Entertaining Life Daily

Remember the quinoa stuffed peppers? Well, I had so many leftovers of the stuffing I just couldn't get rid of it. I quickly looked in the pantry to see what else I could do with them. Remember, we were avoiding the grocery store and only utilizing what we had in our pantry/fridge/freezer and the wonderfully fresh veggies from our friends CSA. (And yes, I know this post is delayed - my apologies!)

We didn't have much. But, we always have flour since we make a lot of our own bread and pasta.

With a little water and flour, I knew I could have a quick dough for some dumplings. I hesitated because of the starchy quinoa mix being stuffed in more starch. But, the quinoa is the only ingredient in the mix (there is also meat and veggies) so I shrug my shoulders and give it a go. I mix 2 cups of flour with just a bit of water to make a dough, then I kneed it until it is perfect consistency. I let it sit while I mix up the salad dressing.

I was keeping the dressing simple. Red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, salt and pepper were whisked together before streaming olive oil into the mix. That's it. Maybe two tablespoons of vinegar, one of mustard and a few tablespoons of olive oil gave me a slightly zesty dressing. Perfect for the heirloom tomatoes and greens from the CSA.

After making the dumplings, I cooked the dumplings in some boiling, salted water until done. And viola, a quick dinner utilizing leftovers, basic pantry items and fresh veggies. It was quite simple and delish with a little hoisin sauce to taste.

Who else loves to clean out the pantry, get creative in the kitchen, and end up with a great meal?

Hubs and I like to cook together, especially on the weekends. We can take our time, sometimes making things that take a bit longer to do. This past weekend was the same case - our menu consisted of crab dumplings and saffron rice - our two kitchen mishaps.

Exhibit A: Crab Dumplings (aka gyoza, pot stickers, whatever you like to call them)

Exhibit B: Saffron Rice

kitchen mishap. What I mean is they didn't turn out the way we intended them to, aka they weren't delicious. We ate them, but we didn't keep any leftovers. Why weren't they delicious? A salty dough and filling combination for the dumplings and soggy rice that was lackluster in flavor. Despite the work in the kitchen, there were two disgruntled people in the kitchen.

This got me thinking, "why do I never see kitchen mishaps on blogs?" I know everyone has them, but are people just not willing to say so? I mean come on, chef's have them too - that is how they get to the glorious point where they currently are, they learn from their mistakes. Sometimes you see them publicly (ie. Top Chef). But I'm wondering, do most people sweep them into the closet so no one can see?

So here I am, admitting defeat.

I even crimped them. ::sigh::

Then again, maybe if we had people over, they would have loved the meal? We are sometimes our worse critics, aren't we?

Does that mean we won't try this again? Not at all - I know the rice suffered because of the grain we used (we just grabbed what we had in the pantry), lack of timing (shift of hands between the two of us) and lackluster ingredients. Is this is a fail? Not at all, just a lesson in cooking.

That my friends, is why I love the kitchen. I love to experiment and not measure, so of course things like this happen.

What about you? Any mishaps lately that you are willing to share?

Entertaining Life Daily

Entertaining all aspects of life, one day at a time.

Quinoa Dumplings & Heirloom Tomato Salad

Kitchen Mishaps