#BCTK

[checomtzmess]

Buenos días! Ya estamos en @la.cadencia Lonchería biciamiga @la_bicifondita en #DomingosDeRecicletos con @bicitekas_ac #BCTK Pasen a comer rico y dar #ServicioExprés a sus bicis! 🖤🚲 💚🥪🥙🧆🥘 (en “La Cadencia“ loncheria) https://www.instagram.com/p/CN0GPGbDGip/?igshid=nrpy0owmoezr

[lessath]

😉😈 https://www.instagram.com/p/BxuglG-BCtK/?igshid=1lsjbjagwzxyy

[sockmonkeyhouse]

Making something special for a commissioned order....anyone know what I'm up to? Tagged people need not respond! (at Lusk, Dublin, Ireland) https://www.instagram.com/p/Buw5qS-BCTK/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=6fkymex5sxh1

[jakobperboell]

Alma looking for birds - #copenhagen #jakobperboell #germany #italy #instagram #birds #alma #looking #instagood #denmark #stuttgart #sweden #oslo #norway (her: Hvidovre Strand) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsu9HQ-BcTK/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=hm9izs5h3grj

[vnch3]

🆕 Francis 24/06/2020 #173 || BÁO CÁO TỔNG KẾT Số: 20190505 / BTLCLTQ / BCTK Ngày 05.05.2019 P.#13 Hiến Pháp Đệ Tam VNCH : https://ift.tt/2AbLr8v Trang Hiến Pháp Đệ Tam VNCH https://ift.tt/3foqqGU Thông báo : đón Tổng Thống Đệ Tam VNCH Đào Minh Quân ở đâu? dontongthong.com. Trưng Cầu Dân Ý, Đăng Ký Làm HDĐTVNCH, Xin nhà, Xin việc làm... : bằng cách quét QRCODE VNCH : https://ift.tt/3hmUPHk TIẾNG NÓI QUỐC NỘI Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5kx8kVRVn3nH-sJApBr8mw/videos?view_as=subscriber Fanpage : https://ift.tt/3fhNsio https://ift.tt/2B1kswF

[diohejbansk]

via Dióhéjban.sk - A szlovákiai magyar híraggregátor | and korkep.sk

[belligerenceandchocolate]

Pushing the Limits

Please excuse the radio internet silence over the last week: no blogging but rather a lot of cooking! Several n recipes too, as our guest (J - Xavier's Mémère!) follows a plant-based diet (mostly) and doesn't eat wheat. Challenging? Absolutely.

However, I used to write poetry, and following a strict meter or rhyme scheme was my favourite part. It forced me to act thoughtfully. To slow down and see how creative I could get without breaking the rules. I worked and re-worked my "lignes inégales" until they conveyed my thoughts and feelings as precisely as possible. I find that cooking with restrictions* gives me the same kind of mental stimulation. It may seem like a trivial thing, but as a homemaker**, I find it important to create opportunities to stretch my mind and creativity. It's easy to fall into ruts and routines in the kitchen, this week was a nice little growth spurt for me. Not only did I need to think of ways to "veganize" our meals, but I had someone to keep my little darling busy outside the kitchen***!

So, without further ado: some of this week's hits to share with your favourite people, vegan or omnivores!

ExtraVeganZa - Original Recipes from Phoenix Organic Farm

I borrowed this cookbook from our local public library and now I want to make all of the food. And it's on Google Books! It's a preview, so you don't get all the recipes, but the two I tried (and highly HIGHLY recommend) are on pages 119 (Pear-Cardamom Muffins) and 168 (Creamy Chocolate-Pecan Pie).

Notes:

The muffins are moist and magical, I had a very sweet pear so I halved the sugar, but otherwise followed it exactly. I would probably grate half the pear and cut half of it in larger chunks next time though. 

The pie is tasty, rich and decadent. It's a lovely vegan version of a pie that J makes, so I was very excited to make it, especially as the original is one of Kyle's favourite desserts. I recommend making a normal pie crust though, the recommended nut-based crust was a bit much.

Tofu and Mushroom Stroganoff

This was delicious. I was impressed with how well the cashew cream worked, despite not having the latest and greatest fancy high-speed blender. To be quite honest I always shied away from recipes requiring blending things until very smooth because of this. Turns out just letting it run through the cheaper slower blender for a little longer than the recipe asks does the job!

BBQ Bean Sandwiches and Creamy Coleslaw

Oh me, oh my, are these ever tasty. And easy. I make my own beans in the slow cooker for better texture. This is a recipe we've made before (and will make again, and again). I like to call them Sloppy Joes though. It sounds less health-nutty and I think they're better than the real thing honestly. Beans have a way better texture than ground beef.

Paneer Tofu Tawa Masala

This may just be Kyle's favourite curry. Other than asking for ALL of the spices, it's really simple to make. In truth, it's better with paneer than tofu. The cheese gets a bit charred and a bit gooey and you just want to eat it all day. So if you're with dairy eaters, go with that. If you can't find paneer though, or if you have some vegans to cook for tofu works just fine, it really soaks up the marinade and that makes it really delicious.

That's it for today! Go forth and cook now! Love,

Belligerence & Chocolate

* You know, the serious ones, like specific diets and allergies and stuff, but also the not so serious ones, like being too lazy to go to the grocery store.

** I'm working on calling myself that on here, in hopes that I can just casually drop it in conversation when people ask me what I do. It's a work in progress, but then aren't we all?

*** FYI: A barely walking toddler is not a good kitchen helper. Especially one that is obsessed with opening and closing cabinet doors. I do look forward to getting him involved in making food... soon.

[vnch3]

🆕 Francis 24/06/2020 #173 || BÁO CÁO TỔNG KẾT Số: 20190505 / BTLCLTQ / BCTK Ngày 05.05.2019 P.#13 Hiến Pháp Đệ Tam VNCH : https://ift.tt/2AbLr8v Trang Hiến Pháp Đệ Tam VNCH https://ift.tt/3foqqGU Thông báo : đón Tổng Thống Đệ Tam VNCH Đào Minh Quân ở đâu? dontongthong.com. Trưng Cầu Dân Ý, Đăng Ký Làm HDĐTVNCH, Xin nhà, Xin việc làm... : bằng cách quét QRCODE VNCH : https://ift.tt/3hmUPHk TIẾNG NÓI QUỐC NỘI Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5kx8kVRVn3nH-sJApBr8mw/videos?view_as=subscriber Fanpage : https://ift.tt/3fhNsio https://ift.tt/2B1kswF

[diohejbansk]

via Dióhéjban.sk - A szlovákiai magyar híraggregátor | and bumm.sk

[diohejbansk]

via Dióhéjban.sk - A szlovákiai magyar híraggregátor | and bumm.sk

[belligerenceandchocolate]

BCTK Recipe reviews: Olga's Multigrain Bread

Almost a month ago I promised my mother that I'd share a recipe for some delicious bread I made. And then life happened, as it often does. Things around the test kitchen have been a bt of a whirl lately, churning out lots of vegan goodies, hosting people, BBQing, watching football at the dinner table, frantically clearing the sewing machine off the dinner table in order to watch the football game and eat, etc. But things are settling back into our usual ryhtm now, and yesterday, I made bread!

Onto the review for...

*drumroll*

Multigrain bread, by Olga's Flavor* Factory

It's delicious and you should make it.**

I follow the recipe pretty much exactly, except I use a 9-grain cereal*** mix and add poppy and sunflower seeds, because deliciousness. (This is important to noote, as I rarely do. Kyle tells me that I can't just improv and wing it with bread though, and he worked in a bakery, so he knows, right?)

The recipe makes 2 loaves, but as I only have one loaf pan I usually make one loaf and some buns or baguettes. It works well. Free-form "boule" type loaves can be made, but tend to flatten out or split, so do something else.

I've found that some other multigrain recipes make a super dense bread, but this one has a fluffier texture and doesn't crumble too much.

This is a recipe for days where you will be home half the day doing other things and also making this bread. It requires some work and a lot of resting time. Rushing it will not ruin it, but it will make it less awesome.

That said, it's fairly hard to ruin completely, trust me, the Little One has tried... waking up screaming while I'm halfway through mixing the flour in? Check. Deciding to nurse for 45 minutes during the 20 minute resting time before kneading? Check. Attempting to climb on open oven door? Check.****  Bread? Still ok.

But what if I don't have TIME to make bread, I hear you say! That's fine. There's another recipe for that. But it'll be for another day. Bébékins is asleep and it's time for my 3pm secret ice cream!

Love,

Belligerence & Chocolate.

*American blog, American spelling...

** I feel like I'd only review bad recipes if they were spectacularly bad and worthy of some laughs.

*** This one, if you care. It's pretty tasty.

**** It's ok, I picked him up before he reached the door. He was rather upset though. Poor munchkin.

[belligerenceandchocolate]

Instant Rant

Ugh. Instant things... Instant oatmeal is something I haven't eaten in ages. It just turns to mush and is therefore horrible. Of course, I should've extrapolated. But didn't. Instant tapioca is simply... disappointing. My favourite part is the little gooey chewy bubbles, which are just not as gooey or chewy when it's smashed to tiny bits.

That said, I do have a soft spot for making Bird's Custard...

[belligerenceandchocolate]

BCTK - Delenda est Hedera Helix

Any self-respecting test kitchen needs a garden! The long weekend has been rather productive on this front. Kyle and I discovered last week (quite accidently) that there were some planters hiding under the masses of English Ivy (Hedera helix) in our yard. What this discovery means, of course, that I have more space to plant delicious things! What it also meant is that we needed to prepare the bed for planting...

- Poetic Intermezzo - *

Have you tried to kill some ivy?

       I have, son.

       And it's is not pretty.

Have you pulled long strands of it?

      I have, son.

      And it helped a bit.

Have you fallen on your bum?

      I have, son.

      And I looked dumb.

Have you tried to kill some ivy?

      I have, son.

      And I'm not done.

- curtain -

Our good friends at Wikipedia have an elegantly turned phrase: "[Hedera] can spread through assertive underground rhizomes".** It is an apt description.

Kyle and I did eventually succeed in clearing all of the leaves, stems and many of the rhizomes and roots from our bed. I must say that it was nice to be working together on a physically demanding task.*** Fending off a horrible invasive species, hacking away at roots, loosening and turning over the dirt; it's a good feeling. (+1 belligerence!) Bébé even did his part as shift supervisor by observing us and shouting orders, waving sticks at us, and eventually (presumably trusting that we could carry on without him) taking a nap.

Now if only I could remember to go and take some pictures while it's still light out....

Love.

Belligerence & Chocolate.

* Ideally you should read this in your best world-weary-old-cowboy-from-classic-western-movies voice. If you've read it already, go back and try again.

**Emphasis**** added.

***You know, other than putting the baby to sleep...

*** I can't really say/write/think that word without saying to myself that I must be careful "not to put the em-PHA-sis on the wrong syl-LAB-le". And then snickering. It's a bit of a problem.

[belligerenceandchocolate]

BCTK - Soup for the soul (and the belly)

Soup is probably my favourite thing to make for supper. (Note that it's the root of the word...) There's something fantastically heartwarming about soup, making it, smelling it, eating it, feeling it warm you up and fill you up. I think it's fair to say that I love soup. It's also extremely versatile, which is handy, because no matter how well planned out my menu is for the week, there are some extra bits and bobs that didn't make it into a meal or some unexpected leftover that's not quite enough for a lunch. So what do I do? Make soup!

I have a few go-to soup recipes... Well they're more like soup Ideas I suppose. Ideas, with a captial I, Aristotle-style. Tonight we had Barley Soup, so we'll start there.

Stuff you'll need

Barley

Broth

Random bits from your fridge/pantry

How to make this delicious

You need to cook your barley in the broth. This is key.

You should have some sort of protein in there. While beef is a classic pairing (and what we ate tonight) I usually use cheap, but tasty green lentils. If you have a chunk of steak leftover, by all means use it up, but Lenten-Lentil Soup is a dish that will please the palate year-round.

I'm a big fungus fan. If you have mushrooms, they should go in your soup.

Colour is an important part of making this soup exciting. They're also full of tasty vitamins. Favourite colourful bits include carrots, bell peppers, spinach, onion (green, red, yellow or white), cherry tomatoes, peas, sliced garlic,cauliflower and broccoli.

You can sauté your veggies before putting them in the soup, or just throw them in. I've done both, both work.

What now?

Eat your soup.

Also eat nice bread, pickles, olives, cheese, summer sausage (with lentil soup, assuming it's not a Friday in Lent).

Drink some fermented barley juice along with your barley soup.

Relax with a full tummy and the knowledge that barley truly is the most delicious of all the grains.

Love.

Belligerence & Chocolate.

[belligerenceandchocolate]

Rhubarb season in the Test Kitchen

So, here's the thing. Rhubarb is delicious and a vegetable. Because of this, springtime is the best time to "eat your veggies".

Here at the BCTK, we love our rhubarb. Stewed rhubarb is tasty of course. As is strawberry rhubarb pie. Husbandbird yearly laments the fact that rhubarb and apples don't ripen at the same time, because apple-rhubarb is one of his favourite combinations (fortunately for him, apples keep well over winter and rhubarb freezes fantastically). These are all great classics, and classics are great...

But, if you will, let us step away from them for today. Today, let us focus on how tasty an Earl Grey Cake with Rhubarb Cream Cheese Glaze* sounds. I tried this delicious concoction last year with some of our frozen rhubarb. It was fantastic. You should go and make some now. If you happen to hate rhubarb - you know who you are! - you could probably use strawberries to great effect.

Belligerent tips:

It pairs well with... Tea. Obviously. Also strawberries.

You can share it with others, but only if you like them very much indeed. Otherwise, just eat the whole thing yourself.

If you're the sort of person who feels morally obligated to share things (I sometimes am), I recommend making cupcakes (which is what I did). You'll want to bake them just 15 minutes or so.

Earl Grey is a delicious tea, as a result of this, we're always running out of it. I made this with Yorkshire Tea (which is just a regular tasty black tea). You could probably use any tea, as long as it's not full of big chunky bits, since you put the actual leaves in the cake. I feel like chai/masala tea would be overwhelming though.... maybe with an orange glaze? (Tasty ideas for future tests...)

Eat your cake and your veggies too!

Belligerence & Chocolate.

* We should also focus on how pretty the pictures on this blog are. **

** Not THIS blog, silly. The one in the link!