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By BakedOuttaMyMind, March 3, 2014 1:18 pm

I am always on the lookout for new dishes to try out and/or tweak.  Enter the Peruvian Quinoa Stew.  I went out to dinner with a friend and I was just craving a nasty, crappy burger.  My friend, Craig, tries to be healthy whenever he can be (he trains at a Krav Maga gym and is a total beast;)), so he orders the PQS, a vegetarian dish.  It comes out, it looks great. I ask him how it is and his response is “meh…” I always find this answer to be a challenge to taste the food myself, so I dig in.  “Meh…” was an understatement.  The flavor was just so bland.  There was nothing there.  Don’t get me wrong, it was definitely edible (as i proved by eating my double bacon cheeseburger AND finishing his stew off), but it still left something to be desired.  I decided to make it a plan to reinvent the PQS. Plus, it gave me another chance to cook with quinoa.  I was still warming up to it back then.  I hadn’t really been sold on the idea of this little grain since you have to season the shit out of it to make it taste less like cardboard filler.  I have since grown to accept it as a necessity in my pantry and I really enjoy it in stews, soups, salads, and toasted in granola. Hopefully, if you haven’t had any luck with quinoa, this will change your mind! ENJOY!!

PERUVIAN QUINOA STEW
YIELDS 5-6 QUARTS OF STEW
INGREDIENTS:

1C Quinoa, uncooked
2C water
1 Sweet Onion, diced
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
3 Celery Ribs, sliced in 1/4in thick slices
2 Carrots, sliced in 1/4 in thick slices
1 Orange Bell Pepper, diced
1 Summer Squash, cubed
1 Zucchini, cubed
1-28oz can Diced Tomatoes, undrained
1/2C Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped
2C Kale, chopped
1C Sweet Kernel Corn
3tsp Cumin
1tsp Chili Powder
2tsp Coriander
1tsp Crushed Red Pepper flakes
1-48oz Chicken Stock
4C water
Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil.  Add quinoa and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook until almost all liquid is absorbed (about 12 mins). Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large stock pot or Dutch Oven (about 6-8 qts), saute onions, garlic, carrots, bell pepper, and celery in 2T of oil.  When onions start to appear clear and are tender to the touch, add tomatoes and their liquid, chicken stock, water, zucchini and summer squash.  Return to a simmer and cook until squash is fork tender, but still firm. Add Kale and corn.  Return to a simmer.

This is when you need to taste the stock and make sure the flavors are there.  Season accordingly, until a desired flavor is reached (You should be able to just taste the cumin and coriander and there should be a gentle after-heat from the crushed red pepper flakes).  Add the quinoa.  Continue to simmer until the quinoa has absorbed some of the liquid and has thickened the stock (about 10 mins). Serve hot or store in freezer. Mine just doesn’t seem to stay there very long

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By J.Ho, December 22, 2013 6:42 pm

I haven’t been doing anything with this site for who knows how long.  Luckily my lovely friend Leigh from Beverly has been adding some recipes served up with her dazzling personality.

A lot has happened in my life over the past two years.  Some truly great and amazing things and some not.  I’ll be updating content in the near future while revamping the underlying infrastructure.

There still seems to be a lot of web traffic here.  Quite a bit from California and eastern Massachusetts.  Particularly the Mass north shore and an alarmingly large amount of visits from Hamilton!!! What’s that all about?

Stay tuned …

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By BakedOuttaMyMind, December 11, 2013 6:46 pm

This dish has become a staple in our family for Christmas morning breakfast.  It is just one of the best things and actually, the REAL reason I get excited for Christmas morning.  Yup.  I’m a fat kid.  I love me some custardy stuff.  It isn’t just for breakfast, either.  Essentially, it is a bread pudding.  Whatever you add to it (Or, in our case, whatever time of day you eat it), is really what determines its nature.  I’m actually going to make it for the restaurant as a dessert using a favorite holiday treat as an additive (I’ll post more on that when I cross that bridge…).  This serves about 4-6 normal people (3 in my house.  My bro-in-law and I are custard junkies), so you may want to double or triple the recipe if you plan on having seconds Picture will be posted at a later date, since I can’t seem to find it :/

CROISSANT PUDDING

INGREDIENTS:

• 2-large eggs
• 2/3C sugar
• 2C milk (preferably whole)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4-large croissants (preferably day old) torn into large pieces

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 300*.  Lightly butter shallow baking dish.  Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, milk and salt until combined.
• Add croissants, toss to coat and let sit to absorb liquid (about 10 mins).
• Pour mixture into baking dish and smooth with spatula.
• Bake until pudding has puffed up and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (about 40-50 mins).  Cool at least 10 mins before serving.

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By BakedOuttaMyMind, December 11, 2013 6:17 pm

I have recently made this recipe for the restaurant.  I know what you’re thinking.  And the answer is: YES.  She WAS that good of a baker and her goods mesmerized people all around us.  This time, I made the carrot cake without nuts, and served it with a mascarpone whipped cream frosting,  Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream, drizzled with Spicy Caramel Sauce and dusted with ground nutmeg. Some people just don’t dig on the carrot cake, usually.  But not this one.  I had numerous people who usually HATE carrot cake say that they loved it and would never have even tried it because of the horrible monstrosities that they have experienced with others before; frosting that was too sweet, dryness of the cake (which is the ultimate sin in all of baking), and the number one complaint about previous ventures, the “weird textures,” which included the addition to nuts in the cake.  I totally get that.  I hate nuts in my cake.  I’m eating something soft.  Why should that have to compete with a totally different medium of texture like a nut?! Kinda ruins the whole experience in my mind. I never let my mom know that I hated them.  I just picked them out, or just ate them. Until I got older and started to help her bake. Then I found my voice. We would make one with nuts, and one without. Yup.  My mommy spoiled me Now go spoil yourself with this recipe

CARROT CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

• 2C AP Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1-1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Kosher Salt
• 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 2C Granulated Sugar
• 1-1/2C Canola Oil
• 4 Large Eggs
• 2C Raw Shredded Carrots
• 1 20oz can Crushed Pineapple, drained. (applesauce can also be used in place of the pineapple)
• 1/2C chopped Walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350* and grease 9’9″ pan
• In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
• In a large bowl, beat together eggs, sugar, canola oil until well combined.  Add carrots and pineapple.  Add flour mixture and combine thoroughly.
• Pour batter into greased pan and bake for 1 hour, or until top is browned and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for about 30 minutes before cutting.  Also freezes well.