Coming backAs I sit here at my laptop, I think ... "How am I going to do this?" Where do I start? What am I going to talk about? HOW am I going to even begin writing about the journey that I have been on?
Countless times have I started typing and set aside a few words, a paragraph or two, or even a whole page. Though, I never did post. I didn't think I was ready. Thoughts, feelings, insights, etc... entries in my email or journal, in personal texts, on scraps of paper, or swimming in my mind. And I am finally deciding to bring it all together. To share my burdens, my joys, my strengths and weaknesses, my insights, ... my life; this blog is no longer just about food. And if there's an ear out there, I am blessed. And perhaps I can bring truth to your world, as God has brought it to mine. Truth. About our purpose here. Truth. About my struggles. Truth. About my joys. Truth. About health. Truth. About our world. There are so many lies we were born or taught into believing and their manifestations are far beyond UgLy. But when we learn the Truth, we can make the changes we need to be better for our Lord and Savior. The changes that perfect us and make us new. I am becoming new. It is no easy journey and I am certainly not through, but I will no longer let the waiting period dictate the postponement of sharing my story. And so let it begin. This is my story... |
"Food is an infinitely rich subject, and there's always something about it to understand better, something new to discover, a fresh source of interest, ideas, and delight." |
New kitchen gadgets - I treat them like my children. Well, not exactly...
I mean, I don't have any children for one, but also I don't shove them (delicately, of course) into a drawer or cabinet or even display them on my kitchen counter. All that I'm getting at is that I love them, enjoy playing with them, and clean them well. And my new kitchen gadget is my mandoline, which is also my new word. I know what a mandoline is, but I've never looked into its different settings nor have I ever used one. Until now! I got this from Amazon, by Chef's Way. There are five different cuts that I can choose between: 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 mm blades that slice sheets (i.e. potato chips) and then large or small julienne. I played with the 1.5 mm blade and potatoes, in my attempt at making sweet potato and white potato chips. Well, I need to perfect my execution in slicing as well as preparations. I simply sliced the potatoes, topped them with some salt, and set them in my dehydrator for several hours. Both the white potato and sweet potato chips needed to be thinner and possibly soaked in water (to rid of some starch) and/or rolled around in oil and herbs. Placed into the oven these beauties would have done just fine, but instead I got extra hard, crunchy chips. The sweet potatoes were better and did not brown as did the white potatoes. The latter also tasted like earth, putting it nicely. Okay, dirt. They tasted like dirt... My entertainment didn't stop there, of course. Trying the julienne settings, I found that the larger julienne blade was better with potatoes. I ended up soaking my white potato sticks in water overnight to extract some of the starch. The water was surprisingly a reddish-pink. I surmise that it was iron, as they are high in this mineral. ... I drained the water and later that night cooked them in a vegetable soup. About a week later I julienned sweet potatoes and baked those pieces with thyme, oil, salt, and pepper. This was a side dish or perhaps tapas (small dishes) to accompany many others. Friday night Travis (my husband) and I had a date night in and I wanted to make it extra special since our week was so busy and we had little time to sit down together and relax. So I got creative. I took a few bamboo cutting boards and a million ingredients. I roasted green beans with ham as well as a head of garlic with EVOO, salt, and pepper. There was a plate of swiss cheese with nutmeg on it. If you look carefully, you can see the cracks, as a result of baking them in the oven. I would have gone for a brie, honey, craisin, and walnut dish, but since we had swiss and not brie, I did not have that option. I cut some slices of mozzarella cheese as well, to add variety. I added a shot of pesto to the cutting board, with a little spoon (one of my weird obsessions), some toasted sourdough baguette, and a sprinkling of pepper. Our favorite tapas that I made, though, was the bruschetta. I toasted some sourdough bread, melted mozzarella cheese on top, and then added broiled tomatoes, diced avocado, salt, and a balsamic glaze. The balsamic was made by boiling and then simmering regular balsamic vinegar with some sugar and allowing it to first dissolve and them thicken, as the heat was turned down. Certainly not a tapas that you would eat on a first date, but the flavor profile was explosive! I absolutely love being creative and trying new things. I want to stretch myself further than I ever have before with cooking and I hope that this new project of mine (blog 2x/month about a culinary word that is new or unfamiliar to me) will help with that. I've got a passion and that's food. A quick few notes before I go. When looking for a mandoline, I came across spiralizers that allow you to create spirals from produce items. So if you wanted to make gluten free pasta with, say, zucchini, this is your tool. You can also create a salad, be it hot or cold, with this gadget. Options are endless. You just need to let your mind wander. Also, I made a new recipe: chimichangas! I had a cream cheese-based spread with sauteed fruit all put into a wheat tortilla and baked with cinnamon and sugar on top for 25 minutes, at 375. Served them a la mode and they were very delicious!
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It's me again. Not nearly as terrible since I last left you, but not 100% healed. On the up and up, though! Happy New Year! Starting a new year, we always make plans to stick to some new regime. My tentative plan is to blog twice per week I'm hoping that I can stay on top of it. I just about gave up in December between all of the Christmas parties (7! and 4 white elephant gift exchanges), work days, and life-related tasks that needed to be taken care of. Ah, but time is always an issue; I just need to learn how to manage it better. This new plan that I have set out for myself involves not only blogging about food, but about a specific dish that I create from a specific word. Let me explain a bit more. Do you ever come across recipes with words like cassoulet, bouillabaisse, truss, etc and you know that you've seen the word before and may have even acted as though you knew it, but you secretly had no idea? It is these words that I am speaking about. I need to find a word about which I am unfamiliar and then do something with it. And so this week I was looking into the Mexican style dishes. Burrito, quesadilla, tostada, ... words that I already know... Ah, but chilaquiles! What is a chilaquiles? A type of hot pepper? Oh, perhaps stuffed peppers? Nope and not even close. Chilaquiles is a traditional Mexican dish with fried tortilla strips set onto a plate with a salsa or mole sauce poured over it. It is then garnished with protein (meat, beans, or eggs), onions, cheese, sour cream, etc. I did mine a bit differently where I baked whole wheat tortilla strips, set them in a baking dish, and topped them with a sauce of corn, beans, tomatoes, and spices. Then I rounded it all off with cheddar cheese and sour cream. The strips became soggy, but not until after they became crisp so that the sauce renders a chewy and pleasant texture. As per usual, I cannot list every ingredient's measure, but I can give you the list with approximate cans and send you off to COOK! Chilaquiles Ingredients: - 2 medium spanish onions - 4 cloves garlic - 1 can diced tomatoes - 1 can corn - 1 can black beans - 1 can pinto beans - flour - oil (I use extra virgin or regular olive oil) - 2 tsp cumin, or to taste - 2 tsp chili pepper, or to taste - 3 dashes of cayenne pepper - 2 dashes of nutmeg - salt and pepper to taste Instructions: A. "Stew" 1. Heat oil in a pot and add chopped onions until wilted and slightly brown. 2. Add crushed and chopped garlic and cook until browned. 3. Add more oil and then flour to make a roux (this will help thicken your sauces, where the gluten in the flour becomes activated from the water and works as a binding (or in this case thickening) agent). 4. Pour some of the canned tomatoes' juice into the mixture, stirring along. 5. Pour the remaining contents of the tomatoes and juice into the pot. 6. Add corn with 1/3 of the can's liquid. 7. Add the rinsed black and pinto beans. 8. Add spices and allow to stew. B. Tortilla strips 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 2. Cut 4-5 tortillas with a scissor into strips and place on baking sheet in oven. 3. Bake until golden and crispy (15 - 20 minutes). C. Chilaquiles! 1. Place tortilla strips into a baking dish. 2. Pour the stew over the strips. 3. Top with shredded cheddar cheese. 4. Bake for 20-30 minutes (until cheese is golden and stew is bubbly) and serve with sour cream! YUM! |
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February 2017
"Food is an infinitely rich subject, and there's always something about it to understand better, something new to discover, a fresh source of interest, ideas, and delight."
From Pennsylvania to France to Washington DC to Florida, I've had myself many an adventure. Now it's time to indulge in the life of a Floridian. With great food, great friends, and great experiences, I offer you stories and pictures to take you away, into my world at Disney. Categories |