We're in Rachel's car headed over the Ballard Bridge on out way to get some dim sum in the International District! Who wouldn't want shu mai and hum bow sitting in their belly for a 10 hour flight?
Carl
Friday, July 8, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
We're leaving, on a jet plane...to Europe!
That's right, we're flying to Europe on Friday for a 21 day backpacking adventure across 5 countries! Stay tuned for blogposts about our food and drinks (you all know how much we like tasty eats!), travel adventures, and whatever else comes our way. We'll be in Oslo, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Carcasonne, Marseille, Nice, Cinque Terra (Vernazza), Florence, Venice, & Berlin! If you have any suggestions along the way or just want to say, we'd love to hear from you! Email us at christyandcarl (at) gmail (dot) com
Looking forward to our big adventure!
Vi snakkes, Au revoir, Adiós, Ciao, & Auf Wiedersehen
-Carl and Christy
Looking forward to our big adventure!
Vi snakkes, Au revoir, Adiós, Ciao, & Auf Wiedersehen
-Carl and Christy
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Tom Douglas and Monster Cookies
Can you believe January is already half over? Before we know it, these dark evenings of winter will give way to those pleasant spring evenings that make Seattle such a lovely place to be. I like these cozy evenings of down slippers and warm blankets, not to mention the comforting food of winter.
Despite eating out four evenings this week (ridiculous, but we used gift cards and Groupons, so it was inexpensive!), we made some fun new recipes. For Christmas, Burr and MJ gave us "Tom's Big Dinners," written by Seattle legend Tom Douglas. I have been admiring this book for a long time, and I was over-the-moon-excited to add it to our cookbook library!
Carl had a hankering for braising meat last Sunday, so he picked two recipes from Tom's favorite restaurant in Seattle, Labuznik. It's a place where Burr and Grandpa Carl had been before, so it seemed like a great place to start. Finding a bone-in pork loin rib roast was a little intimidating, but we were relieved that the butcher knew exactly what we were talking about, and it was only $15! We had a great feast with Rachel that day!
Slow-Roasted Pork with Caraway Onion Gravy By Tom Douglas
One 3-pound bone-in pork loin rib roast, cut from the blade end, chine bone removed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 tablespoon bacon fat
1 medium onion, peeled, cut in half, and julienned
5 garlic cloves, peeled 3 tablespoons tomato paste
5 cups chicken stock, hot
1 tablespoon "quick mixing" flour, such as Wondra
Preheat oven to 300°F. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper; sprinkle with the caraway seeds. Melt the bacon fat over medium-high heat in a roasting pan placed over 2 burners. Add the pork and the chine bone; brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Place the onion in the pan; arrange the pork roast, bony side up, on top of the onion. Leave the chine bone in the pan; place the pan in oven. After 2 1/2 hours of roasting, stick an instant-read thermometer into the meat; it should read about 165°F. If the temperature is lower than that, keep roasting until thermometer does read 165°F. At that point, remove pan from oven. Transfer pork to a platter; set it in a warm spot, and cover it loosely with foil. Transfer the pork to a cutting board; cut into portions between bones. Pile cut pork on a platter; pour a quarter of the gravy over it. Pour the rest of the gravy into a sauce boat, and use it for whatever gravy-friendly side you wish.
With all the delicious gravy, we made the recommended bread dumplings to go with it, using homemade croutons that Carl made. Alas, they turned out really weird. It's a typical dumpling recipe (flour, eggs), but then you add 1 1/2 cups of croutons. When I boiled them in logs (instead of the drop dumplings I am used to), they looked like a swollen bread loaf studded with croutons. After slicing it into rounds, I steamed them for a few minutes. They tasted ok, but we got a superior recipe from Claudia Olsen, who is a member of the Prosser Olsen clan. Here's the recipe for Knödel from her Czech grandmother:
"The recipe I use calls for 2 french rolls, cut into cubes, toasted in butter, 400g flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 egg lightly beaten, salt and 200ml milk. Now we always put some nutmeg in and since those are rather plain I like to add garlic salt, sometimes even crispy fried bacon or roasted onions. You mix the dry ingredients including the bread and wet ingredients separately, then form a nice dough out of it, don't overmix or they will be tough. Let stand for a few minutes. If it is too sticky to handle, wet your hands and shape the dough into 2 balls. Bring a large pot of salt water to boil, turn heat down so it just simmers and cook the Knödl for about 20 to 30 minutes."
We haven't tried Claudia's recipe yet, but we'll add it to the list!
The third recipe of the week was Monster Cookies, which I baked on Friday night. We had a quiet Friday night in, which felt really good after a long week. It's no secret that my favorite chocolate chip cookies are my mom's (I haven't found one that comes even close to hers!), but I did give Paula Deen's recipe for a whirl.
Monster Cookies
Adapted from Paula Deen's recipe
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 oz creamy peanut butter
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup M&Ms
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic bags.
I was so excited to use my silicon baking mats that I got for Christmas (thanks Molly and Mary Jean!), and they worked like a charm. One thing I really like about this recipe is that it doesn't use any flour. They are far from gluten-free, I'm sure, and the cookie dough isn't nearly as enjoyable as a regular recipe, but texture and creaminess were winners in my book. With all that natural peanut butter and oatmeal, they are practically healthy, right? We shared the cookies with the Osbornes and the Aronsons (though I'm sure Carl and I could have enjoyed 2 dozen all by ourselves!).
As I write this, Carl is finishing up his Drunken Chicken and Rice with Tomatoes, so it's almost dinnertime at our house! (Yes, it is 10 p.m. We do this alot.)
Talk to you next week!
Christy and Carl
Despite eating out four evenings this week (ridiculous, but we used gift cards and Groupons, so it was inexpensive!), we made some fun new recipes. For Christmas, Burr and MJ gave us "Tom's Big Dinners," written by Seattle legend Tom Douglas. I have been admiring this book for a long time, and I was over-the-moon-excited to add it to our cookbook library!
Carl had a hankering for braising meat last Sunday, so he picked two recipes from Tom's favorite restaurant in Seattle, Labuznik. It's a place where Burr and Grandpa Carl had been before, so it seemed like a great place to start. Finding a bone-in pork loin rib roast was a little intimidating, but we were relieved that the butcher knew exactly what we were talking about, and it was only $15! We had a great feast with Rachel that day!
Slow-Roasted Pork with Caraway Onion Gravy By Tom Douglas
One 3-pound bone-in pork loin rib roast, cut from the blade end, chine bone removed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 tablespoon bacon fat
1 medium onion, peeled, cut in half, and julienned
5 garlic cloves, peeled 3 tablespoons tomato paste
5 cups chicken stock, hot
1 tablespoon "quick mixing" flour, such as Wondra
Preheat oven to 300°F. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper; sprinkle with the caraway seeds. Melt the bacon fat over medium-high heat in a roasting pan placed over 2 burners. Add the pork and the chine bone; brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Place the onion in the pan; arrange the pork roast, bony side up, on top of the onion. Leave the chine bone in the pan; place the pan in oven. After 2 1/2 hours of roasting, stick an instant-read thermometer into the meat; it should read about 165°F. If the temperature is lower than that, keep roasting until thermometer does read 165°F. At that point, remove pan from oven. Transfer pork to a platter; set it in a warm spot, and cover it loosely with foil. Transfer the pork to a cutting board; cut into portions between bones. Pile cut pork on a platter; pour a quarter of the gravy over it. Pour the rest of the gravy into a sauce boat, and use it for whatever gravy-friendly side you wish.
With all the delicious gravy, we made the recommended bread dumplings to go with it, using homemade croutons that Carl made. Alas, they turned out really weird. It's a typical dumpling recipe (flour, eggs), but then you add 1 1/2 cups of croutons. When I boiled them in logs (instead of the drop dumplings I am used to), they looked like a swollen bread loaf studded with croutons. After slicing it into rounds, I steamed them for a few minutes. They tasted ok, but we got a superior recipe from Claudia Olsen, who is a member of the Prosser Olsen clan. Here's the recipe for Knödel from her Czech grandmother:
"The recipe I use calls for 2 french rolls, cut into cubes, toasted in butter, 400g flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 egg lightly beaten, salt and 200ml milk. Now we always put some nutmeg in and since those are rather plain I like to add garlic salt, sometimes even crispy fried bacon or roasted onions. You mix the dry ingredients including the bread and wet ingredients separately, then form a nice dough out of it, don't overmix or they will be tough. Let stand for a few minutes. If it is too sticky to handle, wet your hands and shape the dough into 2 balls. Bring a large pot of salt water to boil, turn heat down so it just simmers and cook the Knödl for about 20 to 30 minutes."
We haven't tried Claudia's recipe yet, but we'll add it to the list!
The third recipe of the week was Monster Cookies, which I baked on Friday night. We had a quiet Friday night in, which felt really good after a long week. It's no secret that my favorite chocolate chip cookies are my mom's (I haven't found one that comes even close to hers!), but I did give Paula Deen's recipe for a whirl.
Monster Cookies
Adapted from Paula Deen's recipe
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 oz creamy peanut butter
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup M&Ms
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic bags.
I was so excited to use my silicon baking mats that I got for Christmas (thanks Molly and Mary Jean!), and they worked like a charm. One thing I really like about this recipe is that it doesn't use any flour. They are far from gluten-free, I'm sure, and the cookie dough isn't nearly as enjoyable as a regular recipe, but texture and creaminess were winners in my book. With all that natural peanut butter and oatmeal, they are practically healthy, right? We shared the cookies with the Osbornes and the Aronsons (though I'm sure Carl and I could have enjoyed 2 dozen all by ourselves!).
As I write this, Carl is finishing up his Drunken Chicken and Rice with Tomatoes, so it's almost dinnertime at our house! (Yes, it is 10 p.m. We do this alot.)
Talk to you next week!
Christy and Carl
Sunday, January 9, 2011
A delicious way to kick off the first week of January
Hello everyone!
Our first week of three new recipes went really well, and I think we will enjoy the challenge this year of trying new things. We also refined our approach to the challenge of three new recipes a week. In reality, we do try a couple new recipes a week in our regular cooking. Our goal is to step outside of our comfort zone: try new vegetables we haven't used before, learn a new technique, etc. A wealth of information and inspiration can be found in our growing collection of cookbooks, so no excuses!
Since it's been well over a year since our last blog post, we are out of the blogging habit. We don't have any pictures from this week to share (that we took, anyway), but we have no excuse now that we both have iPhones! Thanks for your patience as we figure out this whole Blogger thing too.
Our first dish of the week was Kale and Brown Rice Casserole. We went into Pasta & Co. last week just to look (it's one of our favorite food stores at U Village), and I saw a container of Kale and Brown Rice Casserole. Knowing we could make one just as good with our own ingredients at home, I passed on the $20 container and turned to Google for a recipe search.
I was a little disappointed when the first several res
ults were vegan recipes, using ingredients such as "Uncheese." Instead, I played off of this one, and added our own touches. Delicious and healthy comfort food!
1 ½ cups brown rice, cooked
1 medium onion, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup sliced white mushrooms
1/4 cup milk
Salt and pepper
2 cups kale
Cook brown rice according to package. Preheat the oven to 375°F, and grease a casserole dish. In a medium sauce pan, saute the onion until translucent, then add the garlic and mushrooms and saute until soft. Mix all the ingredients except the kale in a bowl until well combined. To prepare the kale, remove the center rib, and slice the leaves into 1-inch ribbons. Saute in a little olive oil until it begins to wilt, then remove from heat. Place half of the kale in the casserole dish, cover with the rice mixture evenly, then top with the remaining kale. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
We received a Hawaiian pasta salad mix from my aunts for Christmas, which made for a delicious easy dinner this week. Multi-colored pasta shells with chicken chunks, crushed pineapple, mandarin orange slices and raw red onion, dressed in a spicy vinaigrette. This may not actually count as a new recipe because we can't tell you what was in the spice packet, but it was SO GOOD. I grew up with pasta salads during the summers as a cool dinner (no oven required), so it was fun to make some in January with some Hawaiian flair. Thanks, K & J!
The third recipe we made this week is Carl's creation:
homemade pizza. It was so good, we made it TWICE! Inspired by the inexpensive, ready made pizza dough at Trader Joes and the pizza stone supplied by Jeannie Rose and shared with us by Rachel, Carl tried his hand at two types.
Here were the flavor combinations:
Pig N' Pear
Carlo Supremeo
Carl preheated the pizza stone, rolled out the dough, and carefully composed his pizzas as a one-man show in the kitchen. The inaugural pizzas were shared with Rachel – the two of us drank red wine as Carl cooked and served us. A few days later, Carl baked up three more pizzas for my family, who rolled into Ballard on Friday night. After trying some pretty darn good pizzas from 'Zaw the week before, it was unanimous that Carl's pizza was superior in taste and size (not to mention price!). We think pizza night will become a regular feature at the Treehouse!
So that was week one. We ate some regular stuff too (broccoli, avocados, etc.), but we like those in their natural state – no recipe required. For week 2, we have some exciting things in the works. As I write this, Carl is working on a slow-roasted pork with caraway onion gravy, ala Tom Douglas. Expect a report next week!
Our first week of three new recipes went really well, and I think we will enjoy the challenge this year of trying new things. We also refined our approach to the challenge of three new recipes a week. In reality, we do try a couple new recipes a week in our regular cooking. Our goal is to step outside of our comfort zone: try new vegetables we haven't used before, learn a new technique, etc. A wealth of information and inspiration can be found in our growing collection of cookbooks, so no excuses!
Since it's been well over a year since our last blog post, we are out of the blogging habit. We don't have any pictures from this week to share (that we took, anyway), but we have no excuse now that we both have iPhones! Thanks for your patience as we figure out this whole Blogger thing too.
Our first dish of the week was Kale and Brown Rice Casserole. We went into Pasta & Co. last week just to look (it's one of our favorite food stores at U Village), and I saw a container of Kale and Brown Rice Casserole. Knowing we could make one just as good with our own ingredients at home, I passed on the $20 container and turned to Google for a recipe search.
I was a little disappointed when the first several res
ults were vegan recipes, using ingredients such as "Uncheese." Instead, I played off of this one, and added our own touches. Delicious and healthy comfort food!1 ½ cups brown rice, cooked
1 medium onion, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup sliced white mushrooms
1/4 cup milk
Salt and pepper
2 cups kale
Cook brown rice according to package. Preheat the oven to 375°F, and grease a casserole dish. In a medium sauce pan, saute the onion until translucent, then add the garlic and mushrooms and saute until soft. Mix all the ingredients except the kale in a bowl until well combined. To prepare the kale, remove the center rib, and slice the leaves into 1-inch ribbons. Saute in a little olive oil until it begins to wilt, then remove from heat. Place half of the kale in the casserole dish, cover with the rice mixture evenly, then top with the remaining kale. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
We received a Hawaiian pasta salad mix from my aunts for Christmas, which made for a delicious easy dinner this week. Multi-colored pasta shells with chicken chunks, crushed pineapple, mandarin orange slices and raw red onion, dressed in a spicy vinaigrette. This may not actually count as a new recipe because we can't tell you what was in the spice packet, but it was SO GOOD. I grew up with pasta salads during the summers as a cool dinner (no oven required), so it was fun to make some in January with some Hawaiian flair. Thanks, K & J!
The third recipe we made this week is Carl's creation:
homemade pizza. It was so good, we made it TWICE! Inspired by the inexpensive, ready made pizza dough at Trader Joes and the pizza stone supplied by Jeannie Rose and shared with us by Rachel, Carl tried his hand at two types.Here were the flavor combinations:
Pig N' Pear
- Trader Joe's herb crust
- Pesto base (thanks Mary Jean!)
- Mozzerella cheese
- Bacon lardons
- Caramelized pear
- Caramelized onions
Carlo Supremeo
- Tomato sauce base
- Mild Italian sausage
- Sliced onions
- Sliced green pepper
- Sliced mushrooms
- A touch of dried oregano
Carl preheated the pizza stone, rolled out the dough, and carefully composed his pizzas as a one-man show in the kitchen. The inaugural pizzas were shared with Rachel – the two of us drank red wine as Carl cooked and served us. A few days later, Carl baked up three more pizzas for my family, who rolled into Ballard on Friday night. After trying some pretty darn good pizzas from 'Zaw the week before, it was unanimous that Carl's pizza was superior in taste and size (not to mention price!). We think pizza night will become a regular feature at the Treehouse!
So that was week one. We ate some regular stuff too (broccoli, avocados, etc.), but we like those in their natural state – no recipe required. For week 2, we have some exciting things in the works. As I write this, Carl is working on a slow-roasted pork with caraway onion gravy, ala Tom Douglas. Expect a report next week!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Three a Week
Happy New Year!
It's hard to believe that 2011 is here. We enjoyed 2010 so much, and the days and months just flew by. Our lives are blessed by our friends and family, secure jobs, and a cozy place to call home.
We don't have any scheduled life changes this year, so we thought it would be fun to have some new year's resolutions. We have some simple ones, such as hanging up the pictures in the bedrooms and exercising more. But we found a good idea in Sunset magazine: try three new recipes a week. Cooking (and eating) good food is something that we enjoy, and this challenge would keep things interesting in our kitchen.
Three new recipes a week is not just for entrees, but includes side dishes, drinks, desserts, whatever. The goal is to try new fruits and vegetables in particular, but we are open to all suggestions. All three recipes can be used in the same meal, or spread out through the whole week. Our hope is to document our experience here, even if we are the only ones who read it. :)
Our inaugural recipe comes from Christy's favorite blog, Orangette. Since meeting the author Molly Wizenberg last March, our kitchen has been filled with delicious dishes from her recipes, from vegetables side dishes to banana bread. Christy saw this recipe for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, which was written by "Good to the Grain" cookbook author Kim Boyce. Though nothing can compare to Christy's mom's chocolate chip cookies, the simple ingredient list seemed like a winner without too much effort. There is nothing quite like warm chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven, but the experience is even better when it's a great cookie.
We'll be back later this week!
It's hard to believe that 2011 is here. We enjoyed 2010 so much, and the days and months just flew by. Our lives are blessed by our friends and family, secure jobs, and a cozy place to call home.
We don't have any scheduled life changes this year, so we thought it would be fun to have some new year's resolutions. We have some simple ones, such as hanging up the pictures in the bedrooms and exercising more. But we found a good idea in Sunset magazine: try three new recipes a week. Cooking (and eating) good food is something that we enjoy, and this challenge would keep things interesting in our kitchen.
Three new recipes a week is not just for entrees, but includes side dishes, drinks, desserts, whatever. The goal is to try new fruits and vegetables in particular, but we are open to all suggestions. All three recipes can be used in the same meal, or spread out through the whole week. Our hope is to document our experience here, even if we are the only ones who read it. :)
Our inaugural recipe comes from Christy's favorite blog, Orangette. Since meeting the author Molly Wizenberg last March, our kitchen has been filled with delicious dishes from her recipes, from vegetables side dishes to banana bread. Christy saw this recipe for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, which was written by "Good to the Grain" cookbook author Kim Boyce. Though nothing can compare to Christy's mom's chocolate chip cookies, the simple ingredient list seemed like a winner without too much effort. There is nothing quite like warm chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven, but the experience is even better when it's a great cookie.
We'll be back later this week!
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