Tag: Coconut

Weekend Finds 3:9:14

It has been an exhausting week. I’d like to nap until next week to recover please and thank you. I woke up this morning thinking maybe I’d finally caught up on my sleep since I’d slept until 10 (10! It’s like I’m in college again!), but alas, it was simply daylight savings playing a trick on me. My suggestion? Read these weekend finds with a mug of hot cocoa to keep you company, and then take a nap yourself.

1. Miso Coconut Chicken from I am a Food Blog

Miso Coconut Chicken from I am a Food Blog // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Miso and coconut, two of my favorite things, in one recipe on the beautiful I am a Food Blog.

I’ve been gazing at I am a Food Blog for a couple weeks now, admiring its beautiful pictures, scrumptious looking recipes, and gorgeous layout. But this recipe. This recipe for miso coconut chicken includes two of my favorite ingredients: miso and coconut milk. So I think I’ll have to make it. Soon.

2. A Curious Invitation

A Curious Invitation by Suzette Field // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
A book about the best parties? Adding to my reading list immediately.

This book about the best parties in fiction by Suzette Field sounds like a very fun read, and a great point of inspiration for any party host/ess.

3. The Cocktail Demystified

The Cocktail Demystified in Portland // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Learn about your favorite liquors and cocktails from the distillers themselves!

If I was going to be in Portland on March 29th and not in Vietnam (like I can even pretend to be upset about that), I would 100% buy a ticket to this event with Distillery Row. Learning how to make cocktails featuring your favorite liquors straight from the source? Yes please.

4. Yelp…?

To Yelp or not to Yelp? // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
The question remains, how good of a resource is Yelp?

I’ve been hearing some interesting thoughts on Yelp lately. Andrew Zimmern doesn’t like the platform, we all know that. And now we know a lot of chefs don’t read reviews themselves, but rather assign the task to their managers. Do you use Yelp? I do, but everything is definitely taken with a grain of salt. I have trouble trusting people whose taste and experience levels I don’t know. I would so much rather have the review or advice of a friend, or someone I admire, or who I know is an expert. Every place is bound to have at least one bad review, so do you let that deter you from going? All of this crowd-sourcing of reviews puts the consumer in a position of power, and I think it’s very interesting. What are your thoughts?

5. Blu Skillet Ironware

Blu Skillet Ironware from Seattle // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
I love the blue hue of these pans, though it will fade and change after use.

Hello? Yes. I would like ALL of the things from this shop in Seattle. I’m definitely making a point to visit the Blu Skillet Ironware workshop next time I’m in town. Specifically, I love the fry pans, and also think the salt bowl set is very sweet. But let’s be real, I would take any of it.

The Perfect Equation (for Granola, anyway)

The perfect granola equations // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler

First, let me apologize for disappearing for a little while. I was laid up in bed with a really terrible cold for most of this week. There was lots of tea, cough drops, movies, tom kha soup, and knitting. But now that I’m back from the land of the ill, let’s talk about granola a little bit.

For a while now, I’ve been making the recipe from Orangette or another friend’s secret granola recipe. And every time I’ve tried to go rogue (aka not exactly following a recipe), my granola ends up too dry, or not sweet enough, or not as crispy as I like it. And I’m not the kind to make the same recipe a thousand times trying to add a teaspoon more of this or up the temperature 13 degrees. It’s not going to happen.

So when I happened upon a granola equation, on Buzzfeed of all places, I immediately wrote it down on a little notepad I’ve started carrying with me wherever I go (can’t recommend that enough). And I’ve used it many times. I’ve made a couple adjustments, and I have a couple of suggestions in terms of which way to lean on some of their more vague instructions, and I want to share it with you.

The Perfect Granola Equation

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

3 1/2 cups grain This is where most people use oats. I use oats. I guess if you want to use barley or whatever, you can.

1 – 1 1/2 cups nuts I’ve been using mostly a mix of whatever I have around. I like half pecans, half sliced almonds, but I’ve also used walnuts.

1 tsp salt

1 – 2 cups seeds I would suggest leaning towards one cup instead of two. Otherwise it can quickly start to feel like you’re eating birdseed. I’ve been mostly using pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds (old habits and all that), but I’m itching to try sesame seeds too.

1 cup coconut If you really dislike coconut, you can go without, but it adds a lovely nutty toasty flavor to the granola that I adore.

Spices You can really add as many as you like, but don’t get too crazy. A teaspoon of cinnamon is always a good place to start, and after that, maybe add a quarter teaspoon of one or two other things. I always use a quarter teaspoon of cardamom, and because it’s the holiday season and I associate nutmeg with the holidays, I’ve been adding a quarter teaspoon of that as well.

1 cup dried fruit I’m personally not a fan of dried fruit in my granola – I’d rather cut in a banana or peach or some berries – but if you are, you can add it after baking. If you’re adding something big like dried apricot or figs (as opposed to something small like dried cranberries or cherries), cut it into a rough dice before tossing it in with the granola.

Wet Ingredients

1/2 – 3/4 cup sweetener I like to do mostly maple syrup, though it can get a little pricy. Sometimes I’ll do half syrup and half honey. Agave is another good option.

1/4 – 1/2 cup oil I used to use solely olive oil – I liked the kind of savory-ness it brought to the granola – but I’ve started doing half olive oil and half coconut oil, and I am a big big fan.

1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add wet ingredients, stir until thoroughly combined and coated. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, and spread the granola on the parchment. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes (unless you like clumpier granola, in which case stir once halfway through). Remove from oven, allow to cool, and enjoy.

Coconut Curried Fried Rice

Fried Rice

Fried rice

Wow. So this recipe happened a long time ago. I’ve recently started rehearsals for a show (my first professional show) in Portland – The Sound of Music! I’m a nun. I know, silly silly. But oh well. So between work, nannying, social media, and rehearsals, I have been a bit fried. Kind of like this rice. So it’s all very fitting.

This rice is easy and delicious. What else do I need to say? I found the recipe on A Cozy Kitchen, a blog I really enjoy. I’ve adjusted it a bit to include things I really like in my fried rice.

Coconut Curried Fried Rice

Ingredients

Turmeric Coconut Rice

1 1/4 cups water
1 cup basmati or jasmine rice
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 piece cinnamon stick

Curry Fried Rice

1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tablespoon green or red Thai curry paste
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
3/4 cup frozen peas
1 can pineapple chunks
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 firm or extra firm tofu, chicken, or other protein (optional)
soy sauce

Instructions

Turmeric Coconut Rice

Combine all ingredients in a rice cooker or a pot and cook. When rice is ready, remove the cinnamon stick and either use immediately or you can refrigerate for a few days until you’re ready to make the fried rice.

Curry Fried Rice

Have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go when you start as the process moves a little quickly. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the eggs and cook on medium-high heat. When the edges of the eggs begin to set, gently flip them over or just scramble them, if that’s easier for you. Once the eggs are cooked, remove them from the pan and cut into pieces or strips (that step isn’t necessary if you scrambled them). Wipe the wok clean with a paper towel.

Heat the rest of the oil on medium heat. Add the carrot and cook for a minute, then add the garlic and curry paste and cook for a minute, stirring constantly. Add the rice, peas, and pineapple and cook until heated through. Stir in the egg strips, soy sauce and lime juice.

Meanwhile, slice up your tofu (or chicken or other protein) and cook it to your liking in some Asian influenced sauces. I like to do a little soy sauce and fish sauce or hoisin sauce… the possibilities are endless.

Serve the rice with the tofu, and season with soy sauce and sriracha if you like it hot!

Granola by Orangette

Granola
Granola

Granola

I am a big fan of homemade granola. I used to not like granola very much. The stuff you buy in the paper bags at the store was just too hard and crunchy for me, and I didn’t like not knowing what all the seeds and dried fruits in it were. This all changed when I had a roommate for a summer who made her own granola. The stuff used to make our entire house smell like heaven for days. It was amazing. So then I started using her secret recipe (secret being the operative word here, otherwise it would be on the blog, trust me) to make my own as well. I added some flax seeds here and some raisins there, and before I knew it, I became a lover of granola.

Remember those salted chocolate cookies I made last week? Well on the same blog, the post before those cookies is a recipe for Olive Oil and Maple Granola. That sounds…um…heavenly. Right? Am I right? You will, especially after I tell you the ingredients. Anyway, so I decided to make it. I love having granola around, it’s another quick alternative to cereal (try this granola with some Greek yogurt and slices of banana).

Olive Oil & Maple Granola

Ingredients

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw hulled pumpkin seeds
1 cup raw hulled sunflower seeds
1 cup unsweetened coconut chips
1 1/4 cups raw pecans, whole or chopped
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup olive oil (plus some for coating the pan)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying it with baking oil or just pouring on a little olive oil and spreading it around.

In a bowl, combine the oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut chips, pecans, light brown sugar, and salt, and mix it all up.  Add the olive oil and maple syrup, and stir until the dry ingredients are evenly and well-coated.

Spread the oat mixture onto your baking pan in one even layer. Put it in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, stirring around every 15 minutes. When it’s done, the granola will be golden brown and toasted. Take it out of the oven (add more salt if you want to, but do a taste check first), and set the pan on a wire rack to cool. If you want to stir in any dried fruit – think cherries, raisins, or cranberries – now’s the time.

The granola will store well in an airtight container. It’s delicious, perfectly sweet, and nutty – try not to eat it too quickly. One great thing about this recipe is that it makes about 7 cups, so plenty of granola to last you at least a couple weeks. Enjoy with some rich greek yogurt!