Eating Out

I haven't had the chance to do much cooking lately. With two chefs in the family and only one tiny kitchen, I don't get a turn very often.

Here is a restaurant review of a place we went to a few days ago. http://greenmancooking.blogspot.com/2010/12/post-on-guerilla-chef-blog-recently.html

I had tandoori chicken and nan, two of my favorites.

Apple Pandowdy

I found this recipe on Cook's dot com and I'm going to give it a try soon. I got two different types of apples for a better flavor.  It's rather like peach cobbler I think, only with apples. I got the idea from America's Test Kitchen, but their recipes are always too complicated, so I went with the easy way instead. In their version you have to make a pie crust. Not that that's so horrible, it's just that my kitchen is tiny and rolling out dough isn't fun. I believe I got granny smith and braeburn. According to the Cooks Thesaurus I actually made a good choice completely at random.

Apples are considered magical because when you cut them in half, there is a star inside.

Wheat Dough Pizza

I got a late start on the day and didn't have breakfast. So I decided to make pizza for lunch.  Using the wheat pizza dough I made in the bread machine a few days ago, I put together a pizza from items on hand.

Pizzas are a great way to use up bits of meat, cheese and veggies.  On mine I put fire roasted tomatoes in sauce, grilled onions, browned kielbasa sausage, shitake mushrooms sliced thinly, and medium grated cheddar cheese. I'd already added oregano to the dough.

This dough was a lot stiffer than what I'm used to. Even though the recipe said it was enough dough for 2 large pizzas, I could only spread it out far enough to make one rectangular pizza. I had already used about 1/5 of the dough for breadsticks the other night.  But still, there is no way that would have made 2 large pizzas, even with allowing the dough to relax several times.

It made for a very hearty thick crust chewy pizza though. One and a half pieces were all I could eat. The rest went in the fridge for tomorrow.

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

I just put some pizza dough in the bread machine. I couldn't find my usual recipe so I got one from another book I've been meaning to try. This one is half white and half wheat flour. I'll like it fine, but I'm not sure my boyfriend will like it.
The bread machine sounded a bit clunkier than usual. I hope it's okay.

Sugar Cookies

I found four cookie cutters in a never opened package at the thrift store. The bear design was really cute.  There was a bear, a snowman, a tree, and a bell.

I tried a new recipe for sugar cookies and found out my boyfriend doesn't like frosting on his. So I just used colored sugar I made in a baggie. Evidently I don't like sugar cookies without frosting, but they are lovely to look at.

Why You Never Fry Gnocchi

If you need a good laugh, watch this: http://www.wimp.com/preparegnocchi/

Happy Lammas

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/lammas/ht/Lammas_Ritual.htm

I need to bake some bread for the ritual. Any thoughts on that as to what kind? I don't drink so I think I'll go with sparkling cider.

Peach Cobbler Hot Out of the Oven

This is for a lunch with friends tomorrow, so I shall have to resist temptation.
This is the first time I tried making it in this pie plate a friend gave to us. My boyfriend said, "Are you sure that's ovenproof?" I said, "It's been in a kiln, I'm sure it will be fine." I think it looks and smells divine. I got the recipe off of http://www.cooks.com.

Deviled Eggs?

I made deviled eggs today, and then I was thinking if I'm Pagan and don't believe in the devil I really should call these something else. Got any ideas?

I do think the eggs came from hell because I couldn't peel those suckers to save my life. Out of 7 eggs, not one would peel easily. Yes, I've tried all the tricks: use old eggs, use new eggs, add salt, don't add salt. I've tried them all and nothing seems to work.

At least they tasted good. I mixed up the cooked yolks with dill relish, finely minced onion, paprika, dried mustard, salt, pepper, crumbled bacon and a bit of mayo.
I didn't think to take a photo, but considering how homely looking they were, that's probably a good thing.

Nachos and Tostadas

Nachos

Tostadas

I made some yummy nachos with chips, avocado, red leaf lettuce, cheddar cheese and refried beans.

Then the next day I used what was left of the beans and made tostadas with corn tortillas and colorful little tomatoes from Trader Joes.  Simple meals are a blessing. And this could be made vegetarian easily if you got the vegetarian beans instead and left off the cheese.

Peach Cobbler and Cherry Cobbler

Today I made peach cobbler and cherry cobbler to take to the archery gathering tomorrow. But we couldn't resist trying it. I was being really good about leaving it alone but after my boyfriend cut it I couldn't resist any longer. And it was delicious. I only had a tiny bit of each though, with a bit of French Vanilla ice cream. Be very jealous.

Nisha Cooks

One of my crafty online friends decided to go to culinary school. And now I see she has a food blog. http://nishadoes.blogspot.com/ It looks like she is working on desserts right now and may I say Yummo! Go see.

Sprouts

I'd like to get back into making sprouts to go on sandwiches and salads, so today I picked up some flax seeds at the market. I want to write an article on it, but I want to try various seeds. So I'll keep you posted on the experiment. Or if you are good at sprouts feel free to suggest various seeds and methods.