new food?

so, taryn discovered this and i thought i would share... i'm not normally a huge candy person, but these are amazing.

http://www.wonka.com/Sugar.aspx (sorry, you'll have to cut and paste the link...for some reason it's not working)

so far i've tried the clementine fruit marvels, the red apple fruit jellies and the goji berry fruit jellies. the clementine marvels are AMAZING. they also make pomegranate and white grape flavor marvels, but i haven't seen them yet. and i haven't tried the grapefruit jellies. you can, and should, go get these at walmart or target.

Poaching eggs

Oh, oh, oh: here's something I can contribute. Have you seen these? PoachPods. They're a little expensive, but we got some and they're awesome. They're incredibly easy to use, easy to clean, and make perfect poached eggs every time. (This morning, for example, we had poached eggs on toast with cream cheese and a little Pickapeppa Sauce. Mmmmmm.)

Pork chops with applesauce?

So I realize I've been contributing more questions than useful suggestions lately. I'll try to rectify that with an upcoming post. But in the meantime I want to describe what I made last night, and see if anybody has any suggestions.

So at the farmer's market we finally saw some decent corn (wet spring=not a good summer for corn in Lane County, I guess), and so we had corn on the cob and pork chops last night (and caprese salad with fresh basil, but I imagine you all know how to do that). We had some local-made blackberry applesauce in the fridge that we'd bought at the farmer's market a few weeks ago and never did much with, so I decided to make pork chops with applesauce, which I'd never done before. I searched a few recipes and didn't find one that particularly excited me (plus they mostly told you how to make applesauce, when the whole point was to use this yummy applesauce we already had).

So what I ended up doing was this: I browned the pork chops a little bit on each side, then put them in a baking dish and baked them at 350 for about 40 minutes, turning them once (this much all the recipes seemed to agree on). What I did with the applesauce was mix in a little bit of Worcestershire sauce and then just pour the mix onto the chops when I put them in the baking dish. I poured more on when I turned them.

This came out alright. Akiko said she really liked it. But I felt like it could have been improved on. Any suggestions?

I made this!

The Facebook '15 albums' meme made me want a place to make non-food posts and record recommendation-y things I might want to remember later, so I made this: http://walleyslovetheworld.blogspot.com/

Right now it's pretty much me doing what Glynne does except not as smart. And it might just stay that way forever, but if anyone ever wants to post I'll send you an invite. The title mostly says 'Walleys' 'cause I didn't want to think of anything clever and because mostly just family will probably read it and stuff.

Plus, while I'm making such a random post, I'm really glad everyone seems to be liking and using our food blog. I think it's working out really well, so thanks everyone! Someday I'll invite Mom and Dad in, I just haven't gotten around to it. Maybe I'll make it a Christmas thing.

Garam Masala Green Beans

This is one of my go-to recipes, especially good when I feel like eating real food without putting a lot of effort into it:

1 or 2 Tbs vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
3/4 lb green beans trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
3/4 tsp salt
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice

1. Heat a large pan on medium-low. Add everything EXCEPT the lemon juice and add 1/4 cup of water. Cover and simmer 5 minutes, until beans are just getting tender.
2. Uncover pan and raise heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring often, 5 minutes or so until liquid evaporates. Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice, and serve.

You can use this by itself as a side dish, but if you put it on rice it makes a decent dinner for two people. And it's totally not spicy. Plus, if you like bigger veggies or don't want to chop you can just trim the green beans and cut them in half.

Mushroom and Peas Masala

I made this for the first time today as a necessary break from my now endless mountain of reading for grad school :) It turned out really really good and it was easy but challenging enough to make to be a fun event-like cooking experience.

What you need:
1 1/2 cups fresh shelled peas (you can do frozen just adjust the cooking time so they don't get gross)
2 medium onions (white or yellow. I don't think red would work so well here)
2 1/2 cups sliced or quartered white mushrooms
5-6 cloves of garlic
2 inch piece of fresh ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tbsp garam masala (I like MGH brand the best)
5-6 little green cardamom pods
3 fresh red chilies (careful! this recipe is for MY palate, adjust for yours)
Salt to taste
2 cans of tomato paste
2 cups of water
1 tbs cooking oil (like light olive, canola, or vegetable)
2 tbs butter

TOOLS:
Deep non-stick frying pan with a lid
blender

What to do:
Prep work- Peel and quarter your onions and remove the tops of your chilies and throw them into the blender. Grind them up until they are a mushy,pasty,pink looking mess. Put them in a bowl (cover your eyes! Stinky onions!!) and set aside with a dish towel over top to preserve your eyeballs. Rinse the blender and then throw in your ginger and your peeled garlic cloves. I had trouble getting these to be pasty, they ended up more chopped. Maybe a food processor is in order (I lack one). Anyways, just make them small somehow. Set them aside. Make sure your mushrooms are cleaned and chopped and your peas are ready to go.

Cooking work- Put the oil and the butter into the pan and heat until butter is melted over a low heat. Add your cardamomos, coriander, garam masala, and cinnamon and sautee them until everything smells awesome and looks brown (don't burn anything, just make it look a nice nut brown). Add the onion and chili paste stuff and make sure your extractor fan is on or your window is open (the chilies hitting the heat can get your eyes and lungs if you aren't careful). Brown the mixture over low heat still for about 2 or 3 minutes. Add your ginger and garlic stuff and your two cans of tomato paste. Add the water and mix well. Turn the heat up to medium so it is all simmering but not ruining your stove with hot tomato splatter and add your mushrooms and peas. Stir them in, cover, and simmer until the peas are tender (about 20 min. if the peas are fresh). Stir occasionally to make sure the sauce isn't burning on the bottom. If the sauce is too runny, remove the lid and allow to thicken. Serve hot over rice :)

Bruschetta as requested

Bruschetta!!!

what you need:
2 large tomatoes
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes
5 cloves of garlic
pinch of salt
fresh cracked black pepper
3 green onions
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
about 20 leaves of fresh basil

Chop your tomatoes into manageable chunks (don't discard any of the liquid) and slice your green onions into nice rounds. Mince the garlic, julienne your basil. Put everything into a bowl, mix well and let sit for an hour at room temp OR in the fridge over night (or during the day until dinner). Some recipes call for a little balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar and if you are using hot house tomatoes you may want that boost of acidity. With good fresh tomatoes in season I really don't think it is necessary. Slice a loaf of crusty Italian bread into nice 1 inch slices and brush them with olive oil on one side. With the oiled side face down on a foil coated baking sheet, bake until golden brown in a 350 degree oven. In the last couple of minutes you can add a little Parmesan or mozzarella to the bread and let it get brown. I like an "Italian blend" with mozz and parm all in the mix. Kraft makes a very affordable and decent one but if you want it more tangy, got for like Sargento or something (they put asiago in theirs if I remember). Yay!! Eat bruschetta and enjoy.

*note: I did this from memory and I suggest tweaking to your own specifications
*kalamata olives might be a nice addition.....hmmm......