I Dream of Donuts!

Well, my latest vice is doughnuts. Last year it was artisan frozen yogurt; but while my new kick is considerably less expensive, it seems my snacky cravings have unfortunately taken a turn for the one of the "unhealthiest" foods on earth! So I have done some research on the best way to deep fry and decided that coconut oil is the best way to go. After having been raised on marjarine in the 1980s, it now scares me to think of all that hydrogentated soybean oil that's probably still flowing through my veins. But now the trend seems to be back towards butter and alternative oils, and since I now happen to work in this industry I managed to secure about 2.5 gallons of organic unrefined coconut oil. YAY!

I also scored a brand-new bread machince at my neighbors tagsale, so making the dough will be super-easy. I do not consider this cheating, as I have spent many hours making dough from scratch with my own two hands. Also, since I finally masterd spriral-wedging clay, I just can't seem to knead the dough any other way! Spiral-wedging does not work with glutinous dough.

The one down-side to this: it's like 90 degrees F in my house right now already today. I'm off to get started, recipes with comments to follow!

Indian Revisited and Pina Colada Jello Shots

The Indian food turned out to be fantastic--but as far as that detox diet goes I had screwed up by using the reccomended butter in the Boxed Goodes recipe. We actually went to an Indian restaraunt for the first time in a long time last night. I'm starting to recognize and remember a lot of the common menu items by now. I decided I like naan better than roti. Every place is a little different, but I think that one of my favorites by far was/is Wings Express at UConn in Storrs. They have the best vegetable pakora--which is actually hard to find, try it if you find it! Tonight I actually bought a couple of round steaks to cook for my boyfriend, keeping my fingers crossed tomorrow b/c I usually screw this kind of thing up!

Also, I found Pina Colada Jello at the store this evening; I figure it will make bangin' Jello Shots this summer. I love making Jello shots for parties, even though I'm not fond of Jello myself. The key to making good Jello shots is to "aquire" or buy those little plastic sample cups, then line them up in a large cake pan or two--make sure that they wont have room to slide around. Next give them the lightest dusting of unflavored Pam spray. Mix two boxes of Jello in a large glass or metal bowl following the first step of the directions *but decrease the boiling water from 2C to 1 and 1/2C. Do not add any additional water. Then you have to wait until the Jello cools down before you add the booze, now this means you will have to keep an eye on it and stir from time to time. Ideally you catch it while it's still almost warm but not setting yet(this is usually where I screw up). Then add 2C alcohol and stir well. As for pouring the shots, I prefer to use a 2C glass Pyrex liquid measuring-cup to ladel out the Jello and then pour evenly in the cups. Cover with plastic wrap, chill and enjoy!

Vegetarian Indian Food Night!

After a hideous unexplained stomach ache last night, I decided it was time for spring cleaning. I'm trying out a new (to me) 7-day herbal detox from GNC. Starting tomorrow night! But the nutritional plan begins this evening with vegetarian Indian food. Yellow Dahl and Basmati Rice! This is a fancy Basmati blend from a local CT company called Boxed Goodes. Reviews will follow tomorrow!

I found the following recipe at this location: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianindianrecipes/r/yellowdhal.htm

Ingredients:

• 1 cup yellow split peas, uncooked
• 2 cups water or vegetable broth
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp margarine
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin, whole seeds or ground
• 2 whole cloves
• dash pepper, to taste

Preparation:

In a large pot, place the peas and water or vegetable broth, and bring to a slow simmer. Add the turmeric, cayenne and salt, and cover. Allow to cook for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.In a large skillet or frying pan, heat the onion, cumin and clove in the margarine. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes, until onion is soft. Add the onion and spices to the split peas, and allow to simmer for at least 5 more minutes.
Add a dash of pepper and more salt, if desired, and serve hot with rice or alone in a soup bowl.
This Indian food recipe is both vegetarian and vegan.

New Intentions and Re-inventions

I just ordered new business cards, declaring myself as a painter a well as a sculptor. Then I re-did my website along the same lines. The theme for my next art/music event is "New Intentions and Re-inventions" which is obviously a reflection of my life right now. In this new faux-summer weather, I have begun to fix up my yard and gardens. I planted pansies and violas yesterday, today I purchased bulbs: gladiolious, dahlias, Grecian wildflowers. I had good luck with the gladiolious last year, so I decided to plant a whole bunch! My tulips and daffodils from last year are already starting to come up, no buds yet...this is the second year after my cross-pollination between my mother's daffodils and the ones from my grandmother's yard--so the story goes, her father used to breed them. These are true heirlooms, and near and dear to my heart.

Chocolate Pretzels

In addition to my Christmas gift granola I have been attempting to make chocolate-dipped pretzels. I bought fancy chocolate chips and melted them over a double boil, but the whole process was much more of a pain in the ass than I remember. I made these back in my sophomore year of college; this was when Stephanie and I were roommates together. I remember actually burning the bottom of her plastic cereal bowl in the microwave as I tried to melt the chocolate bits by nuking the shit out of them. But after I realized that I just needed to gently warm the chocolate, it was smooth sailing from there on. I'm thinking now that the chocolate may have been easier to melt because I was using craft-store grade candy-chocolate bits, which are full of scary hydrogenated oils and plastics that do a great job fluxing the chocolate to melt.

So my friend Sonia, who is a very talented and creative chica, told me to lay all the pretzels out of a cookie sheet and place a Hershey kiss or a Rollo on each one. Then you gently melt them in the oven(170F 4-6min), and when they come out you press an M&M or something of the sort into each melty kiss. Cool in fridge and bag.

I made it even easier on myself, I just got 'em good and melty, then banged the tray gently on the counter top to settle down the chocolate and dashed on some Christmas sprinkles. They look great, no M&Ms needed!

I even did these with gluten-free pretzels and chocolate!

Salmon Fillet/Homefries

Last Friday night I had a frozen salmon fiasco: I didn't know that cooking fish in cast iron is a bad idea, and I totally stank out my new cast iron pan. I didn't realize this was an issue until Monday night's homefries. I came home from a late night at work, deciding to do breakfast for dinner during the car ride, and heated oil to start the onion while I parboiled the potatoes AND THEN THE SMELL HIT. What baffles me is that my salmon didn't reek so terribly when I was actually cooking it!!! I had to boil vinegar and water for a long time to try and cleanse my precious pan. Then I made Snickerdoodles to make the apartment smell nice. I was a brave and courageous girl as I was able to bring myself to freeze 2/3 of the batch to save for Christmas.

Homefries

Ingredients (use the amounts you would like):
-potatoes, peeled and 1" cubed
-chopped onion
-safflower oil
-seasoning salt(mix your own at home!

Directions: parboil the potatoes until almost done; in the meantime saute the onion on medium heat for approx 5 min. Drain potaoes and add to onion and cook for 10 min or so on medium-medium high heat. Season to taste with seasoning salt and pepper.

Single-Serving Baked Salmon Fillet(a quick and healthy meal)
This recipe is for a 4oz frozen salmon fillet. Defrost in microwave or overnight in fridge, place skin-side down on heavy duty foil and fold up the sides to create a pouch. Season with 2T white wine, 1/2 t seasoning salt, dill, and 1/2 T butter. Fold up the sides of the pouch and crimp the ends together, and bake in toaster oven for 10 min at 350F. Serve with frozen peas and instant or leftover mashed potatoes.

Sweet Chili Sauce

I made a fancy stir-fry for lunch today. I whipped up a sweet chili sauce from a recipe that I found at ThaiFood.com. It was FANTASTIC--and very easy to make. I had everything on hand except for the sherry, so I used white wine instead. I would use the full amount of chili powder next time; although if I had been using actual crushed chili peppers instead of Ocean State Job Lot chili powder the results would most likely have been different, so use your noggin' on that one!

Sweet Chili Sauce (Click HERE for link to ThaiFood.com)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup rice vinegar (or substitute white vinegar)
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. white sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp. sherry (or cooking sherry)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 to 1 Tbsp. dried crushed chili (1 Tbsp. makes spicy-hot sauce)
• 1+1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 3-4 Tbsp. cool water

Preparation:

1. Place all ingredients - except the cornstarch-water mixture - in a sauce pan or pot. Bring to a rolling boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium and let boil for 10 minutes, or until reduced by half. (Note that the vinegar will be quite pungent as it burns off. Generally, I find rice vinegar less strong than regular white vinegar).
3. Reduce heat to low and add the cornstarch-water mixture. Stir to incorporate and continue stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens (about 2 minutes).
4. Remove from heat and taste-test. You should taste "sweet" first, followed by sour, then spicy and salty notes. If the sauce isn't sweet enough, add a little more sugar. If not spicy enough, add more chili.
5. Pour sauce into a small bowl or jar and serve as a condiment with chicken, fish, and seafood, or as a dip with finger foods such as chicken wings, shrimp, or spring rolls. Also makes an excellent marinade for grilled chicken, fish, or seafood. ENJOY!