Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Keen-wah

Given recent TPIW quinoa enthusiasm, I have to share the Peruvian Quinoa Stew I made yesterday. I love it, especially because it seems pretty healthy and it's easy. This seemed a little blander than I remembered, but I would just add pepper to taste, and bump up the cheese and cilantro. We had it with yummy summer peaches, strawberries and fancy chocolates.

From Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.

1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water

2 cups chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (i used olive b/c it was at the front of the cupboard)
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, cut on the diagonal into 1/4 inch-thick-slices
1 bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup cubed zucchini
2 cups undrained chopped fresh or canned tomatoes
2 cup water or vegetable stock (ok, i used chicken stock b/c that's what i had)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
pinch of cayenne (or more to taste)
2 teaspoons fresh oregano (1 teaspoon dried)

chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
grated cheddar or jack cheese (optional)

Using a fine sieve, rinse the quinoa well. Place it in a pot with the water and cook, covered, on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, until soft. Set aside.

While the quinoa cooks, in a covered soup pot, saute the onions and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the celery and carrots, and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, and water or stock. Stir in the cumin, chili powder, coriander, cayenne, and oregano, and simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Stir the cooked quinoa into the stew and add salt to taste. Top with cilantro and grated cheese, if you wish. Serve immediately.

Special thanks to Sarah for holding baby G while I did the prep work!

Monday, June 22, 2009

OMG. That was way too easy.

Yesterday I cooked what will probably be our last real meal here at Black Walnut: pan fried rib eye steak, spinach salad and...creme brule. Ryan and I luv us some creme brule and we pretty much order it for dessert at every restaurant that has it on the menu. I've never attempted it at home but decided to give it a try because it's Ryan's favorite and it was Father's Day.

It was SO easy that it's a little scary. Will I be tempted to make creme brule for dessert all the time now? Only time will tell.

This recipe makes 6 smaller servings or 3 larger servings. Our ramekins are on the bigger side and it was pretty rich, especially after the rib eye, but I was still trying to surreptitiously lick the bowl when no one was watching. Adapted from a recipe on epicurious.com.

Creme Brule
6 egg yolks
6 tbs of sugar
1 vanilla bean with the seeds scraped out
1 1/2 cups of whipping cream
More sugar for the carmelized topping.
Hot water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Whisk eggs and sugar. Add vanilla bean seeds and whisk to combine. Gradually add the whipping cream until well mixed. Divide evenly among 6 small (or 3 large) ramekins and put into large roasting pan. Add hot water to the pan until it comes about halfway up to the ramekin dishes, being careful not to splash water into the dishes. Bake at 325 for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand in the water an additional 30 minutes. Chill for at least 4 hours.

After the custards are thoroughly chilled, sprinkle sugar (about a teaspoon?) over the tops and swirl the dishes to evenly coat with sugar. We used one of those torches to burn/melt the sugar on top but you can also use the broiler of your oven. (Put rack on the highest position and broil for just about a minute, keeping an eye on the tops to avoid over burning.) Refrigerate for another two hours and serve with fresh berries and mint.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Cusp of Summer Dinner-Pesto, Watermelon, Chicken Sausage & Ginger Cooler

I have been pretty uninspired lately on the cooking front. Its mostly been "hey what goes with cut up watermelon?"...

Well, that was kind of the case tonight except I went a little crazy and made homemade pesto, grilled up some chicken sausage, cut up some watermelon AND made a "Lemon-Ginger Tea Cooler" (which was actually the hardest part of the dinner but SO worth it). I have made this Kate before....like FOUR YEARS AGO. This recipe has been in hibernation for far too long.

Lemon-Ginger Tea Cooler
Ingredients
1 Lemon Thinly Sliced
1 1/2 cups of water
3 Regular size red zinger tea bags
3 (1/8th of an inch) slies peeled gingerroot
1/4 cup of sugar
2 2/3 cup of ginger ale, chilled
Ice cubes

Prep: 5 Minutes; Chill: 1 Hour
1) Reserve 4 lemon slices and set aside. Combine remaining lemon slices, water, tea bags, and gingerroot in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Let cool completely; chill at least 1 hour.

2) Strain tea mixture, discarding tea bags, lemon slies and gingerroot. Stir in gingerale. Place ice cubes and reserved lemon slices in glasses and poor tea over ice. Serve immediately.

So refreshing and kind of feels like an indulgent drink I'm not supposed to have right now---gin & tonic anyone? Anyone? I mean, it doesn't taste like a gin & tonic but its a fancy summer drink so a girl can dream, right?