Ingredients:
1 cup sour cream (Daisy brand NOT light)
2 cups half and half
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Whiz in blender until smooth. Chill in refrigerator for at least an hour. Freeze according to your ice cream freezing device's directions. Transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze until firm. Yum.
Some variations I plan to try, eventually:
Brown sugar instead of regular sugar.
1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp almond extract.
Almond milk in place of part of the half and half.
Caramelize sugar, add half and half, stir until smooth, chill until cold, use in place of part or all of the plain half and half.
Caramel sauce swirled in at the last minute.
Chocolate sauce swirled in at the last minute.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Oh, by the way...
The sherbet was delicious. It was even better a couple of days later. The flavors had mellowed and the texture was perfect.
I might have to call it Chocolate Gelato... Except it still didn't have any egg in it.
Also. It was gone before I remembered to take pictures. I don't even have any pictures of other things on this computer, and I can't remember my Flickr login to post pictures to alleviate my guilt.
Sigh.
I might have to call it Chocolate Gelato... Except it still didn't have any egg in it.
Also. It was gone before I remembered to take pictures. I don't even have any pictures of other things on this computer, and I can't remember my Flickr login to post pictures to alleviate my guilt.
Sigh.
Another day, another dinner...
One of these days I'll remember to take pictures before eating my food. New habits take time to form. Especially when one his very hungry at the time.
Boneless Pork Ribs with Honey-Rosemary Glaze
from my very own brain
serves 2
4 boneless country style pork ribs
salt
pepper
2 TBSP oil
2 medium garlic cloves
1 4-inch stem of rosemary (about 2 TBSP)
salt
1/2 tsp or to tastefreshly ground black pepper
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup warm water
Heat oil in medium frying pan. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Brown pork in hot oil. Turn heat to low when second side has browned. Meanwhile make the glaze.
Finely mince garlic and rosemary leaves with a generous sprinkle of salt. Place in liquid measuring cup. Add black pepper, cayenne pepper and cumin. Add cider vinegar and whisk to blend. Add honey and warm water. Whisk to dissolve honey. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Pour over pork in pan. Cover and cook over low heat until pork is cooked, basting occasionally (about 10 minutes). Remove meat from pan and cover. Turn heat to high and bring sauce to a boil. Boil with out stirring until reduced to to a sticky glaze (about the consistency of honey, about 5 minutes).
Serve with rice (I used good old long grain brown because that is what was in the house, but feel free to use your favorite) and green salad.
Very yum. Just ask my husband.
Boneless Pork Ribs with Honey-Rosemary Glaze
from my very own brain
serves 2
4 boneless country style pork ribs
salt
pepper
2 TBSP oil
2 medium garlic cloves
1 4-inch stem of rosemary (about 2 TBSP)
salt
1/2 tsp or to tastefreshly ground black pepper
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup warm water
Heat oil in medium frying pan. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Brown pork in hot oil. Turn heat to low when second side has browned. Meanwhile make the glaze.
Finely mince garlic and rosemary leaves with a generous sprinkle of salt. Place in liquid measuring cup. Add black pepper, cayenne pepper and cumin. Add cider vinegar and whisk to blend. Add honey and warm water. Whisk to dissolve honey. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Pour over pork in pan. Cover and cook over low heat until pork is cooked, basting occasionally (about 10 minutes). Remove meat from pan and cover. Turn heat to high and bring sauce to a boil. Boil with out stirring until reduced to to a sticky glaze (about the consistency of honey, about 5 minutes).
Serve with rice (I used good old long grain brown because that is what was in the house, but feel free to use your favorite) and green salad.
Very yum. Just ask my husband.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Mmmm, chocolate...
Chocolate Sherbet
(modified from the Williams-Sonoma Frozen Desserts recipe for Chocolate Sorbet)
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used King Arthur Flour's Double Dutch Cocoa)
2 cups half-and-half
2 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. (scant) espresso powder
Whisk sugar and cocoa powder together in a medium saucepan. Add half-and-half slowly, whisking all the time. Over medium heat bring mixture to a boil and cook for about a minute, whisking almost constantly (I took a couple short breaks to look at the recipe, it didn't hurt anyone). Remove pan from heat and add the semisweet chocolate. Let sit for a minute to partially melt the chocolate (I used the time to wash some dishes, I'm very efficient when the mood strikes, don't count on it happening again any time soon). Whisk the chocolate mixture briefly. Add the vanilla and espresso powder. Whisk until smooth. Pour into a medium bowl and let cool to room temperature. When cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold (at least three hours and up to 12). Freeze according to your ice cream maker's directions. Eat immediately, or scoop into a container and freeze until firm (about 3 hours). Best when eaten within the first 24 hours (as if that will be a hardship).
I'll have to let you know how it turns out. Also, pictures to follow.
Note: Sorbets have no dairy, so this isn't really a sorbet, but it's not ice cream either because it doesn't have any cream or eggs. It's most similar to a sherbet, although sherbets are usually fruit flavored (and sometimes have eggs). It's a hybrid, this. Judging by the pre-frozen stage, a delicious, delicious hybrid.
(modified from the Williams-Sonoma Frozen Desserts recipe for Chocolate Sorbet)
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used King Arthur Flour's Double Dutch Cocoa)
2 cups half-and-half
2 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. (scant) espresso powder
Whisk sugar and cocoa powder together in a medium saucepan. Add half-and-half slowly, whisking all the time. Over medium heat bring mixture to a boil and cook for about a minute, whisking almost constantly (I took a couple short breaks to look at the recipe, it didn't hurt anyone). Remove pan from heat and add the semisweet chocolate. Let sit for a minute to partially melt the chocolate (I used the time to wash some dishes, I'm very efficient when the mood strikes, don't count on it happening again any time soon). Whisk the chocolate mixture briefly. Add the vanilla and espresso powder. Whisk until smooth. Pour into a medium bowl and let cool to room temperature. When cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold (at least three hours and up to 12). Freeze according to your ice cream maker's directions. Eat immediately, or scoop into a container and freeze until firm (about 3 hours). Best when eaten within the first 24 hours (as if that will be a hardship).
I'll have to let you know how it turns out. Also, pictures to follow.
Note: Sorbets have no dairy, so this isn't really a sorbet, but it's not ice cream either because it doesn't have any cream or eggs. It's most similar to a sherbet, although sherbets are usually fruit flavored (and sometimes have eggs). It's a hybrid, this. Judging by the pre-frozen stage, a delicious, delicious hybrid.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Peanut Butter Swirl Chocolate Brownies
Since I don't have any cream cheese in the house, and all of the recipes I could find for swirled brownies called for cream cheese...
Your favorite brownie recipe (for 9x13) pan (I used the "On the Fence Brownies" from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion)
1/3 cup peanut butter
Put peanut butter in a small mixing bowl. Mix together all the ingredients for the brownies except the chocolate. Remove about 1/4-1/3 of the batter and put in bowl with peanut butter. Add chocolate to remaining batter (reduce amount of chocolate by about 1/4). Pour chocolate batter in prepared pan. Stir together peanut butter and batter. Dollop peanut batter on top of chocolate batter. Swirl lightly together. Bake according to brownie recipe directions.
It's still baking, I'll let you know how it turns out. Also, pictures to follow...
Your favorite brownie recipe (for 9x13) pan (I used the "On the Fence Brownies" from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion)
1/3 cup peanut butter
Put peanut butter in a small mixing bowl. Mix together all the ingredients for the brownies except the chocolate. Remove about 1/4-1/3 of the batter and put in bowl with peanut butter. Add chocolate to remaining batter (reduce amount of chocolate by about 1/4). Pour chocolate batter in prepared pan. Stir together peanut butter and batter. Dollop peanut batter on top of chocolate batter. Swirl lightly together. Bake according to brownie recipe directions.
It's still baking, I'll let you know how it turns out. Also, pictures to follow...
Sunday, April 06, 2008
I lied. Too bad, so sad...
I said next would be Turkey Mushroom Casserole. That will be next, next time. This time I am going to share a different recipe...
Chicken, Artichoke & Spinach Pasta
serves 2 as a complete meal (with leftovers) or 4 as a main course
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3-6 cloves garlic (to taste)
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped, divided
12 or so frozen artichoke hearts
8 oz. uncooked pasta
1 bag baby spinach
3-4 Tbsp grated parmesan
Put onion in large, heavy bottomed skillet. Pour olive oil over, stir to coat. Place over medium-low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until onion starts to soften, add garlic, cook until soft. Add 1 Tbsp. rosemary, cook until rosemary is fragrant. Turn up heat to medium and add chicken broth. Bring broth just to a simmer, taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Add chicken. Cook gently until chicken is almost cooked. Add frozen artichoke hearts. Turn heat to medium-high and add pasta. Cook until pasta al dente. Add spinach, cover and let steam until spinach begins to wilt. Uncover and stir until spinach is completely wilted.
Combine remaining Tbsp rosemary and grated parmesan.
Serve pasta in bowls. Pass rosemary parmesan mixture for people to sprinkle on top of the pasta.
Notes This is a pretty complete meal on its own, but would pair nicely with a green salad and crusty dinner rolls. A cucumber and carrot salad would also play nicely. You could also add (or substitute) peas, asparagus or zucchini into the pasta itself.
Chicken, Artichoke & Spinach Pasta
serves 2 as a complete meal (with leftovers) or 4 as a main course
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3-6 cloves garlic (to taste)
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped, divided
12 or so frozen artichoke hearts
8 oz. uncooked pasta
1 bag baby spinach
3-4 Tbsp grated parmesan
Put onion in large, heavy bottomed skillet. Pour olive oil over, stir to coat. Place over medium-low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until onion starts to soften, add garlic, cook until soft. Add 1 Tbsp. rosemary, cook until rosemary is fragrant. Turn up heat to medium and add chicken broth. Bring broth just to a simmer, taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Add chicken. Cook gently until chicken is almost cooked. Add frozen artichoke hearts. Turn heat to medium-high and add pasta. Cook until pasta al dente. Add spinach, cover and let steam until spinach begins to wilt. Uncover and stir until spinach is completely wilted.
Combine remaining Tbsp rosemary and grated parmesan.
Serve pasta in bowls. Pass rosemary parmesan mixture for people to sprinkle on top of the pasta.
Notes This is a pretty complete meal on its own, but would pair nicely with a green salad and crusty dinner rolls. A cucumber and carrot salad would also play nicely. You could also add (or substitute) peas, asparagus or zucchini into the pasta itself.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Tuna Noodle Casserole v1.0
I didn't take pictures at the time, but it was a casserole, and looked the same as pretty much any casserole.
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 large onion (or 1/2 a medium onion), chopped
1 small can tuna packed in water, drained, liquid reserved
salt
pepper
dried dill weed
1 Tbsp. (approximately) mustard (preferably dijon or stone ground)
2 cups chicken broth
3 Tbsp. all purpose flour
2 cups (cooked) pasta (elbow macaroni in this case)
1 1/2 cups grated cheese (sharp cheddar & parmesan)
Preheat the oven to 375º. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook until the onion has softened and started to brown. Season with salt, pepper and dill to taste. Sprinkle the flour over and cook, stirring constantly until the flour cooks. Add the water from the tuna and the chicken broth, gradually, stirring constantly. Stir in the mustard. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Cook until slightly thickened. Add the tuna and pasta and stir to combine. Pour the whole thing into a baking dish (I used an 8" square). Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top. Put it all in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Remove from the oven and let stand for five minutes, or however long it takes to make a salad or sauté some zucchini in olive oil and garlic. :-)
This amount of sauce will coat up to 4 cups of pasta (although increasingly lightly). You can add up to another cup of liquid without increasing the flour or oil amounts. With 3 cups of liquid and 4 cups of pasta I would probably go to a 9 x 13 pan.
Next time: Ground Turkey & Mushroom Noodle Casserole. Also, yarn.
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 large onion (or 1/2 a medium onion), chopped
1 small can tuna packed in water, drained, liquid reserved
salt
pepper
dried dill weed
1 Tbsp. (approximately) mustard (preferably dijon or stone ground)
2 cups chicken broth
3 Tbsp. all purpose flour
2 cups (cooked) pasta (elbow macaroni in this case)
1 1/2 cups grated cheese (sharp cheddar & parmesan)
Preheat the oven to 375º. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook until the onion has softened and started to brown. Season with salt, pepper and dill to taste. Sprinkle the flour over and cook, stirring constantly until the flour cooks. Add the water from the tuna and the chicken broth, gradually, stirring constantly. Stir in the mustard. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Cook until slightly thickened. Add the tuna and pasta and stir to combine. Pour the whole thing into a baking dish (I used an 8" square). Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top. Put it all in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Remove from the oven and let stand for five minutes, or however long it takes to make a salad or sauté some zucchini in olive oil and garlic. :-)
This amount of sauce will coat up to 4 cups of pasta (although increasingly lightly). You can add up to another cup of liquid without increasing the flour or oil amounts. With 3 cups of liquid and 4 cups of pasta I would probably go to a 9 x 13 pan.
Next time: Ground Turkey & Mushroom Noodle Casserole. Also, yarn.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Oh. Hi. Are you still here?
Long time no post... There are a number of factors I could blame this fact on. Planning a wedding... Crocheting shawls for my bridesmaids and me... Avoiding planning the wedding (see previous)... Assembling a guest list... Acquiring more horsefeeding clients (I am now the most popular person at the stable, at least among the horses)... Ravelry (Hi fellow Ravelers! Where your stitches at?)... Getting married... Being generally lazy... It's probably the last one that did it, actually.
In order to make myself feel slightly less of a loser, I'll post the recipe for the excellent mac and cheese I made the other night. No pictures, though (sorry!).
Macaroni & Cheese
1 - 1 /12 cups elbow macaroni (or pasta shape of your choice)
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
salt
pepper
herbes de provence
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cook the pasta according to directions (actually, undercook it by a minute or two). Drain and set aside (or cook it while making the sauce, it works either way).
Cook onions and garlic in butter and olive oil over low heat until soft and beginning to caramelize. Season to taste with salt pepper and herbes de provence. Turn the heat up and sprinkle the flour over. Stir until flour cooks and begins to smell slightly toasted. Turn the heat down and slowly pour in the chicken broth. Cook until it begins to thicken slightly, add the milk. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring, for another minute or two. Remove from heat and add about 1 1/2 cups of the grated chedar cheese and 1/4 cup parmesan. Stir until the cheese has melted and the sauce is more or less smooth (not counting the onions and garlic). Combine the cheese sauce and pasta. Pour into baking dish (8" or 9" square, 9" round, or anything of similar size). Sprinkle remaining cheddar and parmesan on top and put in oven. Bake until top is lightly browned and it's bubbling merrily around the edges, approximately 20 minutes. Remove from oven let stand 10-15 minutes. Enjoy.
Serve with salad or roasted vegetables.
Roasted Cauliflower and Mushrooms (for two servings)
1/2 head cauliflower, rinsed
8 cremini mushrooms
olive oil
salt
pepper
herbes de provence
Cut the cauliflower florets into approximately equal sizes. Cut the mushrooms in half if they are over an inch in diameter. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and herbes de provence in a baking dish (8" square works well for this amount). Place in 400 degree oven. Roast until tender and beginning to brown. Approximately 30-40 minutes.
Yum. Baby carrots would have been an excellent addition to the roasted vegetables...
In order to make myself feel slightly less of a loser, I'll post the recipe for the excellent mac and cheese I made the other night. No pictures, though (sorry!).
Macaroni & Cheese
1 - 1 /12 cups elbow macaroni (or pasta shape of your choice)
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
salt
pepper
herbes de provence
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cook the pasta according to directions (actually, undercook it by a minute or two). Drain and set aside (or cook it while making the sauce, it works either way).
Cook onions and garlic in butter and olive oil over low heat until soft and beginning to caramelize. Season to taste with salt pepper and herbes de provence. Turn the heat up and sprinkle the flour over. Stir until flour cooks and begins to smell slightly toasted. Turn the heat down and slowly pour in the chicken broth. Cook until it begins to thicken slightly, add the milk. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring, for another minute or two. Remove from heat and add about 1 1/2 cups of the grated chedar cheese and 1/4 cup parmesan. Stir until the cheese has melted and the sauce is more or less smooth (not counting the onions and garlic). Combine the cheese sauce and pasta. Pour into baking dish (8" or 9" square, 9" round, or anything of similar size). Sprinkle remaining cheddar and parmesan on top and put in oven. Bake until top is lightly browned and it's bubbling merrily around the edges, approximately 20 minutes. Remove from oven let stand 10-15 minutes. Enjoy.
Serve with salad or roasted vegetables.
Roasted Cauliflower and Mushrooms (for two servings)
1/2 head cauliflower, rinsed
8 cremini mushrooms
olive oil
salt
pepper
herbes de provence
Cut the cauliflower florets into approximately equal sizes. Cut the mushrooms in half if they are over an inch in diameter. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and herbes de provence in a baking dish (8" square works well for this amount). Place in 400 degree oven. Roast until tender and beginning to brown. Approximately 30-40 minutes.
Yum. Baby carrots would have been an excellent addition to the roasted vegetables...
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
I long with all my heart to see the Prince...
Sweet honey and the rock, Richard III is open. I was a bit worried that I was going to go out on opening night with an unfinished costume. I didn't. I left after final dress and it wasn't done, I came in for opening night and it was finished. Huzzah! I still think everyone would have been much better off had she started sewing more than two weeks before we opened, but whatever. The costumes look good on us, the words come out in the proper order (mostly) and the bats are working on the bug population... all is right with the world.
Now, on to other, more important matters. Food. Specifically, bread.
I doubled the recipe because I wanted one plain loaf, and one cinnamon swirl loaf. It's nice that bread recipes multiply so easily. The only thing I did with this batch that was a little unusual is to take it out of the mixer and knead it by hand briefly. Partly this was because it wasn't making a coherent mass in the mixer and I needed to get my hands on it to see if this was an issue of the mixer or an issue of the dough. It was the mixer, it turned into a lovely, silky ball after only a short time kneading it. My wrists protested, so I put it back in the mixer (with the dough hook) for an additional few minutes of mixer kneading. Both loaves turned out nice and light, so I guess it got kneaded enough. I need to work on my dough shaping capabilities. I don't ever seem to get it even enough when I roll it out for shaping, so I end up with slightly lopsided loaves. It doesn't seem to affect texture (or flavor), but I like pretty loaves. I also remembered to turn my oven temp down a little this time. I use glass loaf pans, and I my gas is propane, so if I bake the loaves at 350, they end up really dark, even when I tent them. This time I baked them at 325, and everything worked out lovely.
My sweetie has been working most evenings lately, so my dinners have been thrown together noodle affairs. I rather wish I had taken a picture of Monday's dinner, it actually turned out quite pretty (as well as quite delicious). Sunday night I had buckwheat soba noodles in a quick peanut sauce with vegetables. Monday night I had rice noodles in the rest of the peanut sauce with vegetables. Both were very delicious. The rice noodles had a bit more eye appeal, but the soba noodles were (surprise!) quite a bit heartier.
Peanut Sauce (so not precise, because, really, why measure, it's all to taste anyway)
peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, preferably natural and unsalted, but whatever pb you prefer will work)
rice vinegar (seasoned)
chili garlic sauce
soy sauce
sesame oil (optional)
ginger (fresh or ground, optional)
Put all ingredients in a bowl. Mix to combine. Amounts will vary depending on your taste and how much sauce you are making, don't worry about it, just mix away.
Cook noodles of your choice according to package directions. Add some frozen mixed vegetables to the noodles in the last minute or two of cooking time (or if you soak the noodles in the hot water before draining, add the veggies just before you turn off the heat, bring the water back to the boil and then turn off the heat and soak as directed). Splash a little of the cooking water over the sauce and mix. Drain noodles and vegetables. Add to bowl with sauce and toss to coat. Eat up baby!
Now, on to other, more important matters. Food. Specifically, bread.
I doubled the recipe because I wanted one plain loaf, and one cinnamon swirl loaf. It's nice that bread recipes multiply so easily. The only thing I did with this batch that was a little unusual is to take it out of the mixer and knead it by hand briefly. Partly this was because it wasn't making a coherent mass in the mixer and I needed to get my hands on it to see if this was an issue of the mixer or an issue of the dough. It was the mixer, it turned into a lovely, silky ball after only a short time kneading it. My wrists protested, so I put it back in the mixer (with the dough hook) for an additional few minutes of mixer kneading. Both loaves turned out nice and light, so I guess it got kneaded enough. I need to work on my dough shaping capabilities. I don't ever seem to get it even enough when I roll it out for shaping, so I end up with slightly lopsided loaves. It doesn't seem to affect texture (or flavor), but I like pretty loaves. I also remembered to turn my oven temp down a little this time. I use glass loaf pans, and I my gas is propane, so if I bake the loaves at 350, they end up really dark, even when I tent them. This time I baked them at 325, and everything worked out lovely.
My sweetie has been working most evenings lately, so my dinners have been thrown together noodle affairs. I rather wish I had taken a picture of Monday's dinner, it actually turned out quite pretty (as well as quite delicious). Sunday night I had buckwheat soba noodles in a quick peanut sauce with vegetables. Monday night I had rice noodles in the rest of the peanut sauce with vegetables. Both were very delicious. The rice noodles had a bit more eye appeal, but the soba noodles were (surprise!) quite a bit heartier.
Peanut Sauce (so not precise, because, really, why measure, it's all to taste anyway)
peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, preferably natural and unsalted, but whatever pb you prefer will work)
rice vinegar (seasoned)
chili garlic sauce
soy sauce
sesame oil (optional)
ginger (fresh or ground, optional)
Put all ingredients in a bowl. Mix to combine. Amounts will vary depending on your taste and how much sauce you are making, don't worry about it, just mix away.
Cook noodles of your choice according to package directions. Add some frozen mixed vegetables to the noodles in the last minute or two of cooking time (or if you soak the noodles in the hot water before draining, add the veggies just before you turn off the heat, bring the water back to the boil and then turn off the heat and soak as directed). Splash a little of the cooking water over the sauce and mix. Drain noodles and vegetables. Add to bowl with sauce and toss to coat. Eat up baby!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Not So Dirty Un-Secret...
I have a subscription to booksfree.com and I love it. It's kind of like Netflix for books. I have the minimum subscription (two at a time), but I keep threatening to upgrade (the only person I tell is myself, so it's not really a threat, except to my credit card!). Anyway. I got my latest shipment of books yesterday (as I was driving up to my mailbox, I was thinking that my next shipment should be arriving any day now. When I opened my mailbox, there was the charming gray plastic envelope. So, Woo!) and I'm very happy. I received Charmed, an anthology of fantasy romances. The only two authors I remember are Jayne Castle (aka Jayne Ann Krentz, a perennial favorite)and Lori Foster. I won't write anymore about that book until I have it in front of me to make sure of my details. So far, I've only looked at the Jayne Castle story. Sadly, for me, I've read it before. Not sad in the sense that I didn't like the story, but sad in the sense that I hadn't realized that I had already read that story when I ordered the book. Oh well, hopefully the other stories will prove charming.
The other book is The Smoke Thief by Shane Abe. I've read mostly good things about this one, and it has dragons (!) so I'm looking forward to reading it. I'll probably give my Saturday over to it (Screw you bread! I'm reading a book! Sorry garden! I have my story!) especially if the fiance is out of town. Well, I could make bread and read a book at the same time, since there is a lot of down time in bread making. Also in doing laundry. So, really, there is hope for household chores being accomplished even in the face of a Book. My tendency to disappear into books is really the only thing that worries my mother about me having children... D'Oh! I just remembered, I have load-in for Shakespeare Festival on Saturday. I will be putting up walls!
Moving on.
I made beef stew in my slow cooker on Monday. It turned out fabulously, if I do say so myself (and I probably shouldn't). I love the slow cooker, I don't use it as often as I could. However, since it is just the two of us right now, that's probably not the tragedy it might be if I were cooking for a large family. There were biscuits to accompany. I used my new favorite biscuit recipe. Honey-Wheat Biscuits from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking. My boy is a biscuit fiend, and he would eat these with every meal (of course, I don't know that he has met a biscuit he doesn't like, so weight the recommendation as you wish).
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
beef (I used 2.25 lbs London Broil, but any stew meat will work as well)
onion (1 large or 1 1/2 small)
garlic (3-6 cloves)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
thyme (one stem of fresh)
oregano (one stem of fresh)
rosemary (2 inch stem of fresh)
2 bay leaves
carrots (2 or 3 big ones, or a handful of babies)
3 potatoes
wine
1/2 - 1 cup chicken broth
water
Peel and slice the onion. Peel and coarsely chop the garlic. Chunk the carrots (if using big ones) and potatoes. Pile ingredients into slow cooker. Wash and dry the meat, trim any fat around the edges, chunk. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown in batches in a hot skillet with a little olive oil (add more oil as necessary, but don't overdo, I probably used a total of 2 TBSP over the course of 5 or six batches of meat). As the meat browns, toss it into the slow cooker. When all the meat is browned, deglaze the pan with the wine of your choice (I used sherry because I didn't have anything else in the house at the time). Lay the herbs on top. Pour the deglazing liquid, chicken broth and water over all, adding enough liquid to come about half way up the side of the pot. Cover and cook on high for about 5 hours or on low for 8. Or on high for 3 and low for 3.
Serve with a salad and bread of your choice.
This recipe (as written) should serve about 5-6 people. It can always be made to serve more or fewer, depending on how much meat and potatoes you use. :-) Flexible recipes are the best.
Right then. Off to feed horses.
The other book is The Smoke Thief by Shane Abe. I've read mostly good things about this one, and it has dragons (!) so I'm looking forward to reading it. I'll probably give my Saturday over to it (Screw you bread! I'm reading a book! Sorry garden! I have my story!) especially if the fiance is out of town. Well, I could make bread and read a book at the same time, since there is a lot of down time in bread making. Also in doing laundry. So, really, there is hope for household chores being accomplished even in the face of a Book. My tendency to disappear into books is really the only thing that worries my mother about me having children... D'Oh! I just remembered, I have load-in for Shakespeare Festival on Saturday. I will be putting up walls!
Moving on.
I made beef stew in my slow cooker on Monday. It turned out fabulously, if I do say so myself (and I probably shouldn't). I love the slow cooker, I don't use it as often as I could. However, since it is just the two of us right now, that's probably not the tragedy it might be if I were cooking for a large family. There were biscuits to accompany. I used my new favorite biscuit recipe. Honey-Wheat Biscuits from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking. My boy is a biscuit fiend, and he would eat these with every meal (of course, I don't know that he has met a biscuit he doesn't like, so weight the recommendation as you wish).
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
beef (I used 2.25 lbs London Broil, but any stew meat will work as well)
onion (1 large or 1 1/2 small)
garlic (3-6 cloves)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
thyme (one stem of fresh)
oregano (one stem of fresh)
rosemary (2 inch stem of fresh)
2 bay leaves
carrots (2 or 3 big ones, or a handful of babies)
3 potatoes
wine
1/2 - 1 cup chicken broth
water
Peel and slice the onion. Peel and coarsely chop the garlic. Chunk the carrots (if using big ones) and potatoes. Pile ingredients into slow cooker. Wash and dry the meat, trim any fat around the edges, chunk. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown in batches in a hot skillet with a little olive oil (add more oil as necessary, but don't overdo, I probably used a total of 2 TBSP over the course of 5 or six batches of meat). As the meat browns, toss it into the slow cooker. When all the meat is browned, deglaze the pan with the wine of your choice (I used sherry because I didn't have anything else in the house at the time). Lay the herbs on top. Pour the deglazing liquid, chicken broth and water over all, adding enough liquid to come about half way up the side of the pot. Cover and cook on high for about 5 hours or on low for 8. Or on high for 3 and low for 3.
Serve with a salad and bread of your choice.
This recipe (as written) should serve about 5-6 people. It can always be made to serve more or fewer, depending on how much meat and potatoes you use. :-) Flexible recipes are the best.
Right then. Off to feed horses.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Turkey & Mushroom "Sloppy Joes"
Serves two (easily doubled, tripled or quadrupled)
dried porcini mushrooms (I'm not sure how much I used, because they were given to me when my brother decided not to use them in the dinner he was making the other night, next time, I'll use more mushrooms, possibly even mixed varieties)
1 frozen turkey "chub" (1 pound) or 1 pound fresh ground turkey
olive oil
2 cloves garlic (or to taste), chopped
salt
pepper
herbes de provence
balsamic vinegar
water
bread
shredded mozzarella cheese
Rehydrate mushrooms in water (or broth, or wine). Drain, and chop the mushrooms. Save the liquid.
If you are using frozen turkey (as I did tonight), go ahead and thaw it in the frying pan (which cooks it at the same time). About the time it is completely thawed, add a little olive oil and the chopped garlic (if using fresh turkey, warm the olive oil, add the turkey and garlic at the same time). Add salt, pepper and herbes de provence (or seasonings of your choice) to taste. Cook until the turkey has started to brown slightly, then add the soaked, chopped mushrooms. Stir everything together and let the turkey and mushrooms cook a little more. Add the reserved soaking liquid from the mushrooms, a dash or two of vinegar and enough water to cover (if you used wine to soak the mushrooms, let it reduce a little before adding the vinegar and water). Let the whole thing simmer until the liquid is reduced by about half (15 minutes or so), or until the ratio of gravy to meat suits you (me, I like wet but not soupy).
During the simmering process, make a salad.
When the meat sauce looks about right, toast some bread. Tonight, I used whole wheat sourdough baguette.
When the bread is toasted, put one piece on each plate. Spoon some meat sauce over the top. Spoon a little extra liquid over the top. Sprinkle with cheese.
Very yum. No picture, though, because I didn't take one, and because, really, it's not that attractive a dish. Delicious though, I can assure you of that.
Thoughts for next time: Diced onion added with the garlic would be good. Also, a good possibility for slow cooking... I'll have to think about what modifications that would take. The dried mushrooms could probably be placed directly into the cooker, the slow, wet heat would probably soak them sufficiently. Frozen spinach stirred in at the end and allowed to heat through... Fresh baby spinach on the bread, under the meat sauce...
dried porcini mushrooms (I'm not sure how much I used, because they were given to me when my brother decided not to use them in the dinner he was making the other night, next time, I'll use more mushrooms, possibly even mixed varieties)
1 frozen turkey "chub" (1 pound) or 1 pound fresh ground turkey
olive oil
2 cloves garlic (or to taste), chopped
salt
pepper
herbes de provence
balsamic vinegar
water
bread
shredded mozzarella cheese
Rehydrate mushrooms in water (or broth, or wine). Drain, and chop the mushrooms. Save the liquid.
If you are using frozen turkey (as I did tonight), go ahead and thaw it in the frying pan (which cooks it at the same time). About the time it is completely thawed, add a little olive oil and the chopped garlic (if using fresh turkey, warm the olive oil, add the turkey and garlic at the same time). Add salt, pepper and herbes de provence (or seasonings of your choice) to taste. Cook until the turkey has started to brown slightly, then add the soaked, chopped mushrooms. Stir everything together and let the turkey and mushrooms cook a little more. Add the reserved soaking liquid from the mushrooms, a dash or two of vinegar and enough water to cover (if you used wine to soak the mushrooms, let it reduce a little before adding the vinegar and water). Let the whole thing simmer until the liquid is reduced by about half (15 minutes or so), or until the ratio of gravy to meat suits you (me, I like wet but not soupy).
During the simmering process, make a salad.
When the meat sauce looks about right, toast some bread. Tonight, I used whole wheat sourdough baguette.
When the bread is toasted, put one piece on each plate. Spoon some meat sauce over the top. Spoon a little extra liquid over the top. Sprinkle with cheese.
Very yum. No picture, though, because I didn't take one, and because, really, it's not that attractive a dish. Delicious though, I can assure you of that.
Thoughts for next time: Diced onion added with the garlic would be good. Also, a good possibility for slow cooking... I'll have to think about what modifications that would take. The dried mushrooms could probably be placed directly into the cooker, the slow, wet heat would probably soak them sufficiently. Frozen spinach stirred in at the end and allowed to heat through... Fresh baby spinach on the bread, under the meat sauce...
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Food snobbery and other delights...
There are times when it would be nice to be a little less snobbish about food. Oh, well, snobbish is not the right word. I'll eat just about anything (except tomatoes, raw onions, anything made with aspartame, MSG [food allergies, small, but unpleasant], high fructose corn syrup [why? just why does this even need to exist?] or hot pineapple [just. ick]), but I have very exacting standards. Pretty much everything is better when made from scratch, and most of the time, it isn't that much more difficult than the same thing made from a box. I do make certain exceptions (I'm not making croissants from scratch whenever I feel the yen for one), but in general, fresh is best.
The point to this whole meander, and there is one, I promise, is that I can rarely just enjoy a meal cooked for me by someone else. I'm always critiquing. Especially dessert, because I make excellent dessert. Which sounds like bragging, but isn't because it's true.
There are two rules for making dessert for a crowd.
Rule One: Never try out a new recipe. Unless it is something simple and fairly foolproof (like mini chocolate lava cakes, which have about five ingredients and even if you overcook them slightly they will still be delicious even if no longer liquid in the center). New recipes are for nights with no guests. Or just family.
Rule Two, part 1: Don't apologize. Most people won't notice if you messed up, and even if they do, they won't say anything. Smile and accept the compliments with a charming smile and a demure thank you.
Rule Two, part 2: Don't compliment yourself. It's not becoming.
All of which leads to this: Start with less salt than the recipe calls for. It's easy to add more, and not so easy to take it out. Also, cheesecake is always a good choice. Especially when combined with brownies... I'm just saying.
Word of the day: Crepes
The point to this whole meander, and there is one, I promise, is that I can rarely just enjoy a meal cooked for me by someone else. I'm always critiquing. Especially dessert, because I make excellent dessert. Which sounds like bragging, but isn't because it's true.
There are two rules for making dessert for a crowd.
Rule One: Never try out a new recipe. Unless it is something simple and fairly foolproof (like mini chocolate lava cakes, which have about five ingredients and even if you overcook them slightly they will still be delicious even if no longer liquid in the center). New recipes are for nights with no guests. Or just family.
Rule Two, part 1: Don't apologize. Most people won't notice if you messed up, and even if they do, they won't say anything. Smile and accept the compliments with a charming smile and a demure thank you.
Rule Two, part 2: Don't compliment yourself. It's not becoming.
All of which leads to this: Start with less salt than the recipe calls for. It's easy to add more, and not so easy to take it out. Also, cheesecake is always a good choice. Especially when combined with brownies... I'm just saying.
Word of the day: Crepes
Friday, May 26, 2006
:-/
I actually had something to say, but I got distracted looking at other people's profiles and also reading blogs. Perhaps the physical act of typing will jog my memory. It wasn't the typing that did it, it was the getting up to put the jeans in the dryer and seeing the cake that did it.
I tried out a new recipe for dessert for game last night. It's called Scandanavian Gold Cake and it is from the King Arthur Flour Baking Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook. I love that book, my parents gave it to me for the Christmas before last. My boyfriend gave me a copy of the Cookie Companion last Christmas (he's a good boyfriend, there are many reasons I keep him around). Anyway, the cake turned out very well. I overbaked by about 5 minutes, so it was a little darker and drier than it probably should have been. This is always a danger with cakes in the pound cake family, since they don't have much moisture aside from the eggs and butter. There was maybe a quarter of the cake left after game (just for reference, there are 5 of us and this is a cake that is supposed to be cut into 20 to 22 slices) and less than that once I got it home to the boyfriend. I love it when a recipe works out. I'm definitely putting that one into the make again category.
I'm still learning to bake in my oven (I've lived here for slightly less than a year), propane seems to burn hotter than regular natural gas (I think, what do I know about what gas comes out of the gas lines other than it burns). It's also harder to control the temperature. I know this is true on the stovetop, and it seems to be true in the oven as well. I've only used the broiler once, and I was super careful because they were ultra thin porkchops. Bone-in, but super thin and they cooked in about a minute and a half (okay, maybe 10, but still, it was fast). I have a thermometer in my oven to keep track of the temperature (partly because the marks are almost gone on the knob, but also because not all ovens heat to the temp it says on the knob), and starting at about 350 the thing runs 10 to 15 degrees hot. Which makes a huge difference in bake times. Before that it runs pretty close to right, but can be between 5 and 10 degrees hot. Which, while not as big of a difference, does effect bake times. Especially in thos critical final 10 minutes. Luckily, I cook by smell almost as much as I cook by timer. :-) I've only ever actually burned burned one thing. Lemon bars I was making at a friend's house. I think his oven ran really hot because the things were supposed to bake for 25 minutes and they were burned at 15. Not that it matters now, and not that it really mattered then, I'm just saying.
The weirdest baking experience I ever had was when my mother's oven turned off on me while I was baking banana bread. I went to check on it about 10 minutes before it was supposed to be done and it wasn't even close, so I shrugged, closed the oven and set the timer for a little longer, When I went back the next time, I noticed that the oven was cool (not cold, just cool) and the pans weren't particularly hot to the touch. So, I turned everything off and then back on again, but it didn't turn back on. At this point, I have half baked banana bread (which, while delicious, is hardly edible) and a non-functioning oven. So, I run across the street to the neighbor and ask if I can borrow their oven (which is on par with borrowing a cup of sugar, but completely different). Luckily, Chuck was home and willing to let me use the oven. In return, I gave him some banana bread, once it was completely cooked. When my mother came home from work she turned on the oven and it started to heat right up. Several years later, they replaced the thing because it had pulled the same trick several times.
The moral of the story being, of course, if your stove doesn't work. Get a new one. :-D
Phrase for the week: Okay, crazy lady
Talk on ya later,
Harley
I tried out a new recipe for dessert for game last night. It's called Scandanavian Gold Cake and it is from the King Arthur Flour Baking Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook. I love that book, my parents gave it to me for the Christmas before last. My boyfriend gave me a copy of the Cookie Companion last Christmas (he's a good boyfriend, there are many reasons I keep him around). Anyway, the cake turned out very well. I overbaked by about 5 minutes, so it was a little darker and drier than it probably should have been. This is always a danger with cakes in the pound cake family, since they don't have much moisture aside from the eggs and butter. There was maybe a quarter of the cake left after game (just for reference, there are 5 of us and this is a cake that is supposed to be cut into 20 to 22 slices) and less than that once I got it home to the boyfriend. I love it when a recipe works out. I'm definitely putting that one into the make again category.
I'm still learning to bake in my oven (I've lived here for slightly less than a year), propane seems to burn hotter than regular natural gas (I think, what do I know about what gas comes out of the gas lines other than it burns). It's also harder to control the temperature. I know this is true on the stovetop, and it seems to be true in the oven as well. I've only used the broiler once, and I was super careful because they were ultra thin porkchops. Bone-in, but super thin and they cooked in about a minute and a half (okay, maybe 10, but still, it was fast). I have a thermometer in my oven to keep track of the temperature (partly because the marks are almost gone on the knob, but also because not all ovens heat to the temp it says on the knob), and starting at about 350 the thing runs 10 to 15 degrees hot. Which makes a huge difference in bake times. Before that it runs pretty close to right, but can be between 5 and 10 degrees hot. Which, while not as big of a difference, does effect bake times. Especially in thos critical final 10 minutes. Luckily, I cook by smell almost as much as I cook by timer. :-) I've only ever actually burned burned one thing. Lemon bars I was making at a friend's house. I think his oven ran really hot because the things were supposed to bake for 25 minutes and they were burned at 15. Not that it matters now, and not that it really mattered then, I'm just saying.
The weirdest baking experience I ever had was when my mother's oven turned off on me while I was baking banana bread. I went to check on it about 10 minutes before it was supposed to be done and it wasn't even close, so I shrugged, closed the oven and set the timer for a little longer, When I went back the next time, I noticed that the oven was cool (not cold, just cool) and the pans weren't particularly hot to the touch. So, I turned everything off and then back on again, but it didn't turn back on. At this point, I have half baked banana bread (which, while delicious, is hardly edible) and a non-functioning oven. So, I run across the street to the neighbor and ask if I can borrow their oven (which is on par with borrowing a cup of sugar, but completely different). Luckily, Chuck was home and willing to let me use the oven. In return, I gave him some banana bread, once it was completely cooked. When my mother came home from work she turned on the oven and it started to heat right up. Several years later, they replaced the thing because it had pulled the same trick several times.
The moral of the story being, of course, if your stove doesn't work. Get a new one. :-D
Phrase for the week: Okay, crazy lady
Talk on ya later,
Harley
Saturday, May 20, 2006
No eggs today...
I was going to bake tonight. I hadn't quite gotten down to the nitty gritty of exactly what (brownies were high on the list, but then again, so were chocolate chip cookies). Then I realized that I don't have any eggs. This makes baking very difficult, most recipes for desserts have egg in them. I could, no doubt, find something that doesn't, but that would take to long and I just wanted something quick and easy. I have to remember to get eggs tomorrow (it's possible that I should put a note on my forehead so that I'll actually remember this need at a convenient time, I probably won't go with the note). I'll have to ask Mom to bring some up to the stables when she comes to feed her horses. Mmm, homegrown eggs. A backyard flock is a good thing to have (actually, what's best is to know someone with a backyard flock). If I didn't have to worry about coyotes and raccoons wreaking havoc with chickens, I would probably have a couple of my own. Goodness knows I have enough snails and earwigs and sowbugs for them to eat that they would be some happy chickens. Until of course the coyotes or raccoons got them. That would be an ugly scene. Oh, and foxes probably too. And if there aren't foxes now they would hear about the chickens and show up just to prove a point.
I've decided that I don't like doing laundry. I don't mind the sorting really (right now I have a red load working). It's the whole having to find something to do that keeps me in the vicinity so I don't forget to move the wash to the dryer and then take the wash out of the dryer and fold it. I resent that part. I think I liked it better when the laundry got done by magic. Especially when I am in rehearsal for a show and spend a total of about 10 hours a day at home, and most of those are spent sleeping. Which is about to be the situation once again.
I had a mystery extra stitch on my last row of my diamond knit shawl. Which is very frustrating because I've been very careful with this one. I think I've fudged it though and it should be fine from now on. If it isn't I might have to commit a grievous act and unravel the whole thing (again!) and do something else entirely. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. I want this pattern to work, it's so pretty and soft and perfect for the intended recipient. Once again, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
My man isn't coming home tonight. :'-( He's working late and has to get up early, so he's crashing at a friend's place. I guess it's time to pull out the flannel pajamas and socks. I might not get to cuddle, but at least I'll be warm. And I can sleep in the middle of the bed. Which almost makes up for sleeping alone. Almost.
Time to put the laundry in the dryer! One step closer to clean clothes (well, they are clean now, just wet). Done. Complete with unscented dryer sheet (I like the softness and lack of static, not crazy about perfumes in my clothing care products, my detergent is unscented too).
I made me a good dinner tonight. Yummers. All it needed to achieve perfection was a piece of crusty bread on the side. Oh well, very little in this world achieves perfection. My new secret for delicious poached chicken is to put a piece or two of lemon (half a small lemon, a quarter of a larger lemon) in the poaching water. And salt it well (then, I like salt, if you dont, don't put as much salt, but a little bit helps the flavors combine and perkes them up at the same time). So, I did this, then when the chicken was cooked (in this case a boneless, skinless breast tenderloin), take it out and let it cool so you can shred it then use it however you like. Tonight, I added a little water to the poaching liquid, removed the lemon wedges, brought it up to a boil and dropped some fusili noodles into it. When those were partially cooked, I put the chicken back in, then added mixed vegetables (corn, artichoke hearts, green beans, yellow wax beans and baby carrots, all frozen) and cooked until the noodles were tender and the vegetables heated through. Then I added some spinach and kalamata olives and stirred until the spinach was wilted. I put it all in a bowl topped it with sauteed onions and garlic (from the other night, I made extra when I made it for my salad) and some parmesan cheese. It was delightful, and could easily have been made a vegetarian meal by adding mushrooms and not using the chicken, but I needed the protein, and didn't have any mushrooms on hand (which is a travesty, but I need to go grocery shopping and haven't in the past several days). Then I finished off the Breyers Dulce de Leche ice cream. Which would have been problematic except that there wasn't much ice cream left. And I enjoyed every bite of it. :-D
I think I'm going to go do a row or two of shawl and then call it a night. I should probably just finish my purl row and call it a night because I'm just as likely as not to make another mistake, and I really don't want to do that. I keep telling myself it's good for me to push my knitting boundaries, but another part of me wishes I had stayed safely within my known abilities. Oh well, I am determined to get it done (mostly right) now. I won't let it defeat me. I can be more stubborn than three skeins of yarn. I can. Really.
Talk on ya later,
Harley
I've decided that I don't like doing laundry. I don't mind the sorting really (right now I have a red load working). It's the whole having to find something to do that keeps me in the vicinity so I don't forget to move the wash to the dryer and then take the wash out of the dryer and fold it. I resent that part. I think I liked it better when the laundry got done by magic. Especially when I am in rehearsal for a show and spend a total of about 10 hours a day at home, and most of those are spent sleeping. Which is about to be the situation once again.
I had a mystery extra stitch on my last row of my diamond knit shawl. Which is very frustrating because I've been very careful with this one. I think I've fudged it though and it should be fine from now on. If it isn't I might have to commit a grievous act and unravel the whole thing (again!) and do something else entirely. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. I want this pattern to work, it's so pretty and soft and perfect for the intended recipient. Once again, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
My man isn't coming home tonight. :'-( He's working late and has to get up early, so he's crashing at a friend's place. I guess it's time to pull out the flannel pajamas and socks. I might not get to cuddle, but at least I'll be warm. And I can sleep in the middle of the bed. Which almost makes up for sleeping alone. Almost.
Time to put the laundry in the dryer! One step closer to clean clothes (well, they are clean now, just wet). Done. Complete with unscented dryer sheet (I like the softness and lack of static, not crazy about perfumes in my clothing care products, my detergent is unscented too).
I made me a good dinner tonight. Yummers. All it needed to achieve perfection was a piece of crusty bread on the side. Oh well, very little in this world achieves perfection. My new secret for delicious poached chicken is to put a piece or two of lemon (half a small lemon, a quarter of a larger lemon) in the poaching water. And salt it well (then, I like salt, if you dont, don't put as much salt, but a little bit helps the flavors combine and perkes them up at the same time). So, I did this, then when the chicken was cooked (in this case a boneless, skinless breast tenderloin), take it out and let it cool so you can shred it then use it however you like. Tonight, I added a little water to the poaching liquid, removed the lemon wedges, brought it up to a boil and dropped some fusili noodles into it. When those were partially cooked, I put the chicken back in, then added mixed vegetables (corn, artichoke hearts, green beans, yellow wax beans and baby carrots, all frozen) and cooked until the noodles were tender and the vegetables heated through. Then I added some spinach and kalamata olives and stirred until the spinach was wilted. I put it all in a bowl topped it with sauteed onions and garlic (from the other night, I made extra when I made it for my salad) and some parmesan cheese. It was delightful, and could easily have been made a vegetarian meal by adding mushrooms and not using the chicken, but I needed the protein, and didn't have any mushrooms on hand (which is a travesty, but I need to go grocery shopping and haven't in the past several days). Then I finished off the Breyers Dulce de Leche ice cream. Which would have been problematic except that there wasn't much ice cream left. And I enjoyed every bite of it. :-D
I think I'm going to go do a row or two of shawl and then call it a night. I should probably just finish my purl row and call it a night because I'm just as likely as not to make another mistake, and I really don't want to do that. I keep telling myself it's good for me to push my knitting boundaries, but another part of me wishes I had stayed safely within my known abilities. Oh well, I am determined to get it done (mostly right) now. I won't let it defeat me. I can be more stubborn than three skeins of yarn. I can. Really.
Talk on ya later,
Harley
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Dances with words
The question on my mind tonight is who makes a sewing kit but doesn't put any needles in it? The answer whoever put together the Dollar $tore sewing kit I got from a niece for Christmas. I guess you can't expect too much from a $1 sewing kit. However, I would have been happier if they had left out the miniature scissors (which I haven't tried, but probably won't cut much) and put in a needle. It's a good thing I didn't have an emergency needle need.
Considering dessert (although why I'm considering dessert when I haven't had dinner yet is a question for another time). I have a bunch of lovely Eureka lemons that I need to use up -- I might use one for my dinner... Instead of balsamic vinegar, I'll use lemon juice to dress my salad, which will be made of spinach, tuna, carrots, sauteed onions and garlic and not much else... Sometimes my brilliance in the kitchen astounds me (this isn't one of those times) -- but I'm craving chocolate (as usual, and who doesn't). I wonder if I can find a recipe that uses both chocolate and lemons (epicurious here I come...). Well, not tonight, I guess. I'll just have to settle (!) for dulce de leche ice cream with chocolate chips. It's a sacrifice, but one that I'm willing to make.
Dinner, by the way, turned out delightfully. Crunchy, chewy onions and garlic make any savory dish better (well, almost, I can think of a few that wouldn't be improved, but salads don't number in those ranks).
I was going to go yarn shopping this evening, but Mom and I were run off our feet at the store today (why do going out of business sales improve sales to the point where you might be tempted to stay in business if it weren't for the fact that your landlord had sold the property to a development group?), which means that I would not have been able to make a yarn decision to save my life. It's a good thing yarn decisions are rarely life or death. I do, however, need to get to work on the project for which I need to buy yarn. It is times like these that my determination to not buy yarn that I do not have a project for comes back to bite me. Because if I had a good yarn stash, and not just odds and ends, I could start without having to shop. Then again, I have three or four projects I could be working on right now, but am not. Okay, fine. Drunkard's Path afghan it is. I hate sewing squares together. I keep telling myself I will never again do a project that has squares that will later need to be assembled. It isn't nice to lie to oneself.
This is a partial list of things I need to make my kitchen complete:
cake pans (of various sizes, including springform and tube)
a good can opener (I have an old wonky one that works, but I don't need the workout everytime I want to open a can)
a waffle iron (mmm, waffles)
a griddle (pancakes, hamburgers, fried egges, bacon...need I say more?)
cast iron skillet(s) (umm, duh!)
wooden spoons (because I like using them)
a ladle (because I like soup)
roasting pan (roast chicken, roast beef, roast poatoes)
roasting rack (should I ever roast a turkey, I'll want one of these)
a slow cooker (I have one, but I want one where the pot comes out of the heating part, and I especially want the one I can use on the stove top or in the oven)
I can see that I need to get married in the near future. If only for the kitchen gadgets. ;-)
Word for the day: Picayune
Book(s) I'm reading: Rhiana by Michele Hauf
Yarn projects in progress: Sweater for Madeleine, Scarf for Kendall, Blanket for Mel and Miller, Valentine Filet Crochet for LUNA gift exchange. Oh hey! I could start working on Christmas presents. I have the yarn and the projects. Whee!
Phrase for the day: Holy Mackerel
Plant of the day: Snapdragon
Talk on ya later
Harley
Considering dessert (although why I'm considering dessert when I haven't had dinner yet is a question for another time). I have a bunch of lovely Eureka lemons that I need to use up -- I might use one for my dinner... Instead of balsamic vinegar, I'll use lemon juice to dress my salad, which will be made of spinach, tuna, carrots, sauteed onions and garlic and not much else... Sometimes my brilliance in the kitchen astounds me (this isn't one of those times) -- but I'm craving chocolate (as usual, and who doesn't). I wonder if I can find a recipe that uses both chocolate and lemons (epicurious here I come...). Well, not tonight, I guess. I'll just have to settle (!) for dulce de leche ice cream with chocolate chips. It's a sacrifice, but one that I'm willing to make.
Dinner, by the way, turned out delightfully. Crunchy, chewy onions and garlic make any savory dish better (well, almost, I can think of a few that wouldn't be improved, but salads don't number in those ranks).
I was going to go yarn shopping this evening, but Mom and I were run off our feet at the store today (why do going out of business sales improve sales to the point where you might be tempted to stay in business if it weren't for the fact that your landlord had sold the property to a development group?), which means that I would not have been able to make a yarn decision to save my life. It's a good thing yarn decisions are rarely life or death. I do, however, need to get to work on the project for which I need to buy yarn. It is times like these that my determination to not buy yarn that I do not have a project for comes back to bite me. Because if I had a good yarn stash, and not just odds and ends, I could start without having to shop. Then again, I have three or four projects I could be working on right now, but am not. Okay, fine. Drunkard's Path afghan it is. I hate sewing squares together. I keep telling myself I will never again do a project that has squares that will later need to be assembled. It isn't nice to lie to oneself.
This is a partial list of things I need to make my kitchen complete:
cake pans (of various sizes, including springform and tube)
a good can opener (I have an old wonky one that works, but I don't need the workout everytime I want to open a can)
a waffle iron (mmm, waffles)
a griddle (pancakes, hamburgers, fried egges, bacon...need I say more?)
cast iron skillet(s) (umm, duh!)
wooden spoons (because I like using them)
a ladle (because I like soup)
roasting pan (roast chicken, roast beef, roast poatoes)
roasting rack (should I ever roast a turkey, I'll want one of these)
a slow cooker (I have one, but I want one where the pot comes out of the heating part, and I especially want the one I can use on the stove top or in the oven)
I can see that I need to get married in the near future. If only for the kitchen gadgets. ;-)
Word for the day: Picayune
Book(s) I'm reading: Rhiana by Michele Hauf
Yarn projects in progress: Sweater for Madeleine, Scarf for Kendall, Blanket for Mel and Miller, Valentine Filet Crochet for LUNA gift exchange. Oh hey! I could start working on Christmas presents. I have the yarn and the projects. Whee!
Phrase for the day: Holy Mackerel
Plant of the day: Snapdragon
Talk on ya later
Harley
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