Back in the Kitchen!
So last week I finally got everything mostly unpacked and sorted out and I was ready to explore my new kitchen. Most of my kitchen is in storage in the mud room downstairs since my roommates have most of the standards and my additions are pretty specialized (cherry pitter? cookie scoops? silpats?). The stand mixer currently lives on top of the fridge. But it is a nice nice setup - granite tile countertops, an island, a kitchenaid convection oven and flattop burners. And a dishwasher!
Thursday night, I tried my hand at brownies - see link for the recipe from Epicurious. I subbed in some El Rey semisweet single-origin for the unsweetened, cutting out some sugar and also subbed half of the sugar with honey powder. The batch had a nice color with fruity chocolate flavors and I didn't make the peanut butter frosting. They were a hit with classmates and roomies and Beau told me that they had good "flake" - one of those food descriptors one would pick up while testing recipes for Kraft. I forgot to take pictures before they got eaten so sorry. They sure did look good though!
Had some beers with classmates Friday night and Saturday night: I sure am a cheap date up here! 1.75 Blue Moons and I was at my drunk threshold - made Jess stop by BK for a kid's meal on the way home. On another beer note, the stout at Bull and Bush is quite tasty - not as thick as Guinness, but still very creamy and nutty and a little caramelly.
Since I spent Sunday afternoon playing ultimate (Sunday league, much like Chicago's Spring League, but your fees get you 3 kegs of beer field-side for all players!), I didn't get a chance to cook any. That morning I'd walked over to the farmer's market in the park near me and got a loaf of jalapeno bread, some eggplants, okra, a few tomatoes and a bunch of peaches. Imperfect peaches might not be so pretty, but they are still so tasty and a good bargain! Peach cobbler/pie, here I come! There were some interesting stands for German sausages/wursts and flavored artisan pasta, but it definitely paled in comparison to Green City and even the one in Daley plaza in the summer. I miss Green City Market oh so very much!! Saturday, I will go over to Cherry Creek and check out another market that's supposedly the largest one in Denver (or something like that) to see how that compared.
Anyhow, last night I finally made some tasty treats.
I started with Green Lentils with Wine-Glazed Vegetables from "Vegetarian Cooking for Everybody." I'll post the recipe in the notes section. Keep in mind that I halved the amounts, cut out the celery and threw in half an eggplant. Oh and cut back a little on the olive oil/butter, but added an extra clove of garlic. It's good warm with bread, cold as a salad and I think I will make some pasta and toss it together for another variation. Mmm.
After that I decided that I needed to bake something. Cookies sounded good because they seem to be most easily adjusted to altitude and I have league Tuesdays and the team deserves some treats. So time for Snickerdoodles! I cross-referenced some cookie baking tips from "Pie in the Sky: Successful Baking at High Altitudes" and adjusted my recipe with a little extra flour, a little less sugar, decreased leveaners (sp?) and I added a little more egg for moisture. Oh and used both butter and shortening. At first I thought the cookies were too dry, but they are actually very light and with nice texture. Yay! I did notice that the top tray in the oven yielded darker cookies than the tray below which is partly why there are color variations in the cookies. Snickerdoodles are probably one of the more high maintenance cookies I have in my repertoire, but the end result is so very tasty.
Thursday night, I tried my hand at brownies - see link for the recipe from Epicurious. I subbed in some El Rey semisweet single-origin for the unsweetened, cutting out some sugar and also subbed half of the sugar with honey powder. The batch had a nice color with fruity chocolate flavors and I didn't make the peanut butter frosting. They were a hit with classmates and roomies and Beau told me that they had good "flake" - one of those food descriptors one would pick up while testing recipes for Kraft. I forgot to take pictures before they got eaten so sorry. They sure did look good though!
Had some beers with classmates Friday night and Saturday night: I sure am a cheap date up here! 1.75 Blue Moons and I was at my drunk threshold - made Jess stop by BK for a kid's meal on the way home. On another beer note, the stout at Bull and Bush is quite tasty - not as thick as Guinness, but still very creamy and nutty and a little caramelly.
Since I spent Sunday afternoon playing ultimate (Sunday league, much like Chicago's Spring League, but your fees get you 3 kegs of beer field-side for all players!), I didn't get a chance to cook any. That morning I'd walked over to the farmer's market in the park near me and got a loaf of jalapeno bread, some eggplants, okra, a few tomatoes and a bunch of peaches. Imperfect peaches might not be so pretty, but they are still so tasty and a good bargain! Peach cobbler/pie, here I come! There were some interesting stands for German sausages/wursts and flavored artisan pasta, but it definitely paled in comparison to Green City and even the one in Daley plaza in the summer. I miss Green City Market oh so very much!! Saturday, I will go over to Cherry Creek and check out another market that's supposedly the largest one in Denver (or something like that) to see how that compared.
Anyhow, last night I finally made some tasty treats.I started with Green Lentils with Wine-Glazed Vegetables from "Vegetarian Cooking for Everybody." I'll post the recipe in the notes section. Keep in mind that I halved the amounts, cut out the celery and threw in half an eggplant. Oh and cut back a little on the olive oil/butter, but added an extra clove of garlic. It's good warm with bread, cold as a salad and I think I will make some pasta and toss it together for another variation. Mmm.
After that I decided that I needed to bake something. Cookies sounded good because they seem to be most easily adjusted to altitude and I have league Tuesdays and the team deserves some treats. So time for Snickerdoodles! I cross-referenced some cookie baking tips from "Pie in the Sky: Successful Baking at High Altitudes" and adjusted my recipe with a little extra flour, a little less sugar, decreased leveaners (sp?) and I added a little more egg for moisture. Oh and used both butter and shortening. At first I thought the cookies were too dry, but they are actually very light and with nice texture. Yay! I did notice that the top tray in the oven yielded darker cookies than the tray below which is partly why there are color variations in the cookies. Snickerdoodles are probably one of the more high maintenance cookies I have in my repertoire, but the end result is so very tasty.
Comments
Serves 4-6
1 ½ cups green lentils, sorted and rinsed
Salt and freshly milled pepper
1 bay leaf
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, cut into ½ inch dice
1 large carrot, cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 celery rib, cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 garlic clove, mashed or put through a press
1 T. tomato paste
2/3 cup dry red wine
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 T. butter or extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp chopped parsley or tarragon
Put the lentils in a saucepan with 3 cups water, 1 tsp salt, and the bay leaf. Bring to a boul, then lower the heat to a lively simmer and cook until the lentils are tender but still hold a little texture, about 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium skillet. Add the onion, carrot, and celery, season with ½ teaspoon salt, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste, cook for 1 minute more, and then add the wine. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer, covered, until the liquid is syrupy and the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the mustard and add the cooked lentils along with their broth. Simmer until the sauce is mostly reduced, then stir in the butter and season with pepper.
from Vegetarian Cooking for Everybody by Deborah Madison
Too bad about the markets, but it doesn't sound like you are stuck in the middle of nowhere. I wish a little that I could get back to the that little Wausau market because I can't find sorgum anywhere.
The kitchen here is pretty nice. Lots of space and I'm already planning on convection roasting myself a chicken or a turkey. I miss having all my stuff within reach whenever I have an inkling to cook/bake up some messes though.
I wanted to mention, too, that I successfully moved those 2 strawberry plants you gave me out here! They are doing pretty well on the back deck though it's a bit dry. I'm going to get them into more of a planter box soon and then figure out the best way to winter them since we've been getting into the 40's at night here recently.
I'll take some pics at the farmer's market this week. It's not bad, it's just different.... :) What are you using sorghum for again?
Would have been useful this weekend when Beth wanted to make bars (cookies in MN) and we are out of brown sugar. We used sugar and molasses, but we could have used the sorghum.
Convection = COOL
Glad to hear about the strawberries, mine have gone through a serious bought of shooting runners out. They have been leafing out real well also...still waiting for my bumper crop of berries though. The guys that we bought them from said that they were evergreen and would last the winter - though we never talked how low temp they could go.
Last night was our first crisp night. Oh and you asked about the apples earlier. Apparently with the combo of heat and rain here this summer the apples are coming out early by a few weeks. Thanks for the apple butter recipe, I am going to get cranking on that this weekend.