Wordless Wednesdays: Countdown to La Boqueria

A smattering of Monday goodness

Some weeks I'm all about keeping the blog up to date. Other weeks ... well, it just doesn't happen. The last month or so has been one of those black holes of updating TTK.

So, here's a roundup of some of the tastier little things I've been making over the last few weeks. Some are staples (broccoli pesto pasta with spinach and olives), others were heartier first whirls (braised chard with white beans) ...



... to failed experiments that ended up being more delicious than initially anticipated (my take on "nut butter"), and a cocktail to help relieve some stress that reminds me of March's trip to Sao Paolo. Plus, it gave me an excuse to crack open a bottle of cachaca and use my tucan muddler. Who doesn't love a tucan muddler, I mean - really now.

The "nut butter", originally a spin on Andrea's Vanilla Cinnamon Almond Butter turned into more of a mix of ingredients. I had a bag of unsalted mixed nuts (almonds, peanuts, pecans, cashews and hazelnuts) that needed using up, so I gave it a whirl. As Andrea details in her post, getting this to become creamy and not just finely chopped nuts can take forever, so I finally gave up, added a bit more vanilla, a bit of oil (just a teensy bit), and some brown sugar. It's delicious, and while not creamy, it's delicious on toast, great topping for ice cream and really not that bad for a failed try. Better luck next time. Maybe I'll have found some patience by then ... maybe. ;)



All in all, not too shabby ... I still need to post the hot toddy pudding cake night to end all hot toddy nights (let's just say, copious amounts of scotch, baked goods and two close male friends can lead to some interesting stories ... ;) ) but that's to come. Oh, and the oatmeal cookie pancakes from this weekend with dried cranberries. Mmm, pancakes. Those'll come this week.

Stay tuned, and for a little happy Monday music, check out my friend's band Freddy & Francine. It'll sure help if you're stuck in this dreary grey rainy weather loop. And maybe you'll even learn how to do the Brownstone Alley ;)

Dear phyllo dough, I want a divorce.

Dear phyllo dough,

We're fighting. I think it's best we stay away from one another for a while. You stay in the freezer section, I'll make dishes without you for a while, and maybe, mayyybbbee one of these days we can try this again. But for now, I'm mad at you.

Love,
KT
----------

Ya know ... some food experiments turn out well, some ... you just have to chalk up to a failed operation.

This is the tale of my vegetable tart with phyllo dough. It was a mild night in early June. I had a variety of ingredients already that needed to be used, the concept seemed brilliant, the meal sounded delicious and healthy, and all it would take would be a bit of phyllo dough.

I chopped up all of the artichoke hearts and tomatoes and put them in a bowl. I marinated the veggies for an extra kick in a lemony mustard vinaigrette. It tasted wonderful. While those flavors married, I got out my baking dish and pulled this phyllo dough out of the freezer. How hard could this be, right?

Wrong. So very, very wrong.

Somehow, I forgot that I wasn't working with puff pastry or something manageable, instead very thin, easily teared pieces of flakiness. I started laying this out over the pan, leaving ample over the edges to wrap up over the filling, brushing with oil.

Then, I got lazy ... stopped doing this sheet by miserable sheet, and started lumping 2-3 sheets together. Hell, I've got places to be, what can I say. And regardless, it was just a few bits of flakiness, right?

Wrong, again.

I filled with the drained tomatoes and artichoke hearts, crumbled feta cheese over it, squeezed some extra lemon over, wrapped this all up, brushed with oil (before it started to tear ... again) and popped in the oven.

This, was the outcome ...



Pretty enough, right? That's what I thought. Now if only the dough had any taste, but it was like eating thinner, crispier construction paper.

So Mr. Phyllo Dough, we're not friends right now. I think it's best we keep our distance for the time being. I'll call you when I'm ready for you again.

Have suggestions for how I can reacquaint myself with this frozen pastry nemesis? I'd love to hear. Otherwise, I'll stick to store bought tart shells and frozen spanakopita. ;)

Wordless Wednesdays: Cupcake Love

A 10 minute animated short by Kirsten Lepore. :)

Sweet Dreams from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.

Wordless Wednesdays: Lilies

Dutch Baby Pancake Bliss

After doing my daily RSS check, scrolling through the latest from my favorite foodie blogs, I stumbled on this. My eyes got all wide, and after a few oohs and ahhhs, I said "WANT" and put it on the weekend docket.

This recipe got tested out yesterday, an eggier pancake batter with butter that then gets poured into a preheated skillet with more butter and popped in the oven. It's incredibly easy, leaves the house smelling like a Saturday morning in a New England bed & breakfast, and just makes me smile.

I sprinkled some powdered sugar and cinnamon on mine after it came out of the oven, reminding me a mix of what my family called "Indian Ghost bread" (it was just thin pieces of fried dough, really) crossed with a crepe. Thin, but doughey and absolutely divine. I had a few mangoes in the fridge, so I added that as my topping, including some of the mango juice from the remaining flesh around the pit.

Opportunities are endless here for toppings, and would be a great brunch food, me thinks. Here are the details:

Dutch Baby Pancakes
adapted ever so slightly from Kitchen Wench

Ingredients:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 TB of sugar

(I always put sugar in my pancake batter, whether out of the box or not. Usually some vanilla too, though I omitted here)

Preheat an oven to 350 F with a pan inside to heat. Mix together the eggs, milk, melted butter, salt and sugar. Slowly add the flour. Add the unmelted butter and let that coat the pan. There should be a bit more in there than usual pan-coating amount. Don't be alarmed.



Add the batter, pop in the oven for 20-30 minutes. It'll cook up a bit (and in my case fold over a bit, which I don't mind). Take out when browned to your liking.

Down with the sickness

Being sick in the pits. I think there's global agreement on that. After a few back-to-back weeks of planes, trains and automobiles, my immune system finally waved a white flag and took a vacation, leaving me congested, exhausted, and feeling somewhat deathly. Lo and behold, this was right when swine flu mania began, making my explanations of a) heavy travel b) allergies that kicked in when I was in the UK and c) nasty headcold somewhat moot.

Thankfully, after a few days of drowning myself with lemon, ginger, and honey concoctions and spicy miso ramen soup, I was feeling a bit better, and looking for some food with substance. My cravings were somewhat bizarre, as if I was a pregnant woman eating sour pickles and peanut butter.

The result:
- spicy veggie curry with cauliflower and tomatoes
- white bean spinach soup
- cutlets, just like sab and her mom used to make.

Not too shabby, eh? Lots of protein, a good amount of spice, and relatively healthy.

The curry is an old standby, this one including garbanzo beans, cauliflower, 1 potato and a can of stewed tomatoes. Add a bit of garam masala, some cumin, stock and garlic. Then simmer away until it's mushy-like. That's the scientific term for it too. :)



Very similar in procedure as the curry I made a few months ago.

Serve with some naan, rice, or, as I did later in the week, a side of cottage cheese. Odd, I realize, but healthy and cuts the heat of the curry.

Beans were the main ingredient of the day ... what can I say. Tasty, and also cheap as all get out. Win win.



I first spotted this soup - the white bean spinach soup - over at Not Quite Nigella. I chose to make this without the chorizo, which is a decision I don't regret, to tell you the truth. The basics include a mirepoix to start, adding about 10 oz. of spinach and stock, 2 bay leaves half a pint of stock. Simmer for 20 minutes, then puree using an immersion blender. This is a thicker soup, but great comfort food. Yum.




Oh, and the cutlets ... not Agro cutlets (my best friend and her mother make, by far, the best cutlets EVAR. no joke.) These were just craving food. Delicous, slightly salty, breaded craving food.