Coming out of the (Pantry) Closet

There's something I need to tell you. It's been weighing on me for a while now and I haven't really known what to do about it. I've tried so hard not to let it show but I think I've just been in denial, trying to hide what's going on when everyone probably knows already and has just been waiting for me to own it.

So I guess this is it. OK, deep breath. Here goes:

This isn't a knitting blog that occasionally mentions food. I've tried to keep the focus on knitting but it's just too hard. I take a picture of the sweater that I'm working on, but all I can think of is how pretty the Guyanese Channa looks in the cute little bowl my sister gave me for Christmas one year. Instead of figuring out how best to show the socks I've almost finished, I'm trying to decide which plate to use to feature the slow cooker black beans I made earlier this week.

God help me, I'm even starting to plate my food specifically so I can take a picture of it. I'm even thinking about making bread again, just so I can post a picture of it on this here blog!

So now my secret is out. From this day forward, at least until something else comes along to distract me, this is a food blog that occasionally mentions knitting. Oh, and the other shiny pretty things that come along now and again.

There. I feel so much better. Don't you?

Front Accomplished

I'm starting to get busier now, so the days of sleeping in, sipping a nice long cup of coffee, and spending the morning surfing the internet are becoming less frequent. I'm spending more time doing finishing work for the store and I'm starting to pick up some other projects so I'm having less time to knit.

I did, however, manage to finish the front of the 4-3-2 ribbed pullover from the Winter '05 Interweave Knits.

This here's without the flash . . .
And this one is with the flash.

The true color lies somewhere between these two pics.

This is the original pattern. The yarn I'm using, Uruguay Chunky, is a slightly bigger gauge, but it's a merino so it pulls in more. I think the end result will be the same, and I'm liking the look of the ribs with a firmer yarn.

I hope to finish this in time for it to be of use for the season. I have a feeling there's still time. I don't think the worst of winter is behind us yet here in Chicago.

Of course, if I'm wrong that will make me very, very happy.

You're Breaking My Back

Thanks to Jessica, there's a new Surprise link on the sidebar.

So you know who to thank . . .

All Chickpeas, All the Time

If your math's good, you will have noticed that there were still about 2 cups of unused chickpeas still left from the original 4+ cups that I had to Do Something with after I used 2 cups for the Guyanese Channa I wrote about yesterday. If it's not then you, like me, were strongly encouraged to take a remedial math class before taking any required math courses in college.

Ah well. Now that I knit, I'm learning all the math I never learned in school. Who knew?

Where was I? Oh yeah, the chickpeas.
Because I had such a plethora (god, I Iove that word) of chickpeas, I didn't want to make yet another main dish. My chickpea tolerance is actually fairly low and I've only recently developed enough of a taste for them to be able to eat them in their whole form instead of disguised as hummus or felafal. I was looking for something different--something light, which is oddly oxymoronic for chickpeas, I think most people would agree.

Since I didn't really know what I wanted, I decided to surf online rather than going through my cookbooks. I went to Allrecipes.com, a good resource when I have an ingredient in mind and I'm looking for new ideas of what to do with it. I searched through the chickpea recipes and found this recipe for Roasted Chickpeas.

I have to admit right off the bat that I played with the spices. I added chili powder and I think it was a good addition.

The only thing I didn't do right is that I didn't cook it quite long enough. I had trouble keeping my oven at 450 deg. As a result, most of the chickpeas didn't dry out completely so they're a little chewy.

Even so, they came out really tasty. I plan to make these often--they make a great grab-by-the-handsful snack. And healthy too! And it tastefully (tee-hee) solves the problem of what to do with the rest of the chickpeas whenever I cook them up.

Guyanese Channa

When I cooked the chickpeas for the lentil curry, I put the rest of them in the fridge and figured I'd do something with them later. Well, a week passed and all of a sudden I had to Do Something with them right away, or throw them out. I'm getting a little tired of my standby chickpeas simmered in tomatoes and rosemary, so I've decided to take that dish out of rotation for a while.

So what to do with the 4+ cups of cooked chickpeas before they're no longer fit for human consumption?
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Guyanese Channa. It's also in the Lean Bean Cuisine cookbook I went through at my brother's house. I copied it because I love Channa Masala and thought this might be similar. Of course, it's nothing like, but it's delicious nonetheless.

It doesn't take too long to make. You have to mash the peas against the side of the pan as you're cooking them, though, so you really get a workout. The whole time I was mashing them, my mantra was "These better be worth it." They most definitely were.

The only tomatoes I had on hand were a can of diced, so I spooned out what looked like a tomato's worth. I also had to add some of the liquid as I was mashing the chickpeas because it was getting really dry.

I will definitely be making this again.

Home Cookin 4.9 Chapter: Beans and Vegetables

Guyanese Channa

1-1/2 Tbsp. oil
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 tomato, cored and chopped
4 scallions, finely chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. canned or cooked chick peas, drained

Heat oil in saucepan and add pepper, tomato, and scallions. Cook over med. heat 5-7 mins. Blend in seasonings and cook 1 min. more. Stir in chickpeas and cook app. 10 mins., mashing peas against side of pan while they cook.

Transfer to a serving plate and serve hot.

Serves 4

from Lean Bean Cuisine: Over 100 Tasty Meatless Recipes from Around the World, by Jay Solomon (Prima, 1994)

Lentil Curry with Potatoes, Carrots, Spinach, and Chick-peas

I love Indian food, but it's been difficult for me to master all of the subtle intricacies of the spices and textures. As a result, I've resigned myself to enjoying it when eating out, but I rarely attempt it at home any more.

So when I first saw this recipe I was reluctant to try it. It had Indian written all over it. But I had just discovered this smoked Spanish paprika at my local spice shop and was eager to try it in as many recipes as I could find. So I decided to try it anyway.

And it was so worth it. This dish has just the right blend of spices--they're strong and you know that they are there, but they don't overpower (which is the problem I usually have when I try to cook Indian food at home). I was worried that the two serrano peppers would make it too spicy, but the combination of the other ingredients and spices mellows out the heat.

It looks a little intimidating because of the number of ingredients, but a lot of them are the spices. It's not something you can throw together in a half hour, but if you feel like cooking and you have a couple of hours it's well worth the effort. And it makes a week's worth of lunches if you're looking for things to take to work with you.

I only made a couple of changes to this recipe:

1. I use 3 Tbsp. of the oil and I omit the butter.
2. Sometimes I'll throw in a half a cup of peas, if I have them in the freezer.

Otherwise, it's really good as it is, especially with brown rice to round out the proteins.

Home Cookin 4.8 Chapter: Soups and Stews

Lentil Curry with Potatoes, Carrots, Spinach, and Chick-peas

2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 Tbsp. butter
2 large or 3 med onions, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 fresh serrano chilies, finely minced
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh ginger
2 tsp. ground coriander
1-1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 qt. water
1 c. red or brown lentils, rinsed
2 large potatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes
4 carrots, cut into 1/2" thick rounds
1 lb. fresh spinach
1/2 c. cooked chick-peas
2 tsp. fresh lime juice

Heat oil and butter in large saucepan over med. heat. Add onions and saute, stirring frequently, 10-15 mins., until onions turn golden brown. Add garlic, chilies, ginger, coriander, cardamom, cumin, turmeric, paprika, salt and pepper. Saute for 2-3 mins. longer, stirring frequently.

Stir in water and lentils. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cook 10 mins. Add potatoes and carrots and simmer 15-20 mins., until potatoes are tender.

Add spinach and chick-peas and simmer for 5 mins. longer. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in the lime juice.

Servings: 4

from The One-Dish Vegetarian by Maria Robbins (St. Martin's Griffin, 2000

I didn't notice until today that yesterday was my 100th post. Looks like I'm here to stay, for what it's worth.

Some Knitting

I hope everyone had a nice President's Day, even those of you who had to work. It sure seems like more people have to work on federal holidays now than in the past. Sucks.

I've mostly been working on finishing lately, but I do have something new to show you:
You may remember the yarn--it started life a couple of weeks ago as the Yoga Wrap designed by Adrienne Vittadini from the winter Vogue Knitting. I had knit about four repeats of the lace pattern when I realized that I just wasn't getting into it, and I didn't like the way the yarn was draping. Then I was looking through the winter Interweave Knits and rediscovered the 4-3-2 Ribbed Pullover. I'm just past the V-neck separation on the front. Here's a closeup:
The actual color of this yarn is between these two shades, but the one above is closer than the closeup. Blues are really hard to capture in artificial light.

This is going pretty fast, and I think the yarn really holds up to this pattern.

Recipe Correction -- Southwestern Black Bean Soup

Ooops. I just discovered a typo on the Southwestern Black Bean recipe in the post below. It should be 1-1/2 c. dried black beans, not the 1/2 c. it previously said.

I have since corrected the post.

I hope this didn't screw anybody up (Lynda).

Southwestern Black Bean Soup

Black bean soup has always been problematic for me. I love black beans, but they don't lend themselves well to just any recipe. I used to think they should be interchangeable with pinto beans, but they're not. They're more firm, so they don't blend into their surroundings quite as well.

I've always liked the idea of black bean soup, but the reality is usually less than the sum of its parts.
And then I found this recipe in one of my brother's cookbooks in Austin. It had all of the usual suspects, so there was little reason for me to believe it would come out any better than my earlier efforts, but I decided to give it a try anyway. And it came out really well.

What's different? The flavors blend together. It's not just black beans surrounded by a flavroed broth. It's soup. Maybe it's just that my taste buds have changed over the years, or maybe it's this recipe. At any rate, I heartily recommend it.

I used my handy dandy super duper hand immersion blender to puree the soup; I just stopped about halfway through.

My only complaint? The fresh jalapeno I used had No. Heat. Whatsoever. Nada. Zip. From now on, I use the pickled peppers that come in the cans (or jars). They're always reliably hot.

Home Cookin 4.9 Chapter: Soups and Stews

Southwestern Black Bean Soup

1-1/2 c. dried black beans, soaked and drained
6 c. water
2 Tsbp. oil
1 large onion, diced
1 green or red pepper, diced
1/2 c. chopped celery
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
2 carrots, diced
3 Tbsp. dry sherry
2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
2-3 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. dried thyme, or 1 Tbsp. fresh
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 c. canned crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. salt
4 scallions, finely chopped

From Lean Bean Cuisine: Over 100 Tasty Meatless Recipes from Around the World, by Jay Solomon (Prima, 1994)

Place beans and water in saucepan and cook for app. 45 mins., reserving 4 c. cooking liquid, and set aside.

Heat oil in saucepan and add onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic and jalapeno. Saute for 7 mins. over med. heat, until vegetables are tender. Add carrots, beans, reserved cooking liquid, sherry, and all of the seasonings except salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 mins., stirring occasionally. tir in crushed tomatoes and salt and cook for 10-15 mins. more.

If you prefer thick soup, puree half in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and return to pan. Add salt.

Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle scallions over the top.

Serves 6.