Tag: food

Leaving Las Vegas

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State night is back! This week we wanted to see what the Silver State had in store for us. Las Vegas as we all know is known for its endless buffets and high-end steak houses, but we thought we’d venture a bit beyond Vegas. In researching the local produce we came upon many references to the pinyon pine nut. The pinyon pine nut has a rich history in Nevada where it sustained the native people of the Great Basin for thousands of years. In fact, we read that it was the primary source of protein for the Shoshone, Paiutes and Washoe nations.

We’re no strangers to pine nuts, but we’ve never had a U.S. grown pine nut. Sadly we won’t tonight either as they’re not available around here, but based on the reviews, you can bet we’ll be trying them the next time we head to the Southwest. As for tonight we’re going to make do with our pine nuts imported from China and whip up a Paiutes inspired Pine Nut Crusted Cod and a Spinach, Portabello and Pine Nut Salad.

The salad requires a simple preparation. Requiring only these ingredients:

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Diddle Diddle Dumpling

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Tonight we enjoyed a bonus meal from Miss A’s cooking destination, Russia. Typically we only spend two weeks on each country, but with the holiday and weekend travels we needed something that we could make up quickly. Actually this meal, the traditional Russian Pelmeni, is anything but a quick recipe. It’s a lengthy process that took all hands on deck. What made it work for us this weekend is that we actually prepared the Siberian dumplings last weekend, froze them and were able to quickly cook them up tonight.

The Russian pelmeni is a meat dumpling similar to potstickers or pierogies. According to RusCuisine.com, the dumplings, popular all over Russia, are believed to have originated in Siberia as many could be made at once and frozen for the long winters. The first step to making the pelmeni is to create the dough from flour, salt, sugar, egg and water. It’s a very tough dough to knead at first, but eventually becomes soft and resilient. Once we were satisfied with the consistency of the dough we chilled it in plastic wrap for 40 minutes before rolling it out on a floured surface. Continue reading →

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

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This past Sunday we all spent the afternoon in the kitchen busy with several different recipes. I wasn’t planning to make dinner rolls, but after I saw the “Bunny Backsides” on Frieda Loves Bread, I knew we had to give them a shot. The kids were definitely game, and having quite the giggles about getting to make (and then eat) “bunny butts.” Now I’m admittedly not a great bread maker. I typically let my bread machine do the work for me, but for these cute little spring treats, I thought I would again try my mom’s dinner roll recipe (to-date I have yet to pull this recipe off correctly).

We began by scalding the milk and then stirring in sugar, salt and shortening. We then set this aside to cool to lukewarm. In the meantime, we sprinkled the yeast into hot water to dissolve and then slightly beat two eggs with a fork. Next we combined the milk, the yeast and the eggs into a large mixing bowl and began to stir in the flour a few cups at a time.  

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How Did We Miss This in South Dakota?!

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We’re in South Dakota tonight for this week’s stateside meal adventure. As we mentioned in a previous post, the Mount Rushmore State was one of Miss A’s favorite places to visit this past summer – and now it just might be her favorite cooking destination too. The South Dakota Peach Kuchen has been a hit on our breakfast plates this week and tonight South Dakota’s official state food, Fry Bread, was also a big winner.

South Dakota Fry Bread can be served as a main dish with taco toppings or as a dessert/snack with cinnamon and sugar. Of course we tested both options! Our taco toppings are courtesy of Laura at Manna & Quail who posted her Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos recipe last night. Thank you Laura! This recipe truly saved us a ton of time tonight (Seriously dinner was done and cleaned up by ten after six!), and it was just the healthy topping we needed.

We prepared the slow cooker recipe around 11 a.m. this morning and then went about our day. At around 1 p.m. we began to thaw the frozen dinner rolls in a greased muffin tin.

Once thawed, about 3-5 hours later, roll the dough into 6-inch circles. Now they are ready to fry or place on the griddle. We fried six of the dough circles in oil in a heavy skillet and cooked the remaining six on a greased griddle. Since the griddle makes this a much healthier meal, we figured that we’d test out the taste difference between the two cooking methods. If frying the dough, once the circles are golden brown, remove and drain on paper towels. For either methods it’s helpful to keep the cooked fry bread warm in the oven while cooking the remaining dough. Now, that’s it! They are ready to serve.

The taco toppings were perfect for the fry bread and truthfully we couldn’t tell a difference between the fried ones and those that were cooked on the griddle. They were equally delicious. Dad, Mr. N and I all helped ourselves to seconds and Miss A devoured her first serving.

As for the dessert, we have another winner on our hands. The cinnamon sugar was delicious and a nice contrast to the taco toppings. The fried version, however, was better this time.

Tonight’s dinner comes highly recommended. It’s very easy, very fast and very tasty. And if you opt to use the griddle, it’s also healthy. Tonight got 3 spoons all around. Maybe even a 4 from Miss A who was chanting, “I need more sugar! I need more sugar!”

Print this recipe: South Dakota Fry Bread

It’s Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Spring…in Russia

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Last week we celebrated spring Russian style with the traditional recipe from Shrovetide, Blini. Then, yesterday we woke up and wondered if we weren’t in Russia – snow covering the ground in April?! It somehow seemed fitting to be cooking up yet another dish from the country that’s home to Siberia. This time we chose a healthy version of a traditional Russian dish – Chicken Kiev.

We began by mixing melted butter with freshly chopped dill, garlic, salt and pepper. We then refrigerated the mix for an hour. In the meantime, the kids got to use a meat mallet again (yes, we finally bought a real one!) to pound the chicken breasts to a quarter of an inch thickness.

They take their pounding very seriously! Continue reading →

Hail, South Dakota

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Miss A is at the helm again! Not only are we touring the culinary delights of Russia at Miss A’s request, but it’s also her turn to pick our stateside adventure. This past summer we took our western road trip which included South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado. South Dakota was easily one of Miss A’s favorite spots from meeting “Cornelius” at the Corn Palace in Mitchell (with whom she has a definite love/hate relationship – she loves to talk and giggle about him, hates to see him), to the peeking prairie dogs in Custer State Park and to “hikin’ it” in the Badlands. So it came as no surprise to us that Miss A chose the Mount Rushmore State this week, and we’re all happy she did.

Today we all spent the afternoon in the kitchen baking up several different dishes, including the South Dakota Peach Kuchen. The Kuchen is the official dessert of South Dakota – making it an obvious (and delicious) choice. We adapted this recipe from Midwest Living Magazine. Continue reading →