Search around, let simmer...

Saturday, May 26, 2012

First Meal?

... Well, not really, but I wanted to write a quick review of a great product I found looking for something easy to eat without molars. Kozy Shack Rice pudding has always been a great go-to. With some cinnamon, or one of the flavored varieties, I can eat it and eat it and eat it...
But for the lactose-Intolerant maong you, try Soyummy . I've so far only tried the rice pudding but With cherry, Lime, chocolate, and tapioca left to sample, I know I can expect to come back for more.



It has a strong vanilla taste, well cooked tender rice, and a unique smoothness unlike dairy-based puddings. It's slightly less sweet but equally as delicious as the standard Kozy Shack Rice pudding.
at 110 calories, 6 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein I love this stuff.


Last Meal...

Gulp;
Liquids are curious foods. Colloids: even more peculiar. I'm kind of fond of solid foods so before having the old wisdom teeth extracted and sutured, I wanted to try a new recipe. It wasn't anything spectacular but I saw something similar on the Huffington Post Kitchen Daily page. I'm rather fond of the resource, between the recipes, reviews, and musings on the culinary.
Anyways, I whipped up a basic pasta dish you might like. I call it Rotini Pima-Pesce

Makes 2-3 servings
1 cup Eden spirals Kamut Pasta, or your favorite alternative
5-6 canned artichoke hearts, diced
1 cod loin, thawed (if frozen)
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 bunch of Beet greens, well rinsed and ribboned
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 Vidalia onion, sauteed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup peas, frozen or fresh
Pepper
Sea Salt
Fresh Basil, Oregano, Thyme diced finely
Optional
1 handful raw microgreens (like Dandelion greens!)
A drizzling of balsamic vinegar


Saute garlic and onions with oil until translucence and some browning just begins. Add peas and tomatoes with artichokes. Add beet greens after a few minutes of sauteeing and add spices to taste. Finally add fish, broken up and cook until flaky.
Serve atop lightly vinegar-dressed greens and as always


Enjoi!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Classics...

Call it Occam's Razor, call it chemistry, or maybe just call it good bread. Old, simple; always good.
The newest member of my bread-baking family has driven the creation of a new kind bread in my kitchen. It's something more rustic than the simplest of American Sourdoughs yet more complex and coordinated than the plainest of back-of-the-flour-sac recipes. It's called a Miche made with something called a Levian.
Levain: sea monster, right?
No, not Nessy.
A Levain is a naturally leavening pre-ferment not unlike a sourdough. While a leviathan may well be soothed by its sweet product, it is not nearly so delicious or attainable.
Now I love to bake with sourdough. The distinct sourness of the acids, the nurturing of the bubbly culture, and the tremendous rise it produces within the loaf in question - what's not to like?
Well exploring an older style of baking and using only salt, water, and whole wheat flour a great piece of baking history can be brought into the present.

The Risen Loaf: Pre-bake
Thanks to Local Breads, a great cookbook from one of my favorite bakeries in scenic Rhinebeck, New York I've found a whole new world of old  loaves to explore. I truly implore you to read this tremendous book; it's a bit daunting in some places but really gives a good feel of where bread baking has been and is a definite next-step for the experienced baker.
With a week or so of feeding and nurture, several hours of proofing, fermentation, a few kneads, and a spell in a hotter-than-usual oven, the product of one recipe for Rustic Miche produced wonderful results.

 The sadly fallen loaf, delicious nonetheless. Look at that gluten!

Buy the book, Bake some bread, Enjoy!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Bountiful...

It isn't typically a word I'd associate with something as indulgent as brownies. Try wholesome, nutritous, delicous. Well maybe that last part fits... Fair enough.
Well here's a recipe I've adapted from that given on Vegetarian Times which sounded generally irresistable. Red velvet brownies they called them. My adaptation takes that a step further:

Red Velvet Brownies Take 21/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder (preferably Dutch Processed but cocoa is always good, no matter its acidity)
2 eggs
1/2 cup chocolate chips...or more
2 beets, peeled, boiled, blended
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup agave nectar (or 1/2 cup sugar)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp instant coffee (Nespresso or similar)

Combine all wet ingredients with sugar and add remaining dry ingredients, themselves whisked together, in 2 parts. Pour into prepared baking vesicle (I used a 9x9 parchment-lined pan) and bake for 20 or so minutes at 350, or until just firm and producing a dry toothpick-test. They rise very little, so the thicker the batter the thicker the product, so plan accordingly. 
Brownie Batter...Mmmm
Enjoi!
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Sunday, May 13, 2012

Sweet Home...

Massachusetts, I'm back in town. Is it good to be back?
You bet.
I haven't done too much cooking I'm afraid, for a long time...
I did however get around to whipping together a simple Quinoa salad for an impromptu soiree with friends from  an earlier time. A better time? No, but a life I miss more deeply with every memory. The six of us enjoyed a bounty of grilled goods, citrusy salad, summer sweets and strawberries. Pounds of strawberries...
I missed home. I missed summer. Come fall, I'll be sick and tired and look forward to college but for the interim, I'll soak in all the sunny, sumptuous, and friended hours I can.

Quick Summer Quinoa:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 cucumber, partially peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and shopped
3 medium radishes, quartered and sliced
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp Evoo
Fresh chopped Organo
Pepper, salt, and spice to taste

Prepare quinoa according to directions and let cool. Combine all ingredients and fluff. Chill and serve!

Enjoi!