24 Wednesday Oct 2012
Posted in House Decor, Ideas, Outside the Kitchen
Do you ever wonder about my tastes and preferences outside of the kitchen? In case you are, I thought I might start sharing glimpses of my house decorations.
For the first post, here’s a picture of newly purchases silk pillow cases from West Elm. I couldn’t resist the silky, smooth, luxurious texture of the pillowcases or their rich color combination of silver, shades of blue, and green.
24 Wednesday Oct 2012
Posted in Decorating, Holidays, Ideas
Happy Halloween! This is my third time (ever) carving a pumpkin and a second year I have gotten together with friends to carve, eat, drink, and hang out ~ thanks Anya for hosting!
Once again, I decided to stay away from the typical Halloween designs and free-hand my own. I was inspired by paisley and flowing wave-like motives. This year, I tried surface carving first and then went back with a carving tool to make the holes for the candle light to shine through. What do you think?
And here is a look at the collective family of pumpkins – aren’t we a talented bunch?
“What’s that pumpkin without light?” you might wonder. That one belongs to the Artist. He decided to forego the carving tool and use a sharpie instead. Check out more of his art on his personal site.
Curious how I carved pumpkin in the previous two years? Check out pumpkin #1 and pumpkin #2.
Happy Halloween!
22 Monday Oct 2012
Posted in Cooking, Fall, Recipe, Snacks, Vegetarian
Right in time for the fall harvest and the orange of Halloween, I gift you with this recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash Hummus with Pomegranate Seeds and Wasa Multi Grain Crispbread.
Roasted Butternut Squash Hummus with Pomegranate Seeds
Ingredients
1 medium butternut squash, roasted*
2 tablespoons tahini
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
pomegranate seeds
Directions
1. Remove flesh from the butternut squash and place in a food processor. (Disclaimer – I don’t own a food processor. So I pureed the hummus in a large bowl, using a stick blender)
2. Add tahini, galic, lemon juice, cumin and paprika to the butternut squash. Puree until smooth.
3. Season the hummus with olive oil, salt and pepper.
4. Drizzle olive oil over hummus and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. Serve with Wasa Multi Grain Crispbread.
*To roast the butternut squash, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Quarter the squash and remove the seeds. Place the squash, cut side down on an oiled baking sheet and roast in the oven for 45-60 minutes, or until the squash is tender.
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20 Saturday Oct 2012
Posted in Cooking, Recipe, Vegetables, Vegetarian
“Hi! Are you home? I’m stuck in traffic, can I come over?” said my friend Priya over the phone. It was early on Friday evening and I was on the couch watching Grey’s Anatomy. “Have you eaten?” I asked. She hasn’t. I haven’t either. And so I told her to come over for a home cooked meal.
I looked inside my refrigerator and found a collection of random vegetables, a chunk of paneer cheese (Indian cheese that tastes similar to queso fresco) and naan. And so I made Clean Your Refrigerator Vegetarian Curry for my lovely vegetarian friend. As the vegetables simmered in spiced coconut milk, Priya and I chatted, and drank tea.
Clean Your Refrigerator Vegetarian Curry
Ingredients
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon yellow curry, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground szechuan peppercorn, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup green beans, cut into 1″ pieces
1 bell pepper, sliced
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cooked potato, diced
1 cup bean sprouts
salt to taste
chili paste
lime juice
chopped cilantro or basil
Directions
1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes. Add the spices and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
3. Pour in the milk and add beans and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes.
4. Add broccoli and potato and continue to simmer until vegetables are tender and the sauce thickens.
5. Stir in bean sprouts and season with salt, chili paste, and lime juice to taste. Serve with hot naan bread, chopped herbs (cilantro or basil) and extra lime juice.
If you are looking for a heartier meal, serve the curry over a bed of hot rice or soba noodles.
Follow by a night on the couch with a friend and cups of tea with maple cookies.
Thanks for stopping by, sunshine!
18 Thursday Oct 2012
I’ve had a few experiences baking challah at home. Unfortunately with less than perfect results. When it was time to bake Challah for Rosh Hashanah, I decided to turn to America’s Test Kitchen, fully trusting their multi-tested and scrutinized recipes. And I have to say, I was not disappointed! This challah turned out light in texture, easy to make (no hand kneading), and delicious. I might want to experiment by adding a bit more sugar, raisins, and perhaps another egg yolk for a more traditional, sweeter challah taste.
Braided Challah
from America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book
Ingredients
3-3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees Fahrenheit)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 large eggs
oil
2 tablespoons water
Directions
1. Whisk together 3 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt with electric mixer fit with dough hook attachments. (The recipe calls to use a stand mixer but I don’t have one. Hand held electric mixer worked just fine.)
2. Combine together water, melted butter, two whole eggs and one egg yolk.
3. Pour in the egg mixture into the dry ingredients while whisking at a low speed until the dough forms. Increase the speed to medium-low and continue mixing the dough for 8 minutes. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl but will stick slightly to the bottom. If the dough is too stick, add the remaining 1/2 cup flour a little at a time.
4. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large oil coated bowl. Turn the ball of dough to coat evenly with oil, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until it doubles, about 90 minutes.
5. Turn the dough onto a floured surface. I ended up dividing the dough into three parts and braiding it to form a round loaf. You can bake 2 challah from this recipe or do a double braid. Once the challah is shaped, lightly oil it, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another 45-75 minutes or until it doubles.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix together 1 egg white and water. Brush egg white wash over the challah and bake for 30-40 minutes, until it is golden and baked through. America’s Test Kitchen recommends internal temperature of 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
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15 Monday Oct 2012
Posted in Breakfast, Cooking, Potatoes, Recipe, Vegetarian
“These are the best potatoes I’ve had in years,” said the Artist after wiping his plate clean this Saturday afternoon. For late breakfast, that was bordering on lunch, I made Oven Roasted Smashed Potatoes. They were a smashing success!
The recipe works best with small potatoes, I love the red variety of the waxy golden yellow. You pick your own. Flavor the oil with favorite seasonings – I have used both olive oil, chili oil, and sunflower oil with success.
Oven Roasted Smashed Potatoes
Ingredients
6-8 small red potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. Place potatoes in a saucepan over medium high head and cover with cold water by an inch. Bring the water up to a boil, lower the heat and simmer potatoes until tender but not falling apart.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. Spray lightly with nonstick spray.
3. Drain potatoes and cool slightly. Smash potatoes with a heavy, flat surface – I used a meat tenderizer. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
4. Stir together the oil and the seasoning. Spoon half of the oil on one side of potatoes and bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Turn the potatoes and spoon the rest on the oil and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the skin is crisp. Serve immediately.
What’s your favorite way to eat potatoes?
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11 Thursday Oct 2012
I wish there was breakfast delivery. You would wake up in the morning, and your breakfast would be dropped off at the door. Or perhaps served to you in bed. I must still be dreaming.
Regardless, when the breakfast delivery failed and my refrigerator proved to be empty, I turned to the box of matzo leftover from Passover. I pulled out a single sheet of this unleavened bread and broke it in half.
Both sides got smeared with cream cheese. The savory-to-be-matzo was topped with thinly sliced tomato, cucumber, salt, pepper and the last sprigs of summer basil plant.
The sweet matzo was spread with apricot jam, sprinkled with toasted slivered almonds and a handful of chocolate chips.
Who said breakfast had to be hard?
08 Monday Oct 2012
Posted in Beets, Book Club, Cooking, Meatless Monday, Recipe, Sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Perfect for Meatless Monday, try this Indian-style Roasted Beets and Carrots Salad I made for the cookbook potluck club from the recent selection of Oxbow Farm vegetables. Enjoy!
On the night that I received the basket, I made a composed salad and drank a glass of wine.
This time around, I had a little bit more time to play with the remaining contents of the box and decided to see how beets, leeks, and carrots would co-exist with one another. This happened on the same night as my book club had a meeting to discuss a book Climbing the Mango Trees ~ Madhur Jaffrey’s Memoir of a Childhood in India. I chose turmeric, ginger, garlic, and mustard seeds to bring out the Indian flavors in the dish and got to cooking.
Indian-style Roasted Beets and Carrots Salad
Ingredients
4 medium beets, peeled and chopped
4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons vegetable
oil
salt and pepper to taste
turmeric to taste
ground cayenne pepper to taste
2 tablespoons coconut oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 leek, white part only, halved and sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground
cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1 lime
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Toss beets and carrots with vegetable oil. Season with salt, pepper, turmeric and ground cayenne pepper. Arrange the vegetables in a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 35-45 minutes, stirring half way through. Vegetables should be caramelized and tender when finished.
3. Heat coconut oil in a nonstick large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and ginger and saute for 2-3 minutes, until golden. Add mustard seeds and stir until they pop.
4. Add leeks and lower the heat to medium. Cook leeks, stirring often, until they are soft, 10-15 minutes.
5. Stir in sugar, turmeric and cayenne pepper. Mix together with the leeks.
6. Toss roasted vegetables together with cooked leeks. Season with salt and pepper and lime juice.
You can eat this hot, room temperature or chilled.
I sincerely loved being a part of the Oxbow Box project and am excited to see what my fellow bloggers did with theirs. The produce inside the box was vibrant in color, aroma, and flavor – sign up with Oxbow Farm CSA to receive your own box!
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04 Thursday Oct 2012
Posted in Lunch, Restaurant Review, Seattle, Soup
The other day, lunch plans fell through, and I was left sitting at my desk without food. Hungry. Sneezing and coughing. I was cold. I just had pho a few days earlier and was craving a different kind of soup. Why not chowder?
I have heard about Pike Place Chowder many times with rave reviews – fresh, creamy, delicious and comforting. I chose to skip the busy, original Pike Place location, and instead headed a few blocks up to the Pacific Place.
Before I saw the regular menu, I was greeted by a hand-written menu with two daily specials. Chorizo and oysters? How could I resist.
I went for a medium size, sans the bread bowl, and received a complimentary slice of bread and crackers. The chowder kept warm on my way back to work. I added a sprinkle of black pepper and a few shots of Tabasco and lingered on the creamy, rich, health restorative chowder.
