Madhu Knits and Cooks

Waffle Creams - Return of the Knit Sock

After spending almost four years exclusively knitting baby items for the children of friends and family members, my desire to return to "selfish" knitting has resulted in another finished object - a new pair of knit socks.  

For the uninitiated, nothing beats comfy, squishy handknit socks.  They are perhaps my favorite item to knit because I love, love wearing them (especially if they are well-tailored to my feet) and they are such a great project to fit in your hand bag.  

My latest project is the result of a years-long love of the Anne Hanson Waffle Creams pattern.  I have admired the design's simplicity, which I felt could compliment both the many one-color and variegated sock yarns collecting dust in my apartment (just kidding, my yarns are all organized in sealed ziplog bags to prevent dust collection!).  

So when I finally found myself with a brief respite from the baby yarn knitting, and after finishing my summer knit top, to the skinny needles I went!

The pattern was super easy to knit up, though I did make a few minor mistakes maintaining the design while transitioning from the leg to the foot.  Oh well, that's how you know it's truly handmade! 

The final, post-blocking fit was also great - perfectly snug to my feet.  I can't wait to wear these in colder weather!

Waffle Creams for Madhu

Pattern:  Waffle Creams in the 6 inch circumference size

Yarn:  Knit Picks Stroll Tweed in Thirst Heather, approx. 1.7 skeins

Needles: 2 US 0 Addi Turbo circulars

Measurements:  Pre-blocking measurements of 6-inch foot circumference, 9.25 inches from the front to back of foot, and 8.5 inches from the top of the sock ribbing to the bottom of the foot.  Post-blocking measurements of 5.5-inch foot circumference, 9 inches from the front to back of the foot, and 9.5 inches from top to bottom of the sock.

Basic Instant Pot Pinto Beans - A Work in Progress

I never cooked dried pinto beans until the fantastic Cook's Illustrated Drunken Beans recipe.  Wowsa, that's a great approach that develops a really flavorful and interesting pot of beans.

However, it's not quite a simple recipe as it requires a lot of different ingredients (including two types of alcohol!) and a number of steps to get those oh-so-perfect beans.

Given that my time is sadly finite, as is my cupboard, I decided to experiment with a simpler Instant Pot dried pinto bean recipe.  While this approach wasn't quite that great (resulted in overcooked, bland beans), it's definitely a start to making a simpler pot of beans.

To begin this improvised approach, I soaked 1 cup of beans overnight and then cooked the beans with 1/2 white onion (left halved), 2 peeled garlic cloves, a few cilantro sprigs, and 2 bay leaves. 

I supplemented the above with approx. 2 cups of water and omitted salt for the cooking because I had remembered reading that cooking beans with salt can make them too hard.  However, on a recent Milk Street Radio podcast with Chris Kimball and Sara Moulton, I learned that this is an old wives tale!  So in the future, I'll add the salt to the outset of cooking (if not also soaking the beans with salt as well).

I set the timer to 25 minutes on manual / high pressure and let the pot depressurize naturally.

Unfortunately, this is where the problems started.  Pressure cookers do not need nearly the amount of water as standard stove-top cooking and I learned this lesson yet again the hard way.  Way too much water in the pot, such that sauteing it down wasn't going to be sufficient.  So I scooped out some of the extra water (which probably had a decent amount of flavor in it) and threw it down the sink.

I also learned that 25 minutes was WAY too long for pre-soaked pinto beans.  I think I should half the time next time to not get horribly mushy beans.

The beans were also incredibly bland.  So lots of salt next time, and maybe that many more herbs as well. Will report back as I continue to refine this "simple" pinto bean approach!

Ottolenghi / Jerusalem Parsley & Barley Salad - Delicious Despite My Lazy Modifications

I recently picked up Yotam Ottolenghi's Jerusalem at the local library on a whim, and have been randomly picking out recipes to try while I have it.  My first recipe was the Parsley & Barley salad, which featured an ingredient I've never cooked with before - pearl barley.

The pearl barley was much easier to find at the local grocery store than I expected, and so to the stove I went!  

After cooking the barley, it had a nice chewy and bouncy texture.  I then added the recipe ingredients I had on hand - parsley, green onions, garlic, bell pepper, cumin, etc.  I omitted the coriander seeds largely because I didn't want to go through the effort of toasting them, and the lemon I thought was in the fridge wasn't, so no lemon juice.  I also didn't have any zaatar, so just used parsley to help marinate the feta.

Despite my best attempts to not follow this recipe, it turned out wonderfully.  The marinated feta added a nice tartness to the fresh flavors of this herb-filled dish, and the pearl barley provided a really nice bite to each bite.  I look forward to using more pearl barley (and parsley) in the future!

Improvised Chocolate Chocolate Chip Meringues - A Great Base for Future Treats

After I made this year's Mardi Gras King Cake, I had five leftover egg whites that I wanted to put to good use.  While I certainly could have done something healthy like a vegetable-packed egg white omelette, my mind unfortunately kept veering towards more sinful concoctions.  After a day or two of consideration (I placed the leftover whites in a covered bowl in the fridge), I decided to modify an AllRecipes approach for chocolate meringue cookies.  

The meringues get their double chocolate flavor from both cocoa powder and chocolate chips, and like most meringues, are very simple to make.

I modified the recipe a bit based on the AllRecipes comments and my 5 egg whites instead of 3 called for in the original recipe.  I used approx. 1 cup of white sugar, and also just eyeballed the amount of cocoa and mini chocolate chips to what seemed reasonable. 

The latter actually worked out well, with a subtle chocolate flavor emerging from the cookies.  The former didn't work out that well as even 1 cup of sugar was far too much for this portion of egg whites.  In the future, I will probably reduce the sugar amount by at least a third.

I also initially crowded too many meringues onto my first baking sheet (they were also probably a little too large) so they were still a bit soft after 30 minutes of baking.  My second tray was more spaced out, and resulted in a more cookie-like meringue.

All in all, this was a great base meringue approach that can be easily customized further in the future.  I can't wait to make more of these delicious treats!