flour, yeast, rosemary, flour, yeast, rosemary....

This week has been filled with lots of measuring flour, chopping rosemary, crossing my fingers and reading recipes. Five batches of bread later, I think we have a winner :)

Gluten-free rosemary french bread!!

Week Four and Bread Experiments

This week I've taken on the task of creating a gluten-free, olive oil rosemary bread. I have in my head that amazing rosemary bread from Trader Joes, but with the slight alteration of no gluten. Note: If you've never experienced the rosemary bread from TJ's drop everything and go buy a loaf. You will not regret it.

Round one of this challenge went ok, it's kinda dense but the flavor is good. It's kinda like a science experiment, knowing what everything does then knowing how to practically put it all together to create something awesome.

Tomorrow will bring more yeast, new types of flour and hopefully a winning combination of ingredients good enough to send off to the cookbook :) I'm bound and determined.

I think its safe to say that Im keeping Bob's Red Mill in business...

In other news, this week's food of the week is a Pummelo. Has anyone ever tried this guy? Apparently it is the "gentle giant" cousin to grapefruit. I'm still working up the nerve to cut it open, but I'm sure it will be great.

love love love from the cucina

Week Three

Well, here we are- three weeks in and I'm already slacking. On the blog at least...and with taking pictures for the blog....

This week was artichokes- YUM! Now, this might be a slight cheat due to the fact that I've made artichokes once before this week, but I wanted to experiment nonetheless. Quinoa and pasta with artichokes were sprinkled throughout the week ending with a big steamed artichoke to go along with lasagna and bread :)

Since artichokes are pretty, here are some pictures from a little adventure Alex and I went on yesterday. Leavenworth is a cute little town about two hours away, full of bookstores, shops, restaurants, carriage rides and snow. It also happens to be the ultimate food adventure.

Every store you walk in there are samples- who doesn't love samples?! Cheese, chocolate, oil and vinegar and even some free apple cider.

We also went to a little bakery and got a pretzel and "bulverian waffle" which doesn't look anything like a waffle and tastes like a bag of sugar. It was delightful and a completely enchanting little town.

Overall it was a wonderful day and a perfect way to spend saturday. Week four is quickly approaching...Not quite sure what that means, but we shall see :)

You know you are a college student when....

You grate a cheese stick onto your pasta because it's all you have.....

I guess it wouldn't be that hard to just buy a block of cheese?

And the winner for week two goes to...

Lemongrass!!

Who the heck has even heard of lemongrass, let alone cooked with it. Well my friends, I can now say that I am one of the few :)

Lemongrass seems to be following me. It's in every magazine I open, every cookbook I open and even comes up in class. With so much air time I figured it was worth a go...Last night was some sort of curry-lemongrass-stir-fry. It's a long stalky thing, that has to be pounded down then minced into small pieces. It was kinda fun trying to figure out how to chop it and what to do with it.

To be honest, I couldn't really taste it so the next try with it will be a little more obvious :)

In other news, the cookbook is still in action. This week was a mushroom spinach quiche-yum! Here's a picture, but if you want the recipe you're just going to have to wait till we are published :)

love love love from the cucina

Peppers Part Three

With avocados on sale and an intense craving for anything spicy, mexican food was the only obvious thing to eat today. Oh, and the fact that the last pepper was looking awfully lonely in the vegetable drawer.

With a freshly stocked fridge full of veggies, I quickly chopped up some onions, carrots, celery, peppers, and zucchini and dumped it into a huge pot to make some taco soup. Open a can of tomatoes, pull the corn outta the freezer, toss some spices in and bam- taco soup here we come.

And what's taco soup without some chips and quac?

Meg, Al and I all ate dinner together which is always great. Sometimes it's rare that we all sit down, pray as a family and eat at the same time, so Sunday nights are a welcomed calm before the storm. It was great to sit and talk about what we want this quarter to look like and hear about their lives. I'm so blessed to have these wonderful girls in my life :)

Week two of "new food a week" is quickly approaching and I am more than ready. This week will feature an ingredient that I am more than curious about, have no idea what it tastes like, and even less of an idea how to make anything out of it. It should be a great adventure...

love love love from the cucina

Peppers Part Two and Cookbooks :)

So far so good with the peppers. Last night was round two- Enchildadas :)

Before I go any further I feel obligated to throw out a little disclaimer- when cooking with a pepper NEVER touch it then your eyes. It burns.

Ok back to dinner. It was enchilada night (yum) and I decided to fill them with grilled veggies and beans. I cooked up some onion, bell pepper and serrano pepper and stuffed it into the tortilla with sauce and black beans. It turned out way spicier than the stew at the beginning of the week, which was a nice surprise.

In other news, this quarter is in full swing and it's looking up. For the first time I am intentionally taking less credits, feel like I can handle class and have time for fun things. Most recently, I started working with my aunt on a cookbook she's writing. She sends me recipes, I make them and then tell her what I think. This week was gluten-free, sugar-free chocolate chip cookies. Soo good!

I'm excited for what this little project may bring...

Love love love from the cucina

Food of the Week: Serrano Peppers

Were starting the new year off with some spice- literally. I walked past the pepper section yesterday and decided that it is time to experiment with them a little. I love spicey, but have no idea how to cook with a pepper. I did a little research, learning that these bad boys come from Mexico and are used mostly in salsas, ceviche, and chilis.

I stumbled across this recipe that sounded amazing and decided to go for it. I didn't add the olives and didn't have garam masala (which will soon be a food of the week), but besides that stayed pretty true to the recipe, adding a few extra spices. Press On for eight hours and add a little Naan and waahh-laaahhh.

New to the Conklin cucina is my favorite Christmas present: the crockpot :) There are many meals to come in the little guys.

Love love love from the cucina

Resolutions

I'm back. I'm back and feel as if I should have a clever reason for my months of silence and an even better reason for my return. I don't. I'm just back.

I love new years resolutions. The idea of starting fresh is what creates the motivation, but the satisfaction of completing the resolution in December is what makes it worth it. This year they seem to be coming left and right. Probably too many. But the ones that relate to this are as follows:

I am going to find a new food every week and cook with it. Something I've either never tried or never cooked. I think it'll be fun to try new foods and recipes, expand my "go-to foods", and branch out a little. These foods will be chronicled here, therefore creating another goal- to blog more.

Also, in the food category is my new desire to be a vegetarian. I'm not sure how long this is going to last-at least until spring break. I'm just gonna give it a try and see how I feel, how hard it is, and what I think. Being surrounded by the facts in class I feel guilty eating it and frankly don't really like meat that much. Eggs too.

So that, my friends, are a few of the resolutions relating to food. We'll see how it goes. Suggestions welcomed :)