Orange Sorbet

Inspired by the stack of oranges on my table, I made some sorbet. I think I'll make sorbet out of all the extra fruit I encounter, so I can enjoy the refreshing treat every afternoon. It's very good. And makes me very happy.

I know we are in the dead of winter, surrounded by frost and frigid temperatures, but truthfully I could have ice cream and sorbet all year round regardless of the temperature outside. Chilly temperatures are not enough to keep me away from the freezer.

This sorbet a great color and taste. Squeezing the juice by hand took time, but it was so worth it. The flavor is so vibrant. Not too sweet not too sour. So here is to sorbet in the middle of winter!

Orange Sorbet

Ingredients:

1c simple syrup (50% water and 50% sugar boiled together), cooled

1c orange juice

Combine both components and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. Throw in the frezeer, stirring every few hours or you could also churn it in an ice cream machine if you have one and then thrown in the freezer.

Red wine Muffins w/ chocolate and cinnamon

Hope you all had an amazing MLK and inoguration day! I was sick.. the whole weekend : (

But anyways, today I discovered that I had some wine left over from the other night.. must have been from a week ago.. But anyways I turned it into something amazing... Red wine muffins w/ chocolate and cinnamon... How much could a muffin get?! They turned out a little flat but so moist and cakey inside.

Red Wine Muffins

12 muffins

Ingredients:

3/4c flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

2 eggs

1/4c finley chopped dark chocolate

1/2c butter, melted
1/2c sugar

1 cup red wine

Warm the oven to 390F. Oil a muffin pan (12 units).

Mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon and chocolate together.

In another bowl beat the eggs until fluffy and then stir in the butter and sugar - mix until well combined.Then add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and mix well. Add the red wine.

Pour into the muffin pan units and bake for 20 min.

Orange and Apple Salad

This is a great light dish, so summer-y, but a great addition to the fall menu!!


Ingredients:

***Dressing***

1 tsp olive oil
1 large shallot, minced
1 orange, juiced
1 orange, zest ed
1 small lemon, juiced
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3 pinches salt
a bunch of Black pepper

***Salad***

2 crisp apples, cored and sliced into 1/8-inch thick slices,
3 oranges, peeled, cut in half and this into 1/8-inch slices
cilantro, roughly chopped

Directions:
Combine dressing ingredients in a mason jar or other seal able container and shake to emulsify. Combine apple, orange and cilantro in a mixing bowl and toss. Toss the salad with the dressing. Distribute between serving plates. (Top with shaved cheese?)

Kir Royale

Thems:
Pic from MIXPDX

1 oz creme de cassis
sparkling wine (I used a brut)

Pour creme de cassis into a champagne flute and float the champagne over it. Add a cherry for a bit of aesthetical beauty.

And Mine:

Why the color difference? I don't know...

some pear butter cake?

Pear Butter Cake: from Apples for Jam

Ingredients:


1/2 lb. plus 5 tablespoons butter, softened (I used Earth Balance)
2/3 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for the top
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp. finely grated lemon rind
A good pinch of ground cardamom
A large pinch of nutmeg
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup half-and-half
4 small ripe pears (i had a bunch of pears that I dehydrated over the summer, so I soaked about 2c in water over night and used them. It worked wonderfully!)

Directions:


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9 1/2" spring form cake pan. A 9x9 square pan will work too. Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Add the vanilla, lemon rind, cardamom, and nutmeg, and then add the eggs one by one, beating well after each one. Add the flour and baking powder alternately with the half-and-half, and mix until you have a smooth batter. Scrape out every drop into the cake pan. You don't need to be particular about leveling the surface because it will spread evenly during the baking. Bake for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, peel, quarter, and core the pears, if you are used fresh ones. Take the cake from the oven and quickly scatter the pears over the top. Sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Return to the oven and bake for another 45 minutes or so, until the pears are lovely and golden in places, the cake is crusty, and a skewer poked in the middle comes out clean. Cool slightly before cutting and serving warm or at room temperature. Keep the cake covered tightly with aluminum foil so that it doesn't harden and you can then warm it through to serve.

Serves 10 to 12.

Breakfast

I was sick yesterday... I'm feeling a bit better today though, but this morning my mom brought me some amazing oatmeal; with walnuts and brown sugar and creamy-ness, so I'm hoping I'll be 100 percent by tomorrow !






It was such a beautiful morning this morning. The sun was bursting through my windows and there are lambs running around everywhere, frolicking in the green grass. It feels like spring already!!

candles & matches

My grandma went on a trip recently to Washington and she brought me back some lovely orange votive candles.

Rosemary potatoes

I never really thought too much about potatoes, but last year I planted some anyways, dug them this past fall, and realized that they are very nice to have around. They keep forever. This is one of my favorite things to do with them, and it's super easy.

Rosemary potatoes

1 pound unpeeled small potatoes (1- to 1 1/2-inch-diameter)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse kosher
4 large rosemary sprigs

Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Toss baby red potatoes with olive oil and kosher salt on large rimmed baking sheet. Place rosemary sprigs alongside the potatoes. Roast until the potatoes are tender and beginning to brown in spots, about 45 minutes.

Nephews new rattle

My little nephew is starting to be able to hold things! He got his first little rattle yesterday. I think he liked it..

A mini loaf

This morning I was woken up, early early; by my cat. He was thinking about cat food, I was thinking about bread.

So I decided to bake some bread from scratch for once. I usually use a bread machine that I have. mmm... Bread with honey, bread with jam, bread with olive oil and sea salt, bread with butter, bread with hummus- seriously ... bread...
Anyways I think this quite possibly could be the best loaf of bread I have ever made! I also made a whole wheat version. Mmmm.

Okay here's the recipe that I made today. I just halved the original recipe!

3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1.5 cup water, or a few drops more.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl using a whisk, then add water and stir until combined. Cover tightly with plastic and let it sit for some where warm for around 15-20 hours.
After the first rise, scrape the dough out onto a heavily floured surface and flop it over onto itself once or twice, don't over-handle it. It doesn't need to look all perfect. Let it sit for about 15 minutes. Then, quickly form the dough into a ball (folding the corners into the middle works well) and set it seam-side down onto a well flowered surface and cover with a non-terrycloth towel. Let it just sit there for another 2 hours. Before the bread goes in the oven, preheat it to 450˚f with your baking pan in there. After the half hour is up, take out your pan, sprinkle the bottom with cornmeal, and dump the dough in, seam-side up. Cover and return to the oven. Bake 20 minutes covered, 20 minutes uncovered, give or take a few at the end depending on how brown you want your crust.

This mini-recipe will yield a small loaf of crusty white bread, suitable for dipping in homemade soups, drenching in half-melted butter, diping in tastey olive oil w/ herbs ... or whatever else you like to do with your bread. It's a nice, small amount and if you end up eating half the damn loaf (like I did), you don't have to feel like a pig about it. Rock and roll!

carrot slaw

Every so often my mom will stop by and drop off a bag of goodies.



Last time; as I wrote, my mom left me a pre-packed sac lunch. (PBJ + banana + a bunch of carrots). Anyways I had some carrots left over so I thought I would make them into something amazing.

My first thought was, "Ooh, I should make a big batch of spicy pickled carrots" cuz I like to pickle everything it seems..



But then I started looking up pickling recipes and realized- OH YEAH. With school goin' on? I will NEVER get around to doing that. So, what to do?! Then a little light went off. It's nearly picnic season (Or it should be picnic season, anyways, ..RIGHT NOW!.. What the hell, Oregon?...)


What you need:

a generous squeeze fresh lemon juice (More than 1 Tbsp)
1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
lots of salt and pepper
2 cups shredded carrot

Toss it all together and let it sit overnight.

Sunshine salad

(This picture is the lettuce from my sisters garden (beautiful!))

After a period of very rich holiday foods, I am yearning got the simple pleasures of summer. Nothing represents summer better than a green-clad salady composition. Add to this recipe a few slices of cucumber, and some nuts if you want, but I think the real treat is the abundance of green leaves! You might serve this with, maybe some soft goat cheese, or fresh bread with aged balsamic vinegar and a dash of olive oil ...  :)

Dressing:
1/4 c olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp Vinegar
1 tsp chopped onion
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chopped garlics
zest and juice of 1 1/2 (or two) limes
1 egg

blend all ingredients together.

Croutons:
a dash of olive oil
2 slices day old bread, preferably sour dough, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
4 garlic cloves chopped

Heat OVEN TO 350. Heat a bit of oil in a pan. Add the chopped garlic and heat over low. Put the bread cubes on a baking sheet w/ a little oil and bake , tossing every once in a while. After about 20 minutes, add the bread chunks into the garlic mixture and on top of the stove and cook for about 5 more min or until crisp and golden.

Salad and Assembly:

About 8 cups crisp greens, such as bok choy, Romaine hearts, whatever, etc.
3/4 c grated Parmesan
Some toasted almonds
some chunks of peeled orange
thinly sliced onions; red, yellow, shallot, or even green
Toss everything together, or layer on individual plates!

Welcome!

A new year promises to be a good starting point for exploring new horizons. A good start to share my love of cooking and everything that goes with it! I invite you to visit and critique my culinary creativity and to put some order in my notes and records ... and to explore my adventures, and "misadventures", in culinary and style ... Welcome to a new Pacific Northwest foody/lifestyle blog!

Oh! And happy new year!..