by Krista | Apr 27, 2010 | Spring
It was just past 5 a.m. as we continued our sunrise stroll through Old Town Ljubljana in Slovenia. The streets were empty save for a few brave souls heading to work, clattering across the cobble stones on bicycles or click-clacking through the square in high heels.
The Ljubljanica River was dark and mysterious, flowing silently under the balustrades.
We gazed in mute respect at the stunning monuments to warriors, victims and leaders of the past, wishing we could read or speak Slovenian so we could know their stories.
I was delighted by this unexpected Art Deco flourish, imagining elegantly dressed women swishing through these portals on their way to fine dinners or afternoon tea.
I don’t know what I expected of Slovenia, but it wasn’t this. Stately buildings and curvaceous bridges alongside modern salons and homey pubs. I loved it.
As the sun rose over the towering gables, the clock struck 6 a.m. and it was time to load up the van and head to Croatia and Bosnia. Our early morning wake-up had left us positively ravenous, and just few miles down the road we pulled into a gas station to see what we could rustle up. Bursting in the doors we stopped in amazement at the classiest little cafe we could’ve imagined! Tiled counters with sparkling glass covers held steaming trays of sizzling sausages, fresh fruit, glossy peppers, pastries, and fresh bread studded with seeds. We were in heaven! We loaded up plastic trays, collected napkins and darling little wooden forks and knives and clambered back in the van. Delicious!
It was such a fond memory for me that this weekend, as storm clouds gathered overhead, I had to replicate it. I gathered all the fixings then set to sauteing bell peppers, onions, and farmer’s sausage with glugs of olive oil and lashings of black pepper. Perfect. 🙂
by Krista | Apr 26, 2010 | Bootstrap Monday
How was your weekend, dear ones? 🙂
Mine was quiet and relaxing, a lovely retreat all by myself so I could get better. I thoroughly enjoyed short walks to the creek, naps in the sunshine, and…
…I even started sketching again! Something I haven’t done in ages. 🙂 My perspective is wonky and I couldn’t draw a decent face to save my life, but I had such fun anyways, especially with a fresh package of new markers to experiment with. 🙂
I decided a retreat wasn’t a proper retreat without something desserty, so I pondered my options. I remembered reading an article in an old Victoria magazine about a young girl who loved staying home sick from school because her grandmother always made her homemade pudding. I do not love being sick but I do love pudding, so I dug out my Betty Crocker cookbook and settled on little bowls of creamy butterscotch. I added my own flair by using almond milk and finishing it off with a sprinkling of black salt. 🙂
I’m not sure why they call it black salt since it is decidedly pink.
Regardless of the name, it tastes marvelous atop sweet pudding, and I felt thoroughly spoiled. 🙂 I also felt spoiled because my cute-as-a-bug, elderly neighbor lady stopped me the other day and asked if I would mind if she planted flowers all around my apartment. Would I mind?? I was tickled pink! 🙂 So today I grinned from my armchair as I watched her marching about in a turban and leopard-print wellies making everything beautiful. I’m a lucky, lucky girl. 🙂
Butterscotch Pudding with Black Salt
(Adapted from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook)
Ingredients:
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp black salt, more for garnish
2 cups milk or almond milk
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
- Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in 2-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir one minute.
- Gradually stir at least half of the hot mixture into egg yolks. Stir into remaining hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir one minute.
- Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla.
- Pour into dessert dishes. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled.
- Sprinkle with black salt and serve.
by Krista | Apr 23, 2010 | Fabulous Friday
Good morning, dear folks! 🙂 I am grinning so big because my gimpy knee is finally healing up after the car accident and I’m able to start taking real walks again. HOORAY! 🙂 Earlier this week I headed out on a particularly blustery day and to my delight found a whole sprig of lilac laying in the street in danger of being run over. I happily rescued it and it’s now adorning my coffee table in a particularly fetching styrofoam cup. 😉
After work yesterday I went out to explore my new neighborhood, strolling past farms and meadows and through the woods.
It did my heart and body much good to be out in nature again. 🙂
On Wednesday my dear friend Deb came over for dinner, and while the rice finished cooking we took an evening ramble out to my creek. Mmm, it was gorgeous! The creek babbled gently as the sun set through the trees and brisk breezes brought gusts of fresh air from the woods. Everything is so lush and green along the banks now. I just love it. 🙂
The fresh air made us hungry and we headed back to the house for dinner. Deb is one of those lovely folks who is actually pleased when you experiment on them with new foods (love that!!) so I tried out a vegetable curry from Madhur Jaffrey’s “
From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail“, and served it over brown basmati rice.
Jaffrey says that this curry is a great favorite at wedding banquets in Guyana, while in India they serve it without cabbage.
The curry features chickpeas, potatoes and cabbage simmered with fried onions, garlic, peppers, curry powder and roasted cumin. It turned out even better than I’d hoped! Somehow the textures and flavors are perfectly suited to each other, resulting in an almost creamy curry that satisfies without feeling heavy.
What lovely thing are you looking forward to this weekend? 🙂
Chickpea, Potato and Cabbage Curry
Ingredients:
1 cup dried chickpeas
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 wiri-wiri peppers or 3 bird’s eye chilies, chopped (I didn’t have either so I added a pinch of cayenne)
4 Tbsp corn, peanut, or olive oil
1 Tbsp hot curry powder (I used mild)
1 tsp roasted and ground cumin seeds (I only had powder)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4″ squares (I didn’t peel mine)
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups green cabbage, cut into 1/2 inch squares
Directions:
- Soak chickpeas overnight in 5 cups of water. Drain the next day, put in a pan, add 5 cups fresh water and bring to a boil. Cover. reduce heat to low, and cook very gently for 1-3 hours, or until chickpeas are very tender. Add boiling water if necessary.
- Drain chickpeas, reserving broth. Pour liquid into measuring cup and add water to make 2 1/2 cups.
- Put onion, garlic, peppers and 4 Tbsp water into blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour oil into soup pot over medium high heat. Put in paste from blender. Stir and fry for 2-3 minutes, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook another 2-3 minutes, removing lid to stir frequently.
- Add curry powder and roasted cumin. Stir ones and put in chickpeas, potatoes, salt, and the reserved liquid. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Add cabbage and a further 1 cup of water (I used chicken broth). Stir and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, or until cabbage has just softened.
- Taste for salt before serving.
by Krista | Apr 22, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
I suppose it may be revisiting Slovenia that has me craving Eastern European food these days. Or perhaps it’s the gray skies and rainy days of a Washington spring. Whatever the reason, my fridge is now filled with cabbage, beets and fish, my pantry stocked with potatoes, onions and garlic.
I once lived on a boat in Russia for 2 1/2 months, and while there came to love borscht, blini, and anything with potato. The dense soups, rich meaty dishes, and creamy desserts delighted me, and kept me full and warm on those cold Moscow days. 🙂
Although I WILL be making borscht shortly – I have a craving!! – I wanted to make something unusual, something I’ve never heard of before. I found it in Fish Babka – a fish souffle. Yup, that’s right! A FISH souffle! It was so weird I had to try it. 🙂
So I thawed tilapia, chopped onions, found the dill and gathered eggs.
It was surprisingly simple – something I am always grateful for. 🙂 I cubed fish and bread, covered them with milk and dried dill and let it all soak while I sauteed onion in lotsa butter until it was nice and glossy. Then I mixed it with the fish mixture, adding egg yolks, nutmeg, more dill and salt and pepper. I whipped up egg whites to frothy peaks and folded them gently into the rest of the ingredients. Pouring it softly into a buttered baking dish, I covered it with buttered foil and baked it for 45 minutes.
It turned out beautifully, nice and puffy flecked with dill, the chunks of fish nestled in the oniony souffle. It reheated nicely too, serving me well for evenings when I really don’t want to cook. 🙂
Tilapia Babka
(From Russian, Polish and German Cooking)
Ingredients:
12 oz white fish fillets, skinned and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 oz bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 eggs, separated
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill, plus more for garnish
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of 6 1/4 cup ovenproof dish with parchment paper and grease sides with butter.
- Place fish and bread cubes in bowl, cover with milk and let soak while you cook onion.
- Melt butter in saucepan, add onion and cook 10 minutes until soft. Let cool a few minutes.
- Add to fish and bread with egg yolks, nutmeg, salt and pepper and dill. Mix well.
- In separate bowl whisk egg whites until stiff, then fold into fish mixture.
- Spoon mixture into baking dish, cover with buttered foil and bake for 45 minutes.
- Allow to stand five minutes, then spoon out. Serve warm.
by Krista | Apr 21, 2010 | Compatriot Wednesday
It’s been a week of the most lovely surprises. 🙂 My friend Bekah popped by my office for a flurried visit from New York, bearing her beamiest of smiles, squeeziest of hugs, and this gorgeous little gardenia from her grandmother’s garden.
My dear friends Art and Donna came for dinner and brought the most wonderful house-warming gift, this exquisite dish handmade by their oh-so-talented daughter, Jennifer. I think it suits my jeweled pens splendidly! 🙂
Last but not least, when I arrived home from my lovely weekend away, these little beauties were blooming like mad near my front door. 🙂
They make me grin every time I’m coming or going. 🙂
After some outrageously beautiful, sunny, Spring days, the rains, dark skies and chilly breezes have returned. Thus I’ve been turning to comforting, warming soups like this scrumptious Black Bean Pumpkin. The first time I read through the ingredients I was a wee bit nervous. Black beans, pumpkin, tomatoes and a bevy of spices like cinnamon, cumin and ginger are definitely not traditional companions, but it looked so yummy I had to try it. I’m SO glad I did! This soup is now a family favorite, making many a dull day cheery and interesting. 🙂
Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup with Cinnamon and Ginger
(Adapted from Once Upon A Tart)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups dried black beans, picked through, rinsed and soaked overnight, or quick-soaked (when I don’t have time for such things, I just use 3-4 cans of black beans, drained)
6 cups cold, unsalted water (for simmering beans)
1/2 big yellow onion, diced
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 pound plum tomatoes, peeled and diced (I use 2-3 cans diced tomatoes when I want to speed things up)
(I always use more of the next three spices)
1 Tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 cups (1 quart) vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Directions:
- If doing beans from scratch: drain and rinse the soaked beans in a colander. Bring the water and beans to boil in a large soup pot over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about an hour, until the beans are soft to the bite, but not falling apart or splitting. Drain the beans in a colander.
- Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a large soup pot over high heat, stirring frequently so that they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan, until the onion begins to soften, 5-10 minutes. Lower heat to medium and continue to saute, stirring occasionally for about 10 more minutes, until onion is tender and translucent.
- Add the tomatoes, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and pepper to the soup pot, and saute until the tomatoes begin to break down and give off juices, 5-10 minutes. Pour in the stock, pumpkin puree, vinegar and beans.
- Bring the soup to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld.
- Remove the soup from the heat to puree. Pureeing makes it a thick, smooth, more cohesive soup, but you still want the texture of the black beans so don’t puree it all. Serve warm.
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