Feb 2010 Daring Cooks Challenge

Posted by zyllah – February 19, 2010

The 2010 February Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid. If you would like the recipes you can find them here.

I’m just warning you this will be a picture heavy post….(here is the full set from the feast since there is no way I’ll use all of them)

So I was really excited by this challenge. I love hummus and pita and I had been meaning to get around to making hummus from scratch.  Making the pita just gave me a +1 to my cooking skill.  So those were the two required elements and then whatever you wanted to add to the feast was up to you. I did this last Sunday so I could have help with the baby minding while I cooked. Sometimes Elke doesn’t quite get that something needs to be done right then.  One day though she’ll love the fact that I cook, I hope. Although I can see her deciding to never cook because she resented the cooking I did or something. Anyway I ended up making:

The Feast

The Feast

Pita

This came out amazingly good. I think I let it rise too long because it wasn’t exactly pita-like in its consistency. However they were quite tasty and I’ll never buy pita again. The only changes I made were that I baked them on foil since I wanted to be able to quickly change them out and I hate baking things directly on my pizza stone. Also I was out of parchment paper. This exercise also highlighted the fact that I really do need more practice in my rolling out skills since they ended up rather amoeba shaped.

Pita Dough

Pita Dough ready to rise

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Pita waiting to be baked

Hummus & Dill Hummus

Now when I say I did this from scratch, I mean from scratch. No canned beans here. However I’ll probably try canned beans next time to see if there is any appreciable difference other than bragging rights. I soaked the beans for about twenty-four hours, before I started to cook them.  I had never actually cooked beans before so I was a bit amazed at how long they took. Also I’ve got to say what a horrid smell. So once they were cooked I processed them with the other ingredients. I thought it ended up slightly stiff  and my garlic was a bit strong but in the end it beat the pants off any bought hummus I’ve had. I also did a batch of dill since that and roasted red pepper are my favorite of the flavored varieties that I’ve bought. Assuming the canned version is as good I’d totally make this again. I am not sure I will make it that frequently if I have to cook the beans myself.

Soaking Beans

Soaking Beans

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Hummus

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Dill Hummus

Roasted Garlic

I wrapped it all up in foil and roasted it for quite a long time. The problem was this was unusually strong garlic so I didn’t quite get that garlic candy I was hoping for.

Roasted Garlic

Oh so strong roasted garlic

Yogurt Dill Dip

I made this up as I went frankensteining a couple of different recipes. I used plain full fat yogurt, cumin, fresh parsley, dill, some garlic and lemon juice.I was finishing up though I realized it was ‘off’ in some way so I looked up a few more. One of them on Allrecipes.com (which I remembered using before) suggested adding mayo. Once I added a decent sized glop of it, the dip/sauce was perfect. I’m sorry I can’t be more precise since I’m sort of an improvisational cook most of the time.

Yougurt/Dill Dipping Sauce

Yogurt/Dill Dipping Sauce

Falafel

Right so I was especially happy to try this from scratch. I love falafel. The mix though is usually a bit well dry and not quite as good as I’ve had in restaurants. I should have been more vigiliant though when I measured the cilantro because it really tasted like soap. It was fine once you dipped it in the yogurt sauce but ugh. However the texture was fantastic and Justin already wants me to make them again. Since I tasted them before I fried them I knew they were off so fortunately I had a package of the mix in the pantry. It was funny because even though those didn’t taste too cilantro-y hands down we reached for the from scratch ones.

Falafel

Falafel Pre Chop

Falafel

You can sort of see which is which in this picture

Grilled Chicken

My last dish was some grilled chicken because Justin just won’t eat a meal without meat of some kind. I did a variation of the marinade I use for chicken tikka masala but with more of a middle eastern slant. It’s yogurt with various spices, some lemon, ginger and garlic. Then I grilled them off. They were fantastic just a bit hot with lots of flavor. We loved them.

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Chicken swimming in its yogurt spice bath

Chicken

Tasty Grill marks

Final Thoughts

Enjoyable and tasty! Will definitely make again. Particularly next time I have people over.

The State of the Knitting….or should I say lack of Knitting.

Posted by zyllah – February 13, 2010

First off let me apologize for the signs of construction here. My old theme wasn’t really working well with the new version of wordpress so I’m in the process of searching out a theme to modify. I’m fairly pleased with this one beyond some of the color choices so we’ll see. I am way too lazy these days to deal with doing it from scratch.  I have a good excuse because who could resist this face…

Elke's first Bubble Bath

Elke's first Bubble Bath

Knitting has been sparse since we decided to build a house and I became consumed with finding flooring and paint and what not. So you’d think the problem would be solved once we moved right? Oh no because then Justin went off for a year and here I was in a house we’d just moved into with 90% of our things in the garage. I told the movers to leave most of the boxes in the garage so I wouldn’t have to look at them as I was unpacking. What I didn’t realize was that out of sight= out of mind and also that less than a month later I would find out I was eating for two. So for me anyway with pregnancy came exhaustion. Of course my under-performing thyroid didn’t help matters. Sure I take synthroid but between the two of them any excess energy I had went into getting the house into a state you could live in. Since I sure as hell knew I wouldn’t have time after she was born. Anyway I think I managed to finish a clap and a scarf I had started months earlier. It was just so much easier to read. Then after Elke was born I was going to the NICU to visit her 2x a day and well yet again it was much easier to read or stare at a dumb show on TV. Now I did make her a couple of hats and a pair of socks back then. Now that Justin is home and she’s a little older I’m managing to carve out some knitting and spinning time. I love to spin and knit but by the time I’ve made dinner and cleaned up, it’s like 9 pm and I’m tired. Also Star Trek Online came out and I am a supergeek so…. So unless I get up before she does it just doesn’t happen. So my current projects are:

1. Spinning this green Corriedale I bought from a local-ish dyer at a fesitval. It’s really easy to spin and it’s very relaxing, however I feel like I’m almost relearning how to spin. Which is more than fine I just seem to need that mental break every day.

Green Singles

Thick N Thin since I am out of practice

2. Garter Yoke Cardigan (Rav Link)

I started this a couple of weeks ago and so far I like it I think. I’m using Classic Elite’s waterlily which is sort of their response to the semi sold craze.  I have too many sweater amounts of Worsted so I’m trying to get through them by making tons of different cardigans that I can wear in the house or under a coat where they won’t really show.

Garter Yoke

You'd think it would go quicker with just garter...

3.  16 Button Cardigan (Rav Link)

Yet another worsted cardigan. I’m modifying the pattern though so the ribs on the bottom are all of equal height. I just didn’t want to bother keeping that much track….plus I thought it looked kind of goofy. The yarn is Cashmerino, we’ll see how it wears. It will probably turn into pill central. However the yarn is nice to work with.

16 Button Cardi

Started this Months ago...

4. Strangling Vine Scarf (Rav Link)

Oh Boy I started this like a year and a half ago but I’m finally getting serious about it. I think it’s incredibly lovely in this yarn. The yarn is Knitting notions in aubergine. I bought it as sock yarn but it was that really thin henry’s attic sock yarn that for me is just *too* thin. Like I’d have to knit it on a 0 or a 000 since I like a tightly knit sock. Anyway I saw this pattern and put the two together. I went down a needle size to compensate for the ultra thinness of the yarn. I’m about half way done maybe it kind of depends on how it blocks so I’ll probably do a soak and a pin out soon so I can judge how much more to do.

Strangling Vine

I love the colors in this yarn

5. Garter Rib Socks (Rav Link)

I always seem to come back to these. I like plenty of other sock patterns but for some reason these really work for me. I love lace socks but I’m always worried I’ll lose my place or whatever. These are in some leftover DIC worsted in gothic rose. I actually finished sock #1 last week but I haven’t starIted sock #2 yet. It’s been a busy week….

Garter Rib Sox

This is such fantastic yarn. Not too many other companies manage to make yarn that doesn't Pool

6.  Log Cabin Scrap Blanket

No rav link because although I’m using the mason dixon blanket as inspiration it’s really just a way to use up scraps leftover from various sweater projects. Also even when I’m super tired I can manage garter…

Log Cabin

Who doesn't want an almost totally mindless project that will eventually get destroyed by the house felines?

Daring Bakers January 2010 Challenge

Posted by zyllah – January 29, 2010

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca

So for the first month of belonging to the Daring Bakers, this was my challenge.  Interestingly enough I actually had made non gluten-free graham crackers from that recipe a few weeks ago and had them sitting in my freezer since I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them. Initially they were going to be dipped in chocolate for my grandfather but I had problems with the recipe. It was quite possibly the hardest dough I have ever worked with. It was so soft and it stuck to everything. I also sort of misread the instructions. However although they were sort of ugly and overdone they did taste right so I sort of figured at some point I’d use them in a crust. When I read the challenge I had every intention of making the recipe again and conquering it.  Although I dismissed the idea of gluten free since I don’t know anyone who avoids gluten and the pocket book is a little lean this month to be buying all sorts of flours I probably wouldn’t use again. That’s assuming I could even find them without going to nashvegas. Anyway then I realized I had mistaken the dates of the daring cooks and bakers reveal dates. So suddenly I had a day to get it all done and I have an eight month old so…..I decided that since I had already tried the recipe and had to results I would just reuse them. It was appealing since soon I’m going back to my more usual lower carb dieting and it would get them out of my freezer. So into the food processor they went…

Homemade Graham Cracker Crumbs

Crumbs that I wish I had left bigger

Then I added them to the butter and cocoa. I used a mixture of nestle I’m trying to use up because somehow I ended up with 3 tins of the stuff and the Valrohna I got on my last trip to whole foods.  Except of course Elke was awake and I got a bit distracted so somehow I forgot to add the egg. So I started over and decided to just make a double batch.

Butter and Cocoa oh My

Now when I read the recipe I realized I would have to change the bottom layer. I can’t stand coconut. I don’t coconut milk in a thai curry but actual coconut no thanks. Also I’m not a huge fan of peanuts so I decided to just use the crackers. Now I should have gone with a bigger crumb on the crackers if I was going to do that but they were tasty anyway.

The first layer

The First Layer

Now at this point we have to cover a few steps without pics because I made them over the course of the day when I could snatch a few minutes and I sort of forgot to take any more pics. I read about the middle layer and realized it was essentially oreo filing so I decided we’d had enough of that since I made those a couple of times over the holidays. Now I love mint and so does my husband so since I had finally managed to track down peppermint extract (seriously ever store in town was completely out for like a month over the holidays) I decided to go with that and since I wanted to make sure people knew it was mint I tinted it green. Then I proceded to the top layer. I didn’t have quite enough semi-sweet to cover I used the rest of the milk chocolate I’d bought to dip my graham crackers into. It made a really nice ganache layer…not too sweet but not bitter.

Choco Mint Nanaimo Bars

Choco Mint Nanaimo Bars

I really liked the end result however they were so incredibly rich if I make them again I’m going to find a way to stiffen the middle layer without using quite as much sugar.

Food Blogging

Posted by zyllah – January 26, 2010

So I’ve been a wee bit stressed lately, and when I’m stressed I cook. My mom can’t eat when she’s upset and I have the opposite problem. Also since Justin was gone for so long I went into cooking for one mode which is sear a meat and make a veg. Not really interesting at all. So since his return coincided with the holidays I used it as an excuse to go on a recipe FRENZY.  Since Thanksgiving I’ve probably tried 12 or more recipes. Some I caught on film and some I didn’t since they had to be tasted right away. However I did add a list with links to the side panel if any of these make you want to try them.

First and most importantly I have a photo of the Birthday cake I made for myself last week. Inside was a pretty awesome carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It’s the Cooks Illustrated recipe and I have to say I thought the flavor, texture and moistness of the cake was spot on. However I always make a less sweet frosting . I just don’t care for so sweet my teeth ache, but because I cut back on the sugar the texture of the frosting was a little loose.

It looks so much better under a 50mm lens...

It looks so much better under a 50mm lens...

Next up we have some pizza I made using a different and much better dough recipe. I also used some leftover amatriciana sauce I had from the night before. It was super tasty I thought. I loved the texture of the dough but next time I’m going to add a bit more salt I think. Or let it rise longer since I felt it needed to develop a bit more flavor. Also I did modify it to use some olive oil in the dough.

Justins Pizza

Justin's Pizza

I have also been experimenting with cooking via Sous Vide. It’s essentially boil in a bag cooking but you don’t boil it. You cook the food at the temp you want it to be at the end. This prohibits over cooking, and you don’t get that sort of bullseye effect in meat. There is a big fancy small appliance for it now that I covet but it is a bit pricey so I’ve been using a more uhh ghetto arrangement. It does however work and the experiment was some of the best steak I’ve ever had.

See no ring of grey!

See no ring of grey!

For Christmas my Inlaws were kind enough to get me this awesome Ice Cream maker.

Lovely maker of deliciousness.

Lovely maker of deliciousness.

I’ve only made two recipes though so far one of which is Vanilla and the other was a candied bacon ice cream. Both of them were from David Lebovitz and were  fantastic. On the vanilla one although I did double the recipe I did not double the amount of eggs but it was sill good just not quite as custardy as it would have been but that was totally my fault since I ran out of eggs.  The candied bacon was shockingly good, although I did not expect that candying the bacon would be quite so messy. Next up is Coffee since I don’t like it and I need to start my post holiday diet.

Look at those flecks...

Look at those flecks...

My final photo is of Challah. I finally found a good recipe. However even though it was good I felt it needed a touch more sugar or honey. Next time I’ll try that. There are only few food things I want to conquer from my jewish heritage and pass on to Elke and this is one of them.

Best bread ever.

Best bread ever.

The Year in Review

Posted by zyllah – January 16, 2010

I know I know I should have gotten this done on or around January first right? However….my birthday is January fifteenth so I sort of wait till that date rolls around to start any diets, resolutions or reflecting. So the year in review….last year was weird. It was a really hard year. Justin was gone till November in Afghanistan and I was pregnant. Not only that but I did not have an easy pregnancy and Elke was born 2 months early at 2.5 lbs. However….She was born completely healthy and I am unspeakably grateful for that. I know its a total cliche but she has changed my life in so many wonderful ways. She’s happy and seeing her take such delight in things I don’t even think twice about like standing up reminds me that life doesn’t have to be complicated.

Once I was able to bring her home crafting sort of went by the wayside. Now that she’s a little older and Justin is back I’ve been able to add some back in but really at this point cooking is more of a frontrunner than knitting. I *have* to eat and it doesn’t take that much more time to make something good…

A whole lot of good things happened this past year so I should perhaps make a list so I can look back and remember it.

1. Elke: She rocks and is the joy of my life. Having Elke dissolved any lingering weirdness between me and my dad. I will always be grateful for how he dropped everything when I had her and how much help he was when she was in NICU. Also having Elke made me really feel like Justin and I were a family.

2. Reconnecting with my best friend. We had lost touch many years ago but through the wonder of facebook we found each other. It’s awesome having her back in my life.

3. Justin came home safe and sound.

Now for the year ahead..

1. Keep managing to carve out a bit of ‘me’ time so I stay balanced.

2. Lose the holiday and last of the baby weight.

3. Blog more.

And since I know that it’s not a blog post without a photo….

The first bubble bath.

The first bubble bath.

Housekeeping Update and A Little Knitting…

Posted by zyllah – October 24, 2009

So I decided to combine all my blogs. I am not the best blogger anyway and I don’t have the time to only talk about specific subjects. However I do promise that this will not become a baby blog, although I can’t promise to never mention the sweetest of sweetness. Anyway I am working on her birth story although I probably won’t post it. Suffice it to say she was born early because I did not have an easy pregnancy.  However she was born healthy and is perfectly normal albeit a bit small. Well we are still waiting on one test but it’s an easy fix so…However I have lost 30 lbs so while I’m still fat I’m not quite as fat and I can fit into my old pre-preggo clothes. So to celebrate and also because I just really needed new boots this winter I ordered these, I can’t quite get rid of my punk/goth roots I guess.

Boots

So on to other things. Knitting has been rather sparse around here but I did make elke some really cute socks out of some leftover sock yarn. I got the pattern at Petite Purls. You’ll have to pardon the bad photos since I don’t quite find the time to upload and futz from the good camera so this is from my cell phone. The yarn is Misty Mountain Farm in Apple Pie (I think).  Although the next pair I’m not going to bother with heel stitch since It’s not like she’s going to wear shoes.

Sox

I’ve also got a good half of a lace scarf done, I just never quite have the energy to pay that much attention. Just like I cast on for a sweater but….I am working on some worsted weight house socks. They’re just a garter rib pattern and I’m using DIC gothic rose that I have left over from the Clap. So far they’re the perfect mindless pick up and put down project.

Goth Garter Sox

FO: The Social Disease

Posted by zyllah – April 29, 2009

I’m not sure I mentioned it but….I started a clap sometime after Christmas. My mom ganked my old one and it was looking a bit ratty anyway so I didn’t fight her too hard for it. I had decided to go with Dream in color’s gothic rose for yarn because *cough* well if you knew me 10 yrs ago you’d understand. I was oh so very goth.  At least until I decided it was time to at least go for art fag librarian instead of Elvira.  Anyway without further blathering…

Pattern: Clapotis the Social Diease
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in Gothic Rose
Needles: Addi Interchangeable sz 8
Size: Me
Pattern Notes: Everyone has made it haven’t they? However I did twist the stitches on either side of the dropped stitch to prevent biasing. I do wish yet again I had made it larger but I could block the sucker more aggressively.
Would I knit it again? Yes of course but I’m not sure when…

Knock Knock, is anyone else still reading this?

Posted by zyllah – April 11, 2009

Well now it sure has been a long time.  After my last post I went into packing and cleaning mode so I was pretty busy. Then we moved into the new house. I love the house. I’m still working on it and in fact I’ve rearranged since I took those photos.

However I’m going to wait to take more till the tv thing above the fireplace is closed off and I have it painted. Anyway after that I had to get my husband ready to deploy. Also we found out I’m pregnant.

I’ve got about 15 weeks left before I give birth. We’re having a girl and naming her Elke Sophia unless I can’t stand it by then.

Pregnancy has been interesting, they found out I’ve got thyroid issues which explains why I’ve been so tired for so long. Anyway lets just say with the tired and trying to get the house organized I haven’t been doing much knitting. I have been working on another Clap out of dream in color. So hopefully it will be done in a day or so and I’ll have pictures.  I also started Strangling Vine.  It’s a nice fingering weight lace scarf. I’m doing it in this blackish purple sock yarn I got from knitting notions.

I still haven’t finished that black cardi since I won’t be able to wear it for a while so I lost motivation. However I did finally get an FO shot of my wicked cardi. Which although nice looking fits almost no-one. Oh well I did it in yarn I didn’t really care about and it was a steeking experiment.

So I will try to blog more often but we’ll see.

Cabinet Pulls

Posted by zyllah – October 10, 2008

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I can too finish something!

Posted by zyllah – September 27, 2008

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Pattern: Scrunchable Scarf from the Knit List (Rav Link)
Yarn: Malabrigo in Velvet Grapes (2 hanks)
Needles: KP 8′s
Size: 62″ long, Although I did add a few repeats to make it wider.
Pattern Notes: This was supposed to be KIP at knit night knitting. Eventually the stress of the house made it my only active knitting. It’s a great mindless pattern and really you can not go wrong with that ever. Also would make a fairly economical gift. If I bothered to knit gifts.
Would I knit it again? I might if I had another 2 skeins of a kettle dyed something to use up and couldn’t find a new pattern for them. I think the stitch pattern is quite lovely.

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