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Recipe: almond jello dessert

There is snow out there. Oh yes, there is. I can find snow any time of year if I’m willing to climb high enough to get to it. Right now, you don’t have to go very far, but it helps to hop on a bike as some (not all) of the roads leading to the backcountry are clear (but not open to cars yet or ever). It’s the season for the bike-ski or bike-hike or bike-bike and I’m getting better at not crashing into things which is always a desirable skill.

lock (the bikes) and go (hiking)

marsh marigolds coming up streamside

plenty of snow and lots of windfall

I’m spending considerably more time on my bikes of late – both my mountain bike and my indoor trainer (also mountain bike – my engagement mountain bike). With local trails clearing up, we’re trail running in the mornings or evenings when it is a comfortable 45°F. It’s a matter of weeks before the high country trails clear out for hiking and backpacking. It must be spring! Of course it is. The Ass Reduction Plan (ARP) is in full speed. That’s one of the reasons we’ve been consuming fruit like nobody’s business. Well, that and the fact that I just got a Vitamix blender a few weeks ago. While I love my daily smoothie (strawberries, mango, orange, apple, blueberries, grapes, kale, and a little Good Belly and almond milk) I still thoroughly enjoy chewing actual fruit.

lychees, raspberries, oranges, kiwis, pears, grapes

When I was a kid, my dad would make the occasional Chinese dessert. I think my favorite was almond jello, which everyone served cubed with canned fruit cocktail and canned mandarin oranges. I’ve made almond jello from the packets you can purchase at Asian grocery stores, but like almost everything else you can buy in a convenient package, it’s pretty straightforward to make your own from scratch.

almond extract, sugar, agar agar, almond milk

stir agar agar into boiling water until dissolved

stir in sugar until dissolved

You can make almond jello with gelatin or agar agar (particularly if you are vegan). Gelatin gives an elastic result – like the jello with which most people are familiar. I found powdered agar agar at my local Whole Foods in the bulk section and the resulting jello was more brittle in that it yields more easily to the teeth and breaks apart with less effort. Agar agar is derived from red algae and commonly used in Asian desserts. My first introduction to it was a refreshing lemony version chilled on ice that my aunt served to me on a sweltering summer day in Pennsylvania.

add almond milk or regular milk

pour in the almond extract

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Recipe: roasted chickpeas

We’re in the middle of some crazy heat wave over here. 70s on the flats, 50s in the mountains. Snow can’t survive that kind of weather for long and I’m hoping for the cold to return so that we might enjoy more than a meager month’s worth of proper winter (that was February). But this warm spell is certainly conducive to the whole “Spring is coming” mantra. To be honest, it’s pretty great weather for getting together with friends. My pal, Kat, had her birthday on Monday, so I hosted her for a few days at my house in the mountains. Jeremy and I treated Kat to Community Night at The Kitchen, which really is the absolute best dinner deal in Boulder if you love good food (and who doesn’t?). If you haven’t been before, I implore you to put that one on your list of things to do.

the community table

among our favorite dishes: duck and prosciutto meatballs

heavenly tagliatelle with lardo, egg, black trumpet mushrooms, parmesan, truffle salt

scallops in celeriac purée, blood orange beurre blanc, fennel

Oh, that was a wonderful evening, but the celebration continued with lunch at Sushi Tora, buying some wines, and hitting up a few of our favorite places around town like Cured, Boxcar Coffee Roasters, Whole Foods on Pearl (not all Whole Foods are equal – our Boulder store on Pearl is beyond amazing, truly).

fy to the i: sushi tora now has ramen on their specials menu – and it rocked our world

Last night, Jeremy and I changed the sheets and towels in the guest room for our next visitor who arrives this evening. It’s definitely less stressful having friends over when the weather isn’t freezing cold, the winds aren’t trying to blow your house down, and the roads aren’t covered in a slick of ice and snow. Spring and summer entertaining in the mountains is easy, fun, and relaxed. It puts me in the mood for appetizers, snacks, and party foods.

chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

ground spices: cumin, coriander, chile, paprika, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cayenne, cloves

Some time last year, I saw roasted chickpeas making the rounds on blogs. Friends raved about them. They were a healthy, crunchy snack that could be sweet or savory. I decided to try Kalyn’s version because the Moroccan spices appealed to my savory cravings. This was back in the day, before I was gifted my precious pressure cooker. I used canned chickpeas back then. Today I cook dried chickpeas in the pressure cooker (and they’re awesome).

pat the chickpeas dry

add some olive oil and your choice of spices

toss to coat

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Recipe: fried stuffed olives

On rare occasion Kaweah gets weird and needy at night and this is one of those nights. She’s demanding my attention right now (pawing at me, resting her chin on my lap, shoving her nose under my forearm so I can’t type). This happens whenever one of us is on travel. Jeremy used to think it only happened when I was away because I’m her alpha, but it’s clear that she doesn’t like it when Jeremy is on travel either. This post will have to be quick.

I tried a recipe on Tuesday and liked it so much that I had it jump the queue to share with you. The first time I had this dish was last April in Seattle at Black Bottle. Fried olives with remoulade sauce. Salty? Check! Crunchy? Check! Bite-size? Check! It’s kinda like olive-katsu, but not really.

pitted spanish olives, goat cheese, eggs, flour, panko crumbs, parmesan

Make the remoulade sauce first because it requires a few hours of mellowing out in the refrigerator which is plenty of time to prepare the olives. The remoulade involves gathering a bunch of ingredients:

creole seasoning, mayo, pickle juice, horseradish, paprika, tabasco, garlic, mustard

mashing up a clove of garlic

placing all of the remoulade ingredients in a bowl

and stirring it together

pretty color

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