LUGAW (FILIPINO RICE PORRIDGE)

The first time I had Lugaw was from this little cart on the side of the road in the Philippines. It was after a long day and my companion and I were headed home. We usually ate around 9 or 10 at night after we had finished teaching. I saw this little cart and thought, "lets eat this instead of cooking". It was amazing! You add kalamansi (lime), fish sauce, some hot pepper vinegar, and then enjoy.

Oatmeal

Love Oatmeal. This one has pecans (I like them toasted), raisins, cocoa nibs, goji berries, and honey. I think maybe I am posting it mostly because I like the picture... and sitting in the sun in the mornings with my oatmeal. Featuring: Joe Bennion bowl.

LENTIL CURRY

Zac recently challenged me to make an incredible flavorful lentil dish, where the lentils were the star component. So here it is--CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. 

   

No. 1 attempt: RED LENTIL CURRY

Because June is always requesting curry and rice this felt like a natural way to attack this legume.

Notes from Zac regarding this dish/challenge: "It was good, but the sauce outshines the lentil"
Notes from June regarding the curry: "its hot mom"
Notes from me: The flavors are even better the next day. Also it makes for a great freezer meal. 

THE RECIPE
Recipe from Pinch of Yum at http://pinchofyum.com
Prep time: 15 mins  Cook time: 30 mins
(This makes about 6 servings)

Ingredients:
1½ cups lentils, rinsed and picked over
½ large onion, diced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons red curry paste (making it again i think i would do less paste, or add more coconut milk, its pretty hot)
½ tablespoon garam masala
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
 a few good shakes of cayenne pepper
1 14 ounce can tomato puree
¼ cup coconut milk or cream
cilantro for garnishing rice for serving

Instructions:
1. Cook the lentils according to directions. Drain and set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute for a few minutes until fragrant and golden. Add all the spices (curry paste, garam masala, curry powder, turmeric, cayenne, sugar, garlic, ginger) and stir fry for 1­2 minutes. Add the tomato sauce; stir and simmer until smooth.
3. Add the lentils and the cream. Stir to combine and simmer for another 15-­20 minutes (the longer, the better)! Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro.

'Tis the Season

Grandma Nola gave us a HUGE zucchini out of her garden. There were a bunch of them but we only accepted one, which is a good thing because I got sixteen mini muffins, two little loaves, and two big loaves from it. Most of it is in the freezer, ready to become a convenient side dish. I like it toasted with butter. Here is the recipe I used. (It's from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook). Enjoy.

The Harvest

“The fields are ready to harvest and we have come.” I mean, I didn’t actually say that, but I wanted to when the man, who’d been on his smoking break moments before, asked if we were there to pick apples.  In truth we’d driven the 40 minutes to Walter’s Fruit Farm to pick peaches. I’m not sure if our timing was just off, or if the dry warm summer led to an earlier peach season, but all the peaches had been picked a few weeks earlier; so apples it was.

I’ve never been much of a dieting fanatic—in fact, if it isn’t medically relevant I’ve felt any diet is extreme—and really not much has changed, but getting married, having two children, and living hundreds of miles away from the nearest relative has made Elise and I much more aware of the adult responsibility to keep the pantry full. This, along with the enjoyment of eating seasonally and unprocessed led us to Walters'. Our goal was to pick and purchase enough fruit to eat and can (I guess home processing is different, more affordable at least) for the coming winter. Our bounty on the day consisted of a box of late season peaches, a box of pears, a box of Paula Red apples (absolutely the best tasting apple I’ve ever had), four pumpkins, and bunches of beets and pickling cucumbers.

We haven’t yet bottled the fruit, but Elise made some homemade pickles the other day. This was the recipe she used.

Bibimbap

Thanks to Zac for his fabulous introduction. This is neither cheesy nor as well written, but I hope it will do.

Zac and Elise got us these stone bowls for Christmas a couple of years ago. I decided to finally try to use them to make Bibimbap. And I did it! There are a few things I can work on, but both Kaleb and I were pretty satisfied. I found a recipe in the Japan and Korea section of "The Best International Recipe" book we have by America's Test Kitchen. It's a great book.

I didn't heat the bowls up hot enough to make it crispy and sizzling, but I now have experience making it once and can make it better next time. I will also experiment with making the meat more tender. (I am not the best meat cooker, I often have Kaleb cook meat if he's around, which maybe I shouldn't do because I should practice.) I also just bought stir fry meat instead of what the recipe called for and I guess that was a bad idea.  I actually wouldn't mind it without the meat and with an extra egg... whatever floats your boat.

You don't actually need the stone bowls to make it, it just won't be super crispy. If you put it all together while it's all warm then it's still really good. You can also add a step before cooking the egg where you oil your skillet, pack the rice in and cook it for about 6 minutes to make a crispy outside like the stone bowl would. Recipe below.