Give me Liberte or give me death!

Okay, maybe it’s not THAT serious, but I do want to share a few thoughts on a new favorite foodthing and a brand new excuse for my lack of blogging consistency.  Since my last entry, I left my job and had my first child.  Needless to say this has been a time of much learning and adjustment.  All were very welcome changes, though, and each day brings new challenges.  Some of which I’m sure I will find hilarious in the future.  I digress.

I have not been a fan of yogurt ever since I looked at it under a microscope as a kid and saw those live cultures the yogurt companies love to tell us about.  Now that I’m supposed to do adult stuff and know it’s a very beneficial food, I started looking for one that I would enjoy.  I’ve gotten pretty good at blocking the thought of watching those little buggers move around on the slide and knowingly ingesting them.  

I tried the standard Yoplait flavors which I found to be way too sweet and the super popular various Greek yogurts but I just couldn’t get down with that kind of tang.  Then I found the creamiest, most natural tasting yogurt called Liberte.  It is not overly sweet and not tangy and I actually CRAVE it.  That’s major.  

This morning, I took advantage of my little one’s nap time and had a nice quick walk followed by this snack:

Liberte coconut yogurt, raspberries, concord grapes, peaches, figs and a sprig of minty goodness.

Happy to be back

I am officially back from hiatus and more ready than ever to dish.

A lot of changes have happened in my life recently and I can honestly say I have never been happier, which I figured would curb my creativity but it has done the opposite.  I am thrilled to share that I recently left my corporate job of almost ten years, which I despised and was sucking the heat out my veins with every passing day, in pursuit of a dream, which for now, is top secret.

I frequently have trouble falling asleep thinking about the possibilities.  I have never before felt such optimism, though I am still a fan of rain.

I am increasingly thankful every single day for this opportunity and I know that the one soul in the world who believes in me 100%, my hubby, has high expectations so I am making good use of my time toward making it happen.  

In the meantime, though, I am going to be posting more recipes and dining experiences and I am gonna share some of my attempts at being housewifey and maybe some crafts too.  I say attempts because I have never been super productive in crafting, despite having lots of ideas.  But now that I have a little more time on my hands, I will bring you along on my misadventures in that aspect of my life as well. I have changed the title, layout and categorizations within my blog to better reflect that.

This song is on heavy rotation in my head.

Biryani with Pineapple & Bacon Chicken Sausage

Every time my hubby and I go to Trader Joe’s, we pick up something new to try. Our latest product testing session led us to Briyani, which has rice, onions, peas, red pepper, apples, raisins, and spices.

It is slightly spicy, curry-y and fat free. The delightful little peas retain their bite when the Biryani is cooked on a stovetop. I decided to pair the rice dish with slices of smoked chicken sausage and added an onion, garlic, Sri Racha, and a steamer package of broccoli and cauliflower florets for more flavor and texture.  Some cilantro sprinkled on just before serving adds some extra freshness.  Grab a mint when you’re done, though!

I made this as a quick weeknight meal in one pan. It is so simple to make, I can lay it all out in one paragraph:

In a large pan, place cauliflower and broccoli florets and add 1/4 c water, then cover to steam for a few minutes until fork-tender. Add half of a chopped onion and cook until almost transluscent. Add a teaspoon of minced garlic, 2 tbsp Sri Racha and toss in the sliced sausage, stirring occasionally until heated through. Add the bag of Biryani. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro.  Serves 4.

Mariscos al fresco

My hubby recently got promoted and we decided to dine out to celebrate.  Where did he decide to go?  A mariscos truck. 

Mariscos El Kiki has some of the best fish tacos and coctel de camaron I have ever had!  

We had a nice time dining al fresco in the parking lot of an industrial warehouse, using my car’s trunk as a table.  Food tastes better to me outside.

Presenting the $1 fish taco

Foreign Candy Friday: Strawberry Marshmallows

I came across these little marshmallows one day while browsing my local Japanese grocery store and had to try them. 

They are fluffy little pillows filled with strawberry jelly and are as tasty as they are adorable.  I highly recommend!

Spring rolls!

Everyone in my office is watching their weight, so when we planned out latest potluck, I had a hard time thinking of something portable, healthy and delicious.  I came across this recipe on thekitchn.com for Vietnamese Spring Rolls and decided to make some for my coworkers to indulge in without feeling guilty.  They were instantly a hit among my fellow office peeps.  Check out the link for the recipe.  Below are some of the photos I took of the process and some tips on getting those sticky wrappers to roll up pretty easily. 

I love all the colorful veggies that go into these.  As for my prep, I cut the cucumber and carrot into little sticks.  Slice thinly the radish.  I like to separate the various greens.  The recipe linked above includes red bell pepper, but I opted not to use it.  I added Thai basil leaves and Romaine leaves with the ribs removed.

To marinate/season the veggies, you will use 1 part rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and 2 parts fish sauce to make up the seasoning for the carrots, radish and cucumber. 

There was a pretty big selection of noodles at my local shop.  I picked these noodles based on their cool packaging.  Noodles will be placed into hot water for several minutes to soften. 

I got too excited and forgot to take a photo of the rice paper wrappers.  They are hard, translucent, thin discs, which soften in hot water after a few seconds.  Only place the wrappers in the water one at a time, otherwise they will stick together and are difficult to separate.

Once the wrappers are softened, lay the wrapper gently onto a cutting board.  If the wrapper sticks to itself, dip into the warm water for a moment and it will unstick.  Start piling your fillings as close to the bottom edge as possible.  Begin with the lettuce leaf, then the veggies, noodles and finally the herbs. 

Start rolling the wrapper around the filling, tucking with your fingers as you go, to get it as tight as possible.  Roll twice over the filling, then fold the two ends over and you will have something that looks like this:

Keep rolling and one is done.  Place the finished rolls on a moist towel to keep them from drying out.  I made these vegetarian, but you can add cooked shrimp, shredded pork or chicken.  Accompany with spicy peanut sauce.

Foreign Candy Friday: Yorkie

I was inspired by an experience I had at work the other day in which a coworker stopped me on my way out, pulled me over to the hallway and quietly (in a drug dealer kinda way) offered me 5 different Mexican candies, which he said he was nervous to try and was therefore going to either give them away or put them in the trash.  I didn’t want to stay, and frankly, wasn’t in the mood to change his view, so I took them, told him they were delish and left the office annoyed but trying really hard not to judge my coworker as an ignoramus.  I had the idea as I was driving home, to feature a different candy from around the world on my blog every week because I’m not afraid to try something new even if I can’t read the label.

This sexist candy bar was made available in my local Fresh and Easy market so I decided it would be an interesting first entry to this new weekly feature, Foreign Candy Friday.  Yorkie is a chunky milk chocolate bar, which was marketed as being “not for girls”, and even had an image of a female in a crossed out letter “O” on the wrapper, spelling out the name of the bar.

The chocolate is creamy and has a nice chocolate flavor, although nothing special.  The sexist slogan was done away with a few years ago.

Below is a Yorkie commercial:

Lox bagel

I love waking up lazily on a Sunday morning and making my way to the kitchen to toast a bagel and layer goodies on it. I recently made my own gravlax and got to enjoy this amazing treat.

• You favorite savory bagel – I used sundried tomato
• Spreadable cream cheese
• Capers
• One red onion, sliced thinly
• One tomato, sliced
• Gravlax

Toast the bagel to your liking.  Spread cream cheese, sprinkle capers, layer red onion slices, tomato slices and finally gravlax.  Enjoy.

Kitchen remodel update

Our remodel is still in the works.  It has taken quite a bit longer than we anticipated, but the fact that it was a 100% DIY project has made the wait tolerable and the results that much more satisfying.  We’re still working on some detail pieces including some trim under the cabinets over the sink, adding under cabinet lighting, updating the light fixture, we still have to install new flooring and update the fridge.  The kitchen is totally usable now, though, so this weekend I had some fun baking bread and took photos to share our progress.  Click here to see what we started with. 

Our tile came in 12×12 sheets, but some of the individual tiles were not all adhered straight, so we had to lay each of them by hand.

We removed the shutter doors from the pantry and made a new back wall and new shelves.

New sink, updated cabinets, new knobs and pulls, new toaster, and new microwave. The cabinet to the right of the stove has magnetic paint. The black cabinet was painted with magnetic and chalkboard paint.

We installed hooks to hang pots, which freed up a lot of storage space in the cabinets.

We wanted to do butcher block on the countertops, but it proved to be a little beyond our abilities at the moment, so we installed formica. We will try again to install butcher block in a few years.

More updates will be shared as they become available.  We work on the kitchen a few evenings per week and a few hours every weekend, so it has been slow going.  I’m super excited to get it all done.

Gravlax

After years of splurging on gravlax in specialty grocery stores and bagel shops, I decided to try to make it myself. I researched several recipes and made it a couple of times before settling on my favorite method, which really showcases the salmon’s natural flavor and has a butter soft texture.  Although it may seem a little intimidating, making gravlax is super easy and well worth it if you love it as much as I do.  Just imagine the possibilities: the classic gravlax bagel with sliced red onions, tomato, cream cheese and pungent little capers, gravlax with juicy springtime fruit, tomato and avocado salad with herbs and gravlax, gravlax with dill mustard on crackers, even slices by themselves!

• One 2-3 lb salmon filet with skin on
• zest of two limes
• 4-6 tbsp kosher salt
• 4-6 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 tbsp fresh dill

Place salmon filet on a cutting board and run your hands over every piece of flesh, pulling out any bones.  Use needlenose pliers for bones that are particularly stubborn.

Place salmon filet skin side down on a large piece of plastic wrap, twice or three times the length of the filet.

In a medium bowl, mix together the lime zest, kosher salt, brown sugar and dill.  Sniff the container after all is mixed.  For pleasure.

Spread the mixture all over every inch of the salmon’s flesh.

Fold the filet in half, skin side out, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.  Once wrapped, wrap again with more plastic wrap.  wrap wrap wrap wrap. (what a weird word)

Place the wrapped filet in a container and place another, heavier container on top of it to keep an even weight compression.  Put it all together into the fridge and forget about it for 3-4 days.

After it has cured, the filet wrapper will be oily.  Unwrap the filet and pat dry with a paper towel if excessively oily.

With a very sharp knife, at an angle, carefully carve off thin slices, leaving the skin intact.

You’ll end up with a much larger pile of salmon than $9 will buy you in any specialty shop.

Sliced gravlax will keep in the fridge for up to a week.