Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Gadgets: Getting too fast?

orange kitchen aid mixer When I was a little girl, helping out in the kitchen was one of the most fun “help mama” activities (topped only by sewing, of course). My memories contain remnants of the sensory experience: sticky hands, brown sugar-coated tongue, sunlight streaming through the windows, fresh-baked cookie scents, and, of course, the steady ka-chunk noise of the Kitchen Aid mixer. My mother swears by her Kitchen Aid, and has promised that my kitchen will never be incomplete because my own mixer will be her first gift to me on my wedding day.

The Kitchen Aid is an extremely useful tool. Its heavy base and thick gears manage to spin the densest doughs, and the plethora of attachments available simplifies many daunting cooking and baking endeavors. In our home kitchen, it stands out no more than the toaster, blender, or microwave. But where do gadgets cross the line from useful helpers to overachievers?

This New York Times Article explores the recent evolution of appliances, citing a toaster that poaches an egg as the bread is toasted. The NYT refers to America as a nation of “index-finger cooks”, and says that we enjoy the satisfaction that comes from making something, even and especially when that something requires little to no effort.

Housewares sales have been dropping in recent times, but small kitchen appliances have been selling very well lately. Microwave meals and frozen pizzas are convenient while retaining at least a scratch of that “i made it myself” feeling. But what are we losing when we give up being able to lick the batter off the beater?

One-button cuisine offers ready answers for cooks with not much time to spend in the kitchen and not much of a clue about what to do once they get there.

The orange Kitchen Aid mixer of my future kitchen might save my arms some strain, but it is by no means a one-button machine. I will still be measuring, sampling, and modifying during every bit of the baking process. And I most certainly will have a clue about what I’m doing, because I can hear my mother’s guidance right along with that distinctive Kitchen Aid stirring noise.

There is a boundary between those appliances that make kitchen tasks more enjoyable and those that take all of the work, pleasure, and process out of them. If more people started with Kitchen Aid mixers than toaster ovens complete with the “pizza bump”, I think we’d be witnesses to an entirely different food culture.

photo credit: http://www.squidoo.com/kitchenaid-artisan-mixers

[Via http://casefoodcraze.wordpress.com]

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Yumeiro Patissiere Episode 24

What’s wrong with Kashino?

That’s the question all Yumeiro Patissiere fans asked themselves when they saw the preview to the new episode. Now, they will finally find out and I’ll just be here giving you little hints=). First of all it’s the semifinals of the Cake Grand Prix and Team Ichigo(the A group) is up against Kashino’s nightmare, the Heiresses’ s team. The good part though is that they’re supposed to make a chocolate cake with the theme of love which Kashino is supposed to have a high advantage in…..right? WRONG! Ever since Kashino heard of the theme for the A group’s next competition he’s been acting really weird and to make matters worse he’s even started fighting with Hanabusa-kun!

Find out if Team Ichigo passes or fails by watching it online now!

[Via http://sweettaffy.wordpress.com]

Home Cookin'

I like cooking, actually, but not every day.  That would make for too many dishes.  I like finding new recipes and trying different variations of old ones.  One thing that’s also great about home cooking is that I get to make things how I like them.  Everyone has their own style when it comes to making food.  Most of the people in my family (and extended family) cook too simply for my tastes.  A “spice rack” was a strange and foreign concept to me as a kid.  My parents’ cooking wasn’t terrible as I remember, and it certainly kept me sustained, but theirs is not a style I want to emulate.  I don’t consider myself a great chef by any means, but I think I’m a darn good one.

And if you’re interested in renaissance foods, why not pay a visit to Renaissance Fare, a blog my friend of mine made, dedicated to foods from ye olde times.

[Via http://anobi.wordpress.com]

Saturday, March 20, 2010

My Grandmother's Galettes

The food: small iced cakes

The story:

My French-Canadian grandmother Alice lived with – and baked for – my family in Toronto during my tween and teen years, when my favourite after-school treat were the small, iced, cookie-shaped cakes she called galettes.

Oddly – or perhaps not, considering the complicated relationships, ties and connections between the English and French, especially when it comes to baking – the only place I ever found a cake similar to Alice’s galettes was in a small post office/shop in the English village of North Cave, in Yorkshire. During the summer of 1975, I spent a week or two there, working on a rescue excavation of a small archeological site – a sojourn I fictionalized and gave as back story to the main character in my novel The Restoration of Emily. A real-life detail I didn’t include in the novel was that the postmistress/proprietor of the store baked a few galette-like cakes every morning, so every morning my two dig mates and I stopped in at the shop so I could buy (and eat) some, which meant enduring her questions about how the three of us were related to each other, exactly, and what our sleeping arrangements were in the camper van we shared.

Years later, long after my grandmother had died, I tried and failed to find a recipe in books and online for her galettes, until I thought to check for French-Canadian recipes, written in French, and came across a site called Recettes de Quebec.

A search of the word ‘galettes’ at Recettes de Quebec yielded 109 results, mainly for cookies, including oatmeal, chocolate chip and pumpkin (pumpkin?). Nothing in the photos accompanying the recipes looked similar to my grandmother’s galettes except for the one that came with a recipe called Galettes à la crème sure submitted by one Claude Guertin.

I didn’t remember my grandmother using sour cream but the galettes in M. Guertin’s photo looked right (though they were not iced) so I translated the recipe, baked up a batch, iced them with a simple lemon vanilla glaze, and as Alice used to say, Voyons! – I had me some delicious, light, white, and moist galettes that might taste even better than the ones I once loved.

Lemon Iced Galettes, adapted from a recipe by Claude Guertin

2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c. sugar

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 c. sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 tsp. baking soda

3 tsp. baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In large bowl, cream butter. Add sugar, egg, vanilla and sour cream. Mix.

3. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder and baking soda.

4. Mix dry mixture with wet mixture. (Mixture will be sticky)

5. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, leaving room between each for the galettes to spread.

6. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until a fork inserted in cakes comes up with no crumbs attached.

7. Let cool.

8. Ice with an icing made by mixing together 2 c. icing sugar, 4 – 5 T. milk, 1 tsp. vanilla and the zest of one lemon (or orange).

9. Serve with berries or cut-up orange sections.

Makes 16.

[Via http://hungrynovelist.wordpress.com]

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Leek and Sorrel Custards

We were lucky to find ourselves with some of spring’s first vegetables from Persephone Farm, and I wanted to make something interesting to honor the eggs and ingredients. This recipe is loosely adapted from the delicious Local Flavors. It looks and tastes awfully fancy, but it was astoundingly easy to make! I think that it could be very flexible, as well. Stick with 1 cup sauteed vegetables and 4 oz of leafy greens and the dairy proportions. Let me know what you come up with!

serves 4, individual portions

1 cup chopped leeks

3 tbls. butter

4 ounces sorrel, chopped coarsely

1 kosher salt

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup whole milk

3 eggs

ground white pepper

crumbled bacon for the top (optional)

  1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Set a teapot of water on to heat.
  2. Melt butter in skillet over medium-low. Use this melted butter to brush the insides of 4 half-cup ramekins.
  3. Add the leeks to the remaining butter in the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes.
  4. Add the sorrel and 2 tbls. of water to the skillet. Stir around and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes. (The sorrel will begin to loose some of its lovely green color, but it will look fine in the end.)
  5. Add milk and cream and stir. (You just want to heat this a little.)
  6. Using an immersion blender, puree the mixture until it is your desired level of ’smooth.’ Add in the eggs and blend for just a tiny bit more. (I found it easiest to use the cylindrical container that came with my immersion blender.)
  7. Set the ramekins in a glass baking pan. Fill with mixture. Pour hot water into the baking pan so that it comes almost to the top of the ramekin.

  8. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the ramekins carefully with tongs.
  9. Garnish with bacon.

Serve with fresh bread and garden salad with potato croutons.

[Via http://eatingsmallpotatoes.wordpress.com]

Dinner #4: Dirty Rice with blackeyed peas and cornbread

Today was another long day. Work until 4:30 then to Mom’s to make her some soup and check in on her. (She has bronchitis and is staying home tomorrow to hopefully get better!) Then home around 6:30. So, it was another quick meal night.

For the main dish I followed the boxed directions for Zatarain’s New Orleans style Dirty Rice Mix (30 min meal from a box). I did not add ground beef, I added a can of black eyed peas instead.

Of course you can’t have a rice based meal with black eyed peas and not make cornbread! (We do live in the South!) So I made cornbread. Not your everyday run-of-the-mill cornbread but cornbread with…you guessed it: fried onions!

2 cups White Lilly self-rising cornbread mix

1 egg

about 1 1/2 c. of buttermilk (I didn’t have buttermilk so I added 1 1/2 TBSP white vinegar to regular milk…let it sit for 5 min and you get clumpy sour milk…YUM)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp oil

1/2 cup of crushed fried onions

Heat your oven to about 425, and grease your cast iron or muffin pan.

Mix all ingredients together and  pour in. Cook for 20-30 min till browning on top.

Tonight it was served with a Mango Smirnoff Ice in the bathtub with Andy Stanley’s Choosing to Cheat.

Absolute perfection!

Happy Cooking!

[Via http://tamishields.wordpress.com]

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Green Peas with Feta

ProCook - UKs leading Cookware CompanyGreen Peas with Feta Ingredients:
  • 1kg green peas
  • 2-3 eggs
  • 200ml cream
  • butter
  • 250gr feta cheese
  • salt
  • pepper
Instructions:
  • Wash the green peas and boil in water with salt.
  • Stray then put in a tray with butter
  • Mix the cream with the eggs and raze feta cheese over it
  • Put pepper and salt
  • Mix everything and put in the oven 350C for 20 min.

[Via http://coooooking.wordpress.com]

"Rainy days and Mondays always bring me down..."

The first day back to work after Daylight Savings Time always drags. I spent most of the morning wishing for 5 o’clock, then got busy enough that around 3, I was wishing that the clock on my phone was correct, and it was the clock on my computer that was incorrect (someone forgot to update the clock on the phones until after 4 this afternoon). I was pleased to discover when I got home that I still have a back yard, and that there is greenish grass underneath the melting snow and amid the mud.

I also discovered that Popchips are evil. Kendra was kind enough to get me a subscription to the Weight Watchers magazine for my birthday last year, and they occasionally have ads for Popchips. Living in Nowhere, SoDak, they don’t carry them anywhere around here, but I did find them in the Sioux Falls Target last evening when we were there. So I bought some. Big mistake. I held off on opening the bag until this evening, then proceeded to eat 95% of it. There’s still a handful of crumbs left, and the bambino had a couple little-man handfuls, but I pretty much cleaned out the bag on my own. I have a bag of salt & vinegar ones that are taking all my willpower to stay away from. I’ll probably stuff those in my craw tomorrow night while I watch The Biggest Loser.

In between shoveling in Popchips, I made a nice dinner. A take on grilled cheese & tomato soup, but a little fancier, if you will. Beefy Tomato Pasta Soup:

(This is before I tossed a large handful of croutons on top)

And grilled cheese panini (No recipe here–Just a couple slices of homemade bread and a slice of organic cheddar; slather both sides with butter, and grill on a panini press):

Thanks to the Popchips, I was only able to eat half of it, and left a bit of pasta in my soup bowl. Despite the bambino taking 2 microscopic bites from his sandwich and zero bites of his soup, it went over well-enough, as Jay ate my other sandwich half along with his whole, and cleaned out his soup bowl. For whatever reason, I felt I needed some hot cocoa after all was said and done, and I am now here at my computer regretting it. Good thing I’m already in flannel elastic-waist pants!

[Via http://tramplingrose.wordpress.com]

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Sous vide - next try

I decided to continue my sous vide experiments. I still don’t have a vacuum sealer and I still don’t have a temperature controlled water bath. The setup was thus equally improvised as last time.

This time, I cooked duck legs instead of steaks. The idea behind this was that duck legs should be more forgiving about temperature. From my previous experiments, I knew that the lowest possible setting of my stove will bring the water to temperatures somewhere above 60 °C. Since this is too hot for a good steak, I had manually switched off the stove from time to time. This time, however, I decided to let it on. And I do now know that water temperature will then lie constantly between 63 and 64 °C. This should be alright for duck legs.

I cooked them for a total of three hours. The result was … well, it wasn’t really bad, but it wasn’t exactly good either. While the muscle parts were done, the connective tissue wasn’t. Obviously, those three hours weren’t enough to break down the collagen. So while the meat was indeed tender, the duck leg as a whole was too chewy. Next time, I will try out five or six hours.

In terms of flavor, the meat was really fine. I chose a classic French style: canard à l’orange. Originally, canard à l’orange is made from a whole duck which is filled with oranges and then cooked in the oven. My version of it was largely inspired by a recipe of Hervé This, published in his 1995 book “Révélations gastronomiques”. I really liked his idea of injecting herb-infused orange liqueur into the meat. However, This’s original recipe suggests microwaving instead of sous vide cooking (which was not common back in 1995). I also made some adjustments to the sauce.

Canard à l’orange – sous vide

Serves 2:

2 duck legs

50 ml orange liqueur (Cointreau or Grand Marnier)

2 thyme sprigs

1 bay leaf

salt

pepper

1 large orange

1 tsp. sugar

100 ml white wine

200 ml chicken stock

2 tblsp. oil

Chop thyme and bay leaf and mix with the liqueur, salt, and pepper. Macerate for 20 minutes, then strain. With a syringe, inject the liqueur into the duck legs. I tried not to puncture the muscle strands, but to distribute the liqueur throughout the connective tissue spaces, i.e. under the skin, along the large vessels and nerves, or even along the bones. Thoroughly massage the duck legs afterwards to distribute the liqueur more evenly. Put each duck leg into a plastic bag of its own, carefully squeeze out any air, and tie a knot to close the bag.

In a large pot, heat water to 60-65 °C. Place the plastic bags into the water. If necessary, use a wire rack to hold the bags under water. Cook for three or more hours.

To fillet the orange, generously cut off the peel, including the white pith. Then cut out the segments. Carefully capture all the juice and squeeze out the remaining membranes.

Melt the sugar in a small pot over moderate heat until golden. Add the white wine, boil down completely. Then add the chicken stock, again boil down to a thick sirup.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Take the duck legs out of the plastic bags and dab them dry with paper towels. Quickly sear them over high heat from all sides.

In the meantime, add the duck juices from the plastic bags as well as the orange juice to the caramel, bring to boil. Remove from the heat, add the orange fillets, and heat them. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange orange sauce and duck legs on plates. I served the dish with saffron risotto.

[Via http://noaddedcolors.wordpress.com]

Food is the New Sex

Food is the new sex, at least for me.  I love to eat, and I do it all day long.  Sex is great, from what I remember, but I’ve gone so long without it I could almost care less…almost!  I love to experiment in the kitchen, I love shopping for food, I love reading cookbooks.  Anything related to food, I’m there.  Of course, it would be great to have a sexy man who appreciates my cooking, but that’s my life at the moment.  Not that I’m complaining, because while I am perfecting the art of cooking these days, my perfect man is out there somewhere, just waiting to be overcome by the aroma of some delicious creation of mine wafting out of the windows and into the street.  Just like Italian prostitutes used to do to attract their customers!

[Via http://foodisthenewsex.wordpress.com]

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Two Great Loves: Pesto and Bocconcini

I recently did a week-long vegetarian stint so that’s the reason for the multiple vegetarian dishes. I much prefer being vegetarian in Australia than in Malaysia. The fresh produce here is just so beautiful.

I’ve developed a new habit of going to the market every Sunday morning. I sit down with a few recipe books or food magazines on Saturday night and plan my menu for the week and write down a shopping list. This is really important for me because it makes me focus on the things I know I will make. I get distracted by the sight and scent of gorgeous produce and sometimes I get carried away. I’d end up with a heavily stocked fridge and no clue how to use up all the produce before it goes bad. Since I’ve adopted this more logical exercise, my produce dwindles down to almost zero by Sunday so I fell all right about hitting the market. I love doing this too because I want to avoid buying anything from the supermarket. It’s expensive, the produce isn’t as fresh and it takes away from the experience of shopping for your food. Now I’m only in the supermarket for cleaning products and the occasional tin of tuna or dried pasta. I haven’t yet mustered up the courage to try making pasta from scratch. I want to, though I have no clue if I have the space to dry them…

Haul

My haul from the market one week

One of the things I always make when I go vegetarian is pesto. It’s great for a quick snack with toast or for an easy meal with some pasta. I first tried pesto when my brother made it from scratch many years ago and I fell madly in love with it. I’ve tried some bottled varieties in the supermarket but they never live up to their fancy description of ingredients so I just steer clear away now knowing that anything I buy will be inferior to the tried and tested recipe that I’ve perfected over the years.

Pesto Pasta Salad

Pesto pasta salad

The recipe I use is the same one I first tasted when my brother made it for me all those years ago, and if I’m not mistaken, he snitched it from a Gordon Ramsey cookbook, although exactly which I can’t ascertain. It is fantastic and I can’t insist enough that everyone try this at least once because it’ll put you off the bottled versions in the supermarket forever.

This recipe uses basil and pine nuts, and I know there are other versions with other herbs and nuts like parsley or spinach or cashews but I do enjoy the scent of basil a whole lot more than the other alternatives.

Classic Pesto

adapted from some cookbook of Gordon Ramsey’s

Ingredients

50 g pine nuts

70 g fresh basil leaves, plucked from the stems, washed and dried

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

50 g Parmesan cheese

125 ml extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

1. Fry the pine nuts in a pan (with no oil) until slightly brown. Remove from heat and leave to cool.

2. Place pine nuts in a blender with basil, garlic and Parmesan. Blitz to combine.

3. Scrape down the sides. With the machine running, add in the oil slowly. Scrape down occasionally. (I don’t have a machine that has an accessible open top that I can open while it’s running so I just dump the oil in batches)

4. Taste and check for seasoning, add salt and pepper according to your preference. I usually add only a teeny tiny bit of salt (the Parmesan salts it enough) but I do go heavy on the black pepper because that’s the way I like it.

5. Dump in bin and go to bed. This was what my brother e-mailed to me many years ago. I hadn’t noticed until I was making the pesto and pissed myself laughing for ages after. He’s a prankster, that one!

Pesto pasta salad

To make the really simple, really easy Pesto Pasta Salad in the photographs, I’m not even going to bother giving you a recipe. All you need is some pesto, a handful of cherry tomatoes, a few balls of bocconcini cheese, and some fresh mushrooms. Boil some pasta, saute the mushrooms with a little salt and pepper. Dump the cooked pasta in a bowl, add a tablespoon of pesto per individual serving, mix it up so it coats all the pasta. Add in the mushrooms and tomatoes and shredded bocconcini. Season with a little salt and pepper if you feel like it (I personally didn’t find a need for it). DIG IN!

I feel the need to express my undying love for bocconcini for a moment. I have a massive savoury fang, even though I love making desserts (this shocks people a lot). I’m not the kind of person who would choose dessert over a main course. That’s just crazy talk! One of my biggest savoury delights is cheese and while I enjoy cheese, I can’t handle eating camembert and brie or even blue cheese too often. I can take them in small doses but I have to be very light handed with them or they gross me out and put me off a dish. However when it comes to my two greatest cheese loves: fresh mozzarella and bocconcini, I would sing a different tune. I especially love buffalo mozzarella (which I’m told is the larger version of bocconcini) although I am convinced buffalo mozzarella has a stronger taste. Or maybe I’m hallucinating.

Bocconcini has the loveliest, fluffiest texture; it’s the right amount of chewiness and the taste! Oh the taste! It’s really mild and it absorbs the flavour of whatever it is served with but I have been known to munch on a plain bocconcini ball.I could eat bocconcini daily and wouldn’t utter a single word of complaint. There’s no such thing as too much bocconcini in my book.

Pesto pasta saladl

My favourite vegetarian meal

They look almost like fetta in these pictures and they probably don’t look very pretty but they’re a very subtle, joyous party in my mouth.

[Via http://heysugar.wordpress.com]

Cured with Curry

It’s Friday! As if you all didn’t know and weren’t already celebrating that fact ;) I hope everyone’s week was an easy one and you’re able to look forward to the weekend and don’t have to work tomorrow, like I do.

The last time I visited Hannaford’s exotic fruits section, I decided on what I thought was a cactus pear. I have this thing where I like to try at least one new food a shopping trip. This includes a main course kinda deal, as well as a new fruit and/or veggie. I get a kick out of new fruits. This wasn’t, however, a cactus pear. This was an apple pear. I discovered this after the fact, and the ironic part of this not-completely-necessary story is that when I tried it first, I thought “Hm. Tastes like an expensive apple.“

Pretty sure most “exotic fruits” are really just grocery stores’ and farmers’ way to get consumers to spend more moolah on something that is supposedly drastically different. Meh well. I do still want to try a prickly cactus pear. At least now I know what they look like and I won’t be taken for a fool.

Regardless: I decided to saute my almost neglected apple pear in some almondmilk with some raisins, and addded half of it to the oatmeal base, as well. I really like pears, and I also really like apples. You know what else I like? Cinnamon Raisin Swirl, dates, and crystallized ginger. I like a lot of other things, too – but not everything I like goes this well in oatmeal.

After this bowl, I about finished yet another half gallon of almondmilk. This led me to compose an open-letter to Silk.

To whom it may concern at Silk Pure Almond:

To cut down on so many un-neccessary frantic grocery store runs in order to feed my Silk Pure Almond almondmilk addiction, I feel you could take one to three of three possible actions:

1. Hire me. I promise I’ll only drink approximately half of the profit.

2. At least give me an ad campaign already – I need money to fuel this addiction somehow.

3. Start producing ten-gallon pails. I don’t have room in my fridge for twenty half-gallons, but I could clear out some space for a ten gallon pail no problem.

Sincerely,

Just Another Health Junkie

P.S. Thought I would ask – when is your coconut almondmilk coming out? I feel this would greatly add to your already highly-qualified lineup.

P.P.S. Feel free to chose to take all three of the above actions.

Rumi’s, the best plum ever, and Irish Creme. I thought I was being clever and making my own “jam.” That didn’t last long. I ate it separately.

Pretty sure today marked the beginning of mud season. Que? Yes – Vermont has five seasons. Maybe more like six if you count the minor detail that we really have two mud seasons. Oh, praise the months where we clean our cars, only for it to be brown in a matter of hours. Where we can’t walk from our porch to our desired destination without muddying up our entire wardrobe and/or wearing big ol’ clunky muck boots. When you can step outside and rather than smell beautiful spring air – you come to the realization that the smell of mud is the smell of beautiful spring air. When you can’t make it down a dirt road without needing an alignment and a winch-out.

Enter: Why I drive a Jeep. Gas-hogging, environmentally unfriendly, but lovely.

Enough about that.

I finally jumped on the PopChip train.

Would anyone mind telling me what I was waiting for when I passed on the PopChip craze? Actually – I think it had mostly to do with the fact that I couldn’t find them anywhere. I would always look, and always fail. I finally saw that Hannaford started carrying them last I was in there, and gladly picked up the BBQ flavah. Oh. Muh. Gaw. They are perfect. I have been hunting for the perfect chip replacement, and thought I’d found them with Kettle chips. Granted – I am not a huge chip fan, but sometimes they just really hit the spot, ya dig? Kettle is still fine by me – but I love how popchips are sort of like a cross between rice cakes and chips, and have ridiculously amazing flavor. I like that they’re not so potato-chip-y the most. Definitely my kinda snack! Have you tried them? What’s your favorite flavor? I can’t wait to try the others!

Lunch was a hummus & fried egg & veggie wrap. I’d noticed I’ve been being lazy packing lunches, and almost was again today by grabbing a yogurt again. I decided I should really use up some veggies, and reminded myself that I don’t find yogurt nearly as satisfying for lunch as a delicious wrap, anyways. So I panini’d up one after eating breakfast.

This tasted great. However, I am fairly sure the hummus was on its’ way out – my stomach was not quite right for the rest of the day! Yuck. I know, I know – hummus should be chucked if not used within a week. I hardly ever have it last that long, but for some reason haven’t been eating it as much lately – probably due to my drastic wrap consumption reduction.

This hummus was probably nearing its third week. Hey – the date said April 9 2010 so I didn’t want to chuck it. I find wasting food incredibly difficult. I should have chucked it.

However, I take a different “upset-stomach” remedy than most. I remedy myself with food.

Especially Z Bars. Especially S’mores Z Bars. Because my stomach may have been angry, but my taste buds didn’t need to suffer. I have a difficult time differentiating between “eating more will make you feel better,” and “eating more will make you feel worse.” Luckily, usually eating more makes me feel better. Strangely.

Sure, a S’mores Z Bar was an odd choice, but my dinner choice was even more upset-stomach unfriendly.

Am I the only person in the word who decides that a  honey-curry tempeh & sweet potato dinner is a good idea for an upset stomach? Maybe. Strangely enough, I started feeling better shortly afterwards. Guess it just goes to show, the cure lies in the curry! Or the sweet potato. I always knew sweet potatoes deserved my complete love and affection.

I know, I know – it seems like you just saw this dish. March 5, to be exact.  I can’t help it! I love this honey-curry sweet potato idea, and had to try it with the tempeh! I also made it with kale again, which – even though I said it was what I didn’t like about it last time – really worked this time, haha. I don’t know, I just wasn’t feeling it with the chickpeas and apple I used last Friday.

Pretty sure tempeh may become a new addiction. It’s so fun to play with – I’m pretty sure you can do anything to it and it will still taste good.And I’ve come to love the texture. Isn’t it strange how the things we initially dislike about something new – become what makes us really love it?  Maybe not true for all things – but something I’ve observed a couple times with myself, at least. What’s one example of this in your case?

I’ve still got bunches and bunches of photos to go through, and am working tomorrow, so won’t have a bunch of time to play with them this weekend – So i’m off to try to get as  much as I can done tonight! I hope everyone has a fun weekend planned, and has a great night!

[Via http://healthyexposures.wordpress.com]

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Baking and Bechamel Discoveries

Yesterday I made bechamel sauce for my pasta and peas lunch: truly you can make the sauce while the water boils on your lunch hour. My secret processed food allowance for years has included a few boxes of Annie’s mac and cheese for emergency comfort food. Obvious now that there was some gap in my thinking (damn you Don Draper) how could a powdered mystery substance really be easier than butter and milk and flour. Now Kraft seems as quaint and inexplicable as Bisquick, having lost all emotional control over me.

And then these wonderful molasses cookies that were baked between when I got home and when I went to the neighbors’ for dinner. Delicious modern ingredients that make these better than the old school cookies are 1 tsp. lemon zest and 1/2 cup wheat germ. Recipe comes from Moosewood Classics. I would mail you some, but I ate them all.

[Via http://emilynichols.net]

risotto, yum

I’ve never cooked risotto before, so I gave it a go yesterday. Channeling a recipe from taste.com.au I made a tomato and sausage risotto.

The recipe was simple to make and also tasted delicious. It would be a fantastic base recipe to expand on later on. I did give myself a nasty burn lifting the lid of the pot after I took it out from the oven, so make you sure you remember the lid gets hot too! Especially when it’s in a 200 degree hot oven.

And now just to add a hint of cuteness:

Bailey! Seeming quite unimpressed at me taking a photo of him. I shall soon post of the success of my sushi making last night – having just finished some for lunch, all I can say is yum!

[Via http://adventuresoftheordinary.wordpress.com]

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Living on Leftovers

I try to be precise.  I try to be clear.  But try as I may there is always going to be a level of interpretation that readers bring to the pages of this blog.

Thankfully there are comments.  And thankfully many of you actually contribute every now and again.  Besides being an incredible validation that people actually read this thing, the comments allow me to see when an argument I’ve made somehow goes flying off the rails.  When that happens, it is incumbent upon me to correct the misconception and get the train back on the tracks.

Which brings me to the topic of the day.  Last week Beck wrote, “I know you’ve stated before that you’re opposed to leftovers, but I am not.”

This isn’t an entirely accurate representation of my position.  Although I can see how the nuance may have been missed.  I am opposed to oversized restaurant portions that try to create value for the customer by providing a massive quantity of food.  Value can be achieved in other ways, and good restaurant food should never be better the second day.

But I am not at all opposed to leftovers.  In fact, I live off of them.

Seriously.

My new attitude about cooking is that if something is worth cooking, it’s worth cooking in huge quantities.  So I make stockpots full of soup.  I make giant batches of bean dishes. When I make polenta, I make enough for soft polenta on the first night with plenty left over to pan fry for the week to come.  Marinara sauce is made to supply at least two meals and sometimes more.

Then I take the leftovers, package them up in tidy little containers, and either put them in the refrigerator or the chest freezer.

The creative part comes when trying to figure out how to use up the last little bits of things.  Leftover stir-fry and leftover rice turns into fried rice with the addition of an egg and perhaps some frozen vegetables.  One leftover sweet potato can turn into some Africanesque soup with chicken stock, peanut butter and spices.  A small amount of marinara sauce can be mixed with some ricotta, garlic and XV olive oil to make a pink creamy cheesy sauce.  One plate of pasta can be transformed into a frittata with a few eggs.  I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Even restaurant leftovers can sometimes be improved upon, especially if they weren’t that good the first time around.

I had a terribly disappointing risotto from Creo in Guilderland.  But as disappointing as it was, I am morally opposed to waste, so I brought home more than half of my dish.  The next day, I formed the rice into patties and pan-fried them in some XV olive oil.  Honestly, they were better on the second day then at the restaurant.  Good for me, bad for them.

The very promising-looking paella at the SCCC culinary school also faired better at home when I could cook the rice a bit longer so that it wasn’t sodden with liquid and actually could crisp up a bit around the edges of a hot pan.  Granted, it wasn’t as good as a proper paella should be right out of the gate.  But it was still better than its first iteration in the dining room.

At the end of the day, I suppose I make a distinction between leftovers and restaurant leftovers.

Ideally restaurant meals should be reasonably sized portions that do not result in leftovers.  But if you cannot complete your meal at a restaurant, I am all for taking the leftovers home and enjoying them as best you can.

At home, where the food can be prepared to hold for longer periods of time, leftovers are a great way to minimize cooking and to have quick meals on hand.

So enjoy your leftovers without the guilt or shame.  Just know I’m not reheating mine in a microwave.

[Via http://fussylittleblog.com]

Nutty wisdom

Here’s something I didn’t know about coconuts until very recently, despite being from the land of those nuts (well, you can read that however you want)…

Out here, we get coconuts at the grocery store either as a whole  or split into half-shells (unhusked in either case, thankfully); and something that I’ve personally struggled with is to separate the meat from the shell. Since I don’t have one of those scrapers to do the traditional method of making coconut shavings, I resort to buying frozen coconut shavings from the local Indian store.

One of my colleagues was on a visit to Hawaii recently, and here’s an easy method to separate the meat from the shell, that he learnt while he was there: put the coconut in the freezer overnight and the meat will detach from the shell thanks to relative expansion! Now, considering that this isn’t rocket science, I’m guessing a lot of people know this already, but was news to me when I first heard this. Personally, I’m a lil’ disappointed that I didn’t think of this approach until now since  I grew up seeing copra made at home (in a nutshell, it is the process wherein you dry the coconut under the sun so that the meat shrinks as the moisture evaporates, and it separates from the shell). Ah, no wonder common sense is an oxymoron!

Marko

[Via http://markomerine.wordpress.com]

Sunday, March 7, 2010

andifeelfine

…anybody? …anybody?

I hope everyone else’s day has been as splendid as mine. I just can’t get over this beautiful weather! I have been in a nonstop amazing mood since this morning.

I thought I woke up wicked late – it was so light out and I had that groggy “slept-in” feeling – but it was really only 6:30! I caught up on some blogs before strolling out to the kitchen and makin’ up a repeat of the other day. Sorry!

carrot-cake oats

Because I am having an affair with carrot-cake oats, and they will never grow old.

In the mix was oat bran, rolled barley flakes, and wheat bran, brewed coffee & almondmilk, goji berries, 3/4 carrot – grated, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground clove, ginger, vanilla, and a couple slices of ripe nanner.

On the top was chia-acai icing, dates, crystallized ginger, ground flax, Justin’s Maple Almond Butter, drizzle coconut butter, strawberry-pom jam, and the rest of the carrot, sauteed with raisins, maple syrup, and coconut.

I almost threw in the kitchen sink, but couldn’t quite get it loose. Oh well, maybe next time ;) I’ve been thinking it’s rather comical that I load up my breakfasts so much that you can’t even see the oatbran and whatever other grain I’m using! Haha…it’s under there. Somewhere :)

I flipped through some magazines while enjoying this beaut, and then cleaned up, spiffed myself up, did a mini photo shoot because I was really bubbly and haven’t held my baby in a while

and then set sail for tax-free shopping. Woo-hoo! I decided I’d take you guys with me today, too! You’ll probably be sick of my face by the end of this post. I apologize. But I’d been thinking about how it probably seems like I’m not even a real person behind this computer because I never show my face. This is primarily because it’s tricky to take a picture of yourself when you’re using a camera with a fixed, manual focus lens. And you’re too lazy to switch it, like moi.  But I love seeing all of your beautiful faces, so hopefully you don’t think I’m a robot anymore :)

Wild Mtn. Blueberry & Vanilla latte. Copco spokesperson.

You’ll probably be sick of my bony, dry, old lady hands by the end of this, too. Oh well. I tend to wait until it’s too late to fix those sorts of things.

AB&J muffin with Justin's Maple AB

Yeah, I’ve still got these muffins and scones, haha. I freeze them right away, and tend to forget. That and I have a large variety of carbs to choose from daily, and unfortuately, out of sight out of mind tends to have a strong affect on me. Sometimes it’s good – sometime’s it’s depressing. Like when there’s a freezerful of these and these.

I stopped at the discount foods store first, and there may or may not be any more boxes of Sugar Cookie tea left in the state of Vermont. I may or may not know who should be held accountable for this. Jus’ sayinnn.’

When I’d reached my final desired location, it was time for a refuel before a shopping spree.

I'm supposed to look sad because of the ugly nanner... I'm not sure I was successful.

The rest of my nanner from breakfast, and the plaza in the background. Okay, you only see Dicks. Pretend that’s BB&B and Hannaford.

I was strangely conservative in BB&B, but I am not complaining. I think it’s just because I wanted everything – so I just stuck to what I went there with the intentions of getting – which you’ll see soon enough! They do have so many cool gadgets, and I really wanted to get a bunch of kitchen organizational stuff, but refrained. It’s a lot more expensive there, I could probs go to wally world or something.

Afterwards, I hit up Hannafords for a couple goodies and ran into some old friends. This was weird because I never run into people and I thought they were out west somewhere. So it was a pleasant surprise!

As a side note, I love shopping when you’re in a really good mood – I like being the pleasant customer. Is that weird? I know when I wait on people at work, I love when a happy cheery person comes in. I’m not annoyingly happy, I’m just polite. I think. I hope. You all must think I’ve been sneaking some sort of happy pills lately. aha. Yeah – it’s called sun and spring air!

Afterwards, I hit up the co-op! Again, I was surprisingly well-behaved. I think I have this “go big or go home” slogan. I knew what I went in for, so I tried to stay just to those aisles, haha. I just wanted to get some more almondmilk, and see what they had already packaged for dried fruits and nuts. I was successful :)

But all that shopping made me work up an appetite!

Sick of me yet? That's okay - this is the last one :)

And all I wanted was a big, crispy, juicy, apple! I still had to stop and clean the office on my way home, though, and wasn’t sure it’d tide me but wanted it anyways. For some reason, apples make me really full at first, and then really hungry. I guess it makes sense in a weird way – the fiber making you feel full initially, but then your body realizes it wasn’t that much food? maybe? Anyways, after my cleaning expedition decided it was time for another snack. I planned to stop some places to take some funky photos on the way home, too. Can’t do that hungry, you know :)

Other than the mis-spelling of "sesame," can you really argue with those ingredients?

Okay, maybe you’ll argue with the butter – but hey, at least it’s a real food. No complaints over hurr!

Yum. They’re really dense, so I had a little less than half, since I was going to be home in an hour or so for lunch anyways. But I had forgotten how good these are! I can’t wait for one of you luckies to win some – I hope you find them as good as I do! I may be doing another giveaway with them soon, too.

I stopped some fun places on the way home to snap some photos, but haven’t finished sorting through them all yet. Sneak peek? Oh, okay.

After unpacking everything and gettin’ in my cozy pants, all I wanted for lunch was a fried egg sandwich on a chewy english muffin with hummus. Weird lunchtime craving for me, but I followed it.

I must have really wanted some sodium and carbs, because I wasn’t even into the carrots…and I’m always into raw, crunchy, yummy carrots! So, fried egg and english muffin it was. With some hummus, spinach, parmesan, sundried tomatoes, half a dill pickle, and some dijonnaise. Hit. The. Spot. I’m usually all about fresh veggies and letting them sing with minimal bread-age, but I just loved crunching into the english muffin and the crispy & salty fried egg, complimented by the oozy cheese and creamy hummus. Yum!

But of course dessert was in order, too.

You’ll be seeing this often. Puffins, granola, honey apple buttah, almond milk, and the star of this one was some sliced dried turkish fig! The figs keep getting forgotten about in the back of my fridge. A shame, because I love figs as much as I love dates – and you all know how much I love dates :)

overstock (dot com, that is!)

Apparently, my mom had the same thoughts I did while she was out. I may or may not have had one or two throughout the course of the day.

is that...is that...a FOOD PROCESSOR?!

oh, yes. It’s actually a Ninja processor. Apparently, it’s been seen on TV, which makes me unsure it’ll last all too long, but hey. It fits the bill for what I need. And it’s a blender, too! The blender I had was pretty awful, so I killed two birds with one stone on this one. Which is a shame because I like birds.

But what in the hay am I makin'?

Ohh, just a lil’ comethin’ somethin’ that required chickpea flour. I had no chickpea flour. I did have chickpeas. I made a quasi-flour. I do what I do.

The girl's gone mad!

oh yeah, baby! Wafflin’ it up. Should we take bets on how long it is until I use both of these appliances next, now that I’ve made my longed for fawaffle? Hopefully not just a phase.

I pretty much  just threw everything even vaguely reminiscent of falafel into this and prayed to the waffle gods. Surprisingly, it worked! I thought for sure it’d be a relative fail. Unfortunately, however, I wasn’t really in the mood for falafel – but of course, I had it in my mind, had chickpeas I needed to use, and have been eyeballing fawaffle for months. So, I still had it. I can’t wait to make it when I’m craving falafel! haha.

Although that pickle may have killed my taste buds.

Dessert of puffins, scone, currants, maple AB and granola. Although, in the time it’s taken me to write this post, I’ve already consumed a kiwi-yogurt-and granola parfait. It’s been a couple hours, what can I say?

What is everyone’s favorite kitchen gadget?

and I’ll be picking (randomizing?) a giveaway winner tomorrow – so make sure you’ve taken advantage of the chance to enter up to three times! I’ll probably do it around the time of my usual posting – so early evening-ish :)

Hope everyone has a great night!

[Via http://healthyexposures.wordpress.com]