The [trademarked chocolate and peanut butter confection] Challenge. For the last few weeks I have been constrained by trying to make things suit a particular cuisine. With just an ingredient challenge I am free to go whole “California Fusion.” To mix and match flavors and techniques with only one constraint–it should all taste good when I’m done.
Karl’s Chicken Cacao with Peanuts and Mango
Filed under Main Dishes, Poultry
The [trademarked chocolate and peanut butter confection] Challenge. I have recently discovered dark greens. For the last two weeks I have made a collard side dish. Gee, you don’t have to cook dark greens into sludge like our mothers did! Maybe it is time to revisit kale.
To meet this week’s challenge I will have to work in chocolate and peanuts, but for this dish the greens will be the star. A little peanut butter and ground nibs to give the sauce a thickness and base should be enough.
Karl’s Kale with Mushrooms
Filed under Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables
The [trademarked chocolate and peanut butter confection] Challenge. My chicken dish for this meal emphasizes the chocolate elements. For my starch side dish I want to make the peanuts the star, with the chocolate element being more of a secret ingredient. I want it to add a depth to the taste without having a distinct “chocolate” flavor.
Karl’s Peanut Rice
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches
Jan and I went to the farmer’s market yesterday and she fell in love with Big Paw’s Mission Fig Balsamic Vinegar. The question was what to do with it. We had already decided that we were going to have a Deli-dinner (fresh bread, cheese, cold meat, salad etc.) Jan had already gotten some heirloom carrots for carrot salad, so what were we going to do with the new vinegar?
Karl’s Fig Balsamic Asparagus
Filed under Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables
I don’t do casseroles, especially tuna casseroles, too many years of church socials growing up. Jan, on the other hand, loves tuna casserole, although she has a problem with its portion control. You cannot take less of the starch and more of the veggies, since everything is mixed together. The other problem with casseroles is that the ingredients do not cook at the same rates. Some things will be under done or others will be way over done. Somewhere there had to be a solution.
Karl’s I Don’t Do Casseroles
Filed under Main Dishes, Seafood
Jan has gone to three conferences in the last week, a dean’s conference, the Southwestern Anthropological Association conference and a Google conference. As a result, her eating habits have been completely disrupted. Google especially fed her some very strange things, but one of the things she liked was a Vietnamese summer roll with lamb, instead of the usual shrimp or pork.
Karl’s Vietnamese Summer Rolls (Gỏi cuốn)
You can make summer rolls as a vegetarian dish, but I usually make them with shrimp and/or thin slices of Chinese barbecued pork. The idea of using lamb intrigued me. Could I make a summer roll with tender, flavorful slices of lamb like I can picture in my head?
Filed under Lamb, Main Dishes, Salads
This is the sauce to go with Karl’s Vietnamese Summer Rolls.
Karl’s Peanut Dipping Sauce
Filed under Sauces and Spices
I had brought some lemongrass, because I was thinking about braising the lamb for my Vietnamese summer rolls in a flavorful broth. I changed my mind to a quick grill for the lamb, but then I was left with the lemongrass. I decided that I what I needed was a soup to go with dinner.
Karl’s Lemongrass Clear Soup
Filed under Soups
Adapted from a recipe by the National Honey Board
Jan was disappointed to find that the Ethiopian idea of dessert was sour cheese or just coffee. (Actually, after all of that good food who has room for “just one little thin mint?”) She decided to make an Ethiopian inspired desert by adding honey and spices to caramel and using it to make a gelato sundae.
Jan’s Sweet Ethiopia Honey Caramel Sauce Sundaes
Filed under Desserts & Treats, Sauces and Spices, Treats
If you have ever been to an Ethiopian restaurant the beautiful tray covered with the large, sour pancake dotted with brightly colored stews is a delight to see and even more to taste. It makes you want to try to do this yourself. While many of the Ethiopian dishes appear to be simple, with only a few ingredients, you discover hidden complexities. Many of the ingredients in Ethiopian cooking turn out to have their own complex recipes.
Karl’s Doro Wot – Ethiopian Red Chicken Stew
(in the center)
with Authentic Injera (under all)
Filed under bread, Main Dishes, Poultry, Side Dishes
karllueck
Miriam
