Pinto Bean and Hen Soup

I came up with the idea for this very, very, very, very easy soup several years ago. It was a dark and cold winter's night and I was scouring the kitchen for something to flavor some pinto beans in my slow cooker when I came up with this idea.

Pinto Bean and Hen Soup

1 frozen Cornish Game Hen
1/2 bag of dried Pinto Beans, washed and picked
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Mix all the ingredients together in the slow cooker. Cover with water and let cook for 8 hours on low.

After 8 hours, carefully lift the hen out and allow it to cool for a bit. Remove the skin and pick the meat off the bones. The meat is very tender at this point and should shred easily. Add the meat back to the soup and eat with crackers or hot buttered cornbread.

Note: I've tried this with chicken thighs and chicken breasts but the meat is so much more tender when you use a hen.

Knitted Teddy Bear Hat Pattern

I am deviating a little today to post a knitting pattern that I created this week. Last winter was our first in Denver and it was C.O.L.D. And I do mean COLD. It was so cold the that even the Canadian geese were complaining and quacking about moving on to Mexico.

(Note: The hat is Batman approved. Batman even paused in his rescue of dirty laundry to pose in his Teddy Bear Hat.)

I found tons of cute hats on ravelry.com but none that would satisfy the following requirements in one pattern:

1. Must be sufficiently adorable and babyish looking.
2. Must be funny enough to embarrass him in high school.
3. Must have ear flaps.
4. Must be worsted weight because I wanted to finish in a few days time.

I think I achieved all of this with my Teddy Bear Hat.

For extra warmth, I am planning to sew some fleece around the inside.

Teddy Bear Hat (pattern by Toni)

Finished hat is approximately 19" and fits my two year old.

Materials:
100 yards of worsted weight yarn (I used Madeline Tosh DK Superwash Merino in Fig)
One set of US 7 double points
One US 7 circular (you could knit the whole hat on the DPN's. I just didn't want to do so.)
One US 8 circular
One stitch marker
Tapestry needle for finishing

Gauge:
20-22 sts over four inches

Using larger needle to keep CO from being too tight, CO 95 sts.

K1, P1 around. Join into a round by knitting the last st and 1 st together. This makes a nice and smooth join. Place marker.

Switch to smaller needles and knit the remaining 94 sts in K1, P1 rib for 3".

Purl the next round. (This purl row will give better definition to the fold.)

Knit the next round and continue knitting in St St for 4 inches from Purl row.

Begin Decreases:

Round 1: *K10, K2tog* around. Knit any remaining sts on this row and all subsequent odd rows.

Round 2 and all even rounds: Knit

Round 3: *K9, K2tog* around

Round 5: *K8, K2tog* around

Round 7: *K7, K2tog* around

Round 9: *K6, K2tog* around

Round 11: *K5, K2tog* around

Round 13: *K4, K2tog* around

Round 15: *K3, K2tog* around

Round 17: *K2, K2tog* around

Round 19: *K1, K2tog* around

Round 20: K2tog around

Draw yarn through remaining 8 sts and pull tight.

Weave in end.

Ear Flaps:

To determine where to place ear flaps, I laid my hat down flat and placed coil-less safety pins where I thought they should go. In other words, I eyeballed it.

Fold hat up at Purl row.

Pick up and knit 12 st with RS facing you.
K 9 rows in St St.
Row 10: Dec 1 sts on each end.
Row 11: Purl
Repeats rows 10 and 11 until 3 sts remain.

Use these 3 sts to knit a 12" i-cord. BO.

Repeat on other side for second ear flap.

Teddy Bear Ears:

Lie hat flat and decide where you want your ears.

I placed mine 3 sts down from the crown of hat.

Pick up and knit 12 sts - picking up through the entire stitch, otherwise it will make a hole.

Knit 7 rows in St St.

*On next even row, dec 1 st at each end. Purl next row.*

Repeat those two rows (bet * and *) until 6 sts remain on needle.

On next RS row, *Inc 1 st on each end of needle. Purl following row. *

Repeat those two rows (bet * and *) until 12 sts are on needle.

Bind off.

Sew back of ear onto hat and then sew up the sides.

Weave in the ends.

Keema Matar

I am in love with this dish. I am so in love with it that I want to marry it, except that I am already married. Well, that and I like having an attractive husband and as my father would say about this dish, "I've thrown up better looking things than that."

But he eats Twinkies dipped in catsup so what does he know?

This dish is minced beef or lamb with peas and mint. It sounded like a really bad idea when my husband first asked me to make it. I was of the opinion that mint is strictly for chocolate, ice cream, and bourbon, not freaky meat dishes. But I decided to try it anyway.

And that was just the beginning of the rest of my life.

I serve Keema Matar with plain yogurt (Horizon Cream Top is my new favorite) and naan bread that we buy at the Indian grocery, but you could serve it with basmati rice or Hunza rice.

Keema Matar (Collected from trial and error with several different recipes)

1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 two inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef, lamb, or a mix of both
10 baby carrots cut into quarters
1/2 cup of green peas
1 tablespoon chopped mint (I use dried)
a generous handful of chopped cilantro


In a deep pan heat the oil over medium heat.

Add the onions and ginger and fry until onions are slightly golden.

Add the garlic, turmeric, ground coriander and salt. Fry for a minute or so.

Add the sliced tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly so the spices do not burn.

Add the minced meat and carrots. Brown the meat, breaking up any lumps. This takes about 10 minutes and also breaks your tomatoes into tiny pieces.

(At this point try not to faint from delight at the great smell coming out of your pot.)

Add the fresh cilantro and mint. You can also add a diced fresh green chili now if you like spicier foods. We have a toddler so I skip the heat.

Voila! Keema Matar! It's so easy and quick that it has become our go-to busy night dinner.

Nobody's Gruel

Gruel has a really bad reputation. It sounds like something that is a mixture of pig slop and horse puckey that you could use for Spackle. In literature and movies, we feel sorry for kids like the young Jane Eyre and poor little Oliver Twist because they are so starving they're willing to eat gruel but can't even get more of that horrible mess.

But thanks to my friend Susan, Super-Mommy to Thom-O and Sugar Magnolia, I have discovered that I love gruel. Gruel is nothing more than real oatmeal. "Real" meaning not the rolled oats two minutes in the microwave stuff that comes in an envelope with a ton of weird powder at the bottom. No, real oatmeal is that stuff that is teeny little bouncy, pearly, and shiny whole grain. When it is cooked properly it is chewy and nutty tasting and is a great breakfast.

I make mine on Sunday night and then microwave it all week long. It's really good enough to serve as a bread-pudding type of dessert if you add enough brown sugar - not that I would do that...very often.

We have a large gigantic ridiculously over sized slow cooker because some chick at a party once told my then-single husband that slow cookers are great as long as you don't buy a small one. So he went out looking for the largest slow cooker available. I think it is probably big enough to feed China and still have leftovers, so you might need to adjust this recipe to your cooker.

Here's a funny thing I noticed recently about buying steel-cut oats. If I buy the McCann's Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal it costs about $9 per can at Whole Foods. But if I buy the Whole Foods brand of organic steel-cut oats it is $3 per can. Why? I have no idea because I haven't opened my can of Whole Foods brand yet. Just something to ponder.

Obviously you can add any fruit that you want to this as long as it is a dried or hard fruit. Bananas would not do well in the slow cooker for 8 hours but apples do fine. Nuts are best added after cooking.


Slow Cooker Real Oats Oatmeal (Collected from trial and error)

2 cups steel-cut oats
8 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon of apple pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped dried apricot
2 apples, peeled and chopped
1 cup raisins

Some slow cookers need to be sprayed with non-stick spray first. I've found that if I use enough water mine does not.

Mix all ingredients into slow cooker. Give a stir. Set on low heat and cook for 8 hours. Keep in mind that I have added one cup of water for every hour that I plan to cook the oatmeal. So if you want to let your slow cooker do its thing for more than 8 hours (i.e. you're sleeping in) add another cup of water for each extra hour.

In the morning, wake up starving because you have smelled this goodness cooking all night. Don't stop to pee or brush your teeth. Just head straight for the slow cooker and dish up some oatmeal. Add milk or cream (to thin), some banana slices and a few chopped walnuts. Eat.

Oh and be sure to drink plenty of water all day long because real oatmeal is packed with fiber. Without tons of water you might find yourself in an uncomfortable situation later.

Before.

Cheese Buttons

Cheese Buttons are a great party nibble. They are small enough to tote around on a cocktail napkin with a green-apple-tini or a fancy umbrella-laced drink, easy to make, unusually delicious, and will make your guests think you are a very talented gourmet who spent forever slaving in the kitchen.

In reality, we never have parties and I just make these for us to keep in a cookie jar to nibble on at will. I don't even like martini's apple or otherwise; but IF you are the type to have parties with martinis and fancy umbrella drinks, cheese buttons would look nice with your spread.

I make mine in the food processor and doing so creates a light, smooth dough. The texture would be more rustic without a food processor, but I believe they would still taste great.

Remember that you can easily change quantities in this recipe.

Be careful not to "whiz" (the scientific term) the dough for too long in your food processor. You want to whiz it long enough to form a lump of dough. If you keep whizzing it after that lump forms the dough will get hot, melting the butter and cheese and creaming everything together. Then it is a mess to work with. So be careful.

Cheese Buttons (Collected and adapted from Southern Living - I think)

1 small package extra sharp shredded cheddar cheese (2 1/2 to 3 cups)
1 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 stick of butter (margarine isn't great but is okay. It makes a different texture and taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whiz together all of the ingredients in your food processor. When a lump of dough forms in the bowl it is ready. The lump should form in about a minute. If it doesn't then you need to add a tiny bit more flour. Do so a LITTLE at a time until the lump of dough forms.

Drop rounded teaspoon-full balls onto a greased cookie sheet (or use non-stick aluminum foil). Do not press flat. Bake for 10 minutes. They will stay a yellow-orange color when baked so don't wait for them to turn brown. Brown cheese buttons are like yellow snow - yucky to eat.

Gobhi Alu

I always get this name wrong. It is one of my husbands favorites so I make it a lot but I can never quite remember the name. Golbi or Gobhi? Alu Gobhi? Gobhi Alu? Does it really matter? I don't think my poor pronunciation and spelling makes much of a difference to the taste. So forget about it and eat!

Gobhi Alu is another one of those easy to make dishes and is best served with Basmati rice or Hunza rice. It's best to make this in a stockpot unless you just have a really big skillet with a tight lid. I now make mine in my brand new, beautiful, awesomely worthwhile Le Creuset French Oven that my husband bought me at the Le Creuset outlet in Golden, Colorado for a quarter of the retail price. The retail store sells seconds but I can't see anything wrong with my pot. It's red and perfect.

A note about spices: I buy my spices at the Indian or Middle Eastern grocery store. Shan is the brand I typically buy because that is the brand my husband grew up with and I feel like I can trust it. Usually these spices come in bags so I save mayonnaise, spaghetti sauce, jelly and other jars and use those to store my spices. I just cut the label out of the bag and tape it to the jar.

A lot of Indian cooking calls for garlic and ginger. I usually buy garlic/ginger paste at the Indian grocery, as do a lot of Indian cooks. In this recipe I use my paste but you can certainly use fresh ingredients. Just vary according to your own tastes.

Usually in Indian dishes you "fry" some of the spices lightly before adding all of your other ingredients. This awakens the spices and gets their oils going. It also makes your kitchen smell better than a Yankee Candle.

Sometimes when I taste this dish during cooking I decide it needs more of one spice or another. The great thing about Indian cooking is that you can add more of whatever you want. So feel free to be heavy or light-handed with any of these spices.

Gobhi Alu (Collected from youtube videos and my readings on Indian cooking)

1 head of cauliflower chopped into big pieces (it's going to cook down)
2 potatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons garlic/ginger paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1 teaspoon dry mango powder (also called amchur - a unique almost bitter spice)
1/2 teaspoon garam masala (Target's Archer Farms is my favorite brand)
Cilantro to garnish

Heat the oil in your pan over medium heat. Add cumin seeds, turmeric powder and garlic ginger paste. When the cumin seeds start to pop add cauliflower, potatoes and salt. Cover but stir regularly. Cook until the potatoes start to get soft. At that point add the rest of the spices and turn the heat down to low. Let this cook for an additional 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.

You can add the powdered spices earlier but know that doing so will make your dish more likely to burn if you don't keep up the stirring. Also if you do this you might need to add a little chicken broth or water. This would change the taste a bit but it would still be great.

Easy Chick-Peasy Hummus

Hummus is delicious and it is so easy to make. In fact, the hardest part of making hummus is cleaning up the food processor when you are finished. This is especially true if you have the same KitchenAid food processor as me. The blade tends to get food stuck underneath and is a pain in the patoot to clean. But, it is still my favorite kitchen gadget.

So hummus is super easy to make and you can be very creative with your ingredients. I make it in a big batch and then my husband takes it to work all week long and I snack on it whenever I walk by the refrigerator. Because our refrigerator isn't on the main path to anywhere I have to purposefully walk by the refrigerator in order to snack, but that's neither here nor there. Except that it is there. And the hummus is really good.

I make my hummus with tons of garlic and cumin. You could go light on either of these and even eliminate the cumin altogether. You could also make this hummus with black beans instead of chickpeas. Tahini paste is essential to hummus and is made from sesame seeds. You can buy it at Whole Foods or an international market. The inital cost is often higher than buying store-bought hummus but it takes me about 3 months to go through a jar and I typically make hummus one to two times a week. I paid $5.99 for the last jar at a Middle Eastern grocery store. It is usually a bit higher at Whole Foods.

Hummus (Collected from a bunch of different ideas added together to make this one)

3 cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon minced garlic or as many cloves as you want
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1-2 tablespoons ground cumin
3 tablespoons tahini paste
Olive or sunflower oil
Fresh cilantro

Mince your garlic in the food processor, if it isn't already minced. Add chickpeas, lemon juice, cumin, salt, and tahini paste and mince. When a paste begins to form open the food chute on your food processor and slowly add your oil. When your hummus is nice and smooth you have added enough oil. Be careful not to add too much oil because you can always place a little on top when you serve it. This is how it is served in Middle Eastern restaurants. Garnish with a bit of fresh cilantro.