D'oh!

Bread dough is a beautiful thing. I love it from start to finish. Just a few ingredients, found in some form all over the world: flour, water, salt - and voila. Add eggs. Add cream. Add butter. Add yeast or baking powder. Add sugar or cardamom or ginger or poppy seeds. Bake it, fry it, boil it.

I have been making bread for many, many years. I am still trying for the perfect white bread, the perfect whole wheat bread [I'm pretty close on this one], and now quinoa bread.

One of my most favorite childhood memories is also one of my first food memories. In Mrs. Bloom's 1st grade class [it was 1980], she gave us the most extraordinary project for the day. Throughout the day we passed around an old-fashioned, glass jar butter-churner and turned a metal crank that slowly turned cream & salt into butter. Someone's mommy was there mixing up a bowl of bread dough that poofed up magically before it was gently transported to the giant oven in the school cafeteria. That afternoon we walked single file down the hall to see the bread come out of the oven.  It was perfectly browned, delicately shaped and looked just like the illustrations of bread in my storybooks. Back in our classroom seats, we were each given a slice of fresh, warm bread, a little scoop of our well-earned butter, and a spoonfull of Mrs. Bloom's homemade strawberry jam - surprise! I can still taste it. I dream of it. I am so thankful for Mrs. Bloom.

Brocolette, Kalamata Olives, Red Bell Peppers

olive oil, S&P. Roasted.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper, cinnamon, red chili flakes

Quinoa Truffle Brownies

This recipe is in  my new quinoa book. They have a good chocolate flavor, but the quinoa flour has that uncooked, chewy texture. I made them again using little tartlet pans instead of a big square. They cooked evenly and had a cake texture but were a little dry. I will continue to experiment with this. A quinoa brownie would be a good thing.

The steak.

I made us some dinner.
It was good.

I bought 2 NY steaks from DD. Always a good choice.
I trimmed all of the fat and pressed them down gently into 1/2" strips.
Kalamata Olives + mushrooms + S&P into food processor until smoothish.
Kosher salt & pepper the steaks and spread the olives onto one side.
Roll the steaks up so there is a core of olive spread & tie around the sides with string.
Heat an iron skillet & lightly brown the outside of the steak by rolling it every minute.
Turn the steaks flat on the pat & put the pan in the oven at 400 for about 10 minutes.

Top with gorgonzola sauce.

I served these with roasted asparagus & red bell peppers.

quinoa flour

My KitchenAid grain mill is terrific! In just a few minutes I have fresh quinoa flour for a fraction of the price. I am keeping a cup or so on hand in a sealed container. Otherwise, it's pretty simple to grind as needed. I found a great cookbook: Quinoa 365 that is loaded with stunning recipes for this grain.

I made qunioa broccoli-cheese soup. It was very satisfying and cheesey. I also need some crunchy texture though, so I ate it with some crackers and it was marvelous. The quinoa is just added for nutrition. I can't say that I noticed its flavor at all.