Ruthless Knitting

In my leisure time this month, in addition to reading eight or nine books about a certain Detective Inspector Rebus, I’ve knit this much of a February Lady Sweater, which is the grown-up version of the February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman. At thirty-four weeks along, I continue to have an easy-peasy pregnancy, yet the lure of the couch is strong, and I’ve been helpless to resist it. Perhaps I’ll finish this sweater before the baby is born — I had intended to get some use out of it as a maternity garment. If not, I suppose it will still be there when I get back to it . . .

In other news, the falling leaves, windy weather, and gobs of candy on display at the grocery store all conspired to give me a wicked craving for some caramels, so today I made them.

I sprinkled salt on top, because salt always makes caramel even tastier. Here is the recipe, should you care to make your own:

Milk Caramels

2 c. sugar
1 c. light corn syrup
3 c. milk
1/4 c. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Preparation
Heat sugar with syrup in 1 c. milk. Stir until dissolved. Cook to 246–248º, or firm ball stage. Stir occasionally, slowly adding the second cup of milk. Repeat cooking process. Add remaining milk, butter, and salt. Cook to 246–248º (until a ball in cold water is firm as desired for firmness in caramels). Remove from heat; add vanilla.

Immediately pour into a buttered pan and grind salt on top if desired. Let cool before cutting into squares. Wrap squares in waxed paper if desired.

Notes
Be careful when adding milk to the hot caramel mixture, as it will boil up like crazy. Add just a little at a time and keep stirring to keep the temperature up.

This morning, David and I rode our bikes to the farmer’s market and bought tomatoes and basil, as well as some other lovely vegetables. When we got home, I started making pesto. Today was the third Saturday in a row that I have made pesto. I’m trying to put enough in the freezer to get us through most of the winter, but we’re eating it almost as quickly as I’m making it, so it’s hard to stay ahead.

Here are two of my favorite recipes for pesto, as well as an excellent tomato sauce recipe. The first recipe makes a zingy, unbelievably tasty vegan pesto. I highly recommend it. (Pictured on the left above.)

Pesto Perfecto
From Mark Reinfeld and Bo Rinaldi, Vegan Fusion World Cuisine
makes 1 c.

1 c. basil, tightly packed
1/4 c. cashews, macadamia, or pine nuts (I like to use cashews)
1/4 to 1/2 c. olive oil (1/4 c. seems like enough to me)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice, fresh squeezed (I have also used lime juice with success)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. soy sauce, or to taste
1/2 tsp. sea salt, or to taste
pinch cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in blender or food processor and process until smooth.

This recipe makes a more traditional pesto that is delectable (pictured on the right above).

Pesto
From Mollie Katzen, Moosewood Cookbook
makes 1 c.

3 c. (packed) fresh basil leaves
3 to 4 large cloves garlic
1/3 c. pine nuts or chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
1/3 c. olive oil
1/3 c. parmesan
about 1/4-1/3 tsp. salt

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

Finally, this tomato sauce freezes well and tastes like summer.

Summer Tomato Sauce
From Anna Thomas, The New Vegetarian Epicure
makes 2.5 to 3 c. (I got quite a bit more than this)

3 lbs. ripe tomatoes (at least a quart when chopped)
1 Tbsp. fruity green olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste (I use about 1/2 tsp. salt per batch)

Scald the tomatoes in boiling water for about 45 seconds and slip off their skins. Trim the stems and process briefly to a somewhat rough texture in a blender or food processor.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and add the garlic. Stir it for about a minute, then pour in the tomatoes. Add the basil, salt, and pepper, and cook the sauce on a medium flame for about half an hour, or a little longer if the tomatoes were very juicy, until reduced by about a third.

Bon appetit!

I wrote a long post earlier that I lost by accident. Then I went downstairs to run on the treadmill only to discover that the DVD of Heroes I just got from Netflix is the exact same DVD of Heroes that I finished watching and returned last week. Feeling a little cursed, I decided to take the blog in a whole new direction.

But first, a quick knitting status report: I finished up the Tokyo top on Sunday morning and wove in all the ends. It’s fab. I’ll try to take pictures and get a finished object post up sometime in the next few days. Meanwhile, you may have noticed a new sweater project listed over there on the sidebar. It may be the first sweater in a new sweater collection. I’m actually not quite done yet with the Ruthless Knitting Fall/Winter 2007 collection, but I need some time to plan the (rather complicated) sixth and final sweater. And before I knit a stitch on it or on the new collection, I’m going to finish up the second Bird in Hand mitten, which I should have made in December.

Let me delay my revelation still further to point you in the direction of Whatifknits. Sarah-Hope is having a raffle for her one-year blogiversary to benefit animal welfare and protection groups. She’s giving away some fabulous prizes, including a beautiful hand-knit Swallowtail Shawl. Have a peek at her website for details.

So. I was thinking today about websites that I enjoy, and I really do love the ones that include some cooking. Faith of The Knitting Cook posts recipes often, and so does Ysolda, and DesiKnitter. I love to cook, but I don’t particularly like reading about cooking at any length, so I am always pleased when cooking guest stars on knitting blogs. Perhaps five parts knitting + one part cooking = the perfect blog?

In order to investigate this possibility further, I give you a tortilla recipe. I’ve only been making tortillas for a few months, but I am a total convert. Fresh tortillas are relatively easy to make (particularly if you are someone who makes bread regularly), they taste fantastic, they don’t contain any of the freakish ingredients that appear in Azteca "tortillas" and other store brands, and the leftovers make killer huevos rancheros. The recipe I use is from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian, which is my favorite cookbook.

Wheat Tortillas

2 c. all-purpose flour [I use King Arthur bread flour]

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil (I use olive oil)

warm water

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. [I am actually too lazy to sift.] Add the oil and rub it into the flour as evenly as possible. Begin to add very warm water slowly, gathering the dough into a ball. You will need about 1/2 cup or a bit more. Knead the ball for about 10 minutes. [Don't skimp on this part. It's the only difficult part of the whole recipe.] Now divide it into 8 even portions and make 8 balls from them. Flatten the balls into patties. Put the patties on a large platter or baking tray and cover with a dampened towel or plastic wrap. Set aside for 30 minutes or more.

Set a cast-iron frying pan or griddle on medium-high heat. Allow it to heat up.

Take a ball of dough and dust it lightly in flour. Now roll it out into a 7-inch round on a floured surface. Lift up the tortilla and slap it back and forth between your palms to shake off the extra flour. [I don't do this, since there is never any excess flour on mine by this point.] Slap the tortilla onto the hot griddle. Let it cook for 45 seconds. It will puff up. Turn it over and cook the second side for another 35 to 45 seconds. Put the cooked tortilla on a plate and cover it with a towel or another upturned plate. Make all the tortillas this way, making sure to wipe off the cast-iron pan with a paper towel after each tortilla is made. [I never wipe off the pan.] If it takes you a while to roll out the next tortilla, turn the heat under the cast-iron pan down to low while you roll it and then turn it up again. [You can easily roll out each tortilla while the previous tortilla cooks.]

I cook the leftover tortillas in a skillet with a little olive oil and whatever toppings I want. You can also reheat them in the oven.