Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Lots of Cooking!

I have been trying to cook dinner more since Big Button is big writing. So ... the crock pot has been my friend. Today (actually, made last night to cook today) I made a Marrakesh Tagine, adapted from World Food Cafe for the crock pot. There were a lot of vegetables, including eggplant, potatos, sweet potatos, peppers (red and green), green beans, tomatoes. It was seasoned with black pepper, cinnamon, saffron, and cumin. We ate it with fresh baguette with butter (bought the baguette today from Toscana just down the street), lots of parsely and cilantro, and a nice salad. This is a meal I am definitely going to make again!

Yesterday, I made a steaming bowl of Pho (vegetarian, of course) from Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table. It was made with black mushrooms, rice noodles, tofu, and we had lots of garnishes like cilantro, vietnamese coriander, basil, scallions, peppers, bean sprouts. BB really liked it. I thought it was good, but I felt like it was missing something. I have determined that something to be fat, a richness that is missing with no meat. I am trying to think of what would be good; maybe roasted peanut oil? BB suggested coconut oil (just a bit, so as not to detract from the flavors). I have a hard time with meals that have almost no fat. Funny, I don't seem to have a problem with meals that are lacking other beneficial qualities, but that is just the way things go.

On Monday, I made whole grain mustard and cornmeal crusted seitan, roasted sweet potatoes, and citrus collards with raisin redux. I made the seitan from scratch since I can't seem to find a store around here that sells it. It was not difficult, but a bit labor intensive. It turned out pretty good, and was kind of fun. I would make it again. The mustard-cornmeal crusted seitan was pretty delicious, if I do say so myself. Very nice crust, crunchy but not excessively so. Also, very simple to have such nice results. The recipe is from Vegan Soul Kitchen, by Bryant Terry. The citrus collards with raisins were also from that book, and this is the second time I made them. I used a mixture of greens this time (collards, mustard, kale) sauteed with garlic, raisins, and orange juice. The sweet potatoes were cut in half, brushed with olive oil, and sprinkled with Old Bay (a recent discovery of mine, although probably not a recent discovery for the rest of the world) and roasted at 450 while I made the rest of the food. The whole meal was so easy but so tasty! A good week night meal for sure.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Japanese Inspiration

Lately I seem very into Japanese things. It all started with my fascination with the paper chopstick wrapper at the sushi restaurant the other day. I liked the color combination and designs. Apparently, I am not the only one, as this website shows.

I admire Japanese aesthetics in general, but especially in knitting and music. Asobi Seksu is awesome and I have been listening to them a lot lately. As for knitting, I want this book:Although not actually Japanese, but a Scandinavian inspiration of Japanese designs. Upon reflection, I think that Japanese and Scandinavian aesthetics have some similarities. Both are sparse and simple with lots of geometric shapes, and use a lot of neutrals with strategically placed bold colors.

I keep seeing Japanese knitters on ravelry, and they impresses me very much. First of all, they seem to make the most intricate yet simple items. How is this possible? I also like how the designs can make neutral colors look so interesting. Normally, I find neutrals a bit boring. In fact, I think a bold color would take away from many of the designs.

I started to look on www.yesasia.com (a website that sells anything Asian) for books I can buy. I don't read Japanese, so will this end up being a bad idea? I hear that they chart everything, so you don't have to read. Hmm ...

I guess if it doesn't work out I can always go get more sushi so I can admire the chopstick wrappers.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Vitenamese Food

This past weekend I made Lemongrass Tofu and Herb Salad with Chili-Lime dipping sauce from Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table by Mai Pham. It was very tasty.

I want to try other recipes from this book, including the Pho. It helps that I have so many herbs growing in the garden: Basil, Lemon Verbena, Mint, Vietnamese Coriander, and Nasturtium. Gotta love food straight from the garden!

Officially Fall!

Now it is officially fall, which makes me extraordinarily happy. Fall is really the best season-the weather is still nice but you can start wearing sweaters and layers, the leaves start turning colors, Halloween and Thanksgiving are right around the corner, and I get to live in a non-sweltering house.

Another thing that fall makes me think of is projects, as in, projects around the house. I have been planning many of these in my head, but it was just to hot to do anything. Number one on my list is to get the house presentable for guests (for Thanksgiving). Is it sad that I have been living here a year and there are some rooms that look as though I moved in two days ago? I will start with the office, which is a disgrace. My second project is to start making Christmas presents for people. So far, I have ONE. I did it this weekend. Yep. Feeling pretty proud of myself. Project three is to hem all my pants that need to be hemmed (which is, oh, about 10 pairs or so). Of course, this means that I have to get a sewing machine, but that was already in the works. Finally, project four: plan my garden for next year. It is going to be bigger and even better.

But perhaps the BEST part about fall is that the boys finally want to cuddle again!