Quinoa

Now I love meat as much as the next guy, but it can be expensive. Quinoa is one of the best choices for substituting your source of protein from farm animals, and it is healthier for you. I like to make a big pot with any leftover veg from my refrigerator. It will last me through the week for lunches.

Here is a simple recipe for a typical dish using quinoa. I encourage you guys to try it out!

Quinoa Side Dish

 Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa

• 2 cups vegetable broth

• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• 1 dash fresh lemon juice (optional)

Directions

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the quinoa, and toast, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, or until quinoa is tender.

1. In a bowl, toss quinoa together with garlic, parsley, thyme, salt, and onion. Sprinkle with lemon juice, and serve.                 

Bacon

So I have to have a post about Epic Meal Time, because duh! Cooking with bacon has never been the same since I saw how they use it. I have not watched any of their newer stuff, got to catch up.

Apologies to any non-meat eaters :P

It's over!

Dinner tonight was a success! Very unconventional but delicious non the less. Ham, potato salad, roasted sweet potatos, greens flavored with bacon and plenty of spice, fresh baked butter rolls, and last but not least asparagus with lemon sauce. I basically just made everything in the fridge, haha. Butter pecan ice-cream and leftover chocolate for dessert.

I would love to hear what you guys had for dinner? Go, go, go.

Pre-Easter lineup

Easter is coming up, and everyone knows that means some epic food is in order. I usually go for the Easter breakfast with everything you could imagine in the realm of breakfast food. And then a nice dinner with spiraled ham (HoneyBaked if I'm lucky, drool!) and whatever else the family feels like eating. Not quite fresh produce season in my part of the world, but the fresh herbs are starting to grow nicely.

Here is the glaze recipe I'm going to use:

Ingredients

• 1 (9-pound) store bought bone-in spiral ham
• 3/4 cup water

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Optional fixings for ham:

• Pumpernickel bread
• Assorted mustards
• Pickled shallots
• Cornichons
• Assorted cheeses

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Place ham in a roasting pan and pour about 3/4 cup water into the bottom of pan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until heated through, soft and tender.

Make the glaze:

Whisk all ingredients together in a saucepan until smooth and heat over medium-low to medium heat until simmering. Simmer for 2 minutes and remove from heat.

When ham is heated through, remove the aluminum foil, and pour or brush the glaze over the top to cover completely. Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees F.

Return the ham to the oven and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until glaze is caramelized and bubbly. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with desired fixings.

Got loads of candy yesterday...it didn't help that I was starving when I went shopping. My sweet tooth is in full effect it seams. Unfortunately I'm a chocolate snob so the budget got stretched with Ghirardelli and Lindt. Sugar daze here I come...

Pan

Mmmm, look at that crumb structure~

Lets talk about bread. I love a good baguette, but I'm sad that so many people don't know either what a good baguette even is, let alone where to look for them. Unfortunately I'm in an area with low expectations for the artisan craft of bread making, but when I've been to big cities, you can always find good fresh bread. Usually the smaller a market, the better. Or better yet find an actual bakeshop that churns out their own stuff (not some frozen, shipped from a corporate headquarters crap [coughHarvestBreadcough]). I found the coolest little bread and soup shop the other day and it made me want to drive the two hours to get there more often.

Here is one of my favorite bread recipes, I usually add rosemary and garlic.

             Ingredients

• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 cups bread flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.                 

Browsing woes and a new book

So I found a "series" (to put the term loosely) on youtube called Ellie and Kane's cooking show. I'm not even going to link it on here for the shame of it. My brother could do better with his camera and barely any editing needed (which I'm sure there was none). It made me laugh and cry simultaneously. I don't want to get to bashing or anything, but they use teacups as a "one cup" measurement and actual silverware for teaspoons and tablespoons. It's just....lol.

Anyway I found a book I want to read, I think it is the title that got me.

Chocolate peanutbutter layer cake anyone?

No not that...lol

So I've got some peanut butter ganache and chocolate ganache sitting on the counter, not sure what to do with them. Then I figure i will make a nice layer cake, using a new sponge cake recipe I found. Will post results when I finish it up! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup milk

• 2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 8 large eggs

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

DirectionsPreheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a small saucepan, warm the milk and 2 teaspoons of the butter together over medium-low heat. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whip, beat the eggs and 1 cup of the sugar on medium-high speed in a large mixing bowl until the mixture is pale yellow, thick, and tripled in volume, about 8 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, beat in the warm milk mixture. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a small mixing bowl. Add half the flour mixture to the egg mixture and blend thoroughly until smooth. Repeat with the other half. Add the vanilla and mix gently. Grease a 17 by 12-inch baking pan or jelly-roll pan with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Pour the cake batter into the pan, spreading it evenly. Bake until the cake springs back when touched, about 15 minutes. Cool for about 2 minutes, then gently flip it out onto a large sheet of parchment paper. Let cool completely.

I also made some Italian buttercream the other day, but I have inferior vanilla extract at the moment so it doesn't taste like much. Hopefully mixing it with the ganache will make a nice whipped filling for the cake. So for now here is this to look at, YUM!