Celes + Cinnamon

Here she is! Lovely Celes by Jared Flood, done up in the gorgeous Tosh Merino Light. I've been working on this for about a month. It was such a beautiful and delicious knit. There is just something about lace, all of those yarn overs and double decreases, the rhythm. P.s. my official knitting song is "Lump Sum" by Bon Iver, whatever the tempo in that song is, is also the exact tempo of my knitting, weird and awesome! Side tracked, sorry! When I first read the pattern I was freaked out, knitted on edging?! What does that even mean!?! Basically, you pick up a bazillion stitches (ok only about 300 or something) along the outside of the rectangular stole and go from there. It was actually way easier than I anticipated, and Id rather do a bunch of 12 stitch rows than say, ten 300 stitch rows. This pattern was so wonderful, try it yourself! Lace can be intimidating, but it's simple once you get the hang of reading a chart full of crazy symbols. I like to whip out my lace charts when Im knitting in public, it makes me feel like I know a secret language, or I am reading hieroglyphs and also making something beautiful at the same time. 

Well, I had to part with her today. I knew it was coming, but it didn't make it any easier...

I made it for my wonderful and lovely boss lady, and she really deserved something extra special for her birthday this year. I will probably be making another, in Quince and Co's Sparrow, for myself. Or maybe for a give away?! Eh?! 

Well, in oder to distract myself from the inevitable sadness in parting with Celes (although, I enjoy giving away my knitted treasures more keeping them, and Ive been known to give them away especially when I have had a little to drink and a dear friend has babysat my son while X and I had a much needed night out eating French/Mexican fusion..but thats another post I suppose...) I did what I do second best, and that is busy myself in the kitchen while the babies nap. 

I give you:

Cinnamon Spiced Red Curried Lentils

I can't really take credit for this. I am obsessed with Heidi Swanson, and this is a fusion of several of her recipes for different sorts of lentils. Lentils are almost my favorite food, I eat them at least twice a week, if not more. They are loaded with all sorts of nutritious goodness, including iron and B vitamins and packed with protein. That is why they are so great to eat if you dont have a lot of meat in your diet or are a vegetarian or vegan. This recipe can also be made vegan by substituting the butter with coconut oil.  I used what we had, and it turned out great:

Ingredients:

2 cups red lentils rinsed and picked over

2 large shallots, chopped 

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 a can of coconut milk (full fat version!)

1 bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick

1 + 1/2 table spoon indian curry

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons butter 

3 cups veggie broth

1 cup water 

1/2 a lemon

salt/pepper

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Now, Im not sure if I really should be telling anyone how to cook because frankly, I usually wing it. I probably did not follow proper steps and protocol but it turned out yummy, and the babies liked it too..and thats what is important after all. 

1. Sauté the garlic and shallot in 1 tablespoon of butter. 

2. Add in the 1 tables spoon curry powder, lentils, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, broth and water, a little salt, a little pepper, bring to a boil and then turn the heat down, simmer until the lentils are tender. (sometimes it takes a half hour or so, sometimes more) 

3. While the lentils are simmering away melt 2 tablespoons butter and let it brown (not burn, but brown, you will know by the color and the smell, nutty and delicious) Quickly add in the remaining curry powder and cinnamon, you're basically toasting these spices so that the flavors develop. Take it off the heat and let it cool a bit. 

4. When the lentils have finished cooking, remove the bay leaf and cinnamon stick,  add in the coconut milk, more or less depending on taste.

5. Pour a little (about half) of the curry/cinnamon brown butter into the lentils.

6. Transfer about half of the lentils to a food processor and process till smooth, transfer it back into the pot with the other lentils. This gives you a good texture, its not too smooth and not too chunky.

7. Drizzle the remaining brown butter mixture into the lentils. 

8. Squeeze a little lemon juice in there for a little zing. 

Now, because I made this for the babies, I kept the spiciness to a minimum but if it was just for me I would have added in a good amount of red pepper flakes, and topped it with some greek yogurt and cilantro, maybe serve it with some naan, or whatever sort of bread you have on hand. I really loved how the cinnamon played on the sweetness of the coconut milk and the spiciness of the curry, I might experiment with this combination more often.

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And there you have it, my very unhealthy habit of self soothing with(semi) healthy foods. Don't take after me, but I do recomend you check out my favorite cook book by Heidi and maybe try out this recipe and tell me how it goes. 

-K