Amy's First Try at Focaccia Bread

It was cold and snowy here yesterday and I wasn't interested in heading out, so I made a soup inspired by Paul's Mom - "Kitchen Sink Soup."  I took whatever I had (Red Lentils, Squash, Carrots, Celery, etc.) and put it all together with some Chicken Broth and, voila - a yummy soup!  I used Fenugreek along with some Coriander Powder and sautéed it with the onions - it really added a depth of flavor.  Just to top it off and add a little protein, I heated up some IKEA meatballs and, wow, they were quite good!

I also made Focaccia Bread - it was my first time, so I used a recipe that I knew would work - from Penzeys. I love this Company! The catalogs are great!  The recipe is call Herby Cheese Bread, but I just omitted the Cheese. Here is the link for the "Back to School 2011" Catalog - Recipe is on Page 49: Herby Cheese Bread 


Paul enjoyed the soup and bread - what a way to warm up when the temperature is pretty frosty!!

Update on Tucker

Tucker foot is healing up well, unfortunately, we have another issue popping up.  He has Gallstones - can you believe it?!  Poor guy.  I guess it runs in the family - ha! 


He's on a medicine to help dissolve them, so let's hope that does it.  He also has some holes in his liver and the Vet has recommended biopsying. We'll let you know when we get to that.


Sophie and Tucker are living the high life other than a couple of times of day having to brave the cold and go outside to do their business.

Getting Ready for Christmas - a little early...

Well, yet again, I have not posted in a month!  Someday, I will be consistent.  But, to kick things off, I'm posting our Christmas decor.  I wanted to go fun this year.  Paul's Mom and I went to a Christmas Decorating class a couple of weeks ago and had a great time.  I think that's what got me going.

So, I went for a teeny tiny tree this year, but Paul's likes it.  The outdoor lights go up tomorrow.  

Enjoy!  Sophie did...you'll see her in some of the pictures...

 (I had to take it with the flash on - just to see the bling!)

Can't wait until my camera comes back from the doctor!!! Maybe they will just send me a new one - I can only hope!!!!

First Snow Day!

It's official! It's our first day of snow!!  We planned well, so we will probably not have to go out today, at all, well, except to take the dogs potty and knock the snow off of our new trees.  Poor Tucker is just dying to go out, he loves the snow!

(Can you see a frozen Paul?)

We're lucky to have power, etc.  A lot of people have had limbs down power lines.  And, I've confirmed with our neighbor boy - he will shovel for us - thank goodness!!

Other than that, today will be housework and working on the house.  Tonight, we're having Harira (a very yummy Chicken/Chick pea/Lentil Soup).  Y, Birgit and I learned it from Samia.  I baked up Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars yesterday.  I just have to say that Penzey's Spices has the best baked-goods recipes!!  Of course, the spices aren't bad either ;-)


For now, it's just great to see the snow outside and NOT be out in it!

The Best Medicine is...Popcorn!

Tucker is doing a bit better.  He's been alert today but is still having trouble getting up on his own.  He likes getting outside but is quite ready to go back in after "doing his business."


Tucker's favorite treat is popcorn, yes, popcorn!  So, tonight was special and we wanted to see if would get up on his own - I made up a batch and he actually perked up!

Snow, snow, snow...just to make things worse for Tucker, he is going to have to wear a bootie over his bandage to keep it dry.  We tried it tonight and the bootie came off, so, any ideas?

Update on Poor Tucker...

Tucker had his surgery this morning.  Paul dropped him off at the Vet at 8:30am and we didn't hear anything until 12 noon.  But, we couldn't pick him up until 2pm. 


As you saw from the last posting, Tucker had a nodule on his right front knuckle on his little toe.  Luckily, the middle two toes are load-bearing because he had to have the little toe amputated.  We won't know until Friday if the nodule/tumor is malignant.  So, Tucker's all bandaged up and has barely opened his eyes the past 6 hours.  He's eaten an ice cube (loves those!) and some pills crushed in wet food, but other than that he's lovin' his bed downstairs.  He's such a trooper!

He's had a rough time getting his bearings this afternoon.  It must be the anesthesia, but his hind legs are very, very wobbling.  You'll see the make-shift sling out of a cut-up Whole Foods Fabric Bag (works great! Thank you Phyllis!!). He actually can walk better on his front legs and that's where he had surgery!

Poor Tucker...

Tucker is such a good boy, but we're now dealing with a new issue; I just spent 2 hours at the Vet this morning.  Thought I was just going for blood work, which was fine (thankfully), but Tucker's front limping has gotten worse quickly and our Vet thought he should take some X-rays.


Come to find out Tucker has a "growth" of some kind on the upper joint his outer little toe on his right paw.  Usually when he shows me the X-ray I can't see anything but when I saw it today it looked light his little toe was broken - that's how bad it looked.  And, since all of this has happened so quickly the Vet is concerned it might be Malignant (please pray that it's not that....).


So, please keep our boy in your thoughts and prayers...Sophie is...

Moroccan Chicken & Kale

So, I tried out another Real Simple recipe and had some fun with it.  I need to get my other blog up and running, so I don't just post meals here - at least everyone knows what we're eating - ha!  Other than that, there isn't too many exciting things going on. Keepin' the faith! Wink! 


I'm looking forward to seeing a girlfriend in about 3 weeks for the Breaking Dawn premiere...hmmmm...fun...


I also need to post some pictures from Summer - I think I'm going to call it Summer Wrap-Up and have a few volumes - ha!  Just kidding.

Anyway, back to the meal at hand.  The recipe called for boneless chicken breast, but that can be difficult to bake without not getting too dry, so I baked a cut-up chicken (with the skin removed) in Olive Oil, Cinnamon, Coriander Powder, Ground Ginger, Mashed Garlic, S/P.  Paul loved it and with the skin removed it wasn't heavy at all.  The suggested side was Sautéed Kale with Roasted Acorn Squash and Prunes.  So, I changed the Prunes to Figs and also realized that you cannot eat the skin of an Acorn Squash even with it roasted, so Real Simple was a bit off on that one - I think they left it on for looks.

Overall, a great dish - I wouldn't make it all the time, but the best thing leftover from the meal was the chicken.  I made up a Chicken Salad today with just a touch of Vegenaise, Sliced Grapes and Diced Celery, and S/P and just a dash of Garlic Powder.  Now, that was REALLY good.  We both enjoyed it for lunch today. 

Amy's Version: Beef Pot Pie

I tried something new the night before last for dinner.  I got the recipe from this month's Real Simple Magazine - Mushroom Potpie.  Well, I wanted to have some protein and changed the recipe accordingly. 

More changes I made were how it was baked.  The recipe called for an 8" x 8" dish but I used ramekins - accordingly to Paul, a great thing.  He really liked having it baked like this.  Here are the pictures.

Amy's Beef Pot Pie
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
11 Oz. (Net Weight) of Crimini & Baby Portabella Mushrooms, Diced
2 Carrots, diced
2 Celery Stalks, Diced
1 Medium Onion, Diced
1/4 tsp, Ground Garlic
2-3 Tbsp Fresh Herbs (Sage, Rosemary, Oregano), Minced
Salt and Pepper, to Taste
1/3 Cup, Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 1/4 Cups, Chicken Broth
1 Cup, Frozen Peas
1 Sheet Puff Pastry, Thawed
3/4 lb, Ground Sirloin


Method:
** Make sure to thaw the Puff Pastry for at least 40 minutes to 1 hour on the counter.
1. Dice Vegetables in approximately the same size. 
2. Preheat Oven to 400 degrees F.
3. Heat Olive Oil in a Medium Size Non-Stick Skillet (try a S.S. one, too)
4. Brown 3/4 of the Onions and then add 1/4 tsp of Ground Garlic.  Then, add the rest of the veggies and fresh herbs and saute until soft: 15-20 minutes.
5. During that time but in a separate pan, saute the rest of the onion and all of the Ground Sirloin.  As you brown the meat, make sure to "chop up" the Sirloin so that it is all similar shaped, but still a bit "lumpy."
6. Once the meat and veggies are cooked, at 1/3 cup Flour to the Veggie mix and saute for 30-60 seconds to "cook" the flour.  Then mix in the beef and saute for 1 minute.
7. Add the Chicken Broth and Peas and boil for 1-2 minutes.
8. For Baking: Add mixture to ramekins and then cover with the Puff Pastry, making sure to slice vents.  For additional color, brush the Puff Pastry with an Egg Wash (1 Egg and 1 Tbsp of Water) and sprinkle with minced Herbs.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The Pot Pies are done when the Puff Pastry is Golden Brown and the filling is bubbly.  Let sit for at least 15 minutes.
Serving Suggestion: Boston Lettuce Salad with Toasted Almonds and Fresh Homemade Italian Dressing, with chopped Tomatoes.  We had it with a very nice Red Wine (we're usually not Red Wine drinkers, but this one we definitely like!! - Picture at the end of post).  Additionally, the mixture is even better if made the day before.  The prep time is at least 45 minutes to 1 hour. 
Serving Variations: Since the Holidays are coming up, substitute Ground Sirloin with Cooked Turkey.

Here is a little bit of whimsy! These Halloween Nutcrackers are actually Mom and Dad's (they collect Nutcrackers), but it does give us some Halloween Decor! Down at the bottom-left, Mom's homemade Halloween card - thank you!

Dinner at Houston's/Hillstone

To help thank Mom for watching the dogs and just to enjoy a night out, we went to Houston's (now going as Hillstone) the night before Mom left.  Extraordinary good salad with Pickled White Beets - I actually ate one.....and liked it!!! Now, that's extraordinary.

We had a great meal!  The food is always delicious - nicely varied.  I had sushi (Rainbow Roll and Spicy Tuna) - I really preferred the Rainbow Roll.  See first picture above.


Mom and Paul had the French Dip - Hillstone is FAMOUS for the French Dip.  It truly is a tasty dish and the shoestring french fries just add that special touch.

Here's a nice little pic of Mom and me after our feast.  Love you Mom!  Thanks for everything!!

Indian Night! Cooking In...

So, taking my inspiration from Y and Samia, I went for it and spent hours and hours in the kitchen to come out with some Southern Indian dishes.  What an experience!  I really enjoyed getting in there and having fun while cooking - though I am going to have to recruit Paul as a Sous Chef.  I need help with the prep work and the clean up!!! What do you say?!


Overall, the food ended up being really good - yeah!  Mom and Paul said they enjoyed it...my Daal (Dahl/Dal - the spelling seems to confuse me...) was dry, but I'll be able to fix that for next time.  By far, the best thing of the night was the Spinach Pakoras (Gram Flour mixed with water, spices, spinach to make a batter then fried).  Wow - they were so easy to make.  I do avoid frying and this was probably my first experience with it and actually like it.  It wasn't difficult.  I don't have a good thermometer but used Samia's test with the piece of bread and that worked like a charm!

I didn't want to use Garam Masala because it tends to be so heavy, thus it's name meaning warm or hot spices.  Essentially, hard to digest.  But, the flavor is nice at times.  I copied what Y did when we stayed at her house in Singapore.  It ended up quite good - but, I should have fried it until the oil came to the top.  I thought I had, but you can see the difference between Y's and mine - my photo is below.

Here is Y's:

We DID NOT try to make Naan - we ordered it from a local Indian Restaurant - which was a very good idea!  Very nice - we will order from them again.  It's nice way to bring the whole meal together.

We enjoyed some Mango Chutney and Harissa that we bought from Coriander Leaf (Samia's Restaurant).  It also adds a lot to the meal.

I also made up Loki Raita (Seasoned Yogurt with Grated Squash).  You par-boil the Squash - I used Yellow Squash and it worked quite well.

I ended up cooking from three different Coriander Leaf Recipe Booklets: South Asian Adventure, Frontier Works & South Asian Classic.  How about that for putting together a meal.

Mom really enjoyed it - I watched the spice; one reason is that I couldn't get to the Pacific Ocean Marketplace to get fresh chilies.  But, we enjoyed it anyway.  We're having a friend over on Saturday night and I'm going to try out some more things out on him.  

Egg in Bread?!

I had thought this dish was English but D was doubtful and they both hadn't heard of it, so I promised pictures if I every made it at home.  I first learned of the egg dish in the movie "V for Vendetta" (a good post-apocolyptic film - I love those break-down of society/government movies and books. Am I weird or what?!)

Since I talked about in Singapore, of course, I couldn't wait to make it when I got home.  

You tear out the middle of the bread and butter both sides, lay it in the pan, then break an egg in the middle and cook it just like a fried egg (soft, medium or hard).  We thoroughly enjoy this as a breakfast - just not too often :-)