Things I Have Eaten

Roasted vegetable season!

2011-11-16T08:23:00.000-08:00

Tis the season... to roast all veggies!
Well, maybe not always, but it is happening with astonishing regularity chez moi these days. It's easy, not requiring much attention once the veggies are in the oven, warm (crucial on these cold Seattle days) and delicious. I'll happily make a meal of roasted vegetables just by themselves, though they feature heavily as a side dish on my winter menu.
My newest vegetable roasting passion comes courtesy of Deb at Smitten Kitchen--It is so easy, I can't believe that I haven't been doing it all along! For the original recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/10/cumin-seed-roasted-cauliflower-with-yogurt/

I follow the recipe pretty loosely, which is easy to do as things as simple as this will really come down to personal taste. I've made it with ground cumin and cumin seeds, and can vouch for its deliciousness either way but something about the seeds really did kick it up a notch, so I recommend investing in some cumin seeds if you don't already have them (try buying spices in bulk, as it is pretty inexpensive that way).

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large head cauliflower1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Plain yogurt (I used nonfat)
Chopped fresh mint leaves, for serving (this would be delicious, but I skipped it because I didn't feel like buying mint)
Pomegranate seeds, for serving

Once you've assembled all of your ingredients, it is simple--cut the cauliflower into bite-sized or at least more manageable pieces, drizzle lightly with olive oil, sprinke with salt, pepper, and cumin seeds, then roast at 425 for 20-30 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender.

Serve with a big spoonful or two of yogurt and a liberal showering of pomegranate seeds for color and a bright burst of flavor. Enjoy. YUM.

Creamy Curried Celery Root Soup

2011-11-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

This soup stood out from a myriad of soup recipes that I began considering with some regularity as fall closed in on me this year. The recipe is via Mark Bittman of the New York Times--his recipes often tickle my fancy and this one turned out as well as I imagined it would. The flavor of celery root is like fresh celery, but not quite. I like it better, myself, but I am also a fan of starches (yum).

Now, prepping the celery root to make this soup with was kind of a hassle. The roots are gnarled and alien-looking. Peeling away the tough exterior was accomplished slowly, with the aid of a knife, then a (sturdy) vegetable peeler. Eventually, you end up with the naked celery root, and the remainder of the recipe is a piece of cake.

Creamy Curried Celery Root Soup
(Mark Bittman)
Yield 4 servings

Time 45 minutes

Ingredients
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 to 2 teaspoons ground cumin
Salt and black pepper
1 1/2 pounds celery root, peeled and cut into 1- to 2-inch chunks
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock or water
1/2 to 1 cup cream, half-and-half, or milk, or to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley for garnish

In a medium to large pot, melt the butter on medium high heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook until they begin to soften, then add curry powder, cumin, and salt & pepper. I used yellow curry paste, rather than curry powder, and used 1 & 1/2 tbsp as well--it worked quite nicely. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about a minute.
Stir in your celery root chunks to coat them in spices, add stock, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a gentle simmer and allow to cook until celery root becomes soft (15-20 minutes).
Finally, allow the mixture to cool slightly, and blend until smooth, then add milk, cream, soymilk, or half & half and reheat if necessary before serving. I would recommend straining the soup once before serving, as there were a couple of fibrous bits in my finished product from the celery root. It didn't ruin it, but they were incongruous with the otherwise smooth & creamy soup.
I was so ravenous by the time my soup was done that I had already finished it--but you can see from this photo that the color is pretty blah. If I had brighter dishes, it wouldn't look as bland, I think. It definitely benefits from the pop of color that a little garnish gives it.
Also, The curry flavor becomes more pronounced overnight! It was even better the second day for lunch.

Miso soup with swiss chard and kabocha squash

2011-10-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

A friend recently sent a link to a website listing a myriad of miso soup recipes to tantalize the palate of (in particular) Americans who are used to seeing the same miso soup nearly everywhere they go. I always keep some miso paste in my fridge as a pantry staple, as it is quite useful to have on hand. It can be added to other soups to add some body to the broth, and if you have (as I do) miso paste that is made with dashi (fish stock) already, then you are halfway to miso soup already, minus the tasty add-ins.
Check out this link, if you need to jump-start your miso soup creativity! http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2009/12/how-to-cook-miso-soup-66-ways.html

I bought a large kabocha squash at the store, roasted it whole in the oven (after stabbing it several times with a large knife to avoid catastrophic squash explosion), and used it in a variety of dishes this week, but I have already made this miso soup several times over and it is just delightful.
I tossed cubed firm tofu in whole wheat flour and gomashio, which is a japanese condiment that I bought at a local co-op but you could make it yourself easily. It is comprised of salt, toasted sesame seeds, and mine also has seaweed in it. I fried the tofu in vegetable oil and placed it on a paper towel to drain. I sliced some roasted kabocha squash into bite-sized pieces, and blanched several swiss chard leaves in a pot of boiling water, then sliced them lengthwise so they were also more bite-sized. The swiss chard, kabocha, and some wakame were then added to the miso soup broth, and served at last with the tofu added in just before serving. The kabocha added a little color to the broth and was perfect with the wakame and chard. This fried tofu, additionally, was probably the most satisfying fried tofu I've ever made--I'll definitely use the gomashio in the future!

Portland is delicious.

2011-10-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

Forgive the brevity, but I wanted to at least share some of the deliciousness that I encountered on my (very brief) trip to Portland, Oregon.

Pix Patisserie -- americano, tawny port macaron, potato/caramelized onion/red pepper/goat cheese pastry

Piazza Italia -- pappardelle al cinghiale

Saint Cupcake -- coconut cupcake, chocolate cupcake with fudge topping

Bombay Chaat House -- lunch combo, samosas

Saint Cupcake -- carrot cake & red velvet cupcakes

Tasty N Sons -- assorted brunch deliciousness

Sopa de Ajo (Garlic Soup)

2011-01-04T08:35:00.000-08:00

I have been growing increasingly interested in recipes that will make use of leftover bread--I often find that the odd half-loaf sits for a couple of days, gets stale, and runs the risk of being wasted if I don't have a good use for it. Wasting bread makes me think of my great grandfather, who came to America from Ireland at the age of 9, and survived his first days here by picking bread out of a dumpster, cutting off the moldy bits, and eating it. That is perhaps a little dramatic of me, but an awful lot of food gets wasted in the world, and I want to be more efficient.
This soup recipe acomplished what I wanted, and added a delicious new soup to my repertoire. I am also more convinced than ever that I need a new bread knife soon.
There are many recipes out there to choose from; mine was found at http://www.seriouseats.com/ and tweaked ever so slightly.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 pound stale bread, crusts removed, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon hot pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika)
Salt
4 cups vegetable stock
a dash of cayenne pepper, if you want an added hint of spice

This recipe is deceptively easy. I looked at it several times as I was cooking, to be sure I hadn't missed out on some important detail... I am pleased, though, to have a recipe kicking around that takes very little time, is inexpensive to make, and involves very few ingredients!

Directions as follows:
Add your olive oil to a medium-sized pot on med/high heat. Add the bread and toast lightly in the olive oil for approximately 5 minutes. You'll want to stir the bread often, to evenly brown them. Add the minced garlic, pimentón, and a pinch of salt; stir well, and cook for 3 minutes.
Add vegetable stock, bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.

Serve the soup topped with a poached egg, garnish with a dash of pimentón, and enjoy!
This isn't the prettiest soup I have ever made, and I am sure that future incarnations will get more attractive, but it was delicious and garlicky and is just the kind of soup you want to eat during cold season. It also takes a great deal less work to make than homemade chicken soup, should you live alone and occasionally get colds this time of year, as I do.

other things I ate in Japan

2010-12-28T14:15:00.001-08:00

Things I ate in Japan

2010-12-27T14:34:00.001-08:00

dinner date

2010-12-07T11:47:00.000-08:00

Heather offered to make me a nice dinner for my birthday a few weeks ago, and we finally scheduled some time last weekend for our dinner date. We decided on steak a la Julia Child, with a red wine/butter/shallot sauce that was fantastic. I don't have the recipe at the moment, because I didn't do the cooking (awesome!), but I thought I needed to say something about how delicious it was.

SO DELICIOUS.
Also, I revisited the roasted brussels sprouts, which were a huge hit. I am pretty certain that Heather said the brussels sprouts changed her life. At any rate, it was the perfect meal to share with a friend over a bottle of cotes du rhone!

making use of thanksgiving/csa leftovers

2010-12-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

Pie is something I can bake pretty well, at this point. It is easy enough for me to throw one together if I need to bring something to a dinner, and they give my apartment such a delightful aroma that I'll use any excuse to put one in the oven.
In this case, I used leftover turkey, and veggies from my CSA box (community supported agriculture) to bake a turkey pot pie. I've already talked about pie crust, and pie filling is more about what you like than anything else, but one key ingredient to a turkey or chicken pot pie made in my family is that it must have hard-boiled egg in it. I don't know how or where this started, but if you haven't tried it--you should. Hard boil two or three eggs, coarsely chop them, and add to your pie filling.

In addition, I had: celery, parsnip, turnip, potato, onion, carrot, and cauliflower. If I could go back in time and do it all over, I would love to put sweet potato in the pie, but I am extremely partial to sweet potatoes and pretty much all other root vegetables right now. Add a delicious turkey gravy, salt & pepper, and anything else you wish (celery salt? roasted garlic?), bake for about 40 minutes (until the crust is golden brown and your kitchen smells divine), and enjoy!

sweet potato pie

2010-12-01T10:24:00.000-08:00

I've never had sweet potato pie before this year. I'm not sure why--but I suspect that it just simply isn't a northwestern tradition, because many of my friends said the same thing when I baked this pie. We usually eat pumpkin pie at our family thanksgiving get-togethers. Some are homemade, some are store-bought, but the pumpkin pie is always there. It is delicious, comforting, and always the same. Part of holiday traditions is the traditional food, creating a link in your mind between Thanksgiving 2010 and many, many Thanksgivings in the past. I am the sort of person who thrives on that connection. This Thanksgiving, I had to work during the day, and my mother came over to my apartment to cook a feast for the two of us to enjoy when I got off work. I wanted to contribute to the meal, but had such limited time in the days preceding that I only managed to accomplish cranberry sauce and pie.
This pie, however, was worth it. I came across the recipe during my daily perusal of the New York Times--Mark Bittman's Minimalist column directed me to this recipe, which I took one look at and knew I had to make.
I should point out that I did not use any dried coconut in the crust. I can't stand the stuff, and it reminds me of fingernail clippings when I look at it, so I tend to eschew dried coconut entirely. Fresh coconut, coconut milk, coconut cream, and coconut water are all fair game, though!

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs, made from one package graham crackers (which has 9 full cracker sheets according to the NYT recipe)
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (or not, if you are like me!)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
Large pinch salt
1 cup coconut milk.

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Place sweet potatoes in a medium-sized saucepan, and fill with water to cover them. Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until they are very tender, then drain the water and mash the sweet potatoes.
While the sweet potatoes are cooking, put the graham crackers in a food processor and pulse a few times to crumble them. Add 2 tablespoons of the sugar and 1/4 teaspoon each of the ginger and cinnamon (and the coconut, if you choose to use it), and pulse once or twice; add the melted butter* and pulse just enough to combine.
Press the crust mixture into a 9-inch pie plate and bake for about 7 minutes, just long enough to lightly cook the crust before adding your wet pie filling to it.
In your food processor, combine the eggs with the leftover sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt; pulse until well combined. Add the coconut milk and pulse to combine, then add the sweet potatoes and pulse until smooth. If you are a renegade baker who doesn't fear salmonella poisoning, this mixture tastes delicious.
Pour the sweet potato mixture gently into the pie crust, and bake it for 40-45 minutes, until the pie is set on top but still moist.

The recipe suggests serving the pie warm, which would surely be delicious, but if you are planning in advance, as I was, it is also quite tasty cold or room temperature, for dessert or breakfast (it was the morning after thanksgiving, so I get a free pass), for holiday party or seasonal dinner party. I have made two of these pies this year already, and have managed to capture a single photo, pre-baking.

*I used 6 tbsp of butter in my crust only. I tried using Anna's gingersnaps for my crust instead of graham cracker on my first try, and it didn't work out so well. There was SO much butter, and the crust just wasn't structurally sound. When I made the graham cracker crust as a second try, I was a little gun-shy, and cut back on the amount of butter. I definitely couldn't tell it was missing 2 tbsp of butter. Perhaps next time I will be daring and use all 8.

curried butternut squash red lentil soup

2010-11-25T16:30:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to eat enough lentils these days. I've been making lentil soup of various types almost once a week! It's a good thing lentils are so healthy.
This time, I had an itch to make a soup that incorporated one of my favorite winter vegetables--squash! I tweaked a recipe from Gourmet magazine (February 2009) to suit me, with delicious results. Not only did this soup turn a beautiful shade of orange, but it was richly flavored, filling, and perfect for a crisp fall day. If I were better prepared, I might have garnished it with roasted spiced pumpkin seeds or served it with a nice grainy loaf of bread, but it stands on its own beautifully.
I should mention that the original version is not a blended soup, but I wanted a puree, so out came the immersion blender!

Ingredients:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 lb butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp minced peeled ginger
1 tbsp curry paste (I used yellow)
1 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed
2 qts water (I substituted vegetable stock)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper

Heat oil and butter together in a pot over medium heat until the butter is fully melted and the foam subsides. Add squash, onion, carrot, garlic, ginger, and 1 teaspoon salt, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Add curry paste and pepper, cook for a couple of minuted longer to allow the vegetables to absorb the curry flavor. Next, add vegetable stock (or water if you prefer), lentils, and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until lentils are tender. Blend soup until smooth, add lemon juice, and give it a good stir before serving. The original recipe also suggests drizzling the soup with cilantro oil before serving. If this is to your taste, you can make cilantro oil by pureeing 1/2 cup chopped cilantro and 1/2 cup vegetable oil with a pinch of salt in a blender.

brussels sprouts

2010-11-24T23:19:00.000-08:00

I have successfully convinced at least two people this year that they do, in fact, like brussels sprouts. When I was a kid, I didn't like them either, but this winter... I eat them constantly. Right now, my favorite way to eat them is roasted--Ina Garten's recipe is ridiculously easy and SO good.

ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs brussels sprouts, cut in half lengthwise
3 tbsp good olive oil
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Preheat your oven to 400F.
Toss brussels sprouts with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread on a sheet pan and roast for 30-40 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to ensure the brussels sprouts brown evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt if desired, and serve! I have eaten them hot out of the oven and also cold as leftovers and liked them immensely both ways. Even if you are a non-believer, I think you should give this a try... It is worlds different from the icky boiled brussels sprouts you may be familar with.

ginger cookies

2010-10-28T17:33:00.000-07:00

I must confess to something. I'm going to use this space, as it seems the appropriate place to do so. I'm not the best cookie baker out there. I LIKE cookies, and I bake them, and they turn out well most of the time, but I always have strange issues to work through. I'm impatient, so I don't like to wait for my ingredients to be the right temperature--butter melted in the microwave through overzealous defrosting, I'm looking at you.

However, cookies are portable and delicious, they are good for potlucks and game night and bringing to work, and most of the time you can make the dough ahead of time by at least a day, which is great if you don't have a lot of time.

I stumbled across the following recipe for ginger cookies last week when I was yearning for a warm apartment filled with the delicious perfume of baking cookies. I adore ginger, and the prospect of a cookie with crystalized, fresh, AND ground ginger? Too delicious to ignore.

(Bon Appetit 2009)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup minced crystalized ginger

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup (1 & 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1/4 cup light/mild molasses

1 1/2 tsp grated peeled ginger

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

Preheat your oven to 350F, and move the oven racks (if you are fancy and have more than one--my tiny oven does not) to the top third and bottom third of your oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and crystalized ginger.

Cream butter and brown sugar together in a large bowl using an electric mixer or elbow grease, if your mixer has gone a bit off it its old age like mine has. Add egg, molasses, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. Beat this mixture together to blend, then add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients gradually--mix until blended.

Measure about 1/3 cup of white sugar into a bowl, then roll tablespoon-sized scoops of dough into balls and coat with sugar before placing them on the baking sheet. Place the cookies approximately 1 1/2 inches apart, and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the edges crack but the center remains slightly soft.
These cookies stayed fresh for the few days after baking that they survived--I will definitely make these again, and perhaps pack them with even more ginger next time! They were gingery and delicious for fall, but could be given a little added bite if that's your style.

Ps-I wasn't planning to make a pun via photo, but it just happened.

I love gin.

2010-10-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

I really love this gin. It's from Oregon, and has a lovely cardamom flavor. www.ransomspirits.com/spirits.php

Just thought people should be aware.

minty pea spread!

2010-09-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

Inspired by an episode of Mad Men when deciding on what to bring to, appropriately enough, a Mad Men watching party, I decided that the best thing to do would be to make dip and bring chips--the host graciously provided a chip and dip for the occasion. No one brought an air rifle.

Now, I have never been a big chips & dip person... I'll buy a bag of tortilla chips and some salsa for a party, but that's about as far as it goes. I'm not sure if it is because dip has gone out of fashion in home entertainment, or because I am poorly equiped to entertain, but I didn't know more than one recipe for dip, and had to do some investigating before I settled on this one.

The recipe (Jamie Oliver's, found on http://www.dinneralovestory.com/) is actually a spread for delicious bread, and in full disclosure is best suited for this purpose. We ate it with pita chips, which were delicious, but the consistency of the dip is not well suited to being scooped up by the chipful.

I loved that it included fresh mint--I can't get enough mint when it is in season! Also, peas are so deliciously fresh tasting that I couldn't resist trying this out.

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

a handful of fresh mint leaves

2 tbsp fresh parmesean cheese

juice from 1/2 lemon

1/3 cup olive oil

salt to taste

Everything goes into a food processor, where you blend it into submission, or until it is smooth. I stopped to taste mine and ended up adding more lemon juice--mint, parmesean, salt, and lemon juice can all be tweaked depending on your tastes. Serve on a nice crusty bread, drizzle a little olive oil, and grate some fresh parmesean over the top, and you won't be disappointed. Even though it didn't work as well for dip as for a spread, my friends really enjoyed this and I will definitely make it again!

crepestravaganza

2010-08-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

I've already written about crepes--I love them. Once you get the hang of it, they are easy to make, and it's a nice breakfast to whip up if you're having people over or if you just want to spoil yourself a little. I use Julia Child's crepe recipe, which, if you haven't tried... you should. The gold standard, in my humble opinion. I had an extremely successful brunch with a lady friend over the summer, and I just thought I'd share some pictures... Our crepe fillings were particularly successful: melon & prosciutto, fresh strawberry, blackberry, and golden raspberry with triple sec whipped cream and shaved dark chocolate, seared scallop, spinach, and hollandaise sauce with bacon... We were stuffed, and pretty impressed with our crepe accomplishments.

a lighter potato/leek soup

2010-07-15T12:23:00.000-07:00

I seem to have several recipes for potato leek soup. I happen to be quite a fan of leeks, and soup is one of my favorite things to make—but the recipes I looked at all seemed too heavy for a warm summer day. I searched around for some summery soups to enjoy, and just happened upon a spring recipe for potato leek soup with no milk or butter in it to make for a lighter dinner while still making use of the leeks I had my eye on. This recipe from http://chicagoist.com looked fairly simple, which appealed to me as a low-key weekend dinner option that wouldn’t take up a lot of my time. I of course ended up making it a major project, as I chose this time to also make homemade vegetable stock to use in the soup, but it really was worth it.

Ingredients: 

1 clove of garlic, diced 
½ cup diced pancetta 
1 tbs olive oil 
2 large leeks, chopped (the white/pale green parts) 
1 pound of yellow potatoes 
1 cup vegetable or chicken broth 
1 cup water 
flat leaf parsley and green onions (for topping)

In a medium-sized pot, boil potatoes until slightly soft. I put mine in the refrigerator to cool off, as they need to be cut into 1 inch cubes and I didn’t feel as though second-degree burns would go all that well with my soup. This also frees up the pot to use for the next steps, which means less dishes for me to wash! Next, heat the olive oil in your medium-sized pot, then add the garlic and diced pancetta.

I should note here that I am never convinced that there is enough garlic in ANY recipe, and I often double or triple (in this case) the recommended amount of garlic. If you are a nonbeliever, you can stick to 1 clove of garlic, but I will say that the extra garlic was an excellent choice in this particular recipe. The garlic and pancetta should sizzle merrily away until lightly browned. The leeks are the next addition and should be cooked on medium heat until soft—you don’t want to brown them. Add the cubed potatoes, water, and broth (I added an extra ½ cup of broth to mine), and cook until the potatoes are soft—approximately 20 minutes. Blend about 1 cup of soup in a small food processor (or alternately, use an immersion blender to smooth out the texture of your soup a bit), and add back to the pot. Serve, using the green onions and parsley as garnish.

A word about parsley: I don’t really like it all that much. I might be alone in this, but I almost never buy parsley unless I think it is vital to the integrity of the meal, or if I am entertaining and want the presentation to be especially nice, OR if I have several other things to use parsley in before it goes bad. None of those things were the case in this instance, but I love green onions and can nearly always find an excuse to use them, so I garnished my soup with green onion and fresh ground pepper, which was lovely.

Summer is an excellent time to enjoy a nice chilled glass of rosé, and, incidentally, rosé pairs quite well with this soup. I am a bit of a neophyte when it comes to rosé, I must admit, but I spent a bit of time exploring the selection at Metropolitan Market and I chose La Vielle Ferme Côtes du Ventoux 2009 rosé, which was a lovely deep pink in color, and was dry with a fruity bouquet. It was also affordable—I believe it was under $9 on sale. I will definitely be drinking more rosé as our summer heats up!

raw beet salad

2010-07-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

I have loved beets since I was a little girl. They are sweet and earthy, brightly colored, and I will always happily gobble them up. I am learning that beets are one of those vegetables that many people just don't like. I'm not sure why--they are the candy of the vegetable family!

A recent article in the New York Times listed beets as #1 of the 11 best foods you aren't eating, as a great source of folate and potentially cancer-preventive antioxidants. To highlight that article, they have recently posted some great beet recipes--one of which I made last night and loved.

ingredients:

1/2 lb beets

3 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp minced chives, mint, parsley, or a combination of the three

salt to taste

leaves of 1 romaine heart (I left these out this time)

This salad is easy and very quick to make. First, scrub the hell out of the beets, trim any gross-looking bits off, and then grate them into a medium/small bowl. Toss the minced mint, parsley, chives, or the mix with your grated beets. Add olive oil, juice, and mix well. I added just a dash of salt to my salad, mixed it again for good measure, and refridgerated it for about half an hour before serving to allow the juices to mingle.

I used fresh mint this time. I think if I had used chives or parsley instead, I might have used a tad more lemon juice than orange juice as a complement to the more savory herbs.
This mixture was awesome. I completely forgot to buy the romaine, but it stands alone quite well. It is a great summer salad and I had visions of grilled salmon served alongside. I would definitely bring this to a barbeque or summer potluck!

Vegetable stock

2010-07-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

In an effort to live more sustainably and to make more things from scratch, I have begun making my own stock--usually I will make chicken stock for soup the same day and use all or most of it, but I am constantly needing vegetable stock for different soups I am making, and thought I should learn how to make stock without meat.
A friend of mine gave me the excellent idea of storing waste vegetable scraps in a container in my freezer, which I dutifully did for a little over a month. This is perfect for someone like me, because I always feel so wasteful when a bit of onion starts going wilty in my fridge and gets thrown out--scallions especially tend to get tossed when they aren't used up right away, as they have such a short shelf life. By the end of my vegetable scrap hoarding period, I had squirreled away broccoli, onion, scallions, celery, shallots, (washed) potato peelings, rosemary, zucchini, wilted salad mix, and more!
The day of, I bought a few carrots to add to the stock, and was cooking with leeks, so I added the dark green part of the leeks, and a couple of tomatoes in my fridge that were going soft. I tossed a few turkish bay leaves on top for good measure, and filled the pot with water. In general, no matter how much stock you are making, you should have enough water to cover, or in the case of floaty vegetables, mostly submerge the stock ingredients. Adding the standard mirepoix (celery, carrots, onion) is, in my book, a requirement--if you don't already have these items on hand, you'll want to pick them up before making your stock.
In addition to these things, you can add wine to the stock, though I did not in this case. Generally, with stock, you want to just cook it for a long time to really ensure that the flavor (and nutrients!) are thorough. I brought the pot to a simmer, and let it cook away on medium heat for a little less than 2 hours covered, then uncovered and reduced for about an hour and a half. The stock that I ended up with was a lovely light brown color, and tasted great! I got about 6 cups of stock from my recipe, and put it in the freezer in 2-cup portions.
Depending on what you'd like to use the stock for, you could put any number of things into your stock. You might want to add more herbs, use fresh ginger, tons of garlic, add colorful beets or beet greens for a brightly colored stock... you name it. I look forward to more stock experiments in the future!

Plátanos Maduros

2010-07-01T11:04:00.000-07:00

I had never eaten a plantain until I tried plátanos maduros at a Puerto Rican restaurant. It was love at first bite, and every once in a while I find myself craving them. Plantains are a cousin of the sweet banana that we eat as a snack, baked into bread, sliced over cereal in the morning, etc. However, a plantain is NOT a banana. Plantains are extremely versatile--they can be cooked while green or yellow as a starchy component to a meal (the potato of the caribbean!) or they can be cooked when black, the starches within having converted to sugars. I have had plantains both ways, but I must admit that my sweet tooth points me towards this recipe whenever I have plantains on hand.

It's pretty easy to make plátanos maduros. Basically, you just buy some plantains, and forget about them. For a week, for a month, whatever. The riper they are when you get around to using them, the better. I should have waited a little longer to make these for optimum deliciousness, but I am not a patient woman.

This is how it goes down--it is ridiculously easy and unless you hate plantains, you won't regret it. If you hate plantains, I question the logic behind your desire to read this blog entry.

Slice your plantain the same way you might slice a banana to put it into your cereal. My plantain slices were on the thick side, which I how I like them. Clearly, if your slices are thinner, you will need to be more careful about watching them while they fry to avoid overcooking.

Heat a frying pan filled with oil--it should be enough to at least partially submerge the plantains while they fry.

I don't fry a lot of things, so this process grosses me out a bit. Tons and tons of hot oil that I am submerging fruit in? Weird. If it grosses you out too, get past it. It's worth it.

Toss the sliced plantains in what should, by now, be VERY hot oil ready to fry them up. They should turn a lovely, caramelized-looking golden brown color. Cook both sides, remove from oil, and allow to cool a bit on a paper towel (to suck away some extra oil).

You can eat the plátanos as is, or, as I did this time: with a bit of cinnamon and sugar sprinkled over the top. YUM.

crepes a la Julia Child

2010-06-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

My parents gave me Julia Child's cookbook for Christmas, but I haven't done much with it yet, save for drooling over some recipes. I did, however, have some success with the one thing I have successfully cooked, and I have been feeling as though I needed more JC in my life--et voila! I had a hankering for crepes this weekend, and although I have recently made them successfully and felt pleased with the results, I figured it could always be done better! Plus, I had some rhubarb compote (with balsamic vinegar) to use up, so I figured it would be a perfect way to start my Saturday.

Her recipe was much too large for me on my lonesome, so I cut it in half, and it made the perfect amount of batter. 1/2 batch:

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup flour

2 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp melted butter

I can't stress how easy this is. Basically, you put everything in a blender or food processor, blend the shit out of it for about a minute, and let it chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. (I was too impatient to wait that long, I rationalized that for 1/2 batch, I could let it sit for an hour and it would be ok.)

Don't beat yourself up if the first crepe doesn't turn out perfectly--as Julia says in her cookbook, this first attempt is more of a dry run to be sure you are using the correct amount of oil and also to check the temperature you are cooking at.

rhubarb, rhubarb, and more rhubarb

2010-06-11T23:03:00.000-07:00

I bought a ridiculous amount of rhubarb at the farmer's market this week. I can't help it--I love the stuff. I intended to make a pie, but also to make rhubarb compote with various added herbs or spices to test some combinations. I ended up needing more of it for the pie than I thought, so I didn't experiment with it as much as I had wanted to, but I have a whole summer of rhubarb ahead of me to look forward to!One thing I am pretty confident about when it comes to my kitchen prowess, is baking pies. My dad taught me to make great pie crusts, and the rest is really a no-brainer if you have any kitchen experience at all. I know some people like to mix in other fruits with their rhubarb pies, but I am a purist--I like it on its own. Don't get me started on strawberry/rhubarb. I do not like the texture of strawberries that have been cooked like that.

To make a good pie crust from scratch, it is important to be aware that the temperature of your ingredients is key. You will need:

approximately 1 cup of ice water

2/3 cup butter, chilled, but not hard

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter and salt into the flour. It should be pretty well mixed--no large, visible chunks of butter or tons of flour that hasn't met with at least a bit of butter.

Next, add ice water a few tablespoonfulls at a time, continuing to "cut" the mixture with the pastry cutter.

Using this tool helps the pastry dough to remain flaky. When the dough reaches the proper consistency, mold it into a ball, and either divide it in two to roll out and bake your pie with, or refrigerate for later.

Rhubarb compote

2010-05-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

I bought some rhubarb over the weekend (I LOVE rhubarb) originally intending to make some tarts that I saw a recipe for recently to thank a friend for doing a favor for me. However, plans didn't work out for this weekend and I found myself delightedly considering the possibilities for the rhubarb. I decided to try something simple and also new to me--compote.

To make rhubarb compote, you will need about 6 stalks of rhubarb (approx 2 lbs), a little bit of water (1/3 cup), and sugar. I used about 3/4 cup, but will try with 1/2 cup next time as I enjoy the tartness of rhubarb. You may additionally enjoy the addition of a little bit of orange peel, triple sec (I used this), or a spice like whole star anise or vanilla bean, to add flavor.

Chop the rhubarb into 1 or 1/2 inch slices, throw the ingredients in a pot, and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until it reaches the consistency you like--most or all of the rhubarb should be broken up. You can make this a couple of days in advance (say, for a weekend brunch or other project) and it is delicious! I used mine to make crepes, but I must admit to having eaten several spoonfulls plain. It is also good if you add a couple of drops of balsamic vinegar to the finished project. Enjoy!

Olé!

2010-05-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

I was so, so lazy last night. Cooking dinner wasn't really what I wanted to do--I had worked all day and was preparing to work my 6th day in a row, so I generally was being pretty petulant and wishing food would just appear without me having to lift a finger to get it. That kind of attitude doesn't take you very far in life, but, sometimes you just don't feel like making dinner. It's a good thing I don't have children.

Finally, I was hungry enough that I started rummaging through my refrigerator looking for something to eat, when I saw the beautiful purple potatoes that came in my CSA box, the half-used onion, and two eggs that conveniently were all together on the shelf.

I remembered how much I have enjoyed spanish tortilla in the past, and figured this would be a perfect way to use up these ingredients. A tortilla is a Spanish omelette, most often made with potatoes and onions, and served cold as tapas. It was so simple to make, I look forward to cooking these more often--perhaps with some serrano ham and roasted bell pepper next time!

Basically, I knew how to make this but looked at a recipe to be sure to get the steps down. In a large frying pan, I cooked the chopped potatoes and onion until they were tender, then removed them to a plate to cool a bit.

I added them to a scrambled egg mix (I had two eggs, three would have probably been perfect) and poured into a lightly oiled pan. Cook on med-low heat slowly for several minutes until the tortilla is mostly cooked through--the egg on top can still be runny but it should be browned slightly around the edges.

Next, carefully slide the tortilla out of the pan and onto a plate and use it to flip the tortilla back into the pan so you can cook the other side. It shouldn't need to cook for more than a couple of minutes before it is done. You can eat your tortilla while it is still hot, or be more traditional and chill it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes or so first.

chicken livers and cabbage

2010-05-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

I think liver is a seriously misunderstood food in North America. I have always liked it, even as a picky little kid who didn't want to eat any number of seemingly innocuous things. When I was younger, I would beg my parents to make this for me for dinner--a blessing to them at the time, I'm sure, as it is fairly cheap and easy to make in addition to being good for you. I know very few other people who ever begged their parents to make liver for dinner. I was weird. If you don't know if you like it or can't remember trying it, you really should. I know it looks kind of gross and the word liver isn't that appealing, but it is delicious!

To make this, you will need:

one medium sized head of green cabbage

approximately 1lb of chicken livers (I prefer fresh)

1 small to medium sized onion--I like walla walla sweets or yellow onion

2 tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

The cabbage should be lightly steamed until tender in a separate pot. This should be done first, as it takes some time. Cut the cabbage in half, then in about 1 inch "strips" lengthwise, removing the tougher inner core when applicable. Arrange on a vegetable steamer and cook until the cabbage is done--I don't like mine overcooked but it is to your taste. It will get cooked a bit more later as well, so keep that in mind.

In a pan with olive oil, saute the chopped onion until translucent and/or slightly browned. Add to that your chicken liver (I will generally cut some of the larger liver into pieces to facilitate serving later) and cook until the liver is just slightly pink inside.

Drain the cooked cabbage, then add to the pan with the liver and onions and give it a good stir so the cabbage can benefit from the onion/liver/olive oil that has been sizzling in your pan. Cover and allow to cook on medium, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes--less if you are concerned about overcooking the liver.

Mimosa

2010-05-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

A staple of brunch worldwide, the mimosa! I had a tradition, during my undergrad years, of finishing off a day of final exams with a mimosa--if there is a more pleasant way to celebrate the end of studies, I can't imagine one.

1 1/2 - 2 oz fresh squeezed, strained orange juice
4 oz champagne [Montelliana Extra Dry Prosecco]

My friend is a cocktail enthusiast/aspiring mixologist/talented liqueur & syrup maker. If you're into booze, you should check out her blog. http://twosheetsinthewind.wordpress.com/

broiled grapefruit

2010-05-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

I am on a major grapefruit kick right now. I have to have them. I need them. I think about them when I am not eating them. Even at the bar, I am drawn to ordering greyhounds, just for the tart deliciousness of grapefruit juice therein.

A friend of mine mentioned broiling grapefruits and how tasty it is. I thought it was crazy-sounding, but decided to try it--after all, what if there was some delicious secret to unlock? As it turns out, there is. It's weird to think of eating hot grapefruit, but I promise you it is well worth putting aside your initial doubts and just doing it. Make sure to cut around each individual little slice of your halved grapefruit first to facilitate eating it later. Rub sugar across the entire top of the grapefruit, pressing it into the flesh. Broil for approximately 8-10 minutes. During its time in the oven, the sugar will caramelize a bit and the flavor is delicious. I have tried it with honey as well, and I think the sugar is really the best way to go. This will be a staple at my brunch table from now on!

supremes de volaillle archiduc

2010-05-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

Heather and I had a true Julia Child cooking experience together, at long last. We both own "Mastering the art of French cooking" and have talked about busting out some French cuisine for quite a while now, so I'm pretty glad that we made it happen. We served our chicken with simply roasted fingerling potatoes, cut lengthwise and tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, and garlic. The asparagus was sauteed with lemon juice, butter, salt, and lemon zest. Lemon + asparagus may not be the flavor combination for everyone, but I quite enjoy it.

The recipe was pretty easy to execute, and turned out amazingly well. The sauce is to die for--but then, it has port and cream in it, so it had to be good.

Ingredients:
4 boned breasts from two fryers
1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt
pepper
fireproof casserole
waxed paper
butter!

1/4 cup stock
1/4 cup port (the recipe says you can also use madeira or vermouth, but I think port is best)
1 cup whipping cream
minced parsley
2/3 cup white onion minced
red paprika 1 tablespoon

basic instruction:
drop onion in boiling water for 1 minute, then rinse and drain
cook onions and paprika and 1/8 ts and salt and 5 tb butter in
casserole over low heat 10 minutes

preheat oven to 400
rub chicken with drops of lemon juice, dust salt and pepper
put chicken in casserole, lay buttered wax paper on top, cover
casserole and place in hot oven, cook for 20-30 minutes.

remove chicken, put stock and wine in casserole, boil down, stir in
cream
off heat, add a couple drops of lemon
boil down pour sauce over chicken, sprinkle with parsley, serve & enjoy!

that's a big sweet potato

2010-04-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

Oh, yes. I love me some sweet potatoes. This one came in my CSA box recently, and it was pretty much love at first sight. I took one look at it and thought it was too big to make into just one dish--I'd have to cook it two ways. A friend of mine brought mashed sweet potato with goat cheese mixed in to a dinner party I was at, and it was phenomenal, so I copied her idea, using half of this beast for mashing, and half for tasty sweet potato oven fries. It wasn't a particularly well-rounded meal, nutritionally, but it was delicious and orange.

quinoa carrot top soup

2010-04-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

I keep meaning to experiment with quinoa more. I mentioned this to a friend recently as we were grocery shopping together, and she emailed me an interesting recipe for a quinoa carrot top soup. I love soup, and we had just picked up our CSA box with lovely organic carrots inside, so it was easy to motivate myself to make this soup.

Looking at the recipe, I decided that it would probably turn out a bit bland for my tastes, so I added some spices while I was cooking it. It didn't turn out perfectly, but it made for a nice summer soup. I think next time I will experiment with perhaps adding beans or cooked cabbage to this soup as well. The recipe is from this website: http://tonopahrob.com/?p=20

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion - diced
4 cups water
5 to 6 carrots
1 cup carrot tops - washed and finely chopped
2 tbsp Better than Bouillon – Beef Flavor or 2 tsp beef bouillon granules
1/2 cup quinoa – rinsed well

Sauté onion in olive oil over medium-high heat in 3 quart pot until onions begin to brown. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for approximately 30 minutes.

I made the following substitutions/additions: Instead of the beef bouillon, I used about 3 cups of vegetable broth and 1 of water. I added 1/2 tsp each of turmeric, cumin, and red pepper flakes, as well as two bay leaves. This would probably be very tasty with fresh rosemary and tarragon if you prefer those flavors.

The carrot tops give this soup a really nice fresh taste! It is great for a spring or summer soup, and I plan to perfect it in the future.

garam. masala. cookies.

2010-04-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

So, I have been getting better at taking pictures of things while I am cooking/eating/dining/having cheese & prosciutto picnics. But, I fail to write about them. I mean to improve this, and to that aim, I bring you.... Garam masala cookies!

I accidentally bought a ton of garam masala and every time I see it in my spice cabinet, I think "I need to find a way to use that! It's so tasty!" and then promptly forget about it. One day, I came across a photo of vegan garam masala cookies on flickr (is that nerdy? I don't care.) and thought the idea sounded amazing--but, I have difficulties with cookies and thought I better work on making a more traditional butter inclusive cookie before branching out into the vegan cookie territory. So, armed with patience, lots of garam masala, and google, I baked my little heart out just in time for a lovely potluck with friends. I looked at a few recipes and chose my favorite because it recommended browning one stick of butter in a pan before adding it to the mix. I figured you probably can't go wrong there, and I was right.

The dough was delicious. I am not afraid of salmonella--I delight in the childlike pleasure of eating cookie dough... It reminded me of how fun baking cookies can be.

The recipe I used didn't call for rolling the dough in sugar, but I thought it would work nicely. My first batch was made using cane sugar, the second, with turbinado sugar. The turbinado sugar looked prettier but didn't work as well. I'll have to give it another shot sometime soon.

These cookies were, to put it mildly, fantastic. I wasn't expecting them to be so great, but was quite pleased with the results. I'll be holding on to that recipe! As noted on the page where I found this recipe, they are reminiscent of gingersnaps, with a little something extra that you can't quite place.

The recipe can be found at the following link, but I have copied it here for future reference as well. You should probably think about baking these the next time you want something delicious. http://helenabakes.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/garam-masala-cookies/

Garam Masala Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 heaping teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons garam masala
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, one softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375°.

Mix flour, baking soda, salt, garam masala, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a sauce pan, heat 1 stick of butter over medium high heat until completely melted. Keep cooking the butter until it turns a rich golden brown color and begins to take on a warm, nutty smell. This may take up to 6 or 7 minutes. Be careful not to burn your butter! Pour into a heat resistant bowl and set aside for 10-15 minutes.

In yet another bowl (sorry), mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, and softened stick of butter with an electric mixer, adding cooled browned butter gradually until completely combined. Add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, blend until creamy. Slowly add flour mixture and mix, scraping the sides of the bowl to ensure even distribution throughout the dough.

Drop rounded teaspoons of dough on to an ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart and bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges turn slightly brown. Don’t overbake these cookies – they should look almost underdone when you take them out of the oven. Set on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes, then remove from cookie sheet to cool completely.

Yield: 3 dozen cookies.

happiness is...

2010-03-11T23:49:00.000-08:00

Fresh braeburn apple, apricot compote, and creamy pierre robert cheese as a late-night snack.

http://www.artisanalcheese.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PC-10407

Banana Bread

2010-02-27T17:30:00.000-08:00

Banana bread is one of my all time favorite comfort foods. My parents have been making it for me since I was tiny, and every time I smell it baking, it reminds me of waiting expectantly for a hot slice fresh out of the oven. When I was pondering what to bring to a housewarming party this evening, I decided that banana bread would be the perfect thing to create a warm, homey feel in a new home. A friend's recent experimentation with her recipe lead me to tweak my old faithful recipe, and my banana bread baking may never be the same! This is my grandma's banana bread recipe, or the gold standard in my book.

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped nuts
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 very ripe bananas, crushed

I swapped out 2/3 of a cup of flour for almond meal, which can be found at your local Trader Joe's, and probably other places as well. I also used 4 bananas, instead of 3.

I wanted to add chocolate chips, and realized I didn't have any on hand. Instead I took a block of Scharffen Berger 99% cacao chocolate, chopped it up with a big knife, and added it to the batter. I liked that the chocolate wouldn't overpower my bread by adding too much sweetness, and the roughhewn look of the chopped bits.

I added walnuts to this bread, but I have used pecans in the past and really enjoyed that.
The process is fairly simple. Cream the butter and sugar well, then add eggs and cream thoroughly. Next, add/smash bananas (I like to leave some chunks, but will sometimes use an immersion blender to smooth out the batter a little), and mix in dry ingredients.

Bake at 350F for approximately 1 hour.
The batter was gorgeous with the addition of the almond meal and the chocolate, and the smell of the bread as it was baking was intoxicating. The finished loaf was rapidly consumed, and enjoyed by many--which is a delightfully satisfying result for any baker.

Cafe Presse

2009-12-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

I wasn't sure what to expect of Cafe Presse, having heard mixed reviews, but after last night... I'm in love. Their wine by the glass is affordable and delicious. I tried about three different wines and they were all lovely. The Cotes du Rhone was a favorite. We had their assiette de fromage, and I enjoyed all of the cheses on the plate, which I feel is not always the case with cheese plates. Next, we had their gâteau au foie de volaille with cherry compote... oh my god. SO good. The cherries were perfect. The terrine was smooth and creamy and the best I've ever had. Then, for the main course, we had the quail.... and we weren't disappointed. The quail is nearly boneless (save for the leg and wing) and served with sautéed potatoes, apples, sweet onions and a creamy sage-white wine sauce. I read that on the menu, thought it sounded good, but then was totally blown away by how delicious it was. It was an explosion of flavor. They truly did an excellent job on this dish. To finish the meal, I had an aperitif-- a glass of their tawny port. It was the perfect end to the meal, and left me feeling warm and happy. Cafe Presse is a really cute little space. You will be close to your neighbors, but it wasn't something that bothered me or that I really noticed much. The service was friendly, informative (we got some good recommendations on wines) and quite pleasant. On a rainy winter evening, the cozy, muted lighting lent a good atmosphere to the room. I wold love to return for a coffee and breakfast sometime, but I know I will be back soon for dinner or drinks!

(photos taken from yelp.com)

simple pleasures

2009-12-13T07:03:00.000-08:00

I've been cooking quite a lot these days. Plenty of soup, of course, because it's the time of year that makes me yearn for a big bowl of hearty soup. Many repeats from last year--I made the cauliflower red lentil soup I wrote about last winter and it was better than I remembered it! This time I also took a couple of pictures.

If you weren't already aware, cauliflower is actually a very nutritious vegetable. I have, in the past, thought of it as one of those things that I just enjoy eating that has no special benefit to my health, but I was wrong. It's high in dietary fiber, folate, and vitamin C, and comes in other colors besides white (orange! purple!). It is part of the same family as broccoli, kale, brussels sprouts, and cabbage! Basically, it is delicious and good for you, and so are its bretheren. That is the end of my "cauliflower is wonderful!" lecture. The recipe for this soup can be found here: http://thingswinonahaseaten.blogspot.com/2009/03/la-dolce-vegan.html

Sometime last year, I discovered that I did not, in fact, know how to successfully make an omelette. Every time I tried, I got impatient (hunger will do that to you) and it ended up being a scramble. I like a good scramble, but there is something so satisfying to me about food that is actually wrapped in other food (dumplings, burritos, pie.... you get the picture) and besides, omelettes that have been properly executed are such a pretty thing to have for breakfast! I had a small amount of exceptionally tasty gruyere in my fridge recently that I wanted to put on or in something, and remembering my successful foray into omelette making, I whipped up a simple 2-egg omelette with the remainder of the cheese. Basically, the "secret" to making omelettes is patience, and a large enough (and well buttered) pan. Gruyere is a great cheese for omelettes, as it melts well and is flavorful. I didn't have any fresh veggies to toss in, but cheese and eggs are delicious enough on their own, I think!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T09:50:00.000-08:00

I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite fall holiday, as it incorporates cooking, eating, drinking, and spending time with loved ones, but without the near-obligatory gift giving of Christmas. I like giving and recieving presents, but don't like the idea that one has to buy many and often pricey gifts to show their love. Bake me a nice pie instead.

Anyway, this year I was able to get off work, but my relatives were all out of town except my Mom, who was terribly ill and not up to getting together. Love and togetherness prevailed, and I spent my Thanksgiving with friends, who got together to eat, drink, cook, and play Super Mario for Nintendo Wii. Alice's excellent idea was to roast two chickens which had been first stuffed with herbs, kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, lemons, shallots, and garlic--butter stuffed under the skin of the breast, fresh chopped herbs sprinkled over the bird, and lastly, the entire thing covered with pancetta. It was pretty amazing, and the resulting chickens were delicious and tasted faintly of bacon.

In addition, we had a green salad with chevre, orange bell pepper, anjou pear, spicy/sweet roasted pecans, and a sesame vinagrette dressing. Carbohydrates were not lacking. Jon made sweet potatoes mashed lightly with pumpkin spice soy milk, which made the potatoes taste faintly of christmas. I used a recipe recently featured on my friend Aubrey's blog for sage and garlic mashed potatoes, and they were smooth, creamy, and flavorful. The recipe can be found at the following link, along with some beautiful pictures.

http://drumbeets.blogspot.com/2009/11/sage-and-garlic-mashed-potatoes.html

Of course, there was a pumpkin pie with plenty of freshly grated ginger and my dad's famous pie crust recipe--all of which disappeared by the end of the evening.

(Pictures from friends' iphones)

Roasted

2009-11-18T20:28:00.000-08:00

I have been eating so many tasty things.

It is winter now, and I have been craving veggies! Yesterday I roasted a bunch of organic beets in the oven with olive oil and salt, then ate them with much lip-smacking delight.

Today I cut up two small yams, french fry style, and again, roasted with olive oil and salt. Both vegetables are sweet enough that it felt almost as though I was eating dessert.

Things I love: prosciutto.

2009-09-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

This week has kind of turned into a "can I put prosciutto on that?" sort of week. This is something that I am very happy about. I ate a pizza with prosciutto, fig, and basil (delicious), but perhaps the most exciting was yesterday's prosciutto extravaganza. Is there anything that isn't improved by being wrapped in prosciutto? Probably not. After buying 1/4 pound of prosciutto di Parma at Whole Foods, my partner in the appreciation of cured Italian meats and I proceeded to pair it with not one, but two delicious cheeses: mimolette (which caught my eye because of its bright orange color), a semi-hard, aged French cheese, and Mt. Townsend Creamery's trailhead tomme, which was softer than the mimolette, mild, and tasty. Also, there was a perfectly ripened plum and pear, half a loaf of Campagne bread, and a 74% cacao Theo chocolate bar. We tried every configuration of these items, all while enjoying a surprisingly good bottle of rose (Belleruche cotes-du-rhone m. chaputier rose, 2007) that we had chilled previously. It was probably the best snack I have had in weeks, not only because of the excellent food, but because of the delightful company.

Huckleberry

2009-09-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

I feel like I blog about cupcakes with some regularity. I guess it is because I really like cupcakes, and because Cupcake Royale has a cupcake of the month that is particularly delicious pretty much every month--and every month my hajj is not to Mecca, but to Ballard, where I drink coffee and savor the newest offering at my favorite cupcake place. Today, after what felt like ages of anticipation, I finally had the huckleberry cupcake, the deliciousness of which was matched by its beauty. The frosting was a gorgeous fuschia/purple with bits of huckleberry in it, and the vanilla cupcake had bits of huckleberry in it as well, lending a dull purple color that was very pleasant and tasty (and moist!). The frosting was sweet, with just enough tartness added by the berries. I savored it for a long time, eating half of it, drinking my latte, then finishing the cupcake--smacking my lips with relish. If you want one... you have until the end of September to acquire one. I highly recommend you do.

Exploring Trader Joe's

2009-08-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

I recently moved, and have been, as a result, poor. I don't like being poor. I like spending money on things like food, going out, clothes, travel... the usual!
However, I am taking it all in stride and experimenting with cheaper eats. Today I tried Trader Joe's pasta shells in white cheddar sauce--aka, Mac n cheese in a box. I found it to be less tasty than Annie's white cheddar sauce with bunny shaped pasta, but perhaps that is just nostalgia. I did like the way the small pasta shells clung to my wooden spoon like limpets on a rock, though.

it's been a while...

2009-08-16T17:15:00.000-07:00

Rest assured, I have been living the lifestyle of a foodie all summer, per usual. Just haven't had time/energy to write about all the delicious things I have been eating... Because I have been spending so much time eating those things.

Last night's dinner party was really lovely. We started with Mt. Townsend Creamery camembert with campagne bread (from le panier, natch) and fresh sliced peaches and a bottle of delicious Malbec, then had moist, delicious roasted chicken, lemony roasted veggies (I used lemon juice and lemon zest), asparagus, and couscous with a (sweet) late harvest Riesling.

pizza, again

2009-05-19T01:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the cheese festival at Pike Place Market. At lunchtime, I avoided the bulk of the crowd, going back to DeLaurenti for another slice of their pizza.

This time, it was goat cheese, arugula, roasted garlic, roasted red pepper pizza. Just sit and think about that for a while. It was probably even more delicious than you've imagined.

I felt as though I was celebrating the spirit of the cheese festival by eating a pizza that had a slab of goat cheese on it, which was infinitely better than battling throngs of pedestrian tourists, slack-jawed in wonderment and delight at the cheesy deliciousness. Also, it was 75 and sunny in Seattle, so I couldn't be bothered to hang around downtown. All in all, a gorgeous weekend.

Chocolate Scorcher

2009-05-11T00:38:00.000-07:00

It is no secret that I love Cafe Verite and Cupcake Royale. The Ballard location is one of my favorite places to go and study--can you blame me? Amazing stumptown coffee, delicious cupcakes, friendly & cute baristas, good music, and art? What's not to like?!

This month's cupcake of the month (which I have sampled twice... no, three times, I think) is no exception to the deliciousness that they're rolling out on a regular basis. The chocolate cupcake base is moist and tasty, but the real treat is the frosting, which is a chocolate cream cheese frosting that has a blend of spices including garam masala in it, topped with shavings of Theo's ghost chile chocolate. Ghost chile is the world's hottest chile, and hails from the Assam region of India. It provides the cupcake with about a 30 second burn of spiciness, in the best way, but isn't too much for my pansy ass to handle.

downtown lunch

2009-05-10T23:41:00.000-07:00

I am constantly trying to think of new ways to fill my belly when I am working downtown and through laziness, forgetfulness, or a combination of the two, have forgotten to bring anything for lunch. Today, I stumbled upon a gem.

I have been to DeLaurenti's many times to get sandwiches, cheese, cookies, wine, you name it. I have never tried their pizza, until today. I wandered in the door, peered over at the fresh-out-of-the-oven pizza, and saw a marvelous looking slice that practically danced in front of my eyes, so great was my hunger.

This slice of pizza, which I procured for about $3, was topped with gorgonzola, pear slices, arugula, golden raisins, and deliciousness. My coworkers watched jealously as I ate it, proclaiming its deliciousness after each bite. One coworker was moved to go out in search of this divine pizza, only to return empty-handed, as they had no more of this variety available when she got there.

My only regret? That I did not get a picture of the pizza in all its glory.

Roasted chicken, potato salad, and carrot cake--a sunday dinner

2009-05-10T23:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't roasted a chicken in over a year. I was nervous that I would somehow fuck it up, that it would be overcooked, undercooked, unseasoned, too salty... you get the picture. Luckily, I am a pro when it comes to roasting chickens (thanks to lessons from Dad) and it turned out to be delicious, tender, and perfectly seasoned.

This is my general procedure for roasting a chicken, augmented occasionally by different herbs depending on season and accompanying dishes.

I first wash the bird and remove the "extras" packed inside. Next, I rub the bird down with olive oil, squeeze the juice from 1/2 of a lemon inside the bird, and rub some sea salt and freshly ground pepper inside the body cavity. Then, I cut a couple of slices of lemon and stuff those inside the bird, followed by several chopped garlic cloves (the more the m

errier, in my opinion). Before placing the bird in the oven, I sprinkle a little salt and garlic powder on top, then cook to perfection. Voila!

As for potato salad, I had to again defer to Dad this time, emailing him for his famous potato salad recipe. This is truly kick ass potato salad, so feel special that I am sharing the recipe. Directly quoted from his email is the recipe/instructions for the potato salad:

"Cook about 5 whole, medium potatoes slowly, yukon golds are nice and nutty. Refrigerate them, cooling completely prior to cutting. I chop up celery and onion in about equal amounts, each about 1/4th the volume of the diced potatoes or to your liking. You can always add, but not subtract. Slice about 5 red radishes. And dice up several smal

l sweet pickles. I add some of rhe liquid from the jar, as well. Celery seed is nice to add, salt and pepper to taste. Boil 5 eggs and refrigerate at the same time as the potatoes. Cut them up and add toward the last. Now turn in some mayonnaise. add till it approaches creamy, don't overdo it. Again, you can always add more. Refrigerate overnight for the best flavor infiltration."

The potato salad was, of course, delicious. It was weird, making it. I have never actually done it, that was always Dad's thing. Since he is in Japan, I had to make my own. It was quite popular, and at the end of the night I think everyone had eaten two help

ings, at least.

To finish off our sunday dinner, I made a carrot cake! It was my first time, and I hadn't stopped to think how labor intensive it is to make carrot cake. It is no easy task to grate 3 cups of carrots, but I managed it without developing carpal tunnel or sustaining any grating-related injuries. Success! The cake was moist and delicious. Such a great summer cake! I loved the pecans in the cake as well.

delicious.

Stirfry

2009-05-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Stirfry is one of my favorite things to cook and eat. I am always tweaking the sauce, trying different things, and generally attempting to create delicious concoctions involving plenty of fresh veggies. Lately I've been using fresh orange juice and zest, a lot of freshly grated ginger, minced garlic, fish sauce, and some sweet chili sauce all together to make a light but delicious sauce that makes for a zesty and delicious stirfry. Some of my favorite veggies for stirfry are broccoli, bok choi, red peppers, sugar snap peas, and carrots, but really, you can toss in anything that you like and it would be delicious. I also added some extra firm tofu to my stirfry and served it over jasmine rice. Delicious.

coconut milk ice cream

2009-04-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

I own some kind of odd kitchen appliances, both because I sometimes splurge and buy things for special cooking projects, and because my dad, who also loves to cook, likes to buy me fun things like an ice cream maker. I recently tried some very tasty ice cream that was made with a coconut milk base, and I thought it would be interesting to try it out at home. I used the following recipe:

2 cans coconut milk
3/4 cup undutched cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar (to taste, I didn't want it too sweet and this turned out well)
1 tsp vanilla extract

I whisked the cocoa powder in with a little bit of coconut milk, then mixed in the remaining ingredients in no particular order. I poured it all into my ice cream maker and watched as it turned to delicious ice cream before my eyes. The texture, upon coming out of the mixer, was perfect, like frozen yogurt. After being re-frozen, however, it was more difficult to scoop and crumbled a bit--but was still absolutely lovely. I want to experiment with other flavors, and see about maybe adding a little soy milk next time, to see if that makes it less crumbly for scooping.

Molly Moon!

2009-04-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

I went out for ice cream with Anna and Spidermike last night in Wallingford. After a lovely walk from the U-district and an equally lovely dinner at Sea-Thai, we decided that it was perfect ice cream weather.

Molly Moon should be around the corner from my house. Or maybe it shouldn't be, because I would go all the time. I had strawberry balsamic ice cream and vivace coffee ice cream, and was pretty much in ice cream heaven. It was so delicious. I have had strawberries with balsamic vinegar together before as a wine pairing, and loved it then, so I knew I had to try this ice cream and it was so good. I wanted to buy a pint to take home, but had self-control. Luckily.

In addition to the scoops of ice cream I had, I got to try my friends' ice cream--honey lavendar (so delicious and refreshing), salted black licorice (very salty! not sure if I liked it as much, but I don't love licorice), and maple walnut (what I call an "old man" ice cream flavor). I tasted two of their sorbets--pomegranate curry and chocolate mandarin. The pomegranate curry was so interesting and zesty, though I don't think it was a flavor I'd really want a whole scoop of. The chocolate mandarin, however, almost made me change my order... it was that good.

I just have a whole lot of love for Molly Moon, right now.

bread, bread, and more bread.

2009-04-12T22:57:00.001-07:00

This is the massive pile of bread my roommate and I brought home from the Essential Bakery bread dumpster. Faced with such a daunting load of carbohydrates, we decided that there was only one thing we could do--make bread pudding. Not just any bread pudding, but whole wheat bread pudding! This is something I have never done. Technically, it is two things I have never done, both the bread pudding making and also with whole wheat bread. I kind of wished I had some rum in the house, but as it was too late to go to a liquor store, we stuck with milk, eggs, butter, raisins, brown sugar, and some tasty spices--cinnamon and nutmeg.

The resulting product, while not being especially beautiful to look at because it is, after all, bread pudding, but was delicious, warm, and a wintry treat that kind of made me wish I had a hot toddy to go with it. Again, next time.

We still had a lot of bread, which we continued to consume in a variety of ways, including a favorite... dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The morning after the bread pudding experiment, we made french press with a most amazing Stumptown coffee, and I made french toast with a sourdough fremont loaf. French toast is something I don't make often, but every time I do, I wonder why it has been so long. I want to experiment with another french toast recipe in the near future that I found that had anise in it. This time, however, I made rather traditional french toast with a little vanilla and nutmeg in it.

Another important thing I learned over the couple of days that followed is what a difference it truly makes to have a good bread knife.

alligator stomp

2009-03-29T21:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was full of winning edibles.
Heather and I went to the store in search of milk for our coffee, and a cheese-bearing temptress persuaded us to buy some aged sheep's milk cheese ($12!) which Heather, Sarah, and I consumed with much gusto, accompanied by a sliced honeycrisp apple and a baguette.
Later in the evening, Heather and I went to a zydeco dance party where we found a large crock pot full of jambalaya. I think that parties should more often include crock pots full of jambalaya, because this one was a hit. I had a lengthy conversation about the various similarities between jambalaya and paella. I am still wondering if there is any real correlation between the two dishes.

La Dolce Vegan

2009-03-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

Last night I cracked open one of my favorite cookbooks, "La Dolce Vegan", and decided to make cauliflower red lentil soup, described by the cookbook as "a gorgeous and hearty soup that is great on its own, or served over rice". Not particularly feeling like rice, I decided to just try it out as a stand-alone soup, and I was not disappointed. Recipe is as follows, though I stuck to the amounts rather loosely because I wanted more soup.

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin seeds (I only had ground, but the taste is great)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp ground turmeric

2 1/2 cups vegetable stock

2 cups cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 medium tomatoes, chopped (I realized too late that I had no fresh tomatoes, used canned diced tomatoes and it worked fine)

1 cup red lentils

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced (skipped this ingredient)

1/2 tsp salt

In a medium soup pot on medium heat, cook onions in oil until translucent. Add ginger, garlic, cumin, red pepper flakes, and turmeric and saute for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to avoid sticking. Add stock, cauliflower, tomatoes, and lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until veggies and lentils are cooked. Stir in the cilantro and salt, remove from heat, and let sit 5 minutes before serving. Makes 2 large or 4 small servings.

The resulting soup was hearty and flavorful, and the red pepper flakes gave it just the right amount of spiciness without it being too hot for me (I am notoriously bad at eating spicy things). My roommate and I ate it, smacking our lips and dipping crusty bread into the soup. He, a total omnivore, is pretty convinced now of the deliciousness of vegan cooking. This is a recipe that I can't wait to make again.

oh, Anthony Bourdain....

2009-03-02T16:24:00.000-08:00

Last night was an epic night for my kitchen. I didn't take any pictures--I couldn't tear myself away from the intense cooking experiment that was taking place.
Calder and I roasted a duck. We made duck a l'orange, actually. We used Calder's Anthony Bourdain cookbook and it turned out marvelously, though it was pretty time-intensive. I just want to say that Anthony Bourdain's style of cookbook writing is full of amazing and I really want this cookbook for myself, if only so I can read through it and chuckle at his instructions, notably on one page "fuck the health department! leave the steak out of the refridgertor until it is room temperature". This, and other colorful descriptions are peppered liberally throughout the cookbook, which provided plenty of amusement between chopping, pouring, stirring, etc.
Anyway, not only did we roast a duck, but we made duck stock which turned out quite well, and which I happily have leftovers of to cook something else with. It was suggested that I made risotto with this duck stock, which sounds like an excellent idea to me.
The orange sauce for the duck was perfect and delightful--not too sweet, but a pleasing, slightly tangy, rich without being overpowering, and again, delightful compliment to the roasted duck. As a side dish we had mashed turnips and yukon gold potatoes which were mashed with butter and a few tablespoons of duck fat, and served with roasted pear puree. It was very tasty, and I learned (from the internet!) that in France, turnips are traditionally paired with duck. I'm so authentic! Who knew?
Heather brought a tasty baguette and a bottle of pinot noir, which was excellent. My relationship with pinot noir is bordering on being a religious experience, and I take it kind of seriously. Heather knows this, and never fails to get tasty bottles of wine at our favorite wine shop at Pike Place Market--Pike & Western.
And then I spent the rest of the night in a food coma.

hot buttered pretzels

2009-03-02T16:07:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, my roommate and I decided to have a tiny soiree influenced by our study abroad trip last spring in Vienna. We made weiß Wein gespritzt (white wine spritzers) and I baked pretzels!
The pretzels were pretty quick and easy to make, and came out of the oven piping hot, soft, and beautifully brown. A quick brushing of butter on top of them, and they were ready to be gobbled up (and were, quickly). Not a bad way to spend a Sunday evening. I want to bake more breads, and experiment with different yeast doughs. It's always much easier than I imagine it will be, and turns out so well.

A far superior chocolate cake recipe

2009-03-02T16:03:00.000-08:00

So, because of a stronger than ususal chocolate craving, I decided to make more chocolate cupcakes, this time using a new recipe--just for kicks. I got it on epicurious.com, and it is the most amazing homemade chocolate cake I have had yet.

3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 300°F. and grease pans.
Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well. Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

I again made caramel to drizzle over the top of the cupcakes, and learned that using buttermilk in the first batch of caramel made all the difference. It was much better with buttermilk! But good either way. These cupcakes were so good that an unnamed person ate three of them. No lie.

black magic cupcakes with caramel drizzle

2009-02-23T16:54:00.000-08:00

I am apparently the cupcake queen right now. My friend Sofie was doodling in her notebook during class, and she drew a picture of me holding a plate of cupcakes. This is how my friends imagine me. I like it.

When you bake red velvet cupcakes, you invariably end up with buttermilk that is left over and which can go forgotten in the refrigerator until it goes bad. Not so at the lovenest. I made it my mission to figure out something else I could bake with buttermilk, and as I was having some friends over last week, I settled on more cupcakes, and used the following recipe (sort of)

Black Magic Cake:

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup strong brewed coffee
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans or one 9x13 inch pan.
In large bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center.
Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Batter will be thin. Pour into prepared pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and finish cooling on a wire rack. Fill and frost as desired.

I actually don't own a cake pan, or I might have just made a cake, but who doesn't love cupcakes? They turned out really well, they were slightly tangy from the coffee and the buttermilk, and instead of making or buying a frosting for them, I made a caramel drizzle and had fun (and made a mess) pouring it over the cupcakes and allowing it to cool. It was perfect with this cake, and I would be interested in trying it again sometime because it was such a nice alternative to frosting.

playing catch-up

2009-02-23T16:10:00.000-08:00

The problem with failing to blog about delicious things I have cooked/eaten in a timely manner is that food is best described when available to refresh your memory as well as your palate. Oh well.

Valentine's day weekend was nothing to sneeze at in terms of delicious things. The day itself was spent pleasantly drunk--as Valentine's day should be. I had a lovely night owl pumpkin ale at the Elysian brewery, which was quite tasty and truly pumpkiny. I don't remember a time when I have enjoyed a pumpkin ale quite so much! For dinner, both Sara and I ordered the cider braised pork chops (not sure why, as I don't usually really like pork chops) with mashed potatoes that must have had some kind of magical butter or gravy or I don't know what (both because of intoxicants that night and because time has passed) and also German-style purple cabbage. Honestly, we could have almost shared one entree, so large were the portions, but it worked out well for other people at our table, as we were unable to finish everything but willing to offer bites to everyone else.

Sunday morning (after a night of dancing at the Lo-fi!) was Heather's 24th birthday celebration, which was hosted at her house in the form of a tasty, communally cooked brunch. I brought orange juice and cava (for mimosas!) and also some red velvet cupcakes that I'd whipped up which, if I am allowed to pat myself on the back, turned out really well! I am on a new kick of trying to bake more sustainably, which means, for starters, not using cupcake liners. Every little bit helps, right? The cupcakes were bright red, and delicious. My only regret is not having enought time to make frosting for them from scratch, but c'est la vie.

My favorite brunch item, and indeed, my new favorite muffin, was the creation that Calder pulled together in a very crowded kitchen--bacon, gruyere, and scallion muffins.

Calder doing his thing

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Bacon-Gruyere-and-Scallion-Muffins-10835

I love all of those things, and was excited to taste a savory muffin, as I don't remember the last time I have eaten a muffin that wasn't sweet. The muffins, aside from being slightly labor intensive, looked fairly easy to cook and I am tempted to have my own small brunch get together soon just to have an excuse to make them myself.
My job at the brunch was to make pot after pot of french press, and this gave me the opportunity to "supervise" the creation of the muffins, brioche french toast, fritatta, and sweet potato fries, to name a few things. I also got plenty of coffee, and mimosas (a good reason to hang out in the kitchen if there ever was one).

Happy Birthday Heather!

Julien Offray de la Mettrie

2009-02-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

I am studying for a midterm in my European studies class, and reading the works of various philosophers regarding enlightenment ideas, which is kind of exhausting but interesting. I thought the following bit of text was really cool, and it's about food! So I'm going to share it.

"The human body is a machine which winds itself up, the living image of perpetual motion. Food nourishes the movements which fever excites. Without food, the soul pines away, goes mad, and dies exhausted. It is a candle whose light flares up the moment before it goes out. But nourish the body, pour into its veins invigorating juices and strong liquors; then the soul, taking on their strength, arms itself with a proud courage, and the soldier whom water would have made flee, now made bold, runs joyously to the sounds of drums. Thus a warming drink excites the blood which a cold drink would have calmed. What power there is in a meal! Joy is born again in a sad heart; it infects the souls of table companions, who burst into the friendly songs in which the French excel."

Cardamom Banana Cupcakes

2009-02-04T12:48:00.000-08:00

I like entertaining. I have a hard time having people over at my place without cooking or baking something, even if it is not my original intention.

Last night we had a small group over for movie night (we watched 8 Femmes, a strange but entertaining French musical murder mystery) and I decided at the last minute to make some cupcakes, because who doesn't like cupcakes?

I have been wanting to make something with cardamom because it is a lovely spice, so when I found this recipe online, it sounded perfect. The cupcakes themselves turned out well, not too sweet at all, which I found enjoyable. The cupcakes would have been lovelier still if I had been able to find bananas that were super ripe (brown!), and I think I will try it that way last time to see if it makes the difference I think it will. I used more cardamom than the 1/2 tsp that the recipe called for, and they were spicy, the texture of the cupcake was lighter than I thought it would been when spooning out the batter into the muffin tin. It looked like banana bread batter, but did end up being lighter than that when the end result came out of the oven. I frosted them with a cream cheese frosting that I whipped up by hand. I much prefer making my own frosting because I like being able to control how sweet it is (I like it when it is NOT loaded down with sugar). We weren't able to wait for the cupcakes to fully cool, so great was our cupcake lust. Instead, the cupcakes were consumed when still warm, with the frosting spooned liberally onto the cupcakes and licked off of fingers as we messily consumed them.

I also made tacos last night, and when I found myself with hunger pains later in the evening due to heavy concentration on my German paper, I rummaged in the kitchen looking for leftovers. The sole remaining taco shell was broken in half (lengthwise) and so I made an open-faced taco. For future reference, the open-faced taco is extremely difficult to eat without getting it all over you. It is delicious, but inferior to actual tacos in that actual tacos lend themselves to the possibility of being eaten without simultaneously ending up all over your lap.

miso soup

2009-02-01T14:54:00.000-08:00

Sometime last week I decided, while shopping at Uwajimaya, that I really wanted to make some miso soup. I bought dashi miso (is it cheating to use that instead of regular miso paste? I don't think so), some seaweed, and went home to easily concoct my miso soup. I lightly sauteed some extra firm tofu in a little sesame oil, added the miso paste to very, very hot water, then tossed in a liberal amount of seaweed and tofu, and some chopped green onion on top. The resulting soup was awesome, and just what I needed.

vegan dinner party

2009-01-24T13:18:00.000-08:00

Thursday night, having the privledge of a night off work, I decided to embark on a new soup adventure and involve a couple of friends in it. I know I make a lot of soup, I can't really seem to help it, these days. In fact, the next two things I am planning to make are soups!
This time, it was butternut squash, red lentil, and ginger soup. This was another puree, it had onion and tomatoes in it as well, and it was just perfectly gingery although processing the butternut squash was somewhat obnoxious, it was definitely worthwhile. The recipe called for two inches of grated ginger, though if you just can't get enough ginger you could probably use more if you wanted. In addition to the soup, we had a white corn/edamame salad with rice wine vinegar and sesame oil dressing that was a very tasty cold salad and went quite well with the soup. We also had a bottle of 337 Cabernet Sauvignon, which wasn't bad but also wasn't great. I wouldn't get it again, I don't think.

salt caramel cupcakes!

2009-01-19T13:47:00.001-08:00

I had a religious experience at Cupcake Royale today, and it is all I can do to not just run back there and buy tons of these cupcakes to give to everyone I love. I was tempted to buy one to go, but resisted.
I walked into Cafe Verite, ready to get my usual red velvet cupcake and an americano and do some intense studying with Heather, when I saw something different in the pastry case. The cupcake flavor of the month was salted caramel. Now, I love salted caramel, I can't get enough of them, and without a moment's hesitation, I ordered the cupcake and carried it back to our table. Heather, as it turns out, had already eaten one, and gave me an enthusiastic thumbs-up on my cupcake choice.
This cupcake was divine. Magnificent. Excuisite. I am told that Cupcake Royale recently changed their chocolate cake batter, and the cupcake was great on its own, but the frosting! It tasted just like werther's caramels, wasn't too sweet, and complemented the chocolate perfectly. On top of the frosting were chocolate shavings and a generous dusting of fleur-de-sel. I found cupcake perfection.

eating my way through January

2009-01-19T13:25:00.000-08:00

This weekend was chock full of tasty things, as all weekends should be.
I went to a really nice potluck at the frat haus on Saturday night, and there were many other guests who brought a nice variety of dishes and booze and good company. I was a little stressed out that day because I decided at the last minute to make falafel again, having made it the previous night with the intention of bringing it to the potluck. I was worried that it wouldn't be as delicious the 2nd day, so I rushed to the store at 7pm (potluck started at 8), and ran around my kitchen chopping, blending, and frying things, but the falafel turned out really well and I was pleased with it. I got to the potluck just in time to dish up a plate full of exciting things like macaroni and cheese (which I am pretty sure was made with beecher's cheese), tabouleh, chickpea & spinach curry, roasted sesame eggplant, falafel, veggie tart, and vegetarian chili. I think I actually ate more things than that, but there were so many dishes that looked good, I was overwhelmed and had a hard time deciding. Also available at this party were a number of different caramels from Theo's chocolates, which is where Becca works. I ate many different kinds of caramels, and was really into the sage caramel.
Sunday night I made a vegetable stirfry, and was going to concoct an almond sauce (like peanut sauce... but with almonds) in order to not kill my roommate, who is allergic to peanuts, but ended up making a while new sauce instead. I juiced two oranges (minneola I think), zested them, added sweet chili sauce and fish sauce, and then grated a ton of fresh ginger into that and gave it a good stir. I used onion, garlic, broccoli, sugar snap peas, water chestnuts, carrot, and red bell pepper as my veggies, which didn't leave any room in my pan for tofu, so I opted to just leave it out. I sauteed everything in a little bit of canola oil and a bunch of sesame oil, which I am very into right now because I love the flavor it lends to vegetables that cook in it. The stirfry ended up being very tasty, and VERY gingery, which is great because I adore ginger, especially in the winter. It was just what we needed, a huge helping of fresh vegetables, and tons of cold-fighting vitamin C.

le panier

2009-01-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

One of the better ways to start your morning, should you happen to be in/near Pike Place Market, is with a trip to Le Panier, a fantastic French bakery whose butter-scented air lures in many tourists and locals alike. If you are lucky enough to get there before the crowd (8am on a Saturday in this case), you will have ample space and time to peruse the pastry cases before carefully selecting your flaky, delicious treat. I love their féuilletes, which are pastries with a variety of savory fillings. I am a huge fan of the broccoli, but I just love broccoli in general. The puff pastry is somewhat delicate, and flakes fall off as you bite into it--perfection.
My latte was excellent, as always. Le Panier uses Caffe Umbria espresso beans, and has adorable baristas. When I get a latte to go from le Panier, I sprinkle a little cinnamon on top, and it's heavenly.

Falafel!

2009-01-17T07:03:00.000-08:00

Last night I was feeling decidedly vitamin-C deficient, and thirsty. I juiced two tangerines (and these were extremely juicy, fat tangerines) and slurped the pulpy, tangy juice as I was cooking.
I have been wanting to make falafel for a while, for many reasons--first of which being, I love falafel. There was a tasty-sounding recipe in a cookbook I recieved for Christmas, so last night I went for it. I mixed chickpeas, turmeric, onion, parsley, garlic, flour, salt, and orange juice (should have been lemon juice but my lemons went bad), blended them down in my food processor (that wasn't really large enough for this job, poor thing), and then fried up some falafel patties in olive oil. The falafels turned out really well! I ate two of them and nearly danced with excitement at the idea that I can now make my own falafels whenever I want. I think chickpeas are going to make it onto my regular list of grocery items.

Soup on Sunday

2009-01-12T19:04:00.000-08:00

I had a lovely lunch date with Erica and Laura at Solstice Cafe in the U-dist on Sunday. At first we were disappointed to learn that the Ugly Mug Cafe (one of my favorites) was not open, but then realized that it meant we had the opportunity to have tasty soup at Solstice.
Tomato Basil soup is the only soup I have ever seen or had at Solstice, and it is tasty and makes me happy every time. There are many ways to spend $4, and this is probably in my top 10. The soup is a hearty orangey-red, with nice big pieces of basil--though not so many as to overwhelm you. The soup is also served with tasty bread, and this time the bread had caraway seeds in it! Solstice was, as always, filled with students working dilligently (or not so dilligently as the case may be), and we grabbed the last table available.

cafe verite

2009-01-02T14:43:00.000-08:00

Latte--Stumptown hairbender espresso. Cow milk. Sugar in the raw.

Cupcake--red velvet, cream cheese frosting. Red and white nonpareils.

This is pretty much my usual at Cafe Verite/Cupcake Royale. I'm a fan. I am currently without headphones and am reading the NYT, listening to the cafe's music (usually pretty good, no exception today), milk steaming, people talking, and feeling the occasional cold shock when the door is open too long.

It's a beautiful day in Ballard.

Soup!

2009-01-02T12:03:00.000-08:00

I really, really like making soup. Especially when it is chilly outside. I like making huge pots of soup and freezing some to eat at a later date, or having people over and feeding them warm, nutritious, delicious, soup. Winter is great, I don't care what anyone says about the weather, it makes me want soup and I am down with that.

I made two tasty soups this week from these good vegan cookbooks I have by the same person--Sarah Kramer. I have "The Garden of Vegan" and "La Dolce Vegan!" and have made a lot of things that turned out really well from them.

The first soup is called garden carrot soup with fresh ginger, and it was light, but filling, and had really amazing layers of flavor. I sautéed carrots and leeks in sesame oil (!) which really added something awesome to the final product. I could taste the sesame, and it wasn't overpowering, but kind of gave a hearty undertone to the soup. There was also a yam in the soup, and nutmeg, and fresh grated ginger. It was completely lovely--a pleasing shade of orange, smooth and flavorful, and delicious. I will definitely make it again.

Last night I had some friends over for dinner and I made soup again. This time it was coconut curry red lentil soup, which I have made twice before. It turned out a bit spicier this time because I added more curry, but I liked it a lot. Good for the sinuses! It has onion, potatoes, a yam, curry paste, coconut milk, celery, and lentils, of course, and is a most excellent soup. The last time I made it, it was a really beautiful color. This time something in the proportion of ingredients was off, because it was less of a creamy orange color and more split-pea colored, but I also used french lentils instead of red lentils because I discovered I was out of the latter. Of course, it matters most of all that it turns out edible and it was proclaimed delicious by all at the table (which it was). I definitely think presentation is important. Next time I'll add more yam, maybe. I like not following recipes. I want to cook more things with lentils in 2009, because I like lentils a lot.

beer & cupcakes

2008-12-28T01:31:00.000-08:00

We had a birthday party for our friend Kit today, and he requested tasty beers, and yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting, and we provided.

An interestingly delicious combination, I discovered, is yellow cake with chocolate frosting paired with a New Belgian Blue Moon beer that has (naturally) an orange slice in it. Seriously. Try this.

Tasty beers I drank include: Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale, Pyramid Apricot Ale, New Belgian Mothership Wit, and New Belgian Giddy Up.

I have to say, of the Giddy Up.... It is damn good. It tastes of espresso and lemon. I really enjoyed it.

I ain't no challah back girl

2008-12-28T01:14:00.000-08:00

Last night was my first Hanukkah! To celebrate day 6 of Hanukkah, there was a lovely dinner party at my friend Raz's house.

Raz made two beautiful loaves of challah that we ate in a variety of ways--plain, with butter, with honey, with honey and yogurt... It was delicious, no matter what condiment was added! We also made a plethora of bad challah puns.

In addition, he created a gorgeous orange soup composed of butternut squash, chipotle, and peanuts (possibly also some sage?). The soup was seriously delicious, but on the spicy side for me. I added some plain yogurt and that was both tasty and lowered the spiciness to a more tolerable level. Heather brought some good crusty bread from le panier, so we had plenty of carbohydrates on hand in case of emergency.

Sara made a delicious salad with spinach, walnuts, grapes, pear, blue cheese, and what appeared to be a dijon/balsamic dressing. I have been seriously lacking in the salad department as of late, and I devoured this one. I can't make a good salad to save my life! Raz promised to give me some good salad recipes, so I think the salad situation in my house is about to be looking up.

Raz's adorable father and stepmother roasted wintry root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, potatoes, purple potatoes, and probably more things that I am forgetting.

We drank two bottles of Gnarly Head Cabernet, which I have had before and remembered as being thoroughly enjoyable (it was). Chris brought Snoqualmie ice cream in three varieties: ginger, lemon custard, and lavender. I'm pretty sure lavender was unanimously the favorite, and it was easily the best lavender ice cream I have ever had.

This was probably one of the best dinner parties I have been to for a while. I was so full when it was over, I had to sleep off my food coma in Raz's guest bedroom!

yom jesus

2008-12-25T22:02:00.001-08:00

Christmas, full of lovely foods and drink, oh how I love you.

Actually I prefer Thanksgiving which has much the same schedule of family togetherness and eating, but without present-giving, which makes it somehow more meaningful (the togetherness) to me.

Anyway, I had a traditional Norwegian Christmas this year with my friends Heather and Sara, and Heather's family (which is where the Norwegian part comes in). We ate many delicious things, pretty much nonstop from when I arrived circa 4pm until I left to catch the ferry home at 8:30pm. We also drank the entire time, a holiday practice that I am glad to see is not only prevalent at my family's gatherings.

I can't remember all of the things, or all of the names of things that I ate, but we started out with festive and delicious flutes (hand-blown Norwegian glass! how Norwegian!) of Domaine Chandon champagne, which as Heather pointed out, I put miniature bottles of in our respective Christmas stockings last year. It was excellent--mild, bubbly, smooth, and when it was gone we were all quite sad. Luckily three bottles of good wine followed (A to Z pinot noir, Strong Arms shiraz, and something else that was also lovely). Sara and I ate le panier bread with prosciutto and butter with our champagne, and the prosciutto was lovely and not too salty. We discussed the merits of living in Italy and having access to cheap prosciutto all the time, and the various things you can put prosciutto on if it is extremely cheap and tasty. I don't think I have ever used the word prosciutto that many times in one body of text before...

Heather's mom made us some Scandinavian-style marzipan, which I loved. It was more almondy than other marzipan I have had, which I usually find too sweet to eat much of, but this was perfect. Soft, with some dark chocolate drizzled over the top for contrast. We continued snacking on crisp, spicy gingerbread cookies (in Winnie-the-pooh shapes!), biscotti with almonds and apricots, crackers with tasty cheese that I enjoyed but can't remember what it was, almonds, and various other cookies as they fell into our paths. We were seeking cookies with booze in them, but to no avail.

Dinner was well worth waiting for, and we were all hungry.

There were whole cooked potatoes, which were soft, white, and delicious. Kohlrabi, coarsely mashed, which we all agreed is a completely underrated vegetable and should be eaten with greater frequency. Lamb with mustard and/or cranberry sauce as well as sausage (and yes, I made the "Winona had a little lamb" joke and Sara and Heather were kind enough to laugh). Collard greens! Maybe not typically Norwegian, but absolutely delicious and if Bill would just tell me what he did to give them their somehow undefinable taste, I would be thrilled and then cook them all the time at home. I'll be asking about this again at other family get-togethers that I am privy to.

Before dessert, Heather brewed up some earl gray tea, which was perfect to go with our delicious and beautiful dessert from le panier, the Bûche de Noël, which, according to www.lepanier.com, is

"A French tradition for the holidays. The Yule log cake is a rolled chocolate cake layered with chocolate mousse, wrapped in ganache, decorated with dark chocolate holly leaves and meringue mushrooms. Perfect for a party centerpiece!"

So maybe it wasn't a 100% Norwegian Christmas, but the Bûche de Noël is every bit as decadent and amazing as it sounds. One small piece and I was ready to settle down for a long winter's nap.

In short... Christmas was excellent, the food and company were fantastic, and the hooch was great.