LA Influence

I've been traveling a lot for work and recently enjoyed an evening in LA after some meetings.

The view was pretty nice.

And I enjoyed the dinner that inspired this post at The Fat Cow.  The Fat Cow is a fairly new restaurant from the chef Gordon Ramsay.  It is tucked into The Grove, a shopping, movie area not too far from downtown.

My dinner was very good.  I had the Salmon with White Beans and Smoked Pork and a side of the most amazing Brussel Sprouts roasted with Balsamic Vinegar and Hazelnuts. 

I'll have to try my own version of the Brussel Sprouts some time when Joe is gone, but my head immediately thought I could make the Salmon at home.  Hmm, what would I do to change it?  Well I wanted to do it with lamb and thought of adding kale to the white bean ragout.  Because it's winter and there's kale in everything if I have anything to say about it! One would think that alone would encourage Joe to want to cook every now and then... but apparently, he's good with it.

So this week I bought some lamb, thinking I already had some dried white beans around.  Hmmm, maybe not...  You see where this is going don't you?  You're thinking does she ever make sure she has all the ingredients beforehand?  How is what she's going to make even remotely close to what she had in that restaurant? 

But isn't that the joy of cooking?  Finding one little thing that peaks your interest and then making it your own? 

Ta - Da!  Seared Lamb Chops served over a Lentil, Kale, and Brown Rice  Pilaf.

We've covered this before, you can make anything into a pilaf, just start with your flavors.  For me this means sauteing, onion, celery, and carrots.

Then add the additions, such as kale! 

Oh and you can always make a dinner feel special by adding just a few pieces of bacon or pancetta to add that depth of smoky meat flavor.

Next add your rice and saute a bit before adding the lentils (if desired) and appropriate amount of broth.  Cover and simmer while making the other parts of your meal.

Next time you enjoy something in another city or a restaurant, whether it's a flavor or an ingredient, don't feel like you have to recreate it from scratch, just use it for inspiration.

National Chocolate Cake Day

Yes, you heard me, January 27th was National Chocolate Cake Day.  I found it on the internet, http://www.757dining.com/holidays.php so it must be true! 

I have something to admit.  I like cake.  You don't see cake very often on this website, because really, who needs a cake around?  But I really like cake.  So, when I opened up Facebook on Sunday morning only to see a post by King Arthur Flour ... (See, I really am a food geek - I "liked" King Arthur Flour on Facebook!) ... about National Chocolate Cake Day I knew I had to make one.  Just a small simple cake would do. 

In fact, I'd seen a couple recipes for Chocolate Buckwheat cake and that is what I wanted.  Ironically, both of the Chocolate Buckwheat cake recipes are from my French food blog connections, therefore it must be good!

For Christmas Joe always gets me a cookbook.  This year he got a winner.  If you haven't heard of La Tartine Gourmande, you really should check out her blog, http://www.latartinegourmande.com/.  She's well known for both her pictures and her food and she's French, living in America. So with my visit to France this past year, Joe got me her book and it really is everything I loved about French food, simple, light,colorful, and flavorful.

In addition, she seems to cook mostly gluten free and has these amazing GF recipes I look forward to trying.  Unfortunately, that only works if you have the right flours and I didn't have any Buckwheat flour left in the house. So I used whole wheat pastry flour.  And thus the substituting began...

I was excited to try her recipe, but now I'd changed the flour and then, as I was gathering ingredients, I was short two eggs.  Hmmm, now it's turning into a slightly different recipe and a really small cake - but still doable!

So I cut all the measurements in half.  I gather the rest of the ingredients. And, I learn a new term, Bain-Marie.  This technique is simply the process of melting butter and chocolate over simmering water (over, never in the water).

I find my small cheesecake pan thinking that will work and it'll be easier to get it out.  Genius!

Just about 27 minutes of baking and ta-da - a CAKE!

I waited just about 5 minutes before undoing the pan and after it cooled completely I added just a little powdered sugar. 

I served it with a bit of coffee ice cream and then we had little slices left as a treat with our coffee on this Monday morning.

I'll be trying this again with the Buckwheat flour, but as is, we enjoyed it.  Joe proclaimed it moist and I liked that it wasn't too sweet. 

You can find another similar Chocolate Buckwheat cake recipe at David Lebovitz's blog, http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2013/01/buckwheat-chocolate-cake-recipe/#more-11478.  If you were reading my Paris blog posts you remember David!

Check out the list of food holidays and scope out your favorite food or drink.  I've already scoped out National Margarita Day later in February.

Kindness

There's been a lot of work travel, hence little cooking.  Recently, when I had one full day to do laundry and prepare before leaving on my next trip, I'd been cleaning up my house and plants. 

The Lipstick Plants are thriving.  I continue to find them fascinating because they just keep flowering!  Remember I came awhile back asking if anyone knew the name of this plant?  It really is called a Lipstick plant!

In fact, I enjoy them so much I've already restarted some of the clippings from when I was giving them a trim.  The little glass of water is full of roots and the starters are already growing little trumpets to hold the flowers!  Now, to find time to replant them!

As I was admiring my plants, I couldn't help but notice my views.  What a stunning day it has been.  Can you beat that blue sky?  This next view was from the kitchen window.

In addition to admiring my views and taking care of my plants, I thought, what can I do to show my husband I love him today? 

I thought, "I bet he would love some cookies. Some quick chocolate chip cookies, should do the trick."  So what did I do?

 Yep, I grabbed that familiar and comforting bag of Nestle Chocolate Chips.  I know they don't fall under my normal whole grain and vegetable attempts, but sometimes I just need to be kind to those around me and give them what they want, not what I think they should have.

Of course I substituted some whole wheat flour and some natural sugar, but for the most part I left the recipe alone because they weren't for me.  That's the recipe on the back of the bag I'm talking about.

About half way through I had some visitors, they wanted cookies too.   But, oh no!  I don't feed these visitors, other than the wild grasses and flowers they dig up with their noses.

You can't see in the picture, but in addition to the deer there are four grouse that had been sleeping in the snow and the deer woke them up.  The deer are so hairy right now and cute with the tops of their heads and noses covered in snow.

You should have seen the smile on dear husband's face when I brought him two warm cookies.  Works every time!

I find sometimes I need to be kind to myself... Lower my expectations of myself just a little bit.  I could have thought, "I don't have time to find a healthy cookie recipe with the ingredients I have and make them." But by keeping it easy, Joe got cookies and I got a needed 1/2 hour in the kitchen... me, the mixer, and the oven.  It really worked out best for both of us.

Do something today to be kind to yourself.....accept your own limitations or those set upon you by time and life.

Carrot Cake Waffles

Yep, you read that title right, Carrot Cake Waffles.  That got your attention! 

We hardly ever make big breakfasts anymore, but I've been craving some pancakes or waffles.  This is unusual for me as I don't normally choose sweet for breakfast, but it was time to give into this craving - therefore, it was time for breakfast for dinner!   To top it off, my husband was sick and something comforting for dinner was called needed.

So I decided on waffles, but then I felt that little guy on my right shoulder saying, "But then there aren't any vegetables ... and it's dinner."  Well, I'm creative, I can solve that problem.  So I decided to make my own waffle recipe for Carrot Cake Waffles.  This is my first try, there are a few things I'm going to tweak and I'll get back to you with Version two.  But I've already decided that Zucchini Bread Waffles will be necessary in the future also!

Carrot Cake Waffles Version 1
This made 12 waffles.

1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 cup Oats (regular)
1/2 cup Gluten Free Whole Grain Flour Blend (This is a King Arthur blend, but you could use regular white or wheat flour here.)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
a pinch of ground cloves
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk (You could substitute soy milk or whatever your preference.)
2 tablespoons Olive Oil (I'll be tweaking this oil combination next time.)
2 tablespoons Flax Seed Oil
4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 cup yogurt (Any type of yogurt will work.  I used plain greek.)
1 cup grated carrots (Next time I will be grating the carrots smaller and adding more.)
1/4 cup raisins (More raisins next time!)
Toasted Pecans

This is a long recipe but it's basically broken into two parts: dry and liquids. 

1. In a large bowl, mix together all your dry ingredients: flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, and brown sugar.

2. In another bowl, mix together your eggs, milk, oils, and yogurt. Stir in the carrots and raisins.

3. Slowly stir the liquids into the dry ingredients and let sit 5 minutes while your waffle iron heats up.  Make waffles per the directions for your specific waffle maker and top with toasted pecans.

I served this with a fruit salad.

Happy 2013 Everyone!

Happy Holidays 2012

It's been an exciting holiday in our new home.  To close out 2012, I wanted to share with you just a few snapshots from the past couple weeks, to give you a feel for everything going on in our corner of Missoula.

There was of course candy making.  This year I only made toffee and peanut brittle.  This was taken right before the brittle turned dark and I realized my thermometer was not working correctly.  Time to reinvest in an official candy thermometer.

What would the holidays be without a kitchen out of control?  On this particular evening I was tackling Spice Cookies and candy at the same time.  Multi-tasking may not be a good idea in the kitchen.  Especially when there is something on the stovetop.

Mmmm, appetizers.  This year we enjoyed appetizers for Christmas lunch, because really - who can eat Christmas lunch, appetizers and Christmas dinner?  But yet, I'm not willing to give up the appetizers!  I like a savory brie and this fit the bill.  I mixed up some chopped walnuts, prosciutto,salt, pepper, and some Mushroom Sage Olive Oil for on top of the Brie.  This I baked and the prosciutto was crispy as the brie started to ooze.  It was yummy!

What is that you see?  A rug and furniture in the living room, the Saturday before Christmas was so exciting.  Our furniture was delivered and good friends arrived from Green River to share the holiday with us.

We went with the traditional (ok, not so much) Rouladen and Spaetzle Christmas dinner.  Watch for a full blog post on Rouladen and Spaetzle in the future, in the meantime, trust me when I say - yummy!  Until next time, Rouladen is thinly sliced meat rolled up with bacon, pickle, and onion in the middle.  Below you see it right before the rolling stage.

Friends.  I can not express enough how special it was to have Lorna and Marco share this holiday with us in our new home.  The four of us explored the local breweries, laughed, and talked.  We skied twice and went for a couple great walks, including a really nice Christmas morning walk out our back door and into the hills and woods.

 

Joe and I want to wish you and yours a very happy holiday full of friendship; family, if you are close enough; and joy. 

 

 



A Home

So, how long do I get to ride the "busy from moving" excuse when it comes to not posting very much? 

As you've seen the kitchen has been up and running, but the house has still been pretty bare for about 2 1/2 months now.  During that time, we've needed some comfort food to deal with the empty rooms.  As I was thinking we needed comfort food, I noticed that The Good Food Store, which is the most amazing store ever, had locally raised pork roasts on sale.

We all have a different idea of comfort food, but to me the crock pot can turn out some pretty tasty comfort food.  So, I got up one morning and I browned the pork roast.  I simply sprinkled it with salt, pepper, and thyme and browned it quickly.

 

I cut up some vegetables and put them in the bottom of the crockpot.  I chose onions, fingerling potatoes and sweet potatoes.  Carrots or other root vegetables would work, if desired.

 

Don't forget the splatter screen when browning at high temperatures.  Wouldn't want to mess up the new counter tops!  You would not have to brown the piece of meat, but I feel like it really adds good flavor.

Then I just top the raw vegetables with the browned pork roast.  This same recipe can be followed with any piece of meat.  When using the crockpot for a long slow roast of any type of meat, put the raw vegetables in the bottom and the roast on top.

Cover and cook.  I let this cook on high for 7 hours and ta da!  The pork roast fell apart and was very moist and flavorful.  This was perfect with a small side salad.

It felt like Santa had come yesterday, as we finally got furniture for the upstairs living room delivered.  We have furniture and a rug, which finally encouraged me to put some white lights around the windows.  Last night as I walked around turning off lights, I stopped at the doorway to that room.  It's the first time this house we bought and love feels like a home.

New Kitchen

I've had this post ready for a week, but I've had problems getting my pictures off the phone.  It's always something, isn't it?  Are you ready to see the new kitchen?  It's pretty cool.  While we didn't change the layout, the height of the counter tops is perfect and I could purr over the new sinks and faucets.

These pictures aren't great, but you'll get the idea.  This is the view from the patio door end of the dining room.  The whole upstairs has been repainted.  The back accent wall is called Spiced Ginger.  Isn't that a nice color?  The fridge will be the next thing to be replaced.

The view from the living room end of the dining room.  We raised all counters a little over two inches and replaced the laminate counters with quartz.  The sitting island in the right side of the picture was also extended.  It needed more width.  The stools are on order!

The view from the hallway entry to the kitchen.  After raising all the counters, we raised the upper cabinets so they are a traditional 18" up from the counter top and we put in this amazing under cabinet lighting.  The lighting is so cool and the electrician did a great job.  One switch turns on all the under counter lighting in the kitchen.

Could I be more spoiled with two big sinks?  Following is the new sink under the window.  This is my vegetable prepping sink and it tends to hold the rinsed out coffee pot, since that is set right next to it.  We love the faucets we chose.  The handle pulls out and the sprayer works perfectly.  Plus, they are the perfect height for getting pots under them, but not too high, so they don't splash water all over.  Next to the faucet you see the dish detergent, hand soap, and the button for the disposal.

This is the dish washing sink and I had no idea how much we would love it!  You can fit a large cookie sheet flat in the bottom of this sink and it's much deeper than it looks in the picture.  That means it holds whatever you want and the water doesn't splash all over as you try to maneuver a large cookie sheet or cutting board in a smaller sink while rinsing it off!  Say it with me, Ohhhhh Ahhhhhhh.

I have the feeling a common piece of this blog is going to be "Views from the Kitchen Window", since I love my views so much.  We'll end this little blog post with my view this morning which has finally turned to winter!  The skies are clearing as I type and I'm sure I'll have to take another picture soon.