I was absolutely obsessed with the smell of cranberries all week and was determined to have a cranberry-themed dinner today so I created this eccentric-combination warm open sandwich from scratch. I also went slightly crazy at the coop and bought many new things including a mango and ginger cheese that I melted on this sandwich.



It is out-of-the-world delicious! I wish there were more... It's been a while since I went this elaborate in Buffalo. (I need to blog about the 5 day housewarming cooking marathon I indulged in NYC later...) Before I forget, I need to write down what I did.

1. Finally baked the super-sour-almost-alcoholic bread today using up the 12-grain & quinoa sourdough starter from around a month back. Didn't throw away the top layer of alcohol that had formed on the sourdough starter. As a result the bread was caramelized in places and the flavour is pretty intense. The sourness of the bread equals that of an extremely sharp cheese crossed with sour cream or maybe feta. I also added cranberries and raisins into the dough during the 2nd rising because I thought the sourness might be overpowering. It's quite amazing at how well these dried fruits go along with the super-sour bread.

2. Sliced and toasted a couple slices of the bread in the oven at 350 deg F till the surface went a slightly darker brown (the bread itself was super brown to start with).

3. Added an even layer of super-thin sliced ripe heirloom tomatoes over the toasted bread, followed by a layer of thinly sliced mango and ginger cheese and thin slices of garlic.

4. Put it back in the oven till the cheese JUST melted over the tomatoes, sprinkled a slight hint of rosemary, and drizzled a whisked dressing of extra virgin olive oil and tamari soy sauce (bulk from the coop).

5. Added a whole thinly sliced jalapeño and green bell peppers, thinly sliced red onions and finely chopped cilantro followed by another layer of the mango and ginger cheese and a generous number of dried cranberries and a good sprinkle of hand-ground celtic sea salt (part of the crazy run at the coop).

6. Back in the oven till the cheese completely melted and browned in places and semi-caramelized the red onion.

7. Added even more cranberries after serving on plate. Sprinkled with a dash of pepper and nutritional yeast (Another crazy new trial from the coop. It was slightly funny at first but it kept on getting better and better after a couple bites... Went really went as a dressing to this open sandwich)

Enjoy with Earl Grey, Hot*. ;-)

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PS: Mighty Leaf Organic Earl Grey*: Not really my favourite. Actually, I think it tastes pretty weak and does not come up to my standards of what Earl Grey should be like. Next time, I will stick to Ahmad's or Hedley's.

PPS: The Mango and Ginger cheese is an excellent find!

PPPS: (e:Paul), they are discontinuing the Herbmare original flavour salt at the coop and have the medium bottles on sale for $5 if you haven't noticed already. I kept thinking that I should probably get a bottle but forgot in all the excitement of the "crazy coop run"

Soups are perhaps my most favourite kind of food. I really want a deep three-quart saucepan because I want to make them really fast and more often. When a soup is really thick, the large shallow all-purpose frying pan I use for soups now does nothing to prevent splattering all over the kitchen wall near the stove. I end up having to wipe down the entire kitchen in addition to other cleaning up. It's such a waste of time even though it does keep the kitchen cleaner than it would be if not for this unfortunate soup-pan mismatch.

I am a bit torn over several awesome saucepans on Amazon. I definitely want an all stainless steel body and interior. So all anodized, non-sticks and enamels are out. I am not a very careful or gentle dishwasher so glass lids are out. I am pretty sure I will eventually break them and slice my hand open or maybe both.

I am attracted towards cast iron saucepans but I don't think I actually have the patience to do all the maintenance that a pre-seasoned finish requires. When I see a cast iron pot in any sink, my cleaning OCD kicks in. I know I will end up scrubbing all the seasoning out every time. That sort of defeats the purpose of having a seasoned cast iron pan. And of course, I doubt if I have the muscles to handle the weight of a 3 quart cast iron pot.

So after some elimination, I am staring at this: the 3 quart Norpro Krona Stainless Steel Saucepan:



But sigh. It has only two rather non-specific vague reviews. Do you think this saucepan is worth $35?

Don't you know that....dreams come true
Westlife are the best boyband there can ever be?!


And I will take no arguments about NKOTB or Backstreet Boys or Take that or this or whatever other crappy band. Just take all the tunes that have ever been stuck in your head from each of these bands and do a t-test. You will find that Westlife's rate of sticking in your head is by far the MOST significant, heads and shoulders and totally irrational cowlicks above all of the other so-called "boybands".

at Amazon is apparently this weird looking thing called the Trudeau Bottle Cap Catcher:



REALLY?! Since when did the people shopping for kitchen stuff on Amazon find the desperate need to catch beverage caps top of their priorities? There is not a single review for the #1 bestselling item in kitchen and dining on Amazon. Was some company responsible for the bulk of the sales and gave these silly things away as corporate gifts to their entire workforce... And everyone was like "eh?" so they didn't bother reviewing?

What's even more unbelievable is that it was just released on 15th March this year and beat out every saucepan and frying pot on the site in 3 months? Does that sound reasonable?


Totally ludicrous.

You might think roasting almonds is no big deal, right? You just toss them in a skillet or pan on high or medium heat, wait till they are slightly brownish or maybe put them on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 350-400 degree F and they are done.

But you are dead WRONG. Neither of those methods will EVER give you the tastiest roasted almonds EVAH at home.

THIS IS THE SECRET RECIPÉ!!!!! Tattoo it on your arm if you must.

1. Get a stainless steel cookie sheet. Yes, these are seriously the BEST kind, as I am finding out.
2. Spread natural unroasted raw almonds in an even layer on the stainless steel cookie sheet.
3. Crank up the oven to a low 200 to a max of 220 degree F.
4. Set the oven timer to 2 hours. NO less than 2 full hours.
5. Toss the almonds somewhere around the midway 1 hour mark.
6. Wait for 1 hour more and turn off the oven. Don't take the almonds out. Let them cool in the oven on the cookie sheet.
7. Devour the TASTIEST roasted almonds you will have EVER eaten!!

I read this technique in some vegan cookbook long back but I always went the impatient route. I realize now (having slow roasted them on low heat) just how many pounds of non-awesome roasted almonds I must have eaten over the years.

Non-awesome roasted almonds NO MORE!!!