The Rest of the Previous Post...

For some reason, my comments were deleted when I posted the link for the Chocolate Adventure Contest. I entered a couple of years ago in a last minute, spur-of-the-moment decision that unleased a weekend of insanity on my home. Actually had some contact with one of the judges afterwards, who indicated I'd narrowly missed out on placing with the semi-finalists. I was pretty pleased, all things considered. It was my first contest. Had good intentions last year, but let time get away from me. This year, with the cupcake theme, I've been consulting with my wife, Gina. She's more of a baker than I am. I've got three working recipes. Just have to get ingredients together and start baking. I'm going to be tormenting my coworkers with a lot of cupcakes in December, I suspect. Contests are fun, and what do most people have to lose. Might get lucky and win some prizes...

The Chocolate Adventure Contest!...

Blackberry Lemonade...

...is really tasty! Ran across a recipe for it a couple of days ago. We had a jar of fresh squeezed lemon juice (from a SoCal friend's lemon tree...she shipped us a box earlier this year) in the freezer and some blackberries, and I just had to make some. Thoroughly muddled blackberries, water, lemon juice and simple syrup, mint optional. Yummm...

I Realized the Other Day...

...while viewing the changes a friend had just made in her blog's layout that this blog didn't really feel like it fit me that well anymore. I wanted to use it. Meant to. And yet I wasn't. So I've decided to change things. The whole "Sun Bear" thing just doesn't work for me. It'll just be my kitchen from now on. I love to eat and cook food from all over the world. I'll be wandering far-and-wide here, I hope, looking into food that interests me. Feel free to come along, to drop by and break bread with me. We'll explore foods both familiar and new. Food is something that we can all share with one another. Food defies man's foolish boundaries...

Who Would Have Thought...

...a well-browned two-egg omelet with onions, pickled banana peppers, some hot sauce, and garlic-and-chive hummus all rolled up in a flour tortilla would make such a tasty sandwich?

Late Night Cookies!...

Gina almost always makes the cookies in our home (as well as the cakes, brownies, and fudge). Her gingersnaps are to die for. Tonight, though, was one of those rare occasions where I decided to bake a batch of cookies. Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies, to be exact. And they were GOOD!

I found a recipe for them online a while back, but we never got around to making them. Tonight seemed like a good night for it. Here's our adaptation of the recipe...

CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE COOKIES

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1½ cups sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2-ounce bar unsweetened chocolate, melted
2½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream shortening and cream cheese together.

Add sugar and mix well.

Add milk, vanilla, egg and melted chocolate and mix well.

Add dry ingredients in thirds until well blended.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Haven't Been Blogging...

...for months now. I just didn't feel like it. Its been a rough year. I had bouts of pneumonia and pleurisy, and shingles. Perenially tired. Financial worries. PTSD issues that I'd managed to dodge for quite some time caught up to me. Things are looking a bit better now, and I'm feeling happier and a lot more optimistic than I have in a long time.

We'll be moving down into the Portland Metro area at the end of the month. That'll take a big chunk of time off my daily commute, plus save on wear-and-tear on the car and fuel. We expect to cut our rent by several hundred dollars a month, which will translate into paid-off bills and money in savings. We'll also have much easier access to services for our son, friends, shopping, and entertainment. The breadth of ingredients available in Portland is awesome, and being closer will be great. There's a huge variety of restaurants, as well.

I've done a lot of cooking and eating and shopping for food over the last six months. I'll write about some of it in the weeks to come.

I Got High Marks Tonight...

...for dinner, from my wife! It was a Mediterranean trio of dishes influenced by the Islamic kitchen: an Andalusian-style stew of chicken with extra-virgin olive oil, flat-leaf parsley, garlic, crushed peppercorns, sliced lemons and cinnamon; roz bil shagria (better known to us as rice-a-roni) flavored with chicken stock, onions and flat-leaf parsley; and a salad of shredded zucchini with raisins, toasted pine nuts, garlic and dried mint, tossed with extra-virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice. It was good. And I've been told I'll be making it again...

A Chilly, Wet Evening...

Warm and filling seemed a good choice. I made a big pot of Iranian bean-and-noodle soup. A thick pot of white beans and egg noodles, onions, turnips and Swiss chard, flavored with fresh scallions, cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, and tarragon, along with a little turmeric. A little yogurt, at the end, to add a little creaminess. It was just what was called for on a night like this. The tarragon was a substitution for fresh dill, and it seemed a good choice, as the Iranians use an anise-flavored basil.

Pasta with Seasoned Butter...

The "simple" theme is still in place. Tonight, we had a simple dish of pasta, cheese mini-ravioli, tossed in a seasoned butter sauce and topped with a little more grated Parmesan cheese...

PASTA WITH SEASONED BUTTER

1 pound pasta, cooked according to package directions
Seasoned Butter Sauce -

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 small shallots, peeled and minced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• A pinch of dried sweet basil
• A pinch of cayenne pepper
• Salt, to taste
• A spoonful of the water from cooking the pasta

Grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions.
2. About 8-10 minutes before the pasta has finished cooking, melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the extra-virgin olive oil.
3. When the butter and oil are hot, add the minced shallots and garlic, sage, black pepper, sweet basil, and cayenne pepper and stir, to mix well. Begin sauteing everything, stirring periodically. Reduce the heat to medium-low if the shallots and garlic are browning to quickly.
4. When the pasta is finished, add a spoon of the cooking water to the sauce and stir well.
5. Drain the pasta well and add to the seasoned butter. Toss thoroughly and serve, topping individual servings with the grated parmesan cheese. Makes 4-8 servings, depending on appetites.

Cooking Dinner (KISS Method)...

Gina's not feeling well, but neither am I, so dinner needed to be something simple. Here's what I came up with. I listed the onion as optional because I forgot to cut it up and put it in the stew...lol. Thing is...we didn't miss it. Include it if you want, but it was still super-flavorful and savory without it.

EASY SOUTHWESTERN-STYLE BEEF AND HOMINY STEW

1½-2 pounds beef round steak, thinly sliced across the grain
8 cups canned, drained hominy
1 27-ounce can mild green chilies, chopped
2 14.5-ounce cans petite diced tomatoes
1 large onion, peeled and chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 cups beef stock
1 cup dry red wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Grated Cheddar, Monterey jack, or jalapeno jack cheese, for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a large pot or Dutch oven, mix well, and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until the meat is tender, 45-60 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Garnish individual bowls of stew with grated cheese. Serve with hot, buttered flour tortillas.

Easy Creamy Thai Pumpkin & Coconut Milk Soup...

I'm sick and Gina's ankle's been hurting pretty badly. Yes, we're a fine pair right now...lol. So meals have been SIMPLE. Today is drizzly and gray, a day for soup. And between the two of us, we put together this soup, made mostly from cans, some of the sweet soy sauce and curry pastes I've always got hanging around, and some basics...onions, garlic, ginger, etc. Its quite yummy, not very traditional (from what I can tell...most Thai recipes leave the pumpkin in cubes), and we're serving it with toasted bagels...but it'll hit the spot. Good, comforting, and quick.

EASY CREAMY THAI PUMPKIN AND COCONUT SOUP


2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, peeled and minced
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 1-inch piece of fresh or frozen ginger root, peeled and grated
2 tablespoons Mussaman curry paste
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce, or to taste
2 tablespoons palm sugar or brown sugar
6 kaffir lime leaves
1 30-ounce can pumpkin
1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Sriracha hot sauce, to taste

• Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or other large pan over medium heat.
• Add the minced onions and garlic, grated ginger, and curry paste to the pan.
• Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, or until the mixture becomes aromatic.
• Add the stock, sweet soy sauce, sugar, and lime leaves to the pot. Bring to a boil.
• Add the pumpkin and stir until fully integrated. Return to the boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer 10-15 minutes.
• Add the coconut milk and stir to mix. Bring nearly to the boil.
• Season to taste with salt, freshly ground black pepper and hot sauce. Serve.

Makes 6 good-sized servings.

Satiated...

I love good gyros, schwarma and doner kebab, but reproducing them at home...well, that's another story. Gina was wanting some meat today, and when I dropped by the grocery store, there were a couple packages of very thinly sliced beef top round on sale (30% off). I snatched them up. I coated the meat with my Turkish-style baharat, and marinated it in a simple mix of vegetable oil, onion, garlic and a little salt, that I put through the food processor 'til it was almost liquified. Sadly, it was too late in the day to cook the meat on the grill (I just couldn't work up any enthusiasm for grilling in the dark), but it cooked quickly and well in the electric skillet, with just a little bit of oil. We ate the meat in pita bread, with shredded cabbage, and a sauce I made from labnah (a tasty, sour Arab cream cheese, made from yogurt), tahini, garlic, cilantro and flat-leaf parsley, and some spices. The sauce was tasty to begin with, but really made the sandwiches pop. We are very pleasantly full...dinner was sooo good!...and we have enough left over for another meal.

Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year...

I shot my wife several options for tonight's dinner. She picked out the one that sounded best: tangerine beef. We used to get tangerine beef at a restaurant in Agua Fria, back when we lived in the San Bernardino Mountains. Orange chicken has always paled in comparison. Very thinly sliced, tender beef stir-fried (no crunchy batter here) in a not-too sweet sauce redolent of tangerines and a bit spicy with chilies. I found a recipe we thought looks good. I'll also fix some green beans stir-fried in a soy sauce-, garlic- and sesame-based sauce, and some sticky rice. Should be good.

Beef Rendang...

When it comes to their cooking, the Minangkabau of Sumatra are known for a dish called Rendang. I cooked up a batch tonight. Chunks of beef cooked for hours with coconut milk, a spice paste (made from shallots, garlic, fresh galangal, ginger and turmeric, dried Ancho and New Mexico chilies, toasted coconut and spices - nutmeg, coriander, cumin, black pepper and allspice), lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, daun salam leaves, and cinnamon sticks, until the sauce has almost completely evaporated, leaving a thick and luscious coating on the tender cubes of meat.

To accompany it, I cooked up some rice and made a batch of salad, acar. Shredded cabbage, carrots, cucumber, and onions tossed with a simple dressing of vinegar, water, sugar, salt and fresh ginger. Very tasty stuff.

Necessity is the Mother...

...of invention. Its one of those weeks where we are poverty-stricken a couple or three days before payday and we are having to work with what we've got in the cupboards and fridge. So...

I made a lovely red salsa this afternoon...tomatoes, onions, garlic, some of the juice from a partial can of chiles chipotle en adobo and some additional smoked paprika, red wine vinegar, and some of my homemade chile powder. We were out of hot sauce, which is a veritable crisis in our household.

I've got enough dough proofing to make (according to the recipe) about thirty homemade flour tortillas. Running out of tortillas is BAD around here...and homemade really are so much better than storebought. And we have a big batch of my homemade beans. With the tortillas, life will be good.

Some oven-baked steak fries tossed in olive oil and a simple rub of mine are finishing in the oven right now. We're going to top 'em with some cheddar cheese.

We often do some of our best cooking just before payday. Lol...

A Need to Simplify...

I started out with good intentions opening multiple blogs: My Den (for personal stuff, humor, etc), Kitchen (cooking, obviously), Garden (plants, obvious again), Training Hall (for my martial arts practice), and one for my interest in political, social, economic and environmental issues.

The first one to fold was the last one I listed. I absorbed it several months ago into The Sun Bear's Den. Since then, I opened another blog with Jonty Kershaw entitled Footsteps Along the Jade Road. In concert with my increased martial activity and the waning of the growing season, my blog, The Sun Bear's Garden, has been sitting idle. Its just too many blogs, so I am going to absorb it into my Kitchen and Den blogs: issues of growing food going to the Kitchen, other gardening issues moving into the Den.

Kebabs and Brats...

We just finished a really tasty Turkish dinner of adana kebabi and cacik on pide, with a side dish of patates bastisi. The kebabs are simple - ground beef flavored with a kofte spice mix (paprika and cayenne, black pepper, cumin, oregano and mint) and more mild-to-medium ground chile pepper, held together with egg whites. The cacik is that familiar Middle Eastern salad of yogurt, grated cucumber, mint and garlic. In this instance, I made it with labneh, the rather sour, creamy Middle Eastern cheese, which really took it up to another level. A whole-wheat pide bread was a great foil for the two. Patates bastisi is a baked dish of potatoes, onions, garlic, olives, parsley and tomatoes flavored with olive oil, vinegar, oregano, and cumin. We are nice and sated.

The other night, we had beer-soaked bratwursts on whole wheat buns, with quick-pickled onions flavored with dill, and some lovely boxty cakes, or patties, made with mashed potatoes, cabbage, scallions and bacon and pan-fried 'til nice and brown. Good comfort food. Gina and our son have both decided brats are a new favorite.