smoky lentils

There was obliviously a taco theme going through the food world last week.  The New York Times Dining and Food section had a lot of recipes.  Pinterest had a lot of recipes.  I saw a lot of food blog with taco recipes.  I do not think of tacos as something hard to make so most of the time it is okay, move on.  But the smoky lentil filling I saw caught my interest.  We eat a lot of beans, especially black beans, and lentils are a nice change.  

Reading through the recipe, my thought was nice idea but I am going to change it to what is in my kitchen.  That made life much easier.  The smoky flavor was nice.  We have liked our beans on salads recently instead of tortillas but this would be good in tortillas.

smoky lentils

1 cup dark green lentils, well washed and picked over

2 cups water

1 onion, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon smokey sweet paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon alder smoked salt

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

I am lazy, so I put the lentils and water in the slow cooker and let them cook most of the day.  You may have to add more then 2 cups of water if you do not wish to have them dry out.  Drain the excess water before the next step.  Or you can put the lentils and water in a pot. Bring to a boil.  Turn down to a simmer.  Cook until the lentils are soft.  Most recipes will say 20 minutes.  I find it is really closer to 45 minutes.  Undercooked lentils are just not fun to the digestive system.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil and onion.  Cook until brown.  Add the rest of the spices.  Cook for a few minutes and make sure well stirred.  Mix in the drained lentils.  Cook until hot.  Make sure the spices are well mixed.

Serve in tortillas or on salad or with eggs.....

cheese arepas (or anything you wish to fill them with)

The New York Times dining and food section this week was all about tacos.  But it was really about masa because they had an arepa recipe too.  There is not much to an arepa recipe.  They all use about the same ingredients but this one had a different cooking method which seemed like it would make life so much easier - broil in the oven instead of fry in a skillet.  This change worked well.  I filled the arepas with cheese but you do not have to fill them or you can try something else.  I wish I had some lady beans to go with the cheese.  A bit of each and it would have been a lovely meal unto itself.

My Beloved said dinner last night was so good he needed to do all the dishes so I could create tonight.  I have the feeling he felt the same about tonight's dinner even though it was a repeat performance.  I would make the arepas again for more dishes done any time.

arepas

Note:  I just wanted to make a couple so I used only 1/2 cup of masa harina.  Use the package for the porportions for how many you wish to make and scale all ingredients accordingly.

1/2 cup of masa harina

almost 1/2 cup of water

a pinch of salt

about 1 teaspoon drizzle of olive oil

1 tablespoon grated cheese

2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix the masa, water, salt, and 1 teaspoon olive oil together.  It will all come together and bring it into a ball.  Let sit at least 15 minutes.

Preheat the broiler.  Either oil a oven proof skillet or oil a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet.  Break the ball of dough in two.  Flatten one ball, fill with cheese, bring the dough around the cheese, and flatten.  Do the same to the other ball.  

Lay on the skillet.  Turn over.  Put under the broiler and cook about 5 minutes a side.  You want lightly golden.

Really yummy and so much easier this way.  

blackberries with mascarpone and goat cheese mousse

It has been a day.  I have felt like I was run over by a very large truck all day.  Then I could not seem to breathe, but then I was not the only one (we figure the weather blew something in).  But the last bit that really put me over the edge was that I started to have nose bleeds.  

How did I deal with this?  I came home and slept.  Then I cooked.  Everything for dinner was something new.  It really was not that hard but it did help that I started part of it this morning in the crockpot.  I just prefer well cooked lentils.  

I let my Beloved chose what I blogged about today.  He chose the dessert.  Light but satisfying.  Creamy.  Cheesey.  Blackberries.  It was not a lot of work, even by hand, except Small Mister wanted to help me beat the whipping cream and sugar together.  That did not work very well.  It all came together in the end.  It helped that I kept letting him taste as I go so I could stir.  Small Mister was the one I was thinking about but both males are official tasters at this point in my life.

I did this with blackberries but I think it would be good with any berry or maybe even cherries.  Oooo.... bing cherries.... Too bad they are out of season.

blackberries with mascarpone and goat cheese mousse

Note:  adapted from Tartelette, I read the recipe once and decided to go from there.

1 cup blackberries

2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup goat cheese

1/4 cup mascarpone cheese

Put the blackberries in a bowl and sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons of sugar.  I find blackberries tart.  If you do not, feel free to change the amount of sugar you use.

In a medium bowl, mix the goat cheese and mascarpone cheese together until smooth.  In yet another bowl, put the 1/2 cup sugar and heavy whipping cream in.  Beat together until thick.  Mix into the cheese mixture.  Refrigerate if not serving immediately.

When you are ready to serve, scoop the mousse into bowls.  Top with blackberries.  

Eat with a spoon. Scrape the bowl clean.  i am not being facetious.

trying something new

I am spending a lot of time at my sewing machine.  I really love the time I spend here and try to get some time in before work each day.  But it does make work harder to go to.  I am in a better state of mind but that does not make going to work easy.

I decided I wanted to try carving my own spoons.  When I sent a knife tool my Beloved, he wrote back that there is nothing like this at home and no one knows how to make one.  I laughed so hard I was on the floor.  The wood here is bocote.  I am excited to give it at try but I admit that my hands are tired.  My body is just tired all over which means my chronic pain crud is trying to be more then tired.  I will take care of myself but I was thinking I might sit on the stoop on Saturday and give it a try.  Small Mister has a wedding to go to with his Dad so I will have some quiet time.  My Beloved is around just in case.

linen nine squares done and laid out for nirinjan

This quilt is for my best friend Nirinjan.  It has been on the to do list for over a year.  And it is getting closer to done then most.  I have been working on it a hour a day.  Because as I work on it, I am also working on a quilt to sew.  And for one for friends who are got married this last weekend.  Actually, an hour a day seems to get a lot done.  

I seemed to have a lot of "help" on this quilt.  Small Mister is a "helper" and my Beloved had to help too.  The older one was actually a help.  I hope to have most of the quilt ready for quilting next week.