Well, here I am, posting again after all of you gave up on checking my blog weeks ago...
I thought I'd share a few recipe thoughts. We had a whole lot of company over lately, and it's been great fun, although a lot of work and a lot of cooking. (At least my house stays looking good though!) We've had a double baby shower and several game nights and dinners.
So, with all this going on, I've made a few interesting culinary discoveries I thought I'd share. The first is the little known fact that if you add twice as much canned pumpkin as the pumpkin muffin recipe calls for, it still turns out pretty darn good. I did this by accident when I made muffins for a pool party with other moms and kids from church, and all the while I couldn't figure out why the batter was so weird and why I had to cook them forever. And actually, not only did they have twice as much pumpkin but I had reduced the oil and sugar already, so they had less than 50% of what they should have had of those. And I'd added flax seed, so they were pretty darn healthy and actually really good still. Here's the recipe:
Jennifer Eyring's Pumpkin Bread
1 2/3 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. each of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice
1 1/2 c. sugar (or 1 1/4 cups)
1/2 c. oil (or 1/3 cup)
2 eggs
1 c. pumpkin (or 2 cups!)
3 T. flax seed
13+ min at 350 (with extra pumpkin, closer to 20 min)
My next discovery was with Ratatouille. We were figuring out what to make as a side dish for our friends and I realized I had all the ingredients for this one except the eggplant. So we got it and made it--very simple and nutritious, and even James liked it in spite of the squash and eggplant. However, I did finally finish it off for lunch today, which was probably my 4th time having it, and I have to say it had lost a bit of its luster after the 2nd or 3rd time.
Ratatouille
2 cloves garlic
1 med onion
1 med eggplant
2 small zucchini
1 med green pepper
2 med tomatoes
fresh basil
1/8-1/4 c. olive oil
1 1/2 t. salt
1/3 t. pepper
dash of thyme
Saute all the vegetables in the oil in a pan until tender, garlic and onions first, then everything but the tomatoes, and finally the tomatoes and fresh basil. Let it cook down to a consistency you like--about 10-15 min total.
Finally, we recently had James's lab group over for dinner. We made Thai spring rolls with peanut sauce for an appetizer, and then had (all homemade) Thai Green Curry with chicken and eggplant, Matsuman Curry, Pad Thai, Tandoori chicken, and Key Lime Pie for dessert. Whew! It was good. The spring rolls were my favorite, but I was surprised how easy the Key Lime Pie was--easy enough to memorize and so delicious (as long as it's not overcooked).
Key Lime Pie
3 eggs, beaten
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c. lime juice
1 t. lime zest
1 graham cracker crust
Whipped cream
Whip up the first 4 ingredients and pour it into the crust. Bake 30-35 min at 350 until center is set. Chill before serving. Top with whipped cream. Yum!
4 comments:
Woah you seem like your becoming the master chef in your new kitchen...I bet that make it more fun to cook...I think I might try the key lime that sounds yummy!
I always leave out all of the oil and add double the pumpkin with pumpkin muffins and rolls. You can also substitute applesauce in place of oil in most muffin recipes, but I rarely do this because we more often have oil on hand. I think I will try the Rat... when my squash grows in. I think we will have an over abundance of summer squash and all at once this year. Your kids are beautiful by the way. Oh, and I did not think your above entry was mushy. I liked it, and I don't usually like mushy stuff. And (last thing) my brother is finally getting married and it will be in UT around Christmas, so we will be there again and hope to see you too.
Diane
Yumm. . .that key lime pie sounds good. I'll have to try it some day. Hope to get together when you are in UT.--Kara
What is lime "zest"?
Post a Comment