First up, it's been a while since I posted a new recipe, so I thought I'd share what I cooked for dinner tonight. A while ago I picked up a new cookbook called Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck. I think it was featured in the cookbook review feature in an issue of Cooking Light. Given that it was described as a book featuring farro, wheat berries, quinoa and polenta (and we know all about my ongoing love affair with polenta), there was no question that I'd get this cookbook. I quite enjoy paging through it, drooling over every photo and recipe. And of course, the first one I picked to cook involved polenta (polenta lasagna anyone? Still one of my all time favorites).
It's kind of like a quiche only not. I'm not going to post the whole recipe (sorry Melissa!) because it's just too long... but it's not a quick meal. However, you can prepare the polenta ahead of time and the rest of it is a snap. It does take a while to cook and set, though. But it's DELICOUS. As a main dish it serves 4, and a serving is 10 points plus on Weight Watchers (if you use non-fat Greek yogurt as I did). While it was cooking, I just sat and inhaled... rosemary and goat cheese wafting through the air. Sigh.
The crust is 1 1/4C regular polenta (not instant) cooked in a mix of water (1 1/4C) and chicken broth (1 1/2C) with 1/4 tsp fine sea salt. Then you add 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/2C grated parmesan cheese and an egg (room temp so it doesn't cook when you mix it in).You cook the polenta for 10 minutes, stirring every two. Remove from the heat and let it sit another 10. Add the cheese, pepper and egg and let it sit for 15.
The filling is 1C greek yogurt, 1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary, 2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, scallions (which I left out. yuck.), salt and pepper, 2 eggs and 12oz of quartered artichoke hearts. The recipe calls for frozen, which I would use with great delight if they were available anywhere in the state of Utah. Instead I used jarred - I just drained them really well. Also 2oz of crumbled goat cheese and 1/2C of grated parmesan. You layer the polenta in the oiled pan and make a well - it's a VERY thick crust - about 3/4" around the edges. You let the crust sit about 15 minutes and preheat the oven to 375. Then arrange the artichokes in a circle from the outside to the center in the crust, sprinkle the goat cheese over top, pour the yogurt, herb, and egg mixture on top (carefully so it doesn't overflow) and then sprinkle the parm on top and bake 40 minutes. Then you have to let it rest a minimum of 20 minutes on a rack after it cooks so it all settles. But it's worth it.
Okay, I guess I typed the recipe up after all. lol. But the cookbook is awesome. I'm sure there will be more from there soon...
And on to the layout! I had a super nasty bout of insomnia last night, so I was up at 3:30am today trying to do anything to tire myself out and go back to bed. Nothing worked, so I got up and got ready for work and then started working on sketch #2 from Kelly's Sketchbook 4 class. I finished it tonight after a late dinner while I listened to Colorado get eliminated from the playoffs. Ouch. (Not unexpected, however.)
Here's a shocker for you... I didn't use a single thing from a Studio Calico kit on this one. I know! I have tons of other stuff I need to use so I'm trying to do that, even though it's an SC class (although April's kit comes next week, and it's a good one!)
This is from my visit to Abu Dhabi last year. We didn't get to stop and go into the mosque (still bummed about that - it was magnificent!) but we got into the city early enough to stop for a few minutes and take pictures from the side of the freeway before we went on to our business visit at the US Embassy. Such an incredible building! And so striking in the middle of the desert with that bright blue sky behind it.
I used the Moroccan background from the Silhouette store and then cut pieces out so it wasn't a solid 12x12 and then glued it down. I used one of the inside pieces as a template and cut a few pieces out of scraps to fill in some of the open spaces.
The papers are all scraps from when I made my Scrapbook on the Road for my FBE last year... Making Memories, Basic Grey, TPC Studios, DCWV... and more of my favorite jeweled fabric brads from Basic Grey. Those never fail to make me happy just looking at them, let alone actually using them!
I decided to also use this to fill a challenge on the SC community - the stash buster challenge series. For this one, we had to use 2 photos, washi tape, 3 round items of some kind (brads), a color item (ink) and a stamped image. So I used my Papertrey Ink Mendhi Medallion set (the original small one) to stamp a few small images. I also added a few bits of gold airmail washi tape. I've had that ribbon forever and I'm so glad I finally used it! The Thickers are Amy Tangerine and they're super cool.
With that, I don't think I'm going to have trouble sleeping tonight, so I'm off to bed. Happy Friday!
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