March 2017 - Fix Me a Little Lunch

Creating the Perfect Spanish Gin and Tonic

March 10, 2017 Ali Comments 0 Comment

Can we all do a collective sigh of relief that it’s Friday and there’s time for creating the perfect Spanish Gin and Tonic? My week started off with snow. That’s right – snow, again, in Oregon, in March. I usually spend one or two days each month around the Oregon capital in Salem, and I’ve been waiting and waiting for the daffodils around the capital mall to open. I’d been so hopeful that they’d be blooming already, but no – they look as discouraged by the weather as I’ve been. Instead, I had to tromp through the slush and snow to get to the office I work at when I’m in Salem, getting my feet wet and my shoes muddy. Not to mention, it was also snowing in Portland as I was getting ready to leave on Monday morning. Giant flakes of snow kept attacking me and the dog when I went out with her before I left. Not fun.

It’s no wonder I’ve been increasingly leaning toward drinking white wine and making fruity, happy, summer cocktails. I figure if I spend enough time pretending it’s summer, it will get here faster, right? Yeah – so far, no luck. I guess in the meantime, I will stay inside where it’s warm and dry, curl up on the couch and snuggle with Daisy (our dog). I’ll also make up a Spanish G&T or two.

The great thing about creating a perfect Spanish Gin and Tonic (as compared to a regular gin and tonic), is that you can use all sorts of pretty aromatics in it. I like the variety rather than having to dig around in the fridge each time to see if I have a stray lime hanging around. For this particular G&T, I used a combination of satsuma mandarin orange peel, cardamom seed pods, juniper seed pods, and whole peppercorns. I also through in a dash of grapefruit bitters, which are my new most favorite item in my liquor cabinet. You can mix up the aromatics: fresh herbs are wonderful in a Spanish G&T – I love throwing in fresh rosemary, but lemon thyme works well, too, as would regular thyme, various types of mint, and so on. You can also use citrus peel or citrus segments. I’ve used blood orange ice cubes before, as well. Really, this is the most versatile cocktail in my repertoire of cocktails.

So, make one of these up with what you have on hand and enjoy the warm weather (if you are living in a state where there is warm weather right now) or enjoy watching it rain or snow.

Yum

Creating the Perfect Spanish Gin and Tonic

Ingredients

2 ounces gin
tonic water
2 drops grapefruit bitters
Various aromatics

Instructions

Combine the gin, grapefruit, and aromatics in a glass. Top with tonic water. Enjoy!

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Red Wine Chocolate Cake

March 8, 2017 Ali Comments 1 comment

Today is my 41st birthday, so I made myself a red wine chocolate cake to celebrate. There’s a back-story here. Last year, I turned forty. For months prior to this milestone, I’d contemplated baking myself a fancy cake to celebrate. I’d just started blogging the year before, and I envisioned a perfect blog post with a beautiful cake. I’d also envisioned having a tapas party and cooking great food with friends.

Sometimes fate has other plans: what I really did last year on my fortieth birthday was work my first meeting at a new job and then drive back to our house in Southern Oregon to finish packing so we could move to Portland and I could officially start work mid-March. I didn’t bother cooking for nearly a month, much less blog. Clay bought a couple of really good cupcakes from a bakery near our soon to be house and we went to dinner for Italian that night. While I was more than content to spend my fortieth this way, I started making plans for this year.

So this year, I’m 41. First and foremost, I want to say that I really love being in my forties. I’m more comfortable in my own skin than I’ve ever been. I feel like I’ve finally figured out who I am - I have a style that’s unique to me. I can look in the mirror and be happy with what I see. I love my work. My relationships is steady, stable, and happy. I started blogging as a creative outlet and have had so much fun making this my primary hobby. I’m content having a car that’s nearly at 100,000 miles. I know what I like and I know what I don’t. So, yes, forty has been awesome.

Baking this red wine chocolate cake was my birthday present to me this year. I set aside an entire day to bake and frost. I tackled Swiss Buttercream frosting and made something that tasted like it came from a bakery. It was an awesome experience. I loved setting up the photo shoot and taking the pictures of this cake, too.

I love how birthday cakes can be such a symbol of love. My favorite birthday cake when I was growing up was a cake my grandma made for me when I was a kid - and then once again when I turned 18 because I begged her to. The cake was a bunny cake, which was several sheet cakes formed together to make a bunny, with frosted “ears” and chocolate Easter eggs for the eyes. I could never eat the bunny head - that was just a bit too much for me. But I loved that fluffy white frosting and cake and I loved that she made the cake just for me. The photo in this picture was taken on my 18th birthday. Yes - a birthday cake is special.

My red wine chocolate cake is a layered chocolate cake some yummy red wine to flavor. The chocolate Swiss buttercream got covered with chocolate sprinkles on the top. Clay helped frost - he watched what I was doing, told me that the process of frosting was a lot like spackling, and took over my spatula. Yes - a birthday cake is about being loved. We’ve nibbled our way through the cake all week. (Given that do have a day job, it wasn’t actually practical to bake my cake on my birthday in the middle of the week, so I made it on Sunday, instead).

If you’ve never made a birthday cake for yourself or for others, I encourage you to do so. It doesn’t matter how it turns out - the important thing is the act of cooking because you love someone or because you love who you are.

A couple of things to note about the frosting. First, I used this recipe for Swiss buttercream and have linked it rather than trying to adapt it to suit my purposes. It made a lovely frosting, but our kitchen was definitely too warm for this to go well on the first try. If your buttercream turns out runny, it really does work to refrigerate for about 30 minutes and then whip it again. I will tell you though, use a bigger bowl than you think you need. My entire kitchen, including me and Daisy (who likes to lurk right under the counter top when I’m cooking) were covered in buttercream. Ok – in fairness, the dog thought this was awesome, except for the part where there was buttercream on her back that she couldn’t lick off. The other is that this recipe makes a lot of buttercream frosting. I like a little frosting and this ended up being way too much.

The recipe for the cake is adapted from Liv for Cake’s Mocha Chocolate Cake Recipe.

Yum

Red Wine Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

1 ½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
¾ cup Dutch process cocoa
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup vegetable oil (olive oil works for this recipe)
¾ cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
¾ cup red wine
Frosting of your choice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut out parchment paper circles to line the bottom of three 9 inch cake pans. Butter the pans (including the parchment paper) and sprinkle with cocoa powder to cover.
Sift the cocoa powder. Combine all dry ingredients, from flour through salt and stir until the mixture is thoroughly incorporated. Add the oil, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and wine and stir until thoroughly mixed.
Divide the cake mix between the three pans.
Bake for 20 – 30 minutes or until a knife or skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Frost with your favorite frosting. I used this recipe for my Swiss buttercream – but beware, this makes enough for several cakes.
Serves between 8 – 16.

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This post is linked up to #CookBlogShare, hosted this week by Hijacked by Twins

Freezer Egg, Potato and Bacon Burritos

March 6, 2017 Ali Comments 4 comments

This month, for Food ‘N Flix, I’m sharing freezer egg, potato and bacon burritos. I was inspired this month by the movie The Martian. And while potatoes might have been an obvious one for this movie, I couldn’t resist, since they are without a doubt one of my favorite foods. A favorite story definitely deserves a favorite food.

So in case you haven’t seen or read The Martian, it is, in short, an amazing story about the possibilities and beauty of science. The book by Andy Weir came out in 2014. I adore sci fi, having grown up on reading Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and Robert Heinlein. When I saw The Martian in the bookstore, I snapped it up quickly and spent a happy weekend lounging on the couch and reading it.

I was skeptical about how good the movie would be. I’m a hard critic when it comes to movies that started as books. It turned out that I also loved the movie. Matt Damon plays Mark Watney, an astronaut left behind on Mars after a dust storm forces a mission abort. The crew of the Ares III mission believe Watney to be dead, so leave him behind. This starts his journey of survival until the Ares crew comes back to rescue him. There’s lots of NASA control room drama that goes on throughout, in addition to following Watney’s path to survival. It’s such a great pop-some-popcorn-and-stretch-out-on-the-couch-with-the-dog movie.

Potatoes factor heavily into the plot line, as Watney survives by growing potatoes. Now in fairness, I would imagine Watney would probably not ever want to eat a potato again. I probably wouldn’t want to either, and I really love potatoes. Still, I wanted to do a shout out recipe to the humble spud. These freezer egg, potato and bacon burritos are one of my favorite foods. You might have guessed that they can be frozen - which makes them a perfect breakfast or lunch on the go food.

I opted to use these pretty blue, red, and yellow potatoes. I don’t really notice much difference in flavor between potato types. That said, I love the fact that potatoes come in so many varieties, so tend to cook with a mix.

The potatoes get mixed with a chopped up onion and roasted until they are crispy. It doesn’t get much better than this.

I like to serve these with some salsa and some guacamole on the side (but wouldn’t you know it - none of my avocados were ripe when I made these). I’m going to enjoy these freezer egg, potato and bacon burritos for lunch this week and imagine being on Mars.

Want to participate in Food ‘n Flix? Check out this month’s announcement post at http://adayinthelifeonthefarm.blogspot.com/ and drop by the Food ‘n Flix site to learn more!

Yum

Freezer Egg, Potato and Bacon Burritos

Ingredients

8 small potatoes, washed and sliced into small chunks
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 pieces of crispy bacon
2 cups shredded cheese
8 large flour tortillas

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a parchment lined cookie sheet, combine the chopped potatoes, chopped onion, salt, and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes, turning once half way through the cooking time.
Meanwhile, combine the eggs, milk, cumin, coriander and ground black pepper. Use a fork or a whisk to combine until the eggs are fluffy. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large non-stick or cast iron pan over medium heat. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and allow to set. When the eggs are nearly cooked through, fold and cook until they are fully set, gently scrambling. Set aside.
To make the burritos, place 1/8th of the scrambled eggs in the middle of a tortilla. Put 1 piece of bacon on top of the egg. Put 1/8th of the roasted potatoes on top of the egg and bacon. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese on top. Roll the burrito by folding up the top and bottom and then rolling the remaining tortilla over the folded part.
Roll the burritos in aluminum foil and freeze. To reheat, remove the aluminum foil and wrap the burrito in a paper towel. Microwave until warm and serve with salsa and guacamole if desired.
Makes 8 burritos.
Enjoy!

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Dirty Lemon Martini

March 3, 2017 Ali Comments 3 comments

I’ve had martinis on my mind lately, which explains this Dirty Lemon Martini. I’ve found a new podcast that I absolutely love called Martinis and Murder. The best part is that every episode starts with a martini recipe, which I guess makes the fact that the rest of the podcast is all about true crime a little easier to swallow. The hosts, Daryn Carp and John Thrasher, are very funny and very engaging. It helps, too, that their producer Matt is a shadowy figure in the background, making up martinis and making the occasional snarky remark that only the hosts can hear. I don’t usually read or watch true crime stories, which is strange, given that my preferred reading genre is mysteries. It’s one thing for it to be made up, I suppose, then for it to be something that happened in real life. This podcast is the exception for me, as it reminds me quite a bit of the podcast, Serial.

But enough about true crime podcasts. Back to the Dirty Lemon Martini. I love a good dirty martini. I’ve been known to make them with any olive brine I have on hand, including that from kalamata olives. There’s something so lovely about the brininess of the olives and the sharpness of the vodka and Vermouth. My favorite variation on this theme is a dirty martini with the brine of preserved lemons. Oh my goodness - this is the perfect way to end out a week. Preserved lemons infuse the brine with a hint of lemon. I use juniper berries and peppercorns in my preserved lemons, so there’s a hint of these spices as well.

This martini is so easy to make - all it takes is some good vodka, a dry Vermouth, and the brine from some preserved lemons. This is yet another good reason to have salt preserved citrus on hand, because when Friday comes around, who wouldn’t want to curl up with Netflix and a Dirty Lemon Martini?

Cheers!

Yum

Dirty Lemon Martini

Ingredients

3 ounces vodka
1 ounce Dry Vermouth
1/2 - 1 ounce brine from preserved lemons

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a chilled martini glass.
Serves 1
Enjoy!

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Matcha White Chocolate Mini Muffins

March 1, 2017 Ali Comments 0 Comment

I’ve been having a lot of fun lately creating recipes like these Matcha White Chocolate Mini Muffins that make use of my mini-muffin tin. Mini muffins are such a perfect work snack. I love having a couple of muffins with coffee first thing in the morning while I figure out what my day is going to look like and prioritize my to-do list.

Plus, we are getting close to St. Patrick’s Day, and I feel like I’d be remiss as a food blogger if I didn’t eke out at least one sort-of-green recipe. Matcha White Chocolate Mini Muffins aren’t intensely green, but definitely have the light spring green hue of matcha going on. I love the intense green tea flavor that matcha brings to these, as well as the soft sweetness of the mini white chocolate chips. As yummy as these are with my morning espresso, they are also great as a treat served with more green tea. My two favorite green teas (outside of matcha, of course) are Moroccan Mint Green Tea and Genmaicha, which is a green tea combined with toasted rice. Trust me, it’s delicious. These are even better when served alongside matcha white chocolate mini muffins.

The batter for these muffins is silky and lovely. After mixing the ingredients, it takes just a scant tablespoon to fill up each muffin cup.

The muffins bake for about 20 minutes (or until a skewer poked in the middle comes out clean). They definitely need to cool, as the matcha seeps a bit while the muffins are still warm. Once they’ve cooled though, they are heavenly.

Enjoy these Matcha White Chocolate Mini Muffins with a cup of green tea, while gazing out the window and looking at the daffodils blooming. Trust me, it will be worth it.

Yum

Matcha White Chocolate Mini Muffins

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons Matcha tea powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup mini white chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream the butter and sugar in a medium sized bowl. Add the eggs, vanilla, matcha powder, and Greek yogurt and mix.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a bit at a time until all the dry ingredients are combined.
Add the mini white chocolate chips. Stir to combine.
Butter or line each cup of a mini-muffin pan. Spoon a tablespoon of the muffin batter into each cup.
Bake for 15 minutes or until a knife or toothpick entered into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Enjoy!
Makes 24 mini-muffins

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Check out these items similar to those I’ve used in my post:

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