Chia Seed Pudding

I always say that you can’t argue with busy.  We are all busy in our own way, and everyone feels the effects of that “busy-ness” everyday.  Unfortunately, the area of our lives that tends to suffer when we are feeling particularly busy is in the kitchen.  After recently returning to the world of the full-time student, I’ve been feeling particularly busy lately.  And as a busy person, I urge you, another busy person, not to overlook the recently trendy chia seed.  In particular, I’d like to endorse this recipe for Chia Seed Pudding from the March issue of Food & Wine.  I overlooked it at first myself, but, at the urging of one of my restaurant co-workers, pulled it up again and tried it.  I’m so glad I did.  It is amazingly quick to make, pleasant to eat garnished or on its own, healthful, vegan (bonus if you’re into that), and easy enough to memorize and thus put together that much faster.

Chia seeds are available at stores like Whole Foods (and yes, if you’re wondering, they are the power behind a Chia Pet) and, according to Bob’s Red Mill, whose chia seeds I purchased, they were a staple food of the Mayans and Aztecs.  They also are reportedly a good source of Omega-3 and fiber.  But what I’m most concerned with is that I can combine them with almond milk, a little agave, and a small amount of lemon zest and (poof) I have pudding.  Despite the instructions in the recipe, I find that I can put all of the ingredients in at once and shake, and everything disperses quite well.  The really important thing about this recipe, though, is the shaking during the first 30-45 minutes.  I have found that if the pudding is agitated at about 15 minute intervals for the first 30-45 minutes, the seeds will not clump together and will thicken the pudding nicely.  After that, the shaking is less critical.

The finished pudding is both crunchy and creamy, with a mild melon-like flavor.  I am looking forward to varying the zest, trying lemon, lime, orange, and perhaps even grapefruit.

You can find the recipe for Grace Parisi’s Chia-Seed Pudding here.

What I’m Drinking: Kunin 2010 Pape Star

While this wine does push the limits of my self-imposed bottle budget, I appreciate the fact that it is consistently delicious from vintage to vintage, always a crowd-pleaser at parties and get-togethers, and topped with a convenient screw cap!  Always a Rhone-style blend, the 2010 vintage consists of 46% Grenache, 27% Mourvedre, and 27% Syrah, and is a brilliant and clear ruby hue in the glass.  At 14.4% abv, there are some faint legs, but the alcohol is not overpowering.

The clean, youthful nose bursts with fruit aromas - cherry, strawberry, and red plum - but also maintains more complex undertones of cola, oak, mineral, and wet earth.  Likewise, juicy, fresh raspberry and black cherry lead on the palate, but are complemented at the finish with black pepper spice and a notable minerality.

This wine is dry and well-balanced, with a healthy acidity and light to medium tannin levels to off-set the fruit and alcohol.  The result is a medium-bodied red with a lengthy finish that drinks well alone, and pairs well with a variety of dishes.  A bottle of this is worth snapping up for a weekend occasion!

Roasted Potatoes with Lavender

Some of the most picturesque moments of our train ride from Aix-en-Provence to Paris this past summer involved whooshing by brilliant swaths of the purple and yellow lavender and sunflower fields that checkered the French countryside.  So, when I happened across a small bag of dried lavender at a local spice shop not long after we returned, I couldn’t resist purchasing it, in a moment of slight wistfulness.  Admittedly, I had no idea what I was going to do with it in the kitchen. Thankfully, serendipity intervened, however, in the form of an article in Saveur about edible lavender, complete with this recipe for Roasted Potatoes with Lavender.  

While I originally discovered this recipe in the summer, I have been holding onto it especially for this time of year, since this is about the time that heavy root vegetable preparations start to feel ubiquitous, and a dried flower is an easy pantry item that will keep.  Simple as this side dish is, the addition of the lavender flowers to the buttery, roasted potatoes creates a light and unexpected flavor that is a welcome departure from the familiar, and a reminder that winter is finite.

You can find the recipe for Roasted Potatoes with Lavender here.  High quality dried lavender flowers can be ordered easily from The Spice House at this link.

Ginger Cookies

Those of us who are feeling a little, ahem, “last-minute”, this holiday season will appreciate this straightforward recipe for ginger cookies.  I requested a copy of the recipe from Kevin’s family a few Christmases ago, after several consecutive seasons of ginger cookie nostalgia had finally sufficiently piqued my interest (my family has its own ginger baked good tradition, but more on that later), and kindly received my very own handwritten copy.  There are a few things that I like about these cookies, including their soft and chewy texture, their traditional holiday spice flavor, their sugar-encrusted sparkle, and, especially this year, their relatively no-fuss preparation.  I use my stand mixer, but a hand mixer would work too - just incorporate the dry ingredients by hand.  The recipe that follows makes about two and a half dozen cookies.


Ginger Cookies


2/3 c.  granulated sugar, plus more for coating the outside of the cookies
6 T  butter, softened
1/4 c.  molasses
1 large egg
2 c.  all-purpose flour
2 tsp.  baking soda
1 tsp.  ground ginger
1 tsp.  cinnamon
1/2 tsp.  ground mace


Use a mixer to cream the butter and sugar (with the paddle attachment if you are using a stand mixer) on medium speed until well-blended.


Add the molasses and the egg and continue mixing until they are fully incorporated.


Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and mace (I like to do this on a piece of parchment paper, which I can then pick up from both sides and use to funnel the mixture into the bowl slowly).  Gradually stir the flour mixture into the sugar mixture using a very low “stir" setting on the mixer, or by hand.


Divide the dough in half, wrap each half in plastic wrap, and place them in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour.


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Roll the dough into 1” balls, covering each one with granulated sugar before placing it on a cookie sheet that has been treated with non-stick cooking spray.


Bake the cookies until they have flattened out and are lightly browned on the bottom, about 12 to 14 minutes.


Remove the cookies from the cookie sheets immediately.  Cool on wire racks.

What I’m Drinking: Domaine du Penlois Beaujolais Blanc Chardonnay du Chatelard 2009

Here is the wine that I am absolutely obsessed with right now.  Which is funny, because I am not usually a fan of Chardonnay (This fact may be obvious based on the glaring absence of Chardonnay from the blog thus far).  Generally, I find the oaked versions to be too oaky and the unoaked versions to be, frankly...boring.  But all of that changes now, because I just really love this Beaujolais Blanc.

First of all, it is a Beaujolais Blanc - not your everyday occurrence.  Secondly, it practically screams summer.  The color is a pale sunshine gold, and the nose just bursts with ripe fruit.  Think peach, lychee, lemon, and pineapple, all mixed up with a little touch of honey.  The aromas are of above-average intensity and just on that edge between youthful and something a touch more complex.

Despite the overtly ripe character of the nose, however, this wine is dry and bright, with acid on the higher side of medium and a moderate alcohol level.  The body is robust, but not heavy, resulting in a palate experience that is at once rich and refreshing.  Flavors are slightly less ripe, but equally as intense, as the nose and the taste leads with acid (lemon, gooseberry) and rounds out with the riper richness of lychee, honey, and peach in a thriving finish.

This is a good quality under-$20 wine that is one to snap up if you can find it!  I have been keeping (or not keeping) a bottle on hand every week since the beginning of July.

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