apuginthekitchen

Jun 20

Sri Lankan Curry Chicken Kebabs for Fiesta Friday #21

Chicken kebab

Almost a year ago I had a pot luck here at my house for a group of great cooks that I know from Food 52 and some from blogs I follow. One of the incredible cooks is Queen Sashy her blog is Three Little Halves, if you haven’t seen it you should take a look it’s incredible, the recipes, the photography the writing, no wonder it has been nominated and given awards, Just beautiful!! So she brought me a bottle of her own homemade spice blend, Sri Lankan Roasted Curry powder. It’s is fragrant and incredibly delicious. I put it in my spice cabinet and forgot about it, until today. I wanted to bring something to the party that is easy to eat, not messy, yet very tasty. so kebab is a great choice. I marinated chunks of chicken in greek yogurt, salt, pepper, the curry,garlic, ginger, lime juice and lime zest.

Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder

Back to the party, every Friday we all get together for a fabulous food fest the AHMAZING Angie @The Novice Gardener as always is our fearless and fierce leader. This weeks festivities are co hosted by Elaine@foodbod and Julianna@foodie on board. Both a lot of fun, accomplished cooks and I for one am very excited that they are hosting this week. If you want to join Fiesta Fridays don’t hesitate, do it, just click on the link in this paragraph for Angie the Novice Gardener.

Sri Lankan Curry Chicken Kebabs

1 1/2 lb chicken cut into bite size pieces

1 cup greek yogurt unflavored

juice of 1 lime

zest of 1/2 lime

2 heaping tsp Sri Lankan roasted curry powder or your favorite curry

1 clove garlic minced

1 tsp fresh ginger grated

salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything but the chicken in a bowl, add the chicken and toss to make sure each piece is coated. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to cook, skewer pieces of chicken scraping most of the yogurt marinade off, you can grill on the stovetop or outside on your grill. I found it took approximately 10 minutes for them to cook through I turned to make sure all sides were evenly browned. Sprinkle with sumac before serving if you like and have on hand, also a squeeze of fresh lime is delicious.

You can eat this with rice, on it’s own with salad or on flat bread with yogurt and mint.

Kebab on flatbread

Fiesta Friday

Jun 19

72 Comments

A Guest Post, Light French Crepes

Crepes Suzette courtesy Elsa La Pintade Aixouse

This beautiful recipe comes all the way from France from the beautiful Elsa of La Pintade Aixoise. Now anyone who has read my blog on a fairly consistent basis knows I am a big fan of Julia child. I have used her recipe for crepes for much longer than I care to admit and it’s perfect, I love it, but I am always excited to try a new recipe especially one that is “light. Elsa’s crepes contain no butter in the batter and I was skeptical but you know what, it really produces a wonderfully light crepe. Who knew. I always trust the French when it comes to the culinary arts, they know their stuff. This post was actually supposed to be a part of my basics series a few months ago but Elsa had a baby and was away from blogging for a while. I am so happy she is back and posting again. I do love her blog, there are several fantastic blogs that I follow from France and they are all amazing. Look at her post for the classic Crepe Suzette or her gorgeous Macaron or her Apple Cardamom Tarts

I had to try her recipe and it was easy to make and the crepes are perfect. Be sure to let your batter sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Have melted butter and brush ready to brush onto your crepe pan and make sure the pan is hot enough before adding the batter and swirl and swirl so that you have a thin coating on the entire pan. It’s really easy and crepes are always impressive and I love that they can be breakfast or an elegant dinner or dessert. The recipe makes a lot of crepes, I like to freeze them with a sheet of parchment in between each crepe and slipped into a ziplock bag. Remove what you need let come to room temperature and heat in the oven or quickly in a fry pan.

Breakfast crepes

Light french crêpes

Unlike pancakes, the french crêpes are very thin. The light can be seen through.
For 20 items of 8 inches diameter :

Pastry flour: 8.8 ounce
Salt: 2 pinch
Eggs: 4 large
Half fat milk: 2 US cups
+
A flavor of your choice:
1tsp of rhum or triple sec (orange alcool),
1tsp of orange flower water,
1 packet of vanilla sugar,
a grated citrus peel…
+
Butter or shortening for cooking

Pour pastry flour and salt in a bowl. Dig a well and put eggs into it.
Stir with a whisk. Keep carefully stirring in the center of the bowl, flour and eggs will stir together and lumps will be avoided.

Add 1/3 milk and the flavor of your choice, keep stirring at the center. Then add little by little the rest of the milk till the batter be completely homogeneous.
Whisk firmly two or three time perfectly scrubbing the edges of the bowl.Let the batter rest during an hour before cooking.

Stir the batter.
In a hot 8 inches diameter frying pan, let melt a 1/2 tsp of butter and drop the excendent with absorbing paper. Stir on the frying pan a 1/4 cup of the batter.
Turn quickly the frying pan to spread the batter very thinly all over it.
When edges of the crêpe get golden and move away from the frying pan, flip the crêpe with a wooden spatula and get the other side golden.

Jun 18

70 Comments

Campari,Lemon,Lime Sorbet

Lemon Lime Campari sorbet

It’s hot in NYC, and I felt compelled to offer another frozen confection for an adult audience. Campari and soda with lime is one of my favorite drinks, I like it ice cold. The campari is a little bitter with herbal undertones and when mixed with sparkling water and lime it’s such a refreshing and delicious drink. While enjoying one I thought that it would make a fantastic sorbet and the sorbet would make a great drink, a very adult float. I posted this recipe about 2 years ago, it’s wonderful and perfect for hot summer weather so I thought I would share it with you again.

You can make it however you like it, all limes, all lemons, mix them, sweeten to your taste. There is no real recipe here but the one thing you have to be careful of is how much Campari you add, because it’s alcohol it doesn’t freeze hard, I found that 1/2 cup will freeze but it takes longer than regular ice cream or sorbet, so be patient. Make sure you get the base really cold. I put it in the freezer about an hour before I am going to put in the ice cream maker. Hey, if you don’t have an ice cream maker make it into a granita. Anyway you have it, it’s delicious!! Unless you don’t like Campari of course.

The Base

Serves 6 or more depending on serving size

1 1/4 cup Juice from freshly sqeezed lemons and limes you can decide the ratio as long as it equals 1 1/4 cups I used 4 limes 3 lemons

1 cup water

1 1/2 cup super fine sugar

1/2 cup Campari
Combine the juice of the lemons and limes, super fine sugar, water and campari mix until the sugar is disolved. Place in the refrigerator to chill, should be very cold. Pour into your ice cream maker and churn away.When the sorbet is thick and the consitency of a slurpee pour into a freezer container. Its best to freeze over night or until it is scoopable. Note: You can also use simple syrup, for this batch I used lime simple syrup adding a little super fine sugar to taste.

If you want to make a float simply add two or three scoops to icy cold sparkling water. Refreshing!!

Campari sorbet and soda

Jun 15

97 Comments

Chai Honey Pecan Ice Cream

YUMMY

The good people at Calmer Sutra Tea were kind enough to send me a jar of their Hiranya Chai Spiced Honey after seeing my post on granola that was made with their delicious ginger infused honey. I have become a big fan of the company and I have Mary Frances from Mary’s Secret Ingredient to thank for that. She sent the jar of honey in my box of goodies along with their tea. It was love at first bite for me and now I am hooked on their delicious products. They did not ask me to create a recipe but how could I not after tasting this amazing honey. It’s summer in the US (finally) and my thoughts turn to ice cream. I also think this would be delicious made with coconut milk also for my vegan and lactose intolerant friends.

The ice cream is made with chai honey and organic sugar using my basic recipe for custard. I thought well, chai honey ice cream would be amazing but why not add some pecans, but not just any pecans. I coated them with butter and chai honey and toasted them in the oven. The fragrance is intoxicating. Honestly, if you want a great snack make a big batch of these nuts and put them out, I guarantee you and your family or guests will love them. You can’t eat just one!! The ice cream is creamy with a hint of chai spice and honey and absolutely wonderful with the pecans. Serve on it’s own or I think it would be amazing on a warm slice of apple pie. I am a big fan of their products, the tea is incredible and well, you know what I think of the honey. The flavor is intense, absolutely natural and the quality is excellent. I highly recommend you give their products a try. Full Disclosure: I was sent a jar of the honey from Calmer Sutra but the opinion is totally my own!!!

Chai Honey Pecans

Chai honey buttered pecans

3/4 cup pecans

1 tbs salted butter

1 tbs Calmer Sutra chai honey

Pre heat oven to 300. Melt the butter (I used the microwave) place pecans, melted butter and chai honey in bowl and mix, make sure each nut is covered in the honey and butter. Place on parchment lined baking sheet and toast in oven for 15- 20 minutes. Let cool, break apart and give a rough chop and set aside. Important: I toast the nuts on low heat, first time I did it the oven was too hot and the honey burned. I found 300 degrees for 15 or 20 minutes is perfect.

The Custard Base

5 egg yolks

1/1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk or half and half

3 tbs Calmer Sutra Chai Honey

1/4 cup organic sugar

pinch of sea salt

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Pour the cream, honey, sugar and salt into a medium sauce pan and bring to scalding. Beat egg yolks until thick and creamy and lighter in color. Temper the egg yolks by slowly adding the hot milk whisking while adding. When you have added half pour back into the pot with the rest of the milk and cook stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon and when you swipe your finger it makes a line that stays intact. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour into a bowl or large glass measuring cup, place plastic wrap directly on top of the custard and let come to room temperature. Now refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight preferably. NOTE: You may notice I use a small amount of the honey both in the nuts and custard well, thats all you need, the honey is intensely spiced, it’s wonderfully assertive so a little goes a long way.

To make the Ice Cream

Follow manufacturers instructions for your ice cream maker, when the consistency of soft serve add the nuts and spoon into freezer container. Freeze for 4-6 hours or until it is scoopable. Enjoy!!

Ready to freeze

Calmer Sutra Honey

Jun 13

103 Comments

An Ice Cream Cake For Fiesta Friday #20

Ice cream cake

This is a very special Fiesta Friday for me, not only am I making one of my favorite cakes to bring to the party but I am also co -hosting this affair. I am very excited that Angie@the novice gardener asked me to officiate Fiesta Friday #20 with the wonderful, talented and totally awesome Fae @fae’s twist and tango. I am honored to co host with Fae, one of my culinary,blogging idols. So for this auspicious occasion I say, “let them eat cake” ice cream cake that is. I made a wonderful chocolate sponge, some homemade caramelized white chocolate ice cream and I bought some toasted almond gelato. This is served with a homemade kahlua fudge sauce. I had a bit of a disaster, I tried to move the cake before it was completely cooled and it broke. Therefore you can see from the photo the Frankenstein effect, I had to piece it together in the pan I used for a mold. It doesn’t matter really because it’s delicious anyway and when covered with fudge sauce hopefully no one will notice.

I have to say again how thrilled I am to have been asked to host this party, Fiesta Friday is a blast, I am officially inviting ALL OF YOU to participate, visit The Novice Gardener (link is in the first paragraph) sign up, it’s not work its fun. Hope to see you all at the next party.

Caramelized White Chocolate Ice Cream:

A Recipe by David Lebovitz

Makes about 1 quart

Note:Make sure the caramelized white chocolate is warm when you mix it with the cream. You can reheat it in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, or in a microwave on low power, stirring until smooth.

8 ounces (240g) caramelized white chocolate

1 cup (250ml) heavy cream

2 cups (500ml) whole milk

1/2 cup (100g) sugar

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

5 large egg yolks

1. Mix the warm caramelized white chocolate in a large bowl with the heavy cream, and set a mesh strainer over the top.

2. In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the milk, sugar, and salt.

3. Whisk together the egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in half of the warm milk, then scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.

4. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof utensil, until the mixture thickens and coats the utensil.

5. Immediately pour the custard through the strainer into the white chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Put the bowl in an ice bath, and stir until cool.

6. Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

This is the best ice cream I think I have ever had, it’s so creamy and the perfect consistency, thank you Mr, Lebovitz for a wonderful recipe.

Note: In step one I deviated slightly, I heated the cream in the microwave to warm it for 30 seconds, I then added the chocolate and put it back in the microwave for another 20 seconds. It melted the chocolate and made a ganache. It was easier to combine with the custard when it was already melted.

The Cake:

1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 large eggs at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Note: I find the amount of batter varies every time I make this, I never like to fill the pan to the rim, it’s better to leave a small space so the cake can rise. If you have leftover batter make a few cupcakes.

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Place milk and butter in glass measuring cup and microwave for 45 seconds or until butter is melted. Using stand mixer with wire whisk or electric mixer whip the eggs and sugar on med/high for approximately 8 minutes or until the mixture is pale yellow, tripled in volume and thick, with the machine running slowly add the heated milk and buter. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Fold into the egg mixture, there should be no lumps. Fold in the vanilla. Grease a 1/2 sheet pan, lay parchment sheet and grease the parchment, and sprinkle with sugar. Pour batter into the pan, spread so that it is evenly distributed and bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes in the pan run a knife around the edges to loosen then invert onto wire rack, remove parchment and let cool completely.

Assembling the Ice Cream Cake:

I used a 10 inch loaf pan, lined with plastic wrap. Cut the sheet cake to the size of the loaf pan, you will need 3 pieces. Lay first piece in bottom of the loaf pan, spread softened ice cream. Add another layer of cake, spread with more ice cream, finish with a layer of cake, cover completely with plastic wrap and put in freezer for at least 4-6 hours but it’s better over night. To unmold simply very gently pull the plastic wrap over hang loosening the cake, unwrap, slice and serve.

Kahlua Fudge Sauce

4 ounces dark chocolate broken into small pieces
1/4 cup +2 tbs heavy cream
1 tablespoon kahlua liquor (optional) you can just add some vanilla extract
Heat milk until scalding, add chocolate to hot cream, let sit for approximately 5 minutes, stir until smooth and add the kahlua. Let cool to room temperature. It will thicken as it cools. NOTE: I like to drizzle on the cake while its still warm!!

Jun 6

118 Comments

Chinese Spare Ribs For Fiesta Friday #19

Chinese Ribs

I love ribs, and really love the ribs you get in Chinese restaurants, they are sticky and a little sweet and tender, so delicious. I found this recipe on Martha Stewarts site. They are so easy to make,the sauce is amazing and this recipe produces some exceptional ribs. I roasted the ribs for about 4 hours on 300, rather than a couple of hours at 325 degree’s simply because I had things to do and just left in the oven while I ran around.

So my offering for Fiesta Friday #19 is Chinese Ribs, serve with some of that delicious slaw thats here at the party. Our co hosts this week are Prudy@butter basil breadcrumbs and Sue@birgerbird and overseeing all of the party animals is the lovely and talented Angie@the novice gardener. I can’t wait to dig into everything that everyone brought.

Chinese-Style Spare Ribs

http://www.marthastewart.com/349642/chinese-style-spare-ribs
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Serves 6
Ingredients
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon sambal oelek or other spicy chili sauce
2 tablespoons malt vinegar
4 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices

I changed the recipe just a bit, I like a little sweetness. I added a tbs (not packed) of dark brown sugar and 1 tbs of the Calmer Sutra Ginger honey. I would have added 2 tbs but thats all I had left. I did not have malt vinegar so used apple cider vinegar.

1 rack pork spare ribs, cut into thirds lengthwise
Coarse salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. In a food processor, pulse ketchup, hoisin, sambal oelek, vinegar, scallions, and ginger until smooth, scraping down sides as necessary. Season ribs with salt and coat both sides with sauce. Roast, bone side down, until ribs are tender but not falling off the bone, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Cut into single ribs and serve with slaw.

Fiesta Friday

May 31

87 Comments

Salad e Olivieh For Fiesta Friday #18

Salad e Olivieh,flat bread

Last Friday I was a really good girl and brought vegetables, this week I’m gonna be bad and bring something not so virtuous, but oh so delicious, a small portion is all you need. Salad e Olivieh is the Persian equivalent of potato salad, I believe it has roots in Russia as well, there are a few different ingredients but it’s very similar to the Persian version, this contains shredded chicken, potato salad does not usually contain meat, although I have seen some with ham. I love this dish, it’s filling and so tasty, creamy and when drizzled with some good olive oil and scooped up with warm flat bread or lavosh it’s really wonderful. HINT: Make it the night before you are going to serve, to me it always tastes better after a rest in the refrigerator overnight, the flavors meld and its’ really delicious!

I used to make this dish all the time, it’s especially good for a pot luck or party because it serves a lot of people. I used rotisserie chicken for this which cut out some of the work and I’m all about side stepping some work as long as the results are good. I also had fresh spring peas and some homemade mayo. The cornichon and lemon give it zing, the combination of all the components is a real treat.

Fiesta Friday #18 is as always hosted by Angie@thenovicegardener and this week it’s co hosted by Mr. Fitz@cooking with Mr. Fitz and Justine@eclectic odds n sods and with all the incredible food and great company we have the makings for a really fun party!

Iranian Potato Salad

Makes a lot!! Serves at least 10 people

Ingredients:

1 Small chicken (baked or boiled and shredded) or use a rotisserie chicken
6-8 Potato’s (I like Yukon Gold) If the potato is large use 6, medium-small use 8
4 Hard boiled eggs chopped
1 cup Cornichon pickles chopped
1 cup Baby Peas, canned, fresh or frozen your choice.
1-2 cup Mayonaise (homemade or bought) You can add how much you like
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 whole lemon depending on size)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Bread of your choice, I like with either warmed flat bread or baguette drizzled with olive oil and toasted
Lemon wedges
Olive Oil to drizzle
Garnish with snips of chives and a sprinkling of sumac

Directions:
Prepare the chicken you can bake or boil. (I like to bake seasoned with some salt and pepper and thyme with a half lemon and shalot in the cavity. If you bake the chicken cover baking pan with aluminum foil, For a small chicken it takes less than an hour to bake. Boiling is approximately the same cooking time.
While chicken is baking peel potato’s and boil them whole until they are fork tender but not falling apart.When they are done drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Mash with one of those hand held mashers it’s a rough mash leaving lots of pieces of potato. Boil your eggs.
Chop your pickles, chop the hard boiled egg, shred the chicken add it all to the large mixing bowl along with the potato’s. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, mayonnaise starting with 1 cup add more as needed and according to your taste. Salt and pepper to taste and lastly add the peas gently incorporate so as not to mash them. Place in your serving dish and spread some mayonnaise on top, cover and refrigerate.
Refrigerate overnight. Before serving snip some chives on top and sprinkle with sumac. Serve with warm bread, squeeze some lemon on top and drizzle with olive oil.

salad e olivieh

May 30

41 Comments

Writing Process Blog Tour

I had heard a little about the Writing Process Blog Tour but only in passing, I wasn’t really sure what it was about but was intrigued. Fast forward about a week and I get an email from Prudy, in case you don’t know who she is, her wonderful and oh so lovely blog, Butter, Basil and Breadcrumbs is one that I love and really look forward to reading. In the email Prudy asked me to participate in the tour and I said yes without hesitation. Prudy is inspiring, her upbeat nature, beautifully written recipes, the stories of her family, friends and background make for a wonderful read and lots and lots of mouth watering recipes and gorgeous photo’s..

I started my blog a little over 2 years ago, I wanted to do this because I love to cook and I love to share my food and recipes and thought this could be fun and a great way to meet other cooks and see what they are cooking. I had already gotten a taste of the global food community as an active cook on Food52, I met some good friends and fellow cooks there and cherish their friendship. I also wanted to include my two best friends and somehow incorporate them into my blog, Izzy and Nando are my sweet pugs that mean the world to me. In the two plus years I have been writing here I have met some really wonderful people, we share a love of food and its preparation, feeding our families and friends and celebrating life, I have never personally met most of you but I know if I did it would be like seeing a good friend that I haven’t seen for a while. We let each other into our homes/kitchens and lives. It’s a close knit community we have and I love it. I follow a lot of blogs and try to read each one of them and comment, as a writer of a blog having the approval or nod from a colleague or pier is important, it’s validation.

Part of this process is to answer 4 questions so here goes:

1. What am I working on – Well, I take it a day at a time and am trying to balance work which is very busy, taking care of Izzy and Nando which is a full time job now that they are senior and not in good health, my work in my community and my blog. I am currently working on a recipe for a lovely and very generous company (I don’t really want to reveal too much now) who has sent me a delicious product. I know what I am going to make and you will too soon. Hoping it is good!! I also was asked to judge a doggie talent contest for charity so I am helping out with that.

2. How does my work differ from others– Wow, well I don’t think my work is any different really from other bloggers. I look at other blogs that are organized and focused and I guess the way mine differs is that it’s not organized or focused, not that thats necessarily bad. For example some people only focus on desserts, or vegan recipes or gluten free or health conscience. I post about something that I like or inspires me whether it’s food or something in my community or about my pugs. One day I will write about a Middle Eastern recipes, another day Italian sometimes savory sometimes sweet.

3. Why do I write what I do – The answer is pretty simple I do this because I love doing it. I’m not getting paid to do this, it’s not a job, it is something I look forward to doing. I love cooking and creating and sharing and I can only hope that others like what I do enough to keep coming back and read my posts.

4. How does my writing process work – I wish I could say there is some formula or method to my madness but there really isn’t. I will see something that looks good at the market and decide I want to make a dish out of it, or I am talking to my Mom on the phone and we talk about food and her recipes and I decide I want to make it and share with you all. I guess you could say I work on inspiration not so much the need to cook, I will sometimes post a meal that I made but thats only a very small part of the picture. I like to enter recipe contests and post about those, the reason I like it is because (a) I’m competitive (b) it forces me to think outside the box.

I have invited 3 bloggers to participate, how do you choose when there are so many that are (a) fascinating (b) well written (c) total eye candy (d) chock full of delicious recipes. They run the gamut of varying topics, types of food etc… It was hard but here is who I chose. I wanted to choose bloggers from different parts of the world and across the US. I love reading posts from other countries, it gives insight into how people outside the US live and really, we bloggers are all pretty much cut from the same cloth no matter where we are from.

The Healthy Epicurian– Fiona’s lives an idyllic life in France with her husband, child and menagerie or I guess you could also call it a cast of characters of the animal world. Her roving doggie journalist Hugo, her horses and chickens (with attitude). I love her blog and always am entertained, enlightened and enticed by her writing (and Hugo’s) recipes and antics. It’s a good read and to top it off she is an expert in food and nutrition. Visit her, I know you will love it as I do. Fiona has so many incredible recipes but one of my favorites is her Salmon terrine, it’s delicious, light and so tasty a great summer recipe and is wonderful to bring to pot luck parties.

Mini salmon terrines and getaway strategies

Liz the Chef– Liz and I go way back, from early Food52 days. She is a phenomenal cook with delicious, nutritious and heart healthy recipes. Her stories of family and caring and sharing are the driving force behind every single post. Liz hails from the beautiful state of California and lives with her miracle husband (read her blog and you will understand) and her two senior kitties. The tag line for her blog say’s it all “cooking from my family’s heart”. Liz has so many fantastic recipes but this is one of my all time favorites, it is a recipe from her Mom for Mango Chutney

Mama’s Mango Chutney

Runnin Sri Lankan– Shashi is amazing, a force really. She never stops, a busy Mom to a daughter and 2 canines, a runner, she works, blogs, and is really an inspiration. Her recipes are healthful and delicious and so so creative. I know you will enjoy her blog as much as I do, she is smart, funny, kind and caring. Shashi’s oatmeal pancakes are so delicious and are in regular rotation in my kitchen, I make this recipe at least once a week, they are so good they even won a recipe contest. Thinking about them has made me hungry! http://runninsrilankan.com/2014/01/12/oatmeal-pancakes/

May 24

86 Comments

The Virtuous Lacto-Fermented Vegetable For Fiesta Friday

Mixed Vegetables

You will probably think I am terribly boring bringing lacto-fermented vegetables to a party. But wait until you taste them, they are absolutely delicious and go so well with any number of savory dishes. I found some beautiful carrots. kirby cucumbers, sugar snap peas and spring onions at the farmers market and decided to try my hand at lacto-fermentation. I recently read about the health benefits you get from eating vegetables preserved in this manner on the wonderful website Healthy Green Kitchen it sounded delicious and super easy to do, mind you I am not one who is adept at preserving anything. So this is my offering for the party, crunchy healthful lacto-fermented vegetables.

I am very excited to participate in Fiesta Friday #17 and this weeks hosts are Jhuls@the not so creative cook and Selma@selma’s table and Alex@Dinner Daydreams. Of course I can’t forget the always effervescent Angie who put this whole party together. Thanks Angie and our lovely hosts.

Lacto Fermented Mixed Vegetables

Makes 2 large Weck Canning jars

3-4 kirby cucumbers cleaned and cut into quarters

4 small carrots. cut in half and halved again

4-6 scallions with part of the green cut off, cleaned and ends trimmed

approximately 1 cup sugar snap peas

4 cloves garlic, smashed

4 tbs sea salt

2 tsp peppercorns, I used a mix

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Wash your jars with warm soapy water. Place all the vegetables, salt, garlic, peppercorns and crushed pepper in large non reactive bowl and toss to combine. Let sit for 15 minutes stirring frequently to coat the vegetables with the salt.

Fill the jars with the vegetables and top off with spring or filtered water leaving about an inch space at the top. Make sure your vegetables are covered or completely submerged in the water. Place lid on the jars and secure. Let sit on the counter for 2-4 days. They are now ready to eat. Refrigerate after opening.

Pretty vegetables

May 19

71 Comments

Crunchy Nutty Granola And Mary’s Secret Ingredient Box

Granola

I received my Spring Box of Mary’s Secret Ingredient from the lovely Mary Frances at Love the Secret Ingredient a while ago, my intention was to write a post about it and use the ingredients in a recipe and do that right away, Shortly after I received my box I started working for a different company, that has taken up a lot of my time and energy and I also became sick and had to alter my diet significantly. Any food I have made I have had to give away with only a tiny taste for me to check on seasoning. Included in my box were some really fantastic items:

Calmer Sutra Tea- Peppermyntie Tea and Ginger Infused Honey

Flathau’s Fine Foods Chipotle Cheese Straws

Harmonium Oregano from wild crafted plants

Loacker Quadratini’s Dark Chocolate

Nueskes Applewood smoked Landjaeger sausages

Sweetwater Spice Company Pineapple Habanero Jerk BBQ Bath Brine

I decided to use the ginger infused honey to make some granola and it is probably the best granola I have ever had. It’s my own recipe and have posted it here before with a few minor changes. The boney is incredibly delicious and very gingery (is that a word???) Well anyway it really tastes and smells like fresh ginger and drizzling on the granola before you bake infuses the flavor into some of it, so it’s like a surprise in every bite.

NOTE: The amounts are approximate, I don’t measure when I make granola.

Marys secret ingredient

Ingredients:

Makes a lot of granola

Oats approximately 3 cups (Not quick cook) I used Quaker old fashioned

Almonds chopped or coarsely ground (approximately 1 1/2 cups)

pecans some whole some broken into pieces (approximately 1 1/2 cups)

Unsweetened Coconut flakes (approximately 1 1/2 cup)

Maple Syrup (approximately 1/2 cup)

Brown Sugar (approximately 1/2 cup packed)

olive oil (approximately 1/2 cup)

Ginger infused honey (about 2 heaping tbs)

Sea salt

Pour all ingredients except ginger infused honey into large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Pre heat oven to 300 degree’s. Spread onto sheet pan and drizzle with the ginger infused honey. Bake stirring occasionally until golden brown. It takes about 30-40 minutes. Let cool on pan and then transfer to air tight container for storage.