Israeli Couscous with Cranberries: I like

 For brother EC, who also loves all things starch.

 I like...

Chocolate almost any day of the year (darn it...where did I put my bar?)
Good food at a great restaurant or great food at a hole in the wall restaurant
Any meal cooked by my friend JEL (HINT!)
Girls trips with no children, no husband and no responsibilities (except the responsibility to survive said trip)
Piano practices by daughter free of yelling by mommy
Days of no screaming by children (very very very few and far between)
A good drink with great friends
Warm hugs from husband
Eskimo kisses from children (Son is currently obsessed with this)
The words "please" and "thank you" used properly and OFTEN
Family
and

STARCH.

I am a lover of all things starch.  Brother calls me queen of starch and it's true - I really like and enjoy starch.  I work very very hard at trying not to eat it too often, but when I do eat it, boy does it taste AMAZING.  Daughter #1 loves starch and #2 can actually live without rice, but ADORES this couscous.  Son likes it (minus the cranberries) and I just love it.  The texture of the couscous and the overall play in your mouth as you eat it just cannot be beat.

It is not as easy to make as regular couscous (another favorite of mine) but it is still easy enough to make and throw together the next time you want something deliciously starchy.

Israeli Couscous with Cranberries
Serves 4 (barely enough for my ravenous family)
 
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped (or shallots finely chopped)
1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous (8 oz box from Trader Joes is perfect)
1 large cinnamon stick
1 3/4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup scallions finely chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Juice of one lemon
Olive oil for drizzling (if desired)
Pepper to taste

Add 3 tablespoons of oil to heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cinnamon stick and saute until golden. Add couscous and stir often until couscous browns lightly, about 3 minutes. Add water and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed and couscous is tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add cilantro, scallions, cranberries, lemon juice. Season with black pepper and drizzle with more olive oil if desired.

 

Printable recipe

Oh yes.  I like this.

Vegan Bananadoodle Cookie: On Dreams Interrupted

Many of my female friends are very successful engineers, executives, lawyers, principals, directors, musicians and doctors.  I am surrounded by these high achieving folks and I love them to death.  But the other day, one good friend asked me, "When you're done with the kids, and they are at school, are you going to go back to work?"  Right now, my job is raising Son and Daughters and working the few hours a week that I do with my students.  A full time job it is not.  My full time job of cooking, cleaning, teaching the kids, disciplining, chaueffeuring and yelling, I am able to have because of Husband's support and desire to have me with the children.  But the question is, after they are grown up, more self-sufficient, will I go back to a traditional job?

My regular job of a high school English teacher, the one I worked hard to train for, the one I worked so hard at - I'm not sure.  I loved teaching, but I think the idea of being completely exhausted and unable to handle children after I got home, would not be a good experience for my children.  After teaching more than 200 kids in a day, the last thing I think I might want to see when I got home would be more children.  I don't know how parents who are teachers do it - I know so many that do, but I think I might not be such a good person to be around.

But that is not to say that I don't dream big.  I have a lot of fanciful dreams in my head, of what I might do after the kids are a bit older and I have a bit more time on my hand.  I think of going back to school and studying to get my PhD...as I do love studying and learning.  That is one idea that appeals.  Although taking the GRE again and trying to get my 40 year old brain around all those questions may exclude me from even being able to apply, but again, I dream big.  Maybe, just maybe, my blog will be big enough that I can get a cookbook out of it.  Maybe I'll be able to pursue that full time in that way.  Perhaps I'll have the opportunity to write a children's book (another crazed dream of mine) and find joy (and possibly money) doing that. Perhaps I'll open a business and do something food related, helping families to really cook for themselves and train people how to cook. Perhaps Jamie Oliver and I can do a project together where we go from home to home really getting people excited about cooking.  I'm not sure.  But I like to dream big.

In the meanwhile, I'll run around and do what I like to do the most - try and keep the natives at home happy.  When they are restless and dissatisfied I get restless and dissatisfied, but when they are comfortable and at peace, I find myself very much the same way.  Trying to keep Son and Daughters satisfied was one of the reasons I came up with this recipe.  Son decided that he doesn't like chocolate so the Vegan Banana Oatmeal Cookie was something that he refused to eat.  He asked very politely (VERY politely) for a cookie - and I thought I'd create one for him without chocolate that he could munch on joyfully and happily.  These are deliciously crisp (the day they are out of the oven -less so the following day) with a chewy inside and a lightly banana flavor and a snickerdoodle texture.  I can't even tell that they are vegan on the texture and Son gobbled down 3 in a row.  Daughters who don't need to eat vegan LOVED it and demanded more.

Vegan Bananadoodle
adapted from Tish Boyle's The Good Cookie
Makes 4 dozen

Cookie Dough
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
2 large bananas. mashed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Topping
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or lightly grease.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Using either a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, beat the oil, sugar and molasses at medium high speed until light, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add bananas beating well after addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Scrape down sides of the bowl and beat 30 seconds more. At low speed, add the flour mixture and beat until just blended.

In a bowl, make topping by mixing cinnamon and sugar together.

Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes (or up to a week in the fridge.) Shape the cookie into 1 inch balls (about 1 tablespoon of dough.) Roll each ball into cinnamon sugar mixture to coat completely and arrange balls on the baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Flatten each cookie into a 2 inch disk. Bake cookies one sheet at time, 14- 18 minutes until tops are crinkly and they are puffed and lightly browned around the edges. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

 

Printable recipe

Munching on a few of these while I figure out which of my dreams might come true.

Cucumber Bean Thread Noodle Salad: On cheating

I despise cheaters.  I used to just lose my temper when I discovered students plagiarizing tons of text from the internet and sticking it into an essay or a paper I had assigned.  Even back then, before the massive presence of Google, I was good at catching cheaters.  I would catch them, pull them into my office, talk to them, and give them an "F."  Sometimes they would care, but mostly it didn't really, because the kids who cheated didn't care enough to try harder.

However, I've caught myself cheating recently.  Not in terms of academics, but in terms of potty time with Son.  Now, his potty and all of that stuff is well under control and no longer do we do battle about the porcelain throne.  He has to pee? He goes.  Mostly in the toilet.  Rarely in his pants.  It is huge progress after the weeks of struggle I went through where I wanted to rip out my hair.  There are moments when I catch him doing a crazy potty dance, but even that is somewhat endearing and laughable.

But the big battle now is over WASHING HANDS AFTER the potty.  And these battles are epic as well.  He screams and kicks and claims that water "hurts him" (which is nonsense since he loves to swim and loves his bath) and just doesn't want to do it. Mostly I think it is because he doesn't like the sensation of his hands being wet, but I can't be altogether sure.  One day out of a moment of frustration, I cheated.  I allowed Son to get away without washing his hands.  He had to walk into the bathroom, not touch anything, keep his arms up, and I lifted his entire body up and aimed him appropriately into the toilet.  He kept his arms up in the air and walked out of the bathroom while I washed MY hands.  For the moment it was easier and I breathed a sigh of relief.

But then it became something he always wanted to do - not wash his hands and have me do all the work.  After about 5 times of this, I realized the extreme error of my ways and said that I would not allow him to NOT wash his hands ANYMORE!  We had a few days of battling it out, but now he's gotten better.

But that initial moment where I cheat just felt so easy, but the after moments of the subsequent battles made it clear; cheating is not worth it.

Unless it is this dish.  This is totally a cheating dish. It's cheating because it tastes great with minimal effort.  I am always surprised at how few people know about this that I thought I'd post it.  There is no recipe because simply you just have to julienne a few persian cucumbers to get that ready and then you rip open a bag and pour it over.  My only hesitation about this dish is that the bag that you pour over does have MSG along with a bunch of unpronounceable ingredients, but cheating with this dish, once in a while, is not a bad thing.  It tastes GREAT in the summer with ice cold cucmbers and it is an excellent addition to any grilled meats.  It is sweet, vinegary and refreshing with cucumbers.

Cucumber Bean Thread Salad Process

First, buy a bag of the bean thread salad prepared mix.  I found mine at Marina Chinese Market, but most Japanese markets also carry it.  (It is made in Japan)

Next, julienne 4 to 5 Persian (or mini) cucumbers

Next, open package of bean thread mix and pour on top of cucumbers.  (Liquid and all)

Toss together and enjoy.

Korean Stir Fried Non-Spicy Rice Cake (Ddukbokki 떡볶이): On moms

For my Mom and Grandmothers

My parents are up visiting Son and Daughters for a few days.  I say that they are really visiting them because mostly they don't care if I am present.  Of course they want me around to actual discipline and force the hard things on Son and Daughters, but Grandma and Grandpa truly come to enjoy the kids.  And enjoy they do.  Grandpa gets dragged around from supermarket to supermarket in LA, carrying all the necessary bags so that Grandma can bring up the best food possible. Grandma comes up with a car stuffed full of food, (and they have a small car) all with plans of the wonderful things she wants to cook for the grandkids.   (I think secretly she worries that I am not feeding my children properly.)  I actually am not insulted by this and welcome the opportunity for someone else to cook delicious food while I take a back seat...or while I go and run to my room and take a nap.  Parents are a wonderful thing to have around.  When Grandma and Grandpa come into town, my name becomes Joanne and I hear far less the cry of "MOMMY!" which is just a spectacular thing.

But one of my favorite things to do is to learn simple techniques and wisdom behind cooking Korean dishes that my mom holds in her head.  She has been trained by two of the best (her mom and her mother in law) so her wisdom in the kitchen is really amazing.  The food always tastes wonderful and delicious and I know that I have been spoiled by such good Korean cooking from my mom that other Korean food pales in comparison.  I asked my mom to make this rice cake dish, something she hasn't done for over 20 years, since I was living under the same roof with her before college.

When I asked her to make ddukbokki, she said, "I don't make the spicy kind."  I started laughing because I didn't WANT her to make the spicy kind, I wanted the non-spicy kind. For most people, the Korean rice cake dish is that spicy red dish that burns your tongue off.  According to my mom's history and knowledge of Korean food, THAT rice cake dish (the spicy one) is not the original; this non spicy one is.  As she cooked she kept on muttering how the spicy rice cake version uses "more "inexpensive" ingredients like ramen or fish cakes, while this version is flavored with meat, a much more expensive ingredient.  (I know many have asked...I will be doing a spicy version soon.)

With lots of conversation back and forth, Mom and I put this one together.  She explained to me why the rice cake needed to be parboiled, and did all the heavy cooking while I snapped pictures!  (YAY! - SO MUCH easier than my normal method of snapping pictures one handed while I cook.)  I did all the measurements, making sure there was accuracy and consistency in the dish and voila! Non spicy ddukbokki.  You can vary the ingredients by adding mushrooms or zucchini, but I used the vegetables on hand and this is what we had.  Son and Daughters universally loved the dish and I was happy to taste something I hadn't in over 20 years. Thanks mom!

Korean Stir Fried Rice Cake (Ddukbokki 떡볶이)
Serves 5-6

2 lbs rice cake (떡볶이떡 - long finger style)


Beef and Marinade
1/4 lb sirloin steak, cut into small strips (you can use ground beef if you like, but a nicer quality of meat flavors this dish so much better)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed sesame seeds
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Vegetables
3/4 cup carrots, julienne
3/4 cup onions, cut into strips
4 scallions, cut into two inch pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (safflower, corn, or canola)


Finishing Sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil

**Cooking Notes: Rice cake preparation**
If your rice cake is from a package (like mine was), then you'll need to do an extra step of preparation. If your rice cake is FRESH, made the day you are cooking, then you can save yourself a few steps. If your rice cake is from a package, you'll need to first take it out of the package and soak it in cold water. You will also need to parboil the rice cake right before sauteeing it with all of the vegetables and meat in order to get the right texture. Doing these two steps dramatically improves both flavor and texture of your entire dish.

Prepare the meat. Cut the meat into small pieces. Mix soy sauce, sugar, garlic, sesame oil, sesame seeds and black pepper together. Mix meat and the marinade together and set aside. Allow to marinate at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 hour.

Mix together finishing sauce ingredients - soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil.

If your rice cake needs to be parboiled, then fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Add rice cakes and cook for about 2 minutes or until rice cakes are soft and chewy. Cooking times can vary depending on your particular dduk condition so watch. Do NOT over cook. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

In a heavy frypan or wok, over medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, carrots, and onions. (Do not add scallions until the end) Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper and saute until crisp tender, about 2 minutes. Add meat and all the juices and cook together until the meat is fully cooked, about 2 minutes. Add parboiled dduk (or fresh dduk) and cook together for about 1 minute. Pour over finishing sauce and scallions and continue to cook until everything is coated evenly and all mixed well together.

 

Serve hot!

Printable recipe

This bite is all mine!

Lemondoodle Cookies: To dye before I die...

 To the 40's club...SPL, HYK, HKL, CY, SB

It's getting harder and harder to hide my age and as each day goes by I begin to notice more and more things that I should be trying to hide, but am unsuccessful at.  The wrinkles around my eyes are becoming more pronounced, my skin is beginning to sag (in a lot of places including my face), and I've lost my youthful glow.  All of that, of course is expected and I've been dealing with it.  Even though Husband very generously tells me that I look the same as the day we first met, I know that he's just being very very kind.

However, I always assumed my hair would be dark brown until I got very old.  While many of my friends around me showed me their grey hairs, I sympathetically clucked my tongue but inwardly felt relief that I was not greying.  I was happy with my dark lustrous locks and imagined that even if I had wrinkles on my face, my hair color would not betray my age.  I would have those dark brown tresses until I was at least 50.

But it became clear in the past six months that all was not well on the hair front.  Where I would casually see one or two errant white hairs, it suddenly became 10 or 20.  Husband, while he was sitting behind me one day, FREAKED OUT and said, "OH Honey!  Don't move, don't move don't move!" and I thought perhaps there was a bug or a spider nearby so I did not move.  He then proceeded to lean over and yank out 7 white hairs and said, "Baby, you got a white patch of hair right there."  I knew right there and then, that my dream, hope, and smugness over having dark dark tresses for the duration was over.

I now notice white hairs all the time.  I'll walk by a mirror and the first thing I'll see is white hair.  They don't even do me the honor of hiding in the underside of my hair.  Mine like to grow right in front and in further audaciousness, they grow straight up.  They are not tamed by my comb or any sort of minimal grooming; the only way to eliminate them is to pluck them.

In the midst of all my personal white hair angst, one day, while sitting next to husband in the car, I turned and noticed a tiny bit of a grey hair sticking out of HIS jet black tresses. And I said," HONEY!  You have a grey hair!"  Unlike me who has been having hints of grey for a while, Husband's hair has stubbornly remained pitch black, as if to spite my own head of hair.  However, this single grey almost lifted my spirits because at least this way, I would not be going grey alone.  We could do it together, this aging thing, his hair and mine.  And although it was only ONE single grey, hair, I looked upon it with confidence that there would be more to follow.  Quickly follow.  I offered to pull it out for husband, and he declined saying, "It's okay.  I'll get the grey and I'll dye my hair."

"What?" I asked incredulously.  "Why would you dye your hair?"

"Men do it all the time.  If I get too grey, I'll just die it back."

"Oh honey, if you feel like you have to dye your hair, I don't know if I can handle that," I said with a bit of dismay.  "Real men, just go grey and they don't worry about dying their hair.  Women might do it  and I don't intend to dye mine."

"If I get to grey I'm dying it."  And with that,  Husband closed the subject.

Later that day, while at church, I began asking some of the wives about their husbands and dying hair, there were more than a few cases where the men were dying their hair...ALREADY.  And I was shocked and stunned.  In my head, these men were just blessed with great genes and had kept their hair black for an extended period of time and it turned out to not be the case and that instead they were coloring their hair.  In talking to one friend who regularly dyes her husband's hair, she said, "He thinks he looks too old if he doesn't do it so I help him keep it up so that he looks younger."  I never even KNEW that he was dying his hair and it stunned me.

And it made me think...should I be dying my own hair?  How important is it to me to have my age hidden in my hair?  I had always planned on greying and aging gracefully, much in the same way as my mom who has never dyed her hair, but if Husband does it, and so many other people are doing it, am I being left out of some virtual fountain of youth by my mere stubborness? 

Do I dye my hair before I die?

To take my mind off of this serious quandary and deep intellectual problem, I decided to use my brain for something else - cookie making.  I had planned on making snickerdoodles, but was a bit uninterested in it as a cookie and then while trying to avoid thinking about my grey hair, it came to me - what if I could make a cookie that had the TEXTURE of a snickerdoodle but the taste of lemon.  Nothing in the world brightens up the brain as the thought of lemon and I began to ponder and realized that YES, I could make it, and YES it would be yummy.  And suddenly the remembrance of all grey hair left my head and I began thinking like the true cookie monster that I am.

The cookie is exactly that...snickerdoodle texture, but lemon flavor...and rather than a strange breed of dog, it is a delicious cookie.  I love the light lemony flavor against the not so sweet cookie.  It is light and it is realy easy to eat too many of these.  (a downfall.) 

Lemondoodle Cookie
adapted from Tish Boyle's The Good Cookie (changed up her Snickerdoodle recipe)
Makes 4 dozen

Cookie Dough
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon honey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon zest

Topping
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest (finely grated)

Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or lightly grease baking sheets.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Using either a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and honey at medium high speed until light, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time beating well after addition. Beat in vanilla extract and lemon zest. Scrape down sides of the bowl and beat 30 seconds more. At low speed, add the flour mixture and beat until just blended.

In a bowl, make topping by mixing lemon zest and sugar together.

Shape the cookie into 1 inch balls (about 1 tablespoon of dough.) Roll each ball into lemon sugar mixture to coat completely and arrange balls on the baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Flatten each cookie into a 2 inch disk. Bake cookies one sheet at time, 14- 18 minutes until tops are crinkly and they are puffed and lightly browned around the edges. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

 

Tish Boyle recommends using a glass to smoosh the cookies...I tried it and found my fingertips more effective. 

Printable recipe 

 Eating a few of these may help me forget my greys.

The zester you want if you want fine lemon zest.  (Microplane has several lines out - this one is the least expensive.)

Moroccan Spice Rubbed Chicken: On getting out of my comfort zone

For LR, CJR, GR, JR - TEXAS TEXAS HERE WE COME!

In a few weeks, I will be doing something I never thought I would do.  I will be boarding a plane with Son and Daughters, and visiting one of my best friends in Texas.  This is epic for me on many levels as I have not traveled using airplanes since 2007, and I have not stayed in a home other than my parents or my own since 2007.  We only travel by car and only between LA and the Bay Area and haven't really done any other travel outside of that.  Son has never been on an airplane, but has asked to ride on one for the past year or so - so this trip is the equivalent of going to outer space for him.  (Never mind it is also my absolute first time going to Texas.)

I'm not exactly sure how it happened.  It all started with my best friend CJR moving to Dallas, Texas.  Although she and I have not lived in the same city since 1999, she was always in California, and I always saw her at least 3 or 4 times a year.  Her moving to Dallas, Texas has suddenly made such meetings near impossible, and in a  moment, when I could tell she was feeling a bit isolated, I promised her that I would come out.  (She is also one of only a very few friends who managed to come and visit me when I was alone in both Hong Kong and Korea.)  I never make such promises, as I truly am not a lover of travel, especially ones that involve Children and airplanes.  I'm just not that keen to be put in a situation where I cannot control certain things. But after making the promise, and CJR's subtle hints that we should begin planning dates, I strapped myself into the proverbial chair and have been getting ready to make this trip happen.

The first insane hurdle was buying airline tickets.  Since I have not done it in so long (and before this, while living in Hong Kong and Korea, we had travel agents who did everything for us) I did not know how long such an act would take.  Purchasing airline tickets for the family took me almost an entire evening (4 hours.)  It was NOT fun.  And it wasn't because I was shopping around for cheaper rates - it was the entire system of trying to book a flight within the continental US that was completely frustrating.  There was a moment when I completely melted down with a reservations agent on the telephone, who informed me that because I was using mileage to buy the adult ticket, the children's tickets HAD to be purchased over the telephone with an additional $20 surcharge PER ticket.  I completely lost my marbles and gave the agent several pieces of advice, including finding a better online system that allowed such allowances to be made....I was not a good person during the last 10 minutes of the phone call. But tickets have been purchased.  (Cheap tickets have been purchased which also means I'm forced to sit in the BACK of the plane.)

Now I'm living through the torture of Son and Daughters asking if TODAY is the day we go to Texas.  Every day.  Each day.  Sometimes more than once.  If I answer, "Not today," the immediate question following is, "Are we going tomorrow?"  I've shown them all the calendar, and Daughter #1 because she is a bit more mature and understanding has stopped asking, but Daughter #2 and Son are RELENTLESS.  I know I'll be woken up tomorrow with Son asking, "Is today the day we go to Texas?"  and when I reply, "No," there may or may not be a temper tantrum.  (First rule - when planning travel, never let the kids know until you're actually ON the way to the airport.)

The next steps have to do with packing and preparing for the flight.  Husband has warned me repeatedly that domestic travel is definitely not a treat compared to international travel (which is what my last experience was.)  He is repeatedly reminding me that the airplane trip will not be any picnic and that I have been forewarned amply.  This is from the man who travels internationally often due to business, so I'm guessing he knows what he's talking about.  I'm bracing myself for the indignity and insanity of it all but hope that calm and reason will win over.  I'm thinking about luggage, how to pack (pay $25 and just take one single bigger piece of luggage or try and take a bunch of carryons and hope that I can manage wheeling those AND managing three children) and I'm thinking about how to feed Son carefully on the plane.

Once I'm in Texas, I know that things are going to be amazing.  I'll be next to and close to one of my best friends and we will laugh like crazy together.  (We really do laugh like crazy together.)  Daughters will be playing with her daughter, and Son will be playing with her son.  I'll be doing some cooking with her and just enjoying the wonderful bond of friendship.  I'll bust out some of my whacky dance moves and practice some of my more outrageous lines on her.  I'll see if I can't get her to laugh so hard tears come from her eyes and I'll try and see if I can't beat her at a game of Settlers.

Hopefully I'll have the chance to meet some of my loyal blog readers who live in Dallas....It'll be more surreal to me than anything - that in a state so far away, before my friend even got there, people were interested in my blog and cooking from it.  The series of thoughts in that is mind boggling and although I am incredibly nervous about meeting these new people, I'm also tremendously excited and happy.

So as I get out of my comfort zone and travel, I decided to get out of my comfort zone a bit for food.  I've been hanging on to a lot of staples these days because Son's allergies have been completely whacko and I've had a few weeks of VERY bad reactions from him.  After really enforcing his diet and controlling what he eats by what I cook, he is much better and all reactions have seemingly stopped.  Which means that I could try some new spices on him. Normally I avoid all seeds and unusual spices for him because I'm not sure of his reaction but I wanted to push him a bit and see how it went.

I've made a two Moroccan chicken dishes before  (here and here).  But I also wanted to try something a bit different and use the chicken on the bone, as the bone in chicken just tastes so much richer and more delicious.  I came up with a spice mixture and rubbed it on the chicken - and I have to say that this is one of Children's FAVORITE dishes.  They kept chanting their famous "more chicken" number and shoveling it in their mouths as fast as they could.  I made basically this couscous, but used Israeli couscous because that was what I had in the pantry and the kids loved it as well. I served it with a side of roasted green beans. 

Son didn't have a reaction, a ton of chicken was eaten and I feel more excitement than agitation about my trip away.

The ingredient list may be a bit daunting, but all it is rubbing the spices all over the chicken.  The cooking method is as easy as can be.

Moroccan Spiced Chicken
Serves 5-6

2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons cloves
1 teaspoon cayenne (2 teaspoons if you like it spicy)
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons fennel seed
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons brown sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
5 T of olive oil
8 garlic cloves, crushed
3-4 lb chicken, cut up (You can butcher it yourself or buy a precut pack - Trader Joe's has this really great pack of 2 breasts, 3 legs, and 3 thighs that I love to use)
1 onion, cut into wedges

Mix all the ingredients except the chicken and onion together, creating a rich marinade. Add the chicken and onions and rub spice mixture all over and let chicken absorb flavors for at least 30 minutes - longer does make it taste better. I like to mix this up the day before or the morning of the cooking and allow it to flavor the chicken and then cook it when ready later in the day.

Preheat oven 500. Line a heavy roasting pan with aluminum foil. Lay chicken in a single layer, skin side up. (If your chicken is coming directly out of the fridge after having been sitting in the spice mixture, I'd recommend letting the chicken warm up a bit, about 15 minutes before putting it in the oven.)

Roast in the middle of the oven until skin is crispy and browned and chicken is fully cooked, 30-40 minutes.

Printable recipe

Bacon, Asparagus, Garlic Pasta: Trying to break out of my roles

 The other day, I overheard Daughters #1 and #2 talking to each other.  I was in the kitchen getting dinner together and the conversation went something like this.

Daughter #1:  Daddy is more fun than mommy, right?
Daughter #2:  Daddy is more fun.  Daddy plays with us.  Mommy doesn't.
Daughter #1:  Yeah, Daddy plays with us and has fun with us.  Mommy only cooks and cleans.
Daughter #2:  Yeah.  Mommy is just a cook and a cleaner.  She NEVER sits with us and plays with us.
Daughter #1:  Daddy is better.  Daddy plays with us.

Now mind you, I see myself doing a lot more than cooking and cleaning.  If they are going pigeonhole me into specific roles, they need to include all of them like, driver, piano practice taskmaster, math driller, writing teacher, alphabet instructor, butt wiper, bath giver, bedtime story reader, teeth brusher.  But they distilled my entire existence to THEM to cook and clean and ultimately gave favor to their father for being the person that plays with them.

Rather than being hurt (okay I was a bit) I decided that I would try and do things differently over the long weekend.  Saturday turned out to be a perfect day as my lessons got canceled, the rain prevented us from going anywhere, and we ended up spending the entire day locked up at home.  It was clearly going to be my job to prove Children wrong - I too, could be the fun parent.  After a morning of enforcing piano practice, math drills and writing practice, I set aside the afternoon just to BE with them - no cooking, no cleaning.  We made some soaps (craft project kit) and then worked on book fair posters together.  I played the drums for them and we danced in a silly manner to some goofy songs.  I helped with four different puzzles and by the time I had spent all this time with them, I really only had a short amount of time to get something together for them for dinner.  And it was this dish.  The kids enjoyed it and laughed raucously through the meal, full of the good spirit of having had fun today.

And no one called me the cook and the cleaner.  Although no one said that I was more fun than Husband, I know that everyone enjoyed themselves.  Including me.

Bacon, Asparagus, Garlic Pasta
Serves 5-8

1 lb pasta (My kids like angel hair, but any shape is perfect really)
3/4 lb to 1 lb of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (if you really like bacon go for the 1 lb...if you don't have that much bacon, just use what you have.)
10-15 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced (use the range - if you like it more garlicky, add more, otherwise use 10)
1 lb of asparagus cut into small bits (the smaller, the quicker to cook fully)
1/4 cup chicken stock
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot of salted water, cook spaghetti according to package directions. Rinse and drain and set aside.

In a cold, large frying pan (cold meaning it is not on the stove preheating, and large meaning one big enough to hold all the ingredients for the final toss), add bacon. Place pan on stove and turn stove heat to medium. Allow bacon to cook slowly, rendering the fat, for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Add asparagus and allow the three ingredients to cook together, browning and cooking together. When asparagus looks green and vibrant and is bite tender, (about 4 minutes) add chicken stock and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Salt and pepper to taste and then toss in pasta noodles. Toss and continue to toss well, mixing all the ingredients, adding more olive oil if the pasta looks dry. Check seasons and salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Printable recipe

The tongs I love on my non-stick pan to toss with ....a spoon or chopsticks just don't cut it.