The B Word

I have a secret - I've been baking. Gasp!!!

The distaste of following measurements and recipes has somehow manifested into an "I adore baking" phase. I have recently been curious to see just how far I can evolve my recipes. Most people experiment with cakes, cookies, etc. Me? I jumped no leaped straight to bread. Bread without a bread machine AND without a cooking thermometer. You are probably wondering if this will be yet another "disaster" recipe post.

Much to my surprise, I made flipping delicious bread and I loved it! My first attempt was Whole Wheat Cinnamon Sugar Bread. I had no clue how to make this and I still managed to tweak the original recipe.

Update: so I had started on this post about a year and a half ago. Lots of life changes took blogging off the radar for more. However, this bread was sooooo good it inspired me for a little while to continue baking other such goodies. 

I am sad to say I didn't save my recipes. But life is an adventurous journey, one fine day I will recreate these gems again!

Here are some pics that I did manage to take of my baking adventures. And as predicted, they didn't last too long. :)

Other bread bakery adventures:

Rosemary cheese buns

Bagels 😨

When East Meets West - leftovers get a make over!

Leftovers can be tedious and more often than not force fed or trashed. I had a bit of a kitchen disaster a few nights ago. I made an Indian dish, Aloo-Methi, which consists of potatoes, fenugreek leaves (fenugreek), garlic, cumin and some other spices. Unfortunately, the "pre-washed" packaged frozen Methi wasn't washed at all. This was discovered after the whole dish was cooked. I took a large bite expecting soft potatoes and tangy fenugreek. What I got instead - a mouth full of crunchy grit. ICK!!

I felt really bad about throwing away those gorgeous bright yellow potatoes steeped in garlic goodness. So, I picked most of them out, rinsed them and set them aside.

A day or two after the fenugreek disaster, I had some left over black beans and no desire to cook (shocking right?!?). The urge to succumb to take out was overwhelming but thank-goodness my brain prevailed!

I ended up with the following creation - Curried potato hash with eggs and cilantro served with a side of frijoles el negro y limon.

Recipe:
2 eggs beaten (with a pinch of salt)
1 small onion diced
2 cups diced Potatoes (pre-cooked with turmeric and garlic)
1.5 cups Black beans (drained and sprinkled with some garlic salt)
1 tbsp rough chopped cilantro
2 tsp Lime juice
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Add lime juice to the garlic salted black beans and set it aside.

Heat a pan on medium heat, add olive oil and 30 seconds later add onions. Cook for 3 minutes until onions are glazed. Add potatoes, mix gently and cook for 5 minutes. Add egg and cook until hash is scrambled. Sprinkle cilantro and let it wilt in the heat. Serve while hot!

Eggs always seem to be my go to when I am low on ideas. They are oh so delicious! :)