Cranberry-Dijon Salad Dressing

Alright, so I’ll be honest with you- I didn’t measure anything while I was making this today.  I remembered having an amazing salad once with this dressing on it so I decided to see if I could recreate something like it.  We haven’t had dinner yet (it’s only barely 1pm) but I was bored enough to start the dressing now.  Plus, if I screwed up, I wanted time to find other things to make for dinner.  Luckily it tastes really good.  I’m excited.  I’m going to try to write the recipe below, but please keep in mind that all measurements are approximations and its way more important to do things to taste.  =]

Cranberry-Dijon Salad Dressing

Ingredients:

• Fresh cranberries (a few handfuls, maybe 2 cups/4dl?)
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard (this I did measure!)
• White wine vinegar (probably about 1dl/0.5cup)
• White wine (probably about 2dl/1 cup)
• Olive oil (a couple tbsps)
• Water (to bring to desired consistency.  Though I left mine pretty thick, I like the creamy texture.)

Cook:

1. Put a couple tbsps olive oil in a small sauce pan and put on high heat.
2. Add cranberries and put the lid on.  The cranberries will sorta ‘pop’ like popcorn, so you don’t want that oil splashing onto you.  When the popping stops lower heat and mash with a potato masher.
3. At medium heat add wine, vinegar, and mustard.  Stir in more olive oil if desired.  Blend together.  Add water if desired.

This can be refrigerated for about a week.  I’m making a chopped salad for it tonight with grilled chicken, turkey bacon, almonds, leeks, apples, a red onion, mushrooms, cranberries and parmesan cheese.  Should be good =]

-Ariel

Linkage

I know I usually only post feminist-related links, but today isn’t Friday and I feel like posting some a little more blog-related.  So here are some other things I’ve been reading recently:

Cook:

• Paula Deens cheese-stuffed mushrooms. Its recipes like these that  make me wish half my host family weren’t on a diet.
• The great debate: which direction is best to cut a sandwich? Ah, NPR.  You make me smile.
• Talk about deliciously elaborate Christmas dishes. The Christmas rocky road at the bottom looks particularly delicious.

Hook:

• The patterns at Monster Crochet make me feel lazy and/or untalented/uncreative.
• Look at how cute the squirrel is! And other things.
• Ignoring the poinsettia on last weeks post (I don’t like poinsettias,) this blog is also pretty cool.

Book:

• From Sweet: “Three Lyric Essays“
• From Sunsets and Silencers: “The Trouble with Dream Interpretation” and “Words for This”
• From Sugar House Review: “Our Last Christmas Eve,” “What Any Stone Can Tell You,” “Side Effects May Include,” “Handling Your Audio Media,” “Sinflower,” and “But in Chinese Yellow Is Erotic”

Spinach Stir-Fry

This is what we just ate for dinner tonight (it’s 7pm in Denmark as I’m writing this) and was very yummy.  I’m glad I searched the freezer and found frozen spinach now =]  I’m excited for my leftovers for tomorrows lunch.

Oh, and this can easily be made vegetarian by simply leaving the meat out.  Still good.

Spinach Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

• Rice (and water to cook it)
• Meat product (choose your favorite)
• 1 package frozen spinach (defrosted and drained)
• Mushrooms (whichever kind and however much look good to you.  I prefer lots and lots.)
• 1 large onion (and any other vegetables you feel like adding, but I stopped there.)
• 4 cloves chopped garlic
• Soy sauce (2 parts)
• Vinegar  (1 part)
• 2 tsps sesame seed oil and vegetable oil
• Seasonings (salt, pepper, red chili flakes, coriander seeds, and basil to taste.)

Cook:

1. Marinate meat and/or veggies in sesame seed oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and seasonings for 20 minutes-2 hours.  Soy sauce and vinegar should be 2:1 parts just enough to coat all the meat and/or veggies with a bit at the bottom of the bowl.
2. Cook rice and chop vegetables if not already chopped and soaking.
3. Add vegetable oil to a pan or wok and cook meat and vegetables until meat is done and spinach wilting.  For more well-done meat products, add the vegetables after the meat has had a chance to cook some of the way.  Serve over rice.

-Ariel

Glogg

Glogg.  I tried this for the first time today at a Christmas party.  It tastes just like the holiday season.  Very sweet and spicy, in the same way as hot apple cider.  I haven’t tried making it for myself yet, but I found this recipe online that look good.  From what my host family has said about making the drink, this one is the most authentic I’ve found.  They also say sometimes to make the drink people soak the fruit and nuts in schnapps overnight and then add them to the bottom of the glass, rather than soaking them with the spices overnight.  Anyway, just something small to share today.  Enjoy =]

-Ariel

Easy Gravy and Giblet Gravy

Gravy is actually really easy to make.  For some reason I imagined more work being necessary, but when I made it Sunday it turned out to be the simplest thing.  Once the turkey is done, just add some chicken stock to the drippings in the pan s to deglaze it, scrape any bits that need to be scraped, and add flour to thicken.  If you want a giblet gravy, just cook the giblets first (bring water to a boil in a saucepan, then lower heat to simmer giblets excluding the liver- should be refrigerated- for about 45 minutes, then add the liver and cook another 15-30 minutes ) drain, chop, and mix it with the drippings, chicken stock, and flour in a saucepan and then serve.  Done!

-Ariel