Matcha Soy Chia Seed Pudding

For those of you who have never tried chia seeds before...yes they are the seeds used to grow Chia pets. When chia seeds absorb liquid, they swell and gelatinize. They are great for making chia seed pudding, which kind of resembles tapioca pudding. Chia seeds are pretty flavorless, which allows to you to play with lots of flavors. Here's a recipe for a matcha pudding.

Matcha Soy Chia Seed Pudding
makes 2 cups of pudding

4 teaspoons matcha powder
6-8 tablespoons sugar, depending on taste
8 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch salt
1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup chia seeds


1. In a small bowl, mix the matcha powder with the sugar. Add a small amount of hot water and work the powder into a paste. Matcha clumps easily, so don't worry too much if you can't whisk it completely.

Super fast Chickpea soup and summer squash pizza

Both this soup and pizza are spectacular. First, the soup is hearty enough that Chris doesn't mind it as a main course, he hates how most soups are mostly liquid and he is hungry again an hour after dinner. Second, the pizza has summer squash on it, making it healthier, and a great way for me, the ever Squeamish of squishy foods, to eat another seasonal veggie without the employment of roasting or a grill.

Ingredients for soup:

3/4-1 cup of hummus (I add the cup cuz we love hummus)

1 12oz jar of flame roasted red bell peppers cut into 1/4 inch strips (preferably piquillo peppers for a bit more zing)

2 cups of chicken broth

1 cup of leftover rice (or fresh doesn't matter)

1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken

2 tablespoons of chopped flat-leaf parsley (Lien not the kind you get on your plate at a restaurant)

Salt and pepper

Greek yogurt and hot sauce for serving

Ingredients for pizza:

2 oz of thinly sliced summer squash (about half of a summer squash)

1 pre-baked pizza crust

3/4 cup shredded fontina cheese

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (we all know I added more cheese than called for)

Crushed red chile flakes

Few handfuls of Arugula (1/3 a bag)

1. Preheat the oven to 450 for the pizza. Meanwhile combine the hummus, roasted peppers, and broth in a pot and purée with an immersion blender (or do this in a blender). Then add the rice and the chicken and heat over medium heat until hot through. Once heated through you'll add the parsley.

2. Make the pizza. Sprinkle the cheese over the pizza crust and then layer the summer squash. Sprinkle the crushed red chili flakes over the pizza for desired heat. The bake for 10-20 minutes, on the top rack, until the crust is starting the brown and the squash is getting crisp. Technically the recipe says to broil the pizza, but eh it still worked this way and kept the apartment cooler. The time will depend largely on the pizza crust you use. 

3. Once pizza is done spread the arugula over the top, slice and serve alongside bowls of the soup with Greek yogurt and hot sauce on top.

Bahn mi

Okay this is the egg version of banh mi since we all know I'm secretly Asian on the inside. This gem has been in my rotation for about 2 years or so, and even those it's supposed to be grilled Chris and I still love it. The best place to get your pork tenderloin is trader joes. It will set you back about 10$ but its got two strips in there and usually lasts Chris and I at least 6-8 full meal sandwiches. And everything else is cheap. Adi, I'm looking at you. Lien, everything's super fast too! Truth be told this recipe has some what ruined me for real banh mi too. So lets get down to business.

Ingredients:

1 pack of port tenderloin, very thinly slices. 

1/4 cup Asian fish sauce (is there any other kind?!)

1 tbs honey

2 tbs sugar

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

6 (or more if you like sautéd onions) green onions [scallions]

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 baguettes (if you aren't eating it all tonight cut the other baguette into sandwich size portions, freeze, reheat in the oven/toaster and slice in half)

Hoisin sauce and Sriracha chili sauce

1/2 seedless cucumber cut into matchstick pieces or thinly sliced width wise

1-2 grated carrots

1 cup chopped kale leaves, torn and massaged with a little salt

Cilantro for serving

1. Mix together the fish sauce, honey, sugar, pepper, scallions, and garlic. Transfer to a bowl with the pork and mix till the pork is coated. Refrigerate for 2-4 hrs.

2. Heat a skillet on high, and add the pork cooking until heated through and opinions are soft. There should still be some sauce. About 3-5 minutes.

3. Assemble your sandwiches. Drizzle hoisin and Sriracha on wag half of your bread. Put carrots, cucumber, and kale on the bottom half. Load up with pork, and top with cilantro. Then eat!

Andalusian Chickpea and Spinach Soup

Thanks to my father and his quest to always be healthy, as well as his professed love of the NYTimes, Chris and I have now added this fantastic recipe to our evening line up. It's ridiculously easy, and a great soup to make in under an hour. It's also very easy to modify. What follows is my slightly adapted more twenty-something version of the NYTimes actual recipe

Ingredients:
1 can of chickpeas (The real recipe wants dried and soaked chickpeas, which no one ever remembers to do in the middle of the week)
2 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced (or just get the good old store bought minced ones)
1 14 oz. can of chopped tomatoes, or 1 lb fresh chopped tomatoes. (I used TJs fire roasted tomatoes this time, which added great flavor)
2 tsp sweet paprika (really whatever paprika you can find. I go back and forth between smoked and sweet)
1 lb potatoes, diced (multicolored for me this time)
1/4 cup dry white wine (like a Pinot Grigio)
Salt to taste
Pinch of Saffron (adds good flavor but you could get away without it, TJs also has it for very cheap)
1 pound spinach, well washed (This is where Costco comes to the rescue!!)

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a soup pot. Add the onions and cook until tender about 5 minutes. You will need to stir these from time to time, but its a great thing to do while cutting your tomatoes and/or potatoes. Add 2 of your garlic cloves and cook until fragrant, roughly 30 seconds. Add your tomatoes, paprika, a big pinch of salt (a.k.a. 1/8 a teaspoon), and cook for 10-15 minutes. Stir it often so nothing sticks to the bottom. You want it to cook down to a really fragrant sauce.

2. Add the chickpeas and their liquid. Now remember with canned chickpeas you can drain them and rinse to get rid of some of the gas, or just add them with all their liquid. Also add your diced potatoes (the smaller the faster they cook!), wine, salt and pepper to taste, and 2 cups of water. Bring it all to a boil and cook until your potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.

3. Stir in the remaining garlic, the saffron, and all your spinach. The spinach is easiest to do in batches as they cook down in size. Otherwise you'll have it flying all over the stove. Cook for another 5 minutes or until the spinach is tender. Season to taste with pepper and salt.

(Btw look at that beeeeeeautiful hard boiled egg!!)

Optional: Add some sausage or meatballs when you put the potatoes in, so they cook through. Serve with boiled eggs and toasted bread, as well as white wine vinegar for those who would like.

Enjoy!

Braised pork belly

Hello everybody! It's been a long time since Rachel and I have updated this cooking website. You thought it was dead, huh? Well now that I have fewer distractions in life, what with wedding planning being done and all, I hope to update the site more often. 

...Starting with pork belly. Delicious, luscious pork belly. While this recipe does take a while to make, it it worth it in the end. It also makes lots of leftovers, leaving you with many no-cooking days ahead.

Braised pork belly:

2 to 2 1/2 pounds pork belly

1 cup water
6 tablespoons fish sauce
6 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cinnamon stick (or substitute 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder)
1/2 tablespoon whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
1 inch piece of ginger, sliced
8 cloves garlic, peeled
2  large chili peppers
4 pieces star anise
3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 bunches green onions, thinly sliced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Browned butter, I've found is practically the only way to make a chocolate chip cookie. If you love that slightly salty, molasses, buttery tasty of raw cookie dough, take that and magnify all the goodness in it by 100 and that's how it is with browned butter. Plus the cooked cookies are fabulous too.

I've found a couple different ways to make these cookies and switched it up every time...though mostly I skip the chilling, because who wants to wait a day for their cookies?! Also, excuse the photos, the whole post has been a lovely 6 months in coming up, since it was an impromptu, "I want chocolate, I want cookies!!!" by Andy while I was home. Then while we were cooking he said "you should blog about this!" not knowing where my camera was though, I settled for iPhone photos. So these will have to satisfy your craving till you make these for yourself.

Ingredients:
2 sticks of UNSALTED butter --- Lien, salted butter = salty cookies.
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flower
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 sm. bag (or less) of chocolate chips (you know some times I mostly just want the dough!)
1 cup of chopped pecans/almonds/etc.
1 cup of oats (optional) if you include this add before you add the flour so you can see if you should add less flour, based on the consistency of the dough after 2 cups of flour.

1. Melt the butter in a silver or light colored pan, this is ideal for seeing what color the butter is. Cook over moderate heat until it turns a beautiful amber color, whisking constantly. Now every recipe tells you this will take like 5-8 minutes, it always takes nearly twice that for me, so don't get discouraged. I'm always impatient and hate standing there whisking, so turn on some music or the tv and zone out for a little bit while you whisk since it makes it all the better. My brother stood there the whole time once whisking, and man, that was the best browned butter I've seen in ages. If you don't whisk while it does it's thing then it gets little burned bits in it. You can tell the butter is done when it has an especially nutty smell, and the color matches. I also go all out and get a flash light in there too to help with the color. :)

2. Now your supposed to let the butter cool to room temperature, I let it sit while I get the other ingredients ready, and then just dump it in even if it is still warm. Remember, impatient here. So combine the butter, sugars and whisk until smooth. Then add the vanilla and the eggs. Should look about like this:

3. Then add the baking soda and salt. Then the oatmeal, if adding. Then the flour. Mix after each addition, this is so the smaller and more important for baking/fluffing/rising all that chemistry gobbly gook, like the baking soda get evenly dispersed through the mixture before the flour goes in. Yes, I know most pro chefs just sift the dry ingredients in another bowl together, but again, impatience here, and one less thing to clean.

4. Then stir in the chocolate chips and the nuts.

5. Here's the part where you're suppose to chill it for 24 hours. Choose to do as you wish!

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then scoop nice spoonfuls on to ungreased cookie sheets. There's already butter in them, hence no greasing. Bake for about 8 minutes, in the center of the oven, I always rotate the sheets half way. Take out based on your desired doneness, i.e. semi gooey cookies the Ashlee/Rachel way, or harder crunchy cookies, etc. No matter what you want, always take it out when you think they are slightly underdone as they will continue to cook on the cookie sheet.

7. Let them sit on the cookie sheet for a minute or two and then take off and put on a baking rack or a cut up brown paper bag, absorbs the grease.

8. Enjoy!

Bacon Jam

Hello! I am back from the dead. Last post was on November of 2011. I am quite a lazy cook these days. When I cook food, I just want to eat it, not take photos of it and then blog about it. Well let's see how long this keeps up.

Okay, so everyone knows about how crazy sweet and savory food combinations are now. Combine that with America's obsession with bacon. ...Bacon jam!

Bacon Jam
makes 1.5-2 cups of spread 

1 package of bacon
2 medium onions, chopped or cut into slivers
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup coffee (I used 1 instant pack of coffee with 3/4 cup water)
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar (optional)
3-4 dashes of Maggi soy sauce or 2-3 dashes of fish sauce (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Cut the bacon into small 1/4 inch pieces. Cook in a pot on medium heat until the bacon is browned. Alternatively, cook the bacon strips whole and crumble later.

2. Strain the bacon out of the pan. Discard some of the oil (or use it for something else). Reduce the heat the medium-low and add the onions and garlic. Cover the pan and let the onions caramelize. Stir occassionally, every 2-3 minutes. This step will take the longest--about 20-30 minutes.

3. If you want the bacon jam to be smoother, turn the heat off and let the onions cool down. Then process the onions and bacon using whatever you have, such as an immersion blender or food processor. I decided to keep my bacon jam chunky.

4. Smooth or chunky, add the onions and bacon back into the pan on high heat. Add the brown sugar and stir, allowing the sugar to melt. Then add the vinegars, maple syrup, coffee and secret ingredient (wink wink). The secret ingredient being the soy sauce or fish sauce. A little bit adds some depth of flavor but keeps people guessing. Same with the coffee.

5. Allow sauce to reach a boil and then reduce to medium or medium-high heat. Let the sauce thicken till the liquid is no longer runny and instead coats the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Allow the bacon jam to cool and enjoy it warm or cold. Crackers and toast are a good start. I have also seen it as a condiment for burgers. Yum!

Lentil flatbread

A few weeks ago, I was reading about the Paleo diet, in which people consume a very low/no-carb, high protein, high fat diet to lose weight. I thought I'd try out some recipes. Well fast forward to today: I miserably failed on the no carb. However, this flatbread is very tasty and healthy.

Lentil flatbread:

1 1/2 cups dried lentils (I used red lentils)

2 tablespoons whole flaxseed

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Grind the lentils into flour using a blender or food processor.

2. Mix the remaining ingredients together. It should resemble a very thick batter.

3. Pour into a 13x9 pan or a smaller square pan. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

Indian spiced wings

Indian Spiced Wings:

2 lb chicken wings
3/4 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder (optional, it's for color)
1 1/2 tablespoons garam masala
5 cloves garlic, grated, diced, or mashed
1 inch piece ginger, diced or grated
1 cup plain yogurt

1. The night before, mix all of the ingredients together and marinate overnight. If you can, roast 2 tablespoons of whole garam masala spices in a pan for 2 minutes, then grind. However, you can also use ground garama masala and use that.

2. Place the top rack of the oven on the 2nd row to the top. Set the oven to broil. Broil turns on the heat only on the top of the oven and is used when you want to brown the top of whatever is cooking.  Broil the wings for about 15-20 minutes, then flip over and broil for another 10-15 minutes until the other side is browned and you have some blackened spots. Yum.

I also made crispy potatoes and roasted broccoli with my chicken wings. If you want to make those too, follow these directions.

Crispy potatoes:

5 potatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried rosemary (or 3/4 teaspoons fresh)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1. Cut your potatoes into thirds, lengthwise. Then take each slice, cut those into thirds, lengthwise, then slice into small cubes (about 1/2 inch).
2. Place the potato cubes into a baking pan or dish, add the oil and seasonings, and mix well.


Roasted broccoli:
1 head broccoli
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Cut the florets off of the stem and into uniform pieces, about 1 inch. You can also roast the stems too. Peel the thick skin off of the stem, it doesn't have to be perfect. Then cut the stems into 1/2 inch cubes.
2. Place the broccoli into a baking dish or pan. Add the oil and seasonings, and mix well.


Place the top rack on the 2nd row to the top, and the 2nd rack one row below that one. Heat oven to broil. Set the veggies on the top rack and the wings on the bottom rack. After 5 minutes, the broccoli should have some browned (but not blackened!) spots on it. Now place the broccoli on the bottom rack and the wings on the top rack next to the potatoes. Stir the potatoes around but keep them on the top rack.  After 15-20 minutes, the wings should be browned so flip the wings over. Stir the potatoes again and add more oil if they are looking dry. If you broil heats unevenly, you may have to rotate the pans so that the back doesn't burn before the front browns all the way. Broil for another 10-15 minutes until the wings are done.

French Lentil and Garlic Sausage Stew

My new Food and Wine magazine is only amazing, though Chris would say I am biased since I am only a francophile, but it is all about France! As a result there are like 20 things I want to make it...probably more but I feel the bitters will probably nearly never get made till I actually have a big kitchen/real budget. They sound super fun though. Tonight I decided to make the recipe for French Lentils. Turns out my mom actually used to make a similar dish for my dad when they first got married, so I guess there is some family tradition in this dish as well. The actual dish calls for hazelnuts, but I was disinclined to go buy hazelnuts only for a soup and figured I could add some pecans and then forgot, so oh well! Next time I also might try adding fresh pesto instead of my mustard oil as the recipe calls. My aunt in France would do that with her lentil soups and I've never quite found another soup just like it.

Lien, I know, French lentils, WTF?!?! They sound intimidating but they really aren't. Its basically like cooking rice, add water and let them cook for 30 minutes, and then ta da! Also escarole is a type of lettuce, but a tougher kind, closer to a cross between typical romaine lettuce and bok choy. It's got some more grungy spice to it too than normal lettuce, so I would say if you are confused at the store just get some arugula, then you don't have to chop it or search for it.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb French garlic sausage, or as my mom and I do any sausage we really like, uncooked.
2 leeks, white and tender (Trader Joe's has them in packs of two Lien, and there is a picture of one further down)
1 large carrot or a nice handful of baby carrots
3 garlic cloves, or a big spoonful of preminced garlic
1 1/2 cups French green lentils (also a picture below)
3 thyme sprigs, 1 rosemary sprig, and 1 bay leaf (you can survive with dried stuff too Lien)
5 cups water
Salt
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 small head of escarole
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1. Take 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and put them in a big pot (preferably a dutch oven, so Lien, like my big red pot or a Le Cruset-like pot that I use for soup). Put the pot over medium heat and then chop your sausage, in the casing or out is fine. Cut it into about 3/4 inch pieces, so they will end up nice little bite size meatballs in the end. Add them to the pot and let them cook until browned, about 5 minutes.

2. While the sausage browns, slice your leeks and carrot. The leeks should be thinly sliced and the carrot should be diced in to about pea size pieces. Once the sausages are browned all over, take them out with a slotted spoon so that all the yummy juices stay in the pot to flavor your veggies with. Then add the leeks and carrot, as well as the garlic. Let them cook for about 7 minutes until softened. Then add the herbs, lentils, and 5 cups of water (or a combination of water and chicken broth). Season the broth with salt and pepper and let it cook for about 35 minutes, at a simmer, so on LOW heat, till the lentils are softened, so when you can chew them and would want to eat them. 

3. Once the lentils are about 5 minutes from being done chop the escarole. If you got escarole then make sure you clean it first, especially if it is organic. Don't worry too much about excess water from rinsing it off if you don't have a salad spinner since there is already water in the stew. Chop it so it wont be big slices of escarole in the soup, otherwise it's kind of like lettuce noodles, if that makes sense. Add the escarole and let it cook till wilted, 6 minutes. 

4. While the escarole cooks, make the mustard oil! Take the mustard and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mix them together with a small whisk or a fork till combined. Then chop the parsley, finely if you don't want to take the leaves off the stems because the stems can be kind of tough. I actually used probably more like 2-3 tablespoons worth of chopped parsley, since Chris and I like it. Once the escarole is wilted, add the sausages to the pot again and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Then ladle out bowls and serve with parsley and mustard oil drizzled on top.

Oh and thats the sunset. It's really just here so my brother can see because he loves sunsets. And long walks on the beach of course ;)

But the lentils were delicious and will make wonderful lunch/dinner later this week!

Quick Red Thai Curry

I just realized I had never posted how to make thai curry before and that is one of the simplest dishes I know! As a result I sadly do not have any pictures at the moment, but I will definitely add some soon.

Lien, you could easily recreate this and it wouldn't be a problem to season it exactly to your taste. You also don't have to worry about it being spicy if you don't add too much curry paste. Sound good?

All you need are as follows:

2 chicken breasts
1/2-1 onion sliced thinly
1 bell pepper
1 small head of broccoli or cauliflower cut into bit size pieces
1 can of coconut milk
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons thai kitchen red curry paste
2 teaspoons thai kitchen roasted red chile sauce
1 package of tofu (optional)

1. Slice your chicken into bite size pieces and cook over medium heat until no more pink shows.

2. Add the can of coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar, curry paste and chile sauce. Mix until the curry paste is mixed in.  Season with the sugar/curry paste/fish sauce till it suits your tastes. I usually always add more fish sauce and curry paste than required but depends on the person. Bring to a boil.

3. Add your veggies and cook until the broccoli is cooked through, about 10 minutes over low heat. Add tofu at this point with your veggies if desired.

4. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Salmon Fish Tacos

So Chris NEVER asks me to cook anything, he always just says whatever I want to cook is good enough for him since I get bored too easily. I planned last week to make salmon of some sort, probably salmon teriyaki, and maybe make fish tacos since I had ingredients for it. When I told Chris though he got really excited about fish tacos, and at that point I had to make them. I went to the freezer though to find only one piece of catfish left, meaning I'd need more first. Thus, salmon fist tacos. They turned out super good and are really fast to make. It's really just making your crema and grilling (stove top for me) your fish.

Serves: Two

Ingredients:

1 salmon fillet (whatever size really)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa

2 limes

1 small bunch of cilantro chopped (to the base of the stems)

1/4 onion chopped

1 jalapeno chopped

1/2-1 bag of cabbage or a head of it sliced (depends on how many people you want to serve/how many veggies you like on your tacos)

6-8 corn tortillas

salt and pepper to taste

1. Take your salmon fillet and generously salt and pepper it on both sides. You can also add some cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, whatever you want to season it. Then heat a skillet to medium heat and add the salmon once hot. It should cook about 2-3 minutes per side.

2. While the salmon is cooking chop your veggies and combine with the sour cream and salsa. Take one lime and add the juice of half first, then taste and add more if desired. Season to taste with salt or more sour cream/salsa.

3. Also take your tortillas and put them between two paper towels or two plates and warm them in the microwave for like 30 seconds (or a minute if frozen).

4. Once your salmon has cooked for about 5-6 minutes chop it up with a spatula and turn off the burner. Let the salmon finish cooking and prep an assembly line for people to make tacos. I usually like to add some crema then salmon then crema and cabbage to top it off.

5. Serve with limes and enjoy!

Red Lentil Vegetable Soup

While reading through food blogs I found a soup that sounded good. I altered the recipe and here's my version. The soup is light with plenty of veggies. The spices make it taste kind of like chili.

Red Lentil Vegetable Soup (makes about 4 quarts/8 servings)

Ingredients:

3 strips bacon

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seed

1/2 teaspoon whole fennel seed

2 teaspoons paprika

1/2 teaspoon thyme

2 bay leaves

2 dried chili pepper (optional)

1 cup wine (red is better, but I used white)

2 potatoes

2 stalks celery

2 carrots

3 parsnips

3 leaves kale

1/2 cup red lentils

1 quart water

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon salt (or substitute with powdered broth)

2 teaspoons MSG or hydrolyzed vegetable protein (optional)

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

1. Prep the veggies. Cut the potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and celery into uniformly sized pieces. I cut everything into about 1/2 pieces. To cut the celery, first halve lengthwise. Take each leaf of kale, cut out the stem, and slice into small pieces. Place all of these veggies (not including the leaf of kale) into one basket. Cut the kale leaves into thirds, then slice into 1/4 inch strips. Place those in a separate container. Finely chop onion and garlic.

2. Cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces. Place the bacon and cook over low heat for about 5-8 minutes. Stir occasionally. When the bacon looks crispy, take the meat out.

3. Put the chopped onions into the bacon fat. Cook on medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes. When the onions are getting close to finished, add the garlic.

4. Increase the heat to medium-high. Toast the spices in the pot: cumin, fennel, paprika and thyme.  After one minute, the spices should be fragrant. Add the wine and use a spoon to scrape any browned bits. Let the wine cook until the volume is halved. Add the bay leaf and dried chili pepper.

5.  Add all of the veggies except for the kale leaves. Pour enough water until the water line is about an inch above the veggies. Add tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Cover the pot and heat on high until it boils. Reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes until the veggies start to soften. You should be able to pierce the veggies with a fork but the veggies are not mushy. While the soup is simmering, rinse the dried lentils with water.  Place the lentils and enough water to submerge the lentils in a large bowl.  While the soup is cooking, the lentils with absorb the water.

BTW I made a double batch, that's why it's about to overflow

6. Take out the bay leaves, and the chili peppers if you want to. Add the soaked lentils, kale leaves, and bacon. Cook for another 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and when the soup is warm it's ready to serve!

 

Goat Cheese Pasta

Originally I set out at the beginning of the week to make this lovely looking Orecchiette with Greens, Mozzarella and Chickpeas from the latest Food and Wine. However, by the end of the week when I didn't feel like drying and then frying my chickpeas, I turned the food and wine recipe into my own little Goat Cheese Pasta invention. It turned out pretty darn good, though next time I would add a little less goat cheese or mozzarella, as much as I love my cheese.

Ingredients:
1 package of your favorite uncooked sausage
1 pablano chile
1 onion
1 lb of grape/cherry tomatoes
1 head of kale or bok choy (or your favorite leafy green)
~ 1 lb of your favorite type of pasta
3 oz goat cheese
2 oz mozzarella
1/4 c. of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Get a pot of water started for your pasta on the back burner.

2. Take the sausage and begin cooking it. While it cooks slice your onion in thin strips, as well as your pablano chile (I just sliced it thinly cross-wise, so I had circles of it). If you don't like spice also take out the seeds of your chile. Slice your tomatoes into quarters lengthwise.

3. Add all of your veggies (except the Kale/Bok Choy) and let them start cooking with the sausage.

4. Once your water boils add your pasta.

5.  Slice your leafy green into strips. When the pasta is about 2-3 minutes from being done then add the leafy greens to the sausage mixture. Once wilted turn off the burner.

6. Drain your pasta and add it to a serving dish again or the pot. Then add the sausage mixture and the goat and mozzarella cheeses. Serve with the parmesan cheese and enjoy!

I think I adjusted here for putting in less cheese since I thought it was too much originally and I am a rather cheesey person :)

Easy Pork Dumplings (That look like Wontons)

So my awesome friend Steph suggested Friday night as we were melting at a Cards game that we make dumplings on Sunday. Despite the heat that sounded amazing right then and there, plus I would finally get to learn how to make her awesome dumplings. The only minor alteration here is that I accidentally (and yet intentionally) got square wonton wrappers instead of circular dumpling wrappers, but hey now I am pretty pro at wrapping wontons  To make these delicious dumplings here's how to do it, replete with a video....^_^ I know, video?!

Ingredients:
200 Wonton or dumpling wrappers
2 lbs of ground pork
1 big napa cabbage
We'll say 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
Healthy quantity of Salt and Pepper to taste

1 big pot of boiling water

Dark Soy Sauce and Distilled Red Vinegar to dip

We also had Asian Egg Noodles on the side too.

1. Take your napa cabbage and THINLY slice it. Steph promptly told me after I sliced half of it that I needed to do it finer. So slice it thinly and then go back over and chop it some more. You don't want big chunks in your dumplings.

2. Mix your ground pork with the cabbage, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Really the amount of sesame oil and seasoning Steph eyeballed but we could strongly smell the sesame oil. Yum!

3. Get your wrappers and spoons for everyone making them and start filling them. Make sure you have a bowl of warm water in the middle too and a pan to set your finished dumplings on. To do this:

         a. Take one wrapper and put about a teaspoon worth of meat mixture in it.

         b. Take your finger and sparsely wet it and then run it along the edges of your wrapper. This is to make sure it sticks together and forms a seal.

         c. Fold your wonton wrapper in half, point to point, or diagonally and press to seal ensuring there isn't much air inside and no meat leaking out.

         d.  Wet your finger again and get the two corners on the bottom (that are along the flat side or the hypotenuse of your triangle) and wet them and then cross them over each other on the point.

         e. Repeat with all dumplings. As you can see Steph was pro, while Elaine and I had to develop our grace.

And now they video of Steph making a dumpling, with my narration since she was silent when she was supposed to narrate!! ("With narration!" -nothing for a minute- Elaine and I "What?!")

4. Then get a pot of boiling water ready and put some dumplings in, just enough to have them in a single layer. Bring the water back to a boil and then pour warm water over it. Bring the dumplings to a boil again and pour more water over them. Bring them back to a boil the last time and then take them out and put them in a bowl to serve. You should put some oil over them or put them in a single layer if you dont want them to stick.

5. Once you have made all the dumplings serve and enjoy!

p.s. This isn't how you actually fold dumplings Lien, just wontons...I learn and perfect dumplings later. :)