Early Easter Dinner

Mint's parents are in town so we decided to have an Easter dinner this week instead of next week.

Grilled Pork Loin


Marinated in Mint's Mystery Marinade (I think this time he used grape juice, white vinegar, rosemary, basil, crushed garlic, kosher salt, black pepper, soy sauce) and then grilled to perfection on our little grill outside. It tasted way better than it looked. That's what was left after we ate our fill.

Fruit Salad


Chopped strawberries, apples, and tangelo segments with some plain yogurt and a little bit of vanilla extract.

Challah

From smittenkitchen (that's flax seeds on it)

Creamy Lemon Squares


From The Pioneer Woman. I didn't have a lemon, though. So I used orange zest, and about half lemon and half orange juice.


-Thyme

Mmmm...asparagus

Okay, so I'd never really eaten asparagus before last year when we got it in our CSA, and it still took a couple of times for me to start appreciating it. But when I saw it for sale this last week, I decided to go ahead and get some 'cause I remember it being pretty good. I decided to use it in this recipe instead of the green beans, and I left out the ham and yummy! I just lightly sauteed the asparagus and then removed it from the pan before I made up the sauce, returning it to the pan at the end. So if you want to try asparagus but don't know a good recipe - might I suggest that one?

-Thyme

Graham Cookies

I picked up a fun little cookbook at a yard sale called, "Make Your Own Groceries". It was published in the late 1970's, but so far almost everything in there is still quite relevant: homemade cleaners, freezer meals, instant oatmeal, and so on. Anyway, I decided to try a recipe for graham crackers to see if we couldn't save a few bucks and have fun while we're at it. The result wasn't really a cracker. Maybe it would have been closer to a cracker if I'd rolled them thinner and cooked them longer. I'm not sure. But the end result that I got from my oven was a wonderful, soft, not-too-sweet, whole wheat cookie. Call it graham if whole wheat makes you think of saw dust. Either way, they're great. You can roll them out and use cookie cutters just like sugar cookies. You could frost them, do whatever you like. I prefer them plain. I just wouldn't call them whole wheat sugar cookies, that might garner suspicion in the less adventurous.

Graham Crackers (cookies)
1 cup graham flour (a type of whole wheat flour you can find at a health foods store or some place with a good assortment of baking products. If you don't have it, just substitute with whole wheat flour like I did.)
1 cup whole wheat flour
8 tbsp (1/2 cup) butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup honey
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 to 3 tbsp warm water

Sift flours into a mixing bowl; thoroughly cut in half the butter before cutting in the rest. Mix in sugar and baking powder; stir in honey, followed by the egg and mix well. Gradually add teaspoons of the water, tossing and mixing well before adding more; stop adding water when the dough is moist enough - but not sticky - to form a ball. Knead on a well-floured surface for 1 minute or until the dough holds together enough to be rolled. Roll to a thickness midway between 1/8 and 1/4 inch then cut into 3-inch squares (I used cookie cutters instead once I decided they were going to be cookies and not crackers). Space the squares slightly apart on an ungreased cookie sheet; prick tops with a fork. Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes.

Side Note: If you have a food processor, this recipe is super easy. Just do everything in there. Food processors are excellent sifters, pastry cutters, and mixers. A few pulses and you're cherry. I did knead outside of the processor, although I probably didn't have to.

Rosemary

Braised Red Cabbage

I've liked this recipe ever since I first tried it in Culinary Basics in college. It's a Southern (as in Southern United States) recipe, which helps explain the flavor combinations. The other day I had to make a more heart-healthy version without the recipe in front of me. I'm happy to report that it came out very good even without the bacon. So here are the two versions of this recipe: the original from On Cooking, cut in half to a more reasonable size, and my modified more heart-healthy version.

Braised Red Cabbage with Apples
1 1/2 lb red cabbage
6 oz bacon, medium dice
4 oz onion, medium dice
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup red wine (I think I've just used 1 cup stock and omitted the red wine, you could also use fruit juice if you like and omit some or all of the sugar)
1/2 cup white stock (like chicken or vegetable stock)
1 cinnamon stick
6 oz tart apple, cored and diced (not peeled)
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp cider vinegar

1. Shred cabbage or slice very thin
2. Render bacon. Add the onions and sweat in the bacon fat until tender.
3. Add the cabbage and saute for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine, stock and cinnamon sticks. Cover and braise until the cabbage is almost tender, approximately 20 minutes.
4. Add the apples, brown sugar and vinegar and mix well.
5. Cover and braise until the apples are tender, approximately 5 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick.

Modified Braised Red Cabbage with Apples
1 1/2 lb red cabbage
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp canola oil
4 oz onion, medium dice
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup red wine (I think I've just used 1 cup stock and omitted the red wine, you could also use fruit juice if you like and omit some or all of the sugar)
1/2 cup white stock (like chicken or vegetable stock)
1 cinnamon stick
6 oz tart apple, cored and diced (not peeled)
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp cider vinegar

1. Shred cabbage or slice very thin
2. Heat oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sweat in the oil until tender.
3. Add the cabbage and saute for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine, stock and cinnamon sticks. Cover and braise until the cabbage is almost tender, approximately 20 minutes.
4. Add the apples, brown sugar and vinegar and mix well.
5. Cover and braise until the apples are tender, approximately 5 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick.

I should also note that since I didn't have the recipe, I didn't follow it that closely. I ended up just sauteing the cabbage, apple, and onion together, tossing in ground cinnamon and granulated sugar, and finally putting in cider vinegar at the end. It turned out pretty well. But now that I've read the recipe again, I'll definitely use the liquid and actually braise it next time. It was good, but the texture wasn't as good as it could have been.

Rosemary

Pineapple Cashew Chicken with Coconut Scallion Brown Rice

Several weeks ago I decided that I would take a leap of faith and try a completely different sort of recipe. It is called "Pineapple Cashew Chicken with Coconut Scallion Brown Rice"...A solid name. I pulled the recipe off of the Simply Orange Orange Juice web site and it was created by a lady named Jennifer Iserloh, I say props to here. Here are some things I learned while making this:

1. Cooking rice in a crock pot does work, but it does not take 4 hours on high, unless mush really is your final goal.
2. No matter how badly you want it to be the blender is not a food processor--forcing the issue will not end well (I used it actually for the dessert portion of the meal, but it was a lesson learned nonetheless).
3. Fresh pineapple makes almost everything better (thanks Thyme for teaching me how to pick a good one)
4. Chicken can indeed marinade for too long.
5. ALWAYS invite nice people over for experiment night. The will make you feel great about your efforts regardless of the quality of the results.

Now for the recipe:
Pineapple Cashew Chicken with Coconut Scallion Brown Rice (serves 4)

1 cup Simply Orange with Pineapple (or any kind you have handy)
2 TBSP cornstarch
2 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
2 TBSP dark brown sugar
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into cubes
1 cup fresh cubed pineapple (mmm)
1 TBSP canola or vegetable oil
1 medium red onion, cut into cubes (I cheated here and used a regular yellow onion)
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 red bell pepper
1 15oz can of baby corn or 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen kernels whatever you have handy
6 TBSP salted cashews
4 scallions, trimmed and sliced thinly (another confession, I didn't actually use these, I couldn't find them!)
1/4 cup coconut
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups short grain brown rice

Alright, first your going to mix your OJ, cornstarch, soy sauce and brown sugar in a ziplock bag (or bowl with a lid). Mine turned a kinda nasty looking brown color, but it did smell good. Put your chicken and pineapple in there to marinate for at least 3 hours, I wouldn't recommend overnight. The chicken ended up with a weird texture after marinating that long.

Heat the oil in a skillet or wok, sautee the onions, celery and pepper. Move these off to a plate and then cook the chicken and pineapple in the same pan (putting the marinade to the side in a small bowl). Return the veggies once the chicken is mostly cooked and the pineapple is soft.

Grab your bowl of marinade and microwave it for a couple minutes or bring it to a boil in a little saucepan, then add it back to your chicken/veggie mix along with the corn. Reduce the heat and cook and cover until the chicken is completely cooked. Sprinkle with the cashews.

Take your cooked rice (I am not about to try to explain how to cook rice, I am the worst ever at that part, but I am sure you all know how) and mix the coconut, scallions and salt into it. Put your chicken on your rice and voila! Dinner is served!

The verdict: Once you get past the murky brown color action going on I'd say the mixture of flavors was pretty dang good but probably you could actually back down on the amount of pineapple or just served more fresh and to the side (cooked pineapple isn't exactly my thing actually, so don't ask me why I tried it). If you cook the chicken right I think this would be amazing. I'd like to try it again sometime.

-Cayenne

Lentejas, or Spanish Lentils

Ok, so as you can probably guess from the announcement at the side of the blog, this post is being brought to you today by the husband of Thyme. I shall call myself Mint. I thought of taking Ginger, but figured I'd leave that one to Rosemary's husband if he ever wanted it.

Before beginning the recipe, one little caveat: I don't know any of the proportions for this dish. I learned it in Spain from a little old lady who basically only gave ingredients and told me to experiment until it tasted right. So I will do mostly the same, but give you about what I think is right. It really can't be messed up too bad, as a 20 year old single guy like me, at the time, couldn't screw it up.

Lentejas

1 lb lentils, cleaned
2 large russet potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, chopped
1 green chile (or 1 can green chilies, mild)
2-3 medium tomatoes, whole but with the stems cut out (or one large can diced)
8 oz Spanish chorizo*, chopped
3 cloves garlic, whole (more if you want)
2-3 bay leaves
salt to taste

This is a true one pot meal. Start off with the lentils in a large pot, putting enough water to cover them by about an inch to an 1 1/2 inches. Basically, the more liquid you put in the soupier they will be. Add the potatoes, carrots, green chilies, tomatoes, chorizo, and garlic to the pot and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for a while, until the tomatoes and the chili are soft enough that you can basically pull of the skin and let the insides fall apart. It's best to kind of pulp the tomatoes and chili using either a grater or a press of some kind. You mostly want them to be juice, not substance. After the tomatoes and chili are pulped, fish through the pot and find all of the cloves of garlic. They should be soft enough to just smash and mix back into the stew. Be sure to find all of them, as you can bet that no one wants a mouthful of garlic like that. Next, salt the lentejas to your liking. Remember, you might need more salt than you think, since lentils and the rest of the ingredients need quite a bit.

The recipe can be modified however you want, adding any vegetables that you feel work well for you. It is basically a pauper's dish, so whatever you have works.

* A note on Spanish chorizo: It is not the same stuff that you find in Mexico or many South American countries. It is a hard sausage similar to pepperoni, but not as spicy. There are many varieties that you can find, but if you can find Basque style it should be good enough. Obviously to make it authentic you would have to find actual spanish style, but it is often fairly expensive here in the states and so a substitute should probably be found. Talk to your local grocer to see what they have.

Mint

PS-Rosemary, don't ever feel it's inappropriate to ask me to post. I really don't mind, so if there is anything you wanted me to put up here, let me know.

Maharagwe, or, African coconut beans

Okay, so unless I totally spaced it and have actually already posted this recipe, I'm gonna finally give into the repeated demands that I give out my recipe for the yummiest beans in the world. Okay, they're not the yummiest beans, I think that award actually goes to my dad's chili beans (which, despite adding the exact same ingredients never turn out the same way when I make them), but they are pretty darn fantastic. I learned to cook them in Tanzania and from what I could tell, they're a fairly popular regional dish, and there are lots of variations on them. You can use lentils, add ginger or tomatoes, add hominy, serve with chapatis or rice or spaghetti, whatever. But the base recipe is actually quite simple.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, maharagwe (or maharage) just means beans in Swahili.

Maharagwe

1 lb dry red beans, cleaned, soaked, and cooked
2-3 tbs oil (sunflower is what they used there, I usually use canola or vegetable here)
1 red onion, diced
2-3 carrots, chopped or grated
1 green bell pepper (or two small ones), chopped
kosher salt (regular salt works, too, just keep an eye on taste)
1/2 can coconut milk*

Heat oil in large pot, add in onion, carrots and bell pepper, saute until they start to get soft. Add in the cooked red beans and half a can of coconut milk. Add any extra liquid (either the water the beans cooked in or just water) you want, or let it cook down, depending on how soupy you want it. Let it all simmer together for a little while, and add salt to taste. Serve over the rice (jasmine or basmati is best) or spaghetti or make chapatis to go with it (I'll try to post that at some point, too - it's far more involved). You can also serve salted cucumbers with it, sliced avocados, or a sauteed spinach or cabbage (just saute up some more red onion and then add spinach or cabbage to it and cook until done). Soooo yummy.

*If you have a fresh coconut and a grater, you can do it the more authentic way: crack open your coconut and let the juice just drain out - you don't want that boring old clear liquid (unless you have some random use for it - then keep it if you want); grate as much of the white flesh as you can (I picked up something in Tanzania called an mbuzi that is specifically for this purpose, but I'm sure you inventive souls could find another way to scrape it out or break the coconut into chunks for grating). Add hot, almost boiling water (about a half cup or so) to the flesh, let it sit for a minute, then kind of massage the coconut with your hands to really squeeze the milk out. Strain out the coconut, set the milk to one side. Repeat two more times. Add the milk to the beans in the reverse order that you squeezed them in (lightest milk first), letting it simmer down a bit after each addition. Add the creamiest, first milk last to get the best flavor. (At least, I think that's the order you're supposed to do it in, it's how I've done it the last few times).

There, are you happy now, Rosemary? (Sorry, just wanted to get one more parenthetical statement in there - there's a lot in this post, huh)

Thyme