Curry in a hurry

Curry has many variations.  You can go Thai, Indian or even Japanese!

You can basically add any meat, vegetable or crustacean to the pot!

I decided to make a vegetarian curry with Indian spices.

I made my curry with green beans, garbanzo beans and cauliflower.

First I washed my beans and trimmed off the ends.

Then I started some rice in my rice cooker. Brown basmati to go with my Indian theme.

Chopped up the onion and cauliflower.

Here's the rest of the ingredients: garbanzo beans, can of diced tomatoes, turmeric, garam masala and ground coriander.

First I cooked the onion for about 2 minutes.  Then I added the spices and cooked for another minute.  For the spices I eyeballed the amounts and I put approximately 1 Tbsp garam masala, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp coriander and 1/2 tsp chili flakes.  Next in the pot was the cauliflower, and then after another minute or so I just dumped all the rest of the ingredients in the pot, added some water to ensure that there was enough liquid for the vegetables to stew in, and then I put a lid on it and let it simmer on low heat for about 2o minutes.

After about 20 minutes the cauliflower was tender so I proclaimed my curry done.

It was fragrant and pretty flavorful, but I think it could be spicier!

Stuffed Peppers

So I kind of made this up as I went along...

Started with the idea of stuffed bell peppers and a fancy box of rice-a-roni, added some stuff and voila!

The bell peppers need to be softened up a bit first so wash them, cut them in half, take out the veins and seeds, and place cut side down on a baking sheet.  Cook at 325 for 30 min.  Skin of peppers should be just starting to get wrinkly.

This is the box of "Rice Pilaf" I used.  I had made a similar recipe before using a box of cheesy risotto, but when I went into Vons I couldn't find that again so I settled for this.

Then I added in some extras: some diced mushrooms, some chopped walnuts, a drizzle of truffle oil, and some shredded Parmesan cheese.

I got this truffle oil from my friend Dom, who bought it for a recipe she made, ended up not liking it, then was kind enough to think of me, her foodie friend, Laura!  This stuff is good, but potent- so use sparingly! 

Very umami...

So follow the directions on the package for your rice.  In this case it was add 1 3/4 Cup water and 1 Tbsp butter or oil to saucepan.  Bring to boil.  Add rice and season package.  Bring to boil, reduce heat to low , cover and simmer 18-20 minutes or till liquid is mostly absorbed.  Towards the last few minutes I added the mushrooms.  Once I turned off the heat, I added the truffle oil, a little Parmesan (I saved most of the cheese to add on top) and the walnuts.

I dispersed the rice mixture into the bell pepper halves and then topped with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

Then back in the oven!  Crank up the heat to 350 and cook for another 30 minutes.

And the result:

Cheesy goodness!

Arctic Cake

Well, I can't take much credit for this cake, but the credit does go to my awesome coworkers at The Natural History Musuem aka The Nat.  These ladies created a narwhal out of marzipan.  Need I say more?

I was honored enough just to add a nose and claws to the polar bear and take pictures...

Ok so My Idea to make penguins out of black olive and cream cheese got vetoed..

Instead the penguins were made out of marzipan aka almond paste.  The marzipan smelled delicious, but I'm not gonna lie, looked a little like play-doh. 

This cake was made as part of a centerpiece competition for the annual volunteer appreciation dinner at the museum.  The theme was "We'd go to the ends of the earth for you." Based on our next exhibition due to open exactly one month from today "Ends of the Earth: From polar bears to penguins," about the North and South Poles!

The Cheese Shop

I have passed by this place downtown many times and have always wanted to go check it out.  Afterall with the word "cheese" in the name how could I resist?

A bike ride downtown on Sunday provided the chance I have been waiting for...

OK so you go inside and you sit down at a table and the first thing that you notice is The Table!

I was fascinated and took a few pictures of our table.

All of the tables were different. I saw one next to us that had peanut shells and beer coasters.  Another table had all sorts of knives and other sharp objects. hehe

This place was not at all what I had expected.  I had imagined you would walk in and there would be a cheese counter at the front full of gourmet cheese and you could buy cheese by the ounce or put it in a sandwich.  I imagined a more "cafe" like menu with baguettes and quiche.

This place was more like a diner/deli.  They had american breakfast like omelets and pancakes.  People around us were eating brunch and on the menu they had mimosas and bloody marys.

The lunch menu was mostly hot and cold sandwiches-not all even containing cheese.

I didn't see any fine cheeses for sale, but they did have a display of "cheese shop" frisbees, and when I went to the bathroom in the back of the restaurant there were all these photographs of people posing with the "cheese shop" frisbees in locations all over the world. Weird.

Steve went with the club sandwich with a side of potato salad.

I had a grilled cheese with coleslaw.  I had the "pick your own cheese" grilled cheese and I chose the smoked gouda (and I said, "this better be gouda...") and added tomato.

The food was pretty darn good, but downtown prices.  So like $8-10 per sandwich and like $2.75 for a soda.  The service was great and the atmosphere was interesting.  I would have to say that I was glad that I finally gave this place a try, but that I probably wouldn't return any time soon because of the prices.  Also there wasn't anything that unique or amazing on the menu that I would have to come back and try.  Fare was pretty standard.  Good, but standard.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I decided to make these muffins for my beloved co-workers/guinea pigs.

Borrowed the recipe from this persons blog:

http://www.playinghouseblog.com/2010/06/lemon-poppyseed-muffins.html

2/3 cup granulated sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) butter, melted

2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
1 Tablespoon sugar

For the glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar whisked together with 2 or 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice

Zest and Juice your lemon.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. 

Put paper liners in muffin pan.  Place your muffin pan on top of a cookie sheet.

Rub together lemon zest and sugar until well combined.

Mix together dry ingredients: sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt.

Then mix together wet ingredients: sour cream, eggs, vanilla, butter, lemon juice.

Combine dry and wet ingredients together.  Fold in poppyseeds.

Divide batter into 12 muffins.

Bake muffins for 18 minutes.

Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes.  Then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Once cooled make glaze (1 cup powdered sugar and 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice) and drizzle on top of muffins.

 

Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon Meringue Pie is one of the first recipes I can remember learning how to make.  Growing up my family had a lemon tree in our backyard and my mom would often make lemon meringue pie, one of my favorite childhood desserts!

I came across this recipe in an old notebook of recipes I started keeping in high school.  The notebook was full of old favorites, holiday cookie recipes, and newspaper clippings.  My tastes have changed a lot since then, so I discarded much of the old notebook, but the lemon meringue pie is here to stay.

Bake your pie shell and zest your lemons! It's time to make PIE!

Ingredients for Pie Filling

1 1/2 C sugar

3 Tbsp cornstarch

3 Tbsp all purpose flour

Dash salt

1 1/2 C hot water

3 slightly beaten egg yolks

2 Tbsp butter or margarine

1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

1/3 C lemon juice

9" baked pastry shell, cooled

In saucepan mix sugar, cornstarch, flour, and salt.  Gradually add hot water, stir constantly.  Cook and stir over medium high heat till mixture boils.  Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Stir a small amout of hot mixture into yolks, then return to hot mixture.  Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes, stir constantly.  Add butter and lemon peel.

Slowly add lemon juice, mix well. 

Pour into pastry shell.

Now time to make the MERINGUE!!!

Meringue Ingredients

3 egg whites

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

6 Tbsp sugar

Beat egg whites with vanilla and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.

Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff and glossy peaks form and all sugar is dissolved.

Spread Meringue over hot filling, sealing to the edge of pastry.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread

My mom makes corned beef and cabbage, but once a year, around the time of St. Patrick's day.  This year I offered to bring the Irish soda bread to accompany the feast.

I used the recipe from this blog:

                       http://www.rotinrice.com/2010/03/irish-soda-bread-and-irish-breakfast-tea/

I have done alot of baking, but have never really made bread before.

Soda bread does not use any yeast and is a very simple recipe!

Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp caraway seeds
2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp butter
½ cup raisins
1 cup buttermilk

I had high hopes for this recipe since I spent $6.50 on caraway seeds...

It came out perfectly and everyone loved it!

Preheat Oven to 375

In a large bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, caraway seeds, and sugar.

Use two knives to mix butter into dry ingredients until it resembles coarse bread crumbs.

Add raisins.

Then add in buttermilk and combine.  Knead dough just a couple times to form dough.

Place dough on parchment lined baking sheet and pat into an 8" circle. 

Dust with flour and cut a cross in the top about 1/2" deep.

Bake at 370 for 35 minutes.

Place on a wire rack to cool.