that's a big sweet potato

Oh, yes. I love me some sweet potatoes. This one came in my CSA box recently, and it was pretty much love at first sight. I took one look at it and thought it was too big to make into just one dish--I'd have to cook it two ways. A friend of mine brought mashed sweet potato with goat cheese mixed in to a dinner party I was at, and it was phenomenal, so I copied her idea, using half of this beast for mashing, and half for tasty sweet potato oven fries. It wasn't a particularly well-rounded meal, nutritionally, but it was delicious and orange.

quinoa carrot top soup

I keep meaning to experiment with quinoa more. I mentioned this to a friend recently as we were grocery shopping together, and she emailed me an interesting recipe for a quinoa carrot top soup. I love soup, and we had just picked up our CSA box with lovely organic carrots inside, so it was easy to motivate myself to make this soup.

Looking at the recipe, I decided that it would probably turn out a bit bland for my tastes, so I added some spices while I was cooking it. It didn't turn out perfectly, but it made for a nice summer soup. I think next time I will experiment with perhaps adding beans or cooked cabbage to this soup as well. The recipe is from this website: http://tonopahrob.com/?p=20

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion - diced
• 4 cups water
• 5 to 6 carrots
• 1 cup carrot tops - washed and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp Better than Bouillon – Beef Flavor or 2 tsp beef bouillon granules
• 1/2 cup quinoa – rinsed well

Sauté onion in olive oil over medium-high heat in 3 quart pot until onions begin to brown. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for approximately 30 minutes.

I made the following substitutions/additions: Instead of the beef bouillon, I used about 3 cups of vegetable broth and 1 of water. I added 1/2 tsp each of turmeric, cumin, and red pepper flakes, as well as two bay leaves. This would probably be very tasty with fresh rosemary and tarragon if you prefer those flavors.

The carrot tops give this soup a really nice fresh taste! It is great for a spring or summer soup, and I plan to perfect it in the future.

garam. masala. cookies.

So, I have been getting better at taking pictures of things while I am cooking/eating/dining/having cheese & prosciutto picnics. But, I fail to write about them. I mean to improve this, and to that aim, I bring you.... Garam masala cookies!

I accidentally bought a ton of garam masala and every time I see it in my spice cabinet, I think "I need to find a way to use that! It's so tasty!" and then promptly forget about it. One day, I came across a photo of vegan garam masala cookies on flickr (is that nerdy? I don't care.) and thought the idea sounded amazing--but, I have difficulties with cookies and thought I better work on making a more traditional butter inclusive cookie before branching out into the vegan cookie territory. So, armed with patience, lots of garam masala, and google, I baked my little heart out just in time for a lovely potluck with friends. I looked at a few recipes and chose my favorite because it recommended browning one stick of butter in a pan before adding it to the mix. I figured you probably can't go wrong there, and I was right.

The dough was delicious. I am not afraid of salmonella--I delight in the childlike pleasure of eating cookie dough... It reminded me of how fun baking cookies can be.

The recipe I used didn't call for rolling the dough in sugar, but I thought it would work nicely. My first batch was made using cane sugar, the second, with turbinado sugar. The turbinado sugar looked prettier but didn't work as well. I'll have to give it another shot sometime soon.

These cookies were, to put it mildly, fantastic. I wasn't expecting them to be so great, but was quite pleased with the results. I'll be holding on to that recipe! As noted on the page where I found this recipe, they are reminiscent of gingersnaps, with a little something extra that you can't quite place.

The recipe can be found at the following link, but I have copied it here for future reference as well. You should probably think about baking these the next time you want something delicious. http://helenabakes.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/garam-masala-cookies/

Garam Masala Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 heaping teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons garam masala
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, one softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375°.

Mix flour, baking soda, salt, garam masala, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a sauce pan, heat 1 stick of butter over medium high heat until completely melted. Keep cooking the butter until it turns a rich golden brown color and begins to take on a warm, nutty smell. This may take up to 6 or 7 minutes. Be careful not to burn your butter! Pour into a heat resistant bowl and set aside for 10-15 minutes.

In yet another bowl (sorry), mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, and softened stick of butter with an electric mixer, adding cooled browned butter gradually until completely combined. Add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, blend until creamy. Slowly add flour mixture and mix, scraping the sides of the bowl to ensure even distribution throughout the dough.

Drop rounded teaspoons of dough on to an ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart and bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges turn slightly brown. Don’t overbake these cookies – they should look almost underdone when you take them out of the oven. Set on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes, then remove from cookie sheet to cool completely.

Yield: 3 dozen cookies.