Curries

We still are loving curries - Thai and Indian. Indian ones are our favorites to make.
Here's a couple we've been digging lately:



Actually, I can't remember what this one was called even - but we made it for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it's going on our favorites list! Super yummy, with chickpeas, potatoes, and sweet potatoes in it. Aaron found the recipe in this awesome pressure cooker book. He's loving his pressure cooker.

And Rajma - kidney bean curry. We've made this one a lot.

I like it with a little plain yogurt and plenty of cilantro.

Both of these photos were spur of the moment - after I'd already started eating - sorry, but I was so excited at the yumminess that I had to share!

Millions of peaches - peaches for free

(remember that song?)


We've been eating the peaches that we grew and canned. They are delicious.

The first time we opened a can it made a very nice 'pop' sound - which is what you're supposed to hear when you've properly canned something. Aaron said, "That's a good sound!"

Because we're proud of ourselves.

Another good sound? The sound of the boys immediately devouring peaches and saying 'Mmmmmmmm'.

Definitely a good sound.

potato tacos!

Mix together:
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed
*1/2 to 1 cup chile sauce (el pato is good, but I used my homemade kind)
*1/2 to 1 cup cotija cheese (it's a hard, salty, crumbly Mexican cheese, I found it at Food 4 Less)
cumin, salt, garlic powder, tiny bit of oregano
*These amounts have a wide range b/c I don't know what I put and b/c you could just do it to taste, as long as the potato mixture is a good consistency to spread on a tortilla--not runny, but not too stiff.

Make guacamole:
roasted jalapeno with seeds and pith (?) removed
a few grape tomatoes
lots of fresh lime juice
salt, pepper, paprika
4 avocados

Thinly chopped cabbage (or lettuce, if you prefer)

Soften corn tortillas with tiny bit of oil and heat in a pan. Or just heat if you have a non-stick pan.

Put fillings in tortillas as desired. Delicious!

tamales and pizza!

We made tamales to celebrate the New Year. I think this is the most labor intensive food I've ever made because we made almost every part ourselves (the chile sauce, broths, fillings, masa). On New Year's Day we invited a few families over and feasted on the tamales as well as beans, rice, guacamole, crema, salsa, and dessert. We did roasted peppers and cheese, vegetable medley (?), and chicken (since we are the only non-meat eaters, and for me--I wanted to gain the experience).

Peppers, etc. boiling to make the sauce


Spreading the masa, rolling the tamales


Party people! These are some of the kids who came--the dress-up box was a hit (Sam's in the background, sucking his thumb).


We did not eat pizza with our tamales, but I made pizza for New Year's Eve and I believe we've found our favorite dough recipe yet. It is super simple, delicious, easy to make, and versatile. Check it:
6.5 c. flour
3 c. water
1.5 T yeast
1.5 T course salt (like kosher, though we might start putting a little less salt than this).

Stir together dry ingredients, mix in water with a spoon. Let sit for 2 to 5 hours (top should be flat when risen, dough will be really sticky). On floured surface shape dough into pizza crust. You won't get a perfectly circular shape b/c you can't roll it out with a rolling pin. I didn't mind that at all.

What's great about this dough is it can also be used to make dutch oven breads (the artisan, no knead kind Eva posted about a while back), boules or baguettes, or whatever other bready thing you want. It can also be kept in the fridge for a week or so and it gets sour as the days pass. So we made the full amount of dough, made 3 pizzas, then a few days later made a boule. Highly recommend it.

Birthday Dinner

a
Kirk made borsch for my birthday Sunday dinner. We ate it with black bread from Vogel's bakery in Salt Lake and a green salad. For dessert: an apple/cranberry crumble made from apples I picked off of our landlord's tree. (They said it was okay.)

You all know how to make borsch, right?

Char Sui Pork

I had to post this for Mom:


Yesterday we had Char Sui pork for dinner - we've had it before, but not for a while. This time we put it all in the crock pot and the smell was AWESOME. Nearly drove us crazy. So yummy. Mom can attest to that.

When it was done, I reduced the liquid into a sauce, broiled the meat to let it caramelize a little, and Aaron stir-fried some veggies (onion, carrot, green pepper, and zucchini) with some of the sauce.

Whoa. That was good. The girl says we should put this out for Santa instead of cookies this year.

That good.

salad

Three things I want to post about:

1) Is this blog dead? Do people want to keep it around?

2) I knew I wanted to make a post about salad but don't have any pictures, so I searched google images for salads and found this:


Yes, that is Richard Simmons. If you weren't hungry for salad you surely are now.

3) Usually I don't make salads with meals b/c we eat a lot of veggies in whatever our main dish or side dish is. We just started getting our CSA box which had lettuce and will for most of the year so I decided to throw out some ideas I've had or have seen. Salad can easily been a main dish, or the only dish, in our case. Some good combos:

• arugula and other baby greens with kidney beans, whole wheat pasta (penne, or shells), tomatoes, green onion, balsamic vinaigrette, olive oil, Parmesan cheese salt and pepper.
• taco salad: beans, cheese, avocado, tomato, chips, salsa, cilantro, lettuce, grilled peppers.
• grilled veggies like zucchini, yellow squash, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, onion, beets, any others, paired with goat cheese, spinach, and a light vinegar/olive oil dressing.
• sliced, boiled potatoes (cooked in salt water), lettuce, tomato, croutons, avocado, onion, cucumber.
• panzanela: french bread cut into cubes and toasted like croutons, cucumber, lemon zest, garlic, tomato, scant onion, balsamic vinaigrette, olive oil.
• cabbage sliced thinly, grated carrot, toasted pine nuts, olive oil, salt, pepper.
• walnuts tossed with olive oil, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, salt, cumin, and toasted; lettuce, pear slices, Parmesan or blue cheese, onion, and a tart dressing.
  

All paired with some yummy bread, or cheese toast, or whatever--I love it (salad, not the image).