115: Burritos for dinner

Posted: January 15, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: 365 Life in the Bogs Challenge, Adventures in Cooking, Earth, Fire, food, healthful diet, Healthful Living Plan, home, nature, Photography, snow, Spirit, Walking, water, weather, winter | Tags: , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

(A few ingredients.)

M and I teamed up today to make Four Grain-and-Vegetable Burritos for an early dinner.  It was an early and late birthday celebration dinner.  Early for M (his birthday is tomorrow) and late for me (mine was last month).

We’ve made these burritos in the past.  They are a little labor intensive, making it easier and faster if we team up to put it all together.  It’s more fun that way, too.

(Prepped veggies.)

Remember that resolve I made to sharpen my knives occasionally?  I’m thinking of taking it back.  After years of using dull knives, I’m finding the sharpened variety to be dangerous.  I managed to slice into my thumb while cutting the top off of a leek.   Ouch!

(Ready for toppings.)

It was worth the bloodshed.  The burritos were fabulous.  Delicious.  Really, really yummy.  And filling.  Very filling.  You should give them a try.

Today’s Outdoor Adventures

It warmed up today, into the 30’s.  But we had 25 mph winds to go with the warm-up and that made it seem as cold as when it was in the 20’s.  There was some thawing of the snow on top of the pond and the ice in the creek.

(Today’s view of the creek.)

I did not ski today.  I intended to.  But M went out early and said it was pretty brutal.  The wind created big drifts in some places.  Bare spots in other areas.  We were supposed to get another 3 inches or so of snow today but the prediction turned out to be wrong.  I think it snowed heavily for about five minutes this morning and that was it.

(Dipping in the stream.)

That’s about it from the Bogs for today.  I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend.

Oh.  Right.  One more thing.  I redecorated ye olde blog.  Whaddya’ think?

Spicy Shrimp with Udon Noodles

Posted: December 29, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: food, Quotes, recipes | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment
(Leftovers. December 2006. Photo by Robin)

Last night I embarked upon another CookingLight adventure: Spicy Shrimp with Udon Noodles. The photo above really doesn’t do it justice. I’ve notice that it’s not easy to get a good shot of food. Perhaps it’s because the smell and taste are missing from the overall picture.

Spicy Shrimp with Udon Noodles is a labor intensive dish. Peeling and deveining two pounds of raw shrimp is just the start. That’s followed by lots of slicing, dicing, chopping, boiling, and sauteeing. It was worth every moment of it.

I am glad, however, that I wasn’t serving this dish to guests. Before I tell you why, you should know that I’m a huge fan of Thai food, especially the curries, so I’m familiar with red curry paste. I’ve used it a lot. I once made red curry shrimp for the folks at work, enough for about 15-20 people, and it was spiced nicely. Not too hot, not too weak in the spice. Just right.

I think someone at CookingLight made a mistake in the Spicy Shrimp with Udon Noodles recipe. I was reading the list of ingredients and was surprised to see that the recipe (which makes 6 servings) calls for 3 tablespoons of red curry paste. 3 tablespoons. That’s a heaping helping of red curry paste!

I couldn’t do it. I reduced it to about half of that. Nonetheless, the Spicy Shrimp was outrageously spicy. Noses were running, eyes were tearing up, and the occasional cough as the heat hit the back of the throat could be heard all throughout the meal. Imagine a tableful of guests all sniffling, watering and coughing. Sounds like something out of comedy. I would guess that M and I looked like something out of comedy by the time we finished.

Still and all, we both enjoyed the dish. It was quite tasty. The good thing about red curry paste is that the heat does not overtake the flavor of the dish, no matter how hot you make it. Capsaicin, it appears, is good for pain. I was feeling none by the time we finished our meal. Even my lips were numb.

I will make this again, and I’d love to serve it to guests, but I’ll lighten up on the red curry paste as I like my guests to be comfortable, not sniffling, watering, and coughing throughout the meal.

When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste. ~Laiko Bahrs