Questions

Oh Lordy, I've been tagged by the lovely Lauren to answer a few questions!  I "met" Lauren through Weddingbee--she blogged as Mrs. Elephant about all her wedding crafts and the beautiful day. You should check it out! 


I debated for several minutes whether that last sentence should have been "You should check her out!" but that just sounded weird.  What I meant was that you should read her posts and her blog. No feeling her up with your eyes, got it?  Lauren, is this making you uncomfortable?


I'm going to answer the questions she tagged me with, however because there is no way that I know enough bloggers to tag, the buck will stop with me. I realize this is, in a sense, very narcissistic of me to blabber on about myself yet not tag anyone else, but hey, I blog, so that I am narcissistic shouldn't be a surprise to anybody.  I'm also going to very much enjoy answering these questions, because...see previous sentence.

1. When did you start blogging?
I started blogging in 2009 while planning my wedding.  Before that, I would write in a diary and nail the pages to trees and poles in the neighborhood.


One of those sentences is an untruth!

2. What was the destination of your favorite vacation?
Brain is grinding to halt because any "vacation" I have taken cannot be separated from the word "favorite" for me, even though I know that is a violation of the definition of "favorite".  Bali was great for a lot of reasons, but I did have some reservations that I previously blogged about.  We recently went to Cancun, which was great for a long weekend trip that is not too far. We hardly left the resort, though, so it was a real bubble kind of experience. Oh I know--London. Absolutely loved London.  And I would love to go back to Paris.  


Okay I didn't really answer the question that well. Is it possible for someone to be bad at being tagged? Because I seem to be fitting the bill.

3. If you won the lottery, what would be one big splurge that you would make?
Pug Numero Tres! And then a generous bribe to Kevin to let me keep Pug Numero Tres.  But since we're talking about travel, I'd love to splurge on a vacation to Northern Italy.  Kevin and I have talked about going to Italy for quite some time but have not managed to do it.

4. What is your favorite movie?
For a long time, my favorite movie was Dangerous Liaisons. It's kind of sad, though.  Okay, actually pretty sad, which is so unlike me because I usually go for happy things. It's also quite old--I should pick a new favorite.  I do like Coraline a lot--slightly offbeat and macabre (but only slightly), like one of my favorite Etsy shops, Paper Moon Gallery.

5. What is your favorite meal to cook?
I love my pasta with preserved tuna for a relatively quick weeknight meal.

6. Are you more of a winter weather or summer weather type of person?
Winter.  I liquify during summer.

7. What was one of your most memorable dates?
Going to a small play in Soho featuring the college friend of my date, where someone playing Ben Franklin loved cocaine (there was a scene where everyone was *eating* it and dousing each other with it), a silent person crouched in a plastic cube for almost the entire duration of the play, and, here's the whopper, my date's friend had a scene where he was naked from the bottom down with his back to us, and bent over. That was a winner.

8. Can your favorite color be found more than 5 times in your house? (Clothes, dishes, decor, paint color?)
Sage green is my favorite household color.  And yes, it can be found at least 5 times--a lamp, tooth brush container, a painting, one sheet set and one towel set.

9. Do you have a pet?  If so how did you come about naming him or her?
Oh do I have a pet. My baby girls are two pugs named Bunni and Rikki. We did not name them.  We got them when they were over 1 year old and the breeder had already named them, and we didn't feel like we should change their names at that point.  Bunni is short for Texas Bluebonnet Queen, and Rikki is short for Rikki Tikki Tavvi.

10. What was your favorite board game to play as a child?
I vaguely remember Clue as being kind of fun.

11. Do you have any hobbies or collections?
I have a small collection of porcelain and ceramic tea cups from Korea, China and Japan (or at least in those styles or similar), like this one.  I don't know if I really "collect" them, though.  So if you're reading this please don't go buying me a teacup.


And that's it! Thanks for tagging me, Lauren, I do so very much enjoy talking about ME!

Lamb Curry

I want to forewarn you that I don't have a picture of the final product, but this dish is really good.  It's probably one of my favorite things that I've cooked in the past couple of months.  I don't think Kevin is as enthusiastic about it as I am, but everyone has flaws.

I noticed there was a lamb vendor at our farmers' market that I had previously overlooked.  So I went searching for a lamb dish I could make, and found the perfect one in good ol' Joy of Cooking.

Adapted from Joy of Cooking

Ingredients

28 oz. can of whole peeled tomatoes
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 to 2 lbs boneless lamb stew meat (like shoulder or leg) cut into 1-inch cubes
3/4 tsp salt

Serves 4 to 6 as a main course

Let's deal with the tomatoes first.

Drain and reserve the juice, and roughly chop the tomatoes.  We'll get back to these.

Heat oil in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat.  Add the sliced onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.  The recipe said 5 to 7 minutes but mine took about 15 minutes.

This was at the midway point--let them get more brown than this.

Add the spices (the cumin through cayenne) to the onions and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds.

Add 1/2 cup of the chopped tomatoes and 1/4 of the of the tomato juice along with the lamb.

Simmer until liquid is thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Stir in remaining tomatoes and juice.  Add in salt.  Cover, reduce to simmer, and cook until lamb is tender, about 45 to 60 minutes.  Serve with basmati rice.

Even though I don't have a final picture this really was tasty enough that I just had to tell you about it.

Ta-da!

Lemon Coleslaw

The unseasonably mild winter that we had (as well as others) led to some unseasonably hot days back in March.  While things have returned to more normal spring temperatures, I made the most of the brief heat wave and made some summery lemon coleslaw from my Gourmet cookbook, and think it's a great one to keep on file and make in the future.

I know I just posted about a different type of slaw (broccoli slaw--very yummy, go check it out!) recently--guess we're a slaw-venly household. Ha ha ha I should have written a dictionary.

I doubled most of the ingredients in the recipe because the original called for 1 lb of cabbage--most cabbages I know of are much heavier than that and I didn't want a half-head of cabbage to rot in the refrigerator (at this point I know I am not always very good at using "halves" or something leftover from a recipe--it's a pet peeve of mind when a recipe calls for "half" of something, like half an onion. Oooh I could just shake my half-fists in anger!).  In the same vein, I replaced the sour cream with plain Greek yogurt because I have also learned from experience that partly used tubs of sour cream eventually grow green in my refrigerator and get tossed.


Adapted from Gourmet


4 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt (or any plain yogurt, strained through a cheesecloth and sieve--set it over a bowl in the fridge overnight)
4 teaspoons low-fat mayonnaise
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
Fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 small head of green cabbage, thinly sliced (about 1.5 to 2 lbs--yields 6 to 8 cups)
4 medium carrots, cut into julienne strips or coarsely grated
3 to 4 scallions, thinly sliced diagonally (1 cup)
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Serves at least 8 as a side dish

First, make the dressing. Combine the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon zest, lemon juice, water, salt and pepper in a bowl.  The dressing will be somewhat watery--that's okay.

Put aside the dressing--the flavors will meld and develop.

In the meantime, halve, core and slice your cabbage. We got our cabbage from the farmers market and whether it was because of its origins or the time of year or whatever, it was amazing. I didn't think I could call a cabbage "amazing", but it was so sweet.

Place your sliced cabbage into a large bowl, along with the shredded/grated carrots, scallions and parsley.  Pour the dressing over and toss well to combine.

Let sit for about 1 hour, tossing occasionally, so that the flavors become...cohesive? Anyway.  We ate ours with some pierogi.

I highly recommend this slaw if you would like something lighter than traditional heavy-on-the-mayo slaws--this was very zingy and fresh-tasting.  Ta-da!

Makhani Dal (Lentils & Kidney Beans)

My sister recently gave me an Indian cookbook--Dances with Spices. Me likey a lot.

When Kevin and I lived in NYC, there was an Indian restaurant a few blocks away that was a substantial cut above and beyond all the other casual Indian restaurants I have ever been to.  It was called Earthen Oven, which sadly no longer exists.  I guess when we moved they lost a substantial portion of their takeout business.

One of the dishes that we loved was Dal Durga, a creamed black lentil dish.  While I was flipping through Dances with Spices, I came across a recipe for Makhani Dal, which was creamed lentils and kidney beans, and sounded pretty similar to our favorite Earthen Oven dish, so I gave it a whirl. And I'm so happy I did.

Adapted from Dances with Spices

Ingredients

1 cup dried kidney beans (you have to soak the beans the night before making the recipe--if you don't want to do that, you could substitute three 15-oz cans of kidney beans)
1 cup brown or green lentils
2 TBS ghee (you can make your own from one of the many recipes on the internet, but I bought mine from a store what you think I have time for making it myself?)
1 small onion, minced
1 TBS minced fresh ginger
1 TBS minced garlic
1 serrano or jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs and stem removed, minced
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 tsp salt, or to taste (I think I added about a 1/2 tsp more)
1 cup half and half, or whole milk if you must
2 TBS minced cilantro

Served 4 to 6 as main course

Place the kidney beans (not the lentils) in a bowl and cover with water by at least 2 inches.  Let soak 8 hours or overnight.  I put mine in the refrigerator because I wasn't going to get to them until 24 hours afterwards.

Anyway, when you're ready to cook, drain the kidney beans and rinse them along with the lentils.  Place legumes in a saucepan and add about 5 cups of water.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered, until beans are tender but not mushy, about 45 minutes.  Then drain dem bad boys.

Now for the aromatics.

Heat the ghee in a large saucepan or pot over medium high heat.  Add the onion, ginger, garlic and serrano and cook until onion turns light brown, about 5-7 minutes.

Add the coriander, cumin, and black pepper.  Stir for about 30 seconds and add the tomato paste.  Continue to stir for about 5 minutes.

Add the legumes, salt and milk.

Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 6 to 8 minutes.  Stir in cilantro.

Serve with basmati rice.  Ta-da!

Have you tried to recreate a favorite restaurant dish? How did it go?

Broccoli Slaw

There's a recipe for broccoli slaw that I found on Smitten Kitchen a few years ago that I love to make for company--I make a big batch and we eat the leftovers as lunch or a light dinner.  I try to eat it within 1 or 2 days after making it, though, unless you like eating things "funky".

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

Dressing
1/2 cup buttermilk (I usually just use the ol' lemon juice in whole milk trick because buttermilk comes in annoyingly large cartons--to make 1/2 cup buttermilk, you add 1/2 TBS lemon juice to 1/2 cup whole milk and let it sit for a few minutes, and stir before using)
1/4 cup mayonnaise (the original recipe is for 1/3 cup--I found this to be a bit too much but I'm also not a fan of super-mayonnaise-y things so do what you like)
2 TBS cider vinegar (or 1 TBS cider vinegar and 1 TBS lemon juice, which I did because I had a lemon and also because I like the supa tartness)
1 TBS sugar
1 medium or large shallot, finely chopped (about 3 TBS)
Salt to taste--don't be shy, use at least a 1/2 tsp but you will probably want more because it's a lot of raw broccoli in this dish

Slaw
2 heads of broccoli
1/2 cup sliced almonds or other nuts, toasted
1/3 cup dried cranberries or other dried fruit
1/2 small red onion or 2 to 3 large shallots, finely chopped (the last time I made this recipe was about a month ago and dagnabbit I'm pretty sure I still that the unused half of that pesky red onion in the refrigerator--the shallots are more $$ but at least they get used up)

First, make the dressing. You can do this in advance to get it out of the way and to help the flavors meld.  I make dressings by putting all the ingredients into a jar, put the lid on, and shake away. So easy. I do this with cocktails as well since our cocktail shaker has a little inconvenience in that the f-in top doesn't come off but that is another story.

Dump in the shallots, buttermilk, mayo, sugar, vinegar...blah blah you get it.

Then, chop the living daylights out of your broccoli or run it through the food processor with the slicer attachment.  I've done both and they have the pros and cons.  Chopping by hand is more effort, and you have to make sure that you chop it pretty small so that you end up getting a decent ratio of raw broccoli:dressing.  With the food processor, the chopping part is easier but I made an even bigger mess than when I hand chop--you have to empty out that sucker pretty frequently, and in the process things get flung everywhere and you will have fuzzy green hands.  You can also use a mandoline, which I have not done because honestly I am scared of my mandoline. I took a big slice out of my fingernail once and it made me jittery.

With the food processor, you still want to hack up the broccoli into big chunks.

Then run them through the food processor to get this:

And then...well let's skip a few steps where you toss the broccoli with the dressing, and season with any extra salt and pepper to taste.  Best to let it sit in the refrigerator for about an hour to get the flavors to meld.  When ready to serve, sprinkle with the almonds and cranberries.

Ta-da!

I went to California...

...and spent time with some lovely ladies--human, canine, baby...I keep a wide circle of friends.

 My sister and I did a raging impression of ladies who lunch by feasting on oysters and steamed clams at Hog Island Oyster Company.  We were planning on following it up with a furious afternoon of shopping and then cocktails and dinner, like ladies out on the town.   We were going to hit it hard.  In the reality that is my life, we fell asleep, hard, for 2 hours after lunch and instead of cocktails, decided to watch Star Trek.  We did stumble out of our comfy positions in order to grab some dinner, so we really lived it up big time and don't you say otherwise.

And then, oh my goodness, I met some delicious dumplings that I almost ate except that their mommy would have been very upset...

I have a very strong maternal instinct. Just *look* at how happy that baby is in my arms.  I don't want to boast but I got her to talk and she called me "baby charmer". I said, "I know."

My sister had a different effect--I'm not trying to be critical here, but as "baby charmer" I think I'm allowed to say that the baby is not just a little alarmed. It's okay, sister, not all of us have that magic touch.  And clean that spit-up, please.

 The momma was the only one who could comfort this dollop of cuteness. 

 Of course, we cannot forget about the true ladies of California--my sister's three pugs. Wait, this is two. And you may be able to tell that one is older than the other.

 There's the third one! Hello my sweetie. Aren't you a vision in hot pink.  My sister made that pug sweater--isn't it adorable?

I love California.

Clam Chowder

Chowda Time!

I ate a whole lotta Campbell's soup growing up.  Beef & barley, chicken noodle, cream of mushroom (oh how I love thee), but I think my favorite had to be clam chowder.  Oh was it creamy! Oh was it salty! Oh was it...oh it was everything!

Not everyone felt the same way, like that asshole in kindergarten who said my beloved clam chowder, which I had brought to school in a thermos, looked like throw-up.  Clearly his childhood was not enriched by the wonders and breadth of the canned soup aisle. Asshole.

Trying to revive some of that ol' chowda memories (sans Mr. Asshole), I went to the grocery store and spent one bazillion dollars on littleneck clams.  It ended up being worth it because the flavor was amazing and better than when I had used chopped claims in the past (either canned or frozen), but I certainly do not turn my nose up at chopped clams and highly recommend them if you don't want to use fresh clams.

I remember you, asshole, and lemme tell you this clam chowder is good.

Adapted from Epicurious

• 40 small clams, such as littlenecks (about 2 inches in diameter--my grocery store sold about 45 in a bag that cost, again, about a bazillion dollars)
• If you're using chopped clams (frozen or canned), you'll need about 1 1/2 cups
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 oz bottled clam juice (or you could just use water, for a total of 1 1/2 cups water)
• 3 bacon slices, cut into 1/4" dice (you could do 2 slices, you could do 4--3 seemed about right for the amount of clams I had and how much bacon flavor I wanted)
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/4" dice
• 1 TBS butter
• 1 cup half and half
• 2 TBS finely chopped parsley

Serves 4 to 6

First, rinse and scrub your clams well to get rid of loose dirt and grit hanging onto the shells.  Discard any clams with broken shells (a little chip here and there is fine, but a few of mine looked like they had been mauled).

Place clams in pot (mine was 4 quarts) with water and clam juice (or all water, if you're not using clam juice).

Turn heat to medium high and cover pot so clams can steam for about 5 to 8 minutes, stirring every once in a while.  Remove clams to a separate bowl as they open--that started happening for me about the 5-minute mark and kept going. It was like a game--you pick out one, and then lo and behold another one opens! This was very fun for me, which should tell you something about my life.

Pickin' out clams--this one was a gaper.

THROW AWAY the ones that don't open--they have spoiled and may cause serious gastrointestinal stress if you eat them.  Lemme tell you about the last time I had a bad clam.  Well maybe I won't.  Okay I'll say this--you know those juice cleanses they talk about? Save some money and just eat a bad clam.

All innocuous-looking but this guy really just wants to invite you to an evening with the toilet.

Turn off the heat.  When clams are cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the shells and build your little pile of oceanic wonder.  Then roughly chop them.

Pre-mutilation

Pour cooking liquid through a fine-meshed sieve lined with a paper towel or cheesecloth into a bowl.  Don't pour all the way--leave the grit behind.  Clean out the pot well--we'll use it again in the final product.

See? Grit, I tell ya.

Prep your bacon, onion and potatoes.  

Hm, my bacon looks more like 1/2" dice. Ne'er you mind.

Melt butter in the cleaned pot over medium heat, and add the bacon.

Cook, stirring, until golden brown, then add the onion and cook (still stirring) until softened.  This whole process will probably take about 8 to 10 minutes.

Put the potatoes in the pot, along with the reserved clam liquid.  If you are using chopped clams, I would start with about 2 cups of clam juice and 1/2 cup of water and go from there.

Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until the potatoes are tender.  The original recipe said 3 minutes, but I must have created some husky pieces of potato because it took more like 10 minutes.

Stir in clams, half and half, parsley and black pepper.  You will likely not need any salt, although no one's prohibiting you from adding it.

Ladle into bowls and serve.  We ate ours with some toasted sourdough bread.  This isn't super thick like the kind you get out of a can--although you could do a little cornstarch slurry or use a roux to thicken. And that would be more effort. Power to you.

Ta-da!