Forget cupcakes and cake flavored vodka (all great things!), I’ll take shrimp cakes. They just might be one of the most crispy, delicious bites you’ll eat, especially if you make them yourself. And I’ll never have a pre-made crab cake again.
So maybe that’s a bit drastic, but this all started last week when dinner was in the oven, an hour or so away from being served, and Jan was rummaging around the kitchen for an appetizer for us. I asked if we had any crab cakes, because on occasion, we’ll buy frozen crab cakes as an appetizer to serve with a Sriracha-spiced mayo/yogurt sauce and lemon wedges. After a quick look in the freezer, Jan told me that we did not have any crab cakes, to which I said “OK.” It was just a suggestion, after all, and we had plenty of cheeses to make a mini plate, or some other “fast” foods to rustle up. Continue reading →
With a love of all things sandwich, I have been curious to try the Vietnamese-style sandwiches called Banh Mi that I’ve been hearing more and more about, thanks to all the food-related television we watch. On our trip to Idaho last December, I finally got to sample my first Banh Mi in Boise, and of course it was delicious. How could it not be with marinated meat served with pickled, vinegary vegetables, and cilantro on a fresh French baguette? Continue reading →
Since my friend Anjali visited last year and Jan and I got our first lesson on cooking Indian food (see Indian Feast Masala), we were not very good students. Jan made one other dish from Madhur Jaffrey’s Quick & Easy Indian Cooking (Stir-Fried Green Cabbage with Fennel Seeds, or bhuni bahdh gobi) for me to bring to my book club when the food theme for that night was Indian (we were discussing The White Tiger), and then, we made nothing else for a while.
And then, in typical fashion for us, suddenly it was all about Indian food. Though I’ve never been a fan of curry, dinners out and about (at North India Bar and Grill and Malabar Restaurant in Santa Cruz) convinced me that there was so much more than curry to get me excited about Indian. I learned early on that I love naan, and also all the different pickles and chutneys that go along with them. Continue reading →
Last year, Jan and I couldn’t get our act together in time for an Oktoberfest party in October, so we hosted one in November and called it “Noktoberfest” (see Lederhosen and Lebkuchen). Continuing the tardy tradition, we managed to host an Oktoberfest celebration this October, but it’s taken me until November to write about it. Maybe next year I’ll get them both done in October! And a few years down the line, I might actually be on schedule with Munich, which begins the 16-18 day beer festival in late September. Continue reading →
When I told a few people my plans for Sunday, everyone seemed worried. “Isn’t that really hard to make?” they’d ask, referring to the baklava I said I would spend the morning making. I’d been tasked with making baklava—the Mediterranean dessert made of layered phyllo dough and nuts—for my dad’s wedding reception, to go along with the Armenian food that would be catered for the event. Though I’d warned that I’d only made baklava one time before with not-so-great results, I welcomed the challenge, and hoped I’d have better luck and be able to positively contribute to the celebratory meal. Continue reading →
It hasn’t been dinner as usual at the Our Life in Meals household recently. During the past few weeks, Jan sent me updates (and photos) of various barbecue eaten across the Southwestern United States as he fought forest fires in Texas and Arkansas (driving there and back and seeming to stop at every barbecue joint along the way). Needless to say, I’ve gone through a few rotisserie chickens and boxes of cereal (not for the same meal, of course) while he was gone.
And because I’d let several weeks go by without posting to Our Life in Meals, the harder it became to begin again. Even once Jan returned home, I felt that we had to prepare some amazing meal for me to break the ice.
But it turned out that a seemingly standard dinner might do the trick when Jan and I combined our heritage to prepare one of the best meals we’ve had in months. Continue reading →
I’ve been letting my harsh stance on kitchen gadgets slide in recent months, and before I knew it, we had another acquisition. I will admit that I was fearful when Jan excitedly reported that he’d ordered a dehydrator and it would only be a matter of days before it arrived from Amazon onto our doorstep. He told me I should be relieved that he’d bought the Nesco FD-80, as he was tempted to buy the Excalibur (which we got a sneak peek at during our raw foods class: Going raw), but that it was three times the price and didn’t seem worth it. As Jan says, a dehydrator is not a complicated thing; it’s essentially a box with trays and a regulated heating element and a fan, and since the Nesco had adjustable temperature settings, it fit all the requirements.
When the dehydrator arrived, Jan was like a giddy child with a new toy. Continue reading →
The commercials for Match.com state that today, one in five relationships begin online, and I believe it. These days, it seems like everyone knows somebody who’s found their significant other through a dating site, and as someone who never experienced online dating (and is thankful for it after some of the stories I’ve heard!), I’m amazed. Across counties, cities, and countries, people are able to meet online and eventually meet in person and get to know each other.
This is how one our good friend Ken met his fiancé, who will soon be on her way from Peru to begin her life here in Fresno, California. Though we haven’t met her yet, Jan and I are excited to welcome her here when she arrives. So when we found ourselves passing by a Peruvian restaurant during a trip to Anaheim earlier this year, it was the perfect opportunity to both taste something new, and be able to report that we had, in fact, tasted Peruvian food. Continue reading →
When I saw the cover of February’s Bon Appétit, I knew the editors were speaking directly to me. The cover of the latest issue proclaimed “Best-Ever Brownies,” with the warning: “You will eat the entire tray.” The delicious-looking brownies exploded from the page, calling to me, and since had every ingredient I needed already at home, it was just a matter of time before I baked them.
But I spent a good week debating. After all, with that kind of warning, I was scared. I certainly didn’t want to eat the entire tray. Then again, if I did, wouldn’t I only be following instructions?
I’m usually a lazy brownies-out-of-the-box kind of girl, with the exception of Blondies, which is the brown sugar version I most often make. But the technique of the recipe reminded me of the Blondies (soon to be featured on the blog), since it started with melting the butter over the stove. The recipes featured in the cover story were all about using unsweetened cocoa powder to make better chocolate desserts, and considering my love for dark chocolate, I had to give one a try.
I was warned that I would eat the entire tray
I cut the original recipe’s sugar down a bit, but not enough to change the consistency of the batter. I also substituted pecan pieces for the original recipe’s walnuts, and ended up having to add 15 minutes to the original recipe’s baking time.
3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons water
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, chilled
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 cup pecan pieces
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8”x8”x2” pan with aluminum foil, allowing the foil to hang over the edges of the pan by about 1 inch. Coat the foil with non-stick cooking spray.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes and remove from heat when butter stops foaming and small browned bits begin to form on the bottom of pan.
Immediately add the sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, water and salt.
Allow mixture to cool for 5 minutes. Then add eggs, one at a time, stirring until each is combined into the batter.
Add the flour and stir until combined, about 80 strokes.
Add the pecan pieces, and pour into pan.
Bake about 40 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out nearly clean (with only a few crumbs attached).
Allow to cool in the pan, and remove by lifting the sides of the foil. Cut into 16 squares. Store airtight at room temperature.
Verdict: I did not eat the entire tray. I ate three brownies; two right after the batch came out of the oven when the brownies were still warm and gooey, then one later once they had cooled (I had to make sure the final result was the correct consistency, right?) The brownies were excellent, and now I can never go back to making brownies from a box. They were that good.
As promised, they were the perfect blend of crispy top and fudgy center. But the brownies were so rich and chocolatey, I don’t think I could have eaten the whole tray if I tried. It was like my daily lunchtime dessert of one Dove dark chocolate square—satisfying, and just the right amount. Unlike milk chocolate which just leaves me wanting more, the brownies were like the dark chocolate in that one small serving satisfied my chocolate craving. Lucky for me (and everyone else with whom I could now share the brownie tray), I was more in danger of finishing the entire carton of milk.
Nypon soppa is a Swedish dessert soup/drink made with rose hips and typically topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or vanilla sauce (vaniljsås). It’s a dish that brings me instantly back to childhood, when my mom and I could whip up a batch in an instant thanks to the boxes of mix my aunt would send us from Sweden.
The ingredients in nypon soppa are minimal, and yet the fragrant smell of the rose hips can immediately conjure up an image of an abundantly green Swedish forest in summer, full of wild-growing fruits. With melting ice cream on top, the perfect spoonful combines both the hot floral soup with cool, creamy vanilla.
Wikipedia photo
Key among nypon soppa’s few ingredients are rose hips, which are the fruit of the rose plant that form after the flower has bloomed. The seeds inside are used to grow a new rose plant, but whole rose hips including the seeds are also used in a variety of other applications including herbal remedies, teas, desserts and drinks. (see Wikipedia entry on rose hips)
Ekströms is a leading brand that makes both instant and premixed refrigerated versions of nypon soppa. (Think the Scandinavian version of instant Jell-O pudding, as far as ease and popularity.) Every so often I see the box version (in which you just add hot water) at IKEA, but it’s been a while, and I’m guessing probably not one of their top-selling items.
To those who didn’t grow up eating it, it may both sound strange and taste stranger on the first sip. Jan thought the mixture tasted like pure herbal tea when he first tried it, though an increase in the ice cream-to-soup ratio quickly upped the dish’s standing in his mind.
Many years ago, when my mom and I had run out of box mixes, we successfully recreated a close relative of nypon soppa that was my childhood favorite: kräm. Kräm is a thicker version (more like a pudding than a soup), more often made with strawberries or raspberries, heated, and topped with ice cold milk. We made the pudding with fresh strawberries, sugar, and potato starch. However, since potato starch isn’t always easy to find, we decided that corn starch could probably be used in its place.
Back to the present day and missing the familiar taste of nypon soppa, my dad set out to devise his own recipe. Once the rose hips were sourced, it couldn’t get much simpler: add water, sugar and cornstarch, and then cook until thickened.
Rose hips can be purchased at Whole Foods, and more economically on Amazon.com. You can by the flakes or the powder, as both have been made from dried rose hips. With the flakes, you will have to grind them yourself, but you will be rewarded with a fresher taste (just like grinding your own spices).
At a recent family dinner, my dad prepared nypon soppa for both sides of the family (except for Jan, all of Jan’s side had never had it before). After one bite, my father-in-law was quickly reminded of picking rose hips in the Czech Republic many years before. Despite the taste being different from the usual dessert, he gave it his full approval, as did everyone else.
Forget cupcakes and cake flavored vodka (all great things!), I’ll take shrimp cakes. They just might be one of the most crispy, delicious bites you’ll eat, especially if you make them yourself. And I’ll never have a pre-made crab cake again.
Our Life in Meals 