Chicken balti hand pies

As a follow up to my first attempt at making English style hand-pies or pasties, I decided to give Chicken Balti pies a try.  I used this recipe for the filling and this one for the pastry.

The results were excellent.  I really enjoy making a big batch of these pies on the weekend and then having them in the freezer to easily re-heat for lunch later in the week.

chana masala

I really enjoy Indian food, especially vegetarian curries.  Something about them always impresses me that you can create such delicious flavor without meat.  Chana masala is one of my go to choices when trying out a new restaurant, which is why I was so happy to stumble upon this recipe from Slate.  Other than having to track down some unique spices (luckily we have an awesome spice store in town that will sell you spices in any quantity so I could buy just enough to try this recipe) the processing for making this simple.  The end results were good, but I may try this recipe from Smitten Kitchen next time since it is slightly different and they usually don't steer me wrong.  My end results were a little thinner than I would have liked and the beans were a little crunchy so I probably should have cooked it longer.

I would also repeat the suggestion from these articles.  The spices can be tough to track down but it is totally worth it.  Once you have those it is super easy to make.

CSA Week 17

Now that we've entered fall I'm expecting to see more cool season greens and the beginning of the winter squash.  This week we received lettuce, cranberry beans, burgundy beans, spaghetti squash, chard, beets, cucumbers, and celery.

Sorrel Soup

I'd never had, or even heard of, French Sorrel until we received some in our CSA earlier this summer.  It is a leafy green herb that has a distinct tangy, lemony flavor.  Eating it raw is actually a little shocking because you don't expect a green leaf to pack so much flavor and punch.  From everything I've read it is easy to grow, a perennial, and usually one of the first things that can be ready to eat in a garden in the spring.  

The consensus on the interwebs is to either use it in salads or soups.  We decided to go with a soup which was mostly onions, potatoes, and stock.  We used our immersion blender to smooth the soup (seriously this is probably the best kitchen tool we own.  Between soup and jam it gets used year round.).  There are a wide variety of soup recipes and I'm looking forward to trying a few more next spring.

Blackberry Jam/Syrup

A couple of weeks ago LJ's sister came to visit for the weekend and brought two of our favorite boys with her. The plan was to go to blueberry picking but when we got to the farm we found it was already closed for the day.  We quickly called an audible and found some blackberry bushes near our house.

When we got back we found that one of the bags of berries got a little squished on the walk home (I think someone was swinging their bag as they walked).

I suggested we turn the blackberries in to syrup that the boys could use on their pancakes when they got home.  The first thing we had to do was press the berries in to the mesh strainer to remove all the seeds.

It took some work but we got all the juice out of the berries we could.

We added an equal amount of sugar as juice.

We prepared our jars.  We decided not to actual can the syrup because we knew it would be eaten very soon and just stored in the fridge.

We cooked the syrup to dissolve the sugar and reduce the syrup.  We actually boiled it too long (which was my fault for not paying close enough attention) so the final consistency was closer to jam than syrup.

We filled the jars so each guy could take home their own.

The final product in action on pancakes.

The boys did great in their first syrup/jam making experience.  They helped every step of the way and took all the pictures as well.  They even figured out how record a video with the camera.

Something is brewing

For quite some time I've wondered why I haven't gotten in to making beer, wine, or hard ciders. One big turnoff had been the amount of supplies that seemed necessary.  Another was that LJ really dislikes beer (not quite as much as pickles though.  She is always willing to try a beer, she is never willing to try a pickle and may even slap it out of your hand if you try to offer her one.).

However, in the last month I received a catalog in the mail that advertised a 1 gallon, all grain beer making kit.  I was intrigued because the thought of making small batches of beer seemed more appealing if I was going to be the main one drinking them.  If a batch didn't turn out well I wouldn't feel bad about dumping a few bottles versus dumping a few gallons.  I stewed on it for awhile and was finally convinced I should do it when LJ and I went to the local Oktoberfest and she managed to drink 3 different 5 ounce samples of beer, even commenting, "This is the least worst beer I've ever had."  High praise.

I figured I could get the kit and attempt to make some beers that LJ might enjoy (something in the Saison or Hefe families) while scratching my itch to try something new in the kitchen.  I ordered the kit and then waited a week before getting an email that the kit was on back order.  I figured I had waited this long so a few more weeks wasn't going to hurt, but I was pleasantly surprised when the next day I received an email saying my order had shipped.

A few days later a box was waiting outside our door that contained a bucket and two packages of yeast (which I had ordered for possibility of making beet wine) but not the kit.  On the packing slip it said the kit was still back ordered and that I would be notified when it was shipped.

The following day there was one of those UPS stickers on the door saying they had tried to deliver a package but no one was home.  I wasn't positive the package would be the rest of the kit since I hadn't received an email but I wasn't expecting anything else.  I signed the slip and expected the package when I arrived home the next day.  However when I returned home the signed slip was still sitting on the door.

I waited two more days with the slip on the door for the UPS man to deliver the mysterious package.  Finally I hopped on my bicycle after work and road down to their delivery center (luckily only about a mile away).  When I got to UPS I handed them the slip and explained that I was confused why it was never dropped off.  The lady behind the counter scanned my slip and said it was waiting in their will-call.  She turned around and found the package, explained that since it was alcohol related they couldn't leave it at the door, and I was on my way.  Apparently a bucket and yeast are fine to leave at the door, but a carboy, grain and hops are not.  Anyway, after figuring out how to carry the over-sized box and push my bike at the same time I made it home.

The first thing I'm attempting to brew is hard apple cider, using a leftover gallon from apple squeezing party last year.  I'm using this basic recipe with the addition of some cinnamon sticks and brewed black tea.  I have no idea if I added too much or not enough yeast (I was using a package of champagne yeast and it said the packet was enough for five gallons so I used half the packet and put the rest in the freezer to use on another batch if this one turns out).  

I'll follow up in a couple weeks once we taste test it.

Sanitation is key when making beer or wine.

Added flavor ingredients included brown sugar and black tea.

CSA Week 15 and 16

We are such horrible bloggers that we actually forgot to post our one consistent, weekly post last week.  No need to fear though, we took a picture of the CSA so you are getting a two'fer.

I was actually out of town last weekend and LJ is back in school working so we had to enlist the help of our friend Marqise in picking up the CSA during his lunch break (luckily he can see the farmers market from the window of his office building).  We got two kinds of radishes, beans, arugula, mustards, patty pan, spinach, and corn.  The corn isn't pictures because we gave it to Marqise as a thank you for picking up the veggies.  Hopefully he enjoyed it.  LJ made pesto with the arugula which is just about one of my favorite things to eat.

This week we got more corn, bell peppers, green tomatoes, baby bok choy, kohlrabi, lettuce, basil, and a few pickling cukes.  I already have the cukes fermenting in a jar on the counter and we ate some of the corn last night with a plate of fried green tomatoes.  Our CSA runs through the end of October so we are looking forward to continuing eating an abundance of delicious fresh vegetables until then.

Bacon Waffles

These were so good that I'm making them again as I write this post.  I made them last weekend for the first time, which also happened to be National Bacon Day.  They were inspired by a waffle I ate in Portland (of course a diner in Portland would have a bacon waffle).

The process of making these was simple.  I combined this recipe for waffle mix with some crumbled bacon and that was it.  The title of the waffle recipe (Waffle of Insane Greatness) seemed over-hyped, but it had nearly unanimous perfect reviews, and over 270 of them so I figured it was worth a shot.

LJ picked up an old school waffle maker at a yard sale this summer because she was fed up with the waffle maker I'd had for the last ten years (apparently my waffle maker made the ridges too big).  She had been searching for the same style of waffle maker her parents had and when we stumbled across one at a garage sale that looked like it had never been used she couldn't have been happier.

With the combination of the new waffle maker, the perfect recipe, and addition of crumbled bacon the end results were pretty spectacular. The waffles had a spongey yet crisp quality and the bacon was subtle; only noticeable once every few bites. 

I'd rave more about how great these are but the timer just went off so the batter for the current batch is ready to go in the waffle maker.