That'st Hot!

Wait? Did Paris Hilton squeeze her skinny, stupid, flesh-baring little soul into my husband? After I made this sriracha and ginger asparagus, I thought so. Turns out, my husband was just getting all excited about the delightful heat on these crisp, tasty veggies. I served them alongside pork chops and sweet potatoes, to give a nice balance to their heat. I suggest you give them a try immediately. They're totally delicious, and oh. so. easy.


Ingredients:

one large bunch of asparagus, cleaned and trimmed
1 tbsp ginger oil
1/2 tsp sriracha
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
small drizzle of honey
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
freshly grated lemon zest

Directions:

heat ginger oil in a wok
add garlic and sautee quickly
add asparagus and spices and honey (except lemon zest)
cook 10-12 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly
remove from heat and top with lemon zest
serve

Maple Pomegranate Glazed Carrots

Holy Bejesus. Where did this week go? It seems like just a few hours ago, I was turning off Desperate Housewives, grumbling about having to wake up early on Monday, pulling my cozy down comforter up to my chin and cursing responsibility and adulthood. But, apparently, almost a whole week went by. Whoosh.

I had a fun week, though. Megan (platonicloveofmylife) has moved closer to me! Yessiree folks, instead of being a 40 minute car ride away, she is now just one quick exit away from my house. 8 minutes and I'm there. So, of course, I went over to her house twice this week. Yay!

Other than that, Nick and I hung out at home this week, making delicious fall meals like pork chops, stuffed shells and pot roast. Mmmm. Today, I had to work at a pro bono clinic with my office in the morning (my Spanish skills put me in high demand), and then Nick and I went rock climbing. Have you ever been rock climbing? It is seriously SO. MUCH. FUN. Nick and I have only been doing it for a few weeks, but we're like herione addicts. We come home every night during the week, talking about how we can't wait until the weekend when we can go CLIMB. The sense of accomplishment is so satisfying and it makes your muscles hurt in that really good way. I always thought I wasn't in shape enough to try, but then I just said, screw it. I want to give it a try. And if that means I suck at it for awhile, oh well. At least I'm having fun. And now I'm regularly completing climbs, and honestly, I trust my husband more than ever. There's nothing like being way above the ground strung up on a rope to make you really trust your partner. Nick and I spend a few hours every weekend being each other's cheerleader and coach, and it's really fun to just encourage your spouse to push harder. I get a little jealous that my Spiderman husband is so good at it, but other than that, it's just a ton of fun. You should all try it.

Well anyway, like I said before, POM sent me a bunch of their juice. I've been having fun cooking with it. But one negative with this juice? Their bottles are so f-ing hard to open. Nick and I have had so much difficulty opening the bottles to the point that it hurts our hands. The POM juice I buy in the grocery store isn't like this. Maybe it's just the small bottles. But damn I have to work to open them.

Well anyway, these carrots. They were good. I mean, they were really good. Sweet and tart and a little crunchy and super tasty. Mmmm. I'm gonna make them again.

Ingredients:

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into sticks
8 ounces of pomegranate juice
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tbsp maple sugar
pinch of salt

Directions:

parboil and drain the carrots to soften them slighlty
add carrots to a nonstick pan and sautee over medium heat for 1-2 minutes
add pomegranate juice
add spices and bring to a low simmer
simmer until sauce is thickened to a glaze, about 5-7 minutes
serve

Have a POMtastic Holiday Season

I know, I know. It's a little early. I'm like Target and Home Depot, bringing out my holiday wares with Halloween barely over. But I couldn't help myself. I got a tasty package of POM Wonderful Pomegranate juice in the mail a little while ago, and knew I had to make a cocktail.

I could have done something a little more autumn inspired - a POM/Pear martini or a POM hot cider, but before you know it, the holidays will be here. And everyone will be looking for a cool signature drink to serve at their holiday parties and then you'll be so happy I posted this! You know I love my cocktails, and this one made me quite happy! The POM spice syrup is nice and, well, spicy, and the gin, ginger liqueur and pine liqueur (that's right, pine liqueur) compliment it nicely. Fresh basil leaves for garnish make this drink the seasonally appropriate red and green, and best of all, it just tastes good. Now, if you don't have pine liqueur, you've got two options. One, you can get some. Which, really, you should. 'Cause it's awesome. Two, you could add some extra woodsy flavors by muddling them in your martini shaker. I'd try rosemary. It won't be exactly the same, but it will be close. And still tasty, I promise.

I'm going to be posting a few POM recipes over the next few weeks, and figured I would post all of the health benefit related info about POM in a post other than for a cocktail. That seemed sort of wrong. So, instead I'll just tell you that POM has a wonderfully tart, refreshing flavor that pairs perfectly with the peppery, hot notes from the star anise, nutmeg and ginger. Serve this up at your next party or the next night your throwing a party for yourself! You'll love it :)

Ingredients:
(serves 4)

1/4 c. gin
1/4 c. ginger liqueur
1/8 c. Zirbenz pine liqueur
1/2 c. POM juice
1/4 c. POM spice syrup (recipe follows)
splashes of tonic water

Directions:

combine first 5 ingredients in a martini shaker with ice
shake vigorously for 1 minute
pour into a highball glass filled with ice, leaving about 1/2 an inch at the top
top with tonic water
garnish with basil
serve (with gingersnap cookies, flannel pjs and project runway!)

POM Spice Syrup:
12 ounces of POM juice
1 whole star anise
1/2 of a whole nutmeg (or 2 tsp. ground nutmeg. I just had 1/2 a nutmeg laying around.)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
pinch of cardamom
2 tbsp. brown sugar

Directions:

combine all ingredients in a sauce pot and stir thoroughly
bring to a simmer
simmer 10-12 minutes, until reduced by half
strain and cool

Mustard Ale Sauce

What's the only thing better than soft pretzels?

Soft pretzels with a reeeeaaaallllly good mustard sauce. I'm not talking about that mustard out of a squeeze bottle. I'm talking about something with depth and a myriad of tangy, spicy flavors. Something that perfectly compliments that salty sweet soft pretzel that you're dipping into it!

Well, I've got it for you. This mustard ale sauce has it all. It's hot and sweet and salty and tangy and delicious! And best of all? It's really easy to make! Throw a bunch of stuff into a pot, simmer until thick, and you. are. done.

yum.


Ingredients:

1/3 c dijon mustard
1/3 c spicy brown mustard
1 tbsp honey
1-2 dashes of hot sauce
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp nutmeg
6 ounces of dark beer
1 tsp olive oil

Directions:
in a small pot, heat olive oil and sautee garlic until fragrant
add all ingredients
bring to a simmer and cook 20 minutes
cool and serve!

Soft Pretzels

Hi! I'm sorry I've been MIA for the last week. I haven't really been super busy, but for some reason I couldn't get my act together to post. Nick was holding my camera hostage for a few days (to be fair, he was backing all of my pictures up to our server), but I don't really have an excuse for not hopping on here this weekend. But, I'm here now, and that's what is important!

Do any of you watch Glee? God, I love that show. Don't judge. I can't help it. I was actually standing in my TV room dancing last night! To the thong song. Yeah. I'm awesome. Anyway, you should totally watch it if you don't! It just makes me happy.

Well anyway. Random rambling aside, I made soft pretzels a few weeks ago. I actually make them a lot, they're one of my go to snack recipes and they're pretty delicious. I originally found this recipe on Sugar Laws, and have tweaked it over the past few months to this recipe, which I think is perfection. The most important change is the brown sugar instead of white sugar. It changes the flavors so much. Other than that, I add a little bit more oil, and use vegetable instead of canola. It's utter perfection, and oh so easy. Give it a try!!

INGREDIENTS:

1 tsp active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
1/3 cup warm water
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil

3 tbsp baking soda
1 cup hot water (as hot as your tap can get)
Sea salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Dissolve yeast into water with a pinch of sugar, let stand 10 minutes

Mix the yeast mixture with flour, sugar, salt and canola oil, and knead until combined (5 min). Let rise 1 hr in a greased bowl covered with a wet paper towel

When the dough has risen, pinch off a handful and roll it out into a long strand. Set aside. Repeat with the rest of the dough, about 6 times. Once all the strands are rolled out, pick up the first one and stretch it out again (the gluten will have relaxed and it should stretch further now). Twist it into a pretzel shape and place it on a baking sheet lined with silipat or cooking spray. Repeat with the rest of the strands.

Dissolve baking soda into hot water and stir until dissolved. Quickly dip each rolled pretzel into the mixture and place it back on the baking sheet. Sprinkle all the pretzels with sea salt, to your preference. Bake for about 8 minutes, until pretzels have browned.

One Fell Off and Bumped His Head

As a child, I always wondered, what did that poor first monkey do when all of his siblings were still jumping on the bed? I considered the options - watch cartoons, play in the backyard, ride a bike... none of them seemed to be extremely exciting. But, then, I wandered across this blog and figured out the answer to my life long question. That monkey made bread! What a brilliant monkey. Obviously, after laying eyes on that bread, I had to make it. And what an easy, easy bread it is. I made some changes to Michelle's recipe - I lightened it up a little bit and made it apple flavored for a seasonal twist. This bread is so amazingly easy and good - I am ashamed to admit Nick and I have eaten almost all of it. In four hours. Yikes.

Ingredients:

3 tubes of low fat Pillsbury cinnamon buns (icing discarded)
1/2 c brown sugar
3/4 stick of light butter
2/3 c Musselman's chunky applesauce
3 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp of ginger
2 tsp maple sugar
1 tsp vanilla powder
pinch of nutmeg
1 c white sugar
1/4 c caramel sauce

Directions:

preheat oven to 350
remove cinnamon bun dough from containers, and cut each bun into quarters, set aside (this doesn't need to be neatly cut. if you're doing this with kids, give them the dough to rip into smaller pieces. it's soft and will tear easily in their hands.)
in a 1 gallon ziplock bag, combine cinnamon, ginger, maple sugar, vanilla powder, nutmeg and white sugar
put cinnamon bun dough in bag and shake until well coated
turn out into a greased 9x12 baking pan
in a small sauce pan, combine butter, brown sugar and applesauce over low heat and mix until incorporated
pour over dough mixture and press down slightly to ensure it soaks in
drizzle caramel sauce over top
bake for 40-45 minutes, until dough has risen and is golden brown on top

A Meal Fit For Oktoberfest! [bratwursts, apples, potatoes and cabbage]

Megan and I were going to go out for Oktoberfest, but with finances being what they are (and the fact that we're kinda old and boring anyway) we decided to stay home and do our own Oktoberfest celebration here. I ran to our local German bakery/deli, picked up some bratwursts, cracked open a bottle of Oktoberfest beer and made a meal that I'd be proud to serve in Munich!

This dish had a wonderful balance of acidity from the cider vinegar, and a sweet flavor from tart apples stewed to bring out their natural sugars. It was the perfect meal to accompany the pretzels and mustard ale dipping sauce I made. I also made Radlers, a traditional German ale drink, and had a selection of German desserts from the aforementioned German bakery.

Megan and I had a fun night of hanging out, playing Jenga (like I said, we're pretty awesome), and watching Sweeney Todd (loved it!). It seemed just gory and macabre enough to be a fitting Halloween movie. It was also a nice night because it was the first genuinely chilly night of the season. I loved walking out for the nighttime dog walk and wanting a slightly warmer sweatshirt. The air was cool and crisp, and I think that this meal was the perfect accompaniment to the dropping temperatures. You've got a little over 2 weeks of October left, so pull out your finest German ales, whip this up, snap on some Lederhosen and pretend you're in the Hofbrauhaus.

Ingredients:

1 lb of bacon
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 small yellow onion, diced
4 (packed) cups of chopped red cabbage
2 tart apples thinly sliced (I did a mixture of Fuji and Granny Smith)
1 lb. bratwursts (or your favorite German sausage)
3-4 yellow potatoes, cut in cubes (about the size of large home fries)
2 tbsp stone ground mustard
2 1/4 tbsp cider vinegar
12 ounces dark German beer
1/2 tsp carraway seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

preheat an oven to 225
in a dutch oven over medium heat on the stove, cook bacon until crispy
remove bacon from pan (leaving fat) and set aside for another use (BLT, soups... you name it!)
add sugar and stir quickly until sugar browns slightly
add onions and quickly sautee
add cabbage and 1/2 of apples
sautee 3-5 minutes
add sausage and potatoes, brown quickly
add remaining ingredients (except for other 1/2 of apples) and stir
cover dutch oven and put in oven
cook for 2 hours
add remaining apples and cook for an additional 30 minutes
serve

Roxie loved it! She had to beg first to get some:


And, she got a little cabbage stuck in her beard.


I had fun taking pictures of the cabbage...



And seriously, folks... seriously. Could I put up an Oktoberfest post without pics of me at the original Hofbrahaus? Of course not! So here you go! Me with a beer as big as my head:

And, me buying my sister (fourteen at the time to my twenty three) her first beer. Don't let me around your kids, because I'll clearly corrupt them.

Did I mention that my parents let me take her to Europe for three weeks of backpacking? By ourselves? Yeah. I can't believe it either.


Look at those those braces. And the spindly little middle schooler arms. She can't even hold up the mug with one hand. God, I hope she never does this with my kids.