Rice with Turmeric

I went to Squam Art Workshops last week www.squamartworkshops.com  knowing that when I returned home, I would need to find recipes for turmeric and anise, some of the last spices that I had not yet prepared. Imagine my delight to a) sit on a dock in the sun and then b) find a recipe with turmeric in a magazine right then! 

http://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/turmeric-healing-spice

By now you will have guessed that I substituted a few ingredients as per usual, mostly due to not going to the grocery store while in my happy Squam homecoming haze (and going back to work).

The mixed rice made for more visual interest, while the absence of peas in my freezer resulted in far less diversity of color, since I used corn, which blended in with the yellow spices. I used regular onion and cumin powder. The flavor was very nice, and went well with the avocado- I liked the idea of green somewhere- and smoked fish. I will definitely make this dish again, and look forward to another year of Squam workshops and friendships.

Do you enjoy vacationing near water, in the city, in the mountains?

Nutmeg Almond Mini Muffins

I use nutmeg regularly, so I wanted to challenge myself to a new recipe. Another miraculous search of the key ingredient plus “almond flour” plus “blog” resulted in these cuties!

I don’t have a donut pan, so I appreciated a commenter to the original recipe post stating that a mini muffin pan worked as well. I grabbed the mini muffin pan, used vanilla extract and substituted 1/8 of applesauce for the same amount of oil. I should have removed them at 12 minutes, but I was working on another recipe, so I ended up with only slightly dry mini muffins after 14 minutes.

As much as I would love to top each muffin with Nutella, I tried powdered sugar (good) and applesauce (moist and tasty) instead. I put four into a snack size baggie for tomorrow, and would definitely make these again. I might try adding nuts or mashed bananas to the muffin format, but they were just great in the flavor department as donuts.

P.S. The plate is very small, too!

Do you have a favorite mini muffin, nutmeg, or donut recipe?

Pork with marjoram and mushrooms

I was amazed with the many results from an on-line search for recipes with marjoram, so I checked my freezer inventory and then looked to see if there were any interesting recipes for pork with marjoram. Sure enough, there were several, even when adding the word “blog” to the end of the search! I don’t remember ever using marjoram, so it was great to find a recipe with mushrooms and the other two search ingredients.

http://bevlovesfood.blogspot.com/2008/10/marjoram-pork-chops.html 

I didn’t make any substitutions for a change, except supplementing the fresh mushrooms with a small can of more of the same, since the fresh ones didn’t add up to three cups. We served the stew with potatoes from our own garden! I admit that marjoram is not one of my favorite spices, or maybe I should give it another chance with a different combination of ingredients. I might have preferred this dish with garlic and onion (I know I said that about the green fried tomatoes, too!). I guess I should be aware of recipes coming from a variety of sources with different amounts of flavor. I am used to a level of strength of flavor- such as garlic and onion plus featured herbs and spices, if that makes any sense.

I have truly enjoyed trying many different combinations of spices and vegetables, meats, seafood, and sweet ingredients, resulting in a wonderful variety of dishes. I’m more than half-way "through the spice rack", and am considering exploring the world of fresh herbs, as I’d hate to stop challenging myself through this blog just because the spice rack has been conquered. I’d also like to continue photographing foods and nature. I’m still learning, too! Especially about photographing my creations- this is not one of the best food styling results (dark lumps are blue potatoes):

This is a request for your ideas and suggestions. I don’t have to feel tied to a certain theme, so please let me know what you’d like to see in the food or gardening blogging department.

Lentil and Brown Rice Salad with Bay Leaf

This recipe turned out great, and I only added a few things. http://umamigirl.com/2010/03/i-probably-shouldnt-tell-you-this.html

I decided to make a large batch of brown rice in chicken broth, and a separate batch of lentils with bay leaf and Herbes de Provence. I was able to freeze several cups of each after making a number of servings of this cold salad. I had never cooked with Herbes de Provence before, but had used bay leaves primarily in beef stew. I omitted the onion from this recipe, and added tuna  with tomato and bottled salad dressing--- it was delicious.

You can't really see the tuna in the photo, but it added some "zing" and tasted refreshing cold. Speaking of which, here is one of our favorite (no spices added!) refreshing desserts:

Have you used Herbes de Provence in a recipe? I'm going to try one coming up, but am undecided as to which one.

Stuffed Eggs

This recipe for stuffed eggs was fun to prepare, since I’ve made it many times in the past. Though I didn’t realize until I was half-way through that the parsley qualified this recipe for a blog post! In other words, no photos of piles of egg shells.

6 eggs, hard boiled, peeled

¼ c flaked tuna, drained (about half of a 5 ounce can)

½ -1 clove garlic, minced

½ tsp lemon juice

1 TBSP butter, room temperature

½ tsp Tabasco / hot sauce

1 tsp mustard

½ tsp salt and pepper

1 TBSP dried parsley

1 TBSP mayonnaise

optional garnish: lettuce leaves, paprika powder

After peeling hard-boiled eggs, rinse them off and gently cut them in half length-wise. Use a spoon to gently remove the yolk, place the yolks in the mixing bowl and the whites on the serving platter. Add all other ingredients to the mixing bowl, and use a fork to mash everything together. Stuff the mixture into the egg whites, and garnish the serving plate with lettuce and paprika.

I used the extra tuna to make a nice salad, along with the left-over egg filling, lettuce, and some avocado. If I had any more of these beauties left, I’d have added them, too!

Of course I had plenty more within days. Do you have a secret ingredient for stuffed eggs that you can share?