Dinner

I was tired and decided to do a one bowl meal.  I do this fairly frequently because its easy and relatively fast and tastes great.

Couscous, garlic, salt, pepper, hot sauce, 1 small white onion, butter, enough water to cover the couscous.

Microwave on 70% power for 4 minutes.

Stir thoroughly, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rest for 4 minutes.  Stir to break up and fluff the couscous.

Add spaghetti sauce, stir.

Add thawed frozen veg and any precooked meat you want, stir.

Reheat and stir twice at 1 min intervals.

Eat!

Spiced Oatmeal Almond Brownies

They turned out really well. I constructed a pan out of tin foil again 1. because I needed it and 2. for shits and giggles. I did a much better job this time, being only the second time.

The brownies are complicated, I like that. The almonds on top are toasted and crunchy, the inside of the brownie is soft and chewy from being a brownie and also the oatmeal. The first flavor is that of chocolate from the bite through the chew, then the heady spices reign in the late chew through swallow and thereafter. The flavor seems ever changing yet doesn't tire me.

I used this recipe as the start:
Oatmeal Brownie Recipe

and modified it by adding the spices from the Spiced Oat Bran cookies. I'll list my modified recipe below.

Spiced Oatmeal Almond Brownie Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup of melted butter
2 sqs of baking chocolate
3 tablespoons of Hershey's unsweetened cocoa
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
a sprinkle of nutmeg
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt (sea salt
is fine)
3/4 cup of rolled oats
1/2 cup nut

Directions

* Combine, mix and spread in a greased 9x12" baking pan
* Bake in 350F preheated oven for 25 min

Lunch

Cucumber, tomato, and yogurt, avacado, salt, hot sauce.  Dessert was apple and tea. :)

Sunday Brunch

Eggs, canadian bacon, tube crescent rolls, and coffee.  I wanted to try the tube rolls because I haven't had them before.  They were ok but lacked texture and were too doughy.

Hampden Deli

They roast the meat fresh during the day and have delicious sandwiches.  Good spot for lunch.

French toast from fresh bread for dinner

It was raining all day and I didn't feel like bothering with anything, going out drinking with coworkers or dealing with dinner.  I decided to use the fresh bread I made with Guiness to make french toast and eggs.  I spiced the french toast similarly to the cookies from last night but I swapped the balance.  I used mostly nutmeg and added sprinkles of clove, cinnamon, and salt.

It turned out delicious and chewey.  The maple syrup worked with all the flavors, of the bread and the spices.

Dinner

Cucumber, roma tomato, hummus, fresh bread with butter, and tea.

Spiced Outrageous Oat Bran Cookies

These are the second recipe I tried.  I found 2 recipes I liked at hodgsonmill but made the one with apple sauce and spiced it like is called for in another recipe.  These are delicious.  I love the ginger and clove flavor.

I found Outrageous Oat Bran Cookies and Spiced Bran Cookies at Hodgsonmill but didn't want to bother with the molasses, so I just used the spices in the latter in the former. I also didn't use their flour, but I did use bleached and unbleached flour. I don't know if that made any difference in the recipe. My revised recipe is below.

Spiced Outrageous Oat Bran Cookies

3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup Bleached Flour
1 cup Unbleached Flour
1 cup Oat Bran Hot Cereal
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
a sprinkle of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl, mix butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy. Add applesauce and vanilla and mix until well blended. Add remaining ingredients: both flours, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg; mix well. Drop the dough by tablespoon on greased baking sheet about 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool about 1 minute before removing cookies to cooling rack to cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Oat bran cookies

I have been wanting to try making some oatbran cookies since my oatmeal cookies turned out so well.  I found 2 recipes to try and these were the first recipe.  They came out tasting like shortbread cookies, very buttery.  The recipe is very simple so its a cinch to whip these up.

WHEAT BRAN COOKIES

200 g/7 oz salted butter
250 ml/ 1 cup sugar
1 egg
200 ml/ 0.85 cup wheat bran (you can always substitute oat bran, as I did.)
550 ml/2.3 cups flour

- Stir butter and sugar until creamy, add the egg and mix well.
- Add the wheat bran and the flour and work it into a dough.
- Make small balls, put them on a baking sheet and flatten them with for example a fork.
- Bake in a preheated oven (175°C/347°F) for 10-12 minutes.

New bread

This time I made it with guiness and it tastes wonderful! 

Many thanks to Adventures In Shaw for the bread recipe. Below I'll leave the modified recipe I followed.

Recipe: Almost No Knead Bread (from Cook’s Illustrated) (modified by me)

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose, unbleached flour, plus more for dusting work surface
1/4 tsp instant or rapid rise yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tbs water, at room temperature
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs Guiness
1 tbs white vinegar
Instructions

1. In a bowl, add the flour, yeast and salt and whisk them together. In a large measuring container, combine the water, vinegar and beer and whisk them together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold them together with a sturdy spatula until a shaggy dough ball is formed. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours. The longer it sits, the more flavor the dough will yield.

2. After the rest period, knead the dough 10 to 15 times.

3. Once the dough is ready, place a 12 by 18 inch sheet of parchment paper in a 10-12 inch skillet. Place the dough in the parchment paper lined skillet and cover again with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise for 2 hours.

4. 30 minutes before you’re ready to bake the bread, place a sheet pan on the top oven rack or the rack with at least 8 inches of clearance in a 500 degree F oven.

5. When the dough has fully risen, transfer it onto 2 pieces of aluminum foil, lightly flour the top of it and make a 6 inch long, 1/2 inch deep slit along the top. Fold the foil up and crimp it closed a couple of times and tuck the ends down or in. The foil enclosure should have plenty of clearance from the loaf. Place the foil enclosure on the sheet pan on the topmost rack.

6. Bake at 500 degrees F for 5 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 425 degrees and bake for 25 minutes. Open the foil enclosure and continue baking the bread until it is golden brown and an instant read thermometer reads 210 when pushed into the center.

7. Remove the bread from the foil enclosure by the parchment paper and allow to cool on a wire rack for about 2 hours.

Dinner

Curtido, hummus, greek yogurt, cucumber, red onion, salsitas, and guiness.  :D

Blue iris

This is in my immediate neighborhood.  Blue iris is my favorite flower.

Homemade bread

I decided to try an easy bread recipe that friends had been raving about for a few weeks.  It was tasty but not phenomenal.  I may try a different beer in the recipe next time.

Gourmet No Bake cookies?

I changed the recipe this time to be 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup dark brown sugar, 1/4 tablespoon almond extract, and 3/4 tablespoon vanilla extract.  The rest of the ingredient amounts are the same.

No bake cookies

I decided I wanted this old flavor so I looked up a recipe and made them. :)

Chocolate Peanut-Butter No Bake Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
Waxed paper

Directions:
In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened.

Dinner fully assembled

Curtido, falafel, hummus, and half a cucumber. :)

Making hummus

Super easy in a 14 cup food processor!

3 cans of chick peas
1 tablespoon of tahini
As much garlic as you like
As much lemon juice as you like

Making falafel

Having falafel with dinner tonight and the store only had a box mix so I have to cook them myself.  I baked them in the oven instead of frying them and they are just as tasty as usual.  :)

Lunch for the rest of the week

My favorite, fatoosh.

1 cucumber
3 roma tomato
1 red onion
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
Pinch of dried mint
Dash of salt

Let sit 15 mins, stir, sit 15 mins, eat.

Spring on the street

My street is becoming beautiful again.

Homemade curtido

I decided to try making curtido this week and have it with dinner as a side.  Since I worked from home today I snuck out to pick up a couple papusas to try it with.  I was surprised by how good it tasted. I had expected with so few ingredients that it would be harsh.  I think a tomato and oregano would round it out nicely.

Curtido

* Cabbage, shredded -- 1/2 head
* Carrot, peeled and grated -- 1
* Boiling water -- 4 cups
* Scallions, minced -- 3
* White vinegar -- 1/2 cup
* Water -- 1/2 cup
* Jalapeño or serrano chile pepper, minced -- 1
* Salt -- 1/2 teaspoon

Method
1. Place the cabbage and carrots in a large heat-proof bowl. Pour the boiling water into the bowl to cover the cabbage and carrots and set aside for about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, pressing out as much liquid as possible.
2. Return the cabbage to the bowl and toss with the remaining of the ingredients. Let set at room temperature for a couple hours if you like. Then chill and serve as an accompaniment to pupusas or as a side dish.

Variations
* Ensalada de Repollo (Nicaragua): add a chopped tomato or two and substitute lime juice for the vinegar.

Brownies are finished.

Brownies with toasted pecans, almonds, and chocolate chips.  :)

Here's the recipe I followed.

How To Make Brownies!

Ingredients
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 9-inch square pan.
In medium bowl, stir butter, sugar, and vanilla together.
Add eggs, and with a wooden spoon beat well.
Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
Add to egg mixture, beat until well blended.
At this point, if you want, you can add nuts and chocolate chips to the batter
Spread batter into greased pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until brownies begin to "pull away" from the pan.
Cool completely in pan.

Brownies

I made bbq chicken pizza for dinner and decided to make homemade brownies too.  I had thought that id make little brownie islands (cookies) but the batter I put down and baked for a few mins as a test spread too much.  I decided to improvise a pan since the brownies just need a space to cook and rise in, but they don't put much weight against the sides.

I took 2 sheets of cheap tin foil and folded them up and then greased the resulting pan with butter and in went the batter.  :)

First omelette ever

I used 2 eggs, a splash of heavy cream, mozzerella cheese, red onion, red pepper, mushrooms that id already cooked in butter and olive oil, salsa, and guacamole.

I wasn't able to make it look pretty.  The sides tore when I folded them, I assume because the egg was too cooked.  It was delicious however so I'm counting it a success.

I'm probably better suited to frittatas anyway.  :P