Blog Archives
Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwich…In Space
This was fun. Talk about a cooking challenge.
The Canadian Space Agency has an entire blog devoted to eating in space. Very cool stuff. Check out Eating In Space for a lot of fun facts.
Stir-Fry Vegetables in a Bread Bowl
My favorite way to have vegetables is to quickly stir-fry them, so they are still crisp. A restaurant I used to go to a lot, served them in a beautiful woven lattice bread bowl and it was the perfect lunch. These veggies can be served over rice, rice noodles or as a side with stir-fried meat, poultry or tofu.
If you’re feeling creative I found a recipe for a lattice bread basket here.
Stir-Fry Vegetables
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup water or broth (vegetable or chicken)
Photo by ddpiesslice.blogspot.com
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp honey
- 6-8 mushrooms, washed and sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp ground ginger or 2 tsp fresh minced
- ¼ tsp crushed garlic
- 8 oz broccoli crowns
- 8 oz sliced carrots, or baby carrots
- 8 oz snow peas
- 6 oz can sliced water chestnuts or bamboo shoots, drained
- salt & pepper to taste
wok or deep skillet
Mix cornstarch, soy, water, lemon and honey together. Set aside. Heat wok, add oil add all the remaining ingredients. Stir-fry quickly, about 2 minutes, until vegetables are tender-crisp. Add sauce, bring to boil for 1 minute or more until thickened. Let simmer 2 minutes.
Ginger Glazed Carrots
Originally posted December 2009.
I thought I’d post a few vegetable recipes this week. I often prefer my vegetables raw or lightly stir-fried, so I don’t do many fancy veggie recipes. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a bunch of those recipes in my arsenal! I use them a lot when having friends or family over for dinner. We’ll start with this one:
Ginger Glazed Carrots
- 1 lb baby carrots, washed
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 2 tsp to 1 tbsp butter
- salt as desired
saucepan and steamer basket
Place steamer in saucepan, add enough water to come to the bottom of the steamer. Add carrots, bring to a boil and steam until tender (about 5 minutes). Remove carrots and steamer, drain water from the saucepan, add carrots and remaining ingredients to saucepan and stir on low heat until carrots are coated with honey and butter. Serve immediately.
Beer to the Chief
Ever since President Obama revealed he took “home” brewed beer on the campaign trail with him, people have been clamoring for the recipes. The White House released them today. According the the WH, they believe this is the first time alcohol has ever been brewed on the premises:
As far as we know the White House Honey Brown Ale is the first alcohol brewed or distilled on the White House grounds. George Washington brewed beer and distilled whiskey at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson made wine but there’s no evidence that any beer has been brewed in the White House. (Although we do know there was some drinking during prohibition…)
For all the recipes and the whole story click here.
Whole Wheat Bread
It snowed again today. No one was happy about it. I needed something warm and comforting and bread seemed like the perfect way to cozy up the house.
At altitude, bread is always tricky. I have a few alterations, but no guarantees they will work every time. One thing I usually do is a quick-rise. I turn the kneaded bread out into a prepared pan. In this case my big cast iron skillet.
I cover it with a damp towel and wax paper and let it double. I don’t punch it down and do second rise. This creates a loaf that is denser and a bit yeastier – less complex in flavors than a double-rise loaf, but eliminates the risk of the dough rising too much, and then falling and creating a brick instead of a loaf of bread. Then I brush the loaf with cold water, place a tray of ice cubes in a shallow baking pan on the bottom rack and bake as usual. At the 20 minute mark I do an egg wash and let bake until it reaches 200 degrees F in the center (thanks JeffreyW for that tidbit).
This gives it a nice crisp, chewy crust. Some butter and honey and you’re all set to go. What’s this? I went to the cupboard and the honey pot was empty. Oh bother.
