Mussels in Thai Red Curry Sauce

I love Thai curries, especially when mussels are slowly cooked in them and I have tons of crusty bread to use as a sauce vehicle. To satisfy one of these cravings a few weeks ago, I found a simple recipe on Epicurious and went with it. Mussels are cheap, seem fancy, and are ridiculously easy to cook, so it's a triple bonus!

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Ciabatta (Take 2)

I finally procured another jar of yeast from the store and, learning from my previous mistakes, immediately put it in the fridge. Those little buggers won't die on me this time!

First up with my KitchenAid is my favorite kind of bread for sandwiches: ciabatta. Having used my KitchenAid, I can't even imagine those dark ages when I actually had to knead the bread by hand for 10 minutes. The horror! All joking aside though, the KitchenAid is amazing! You literally just turn it on and walk away (keeping an eye on it of course). I think that housewives of the 1600s would have literally imploded upon hearing of this.

The ciabatta didn't come out exactly as I would have liked it; it was a bit thicker with less air pockets than in previous times. I probably need to get used to making bread in the KitchenAid.

Keep in mind that this bread starts with a sponge, so it takes over a day to make. Start ahead of time. It's super easy though, even without a KitchenAid.

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Ribollita

Ribollita is a Tuscan soup that is loaded with veggies and thickened with bread. There are three different kinds of greens. Three! Not to mention the rest of the vegetables - perfect for a cold wintry night at home.

The soup has to simmer for a few hours to really blend all the flavors, so it's more of a weekend soup than a weeknight one. One recipe makes 8-10 servings, so we froze much of it. I had some of the frozen leftovers for lunch today (2 weeks later) and it was still great!

If you follow the recipe exactly, it calls for dried beans which adds another day to the cooking process; if you want to cheat like me, just use 2 cans of beans instead.

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Fish Tacos

Swai was on sale at the store recently so, having never tried it before, obviously I bought a metric ton. According to Seafood Watch, Swai is a farmed river catfish and is more ecologically responsible than other white fish species. It's very similar to tilapia, if not a tad more fishy. We liked it but didn't love it. And now we have 3 more tupperwares of it in the freezer. It will be conquered!

Tacos are the perfect thing to make with simple white fish. We make them relatively often; this time, we breaded and broiled the Swai instead of grilling or pan-frying it. Don went for a double-dip bread method to get the crunchiest crust possible. It worked beautifully.

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Christmas 2010 - Spiced Nuts

I spent this Christmas with my husband's family and I wanted to give each in-law something simple but delicious. I got the idea for homemade spiced nuts from one of my food blogs and decided to go with it. I found adorable glass containers with green lids at World Market, filled them with the nuts, then used baker's string and little cardboard tags to create a no-fuss "wrapping." Easy and elegant!

The chipotle and rosemary spiced nuts combine herby with smoky with sweet in a perfect balance. They are amazing. Ina Garten has done it again!

If you aren't making Christmas gifts anytime soon (and if you are you're weird), these are highly recommended for any party. Serve them warm or cool; they are delicious either way.

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Branching Out, v3.0 - Oxtail!

I know Bourdain would be disappointed in how dirty this bowl looks. Whatevs.

I found a recipe for Oxtail Ragù, and figured that even though I've never cooked oxtail myself, it couldn't be that crazy. I love pho and oxtail is a main ingredient of the broth. The fatty marrow adds tons of flavor when you slowly braise the oxtails in a broth or sauce.

I have to admit that this recipe didn't turn out to be my favorite. We found it to be way too fatty with not enough meat, but the good news is that it can be solved. I suggest that instead of just skimming the fat while still hot, let the sauce cool for a while then skim the fat layer. Furthermore, make sure that you're getting good, meaty oxtails from the butcher. I bought mine at a local Asian supermarket and wasn't really paying attention to the amount of meat on each bone. We were disappointed with what we got.

I don't regret trying out the oxtails and will certainly cook with them in the future, provided that I can obtain bigger ones.

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Whoops

Sorry everyone who reads this blog through an RSS feed - you may have accidentally just seen a post with a bunch of random pictures. I was testing some html and accidentally published! I deleted the page but it still showed up in my google reader.

My bad.

KitchenAid

OMG I am the worst blogger ever, it's been almost a month! Don't hate me. It's not you, it's me.

I promise I will have more recipes in the coming weeks, but for now I just want to brag about my Christmas present from Mom and Dad: a KitchenAid!!

Isn't she beautiful? Pistachio, too! Matches my kitchen almost scarily.

I haven't cooked with her yet but I promise you'll know as soon as I do. First up on the list is ciabatta bread. I actually started it tonight but the yeast that has been in the cupboard too long is decidedly dead. My bad on the whole "refrigerate after opening" thing. So once I procure some yeast from the store, we will try again.

Until next time, friends! Happy New Year!!!