Hey ya'll! Happy 2013! I took some time off and out of the kitschen. Now at the end of January, I'm just getting back into the swing of things. Work with me here peeps. I'm a bit rusty. So I'm taking things slowly and keeping it simple. No candy thermometer. No homemade caramel. Just some basics re-worked into new tasty treats.

On direct side effect of me not being in the kitschen is that the cupboards were not fully stocked. I didn't really go grocery shopping for almost the whole month! When I finally got inspired and energized enough to make something I picked out a chickpea recipe I'd been wanting to make for a while. I know I'm usually going on and on about sweet things I like. But seriously folks. When it comes to savory I loves my chickpeas. Mainly, I love hummus. But you know... I had already been eating hummus and veggie like they were a full balanced diet so I needed to switch it up a bit. This dish of braised coconut spinach chickpeas is another treat from the people at the Apartment Therapy family. Although it took me longer to make than the estimated time (I just couldn't get that can of coconut milk open for the life of me.) it was a pretty quick weeknight dinner.

Uhhhh..... I molded my rice and wanted to take a purty picture but I was too hungry. So instead you get to see my last couple of bites.


Getting back in the kitschen felt so good I kept at it. The next day I decided to tackle a dessert. My mother doesn't share my love for decadently sweet desserts. This means that unless I want to eat a whole pan of brownies myself (but really, who doesn't?!) I have to make some compromises when making desserts for the sake of baking. However, she does love pistachios. She really loved the dark chocolate pistachio cookies I made not too long ago. I wanted to do something new though... and I took the half bag of pistachios we had in the kitchen and got to work. I made La Fuji Mama's mini-pies!







To assemble press the dough into your muffin tin. Add a bit of pistachios, a little of the honey mixture, some more nuts, a little more honey and top with the crust floret. Bake for about 20 minutes and you get this:


 

My mom didn't want me to take a "candid" shot of her enjoying her dessert.... but she did agree to hand model the pie for a cross section photo!


I was on a roll! So a couple days later I made it a trilogy. This time I didn't really have a recipe. Only an idea and a few leftovers in the kitchen. Originally I thought I'd be able to stretch the packaged pie crust to make these Indian spiced meat and vegetable pockets... errrr faux samosas (fauxmosas?). Like many good intentions that one lead to Hades. So I HAD to make the dough from scratch. I made a basic pie crust (extra cold butter, flour, salt, and ice cold water) and added a little ground pepper to the mixture. While the dough was chilling in the fridge I peeled and cut two potatoes. As the potatoes boiled I chopped up a shallot I had laying around and some garlic. I sauteed those things in a skillet and put them in a big bowl.

As I moved forward in this multi-tasking process I thought... mom's gonna want some meat. I took a bit of ground turkey and began browning it in the same skillet I'd sauteed the garlic in. By this time the taters were tender so I drained them and added me to the big bowl to cool. Once the turkey was browned and crumbled I drained the grease and seasoned it. I had a bit of left over Masala spice mix from when I made homemade chai last holiday season. I put that on the meat along with a little salt and pepper. I had some left over spinach leaves so I added that to the meat and let them wilt as it cooled.

With all the basics of the fauxmosa filling cooled I began to add it all together. In the big bowl I hard: sauteed garlic and shallot, ground, browned and seasoned turkey and potato cubes.... I then added a little more Masala spice, some EVOO, a little crushed ginger, and a handful of frozen peas. I mixed it all together and let it sit while I rolled out the pie dough. I used circular cookie cutters because it was easy. I spooned a little of the meat mixture into the center of on disc, rubbed a little milk around the edge and sealed another disc ontop. I crimped the edge with a fork and sprinkled come caraway seeds on top. I put the fauxmosas in the over at 350 for 20 minutes.




 FAUXMOSAS

• shallot, chopped
• 2 bulbs garlic, chopped
• handful of spinach leaves
• 2 potatoes, cubed and boiled til fork tender
• 1/2 c frozen peas
• 1 tsp Masala spice mix/curry powder
• 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• ground turkey, browned and crumbled

2012 SUMMER BUCKET LIST ACTIVITY: MAKE A PIE

I did it! I made a pie! If you know me, or if you read this blog regularly, you know I'm 100% Team Cake. In the dessert face off of pie vs. cake.... Cake is the only answer. In general I don't like my fruit warm so pie just ain't my thing. So, I've only made a hand full of pies in my lifetime. But I wanted to make a pie this summer and I found a recipe that allowed me to cross this off my bucket list. It was a chocolate pudding pie which ended up being a bit of a compromise. I didn't have an peanuts in my kitchen so I nixed those and added crushed pretzels instead.




So I don't know how to cut pie properly. This is a self perpetuating thing where because I don't like pie. I don't make pie. So I never have to cut a pie. So when I do have to cut a pie it's incredibly hard for me to balance the pie on the knife and place it on a plate. Then when I do have to try I get super embarassed. Then I remember I don't even really like pie in the first place and now my attempt to change my mind has landed me in an awkward situation... Repeat cycle. With that confessed....




No I did not eat the entire pie myself. I had help. Per usual me making something in the kitchen usual means I have to create some social situation around eating said food. My friends came through for me again. Also my big brother helped b/c he let me host a social function at his swank house with surround sound and gigantic TV screen. I've already gotten ahead of myself! Let's rewind to some basics.

I made a pie that needed to be eaten. My friend had also recently posted a delicious looking beer cocktail recipe on my Facebook page. All summer I'd been wanting to have a movie night. So all these things combined in a movie night hosted at my brother's house with a few friends. Before heading to my brother's house I had to get some beer. This meant I HAD to go to the local brew pub for a growler. Since I was in the area and it was around lunch this happened:



Much later in the day I was able together with friends and not drink alone. Sometimes when I'm preparing for a food & friends activity I hum the theme song to that show the Wonder Years to myself. I think it's originally a Beatles song but we didn't listen to the Beatles in my house growing up. We listened to Motown. If you didn't notice that's not a tan nor bad lighting in my photos. I'm Black. So I just associate it with Kevin Arnold also the pilot in "Flight of the Navigator."  For dinner we had banh mi sandwiches which I love! Remember how I made my friends take the train to Brooklyn for them a few summers ago? For a drink we made the intense but tasty beer cocktail the Cocky Rooster.

2012 SUMMER BUCKET LIST ACTIVITY: TAKE A ROAD TRIP

 I talk about family a bit on here. They're super importante in my book. I love them and that's good because I recently spent 8 hrs in a car with a couple members. Although I have lived and resided in the great Mitten state for most of my life my family is technically Southern. My grandfather moved north of the Mason Dixie line as part of the Great Migration. He grew up in segregated Kentucky in a small town called Cadiz. The family reunion took place a week ago(?) and my brother and I drove my grandfather down so we could all participate.






There was also a historic Bingham hayride offered throughout the town. They stopped at the old homesteads and the graveyard. Here are some photos from that:





Whew!  It's been an amazing July/August month. I still have a few more things to do while the weather's still warm. Hopefully I can share some experiences with you.