Lavender-Candied Pecans and a Delicious Dessert

I know, it sounds weird, but I assure you these are absolutely delicious!  I wanted to make candied, spiced pecans to top a dessert I was making and spied a jar of lavender in my spice rack.  I thought "why not?"  I came up with this little recipe and it was part of a dessert inspired by Silan (date honey from Israel.  Read on for the recipe and the final dessert :-)

Pickles!!

 I wanted to try and make pickles using the traditional method of fermentation.  It is so easy, requires very few ingredients and they're super-yummy!  You can also play around with the flavors to get the kind of pickle you want. 

Ending my Lazy Streak...with a somewhat lazy post

Ok....so I admittedly dropped the ball on writing in my blog, but I'm back with a wonderful cookbook recommendation.  This book was a gift from my wonderful friend Morgan, and I think it is not only beautifully illustrated, but the food in incredible.  The book is called The Food of Thailand.   It includes appetizers, soups, curries, desserts, street foods, etc. I showed it to my friend from Thailand once and she gave her seal of approval to the recipes so I trust it.  Thai cooking is complex and requires a lot ingredients, but don't let that intimidate you.  I started off just making basic curries, and tonight I branched out ever-so-slightly to make a Chicken in green curry, coconut sticky rice, and a mushroom tofu dish.  It came out pretty tasty.  This book has yet to fail me and it is a great way to try something new.  Next time I'll have a recipe for you all but for now, here are pictures of the meal I prepared:-)

Individual pies

For the 4th of July I wanted to make an easy, yummy dessert.  I had seen this recipe and decided to attempt it while making a few changes.  This was a very easy last minute dessert and they look store-bought and very impressive.  The best part is you can really make any filling you want.  They also make a great dessert for a picnic.

Kale and fried egg sandwich

After coming home from work earlier this week, I wanted something quick and easy for me and my brother to eat for dinner.  I started off by sauteing some Kale and ended up with a very tasty sandwich.  The best part is, it works for any meal of the day (at least I think it would also make a great breakfast or lunch sandwich).

For one sandwich
Ingredients:
1/2 bunch of kale, washed and dried with the center vein removed
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 egg
around 1/2 Tablespoon butter or oil
a slice of cheese (I used white sharp cheddar)
two slices of bread (I used ezekiel bread)
salt and pepper

Instructions:

1) Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan.  Add some red pepper flakes and when they start to sizzle add the kale.  Stir a few times and cook for 2-3 minutes or until wilted.  Remove from pan.
2) Then in the same saute pan, toast the slices of bread in a little bit of oil or butter.
3) In a smaller pan heat the butter or oil and then add the egg to fry.  Using a spoon, ladle the hot oil onto the top of the cooking egg to cook it without flipping the egg over.  Repeat this until the top is entirely white.  I like the egg to be runny, so I removed it from the heat relatively quickly.  Season it with salt and pepper.
4) Make a sandwich by layering the kale, fried egg and cheese between the bread.  The heat from the egg should melt the cheese if you time it correctly.  Enjoy!

Brownie-Chunk-Vanilla-Mint Ice Cream

At work we always have these extra brownie scraps that we either sample or end up throwing out.  For months now I've been wanting to make this ice cream using the scraps, but by the time I get home it seems that all of my friends or family have eaten all of them.  I have to admit I am to blame for a small portion that manages to "disappear".  This time I vowed to use the scraps for ice cream that I wanted to make by adapting this recipe by David Lebovitz.

Makes about 1 Quart 

Ingredients:

2 cups (80 grams) fresh mint leaves (washed)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 cups whole milk

1 vanilla bean pod

pinch of salt

5 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups soft brownie chunks (SLIGHTLY under-baked is better)

1) In a large saucepan combine the mint leaves, sugar, 1 cup of the cream, milk, vanilla bean pod (first slice it down the middle and scrape the seeds.  Add the emptied pod along with the beans) and the pinch of salt. 

2) Bring the mixture to a boil then immediately remove from the heat, cover with a lid, and allow it to steep for an hour.  This is when I watched Game of Thrones ;-)

3) Strain out the mint leaves and vanilla bean pod into a bowl and make sure to squeeze out all the liquid before discarding them.  Return the mixture to the saucepan and warm it up.  Meanwhile put the egg yolks into a medium bowl.

4) Temper the yolks by adding some of the hot liquid to it while constantly stirring.  Then add the yolks to the saucepan and whisk constantly until it begins to thicken.  Strain (to make sure no scrambled eggs are in it) into a bowl containing the last cup of cream and place in an ice bath.  Stir constantly to cool.  Allow to cool completely.  I chilled mine overnight before spinning in the machine because this created a creamier ice cream.  

5) Spin in the machine according the the manufacturers directions.  

6) Put some brownie chunks into the container you are going to store the ice cream in then add some ice cream and then add more chunks.  Keep doing this until all of the ice cream is in the container and the brownies are throughout the mixture. Serve immediately or store in the freezer (duh) until ready to consume!  Enjoy!

Kimchi Pancake

Kimchi has become extremely popular recently and has been appearing on restaurant menus in very interesting ways ranging from kimchi tacos to kimchi on hot dogs.  So what is kimchi?  It's a Korean dish consisting of fermented cabbage or other fermented vegetables.  Sounds yummy right ;-)  It's actually really delicious and can be used to make this amazing dish I first tried while in China.  It's a Kimchi pancake!!  This makes a great spicy, salty, crunchy appetizer.

Serves 5 people as an appetizer
Ingredients:
1 cup Kimchi cut into thin strips
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup kimchi liquid (from the jar of kimchi)
pinch salt
1 egg

1) Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix until everything is well incorporated.
2) Heat a large skillet with a 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.  Add the kimchi mixture and spread it out evenly into one giant pancake.  Cook over medium heat and flip after 3-4 minutes (when it begins to brown).  Cook another 3-4 minutes or until both sides are browned and the center is cooked.  You may have to lower to heat to ensure the inside cooks but the outside doesn't burn.
3) Remove from heat, cut slices and serve immediately.