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Lamb Tagine

 

 

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb shoulder lamb
• 1 cup of lentils
• 1 1 15.5 can of pinto beans (although any other kin
• 5 small new potatoes
• 10 plum tomatoes
• 1 small diced shallot
• 5 cloves of garlic chopped
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 5 small carrots small sticks
• 1 small diced delicata squash
• 1 thyme sprig
• 2 tablespoons of Parsley chopped
• 1 teaspoon of curry power
• 1 teaspoon of tarragon
• 1 teaspoon Spanish Paprika
• 2 teaspoons of powder allspice
• 2 teaspoons of fresh pepper
• 1 cup of beef stock
• 1 large stick of Cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons of grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon of coriander
• 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped chives
• 3 tablespoons of agave (feel free to add more)
• 1 Salt; to taste
• 1 cup of pecans

Preparation

Add the peanut oil to a cast iron pan, wait until the pan is quite hot. Add the lamb and brown for 5 minutes, then add all the other ingredients and cook for 2 hours in a cast iron pan at 350 degrees in the oven.
Cover with aluminum oil for the first hour. Serve this dish with flat bread.
I was able to find a Tagine the other day, so now I will have to play with the temperate and cooking time.

Tasty Quinoa

I just made this for dinner and it is fantastic. I cannot wait for lunch tomorrow. Enjoy. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup White Organic Quinoa
• 2 cups of water
• 1 Salt; to taste
• 2 teaspoons of corn oil
• 1 teaspoon of Thyme
• 1 pepper; to taste
• 1/2 lemon

Preparation

Add the corn oil and salt to the pan. Let it heat up for about 1/2 a minute, then add the water and bring to a boil. Add the Quinoa and lower fire to medium. after 15-17 minutes after the water has evaporated add the finely chopped thyme. Turn Quinoa off and add the lemon juice. Add pepper and salt as needed.

Pepper Crusted Rib eye Steak and Hasselback Potatoes

In our last lesson I worked on my butchering skills, I bought a nice piece of rib eye steak. It was heavenly. We cook one steak in class, and the rest I brought home. Needless to say I have been enjoying great meals this week.

We also worked on a great Pinot Noir Sauce with Portabella Mushrooms, and a tomato sauce for the chef’s class the next day. Both sauces were delicious and not too difficult to make, although they took a long time to reduce. We then worked on the Hasselback potatoes, those were my favorite, I bought red bliss potatoes, garlic, salt and pepper. They are amazingly easy to make but very tasty.

I can proudly report that I ate broccoli rabe, (me, hater of all things green) it was surprisingly moist and delicious. We cooked them in the oven, with olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Overall the meal was fantastic and I got to practice my knife, butchering, and sauces skills. I have no class this Saturday but will be helping my sister with an event she is putting together for her church (I will be slaving away all day, more on that after the event).

See a picture below of the whole meal. 

Fancy Pants Chef Skills

Can you blame me for wanting to chop and dice at two hundred miles an hour? Yeah, I move fast in the kitchen, in fact I look like a Tasmania Devil on steroids. But I want to chop like the big boys and girls do on the food network. I want to make chopping look pretty. Is that too much to ask? Therefore, I have enlisted the help of a trained chef. He is showing me how is done.

We started yesterday as a matter of fact. He asked me to chop some thyme, and after my very sad and pathetic attempt, he took over and pulverized the poor herb. It was a thing of beauty. I just need to practice some more and lose the irrational fear or inadvertently chopping a finger two.

We also made some delicious Gnocchi, from scratch, it was my first time eating it; it is easy to make and cook. He also showed me how to make a very delicious and pretty salad that he dubbed “too pretty”. It was in fact very pretty, but his wife did not think it was “too pretty”, neither did I.

I had a great time and allowed myself to eat things I have never tried before, and guess what? I liked all, stinky cheese and all. There was no meat in sight and still I found it all delicious. We will of course remedy that next week, I figured one meatless meal would not kill me, but is about enough for me. I am going to BJs and getting myself a big hunk of ribeye steaks large enough to feed a small army for next week’s adventure.

I tried to duplicate the Gnocchi at home earlier today and the result I am pleased to say, was very satisfying.

I am learning fine cooking skills and at the same time I am letting myself experience new things; a few months before my thirty-fourth birthday and I am still growing and discovering new things about myself. What more can a girl ask for?

Random Pictures of the Kid and I

Some of you have asked to see pictures of the kid and I, so here are some of my favorite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are some of my favorite pictures,  I hope you like them.

Dominican Paella

Dominican Paella

I helped my mother cook on Christmas Eve, it was a lot of fun and also eye opening. Although she taught me how to cook, we are very different cooks. We made a few dishes together but decided to make our own rice dishes. She made rice with black beans and I made Seafood rice, now dubbed Dominican Paella. The blend of the traditional Spanish recipe and my Dominican Cooking played together quite nicely. My mom and I can be described as a blend of cooking styles as well, and as I discovered with my dish, the combination is quite nice. 

Please see recipe below:

½ lb lobster meat

10-13 large shrimp

2 cups of white rice

¼ cup coconut milk

Paprika

Oregano

½ chicken bouillon

2 tbs of tomato sauce

Vegetable oil

Salt

Soy sauce

Worcestershire sauce

2 cups of water

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

1 can of peas

1 large Cuban pepper, seeded and cut lengthwise

Mom had a large lobster and she was kind of enough to crack the lobster and get all the meat out. While she did that I cut the shrimp, first lengthwise and then widthwise. Mom was concerned I was cutting all the meat too small, but could not do anything about it, as we had agreed to stay out of each other’s dishes.

I added a few tablespoons of oil to a hot sauté pan, added the meat, chicken bouillon, coconut meat, soy sauce, tomato sauce, paprika, carrots, peas, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and cooked for about 15 minutes. After the lobster and shrimp had absorbed all the flavors, I added all the rice and 3 cups of water. I added 2 cups of the water first, and added the last one as needed.

 I waited for the water to dry and then cover the pan for about 15 minutes. I then turned the rice to make all sure all the rice cooked properly.

 I liked that the lobster meat and shrimp could not be easily recognized; it was my little surprise for our dinners. I wanted the flavors to explode in their mouths.

I was happy to see that there were no leftovers of my dish, while mom’s….well she had enough rice for the next few days. I tried not to brag…..too much.

Food for the soul

I enjoy making food; because I enjoy eating, there is nothing better than to putting ingredients together and tasting the end result. I bought a whole chicken-as that is the only meat the kid will eat- for some reason she does not think it is actually meat, so she eats it all the time. I made the chicken on Sunday to celebrate her concert at church- of course we got about 10,000 inches of snow yesterday so the church service was canceled- since we were snowed in I thought the chicken was still a good idea. Please see below the pictures.

I could not just roast the chicken, I also added carrots, potatoes, red onions and a few pats of butter.

Here is my lovely chicken, it came out great and the taste, well my taste buds were very pleased. The kid ate a lot, and even tried a carrot. 

You don’t have to choose anymore

 I have always struggle to find the one thing that would make me happy, the career that would fulfill all my dreams and utilize all my skills. However, many years and many passions later I have realized that some people (more than I have actually thought) have many passions and interests to follow, we don’t have to choose as I have thought. I have pursued many hobbies and turned some into careers or businesses, however I never thought of combining them or pursuing more than on at a time, thus avoiding the dilemma of having to choose which to pursuit.

Having an open mind and coming to terms with the fact that we are not all made equal (some are meant to be doctors, lawyers, or shoe makers for life, while others are wired to have many careers), that pursuing as many passions as we like is not only healthy but also recommended.  Today I find myself pursuing my love for fashion, photography, cooking, crafts and writing and I could not be happier.

 So what are you waiting for? Take out the beads basket, baking pans, writing notebook, or whatever you have put it away thinking that you had to choose. Life is short and you passions are waiting.

my Favorite Cooking Tools.

So I figured I would share with you a few of my favorite cooking tools, in case you have been living in a cave for the last thirty years, are new to cooking, or have to outfit an entire kitchen.

I hope you find these helpful.

12" Cast Iron Skillet
Lodge Skillet

I love this skillet, I use it for mostly everything, it lives permanently on my cook top I use it so much. Run to the store or to Amazon and get yourself one. You will thank me later.

Knives
Cutlery is very important and very personal. Make sure you go to a store and try a variety of knives. I a glad I did. I would have bought knives too big or too heavy. See my favorites below:

Classic-5" Santoku Knife

Classic-7" Santoku Knife

Mixing Bowls

I used these every time I marinate meat, or need to mix ingredients. Great for tossing salads too. I do not know how I managed before I had these.

Stainless Steel Mixing

Canning Jars

how many times have you thrown away good oil because you have no place to keep it? Or wan to wash the pan but want to keep bacon or chicken fat for later? well, no more. By poor chance I figured that these canning jars are great for saving pan drippings in a sanitary and clean way.

Glass Canning Jars

I also use these for spices storage, they are stackable and keep the spices fresh and easy to identify.

 

Glass Canning Jars

Storage Bags

 I buy my grocery store brand because they work just as well as the brand name ones and are cheaper. I use them for small left over spices, vegetables, to marinate small pieces of meat; you name it.  I use these bags all the time. Life is easier with them in my life.

Food Processor

I use this mini food processor all the time, whenever I make beans (recipe to follow) or have to blend small amounts of vegetables I reach for this processor. I like how small it is because it does not take much space and it is easy to clean.

Food Processor

Hand Blender
I have always been biased toward traditional food blenders; they are big, hard to clean and take too much space, which is why I was so happy to find this hand blender when I was on the market for a new blender a few years ago.

Hand Blender

I will keep adding more tools to this list as I think of things that have made my cooking easier. Feel free to add items that have made your dishes tastier or easier to make.

My Thank-you-Jesus-Moment

Mondays have never been great for me, so it was not a surprise when yesterday turned out to be a less than perfect day. I was in a bad mood but decided to continue to read 48 days to the work you love book instead of watching TV; which was a great decision. I got so pumped and so excited that I went to bed hopeful and ready to try Monday again. I called it: Monday Redo. I dressed up again (something I do every Monday Morning) and decided to have a great day. And guess what? I did. I still had to deal with an uncomfortable situation but my attitude changed.  I got my prospective back and was able to concentrate on what’s important instead of focusing on the negative. I went to bed Thanking Jesus-something I do whenever the unexpected happens- for putting 48 days on my line of sight and for letting it speak to me.

So this will be my new thing instead of staying grumpy and let situations define my experience I will remember to let go and keep in mind that tomorrow brings a new opportunity to do better.

How do you deal with frustrating situations?

Turkey Soup

I was really hungry today, so after Church my daughter and I decided to go to our local grocery store to pick up a few things. A very bad idea as I came home with: a whole chicken, sweet sausage, cube steak and the fixings for soup. So as I was making lunch for my very hungry five year old, I was also cooking wings, previously marinated in teriyaki sauce, marinating the chicken and cube steak, while seasoning my Turkey soup (with the last of my 16lb Thanksgiving Turkey).

My soup consists of:
Turkey bones and leftover meat
2 cups chicken stock
1 chicken bouillon
Egg noodles
3 potatoes
2 carrots
Tarragon
Kosher salt
Thyme
Paprika
3 garlic cloves
A few pieces of Squash
¼ lb pancetta

I added all the items to a stockpot, while I fried the pancetta in a skillet. After the pancetta was cooked, I minced it and added it to the soup. I added the noodles five minutes before I removed the soup from the stove. The only thing I did not have was allspice; my mother never makes soup without it. The soup came out great, although mom would have notice the missing key ingredient.

Most of the items were left over from my Thanksgiving dinner; I have a really hard time throwing food away, so making the soup was a great way to salvage all the items.





What did you do with your thanksgiving leftovers?

To Cook or not to Cook

I think it is time to start cooking for real, I have been toying with the idea of cooking as a business but something has been holding back, but no more. I am taking the jump, I am officially cooking: Cat's Cooking begins today. Nothing has happened officially but my mindset. This dream of mind is possible.  I can make this happen.