender and yet crispy & crunchy at the edges in just the right balance?  Frankly, I didn't think too deeply about it since I was too busy savoring every delicious bite.  I never thought I'd be able to make carnitas at home.

Turns out, I was wrong.  I made carnitas last Saturday, and they were amazing.  They might not be the best carnitas I've ever eaten, but they hold their own against good carnitas at various places I've eaten.  They were even better than a couple of places I ate at in the past.  And I think I can make them even better next time.

I am reading David Lebovitz's book The Sweet Life in Paris, which is fully of funny vignettes about living in Paris, cooking, and life.  It's one of those books you don't have to read cover to cover.  I pick it up here and there and read a short chapter or section culminating in a (generally) delicious looking recipe. The other day the section I was reading ended with a short anecdote about visiting a Mexican restaurant in Paris and how disappointing it was.  He finished with a recipe for carnitas, which he likes to make for French friends to introduce them to Mexican food.  He says:

"Since Mexican food isn't especially well represented in Paris, I like to show friends how good it can be, and carnitas are the perfect introduction, since it doesn't matter whether you're from here or there: who doesn't love caramelized pork?" (pg. 62)

This recipe takes a long time.  Not even counting the prep, we're talking 4 1/2 to 5 hours of cooking time.  This is a multi-step process--but that process yields fantastic results.  After cutting the pork into large chunks, you sear them in oil in batches, allowing the pieces to get really brown on all sides--this takes a while.  Then you remove the pork, deglaze the pan with some water, add spices, and then plop the pork back into the pot and stick it in the oven to braise for 3 1/2 hours.

At 2 1/2 hours I was a little nervous about how the pork was going to turn out, because it still felt rubbery like it was undercooked or tough when I poked at with a spoon.  One hour later, and magic had happened.  The pork had become super tender and easy to shred into large, bite-sized pieces.  It was tender and juice, but it still had those crispy edges that are so yummy.  Frankly, I couldn't help myself from eat several bites right then, even before the last stage of cooking: caramelizing.

This last stage involves putting the shredded pork back into what's left of the cooking liquid and placing it back in the oven to allow the rest of the liquid to evaporate and caramelize on the pork.  I did start this step, putting the pork back into the oven, but I stopped about an hour later before it quite got all of the way to the caramelizing because it was 11 at night, and I needed to go to bed.  This doesn't seem to have hurt it any, because it was just as delicious today when I had some for lunch.  I heated it in the microwave at work, but it's even better reheated in a frying pan with just a little oil.

A slightly different version of the recipe appears on David Lebovitz's blog.  That recipe doubles the chili powder.  I think that would be even better.  The recipe in the book only calls for 1 teaspoon of chili powder.  I think a second teaspoon would add a little kick.  I have another piece of pork shoulder in the freezer, so I can make this again and try adding the extra chili powder.  I admit that (as usual) I did not follow the recipe exactly.  I think it's nearly impossible for me to do that.  As it is, I only tweaked this recipe a little bit.

Carnitas
by David Lebovitz
with some revisions by Alex--the majority of this recipe (and all the credit for its greatness) goes to David Lebovitz

4-5-pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 5-inch chunks, trimmed of excessive fat
1/2 to 1 tablespoon sea salt
2 tablespoons oil
water
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
2 small bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

Rub the pieces of pork shoulder all over with salt. (I sprinkled; rubbing the salt in may be better)

Heat the oil in a roasting pan set on the stove top. Cook the pieces of pork shoulder in a single layer until very well-browned, turning them as little as possible so they get nice and dark before flipping them around. If your cooking vessel is too small to cook them in a single-layer, cook them in two (or more) batches.

Once all the pork is browned, remove them from the pot.  Pour in about a cup of water, scraping the bottom of the pan with a flat-edged utensil to release all the tasty brown bits.

Add the cinnamon stick and stir in the chile powder, bay leaves, cumin and garlic.  Put the pork pieces back in the pan and add enough additional water to cover the pork by about 2/3.

Braise uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 3½ hours, turning the pork a few times during cooking, until much of the liquid is evaporated and the pork is falling apart. Remove the pan from the oven and lift the pork pieces out of the liquid and set them on a platter.

Once the pork pieces are cool enough to handle, shred them into bite-sized pieces, about 2-inches, discarding any obvious big chunks of fat if you wish.

Return the pork pieces back to the roasting pan and cook in the oven, turning occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the pork is crispy and caramelized. The time this takes will depend on how much liquid the pork gave off, and how crackly you want them.

Even though this dish took ages, it wasn't really difficult to make.  Next time, I start it early, mid-morning maybe, to give myself plenty of time to finish the caramelization process fully.

Sorry for the lack of photos; I had to borrow one from David Lebovitz website.  My carnitas did look pretty much like that photo.  However, it belongs totally to him and not me, but I hope I'm forgiven for using it this once.  And check out his blog and his book, The Sweet Life in Paris.

This is Fall!

Fall may be winding down, but with tonight's dinner, I feel like I'm still right smack in the middle of the season.  A few weeks ago my Mom sent me an email with a link to a recipe titled Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good.  Reading the list of ingredients I started drooling, but I didn't make it right away.  I had a small pumpkin from when I visited the pumpkin patch in October, but I hadn't decided what to do with it since I didn't carve it into a jack-o-lantern at Halloween.

So tonight, I pulled out that pumpkin and grabbed all of the ingredients and put it all together in a pretty short amount of time.  The thing that took the longest was scraping the innards out of the pumpkin.  After about an hour in the oven, the fantastic scent of garlic, cheese, pumpkin, and herbs was wafting out, scenting the air with its deliciousness.  It smelled incredible.  I removed the top of the pumpkin and let the filling brown on top for about 15 minutes.

I took a bunch of pictures but had some trouble since everything came out kind of yellow.  It looks so much better in person, and the taste is out of this world.

I'm not sure what kind of pumpkin this is, but since the recipe doesn't specify a variety, I think you could use any kind of pumpkin.  The flesh is very yellow and the textured kind of like spaghetti squash but more starchy.  It balances the richness of the filling well.  This was a very easy recipe but looks so cool when you cut into the pumpkin and that delicious filling spills out.

I hope I don't wait another 5 months before posting again.  It's that time of year again where lots of baking and cooking are a bit part of my days.  I love it!  Thanks for reading.

Baked Eggs & Peach Muffins

     Friday breakfast (though it should probably be called lunch since I ate closer to noon than breakfast time) was Baked Eggs with Spinach and Bacon.  The recipe is from a blog called Oven Love via my Pinterest Cooking Board.  The recipe called for crisp-cooked bacon, spinach, cheese, eggs, and a little cream.  What's not to love?

     The eggs tasted good, but there are a couple of changes I'd make next time.  The cream was unnecessary, I think.  It slowed down the cooking of the egg whites.  In order to get the whites fully cooked, I had to pop the dish back in the oven and leave it in for much longer than the recipe estimated.  I ended up with hard cooked yolks instead of soft, slightly runny yolks, which would have been much better.  The other change I'd make would be to reserve the bacon and add it to the top of the egg dish instead of putting it in the bottom of the dish with the spinach.  The bacon got rubbery under the eggs.  Crispy bacon crumbled on top of the eggs would have tasted much better.

     I want muffins! That's what I said to myself Saturday night around 10pm.  Since it was 10 o'clock at night and I wasn't even hungry, I did not make muffins, but I did look at some muffin recipes so I could make some for Sunday breakfast.  I chose the Perfect Blueberry Muffin recipe from Smitten Kitchen as my base and then mixed it up a bit.  I made these back in March when I was out in Bodega Bay for my aunt's birthday weekend.  They turned out really well.  I think everyone enjoyed them as there was only 1 left after brunch that day.  I, however, don't care much for blueberries.  I don't actively dislike them, but I'd rather have any number of other flavors than blueberry.  The base muffin recipe was great though, a little sweet but not too sweet and with a soft and slightly spongy texture so they don't fall apart easily.  I thought I'd try making them again but with some other fruit than blueberries.

     This worked out well since I don't have any blueberries on hand, so I couldn't have made blueberry muffins even if I wanted to.  In fact, I didn't have any fruit except some frozen peaches.  Hmmm, I thought. Peach muffins sound promising.  I followed the recipe closely with the exception of substituting chopped frozen peaches for the blueberries and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour.

     The muffins came out tasty, but a little light flavor-wise.  I think the peaches didn't have as strong a flavor as blueberries do.  The other flavoring in these muffins is lemon zest, which I included, but I think this batch of muffins would have been even better with the substitution of vanilla or almond extract for the lemon zest.  I think almond would be really good with peaches.  I would also chop the peaches finely.  I cut them into about a 1/2 inch dice.  Chopping them into smaller pieces would have dispersed the peach flavor better throughout the muffins.  The peach chunks weren't in every bite, so the flavor was uneven.  I also didn't like the texture of the large chunks of peach.  Every other bite I got this cold, slick piece of fruit amid the light and fluffy muffin.  The muffin texture was just as good as the first time I made this recipe, even with the addition of some whole wheat flour.

     Still, even though these aren't the best muffins, they satisfied my muffin craving.  They will probably be even better tomorrow morning split open, toasted, and topped with a little butter.  This recipe is a good muffin base recipe and would be good with many combinations of fruits and flavorings.  I'm thinking maybe vanilla with raspberries, cranberry-orange, or almond with apricot jam swirled into the batter.  Anyone have a favorite muffin recipe they'd like to share?

Pizza, Popsicles, & Peaceful Mornings

I like Friday mornings in the summer.  The library is only open Monday through Thursday, so we work four 10-hour days and have every Friday off.  I've been waking up somewhat early (for me, for a day off anyway) on Fridays and enjoying the peace of a quiet morning before it gets too hot.  Lately it's been pretty hot by 9, though this weekend was a bit overcast and a little cooler than it was during the week when we had some 100 + days.

     Iced coffee on a hot day is a pleasure.  I brew up a bunch of coffee over the weekend and keep it in an iced tea bottle in the fridge; it usually lasts most of the week.  Anyway, Friday morning I was pouring my glass of coffee and remembered this very cool picture my sister posted on facebook of her coffee with the cream just added.  It was black with these swirls of white and very cool looking.  I was inspired to try getting a similar shot.  Let me tell you, it isn't easy to photograph cream diffusing through coffee. You really only get a few shots before it's too late.  That's my cool Eeyore glass mug my Big Sis brought me from Disneyland.  It's even got my name engraved on it.  I love it.

     After the photos were taken, I sat down and enjoyed my coffee and read a few chapters of my book.  I'm reading The Sherlockian by Graham Moore.  It's a mystery involving the death of a member of The Baker Street Irregulars during the society's annual festivities in New York, a missing diary of Arthur Conan-Doyle, and the killing off of Sherlock Holmes and his subsequent return.  It's good so far, but I was jarred at one point by the use of the word "fractal" in a description of 1900 London from the p.o.v. of Conan-Doyle.  The term was coined around 1975.  I suppressed my irritation and continued reading because the book is interesting and the writing good otherwise.

     Friday evening I tried a new pizza dough recipe, and I think it's probably the best pizza dough I've ever made.  I used the recipe from King Arthur Flour.  The recipe calls for 7/8 to 1 1/8 cup water.  I used 1 cup, but the dough was really sticky.  Next time I'll probably use 7/8 of a cup instead.  I turned out fine though.  I just kneaded in a little more flour once I removed the dough from the bread machine before dividing the dough and then letting it rest before making the pizza. The dough was the perfect combination of chewy and crispy.

      I had some leftover pesto sauce, so I used that instead of a standard red sauce.  For toppings I used chopped leftover chicken breast and zucchini along with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.  The pizza turned out very yummy.  The pesto was very tasty and went well with the other toppings.  This picture is from Saturday lunch.  The leftover pizza was still very good the next day.

     Aren't popsicles so refreshing on a hot day?  Sunday, I made orange and raspberry cream-sicles based on a recipe I found on Pinterest.  I didn't have orange extract, so I left that out, and I used simple syrup in place of the honey as my honey is completely crystallized and was never going to blend into the other ingredients.  The flavor was good but too subtle.  I think using orange juice concentrate instead of orange juice would have produced a more "orangy" flavor. However, the reason I decided to try this recipe was because I had some fresh squeezed orange juice in the freezer.  It came from the last bag of Willcox oranges I bought before the season ended.  They were the best oranges, sweet and full of flavor, but they were starting to mold, so I cut off the moldy bits and juiced the rest of the oranges so they wouldn't go to waste.


     The recipe is supposed to make 6-8 popsicles, but my popsicle molds must be larger than the ones used by the person who created the recipe because I ran out after filling only 4 of my molds.  I had some very ripe raspberries, so I took some of those, added some simple syrup, mashed them up, and then mixed in a little half & half and filled the last 2 popsicles molds.  The raspberry ones weren't quite sweet enough, and they were very seedy.  I think it might be better to put some or all of the mashed raspberries through a strainer to remove some of the seeds.  The other aspect that wasn't ideal was the texture.  It was pretty icy instead of creamy.  I really should have expected that, since the mixture was simply frozen instead of processed in an ice cream machine first then poured into the molds.  Freezing the mixture in an ice cream machine, even partially, would reduce the iciness in the final product.  I'll have to try that next time and let you know how they turn out.  Darn, now I'll have to buy an ice cream maker.  The things I do for this blog.

Sunday Baking

It's nearly Summer, and the heat here is on the rise. It's been in the mid to upper 90s this week, and I suddenly got an urge to bake. Such is the perverse nature of my whims at times. My timing could use some work. Luckily, I can make bread in the bread machine, which doesn't heat up the house much. However, I also want to make some flatbread, something similar to naan or soft pita, which makes it necessary to use the oven. Here's my plan for meals this week:

• Baked chicken chimichangas
• Curry made from repurposed gyros meat with vegetables on the above mentioned flatbread with a tsatsiki/raita hybrid to top it (The gyros were a fail I won't get into).
• Tuna salad on home-made bread
• Baked chicken legs of some kind & roasted brocolli with grated Manchego cheese

     The bread came out well. I liked the last loaf I made better, but this is a close second. It's made with part bread flour and part whole wheat for a little extra fiber. I had some with my lunch of leftover chicken. Bread & jam for Alex

It came out really light and fluffy, almost too fluffy.  I was worried it would tear while I was cutting it. I want to do some experimenting with the amount of yeast I'm using in breads because I might be using too much.

     I've been doing some reading about high-altitude bread making.  I'm at about 5,000 feet, but it doesn't feel much different here than other places at lower altitudes that I've lived. However, I think that while the altitude hasn't affected my other baking and cooking, it may be negatively affecting my bread.  And though the bread is pretty good, I think it could be better.



   
     The baked chicken chimichangas were easy to make.  I got the recipe here.  Sorry there's no picture, but they weren't much to look at. They just looked like crispy burritos. The filling is a combination of shredded leftover cooked chicken, salsa, cheese, and chopped green onion mixed with some spices, which you wrap up burrito-style in tortillas. The chimichangas are then placed on a baking sheet (I used parchment paper to minimize the mess.) and brushed with melted butter. I was too lazy to melt the butter, so I just spread a thin layer of softened butter on with a knife. It was a very thin layer, almost too thin to actually see on the tortilla. Then they were baked in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes until the tortillas are crispy and the filling is hot.

     The chimichangas were good, but not amazing. The filling was tasty but a little liquidy and made the bottom of the tortilla soggy. The idea of baking the chimichangas is a good one, but I'd probably make up my own filling. You could probably do this with chili colorado or chili verde or whatever your favorite chimichanga or burrito filling is.

Enjoy the week, and check back for another post in a few days.

Farmers' Market and Fancy Butter

Happy June, everyone!  Today I took a drive over to Bisbee to check out their Farmers' Market.  I've only been to the one here in S.V.  It's on Thursdays, which makes it sometimes hard to get to when I'm busy at work.  The Bisbee market is pretty nice.  I got a good haul today.  I picked up some meat from Sky Island/47 Brand and San Ysidro Farms--the people are great!  They raise animals humanely and healthfully.  Happy cows (and pigs and lambs) make for healthier meat, in my opinion.

     From the Elfrida Community Garden stand, I got a variety of radishes and a giant rainbow beet.  I also picked up some French shallots and purple garlic.  I'll have to think of something yummy to make with these.


     When I got home, I was pretty hungry, so I made myself some lunch.  I had a lovely grass-fed beef steak that I thawed a couple of days ago and some fresh green beans I bought last weekend, both of which needed to be eaten.  I boiled the green beans until they were just cooked then drained them and sauteed them in a pan with a little garlic olive oil.  I put them in the oven to keep warm while I made the steak.  Just salt & pepper and a little garlic.  When the steak was medium-well, I put it on the plate with the green beans and topped it with a little gremolata butter.  I only managed to eat about half of it before I was full.

     What is gremolata butter, you ask?  Well, it's a compound butter made with  a mixture of minced garlic, chopped flat-leaf parsley, and lemon zest.  It is delicious sprinkled on meat, especially lamb.  I first heard of a gremolata when I made an amazing recipe for red-wine braised lamb shanks I found on Epicurious.

     This gremolata butter recipe came from Rachel Ray via my Pinterest Cooking board. I've pinned over 100 things to my cooking board and have made fewer than 5 of the recipes, so I'm trying to remedy that.  Tomorrow or perhaps later in the week I will be making a recipe for pesto chicken I pinned about a month ago.  The recipe calls for lemon juice in addition to the zest.  I was doubtful for 2 reasons: 1) mixing liquid into butter can be difficult and 2) I thought the juice would make the butter too tart.  Alas, I was right to be concerned.  This wasn't a total fail, but it wasn't a success either.  I didn't find it too hard to get the juice mixed in, but it did overwhelm the other flavors and make the butter too lemony.  I may try softening the butter again and adding more butter, garlic, and parsley to see if it tastes better.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.  More dinner reports later this week.

Playing Catch Up

Happy New Year! It was a very busy December for me both cooking-wise and work-wise. Work went absolutely mad in December. Between holiday parties (5), a huge job assessment questionnaire to complete, and a last minute website makeover, I was dead tired and mentally exhausted.

I did get to do a bunch of baking and cooking for the above mentioned holiday parties. I made toasted oatmeal cookies and shortbread cookies for our libraries' open houses, stuffed pasta shells (x2) for the end of the semester parties for our student library aides, and Holiday Beans for the staff Christmas party.

I really like the Toasted Oatmeal Cookies. I found the recipe at the Betty Crocker website.  The first time I made this recipe, I adapted it a bit to use what I had on hand.  I had used my oats to make granola, and I realized that the granola was very similar to what goes into the cookies: oats and nuts, toasted in the oven before being incorporated into the dough.  Instead of the 2 1/2 cups of oats and the 1 cup of nuts, I used 3 1/2 cups of granola. The recipe only calls for brown sugar, but I've found that this can make the cookies come out too thin and a little too sweet.  It works better if you don't pack the brown sugar, and I think I might try it with 1 cup brown and 1/2 cup white next time.

I've mentioned the shortbread cookies in a prior post.  The recipe I use comes from Brown Bag Designs Shortbread pans.  I've used their Classic Shortbread recipe for years, and it never fails.

Now for the stuffed pasta shells...I realize that I haven't blogged about these before, and I must amend that oversight right now.  These are always a huge hit, and I've made them for potlucks at work (current and past jobs) and for family dinners and special occasions.  I got the idea from a pasta cookbook I have.  I changed the recipe, of course.  I just can't seem to help myself.  They're not difficult, but there are several steps and the prep takes a while.  The filling has cream cheese, cheddar cheese, mozzarella  milk, eggs, and a little basil.  I use my regular spaghetti sauce I make (usually without meat though) for covering the shells before baking.  The shells are vegetarian as long as you don't use any meat or broth in your sauce.

Stuffed Pasta Shells

For the filling:
1 eight (8) ounce package cream cheese, softened
3 - 4 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup milk
3 - 3 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I use a mix of cheddar and mozzarella.)
1 1/2 tsp. dried basil (optional--sometimes I forget to put it in and the shells are still yummy.)
a couple of dashes of black pepper


1 box jumbo pasta shells (I like Barilla, but I've had good results with other brands as well.)
3 cups spaghetti sauce (approximately--should be enough to fill in all of the spaces around the shells once they are in the pan with some sauce left to go over the top of them.  The sauce doesn't need to cover them completely, but there should be plenty)

Make the Filling:
Place the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl.  Beat it on low speed with a hand mixer until the cream cheese is smooth.  Add the eggs and continue beating until well incorporated.  There may still be small chunks of cream cheese, but that's okay as long as it's mostly blended well with the eggs. Stir in the milk, and then fold in cheese.  The filling can be mixed and chilled an hour or two head of time.  Chilling the filling helps thicken it and makes it easier to fill the shells.

Pre-cook the Pasta:
Cook the pasta shells according to the package directions, but for a minute less than al dente.  For example, if the pasta box says that the shells will cook to al dente in 10 minutes, I cook them for 9 minutes.  Drain and rinse the shells in cold water until they are cool enough to handle.

Assemble the Shells:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Rub a little olive oil over the bottom and sides of a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.  Spread about 3/4 cup of sauce in the bottom of the pan.

Using a teaspoon (not the measure, but the place-setting spoon), spoon filling into shells.  Fill each shell with a heaping scoop.  The shells should be filled but not overstuffed.  The edges of the shells should still be able to touch.  Place each shell in the pan as you fill it.  You should be able to fit all of the shells into the pan.

Pour the remaining sauce over the shells then gently shake the pan to get the sauce into all of the spaces between the shells.  Loosely cover with a piece of foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven, take off the foil, and sprinkle the top of the shells with some freshly-grated Parmesan cheese. Put the pan back in the oven for 15 minutes, until the Parmesan is melted and the sauce is bubbling.

Remove from the oven and let sit for 20 minutes before serving.

After all the craziness of the last two weeks of work, I flew back to California to spend Christmas with family.  I got a chance to relax over the holidays, and I had a great time visiting my wonderful family: mom, sister, brother-in-law' and nephew, and some of my dearest friends.  I didn't get to see my brother and sister-in-law, but we did have a nice talk on Christmas.  However, I got to visit them back in September, which was great.  I was so happy to see them.  They moved away when I moved here to Arizona, and I hadn't seen them since I moved.  Hopefully we can all be together next year around Christmas.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and wish you a very Happy New Year.