Crafty Find: Drunk Kitchen

This week’s crafty find is a video, and a funny one at that. I’ve seen this on a couple blogs lately and thought I should share it with you. If you can’t figure out the premise from the title, the host gets drunk and tries to cook in the kitchen. This episode features her making brunch. It made me laugh and laugh…and made me think that I should start making instructional videos… oh, if only I had the time to do everything I want to do in life. Ah, to dream….

Turns out the host has a series of cooking segments, so feel free to wander her youtube page to view the others. This one is my favourite so I thought I’d start with it. (It’s also my first time posting a video; turns out its super simple! a little trickier than I thought).

Note to viewers: Mild coarse language content.

Recipe #18: Pork Chops with Quinoa & Roasted Red Pepper Dressing

In lieu of not posting last week, here is recipe #18.

I’ve been reading a lot about quinoa lately and seeing lots of new recipes popping up on the internet, in bookstores, even in my own office lunchroom. After flipping through one book in particular at Chapters, Quinoa 365: The Super Food, I was excited to try out some of the recipes. This grain isn’t just for side dishes, no sir! It can be used ground up to bake with, too! I’m on the waiting list at the library for this book (only 112^th in line), so when I get in my little hands, I might be baking up a storm.

Meanwhile, though, I thought I’d start small and try using quinoa as a nice side dish, and when I saw this recipe, I knew we had a winner. Not only did it have the recipe for the quinoa salad, but also the pork chops. With the added jalapeno pepper to give a little hint of heat, the mix of lime juice and roasted peppers really added a nice flavour to the salad, and I’d gladly eat this dish again. The quinoa cooked up very similarly to cous cous, so it would be easy to interchange these two grains in other recipes.

INGREDIENTS FOR QUINOA

1 Cup quinoa

1 Cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

1 large red pepper, roasted, seeded, and quartered

3 Tablespoon olive oil

2-3 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

3/4 Teaspoon salt, plus more for the tomatoes

1/2 Cup (tightly packed) chopped cilantro

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

1 Cup generous cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

Chili-Scented Pork Chops

INGREDIENTS FOR PORK CHOPS

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 Teaspoon chili powder

3/4 Teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 Teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon salt

4  pork loin chops, each about 1-inch thick

Vegetable oil, for frying

DIRECTIONS

BRING a large pot of water to a boil. Add quinoa and cook for 10 minutes. Add corn and continue cooking until quinoa is translucent and there is no tiny dot of uncooked starch in the centre, 1 to 3 more minutes. Pour quinoa and corn through a fine-meshed strainer. Run cold water over mixture to stop cooking process. Drain well and transfer mixture to a large bowl.

BLEND together in a mini chopper or food processor the red pepper, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons lime juice, and salt. Toss dressing, cilantro, and jalapeño into quinoa. Add more lime juice and salt to taste.

TOSS in a small bowl cherry tomatoes with remaining tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Set aside.

MAKE in another small bowl a paste by stirring together olive oil, chili powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, and salt. Spread a thin layer of the paste on both sides of chops.

BRUSH a large skillet or grill pan lightly with vegetable oil and heat until sizzling hot. Cook chops over high heat until browned on bottom, about 1-1/2 minutes. Turn them over and brown second side. Reduce heat to low, cover pan, and cook chops for 4 minutes (if boneless) or 5 minutes (if bone-in). Turn chops over. Cover pan and cook until chops are cooked to taste, usually 4 to 5 additional minutes. Test for doneness by slicing into thickest part of chop.

ADD more lime juice to quinoa salad, if needed. Make a bed of quinoa salad on each plate. Set a chop on top. Spoon cherry tomatoes on the side.

Crafty Find: Long Exposure Photos

So, I took a small hiatus from blogging this past week. Part of it was due to the fact that Blogger has been uncooperative: any time I went to blog, the site was down and I was prevented from doing so. Part of it was the weather, too: grey and gloomy skies don’t exactly inspire. Part of it was lack of motivation, ideas, and general creative juices flowing. You can probably relate; sometimes, you just don’t want to.

But I’m back today after a very relaxing long weekend spent at the cottage, eating good food (way too much of it), visiting with family and friends, and enjoying nature and all it comes with (mosquitoes seemed to be the main attraction this year).

I wouldn’t necessarily say I have an eye for photography, but I do enjoy the beauty in other people’s work. Matt and I are still doing research into getting a new Digital SLR camera so that perhaps we can begin to take some great photos, but for the meantime, I have friends that share their photos online for all of us to browse, and there certainly is not a lack of great imagery on various websites. Half the fun of browsing the web is jumping from one site to another, never knowing what you might stumble on. And stumble I did, to a wonderful new blog: http://thisiscolossal.com/. On this site I found a collection of photos that were really interesting of long exposure air traffic. As my Crafty Find this week, I’m sharing them with you today.

If you enjoy taking or looking at photos, I hope you’ll enjoy these.

Recipe #17: Pueblo Green Chili

Mmm….chili. I’ve come to love this stuff - the red, the white, the green - it all tastes so good! It’s not just a Sunday night Football meal anymore at our house; it’s a great dish to cook up even when football season is over and baseball season has begun. And every bite of this green chili (a first for me) was delicious (PLEASE don’t judge by the photo; I neglected to take a photo of our version, and this one was from the recipe site, which doesn’t do it any justice. You’ll just have to take my word that it tasted good).

It was fun to go on the hunt for ingredients for this dish with Matt. We browsed the Mexican markets in Kensington looking for the different types of peppers, and when we couldn’t find the exact ones, we were adventurous and just bought which ones we could find. Very daring of us, no? I haven’t found a store yet that has heard of cubanelles, as the recipe lists, so we made do with some poblanos and jalapenos. (Update: I just did a quick Google search for a cubanelle, and turns out I had one in my hands at the market on Saturday but they went by a different name. Guess I’ll have to make this one again now that I know where to get the right peppers!)

I love trying new things, and roasting peppers was certainly a first. The roasting isn’t that difficult when you use the broiler in the oven, you just have to make sure to keep rotating the peppers. Once they are blackened, remove them from the oven and let them cool in a bowl covered with plastic wrap. The steam will help in removing the skins. I wondered if this step was necessary for poblanos, but everything I read tells me it is. When I made this dish again this weekend (the first time was well over a month ago now; slow posting time, I know), instead of roasting the peppers whole, I halved and seeded them before roasting and this eliminated the need to rotate them in the oven.

Next time I make this I think I’ll try using fresh tomatillos to get that really green chili color, and for an extra bit of texture, I might add in some brown rice or barley; I think that would be kind of nice.

INGREDIENTS

8 Mira Sol chilis (or 2 poblanos and 4 cubanelles)

2 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped (for those who like it less spicy)

1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes packed in juice

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups)

5 medium cloves garlic, grated on a microplane grater

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 1/2 quarts chicken stock

1 pound pork shoulder or sirloin, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Salt

DIRECTIONS

ROAST chilis directly over a gas burner set on high heat or under your oven broiler until well charred on all sides (about 10-15 minutes total). Transfer to a paper bag or bowl, tightly seal the top, and let rest for 10 minutes. Peel the skins off the chilis and chop into 1/2- to 1/4-inch pieces. Set aside.

HEAT 1 tablespoon oil in a large pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring frequently until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add peppers, tomato mixture, chicken stock, and pork. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 2 hours.

REMOVE lid and continue to cook without lid until liquid is reduced to half, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil and flour in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly until light blond in color, about 3 minutes. Slowly whisk flour mixture into simmering chili. Continue to cook until desired texture is reached. Season to taste with salt. Cooked chili will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Diane's Rectangular Sweater

If you know me, you'll know that I always have something on the go, and more often than not, more than one thing. It helps to be working a couple projects to keep the knitting fresh and interesting. Some projects can get a little tedious (knitting is very repetitive, after all), so if I have projects with different levels of complexity, it helps to keep my attention (I can also vary the project by television show/movie, depending on how much I actually need to pay attention).

As of late, I managed to cross off a number of projects that I have had on the go for a while. The first was the sweater for Matt, which I started way back in early spring of last year. Other projects were thrown in there at the same time, including one or two that probably got finished before his, so I had to make finishing his a priority.

Next in line was this project, a lovely mauve sweater for Diane, which was a gift for her birthday in January. I managed to finish it for Easter, a mere three months later, and yes, she knew it was coming. It was a pattern that I knew she was interested in knitting, so while she was visiting for her birthday, Matt and I suggested that she pick out the yarn and I would knit it for her. Being a knitter herself, she knew it would not be a fast process, but I had given myself the Easter weekend as my deadline to finish it.

This pattern was interesting in that the entire front and back were knit as one giant and long rectangle, with slits for armholes knit during the process, and sleeves knit separately and then attached. It was knit it stockinette stitch, which is the most basic of stitches, and because of this, I was able to knit it up quite quickly. I also chose to knit the sleeves at the same time, which gives them a good chance of ending up the same length (a good thing in sweaters, don’t you think?). But because of that, it meant I had to seam them together (something which I’m not terribly good at), which normally I try to avoid, but in this case, I thought it was a better idea. And after piecing everything together, I think it turned out quite nice. At least Diane likes it, and that’s what matters.

Next to post is my grey/teal moss stitch cardigan...

Crafty Find: Knitted Bicycle

This Crafty Find comes directly from my very own camera. As Matt and I strolled along Queen Street West one lovely Saturday afternoon, the window display of a clothing store, Comrags, caught my eye. But it wasn’t the clothes, though, it was the knitted bicycle! With my recent Crafty Finds of yarn bombing, this came pretty close to the real thing.

This window display brought visions of riding a bike through a sunny park, the scent of freshly cut grass wafting through the air. Perhaps we stop for an ice cream cone and people watch for a while. Doesn’t that sounds like the most ideal and relaxing weekend out there? And since the nice weather has finally arrived, I might just have to rent a bike and do just that one weekend.

The detail work on this is very impressive, and even though I’m pretty sure there's a real bike underneath, figuring out how to cover everything with must have taken a lot of measurements and careful calculations. That must have taken a lot of time and patience by a very talented knitter/artist. I wonder what I have at home to cover with knitting....? Must go home and investigate.

Recipe #16: Salty Chocolate & Caramel Butter Cookies

This challenge really has turned into a bit of a challenge. At first I thought, “one recipe a week, no sweat!” And it’s not that I have a lack of new recipes to try, but finding time to post them is another story. Some weeks I’ve cooked more than one new recipe, which helps on the weeks I don’t have time for a new one at all, but then writing them up sometimes seems more time consuming then actually making the meal! Which I know is not at all true. But trying to fit some writing into my day at work, well, that can be tough (it could also be because I am quite wordy….which takes more time.). In any case, that’s what I’ve signed on for and I’m not about to give up now.

Why not a recipe for something sweet for a change? For those who enjoy a little sweet/salty treat after dinner, these might be right up your alley. Even though this recipe didn’t turn out exactly right the first time (you’ll see why shortly), they were still very delicious, and it was very hard to eat just one.

After finding all the ingredients for this recipe (the flaky sea salt and espresso powder game me the run-around) I was ready to bake. Unfortunately, this recipe only uses a small amount of both the salt and espresso powder, but at least I’ll have these for next time. And where I made my mistake in baking was when buying the caramels. I didn’t have the recipe on hand when I picked them up (at the dollar store), so I didn’t boy the right amount, which meant the glaze was a bit runnier than it was supposed to. Soooo… when I put them into a container for storage, the glaze ran off and kind of created a big mess at the bottom of caramel goo… but then we realized that we could just pop the container into the microwave for a few seconds and just dip our cookies into the glaze. Delicious! The hint of salt on the sweet caramel was really enjoyable.

Since this recipe made quite a big batch, probably about 30 or so, we didn’t (not couldn’t, didn’t) eat them all; but instead of tossing them, I took all the remaining cookies, tossed them in my food processor, and now I have a great cookie crumble topping for ice cream!

INGREDIENTS

1 ¼ cups (20 tbsps) unsalted butter, softened

½ cups cocoa powder

1 tsp instant espresso powder

1 cup white sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 tbsps vanilla extract

1 ¼ cups flour

1 (14 ounce) bag soft caramel candies

¼ cup heavy cream

½ tsp flaky sea salt

DIRECTIONS

MELT 4 tbsp butter (1/4 cup), cocoa powder and espresso in a saucepan over medium heat; stir until mixture forms smooth paste then cool for 15 minutes.

MIX together remaining cup of butter, sugar, salt, and cooled cocoa mixture on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add yolks and vanilla and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low, add flour in three additions, and mix until cohesive dough forms. Divide into three disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate 1 hour.

PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

ROLL each disk to 3/16-inch thickness. Using 2 ½-inch round cutter, cut out cookies and place 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake until centers are just set, 10 to 12 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Cool 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

MELT caramels and heavy cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Top each cookie with heaping teaspoon of glaze and sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool 30 minutes.

Crafty Find: Eternal Plants

I stumbled across these very clever and beautifully done felted terrariums and loved the complex details but also the simple idea. Plus, I loved that these plants won’t wilt and fade away one day, much like my condo plants seem to. Seeing this first one, I had to do a quick Google search to see what other creations were out floating on the net and I wasn’t disappointed. I found a selection of lovely plants by some crafty people, and also got inspiration to make my own (knit and crochet patterns are readily available online.).

I especially like the old apothecary jars that house these plants; it’s a really nice charming way to display them. And yes, I even think the mushrooms would be something I might make. They are cute to look at, but just gross to eat…