Ginger-maple-paprika walnuts, and back to the basics with my Hurricane Sandy supplies.

Ever roasted your own nuts before? It is well worth the minimal effort. I made walnuts and ginger roasted with maple syrup and paprika. There is no set ingredient amounts. I put as many walnuts as I've got and as much chopped ginger as I have together, then pour enough maple syrup over it to coat it. Add paprika to taste. Or garlic. Or both. This time I just went with paprika.

Coat a baking pan with olive oil, then spread out the ginger/nuts so that they're one layer thick. Roast at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Take them out, get them off the pan (or they WILL stick), and try them as soon as they're cool enough to pop into your mouth.



With a hurricane, you never know how long you're going to be without power. I wasn't at any point, fortunately. Nonetheless, I am stocked up with lots of dry foods and long-lasting staples, just in case.

For lunch: Ramen (beef flavored, I know, its cheating, but it makes very good hurricane food as long as you've got a source of clean water). I avoided the salt bomb by cooking it in too much water and pulling the noodles out of the flavored water, and made it pretend to be healthy by adding sun-dried tomatos and avocado. It actually came out really well. I'm going to try chopping the tomatos a bit smaller next time.

This evening: Sliced potatoes and onions fried with diced ginger and scrambled eggs. Definitely back to the basics with this one.

Grilled Cheese and Beer Tasting

Grilled Cheese and Beer tasting: I owe you all an apology. I forgot to bring a copy of the menu home with me. It was amazing.



The night opened with Manouli with Arugula and honey, on some sort of sourdough. It was paired with a ginger-honey beer whose name escapes me. It was also truly excellent.Interestingly, the bread was toasted but without the cheese, which was added later. It made it a bit messy to eat, as the cheese was really crumbly.

Course two was some sort of danish goat cheese with asparagus on a bread that I forget but had enough flavor to stand up to the toppings. The beer was the Tenacious Traveler Shandy and was very good.

Course three was the most traditionally American Grilled Cheese of the evening. It was steak with some sort of cheddar on rye. It tasted like your good-old-fashioned-right-off-the-grill grilled cheese. The beer was an Ommegang Rare Vos. This was the bitterest beer of the evening, and was very good if you like bitter beer.

The fourth course was the best grilled cheese of the evening was a triple-brie with granny smith apples and pear chutney on pumpkin bread. It was paired with Dogfish Head Pumpkin Ale. Wow. Just Wow.

The final course was dessert and not technically grilled cheese - it was a Danish bread pudding with cherries, and an I-forget-what-but-very-sweet dessert beer. Very good. I admit that I'd have liked another serving of the triple brie for dessert, but it was pretty good nonetheless, and one of the better bread puddings I've had.


Overall, the evening was spectacular. I have never had such pinkie-finger-up grilled cheese. I will definitely go again, and highly encourage you to be inventive with your grilled cheese.

Slow Cooker Oatmeal

Recipe: modified from http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=229493

Disclaimer: All measures are approximate.

4 granny smith apples, cored, peeled and cubed.
A handful of walnuts (A bit less than a cup)
A handful of raisins
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tsps cinnamon
A dash of nutmeg
4 cups oatmeal (I used standard old-fashioned Quaker brand)
5 cups water
2 cups milk




At the bottom of the slow cooker pot, place (the order specified is the order I used):
 - apples
 - raisins
 - walnuts
 - brown sugar
 - maple syrup
 - cinnamon
 - nutmeg

On top of all that, put the oatmeal. DO NOT STIR! (Having not made this recipe before I don't know why not, but the original recipe is emphatic about that. Therefore, I will be too.)

Pour in the water and milk. The liquid should come to just above the top of the oatmeal.

Turn on the slow cooker on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours (overnight). The recommendation is to try this once before doing it overnight, so you have a better idea of cooking time for your personal slow cooker.



UPDATE:
It came out like slow-cooker apple pie with an oatmeal crust. It is wonderful. I will definitely make this for breakfast again someday, once I finish this batch. There's a lot and I'd recommend halving the recipe and using a smaller slow cooker if you're doing it for yourself. I'll be eating this all week.

Double Update: It freezes well, and I ate it all month. Definitely a smaller batch for one person.

Introduction

I like to cook. I don't follow directions very well. This works wonders and horrors, usually not at the same time. Please note that any measures on here are approximate unless I specifically say "I actually measured this".


This is a place to keep track of things I've tried, and how they turn out.