Time for another little tour of our Bewitching Kitchen, to join the virtual party started by Celia, from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.

LET ME START WITH THREE SPECIAL GIFTS…

Freshly picked blackberries from a colleague at KSU…  As you might remember from a recent post, they were put to excellent use in a blackberry-cherry sorbet... Hummmmmmm…..

Vanilla beans straight from France, a surprise package, courtesy of the same dear friend who sent me a huge  load of saffron in the past… My first use of one of these incredibly potent pods was the Apple-Cinnamon Bread you read about last week.

A Hamilton Beach electric oven, surprise gift from Phil, who found it on ebay… the thing is huge, and the temperature control pretty accurate.  I’ve baked bread in it (the Black Sesame Sourdough),  I’ve used it to roast the meat for our French Dip sandwich...     Very nice option to keep the house cool during the hot months.  His name is Mr. Hamilton, and our patio is his new home.
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AND MOVING ON TO OTHER STUFF GOING ON IN THE BEWITCHING KITCHEN…

Roasted bell peppers made in Mr. Hamilton.  I like to cut the peppers and seed them first, the peel comes off very easily after, no need to run under running water or do all sorts of manipulations needed with the whole pepper.  Try it, you might adopt this technique too!

When we spent the sabbatical year in Los Angeles  the house we rented had beautiful Italian dishes from Jennifer Moore.  We loved them!  Ever since we left L.A. Phil has been actively searching for places that sell them.  Thanks to his persistence, we now have several pieces to remind us of the months spent in California.

We normally prefer clear glasses, but these are so delicate and beautiful with a light pink body and green stems!  Those are my favorite glasses to sip some Portuguese green wine. Another great ebay find by Phil, by the way… 

A new product, Mycryo…  If you haven’t heard anything about it, be ready to be amazed!  It is a cocoa butter-derivative, that you sprinkle on food to be sautéed.   It has fewer calories than any other type of fat, and is supposed to brown the food like nobody’s business.  Fantastic on scallops, by the way, you don’t even have to worry about drying them.   Yes, there will be a blog post about it…. stay tuned!

Preparations for one of our favorite ways to entertain: a pizza party!  We provide the dough, the toppings, and if needed a quick lesson on how to open the dough. After that, our guests can have a lot of fun creating their own versions and “sharing the love”…  Artichoke hearts, fresh mozzarella, sautéed mushrooms, grilled zucchini, and of course those roasted red and yellow bell peppers were also part of this feast.

Another way to preserve sourdough starter, inspired by Celia and Joanna, two of my bread baking gurus who definitely know how to handle their starters!    I dried a very active batch of Dan, and stored several “chips” in ziplock bags at room temperature.

AND WRAPPING UP, A QUICK HELLO FROM OUR FOUR-LEGGED FRIENDS…

What do you mean “You cannot have dark chocolate?”

I hope you enjoyed the visit to our Bewitching Kitchen… if you’d like to participate of the In My Kitchen series, compose a post and link to Celia’s site. The more, the merrier!  😉

ONE YEAR AGO: Raspberry Sorbet at Summer’s End

TWO YEARS AGO: When three is better than two (2 years with Buck in our home!)

THREE YEARS AGO: Grating Tomatoes (and loving it!)

FOUR YEARS AGO: A Peachy Salad for a Sunny Day

Last time I joined this fun party initiated by Celia, from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial was…  June 2012.  Almost a full year!  I wanted to compose a post about our kitchen once we changed a few things around, but the harsh reality is that our home in Oklahoma is still in the market (can you detect some anxiety?)  so all the changes we’d like to make in our new home are on hold.  But, that doesn’t prevent me from highlighting a few things we have around…

In our kitchen…  (click to enlarge any of the photos)

Finally a drawer that can hold all our precious spices! Or… almost all!.  A few are in the lower level, bay leaves, whole star anise, cinnamon sticks… but most players live together in this huge drawer.

The best ever kitchen paper holder…  I love it!  Until now I had those flimsy thingies that promise to hold the roll while you pull a  sheet, but instead you’ll end up with is 5 ft of paper hanging between you and the roll, most of it on the floor… Frustrating.  Not anymore, though.  The Polder Single Tear  does the job. Cannot recommend it enough – and yes, I read a ton of reviews online before getting it.

In our kitchen….  many very special gifts!

From a couple of new friends from California, a Japanese spice mix, Nanami Togarashi, that contains chili pepper, orange peel, sesame seeds, Japanese pepper, ginger and seaweed.  It adds quite a kick to a marinade, and it can also be used as a dry rub on chicken, fish, even vegetables.  Stay tuned for a special recipe coming soon…

From Ivan, my former husband (and great friend),  a collection of pepper sauces from Brazil, made by a company called “Bravo”  (= Angry).   It gives you an idea of the level of heat of these babies!  Some include habanero peppers, others are made exclusively from peppers native from Brazil.

From my virtual friend Marilyn, a regular contributor at the discussion forum eat.at, a chocolate sauce that can also be spooned out while cold to roll as incredibly tasty truffles!   The concoction, which she calls “chocolate dyslexic sauce” has a funny story associated with it; click here to read it. After a lot of tweaking, her final recipe can be found  here. I wish Marilyn would start blogging,  she is a fantastic cook and a hoot to boot!

From David, that superb baker at The Fresh Loaf Forum, a bag of the most delicious dried figs we ever had! They are from a company called Sierra Nut House.  Since in my post about David’s sourdough recipe I mentioned having to use dates for not finding good quality figs, he shipped a bag for me… Am I lucky or what?   Even though someone repeatedly attacked the bag, I had more than enough to make two loaves of his fig and walnut bread.  Recipe as posted earlier here, just substitute figs.Verdict: better than dates. By a long shot.

Home-made macaroons from a friend and colleague from KSU.  I often make long experiments involving repetitive and precise movements with radioactive iron.  Concentration is a must. Needless to say, by the time I’m done, I’m pretty exhausted.  Last week I crawled back to my office after one of these experiments, and found a cute little box with 5 perfect macaroons inside.  Again, am I lucky or what? They were amazing!  And… she shared the recipe. Now I wonder if I have what it takes to make a batch.  😉

In our kitchen, Buck, the Peanut Scavenger Extraordinaire!  Whenever Phil starts shelling peanuts, Buck positions himself glued to him, and stares at the floor, ready to grab any piece of nut that might fly off.  He won’t blink, won’t look up, won’t make a sound.  Of course, every once in a while, peanuts are dropped “by accident”. Patience  does pay off.

and… in the room next door to the kitchen:

Chief, from the top of his more than 14 well-lived years, does what comes most naturally to him now…  Cuddles in a cozy corner, and dreams…..

… oblivious to his naughty young brother….

Well, I hope you liked the little glimpse of our home…  Visit Celia’s site to see what goes on in many kitchens around the blogosphere!

ONE YEAR AGO: Thrilling Moments (CROISSANTS!)

TWO YEARS AGO: Maple-Oatmeal Sourdough Bread

THREE YEARS AGO: Pork Trinity: coffee, mushrooms, and curry

Following Celia’s tradition at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial,  I share with you what’s been going on in our kitchen these busy days. It seems like yesterday, but in fact I published my first “In My Kitchen” almost one year ago!  Now, 11 months and 5 posts later, a bittersweet moment:  this will be the last one to come from our Okie home.  A new bewitching kitchen is waiting for us in the  “Little Apple“,  and I cannot wait to share it with you in the near future!

In my kitchen…
KIND, our favorite cereal bar! We tried it for the first time while living in Los Angeles, and were thrilled to find its many  flavors, all delicious, in a special store here in town.  They are moist and satisfying, with a perfect combination of flavors.  My favorite is the mango-macadamia, super tasty!

In my kitchen…We always have some type of dark chocolate hanging around.  Phil loves to nibble on a little piece with his coffee, and his passion for chocolate is highly contagious: I find myself more and more dependent of a small piece before going to bed.   This brand, Chocolove, is a new favorite, with a very smooth finish. To make it even better, it is a fair-trade product.

In my kitchen…
A bottle of sorghum  molasses. For a few months now, it seems to me that every cooking magazine I open has one or two recipes using sorghum.  I finally found it and brought it home.   Hopefully, when my life gets a little less frantic, I’ll be able to try one of the recipes in my “sorghum folder”.  😉   If you want to know more about it, click here.

In my kitchen…
A new way to shape a loaf of bread, following a braided method from “How to Make Bread”, from Emmanuel  Hadjiandreou.  This particular recipe is his multigrain bread, substantial but not too heavy.

In my kitchen…   So many gifts!
Two Korean wooden dolls, given to us by a former undergraduate student,  they live near our kitchen, and love to watch us cooking.  They get along quite well with their Brazilian clay friends, a gift from our friend (and amazing cook) Anita.

In my kitchen….
A very special gift from our graduate student Vy,  who was recently in New York and brought back a bag of chocolate disks from Jacques Torres.
Here is what they look like.  These babies make fantatic chocolate chip cookies,  I promise to post the recipe in the near future.    It will be worth the wait… 😉

In my kitchen….

Have you ever seen this amount of saffron? And I mean, great, authentic saffron!  Talk about a special gift!   I am lucky enough to have a friend who travels to Saudi Arabia once a year, and he surprised me with this incredible load of saffron.  When the box arrived, I could smell the saffron through the box and the double wrapping of paper!    And, if that wasn’t special enough, he also included in the package a bag of…
Ras El Hanout!  One of the few spices I didn’t have in my cabinet!  Am I lucky or what?  No doubt in my mind I have the most amazing friends!

and finally, in my kitchen….
A very well-behaved dog, who never begs for food, but makes sure his eyes are as sad as he can possibly make them while Phil and I are enjoying a nice dinner…   😉

ONE YEAR AGO:  Goodbye L.A.  (one full year,and  a new goodbye on our horizon!)

TWO YEARS AGO: 7-6-5 Pork Tenderloin