Bread, Brussels Sprouts and Beans, Oh My!

This weekend I tried my hand at baking! Itare tons of recopies out there so the one I used was one of many different options.   didn’t turn out TERRIBLY, but it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. Maybe because I made a bread that I haven’t actually tasted before, thus I’m not entirely sure it tasted the right way or not! Anywho, I’m just going to do a quick post about the things Ive been making lately with pictures. None of these things were huge endeavors, thus a short sum up post should do.  

Irish Soda Bread

Difficulty: Easy (but pay attention to what you are doing!)

Time: Total 1 hr. (50 mins baking)

This bread was said to be the easiest bread that you can make. Yet, I think I might have measured something wrong since my consistency was way off when I was making the dough. I also used low fat buttermilk, so maybe that had something to do with it. There are tons of recipes out there so the one I used was one of many different options. 

 -4 to 4 ½ cups flour

-2 Tbsp sugar

-1 teaspoon salt

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-4 Tbsp butter

-1 cup raisins

-1 large egg lightly beaten

-1 ¾ cups buttermilk

I got the recipe from simplyrecipes.com (http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/irish_soda_bread/) It was fun to make, though I had friends over and was chatting so I think that I measured the flour wrong and that’s what gave me my trouble. So pay attention to what you are doing! It was best the first day right out of the oven, but I froze the leftovers and ate them within the next few days.

Yesterday I made a chickpea salad and roasted Brussels sprouts. The Brussels sprouts were easy, but toss them with olive oil and salt and pepper and put them in the oven for 40 mins. Turn them occasionally to make them evenly cooked and crispy on the outside, delicious!  My real pride and joy was the middle eastern chickpea salad! It was a no cook dish, but it tasted so good on a bed of lettuce that I can see this being an easy go to recipe. Also it would be tasty to use in a pita or any other way you can think of using it.

Middle Eastern Salad

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 20 mins (depend on how good you are at chopping)

This was essentially an exercise in cutting things up, which would be fairly easy with good knives (which I do not have!).  I used this base recipe (http://rathaisrecipes.blogspot.se/2012/03/middle-eastern-salad.html) and added the tomatoes and didn’t chop as finely as they ask for. I also just added everything into one bowl and mixed together, no need to dirty two bowls!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups boiled chickpeas
1 cup parsley
50 g feta cheese (adjust)
1 red onion
1-2 tomato (optional)
3 garlic cloves

1-2 tbs olive oil
1/2 tbs lemon juice (or to taste)
1/2 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp pepper

I didn’t really measure either, and I used a can of chickpeas instead of boiling my own. The blog is very informative you you are interested in the way they did it specifically. As usual, I made it the lazy “just throw it all in there” way. It tasted great though, and I look forward to a great lunch today!

I am also on pintrest.com, which is where I get a lot of my recipes. I will add a link here soon so people can find me! I’m new to pintrest, so Im still adding things and seeing what I can do with the site.

Kale and Kalamata Olive Penne

Kale and Kalamata Olive Penne

On a whim at the grocery store I bought some more kale. I am trying to eat healthier and for some reason I have decided kale is the answer. So, I found a recipe online from Martha Stewart that was a tad bit different than my other recipes, and slightly ambitious for me. Instead of a tomato base as I usually use, this one called for a wine base.  The original recipe called for turkey and goat cheese, which would have been delicious. But alas, I had no turkey or goat cheese at home, so I subbed feta cheese instead. I know this dish would have tasted much different with goat cheese and turkey, but the feta was actually really nice with the olives.

Difficulty: Easy(ish) to medium

Time: 45 mins.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat Penne Pasta

¼ cup Olive Oil

3 garlic cloves thinly sliced

Salt and pepper

½  teaspoon Red Pepper flakes

3 green onions chopped (or shallots if you have them)

Lemon zest

¼ cup dry white wine

½ bunch Kale

Feta Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

½ cup Kalamata Olives (pitted and halved)

Lemon Juice

Start off with starting the pasta so it’s done right around when you are done with all the goodies that go with it. Reserve a cup of the pasta water to help keep the sauce liquidy(that’s not a real word, but you know what I mean).

Lesson #1:  This is less of a lesson and more of a question. I’m not sure why many recipes ask that you use the pasta water specifically to add to the sauce. Maybe since it’s already hot and the starch in the water might help thicken the sauce? Well, I didn’t see any great benefit to it in my sauce, but I’m sure there’s a good reason.

 Start off by heating the oil and adding the garlic and green onions salt pepper and red pepper flakes, about 3 minutes. Then, when your onions are translucent, add the wine and lemon zest. Cook until the alcohol has cooked out. Then add the kale and cook it down until the kale is wilted. (Note in my previous blog about kale. It is a tricky beast so be prepared for a bit of a kale mess when cooking with it!) Stir in the cheese and let that melt for a bit, and then add the pasta, olives and a little bit of lemon juice. Top with parmesan cheese.

Lesson #2: Feta cheese does not melt, at all really. So using the goat cheese in this recipe would have changed the dynamics of the flavors and consistency dramatically. The sauce would have been much creamier. The feta tasted good, but cheese is apparently very specific, you can’t just replace one with another and expect the same results! Lesson learned, though I was pleasantly surprised with my results.

Overall this dish came out great though it seemed like most of the flavor came from the olives and nothing else that I had put in the dish (like the wine and the lemons). I liked the red pepper flakes, it added a little bit of heat that you really only noticed after the shock of the kalamata olives wore off. Don’t get me wrong, I love feta and olive just as much as anyone else, but perhaps a simple greek salad would do me just fine. As for the kale, I barely tasted it in this dish (and I added A LOT of kale). So for anyone who’s not really into kale’s taste, this might be a good option for you! I was happy with my end result though, and am looking forward to my pasta for lunch!  I did drink a bit of wine with this, but it was just some of the cooking wine and nothing really worth reviewing. I think I may try cooking with chickpeas soon, as I have many a cans in my pantry. Also, I think it is about time I buy some flour and sugar and bake something! Happy cooking! =)       

   

Tomato and Basil Pasta

One of my favorite flavor combinations is tomato and basil. When I was in Italy I ate caprese sandwiches almost every day (I do not suggest this if you are watching your weight…). I also ate gelato every day, so honestly weight gain wasn’t really something I was worrying about… None the less, I still hold those Italian flavors close to my heart. Last night I attempted a simple pasta with fresh basil, which is something I have never cooked with. It went well, in my opinion.

Difficulty: Very Easy

Time: 30 mins (if that really)

Ingredients:

Tomato

Onion

Garlic cloves

Olive Oil

Fresh Basil

Whole Wheat Spiral Pasta

Feta & Parm Cheese

To make this you must prepare the pasta so it is done right when the veggies are done or slightly before hand. I started boiling the water right before I started chopping the veggies and it all was done in perfect time. This was such an easy meal I can see it being a staple for me when I stop being excited about trying new things. Chop up garlic cloves first (four or so) and add them to the olive oil over medium heat. Chop up the tomatoes (2 cups worth) and onions (one small onion), and tear up the basil (four leaves). Once the garlic has been heated for about five minutes add the onions and tomatoes. Let that cook for a few minutes to get the flavors combined, then take it off the heat.

Lesson # 1 (and my only lesson for this meal): Add fresh basil at the end of the cooking process. Let all the veggies kind of sit together to marry the flavors. I guess cooking the basil a lot probably takes some of that fresh basil flavor out, so adding it at the end of the recipe makes the fresh taste stay fresh. I always thought that cooking basil to death was the way to go, but this turned out nicely.  The recipe I was loosely using said to let it sit until it reaches room temp… I didn’t want to wait that long so I just let it sit while I added the cheese to the warm pasta. Toss the pasta with the cheese so it melts a bit. Then stir in the veggies. Sprinkle some more parm on top if you want.

This dish turned out well, and I even drank some wine with it! Make this often and enjoy!

Wine Selection: Rosemount Syrah

This is a go to wine for me; it’s cheap and tastes pretty good. I had already opened the bottle a few days ago, so I finished it off with my meal. They seemed to pair nicely. I feel like Syrahs (or Shiraz if you’re Australian) is a versatile wine. Or maybe I’m just biased because it’s one of my favorite varietals. It definitely pairs well with tomatoes!  

Kale and Tomato Pasta

Yesterday I had my first microwave dinner in a week! This is pretty impressive for me considering I usually have one about five times a week.... I won't say it's all because I am cooking now, but it is definitely partially due to that (also because I have awesome friends that have been taking me out to dinner...). On Monday I continued my pasta cooking adventure with a very healthy dish, and no wine! (During the work week I try and cut back on the vino... though I have to say cooking is soooo much more fun with it!)

Difficulty: Easy, but slightly frustrating

Time: About 30 mins

Ingredients:

Kale
Tomatos
Onions
Garlic
Olive Oil
Whole Wheat spaghetti

Everything about this dish was easy, except for the kale.... Kale is a super food, it's great for you! So, being the health concious person I try to be I decided to make something starring this leafy green. So, I found a recipie online and adapted it to what I had in my fridge. First things first, I put the water on the stove and began the pasta (Im learning!). I started out with the oil, garlic, and onions over medium heat. While that was sauteing I chopped up the tomatos and kale.

Lesson # 1: Kale is huge when not cooked! As i tore apart the kale I realized I didn't have a bowl big enough for it.... So, I ended up throwing some of it away, I had no clue what to do with all that kale.... Then after the onions were cooked, I thew the kale and the tomatos in.

Lesson #2: Having multiple sizes on pans is a good idea. I only have one pan to saute in, and it is clearly not big enough for leafy greens. Thus, I had kale falling over the sides of the pan and on the floor.... kale was everywhere! So, getting a nice big pan with high sides would be a great idea when cooking kale, or spinach (which I intend to do soon, since I love that stuff), or any other large leaf green. To be fair, the kale cooks down a lot, and it soon fit in the pan after maybe five minutes of continuously tossing it. Once it was all cooked and soft, I combined the pasta and veggies. Sprinkle some parm on top and voila, a healthy dinner!

Overall this is an easy dish to put together, though the kale was a new learning experience for me. It tasted great, and I even had leftovers for lunch! I look forward to trying some other healthy veggies, maybe spinach or eggplant? Eggplant is a tough one for me, I have tried to cook it before and always fail miserably by over salting it. I also bought some fresh basil that I need to use soon, so maybe a little bruschetta this weekend for a snack? My friend introduced me to the blog  Taste Spotting (http://www.tastespotting.com/) check it out for tons of recipes!

Broccoli and Brussle Sprouts Pasta

Since I finally bought a pot to boil water in (after 7 months in my apartment)  I have decided to start my cooking adventures with pasta. I am aware that pasta isn't that great for you, and the dish I made used regular pasta (not whole wheat), but at least I'm cooking right? I love vegetables, and I really don't like cooking meat, so most of my meals will most likely be vegetarian, or some sort of seafood. I may do more with chicken down the line, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Veggies and Bow Tie Pasta

Difficulty:  Extremely Easy (like go ahead and drink a little while you cook easy)
Wine: Cupcake Sauv Blanc

Ingredients:
Frozen Broccoli
Frozen Brussle Sprouts
Olive Oil
LOTS of Garlic Cloves
Garlic Salt
Bow Tie Pasta
Feta Cheese
Parmesan Cheese

I used frozen veggies because I mistakenly thought that Target would have some non-frozen veggies... and they did not (or at least they had an awful selection), thus I used the frozen. They worked fine. but it just took a while for them to de-thaw. I made it by "browning" the garlic in the olive oil first....

 Lesson # 1: You really CAN burn garlic! I didn't think it was possible for some reason.... So, use caution when doing this, in fact only have the garlic on there for like a minute, because it burns really quickly when the oil gets hot. Then I threw the veggies in with the oil.

Lesson # 2: Frozen veggies take forever to cook. Maybe de-thaw somehow before trying to saute them.While I was doing this I put water on the stove to boil.

Lesson # 3: Water takes a long time to boil.... why is  that? I guess put the water on first and crank it up. Once the water boils throw the pasta in, and wait till everything is all cooked and ready to go. The veggies will get kinda crispy, which I liked personally. But you can always cook them however you like them. Also, I added garlic salt to taste, since I'm a little obsessed with garlic... After combining all the pasta and veggies, I sprinkled parm and feta over the pasta. Doing this made the pasta taste amazing.

Lesson # 4: Cheese makes everything taste great.I'm not sure how good this dish would have been without the cheese, esp. the feta, which was a great surprise for me. I had read about adding it to pasta, but I've had it before. I will be adding feta to things more often, it magically adds tons of flavor!

All in all it was a great success. I enjoyed cooking it and loved eating it. I also enjoyed drinking half a bottle of wine with it, and telling all my friends the rest of the night how I had cooked dinner for myself....  I look forward to more cooking adventures! I think tonight there will be more pasta... more to come on that later.

I will also be including a review of the wine I have with my meals.

Wine Selection: Cupcake Sauv Blanc (under 10.00)

I really enjoyed the Sauv Blanc, though it was an awful choice for this dish. It is a crisp and refreshing wine, chill it and bring it to a picnic or the pool. Most likely it would be great with a light fish or chicken dish.

Microwave dinners, and all that jazz.

I have decided to start trying to cook, and hopefully this blog will give me motivation to keep cooking and learning new things. I have been eating microwave dinners for the past two and a half years. I know the radiation is bad for me, not to mention the preservatives and all that bad stuff. I am an adult and I may want to have a family some day. I have been banking on the idea that my perfect man will be able to cook for me... but I now realize that no one is perfect, and depending on anyone but myself is never a good idea. Thus, I am blogging my adventures in cooking in hopes that I can learn about cooking and maybe motivate others to try something new! Pictures will come (my computer is broken and Im in the process of getting a new one), for now I will just post what I make and how hard it was, and possibly how long it took. Only good things can come from this learning experience, right? My fingers are crossed that I don't burn my apartment down.... =)