Rosemary Ragu

Yesterday, J was having a bad day. We met for lunch and he seemed really down so I offered to make dinner and asked what he was craving. Something meaty, he said. Well, his favorite has always been my bolognese. However, since it was a weeknight I couldn't make a real bolognese sauce, I didn't have hours. So instead I threw together this ragu which is basically a fake bolgonese. I say fake because it only stewed for an hour and a bit after I got it all together. That means I started cooking at 6, stopped fussing around 6:30 and we ate at 8.

The main component of any ragu is the meat. I was lucky enough to find fresh ground pork and lamb at the grocery store tonight and picked up some beef stew meat to round out the trio. In total the meat was about 1 kilogram worth but you could easily change up the ratios or add and subtract. Try some Italian sausage, veal or even ground chicken or turkey.

I chose rosemary to be the featured herb here because I think the strong flavour of rosemary has the ability to really stand up to the potency of the meat, plus lamb and rosemary are a classic combination. I even had fresh basil in the house, but really wanted to use rosemary. I didn't have any fresh rosemary but used dried instead. If you do have fresh rosemary, chop up a bit and use it as garnish rather then the parsley. My parents have a mailbox-sized rosemary bush at their cabin and whenever I go there I steal a few branches. An easy trick on how to dry it is simply to wrap it in brown paper bags and stick it in your pantry - works like a charm.

This is also my entry to this week's Weekend Herb Blogging hosted over at founder Kalyn's blog - Kalyn's Kitchen.

Rosemary Ragu:
(serves 6)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion
1 stalk celery
2 small carrots
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
.25 kg beef stew meat, cut into 3/4" cubes
.33 kg ground lamb
.4 kg ground pork
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
4 dried red thai chillies, crushed
2 tablespoons rosemary, dried
1 cup white wine
1 large can of diced tomatoes, nice Muir Glen ones
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
6 tablespoons grated Parmaggiano

1. Roughly chop onion, celery and carrot and then process in a Cuisinart until uniformly shredded. In a large Dutch oven heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat. Saute onion, celery and carrot for 8 minutes, stirring to avoid burning. It's fine if it browns. Add garlic and sauté another minute.
2. Push vegetables to the outside of the pan, turn up to medium heat and add the other 2 tablespoons of oil. When hot add the meat and salt and pepper, stir to cook evenly. Add rosemary and chile peppers. When almost no pink left add the white wine.
3. When 2/3 of the wine has evaporated add the tomatoes. When heated through and bubbling add the tomato paste and stir to incorporate.
4. Adjust the heat so that it is at the lightest of a simmer - an occasional bubble only. Cook for at least an hour stirring occasionally. There should be enough liquid. If it starts to dry out add a bit of water, or chicken stock.
5. Remove from heat and allow to cool until appropriate to run through a blender or food processor. Just give a few pulses - you want it uniform but still to have texture. Return to heat.
6. To serve spoon over fresh pasta and garnish with the cheese and parsley.

Technorati Tags: Cook, Stew, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, Herbs, Italian Food

How-to Shape an Épi de Blé

I love épis de blé. I love the crunchy baguette-exterior plus the fun of being able to break off a piece and have your own section. It's one of those silly things that I have been wanting to make since I have started making my own bread. Though this is my first attempt I feel that I understand it well enough to post about it. Especially since I know first hand how hard it was to find a good resource on the web. I learned how to do this from Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman. I think the main thing is to start with a very thin roll of dough. I used the beer bread recipe from The Bread Bible - it's the beer that gives it that rich colour.

How-to Shape an Épi de Blé:

1. First roll your dough out into a baguette shape. (Check out here for instructions on how.) Try and get it as thin as possible - thinner then the picture. Ideally about an inch and a half in diameter. Place it on the surface you intend to perform the final rise on.


2. With a very clean pair of kitchen scissors make a snip 3 inches down from the end. The snip should be approximately 45 degrees and should not cut through the baguette.

3. Gently lift the long end of the baguette and pivot it to the right 45-60 degrees.

4. Continue repeating the same procedure moving down the long end of the baguette, alternating your of pivoting the dough left and right, until you have the whole épi formed. Allow the bread to rise and bake according to your recipe checking it a little early just to be safe.

(Just for the sake of anyone googling this post without proper accents, it would be called: How to Shape an Epi de Ble.)

Technorati Tags: Cook, Bake, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, Bread, Bread Baking
, Bread Shaping

Ratatouille

Well, I was hoping to launch the new look today since today is the anniversary of my blog, but because of my computer problems that will have to wait. :( Instead I spent some time in the kitchen which is more fun anyways.

In an hour or so I have a couple of girlfriends coming over and we are going to attempt to make ravioli with my kitchen aid ravioli maker attachment. I haven't tried it yet so I will make sure to report back when I have gotten the hang of it. In preparation of this I wanted to make a side dish that could be prepared ahead and the lovely people on the chowhound forums gave me the idea - ratatouille!

My mum has been making ratatouille for as long as I can remember and it has always been one of my favorites. For many years on my birthday I would request that she make ratatouille and risotto. Yum! However, because my Dad is a fussy eater we never had eggplant in it, or peppers for that matter so this is a bit of a change for me. I made the recipe based on this recipe from epicurious however I changed up the proportions a bit and the spices. It is all done now and I can just reheat it when we are ready for it tonight! Of course, I did have to taste it for seasoning and I am very impressed - you can really taste the flavours of all the different vegetables and the colours are beautiful. The eggplant basically melts and becomes quite saucy. This also freezes well!

Ratatouille: (Serves 6-8 as a side)

1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 globe eggplant, chopped into 1/2" pieces
2 zucchini, quarterd lengthwise, then sliced thin
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
¾ lb roma tomatoes, cored and chopped
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
¼ teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
⅛ teaspoon ground coriander
1 handful fresh basil leaves
freshly grated Parmiggiano Reggiano

1. In a large skillet cook the onion and the garlic in 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-low heat, stirring to avoid browning the garlic, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and heat it over medium heat until it is hot but not smoking. Add the eggplant and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until the eggplant is softened.
3. Stir in the zucchini and pepper and cook the mixture over the moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and cook the mixture, stirring occassionaly, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
4. Stir in the oregano, the thyme, the coriander, the salt, and pepper to taste and cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute. Tear the basil and stir it in.
5. To serve garnish with a bit more basil and the cheese.

Technorati Tags: Cook, Vegetarian, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, vegetables

Still Sick -My Computer That Is

I heard back from the service centre and it turns out it is the logicboard. Which was what happened to the ibook as well. So the good news is that my data is all intact - yeay! The bad news? It will take at least a few days to order the new part and then install it. So I will be a little delayed in some of my posts. Sniff sniff. Apparently I do have an unusual amount of static electricity in my body - enough to fry three motherboards in 5 years.... weird stuff.

My iMac is sick :(

I am feeling a little bit like a cartoon today – a cartoon where the character is being followed around by this minuscule little raincloud that they can’t shake. This morning I was all ready to post this beautiful fish curry I had made (my new favorite way to eat white fish BTW). So I tried to login to my iMac from my laptop but it wasn’t responding which was weird. So I walked into our office in my pyjamas and clicked the mouse – nothing. I poked the keyboard – nothing. So I shut it down and tried to restart it. That’s when I heard the noise. Tick, tick, tick. It sounded as though it was trying to read the disk drive but it never booted, just kept making the noise. Major panic sets in. A year or so ago my precious iBook had given up the ghost also using the noise. So I went online and found nothing. I called apple and did all the stuff they suggested to do to no avail and so I took it in for repairs. Apparently what has likely happened is that the hard drive has died. That means all my beautiful pictures, my media collection, the new design for this blog are all likely gone. So sad. Of course I don’t know this for sure but I am preparing myself for the worst…

Sniff sniff…

Pistachio Pesto

This pasta is a beautiful discovery and I owe it all to Nicole from Pinch My Salt. I came across the recipe a week or two ago and have been saving it for a night when I felt like something quick. Since last night was Lost night I thought it would be perfect.

This also serves as my entry to this week's Weekend Herb Blogging. Now, I know that pistachios are not a herb... however I am stretching it a bit since pistachios in cooking are new to me and I thought it would be fun to learn a little something. This week's event is being hosted by Anna over at Anna's Cool Finds.

The pistachio is actually the seed of a fruit tree of the same name which is native to regions in Asia. The tree itself is gendered much like the eggplant and legend has it that lovers used to stand under them at night listening to the popping sounds of the shell's opening. The pistachio's I get up here, and likely most of North America does, come from California. Another interesting fact? In large quantities they are extremely flammable - enough to have problems of spontaneous combustion. Yikes.

For this recipe you need raw, unsalted pistachios which were a little difficult to find but do make the effort to pick up some when you seen them - they cost me $10 a cup or so. This serves as a great weeknight dinner since it is so quick but it doesn't feel like a thrown together meal either. I used rotini but the original recipe called for Farfalle.

Check out some more pistachio recipes from fellow bloggers:
Pistachio Cake, Pistachio Cookies, Pistachio Ice Cream, Browned Butter and Pistachio Brussel Sprouts, Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

Pistachio Pesto Sauce:
(serves 2-4)
½ cup raw unsalted pistachios
1-2 tablespoon olive oil
¼ onions, chopped
¾ cup cream
1 dried thai chile pepper, crushed
salt and pepper

1. In a small food processor pulse pistachios until coarsely ground and then pulse in enough oil to make a paste. Set aside.
2. When pasta is in the water cooking, heat 1T of olive oil over medium low heat in a skillet and add onion. Stir until translucent. Add pistachios and cook, stirring for about a minute - do not let brown.
3. Stir in the cream and stir until hot. Remove from heat and stir in chile pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Toss with pasta and serve.



Technorati Tags: Cook, Pasta, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, Wikipedia, Italian Food

5 Things You Don't Know About Me...

I have been tagged by Chris from MeleCotte! Yeay, they like me they really like me!
So here are five things you didn't know about me... and really how could you?

1. Though I am a software developer by profession and have worked at many companies including little dotcom's, big Redmond baddies and medium Business Intelligence providers less then 10 years ago I wouldn't have known how to hookup a keyboard. When I went to university, destined for a math or chemistry degree, my parents gave me my first computer and my Dad created an email account for me. I was so inept at this point that my Mum had to go through the Windows install screens for me.

2. I hate cooked peas. Mushy sweet gross things. What is weird about this? I LOVE raw English peas, the kind where you just eat the inside and they come out in May\June. I love them so much I have been known to eat whole pound bags in one sitting and then feel rather ill.

3. I have a debilitating fear of Robots. Maybe 90% of my nightmares involve robots, either as big killing machines or as humanoids or the worst - robots impersonating people I know. I blame the Terminator. Luckily this fear rarely affects my daily life.

4. My fourth cousin is Paul McCartney. Yes, the Beatle. He is a much younger cousin of my Grandpa - and no I haven't ever met him nor has any of my Canadian family.

5. Since I was a kid I have superstitiously lifted my feet every time
I cross railroad tracks. I can't even remember why at this point - it's either bad luck if you don't or good luck if you do, at any rate it is a real pain why I am driving.

That was fun!

Okay, so now that anyone reading this thinks I am crazy it is time to pass on the tagging! I am officially tagging some of my fellow Canadian food bloggers...

Lex Culinaria
Cream Puffs in Venice
Cardomom Addict
The Domestic Goddess
Once Upon a Feast

The game is on!


Technorati Tags: Food Blog Events

Vietnamese Inspired Cilantro and Asparagus Rice Noodles with Prawns

All day Sunday Food Network Canada was running a marathon of Kylie Kwong Simply Magic episodes. Before this I had only ever caught 30 seconds at a time but was never very excited. However I was doing chores and it was on in the background and I found it very inspiring. I didn't really find any of her exact recipes did it for me - but rather liked the ideas. Very simple, hence the title as well as all the fresh ingredients. It was this experience that put me on my current Asian food kick. Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese... it's all fair game - and since anything I cook is unlikely to be authentic it probably will all come out a little bit anyways.

So after making the Jamaican patties Sunday afternoon I wanted something light and fresh for dinner so I whipped up this vermicelli noodle dish. It could easily be done with other vegetables in place of the asparagus I just had a craving. I would definitely throw in some thinly slice red peppers next time!

Vietnamese inspired Cilantro and Asparagus Stir Fry with Prawns:
(makes 2 servings)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons ginger, cut into 1" matchsticks
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, minced
2 dried thai chillis, ground
1 dozen prawns, shells and tails removed and deveined
1 bunch asparagus, woody ends trimmed, cut into 1.5" pieces
1 lime, juiced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
⅓ cup chinese cooking wine, or sherry
1 green onion, sliced
2 small carrots, grated with a peeler
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
vermicelli noodles

1. Prepare the vermicelli according to the package directions. When draining run under cold water until cool to stop the cooking. Add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and stir to stop from sticking. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok over medium heat. Add ginger, garlic, the minced cilantro, and the chillis and cook for 3 minutes stirring.
3. Add prawns and asparagus and cook for 2 more minutes stirring.
4. Add 1/2 the lime juice the wine and the soy sauce and cook until the asparagus is just soft and the prawns are pink through.
5. Add in the vermicelli and stir until heated through - about 1 minute.
6. Remove from heat and toss in the green onion and 3/4 of the carrot.
7. Serve garnish with remaining lime juice, carrot, and cilantro leaves.

Technorati Tags: Cook, Stir Fry, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, Kylie Kwong, Food TV

More Kitchen Nightmares

If rumors can be believed here is some highly exciting news. According to the Chowhound's forums Gordon Ramsay is doing an American version of his BBC Kitchen Nightmares show. They used to air the British version on Food Canada and I loved it. He really does give good advice and is quite a bit more reasonable then he is on Hell’s Kitchen, which I also secretly love.


Technorati Tags: Cook, Food TV, Cooking, Food, Gordon Ramsay,
Chowhound

Rediscovering the Library

I remember being infatuated with the library when I was around 10 or so. I was a bit of a nerdy bookworm and I remember going to the library after school at least twice a week and being excited by what was in it and the power you had at your finger tips of the library catalogue.

And then, I got a bit social and didn't really use the library at all. In fact every birthday and Christmas I am so inundated with books as gifts that I have a big stack that feels never ending. In a good way of course. So except for the occasional paper in university (there aren't a lot of math papers) I really haven't used a library in almost 15 years. However, today I had a blissful moment that reminded me of why it is fabulous.

I finally got my hands on Jeffrey Hamelman's book Bread. I haven't made anything out of it yet. But I was excited so I sat down in the corner of the library during my lunch break and cracked it. Magically it fell open to a page on shaping epis de ble. I have been wanting to try and make these the whole time I have been baking bread but despite all my googling and checking in every bread book I see I have yet to find how to do this. It was like it was meant to be. So I am very excited about this book. Hopefully I will get a chance to make some bread this weekend, it has been almost 3 weeks so I have the itch!

So I guess the moral is to check at the library - the other neat thing about it is you can borrow a book for a few weeks and see if it is worth owning or not. (So obvious, I know.) Some cookbooks fit your style more then others. Another fabulous one I checked out was a recommendation from a Chowhound thread about asian cooking called Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. I made a minced pork dish from it tonight which I really liked. In fact the book is Chowhounds cookbook of the month. (This is as good a time as any to recommend Chowhound in recent web searches I have ended up there several times and got some really good advice.)


Technorati Tags: Chowhound, Cook, Cookbooks, Bread, Baking, Food

Jamaican Patties

Yesterday I felt ready for a challenge. I wanted to try and make something I hadn't ever made before and something which would make good snacks. I love anything naughty that comes out of the freezer like frozen pizza pops and stuff but I fully don't allow myself to buy them. However if I make it and knows what goes into it then it's okay to eat. At least that is my theory and it seems to work with the pierogies. So similarly, I decided to try my hand at Jamaican Patties. I made the pastry and the filling yesterday and left them to cool in the refrigerator until today when I had time to assemble them. I just googled for a recipe that fit the theme I was looking for and came across this one. I did alter it a bit and so I have transcribed my full version with more extensive instructions below.

I really liked how these came out. I have a great hot curry powder that a family friend brings us back from India every year so mine had a real kick. They are also a fun fussy thing to make since they are so large you don't feel as though you are assembling forever. I also managed to improve my technique as the process went on, specifically my dough rolling. I don't have much of a sweet tooth so I have only made real pastry a handful of times and rolling it out into a circle is challenging. I don't think I would change anything when I made them again I was quite impressed with how they turned out.

Jamaican Patties:
(makes 16)

Pastry:
2 cups flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon turmeric
⅔ cup shortening, cold
¼ cup butter, cold
⅓ cup ice water, or more or less as needed

Filling:
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon cayenne
1 lb ground beef
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1-1.5 cup water
½ cup breadcrumbs
extra turmeric, curry and flour for sprinkling

Pastry:
In a food processor pulse together flour, baking soda, curry powder, tumeric, and salt. Cut cold shortening and butter into 1 inch pieces and sprinkle over flour mixture. Pulse mixture until the butter and shortening pieces are pea sized. With processor running drizzle in water until a soft dough forms. It doesn't need to be a full ball, but it should stick together when pressed. Form into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap, press into a disc and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Filling:
In skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; cook onion, green onions, garlic and cayenne pepper for 3 minutes or until softened. Remove everything from skillet with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Turn up heat and saute beef for 5 minutes or until no longer pink; drain off fat. Return onion mixture to pan along with curry powder, thyme, tumeric, salt and pepper; cook for 3 minutes over medium heat. Pour in water; bring to a boil. Add crumbs; simmer for 3 minutes or until slightly thickened but still juicy. If the mixture gets too dry add more water. Let cool.

Assembly:
Start with a quarter of the dough and leave the rest in the fridge. Divide that quarter in 4 again. Roll out each piece into a 5" circle between two well floured pieces of parchment paper. I would suggest checking halfway to make sure the dough isn't sticking and dusting with more flour as needed.


Put two large tablespoons of filling in the bottom half of the circle leaving a one cm border around the edge. With a wet finger trace the bottom edge to wet it.

Fold the top half over and seal the edges by pinching. If the pattie is uneven trim it into a half circle using a knife.


With a floured fork gently press around the edges to finish the seal. (Don't worry if at this stage they look bumpy and uneven on the top, when they bake they will puff up and become even.)


Place on a floured piece of parchment and gently dust with a mixture of curry and turmeric.

Bake at 350F on a piece of parchment for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.

To Freeze:
Place unbaked patties on a parchment lined cookie sheet space so that they don't touch. Cover with parchment and/or floured cling wrap. Allow to freeze for at least 12 hours but not more then 36. Remove from tray and move into freezer bags or vacuum pack as desired. When baking frozen patties they will likely need 40-50 minutes.

Rosemary Feta Spread

I whipped this up a few months ago for a dinner party out of what I had in the fridge and it was a huge success. So this time I thought I would make it on purpose as my entry to this week's Weekend Herb Blogging. This week it is being hosted by the Chocolate Lady from In Mol Araan.
This makes a small recipe so feel free to double it. Keep in mind that it is extremely rich and salty, since it is mostly made of feta, so a little goes a long way. Another option would be to add more lemon juice and olive oil and turn it into a dip! This can be made ahead and will only get better with a day or two in the fridge. Serve as an appetizer with fresh bread and Kalamata olives or even as part of a cheese plate.

A similar recipe I have marked to try is for Tomato Feta Dip over at Chocolate and Zucchini. She also made it out of what was in her pantry.

Rosemary Feta Spread:
-100g feta
-1T fresh or dried rosemary
-1T nice olive oil
-1/4t freshly ground pepper
-juice of 1/2 a lemon

1. Crumble the feta into a food processor. Break the rosemary with your hands and add it as well. Pulse several times until evenly combined.
2. Take the cover off and add the fresh pepper and lemon juice. Again, pulse to combine.
3. With the machine running stream the olive oil in until you have a thick spread consistency, it make take a little more or less. Taste for seasonings.

World's Easiest Dinner Party: Indonesian Chicken and Coconut Rice

Most of the dinner parties in my circle of friends happen at my house because I have the best house for such events - even if I have no dining room table. Here is how a normal dinner party goes down at my house. Usually my friends and I chat via email and arrange to each bring something. Someone brings a salad, sometimes an appetizer always wine and we usually each bring a little something for the main. This works because it is usually a thrown together pasta or sometimes a homemade pizza. There are always at least three people in the kitchen, timing never works perfectly and we always fill up on bread before dinner, but it is always a good time. Really the key thing to note is that I do not play host - and really don't even try to. I like that people make themselves at home and have always been too afraid that if I try and host I will pull a Bridget Jones and make blue soup.

So, last Friday I had a friend in from out of town and had invited her over in a casual way for "dinner on Friday". Well on Wednesday I got a phone call from her and she wanted to know, how it would work, what she would bring, would we shop together and what time, etc. Well, I hadn't even thought about it. Not to mention planned it to the point where I could suggest something for her to contribute. But she is a planner, in the sweetest of ways of course, but a planner none the less. Backed into a corner I did what anyone faced with a hard decision would do - said I would take care of it. I told her to bring a bottle of wine and I would do the rest.

So on Thursday night I was seriously fretting. I knew that if I tried something too elaborate I would screw it up because of distractions. So I was sitting surrounded by my cookbooks attempting to get ideas when I came across a fabulous recipe that I had bookmarked in The Barefoot Contessa for Indonesian Chicken. The best part was that you could put it straight into the oven from the fridge after marinating. Perfect, so then I hit the Joy of Cooking looking for a rice dish to go with it and came up with coconut rice - also really easy. I woke up early enough the next morning to go and buy a pack of chicken thighs and everything else I needed for the dinner, set it all up to marinate and went to work.

All day in many, many meetings I kept thinking about my chicken and I had the most satisfying prepared feeling. After work all I had to do was wash the veggies for a salad and put them in a salad bowl. When my friends arrived I stuck the chicken in the oven and put the timer on for the rice. It was the easiest party ever - no one had to fuss over the dinner and I only got up twice while the chicken was baking - once to put on the rice and flip the chicken and then again to turn the rice down. When it was all done I tossed the salad in some simple lemon juice, chopped up the prepped cilantro and garnished the dish.

Did I mention how fabulous it was? Oh yeah, it was really good! So good in fact that I made it all again tonight for Valentines knowing I wouldn't want to be tied to the stove. This time I modified the chicken recipe a bit by decreasing the honey and adding chillis and cilantro. I would recommend using a bunch of the same kind of chicken pieces rather then a whole chicken because they will cook at the same rate - I am a fan of the thighs myself.

Indonesian Chicken:
(serves 2-4)

⅓ cup honey
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup ginger, peeled, minced
⅓ cup soy sauce
3 dried thai chillis, ground
1 lb chicken, skin on, bone in
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced

1. In a 2C liquid measuring cup combine ginger, garlic, honey and soy sauce. Heat in the microwave until honey melts. (About 45 seconds on medium.) Stir to combine.
2. In a shallow baking pan arrange chicken skin side down and pour sauce over top. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350F. Put chicken straight in oven from fridge. Cook for 20 minutes.
4. Raise temperature to 375F, turn chicken skin side up and uncover. Bake for another 20 minutes to get nice and brown. Check after 10 minutes - if it is starting to get too brown baste it.
5. Check chicken to make sure it is cooked (a thigh should be at 180F). Sprinkle two-thirds of cilantro on top and cover with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
6. Serve garnished with remaining cilantro with rice. Spoon extra sauce on top.

Coconut Rice:
(serves 2-4)

1 cup jasmine rice
2 cups coconut milk, you can make up extra with water, rathering then opening more then 1 can
2 slices fresh ginger
½ teaspoon salt
handful fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1. Stir everything but the cilantro together in a pot with a lid and bring to a boil.
2. Stir, cover and turn down to low. Cook for 20 minutes.
3. Test for doneness(if it isn't done put the cover back on and cook for another 2-5 minutes), fluff with a fork, garnish with cilantro

Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins

I have been cravings cranberries for months now and today was the day. My favorite use is honestly probably in martinis but you can't drink those everyday. There is something so nice about their tartness in a sweet surrounding. Plus they are full of antioxidants and so really good for you! On that note, this is my entry in this week's ARF Tuesday hosted over at Sweetnicks - don't forget to check out the round up.


I love making muffins to take to work for breakfast and I always try to keep them on the healthy side of muffins since they can definitely go in the cakey direction. I actually knew I wanted to make cranberry oatmeal muffins with some sort of nut on the way home so I googled for an exact recipe when I got home and found this one.

I am still working on my picture taking quite avidly. J is far more skilled then I am so he has been giving me pointers on lighting, exposure and white balance. I think the biggest problem seems to be the lighting and at this time of year it is basically impossible to take a food picture in natural light because of my hours. I still can't take pictures in the manual settings that are better then auto. But I think the pictures are slowly improving. Just having white plates is a bit of an improvement. In addition to that I am working on a complete redesign for the site. I haven't ever been happy with this template because it doesn't feel very individual - which of course it isn't. However it is taking forever because I am not very detail oriented and am not made of creative bits.

For anyone out there paying attention - thanks for all the great suggestions on names for my mixer - Delilah, Hermione, Ruby, Betty and Betsy. But Ruby seems to be sticking so Ruby it is! Gosh I wonder what will happen when I have to name a child? Currently the only thing in life I ever name is tech and even that is difficult. For example, my powerbook(River, as in River from Firefly), my car (Rolf the Golf) and my iMac (Cara). So now my newest child is Ruby!


Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins:
(makes 12 muffins)
1.5 cups fresh cranberries, chopped
¼ cup white sugar
1C oats
1 cup buttermilk
⅓ cup canola oil
½ cup brown sugar, (can sub white)
1 egg
½ cup flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 12 muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine cranberries and 1/4C white sugar. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine oats and buttermilk. Let stand for 5 - 10 minutes. Add oil, brown sugar, and egg. Beat until mixed. Add flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until mixed. Add cranberries and stir until mixed. Add nuts if desired.

Spoon mixture into muffin tins, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until lightly browned and set in the middle. Remove from pans and cool on a rack.

Lemon Chicken Salad

In the top 10 reasons why I enjoy blogging I would place this somewhere near the top - I like being challenged by blogging events. Granted I haven't participated in any of the really challenging ones yet like Paper Chef - but even trying to come up with a different way to cook with herbs, healthy foods or from your favorite cookbook can be a challenge. It's like an assignment for school and I am a nerd at heart.

This weekend my assignment was to make a salad from one of my cookbooks for the weekend cookbook challenge hosted by Tami from Running with Scissors. I chose the Barefoot Contessa cookbook because it is one I haven't quite got a sense of yet and wanted more. I hosted a couple people for dinner last week with some of her recipes and was highly successful so I was expecting good results.

The recipe below is verbatim from the book - but when I made it I had to make a few changes. For one, I couldn't find any sugar snap peas so had to concede to use regular snap peas and halved them to make it more manageable. Also I am grill-less so taking a pointer from Helen from Beyond Salmon I used my broiler to cook the chicken. Lastly rather then cutting the lemon into thin slices I chose to remove the rind and used mini wedges instead to avoid the rind - plus that way you eat it whole.

So? Conclusions. I wanted to love it. I really really did and I think it would improve if it was grilled and also the sugar snap peas may have improved it but I was still underwhelmed. The chicken post grilled simply tasted like it had had fresh lemon juice squeezed over it. So it seemed like a waste to go to all that trouble. Plus I found that the salad itself was a little too chunky to be manageable. In order to get a bit of everything in one bite you needed to have a rather large mouth which I do have but not really in the literal sense. That said, it was really fresh tasting and I am totally in love with lemon in salads as a part of the salad. I might make it again, but I would definitely modify it. The recipe is below directly as it comes from the book.


Grilled Lemon Chicken
¾ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
¾ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, minced
2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, halved and skin removed

1. Whisk together the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper and thyme. Pour over the chicken breasts and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
2. Heat a charcoal grill and cook the chicken breasts for 10 minutes on each side, until just cooked through.


Lemon Chicken Salad:
(serves 6)
2 lbs Grilled Lemon Chicken, see recipe
¼ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup raw sugar snap peas
½ red pepper, julienned
½ yellow pepper, julienned
1 lemon, thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Slice cold chicken diagonally into 3/8" thick slices. Toss them and their juices with the lemon juice, olive oil, peas, peppers, lemon slices and salt and pepper.
2. Taste for seasoning and serve cold or at room temperature.

Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Soup

Today began slightly hungover. I had a couple of girlfriends over for dinner last night and the wine consumption was a little obscene. So this morning me and my headache needed to be resuscitated. After some greasy eggs for breakfast I felt the need for some vitamins! When I was at the grocery store the eggplant looked so beautiful I took that as my inspiration.
With that in mind I checked out a couple of books for ideas - there were two recipes that certainly contributed to the end product. One is actually a dip with roasted red peppers in the Barefoot Contessa cookbook and the other was actually a soup with roasted red peppers from Soup which I currently have out of the library. Of course, having just made several dishes with roasted red peppers I really wasn't in the mood for more so I left those out.

This month Alanna at a Veggie Venture is focusing on soups. She already has a ton of really nice soups contributed from the blogging community posted here. What a good time to do it too when it is all dreary outside. I actually am drinking some of my soup out of a mug as I write this to help keep me warm.

Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Soup:
(makes 4-6 servings)

1 globe eggplant, peeled and chopped into 1" cubes
10 roma tomatoes, cored and quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
4 cups vegetable stock, or chicken stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced

1. Toss together the eggplant, tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper and garlic in a bowl to combine. Spread on a baking sheet and roast in a 400F oven for 40 minutes, turning every 15 minutes.
2. Put roast fruit into a food processor and pulse 2 or 3 times (you want chunky.)
3. In a soup pot combine with stock, sugar and tomato paste. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Serve garnished with parsley.

How to Clean your Garbage Disposal

This is a neat tip I saw on an episode of the Rachael Ray show from the other day. Eventually garbage disposal 'sget gross and smelly and here is an easy way to get in there to clean it without using crazy chemicals. She also alluded to being able to un-jam your disposal this way - but I can't test that so who knows.

You will need white vine