I don’t tlike the way I put the border on, by using the posts of the shells. My new version will be much nicer by giving me an edge. I was thinking this morning that if I worked out how much yarn one block, plus chain took up, I could get all those left over tiddly bits that are like 12 inches long and tie them all together and make a granny square like this. If I was lucky all the blocks would have a different color
Monday, August 31, 2009
You Should Only Trust Fat Chefs
I think it should be against the law for the internet to be running after midnight. It is a well known fact that nothing good can come from it. People feel lonely and head over to Craigslist to see who’s still up and wanting to bump uglies, infomercials make you think that your home is going to fall to pieces around you unless you own a dozen Sham Wows, and online recipe blogs will make you raid your fridge and gain 10 pounds by 7am the following day.
I fall into the last category. I made another batch of Caramel Sea Salt Ice Cream tonight and lemme tell you, I am thisclose to eating the whole thing before it freezes. Damn you TasteSpotting!
Scroll over pictures for descriptions
Sunday, August 30, 2009
I missed naptime
And I’m tired and my feet hurt. But we had a wonderful visit to Garvan Woodland Gardens, after a good breakfast at the English Muffin, a stop by the library, a trip to Kroger because I forgot red cabbage yesterday, and coming back home to put a roast in the oven. That’s how you deal with heat in the house for braising; leave.
And come home to this:
I am just pretty anxious to tear into this.
So the roast is done, the potatos are roasting (in olive oil, salt and rosemary), and the red cabbage is bubbling merrily along atop the stove. This is from the Nigella Lawson How To Eat cookbook, and sounded pretty wonderful. And I felt German. The roast is only quasi-German; I did a riff on my beer braise for brisket, and added caraway seed, juniper berries, cloves and allspice.
But Garvan Woodland Gardens, hereinafter referred to as GWG, is a way cool place. I think I’ll make my inaugural post to Flickr to put them all up; here’s one that I thought was particularly lovely:
Nothing wrong with improving a little on Nature. Particularly when you leave it as natural-looking as this.
What I love about this place is that, with a few exceptions, it looks almost like it was natural, or could have been natural. There are some areas with pretty sculptured plantings, and stuff you generally don’t find in the woods, but for the most part, they’ve taken what was there and tweaked a little here and there.
We took Lucy Lu. She is a pooped little puppy at this moment, but she made the whole three-mile walk with us with the exception of a couple of times we had to carry her up or down some steps. That’s a long way on little short puppy legs.
And, because you have not yet had your quota of cute for the day, here’s the little critter herownself:
Queen of the Hill, we are!
She was a trooper. Got to give it to her. And she wasn’t cowed by the big Golden Retriever, or the Boston Terrier, or the spaniel of some description that she met en route. Well, the Golden was a little intimidating, as it was some 15 times bigger than her.
So with that, I’m going to tend to the stove, munch myself some smoked salmon spread (cream cheese, plain yogurt, dill and chives), pour myself a glass of wine and get ready to feed this appetite I’ve worked up. You and y’mama ‘n ‘em be careful out there.
Cooking
I don’t cook much (not as much as I should) but for some reason I ended up cooking dinner both yesterday and today. Last night I made a quick chicken curry – not particularly well – but it was edible enough. Nowhere near as good as the stuff Lisa and I used to make before we had kids, but in those days you could afford to spend 4 hours grinding and roasting spices and carefully crafting something special. These days we’re on a deadline.
Tonight I threw together some pasta. The sauce had some meat in it, but instead of using the default choice of mince I bought a cheap piece of rump and cut it up really finely. The sauce had garlic, onion, bacon, tomato, the finely chopped rump, mushrooms, corn, kidney beans, chick peas and a touch of ground pepper. It was actually pretty nice.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Aguas Frescas
Strawberry, Cucumber, Watermelon
Why yes, I do know this is a VERY BIG IMAGE! Trust me, it looks much better big than small.
Yesterday, inexplicably, the only thing in the world that I wanted was watermelon agua fresca.
As southern as I may be, I came very late to the game as far as iced tea is concerned. I’ll drink it periodically, but it doesn’t fuel my summer the way it does for a good many people I know.
Diet Coke tends to be my poison of choice, but every few years, I hit a limit and start getting wicked headaches, which is probably my body’s last-ditch effort to get me to stop ingesting whatever hideously addictive chemicals they pump into that silver can of comfort and death.
Driven by my craving for a refreshing summer quaff, I hit the market, cracked open a watermelon, and got busy with the blender. Being who I am, I then moved on to cucumbers and strawberries.
A veritable agua fresca smackdown!
Kept it pretty straightforward for the watermelon – just some simple syrup and lime juice to give it some spark. The cucumber got lemongrass syrup and lime; the strawberry, rosemary syrup and lime.
As-is, they rock. With agua mineral con gas, a little less club-you-over-the-head, but still delightful. With rum … with vodka … so far, we have no complaints! Next, I’ll try some of the elderflower liqueur with the strawberry, which surely will be wildly drinkable.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Picnic Cucumber Salad
We served this at our pie-eating contest, but it’s good for picnics when you want something that won’t spoil easily.
This is a very easy and very refreshing way to use up some of the extra cucumbers that many of us still have popping up in our CSA deliveries. It’s another great side dish for those of us clinging to the last days of summer, or for those of you squeezing in a few more BBQs, or for you folks that live where it’s a little warmer for a bit longer.
Ingredients
1/2 medium red onion, sliced thin
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 large cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Directions
In a medium sized bowl, wisk together the vinegar, sugar, and about a half teaspoon of salt and some pepper.
Add the cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes, stirring to coat them in the dressing. You can add more salt and pepper now if necessary.
Refrigerate for as long as you’ve got – a half hour sounds good, four hours is better, and overnight would be awesome. Either way, your leftovers are going to be mighty tasty the next day. Taste before you serve – minor adjustments might be necessary after you’ve allowed the flavors to meld in the fridge.
She Eats Sushi Down by the Seashore.
Last night I decided to make sushi for dinner! This was SO easy, I encourage you all to try it! At the top is smoked salmon with cucumber, carrots and cucumber, then smoked salmon and fish roe. I was going to make shrimp Pad Thai for dinner as well, but I made so much sushi, we were full after eating it. Do a web search for how to make sushi, there are a number of websites with different recipes and methods. I didnt have any rice wine vinegar, so I just used white wine vinegar. Also, I didnt bother buying a sushi mat- I really dont think you HAVE to have one as long as you’re careful in rolling. Buy some interesting ingredients and get creative with sushi rolls!!!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
We're in a "Recession", Stay Home & Cook! Or at Least Learn How
Yes, the dreaded “R” word. I am fighting this recession tooth and nail and refuse to give it any credence. But the fact of the matter is people are tightening their belts. That means less fast food and trip out for dinners, less eating out at lunch time, and much more people are staying in and cooking. Let’s look at the facts.
-> People who bring lunch from home are more likely to eat healthier
-> People who bring their lunch from home save between $25-100 per week
-> People who cook dinner are more likely to have their family gather together to share the meal & quality time
-> People who cook at home are more likely to get creative and try new dishes
One of the main reasons people don’t like to cook is because they feel that they can’t come up with creative ways of preparing the same old meals. It’s not hard to believe because as a woman who knows what it’s liek to juggle school, work and family, at the end of the day you’re tired! So the easy thing to do is throw something together quickly and be done with it. We have Food Network, websites with recipes, cooking magazines and cook books. Yet, many, especially Moms, are stumped over that age old question….What’s for dinner?
Well I feel your pain! So I started thinking, what can I do to help Moms out there keep it exciting in the kitchen? Then it came to me. We have Food Network with shows where you can cook along side your host/hostess. But let’s take it up a notch. Thyme Out for Mom will launch its new Online Cooking Classes where you can not only watch and cook along with your hostess, BUT it is fully interactive.
You can chat in real time with your instructor and classmates live and up to the minute. No having to record a show and pause so you don’t miss anything crucial. No having to run to the internet to send an email question and wait for a response. Real time interaction and you get to learn some new meals! Each lesson comes with downloadable recipes for that lesson complete with ingredients and tools needed to attend the class. No finding the time to leave home to get to a class and lug around equipment or ingredients. Watch, learn, practice and interact in real time, from anywhere in the world. Take one or many, the choice is yours. If you have an internet connection, web camera and the desire to learn how to cook, this class is for you.
Are you interested? Well send an email to thymeoutformom@gmail.com for more information. The first class begins September 8th. Will you be there?
Til next time.
Egg Roll Wrappers
Ingredients
Egg Roll Wrapper
2 Cup all purpose flour (maida)
2 eggs
Black peeper (small in quantity but as per taste)
Salt (small in quantity but as per taste)
1 or 2 glass Water (depends how much you want to keep material thin)
1 Tea Spoon Oil
Preparation
1. Mix eggs, black pepper and salt in flour.
2. Mix them well and add water to make the batter
3. Take non stick pan and lubricate it with oil.
4. Put the batter in pan and cook it.
Now they are ready, you need to fill them and roll them before you fry them.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Simple delicious meal
School is starting soon, and as you all know us university students are going to be busy as heck. So here is a simple, nutritious, quick meal that you can fix up under 15 minutes.
Tender baked Salmon with creamy garlic Raffaello and crisp ranch salad...C'est comme gourmet non?
The salmon fillet was from last night that’s why this meal is so fast to fix but Im sure y’all are curious as to how I cooked it.
First I took a salmon fillet and cut it into five 2.5 inches wide strips.
Then I place them on a tin foil and placed them in my mini oven. (I didn’t season them cuz I like them….ORIGINAL =P)
I set the temperature to 250 Fahrenheit and let it bake for about 15 minutes.
The fish should be tender when you poke a fork in it, if it feels hard and rubbery, it’s over cooked.
Drain the water and keep the rest for later.
NOW! On to this meal.
I used Sidekick’s Creamy Garlic Raffaello. So just follow the instructions on that. It takes about 10 minutes to cook.
While that is cooking, rip up some Romanian lettuce and toss it with ranch sauce.
When the Rafaello is done, microwave the fillet and top it with ketchup and ranch sauce.
Serve everything on the plate and VOILA! Fancy restaurant meal right at home.
I should really start a “meal of the week” thing =D
NEXT WEEK:
My discovery on how to make the perfect creamy fluffy mashed potatos with one SECRET ingredients! Maybe it has been invented already o.o I didn’t check….
STAY TUNED….
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Eating Pici al Ragu in Montepulciano
Pici, a thick and hand rolled spaghetti like pasta, is easy to find in a number of towns in Tuscany. One such place is the lovely hilltop town of Montepulciano. Montepulciano is located in southern Tuscany on the border with Umbria.
Pici al ragu is a fabulous local dish which can be incredibly filling and works well with the local wines, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano or the Rosso di Montepulciano. Pici are somewhat harder to find in the United States but don’t despair.
Should you choose to go to Montepulciano, this period of time is perfect as you can attend the Bravio festival, an ancient rite which was brought back in the 1970s. Strong men roll huge wine barrels up and down the hills of the city in a race to the finish line, the Duomo in Piazza Grande.
The city is divided into eight contrade (neighborhoods) and is currently in the middle of a week long holiday with renaissance costumes, drummers and flag twirlers giving exhibitions on a daily basis. Each contrada serves lunch and dinner for one week in their local headquarters. Locals dress in the colors of the contrada and the streets are decked out with flags.
Pici are on almost every menu and can be eaten with different sauces but the classic combination is with the homemade ragu. The ragu can be made with pork, beef, wild boar or sausage. While this dish sounds heavy for the summer months, it can actually be light and delicate. It is also extremely filling and therefore can be a great meal for lunch followed later in the day by a lighter dinner.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Apple chutney
The other night we went to our friends’ home for a delicious dinner. Not only did they feed us but they graced us with about 2 kg of transparent apples. Transparents aren’t fabulous for eating out of hand and are more of a cooking apple. They cook down to a soft consistency quickly so I first considered making applesauce and freezing it but applesauce isn’t a big hit around here.
Instead I canned a lively curried apple chutney from Well Preserved (1st edition; the 3rd edition was recently published and available here) by Mary Anne Dragan. The chutney is tasty: fragrant apples, raisins, onions, curry powder and some other spices. Excellent with a ploughman’s lunch or cheese platter.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
No, I don't have a boyfriend...but I CAN make my own butter!
OK, ok, that’s not exactly how the conversation went. But when I announced to Lauren and an in-from-out-of-town Kelli on Saturday “Dude! I made my own butter yesterday!” all I got were blank stares, followed immediately by the question “So…how’s eHarmony going?” Right. Thanks, Lauren.
Boyfriends (or lack thereof) aside, on Friday I had a little time to kill, and I had 1/2 cup of heavy cream left over from a dish I’d made previously, so I was trying to think of something delicious to prepare. And then it hit me! BUTTER!
Mmmm butter.
It’s creamy, delicious, useful, and delicate. Perfect!
The first time I ever made butter was with my mom – we had a tiny little crockery churn (small enough for kiddie hands), and I have nice memories of my brother and I, eating the butter. What I don’t have is a memory of the steps taken between the churning itself and the output of butter. I was under the impression you just churned, fished the chunks out, and presto! you had butter. Turns out…this is false.
But. The process itself is aaaaaalmost as easy as that. Almost. I started, as I always do, by googling various methods of producing butter. I found a few good sites, and used this one as a guide. The bottom line I got was that you need cream, a container of some kind (tupperware, mason jar, whatever), and about fifteen minutes, plus draining time and working time for the salt.
I made the butter in a tupperware container and have subsequently eaten it, so I decided to make a second batch for the blog! I started with a mason jar, simply because it made prettier picture, a little container of heavy cream, and set to work.
Tools.
Basically, you fill your container, leaving at least half of the container empty.
Creamy goodness.
Then you shake the container (ensuring it’s sealed well!). I check it periodically, just to see what’s going on in there. In case you don’t know the principle behind it, butter is generated when the fat solids in cream are fused together. The liquid left is the milk part, which will go bad. The fat solids can be kept at room temperature without rotting (particularly in one of these, which I intend to purchase on Amazon for cheap).
This is what the cream looks like just before the fat solids clump together and separate from the liquid:
Cream
At this point in the shaking, about 10 minutes in, you need to start paying attention. After a few more minutes of shaking, you’ll hear the liquid change tone – instead of the muffled silence of the thickened cream (it will sound like there’s nothing happening, but there is) you’ll all of a sudden hear a sloshing noise. This is what that looks like:
Handheld milkfat.
Kinda resembles ice cream, eh?
On the kitchen counter.
Next is to drain the buttermilk from the jar. I used a cheesecloth (per the Omnomicon website’s instructions).
Cheesecloth
The next step I changed a bit – the instructions say to use the cold side of the tap, but after my attempt on Friday I found the butter too mushy after using the tap water. Instead, I filled a pitcher with ice and water, kept it in the fridge while I churned, and used that to rinse the butter.
Waterbath.
I basically followed the rest of their instructions, rinsed it til the water ran clear, then put it on my new cutting board to drain. I worked it with a spatula til there wasn’t any liquid left, then put a pinch of salt on top and stirred it up really well.
Pre-working.
You can see the liquid on the board, weeping out of the butter.
And then? Butter! Shown here on some absolutely delicious basil bread my roommate baked yesterday (see? I’m not the only one!)
Bread and butter!
What was I doing while Emily was baking bread, you ask? Why, visiting the Old Town Alexandria farmer’s market, of course! I got up at 6:30 AM to meet my friend Kristin and her beautiful daughter Sydney for a romp through the stalls. It was slightly grey and rainy, which meant that there was nowhere near the normal crowd (awesome!). I took some shots below:
Stall
Here, the owner of this stall is explaining how they grow their shiitake mushrooms (on a log!!).
Peppers!
Peppers are plentiful at the farmer’s markets these days.
As are HERBS! (Pronounced the British way, aspirating the H)
Herbs
I bought myself a bunch of radishes, from which I’ve already made a quick radish and butter sandwich (DELICIOUS if you’ve never had it – seriously) and a box of baby zucchinis. It’s a pretty cool market, though heavy on the produce (we have plenty of produce from our subscription at Washington’s Green Grocer, so that was a bit overkill for me). All in all, a successful foodie weekend! And now…back to the grind. Have a great week everyone!
Too trusting
One little achievement during my flying visit to Bangkok was to buy a Thai cook book. Quite a selection available, and in the end choose one written by a farang, not the cheapest but it seemed to explain how to do things, things that someone like me would need explained. All well and good. Home, I decided to make khao soi, long a favourite. However, and despite the recipe’s accompanying photo, I quickly realized that it probably wasn’t the khao soi I particularly like. And did the recipe really call for 2 tablespoons of chilli powder? Trust the recipe, I thought. Hah! The soup-y dish blew your socks off! So might just shelve and forget about this book.