Monday, January 24, 2011

Citrus Season: Three Recipes to Cherish It

When I was little and living with my family in Toledo, Ohio, my mother would tell me about her delight in receiving an orange for Christmas when she was a little girl living in Toledo, Ohio. Oranges came from very very far away: Florida or California. They were both rare and expensive.  As a special treat for our holidays, she would carefully cut up an orange or two into what she called "rocky boats" and we would suck them to extract every last bit of juice and flesh. I still find it totally amazing to live in a place where oranges and lemons grow on trees right outside my window. And I cherish them now every bit as much as she did then.


Orange and Black Currant Scones
These scones have lots of flavor and interest without being overly sweet.

















2 cups flour
1½ tablespoons sugar plus sugar for sprinkling
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter, diced
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 egg
¾ cup buttermilk
¾ cup dried black currants

1. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Mix well. With a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut in the butter and orange zest until the mixture resembles coarse meal. You an also do this step in a food processor.
2. Whisk together the egg and buttermilk in a small measuring pitcher or bowl. Pour over the dry ingredients and sprinkle on the currants. Stir just until the ingredients come together and form a soft ball. Do not over mix. Tip out the dough onto a floured board.
3. Divide the dough into 8 pieces, patting them into rounds with floured hands. Place them 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Refrigerate for 15 minutes or up to overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
5. Sprinkle each scone with about ¼ teaspoon sugar, either regular or coarse.
6. Bake the chilled scones until lightly browned on top, about 20 minutes. Cool on a rack. Serve at room temperature or warm. They are best eaten the same day they are made.

Makes 8
Adapted from Judy Wicks and Kevin Von Klause’s White Dog Café Cookbook

Lemon Love Notes
There are many different recipes for what is traditionally in the South called Lemon Squares. What I like best about this recipe is its name. Isn’t that just wonderful? In addition, they are just lusciously delicious.

















Crust:
½ cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 cup flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt

1. Mix all ingredients in a food processor, with a mixer or with your hands.
2. Pat into a well-greased 9x9 or 9x11 pan (for a thinner crust). Bake 15 minutes in 350ºF oven until the crust is a light brown. Cool slightly.

Topping:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Zest from 2 lemons
Juice from 2 lemons
Confectioners’ sugar to dust

1. If you’ve used a food processor to make the crust, don’t bother to wash it before you do this next step. Process or beat eggs until light; beat in sugar, adding slowly. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and pour into the pan.
2. Bake in 350ºF oven for 25 minutes or until the topping is set.
3. When cool, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. If your confectioners’ sugar is lumpy, put a small amount in a sieve and sprinkle it over the squares, squashing the lumps through the sieve with your fingers. Cut into squares with a wet knife.

Makes 16-20 squares in a 9x9 pan.
Adapted from Of Pots and Pipkins: Recipes from the Junior League of Roanoke Valley, Virginia

Royal Grapefruit Sorbet

















3 large pink grapefruits
3 tablespoons honey (in liquid form)
Black pepper, if desired

1. Remove and discard peels from the grapefruits. See instructions below. Place in a single layer on a microwave-proof dish or a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and freeze for three hours or overnight until solid.
2. Microwave on defrost for 1 minute if you used the microwaveable dish. The sections should be just slightly thawed. If you used a cookie sheet, transfer a single layer of the frozen segments to a plate and defrost for 1 minute; you may need to do 2 batches.
3. If your sections are big, break them up into smaller pieces. Place in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the honey and process until smooth. You may have to do this process in batches depending on the size of your machine. Place sorbet in a container and return to the freezer for a few hours or until serving time.
4. Scoop into bowls or serve on top of fresh fruit salad. For a spicy note, sprinkle with ground black pepper, if desired.
Note: If sorbet becomes too hard to scoop, microwave on defrost for one minute. It will keep in freezer for two weeks.

5-6 servings (about 3 cups)
Adapted from brochure from Harry and David’s Fruit of the Month Club Brochure

Sectioning Citrus

1. Cut off both ends of the grapefruit or other citrus fruit.


2. With a serrated knife, cut a strip around the top of the grapefruit, using a sawing motion. Keep moving down and around the grapefruit until you have reached the bottom. The hope is the remove the skin and the white pith without removing too much of the precious flesh of the fruit. If you have missed any of the pith, cut it off.











 
3. Cut the sections by cutting along one side of the membrane and then on the other side of the membrane. Slide out the section. Best to do this step over a bowl to catch the juice.






4. Continue around the grapefruit until you have removed all the grapefruit sections. Squeeze the bundle (bottom right) of membranes to get more juice which you get to drink as a reward.

An Additional Indian Dish

Gujarati Cabbage Slaw
One of last week’s dinner party guests asked for this recipe so I thought it made sense to add it to the blog.

















¼ cup peanut oil or vegetable oil
¼ teaspoon asafetida, if you can find it
Note: Asafetida is the hardened sap of a fennel-like plant. You can find it at a purveyor of Indian spices in little plastic containers. (Vik’s in Berkeley) The smell is quite strong but the taste, while distinctive, is mild.
¾ cup dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 medium head green cabbage (1½ pounds), finely shredded
1 cup shredded fresh coconut or ½ cup dried unsweetened shredded coconut
¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 fresh Thai, serrano or cayenne chili, finely chopped, more or less to your taste
3 tablespoons sugar, or less if you desire
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
Juice of medium lime (about 2 tablespoons)

1. Heat the oil in a wok or a deep 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add asafetida and peanuts; sizzle for 30 seconds.
2. Add the remaining ingredients except for the lime juice; stir fry about 5 minutes or until the cabbage is hot. If your cabbage threatens to burn, add a tablespoon or two of water to keep the pan moist but not wet. Remove from the heat.
3. Stir in the lime juice. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled, depending on your preference.

6 servings
Adapted from Raghavan Iyer’s Betty Crocker’s Indian Home Cooking

Something you said.


These days I feel a little bit weird here. The more I see how things are going down in my country, the most I wanna go outside it.
I mean, I don't want to leave my family or my friends, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and sometimes the only solution is trying to search for my future outside Spain. Of course, as you all know (if you have been here for a while) I have always wanted to move into Stockholm (and I'm sure I would); but there's a part of me that thinks about all of this, about why there are so many young people that are moving outside Spain. All the brilliant youth is going to Germany, UK, USA... and nobody cares about it. It's a shame.

But I don't want to make you feel weird or sad too, so I'm showing you today a little bit more of my hair. I'm so so happy with it! One of my mates at work said that it looked as if I had some surgery on my head, haha! And I love it, that was the purpose... because everyone look so weird for me these days that I needed to look like that, too. It's my point of view about a sleep generation...


 
 

It's cold outside, and they said on the news that maybe it's snowing this week here in Barcelona city... oh, I wish it was true!

And I think I'll do a Q&A post soon... mmm!

Men's Dress Shirts Without A Front Pocket Are Worthless

Worthless!

Carrot, Cardamom and Coconut Soup


More carrot soup!

After trying the classic combination flavours, I wanted to try something new. I've got a half-used packet of coconut milk in the fridge so I thought of carrot and coconut, then I wanted something zesty to make the soup more refreshing, so I thought of cardamom! No, it's not because of the 'c' alliteration. Ok maybe a bit. With some ginger (not in the name because it starts with a 'g'. no, really!) and A BLENDER, I know I'm all set!

Carrot, Cardamom and Coconut Soup
serves 2-4
Ingredients
3 large carrots (about 450g), peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped finely
1" ginger, chopped finely
3 cardamom pods
1/4 cup (60 ml) of thick coconut milk + 1/4 cup water (or just use 1/2 cup coconut milk)
sea salt, pepper
1 tbsp butter

To serve
(opt) a bit more thick coconut milk/coconut cream

Method
1. Melt 1 tbsp butter over medium high heat in a big pot, then add the onions and ginger and cook till onions become translucent, then add the carrots and cook a further 3 min or so till onions just start to brown.
2. Crush the cardamom pods and add (esp the seeds!), cooking about 1 more min.

3. Add the water, and let it cook for 20-25 min until the carrots are tender. Remove the cardamom pod shells.
4. Add the coconut milk and blend the mixture until you get a smooth puree. (Ah I've waited so long for this moment! Why did I scrimp on this for the longest time?)

5. To serve, swirl in a bit more of the thick coconut milk/cream.

I love love love this soup. It's got the sweetness of the carrot, the richness of the coconut milk, balanced by that hint of sharp ginger and the wonderful fragrance of cardamom. That's why it says serves 2-4...


Carrot, Lentil and Coriander soup



I figured it was time to throw the spotlight back onto a vegetable that most people find hard to fault-- the humble carrot. It's delicious raw, crunchy and sweet, and also great cooked, as its sweetness intensifies. I think it's one of the few vegetables I actually liked as a child, maybe because it's in a happy orange colour.

Carrot and coriander make up one of the most classic flavour combinations. I was inspired by the coriander to include something that's often combined with coriander and other similar spices: lentils! The lentils help thicken the soup out without the need for cream or whatever. This makes the soup a lot heartier too, and very savoury and more-ish.

Carrot, Lentil and Coriander soup
serves 4
Ingredients
3 large carrots (about 450g), peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1/2 cup red lentils, soaked in advance
1 heaped tsp ground coriander
about 3 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped finely
about 1 litre of homemade vegetable or chicken stock
sea salt, black pepper
2 tbsp butter

Method
1. Melt 1 tbsp butter over medium high heat in a big pot, then add the onions, carrots garlic and cook for a further 5 min until the onions become translucent.
2. Add the ground coriander, stir about 1 min more till onions are just starting to brown, then add the soaked lentils and stock, and cook for about 20-25 min till the carrots are really tender and the lentils are melting.
3. Add seasoning and mash with a potato masher. You can puree it too, but I didn't have a blender then, and anyway, I like having the texture from the lentils. Add a bit more stock/water to thin it out if you want.
4. Stir in the other tbsp of butter and the chopped coriander leaves. Garnish with a pretty coriander leaf (:

Menu Plan Monday 1/24-1/30


Monday - Pizza Quesadilla's (New idea from a church member)
Tuesday - Burritos with Taco Tofu
Wednesday - Bagel pizzas
Thursday - Grilled Cheese and veggies
Friday - "Chicken" Noodle Soup
Sabbath - Slow Cooker "Chicken" Tortilla Soup
Sunday - Left overs (I have a Pampered Chef party that day)

Other dishes: Museli for Sabbath breakfast

Have a great menu planning week!


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Philosophically, Is It Really A Victory For Republicans?

The Republicans have retaken the House of Representatives! It was a crushing defeat for statism and massive government! Victory is theirs!

Or is it?

Poverty is a stubborn creature. Democrats have social programs, Republicans have tax cuts and the end result is ...

We've exhausted our Treasury for years to come ...


... and nothing has changed.

The fiscal collapse of the West is a failure of the secular model of humanity. It's a failure of the model that says that if government provides the resources, the willing and eager poor will grab the opportunities and rise out of poverty. The fiscal collapse is validation of the Christian model of humanity where people are fallen, imperfect and sinful and where salvation is individual, not collective. Had we used the Christian model of humanity for the past four decades, we would have known in advance that spending tens of trillions of dollars wasn't going to achieve the goals we set forth.

The government has done everything it could. It spent vast oceans of money, both here and in Europe and Japan. It ran well-intentioned programs managed by competent people educated in our best Universities using the latest advances in science. In the US, after spending $14B more than we took in, the poor, the addicts, the homeless and the drunkards are still all around us. The secular model of salvation has failed, not for want of trying, but because it was wrong from the start.

Jesus' parable of the good Samaritan is all about an individual saving an individual. The Samaritan, upon discovering the beaten and robbed traveller, doesn't form an intergovernmental panel of road safety and he doesn't demand stricter punishment for criminals. He, as an individual, takes care of another individual himself, with his own resources.

Kind of like Homeboy Industries. Dig the story starting around 2:20.

holiday plans 3 weeks onward

My classes are from monday-friday only, its also only 2 hours daily, so the feeling of relax are really in this semester.
By the way, yesterday I just realised that i've been one week here, but it feels so long! why yah?
And here comessss, three holiday plans for every week of three weeks onward! =)


1st, im going Singapore this weekend! Yayyyy! With my cousins, ardy and citra, they are the children of my mom's sister. Since only both of them go, so they asked me along. Hihihi


2nd, after back from Singapore, I have to celebrate Chinese New Year(CNY) in my aunty's houseee. Okaay, this time angpao angpao! haha. But somemore she said that she think of going Singapore on 4. Woow like twice go singapore every week? haha.. But not sure yet ;)


3rd, me and my classmates planned to go seaside on 9! =) Yey beach beach! Its like different because we never found beach in KL ha ha ha. Its on, cant wait. =)


Looks like I need to pre-order polaroid films! Ha ha ha