It may have taken me until the very last day I was in Japan (finishing the thumb on the limousine bus on the way to Narita Airport), but my mittens were completed! And MacAroni got a kabuki tattoo.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
summer and fall vacation
I`ve retreated to my secret lair deep in a secret cave in the pacific ocean, where I am preparing for winter by knitting mittens.
Actually, I don`t have a secret cave. I have left the farm in Elma, and I am in Japan until November. Hope to post my creations more regularly.
xoxo
Happy Knitting!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
No Quiche
I was really excited about making a quiche today, but it didn't happen because we didn't have eggs.
We went by our local egg lady Arlene's place this afternoon but she wasn't home. I saw her chickens and they were twice as big as our chickens! Ours are only 4 months old... so they won't be laying eggs until October-ish.
Anyhow... Instead of my quiche with a ground almond crust... I made a Mediterranean dish (from Cyprus) called Afelia, which is a pork stew seasoned with onions, wine (of course my parent's home made stuff mmm), and cilantro (of course from the garden).
This dish was so easy and sooooo delicious.
1 lb pork loin...
1 onion sliced
1 1/4 c red wine
2 Tbs chopped cilantro
1 tsp raw sugar (that brown granular stuff)
salt
pepper
olive oil
Cube the pork. Put the cubed pork in a bowl, pepper it, salt it (less that 1/4 tsp is enough!) and toss in most of the cilantro (Save 1 tsp of the cilantro to stir in at the end) and the sugar. Massage the seasonings into the pork and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so.
In a skillet with olive oil, brown the cubes. Don't worry about it being cooked through, it will finish cooking later. The brown color is the important part. Once brown, throw the pork in a pot with a tight lid(like a le creuset)on the lowest heat.
In the same skillet saute the onions with a pinch of salt until clear and starting to brown. Now, pour in the wine and bring to a boil. After the onion wine mixture comes to a boil, you can pour it into the pot with the pork. Cover with the lid and simmer for about an hour. Stir in the last bit of cilantro about 5 minutes before serving.
Easy right? Pork loin is hard to mess up to begin with. It is tender and such a great cut of meat. Cilantro (coriander) is a nice summery herb and is very refreshing. I used 1/2 a red onion and 1/2 a vidalia onion so the dish ended up with a gentle sweetness to it. This dish is typically served with bread and olives. I served the stew with white rice and a salad with a olive-lemon vinaigrette.
Yummy. Happy cooking.
We went by our local egg lady Arlene's place this afternoon but she wasn't home. I saw her chickens and they were twice as big as our chickens! Ours are only 4 months old... so they won't be laying eggs until October-ish.
Anyhow... Instead of my quiche with a ground almond crust... I made a Mediterranean dish (from Cyprus) called Afelia, which is a pork stew seasoned with onions, wine (of course my parent's home made stuff mmm), and cilantro (of course from the garden).
This dish was so easy and sooooo delicious.
1 lb pork loin...
1 onion sliced
1 1/4 c red wine
2 Tbs chopped cilantro
1 tsp raw sugar (that brown granular stuff)
salt
pepper
olive oil
Cube the pork. Put the cubed pork in a bowl, pepper it, salt it (less that 1/4 tsp is enough!) and toss in most of the cilantro (Save 1 tsp of the cilantro to stir in at the end) and the sugar. Massage the seasonings into the pork and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so.
In a skillet with olive oil, brown the cubes. Don't worry about it being cooked through, it will finish cooking later. The brown color is the important part. Once brown, throw the pork in a pot with a tight lid(like a le creuset)on the lowest heat.
In the same skillet saute the onions with a pinch of salt until clear and starting to brown. Now, pour in the wine and bring to a boil. After the onion wine mixture comes to a boil, you can pour it into the pot with the pork. Cover with the lid and simmer for about an hour. Stir in the last bit of cilantro about 5 minutes before serving.
Easy right? Pork loin is hard to mess up to begin with. It is tender and such a great cut of meat. Cilantro (coriander) is a nice summery herb and is very refreshing. I used 1/2 a red onion and 1/2 a vidalia onion so the dish ended up with a gentle sweetness to it. This dish is typically served with bread and olives. I served the stew with white rice and a salad with a olive-lemon vinaigrette.
Yummy. Happy cooking.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Stinky Cod Challenge
I've taken on the chore of cooking on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For the most part it has been fun. Today I was given a challenge.
"Can you do something with this stinky cod?"
Okay... So I decided to make a spicy Japanese style curry stew and it came out really nice.
Around lunch time I started by marinating the stinky cod in some milk, curry powder, tons of black pepper, and surprisingly Louisiana Hot Sauce.
Around 5ish, I browned the non stinky cod and chopped up the rest of my ingredients: Onions, Celery, Carrots, Red Pepper, Potatoes, Parsley:
All of these ingredients were sauteed in the same pan that I browned the fish in. I covered the veges with stock and cheated by adding the Japanese curry rue. After all the veges stewed in the curry, I added the non stinky cod to finish cooking for about 10 minutes until serving time. I waited to add the cod 'til the end to keep it from breaking up too much.
The curry was accompanied with rice cooked with cardamon, peppercorn, zambe currant raisins, cloves, parsley and turmeric
The curry came out very spicy but delicious... I think I could have done without the Louisiana Hot Sauce, and I think my use of black pepper was a little excessive. My goal was to get the stink out of the fish, and I succeeded. I wish I had a glass of sweet Lassi but out in Elma such luxuries are hard to come by... actually I just didn't think to make it.
bon apetit!
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