Annie's Food Blog

Odds and Ends

2010-09-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

This is a poor second cousin to seafood noodle salad, but it was still tasty. And photographed beautifully.

In other news, Brother Samuelson made me a pie.

Of the chicken pot persuasion.

With a perfectly flakey, all-butter crust.

I ate the whole thing in about three hours.

So then I reciprocated with Italian Stuffed Shells. Note the absence of hyphenation, please. I hadn't made this in years, so it was fun to revisit.

I'll post the recipe later.

Brownie Plot

2010-08-03T20:03:00.001-07:00

I wanted brownies and, for stereotypically womanly reasons, I wanted them really, really chocolatey. So I melted a couple ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate and stirred it into the batter. I also added walnuts, a splash of vanilla, and a dash each of cinnamon, cloves, and chili powder. Me likey. I think a cheesecake layer, sweetened with coconut cream, would be a good addition. Too bad I only want brownies, like, twice a year.

Packin' Pasta

2010-07-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
sauteed onions, mushrooms, kale
brown rice pasta and white beans
tomatoes stewed with garlic and herbs
chopped sardines

Tater Salad

2010-07-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

Salad:
red potatoes, quartered and boiled, salted and sprinkled with vinegar while hot
onion rings and mushrooms, roasted with olive oil, herbs, and salt
peas and celery

Dressing:
mayonnaise and cream cheese
mustard and horseradish
roasted garlic, minced
lemon zest and juice
pepper trio (black, white, cayenne)
fresh parsley and salt

Garnish:
soft-boiled eggs
salt and pepper

More leeks...

2010-06-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

Quesadillas with Panela cheese, oregano, sauteed leeks, and roasted red peppers. Good combo. Excellent with green chili salsa.

Spring thing!

2010-06-06T13:43:00.000-07:00

LEEKS! Leeks are in season, and Broulims had them on sale for 89 cents a bundle this week. BOOYAH. So I made:

Leek Cornmeal Pancakes

2 leeks, white and pale green parts only, rinsed and sliced thin
olive oil and butter
salt and pepper

1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 TB baking powder
1 tsp salt
thyme
allspice
nutmeg
garlic powder
white pepper

1 1/4 cup buttermilk (we all know the trick about stirring a tablespoon of lemon juice/vinegar
into regular milk and letting thicken for ten minutes, yeah?)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs

Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, then butter, waiting for butter to stop foaming before adding leeks. Saute to desired softness/mildness; season to taste.

Heat new skillet over medium heat. Whisk dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. Pour wet into dry, whisk just until combined, gently fold in leeks. Oil pan and fry pancakes. Serve with butter and/or a drizzle of honey.

Notes: The batter was pretty thick, so I added some water. Next time I might increase the cornmeal and decrease the flour by a bit. Dried thyme is VERY assertive. Use sparingly. It'd be nice to work in cheese somehow.

First Fruit Salad of Summer

2010-05-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

Tried something a little different with the dressing this time. Took low-fat plain yogurt, sweetened it with coconut cream, and added lime juice and zest, mint, and minced candied ginger. So so so good. Though the yogurt was tasty and (relatively) healthy, it did get watery in the fridge, so I'd like to try substituting cream cheese and whipping it (maybe with a little cream) for a better texture.

Baby Quiches

2010-05-23T11:48:00.001-07:00

Awesome! You take phyllo dough, cut it into squares, and layer it with butter into muffin tins -- three or four sheets thick. Then, bake till golden brown, fill with quiche goodies, and bake again!

I made two kinds: shallot-broccoli-mustard and shallot-mushroom-thyme-white pepper-nutmeg. Jarlsberg Swiss in both. Very tasty.

Summer Sippin'

2010-05-21T16:23:00.001-07:00

+

+

=

Oh yeah, babe.

Legumes galore...

2010-04-29T17:52:00.001-07:00

Curried lentils with peas, smashed yams, steamed zucchini, and sour cream.

Dinner tonight

2010-04-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

Curried lentils with roasted broccoli and pickled ginger. Good combo.

Fish Tacos

2010-04-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

Note: Asadero is one of several Mexican cheeses made fresh from part-skim milk -- the Mexican equivalent of mozzarella. Like mozzarella, asadero (along with fresco, panela, an quesadilla cheese) has an equal fat-to-protein ratio. But unlike mozz, these cheeses have an extremely low "melting" temperature, but do not run or separate, or even lose their shape, really; they just get hot and very soft. Also, asadero has a deeper, nuttier flavor than mozzarella.

Fish Tacos

olive oil

tilapia fillets

salt and pepper

lime juice

6-inch corn tortillas

asadero cheese, sliced or grated

cilantro, chopped

salsa/hot sauce/chilis, green or red

ripe mango, diced

sour cream

lettuce or cabbage, sliced into ribbons

Heat a little oil (about half a teaspoon per fillet) in nonstick pan over medium. While it heats, prepare the other ingredients. Pat tilapia dry with paper towel and set in hot pan. Season with salt and pepper. Let it cook several minutes, until thin side of fillet is almost opaque throughout (it's hard to overcook tilapia, and you want both sides to brown nicely). Meanwhile, continue preparing other ingredients. Flip tilapia and continue cooking. When done, remove from pan, turn heat to medium-low, set fish aside on cutting board or plate and drench fillets with lime juice. Add a little oil to the pan if needed and heat the tortillas on one side, flipping them over after a minute or so and sprinkling hot side with cheese, cilantro, and salsa/hot sauce. When cheese is melted, remove tortillas to plate, add tilapia, mango, sour cream, and lettuce. Wrap up and enjoy.

New Cake o' Dreams

2010-04-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

Planning on making it within the week. (Hooray for MONEY and TIME!)

Four buttermilk spice cake rounds, soaked in tres leches.

Orange curd filling.

Mascarpone/whipped cream frosting.

Ginger-infused caramel ganache.

Toasted pecan garnish.

Title ideas:

Orange-Spice Caramel Torte.

Autumn Trifle Cake.

Spice 'n' Citrus Soaked Gateau.

...?

Y'know, tinned fish has its place.

2010-02-17T19:02:00.000-08:00

Since (mostly) giving up meat last autumn, I've been experimenting with protein sources -- seafood, seeds, legumes. I've always loved smoked oysters, but I haven't really had any desire to eat sardines since that one time at Sunriver when I was a kid. Turns out, though, that they're full of good stuff, including calcium in their tiny crunchable bones.

So I made a simple sauce of canned fine-dice tomatoes, fresh garlic, fennel seeds, oregano, and red pepper flakes, cooked it down for about thirty minutes, stirred in a tin of lightly smoked sardine, and tossed it with brown rice pasta, white beans, fresh steamed asparagus, and parsley.

Delish. Can't wait to try it with oysters.

Something New

2010-02-17T18:24:00.000-08:00

Confession: I've never bought Brussels sprouts fresh. Or frozen, come to think of it. In fact, these tough, knobby little cabbage buds were the very last veggie on the "DO NOT LIKE" side of my list until three or four years ago, when my aunt brought a braised batch to Christmas dinner and I fell like the S&P 500. Since then I've been on the lookout, but Broulims' specimens have never been very appealing... until now.

So I roasted a bunch. Aubrey offered me some of her gyoza in exchange for some of my sprouts, and the combination was scrumptious.

Perchance to dream...

2010-02-06T21:14:00.001-08:00

Phyllo dough. Browned butter. Roasted butternut squash. Red onion. Maple. Sage. Jarlsberg. Smoked fontina. Spinach. Fine-ground almonds. A drizzle of bechamel. White pepper. Nutmeg.

Hot, flaky, layer-y goodness. Like my dad says, "I love anything hot in a pocket. ...Except Hot Pockets."

These would not be Hot Pockets.

Seafood Noodle Salad

2010-01-21T19:28:00.000-08:00

I made like five pounds of this stuff. Why did I do that? I mean, I love it... it's one of my favorite dishes. And I've been craving it for months. But even I can't eat this much. And it's sort of a hard thing to give away, what with the seafood factor. Hmm. So yeah, fair warning: the recipe below yields a HUGE amount. Like, take-to-a-Mormon-potluck amount. Tip: Get all ingredients as dry as you can before adding to the bowl. Towel off the veggies after rinsing, and press the shrimp a bit.

Seafood Noodle Salad

~2 cups mayonnaise (Best Foods, pref)

~2/3 cup sour cream

zest of two lemons

1-2 TB fresh lemon juice

pepper, paprika, white pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

tons of dill (fresh would be awesome)

salt (not much as shrimp, krab, and olives will add saltiness)

half a small red onion, diced fine (taste and soak in water 1 hour if too strong)

1 lb small or medium shell pasta

3 celery ribs, chopped

2-3 red bell peppers, chopped

3/4 lb salad shrimp, thawed and drained

3/4 lb imitation crab meat (krab), pulled into small pieces

1 10-oz jar green olives, sliced

Combine dressing ingredients in large bowl and refrigerate. Cook pasta in salty water to desired doneness, drain, soak in 2-3 rounds of cold water until at least room temp. Drain well, spread over four paper towels to dry. Meanwhile, chop celery and peppers and slice olives. When pasta is reasonably dry, taste dressing and make adjustments as desired (all flavors but salt should be quite strong). Stir pasta, celery, and peppers into dressing. Stir in shrimp and krab, then gently fold in olives.

SALMON.

2010-01-21T19:25:00.000-08:00

I LOVE IT.

IT LOVES ME.

THE END.

The Good Earth.

2010-01-07T19:13:00.000-08:00

I went a bit mad at the grocery store yesterday.

Last semester I was too poor to meet my usual fruit-and-veg-quota, and the knowledge that that won't be a problem this semester just sort of welled up and overwhelmed me last night at Broulims.

I bought: broccoli, cauliflower, apples, oranges, tomatoes, garlic, scallions, potatoes, cucumbers, spinach, carrots, parsley, cilantro, lemons, and onions. I wanted to get squash, zucchini, mushrooms, celery, parsnips, turnips, Brussels sprouts, pears, avocados, and bell peppers, too... but it's a little early to be making my new roommates hate me. And, believe it or not, even I am limited as to the amount of produce I can throw back before it spoils.

Here's what I had for lunch/dinner:

I broke in my mini food processor (Christmas pressie) with a batch of hummus. And discovered that roasted broccoli and carrots are THE BEST EVER VEHICLES FOR HUMMUS. How have I never thought of this before? For protein's sake I also ate a boiled egg as I was cooking. Too bad I was so hungry; it woulda looked good on the plate.

Discovery!

2010-01-05T17:55:00.000-08:00

Check it out check it out check it out check it out. --Strongbad

We picked mass quantities of blueberries last summer and froze them. Over Christmas, I discovered that if you combine frozen blueberries and milk, the milk will clump into a soft freeze around the berries, which thaw quickly into juicy, slushy goodness. It's almost as good as ice cream!

Frozen Blueberries in Sweet Milk

1/2 cup milk (whole probably works and tastes best)

1/2 TB sugar

pinch of cinnamon

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Pour milk into small bowl, mix in sugar and cinnamon, and add blueberries, submerging them as much as possible. Let sit about 30 seconds, then give a few gentle stirs to coat blueberries. Eat!

Also, look at the pretty Christmas cookies we made! Chocolate-walnut squares, pine nut tassies, and lemon curd macaroons!

Ginger-Pear Upside Down Cake

2009-12-14T16:48:00.001-08:00

Notes:

Uh, YUM. Highly recommended. I was surprised how well the pears' shape and flavor survived baking; I rather expected them to disappear into a bland mush.

I made double the pear topping, 1.5 x the batter, and baked two 9-inch cakes, dropping about a cup of partly-baked cherry cheesecake chunks (leftover from Epic Cake) into one pan. This filled both pans (with a little batter still left over) so full they aaalmost overflowed in the oven. All this is to say that I don't know exactly how full the following recipe will fill one 9-inch cake pan. Pretty darn full, I would guess. And if you want to make two cakes, I think the cake recipe x 1.5 will give you enough. The good news is, even if the sides ooze over a bit, don't worry about the edges getting very brown and crisp; after unmolding, the cake's moisture will redistribute, making those edges nice and soft again.

The cherries added tartness, which was a very nice touch. I'm ambivalent about the cheesecake, though -- it's good, but probably not worth the effort unless you happen to have some lying around (as I did).

Ginger-Pear Upside Down Cake

TOPPING:

2 TB sliced almonds (optional)

2 anjou pears, barely ripe, sliced into circles, seeds poked out

(core will soften)

1 1/2 TB fresh lemon juice

2 TB candied ginger, finely diced

(or use 1 TB fresh grated ginger and add a little extra brown sugar)

4 TB butter, melted

1/3 cup brown sugar

CAKE:

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 stick butter, melted and cooled to room temp

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup molasses

1 large egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup dried tart cherries, reconstituted and drained (optional)

Mix dry cake ingredients in medium bowl and set aside. Grease and flour the sides of a 9-inch cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scatter almonds evenly along bottom of pan. Arrange pear slices, prettiest ones first, on top of almonds. Drizzle with lemon juice, then with butter. Sprinkle ginger and brown sugar evenly over pears. Set aside.

In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and molasses on low speed until combined. Beat in egg. Gradually add milks and beat on slow, then medium speed for about a minute, scraping bowl as needed. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined (do not overmix).

Carefully pour batter over pears. Drop cherries into batter, if using. Bake for 35-45 minutes until tester comes out almost clean (rotate pans halfway through if you make a double batch). Cool on wire rack for five minutes, then run knife along the edge, gently invert onto flat serving dish, and remove parchment paper. Let cool at least fifteen minutes before serving. A dollop of whipped cream on the side would complete this dessert, I think.

Baklava

2009-12-10T14:14:00.000-08:00

My friend Julie Moore and I made baklava last night. It took four hours, including a trip to the grocery store in the middle of cooking to get more phyllo dough, and we were a little hysterical by the end, but we DID IT.

Behold:

Epic Cake (recipe)

2009-11-28T17:33:00.001-08:00

Notes: I still can't believe I pulled this off. It was very, very good. However, I do plan to make a few minor adjustments next time. The following recipe includes those changes. Scroll down to previous entry for luscious photos.

EQUIPMENT

3 9-inch cake layer pans

parchment paper

wire cooling rack

toothpicks

unflavored dental floss

large icing spatula

RECIPE

Cake:

1 German or Swiss chocolate cake mix

oil, water, and eggs as directed on box

12 oz cream cheese, cut into 1-inch squares, room temp

2/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup sour cream, room temp

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3 eggs, room temp

1 cup dried sour cherries, reconstituted, drained

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk

1 can coconut milk

Line the bottoms of two cake pans with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake batter according to directions. Set aside. In separate bowl, cream sugar and cream cheese on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix on medium speed about two minutes.

Pour as much of the chocolate batter into one cake pan as you think will fit without spilling over (aim for at least 3/4 of it). Pour remaining chocolate batter evenly into second cake pan. Pour cheesecake batter directly into center of pan, so that chocolate batter is pushed out on all sides, rimming the perimeter as evenly as possible. Drop cherries on top of cheesecake batter (they'll sink). The cheesecake won't rise much, or dome on top, so don't worry about the pan being full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, checking both cakes for doneness at 30 minutes. My plain chocolate cake was done at 30 minutes; the cheesecake layer took another 8 minutes or so. But I'm at high elevation and our oven is old and senile, so... just keep an eye on them.

Meanwhile, whisk together sweetened condensed, evaporated, and coconut milk. (You'll only be using half of it at most, so start thinking of ways to use the excess.)

Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for at least 45 minutes, then unmold cheesecake onto flat plate, bring to room temp, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Pierce chocolate cake layer about 50 times with toothpick, then pour milk mixture over cake, let it soak in, and repeat until cake is saturated. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours, checking once or twice to see if cake could absorb more milk. Wash and dry cheesecake pan for cherry custard phase.

Cherry Custard Filling:

2 1/2 cups pure cherry juice

3 TB fresh lemon juice

5 eggs, room temp

3 egg yolks, room temp

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp unflavored powdered gelatin

6 TB butter, cut into half-inch cubes, chilled

3 TB heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

pinch salt

red food coloring, if desired

Set aside 1/2 cup cherry juice. Heat remaining cherry and lemon juice at a brisk simmer until reduced by half. Whisk eggs, yolks, and sugar in medium bowl. Remove juice from heat for bout 30 seconds. Pour hot juice into egg mixture, whisking constantly. Add gelatin to reserved 1/2 cup cherry juice (this should stand undisturbed about five minutes before being stirred into the custard). Return egg/sugar/juice mixture to pot and set over medium-low heat. Stir steadily with spatula until mixture thickens enough to coat spoon (about 4 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in butter until melted, then stir in gelatin mixture, cream, vanilla, salt, and food coloring, if using. Divide custard between two parchment-lined cake pans. Refrigerate, transferring to freezer at least 40 minutes before commencing cake assembly.

Ganache Toppings:

1 12 oz package semisweet chocolate chips

1 4 oz bar Lindt milk chocolate, broken into small pieces

1 pint, minus 3 TB used in custard, heavy cream

~3 oz sliced almonds, toasted

Approximately one and a half hours before commencing cake assembly, place chocolate in medium heatproof bowl. Heat cream in small pot over medium-high heat until bubbling. Pour over chocolate. Cover and let sit five minutes. Whisk until smooth, let rest one minute, whisk again for one minute to fully emulsify. Pour a little more than half of ganache into separate container; cover and refrigerate both. After about an hour, remove smaller portion in original medium bowl and beat with electric mixer first on low, then medium speed until medium-stiff peaks form (took about five minutes for me). Set aside or refrigerate, whichever will make frosting easier for you.

CAKE ASSEMBLY

Invert soaked chocolate cake out of pan onto flat plate. Cut in half with dental floss. Place bottom half on cake platter. Run bottom of frozen custard pan under hot water for about 30 seconds, then tap frozen custard layer out of pan, invert onto first cake layer, remove paper. Place cheesecake layer upside-down on top of custard. Remove second frozen custard layer and place on top of cheesecake. Place domed second half of soaked chocolate cake on top. Frost cake with whipped ganache, thickly on sides and thinly on top. Press cooled toasted almond slices into sides. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes or so. Check unwhipped ganache; refrigerate longer or warm up to achieve desired consistency. Pour unwhipped ganache over top of cake, spreading and letting drip down sides as desired. Decorate top with almonds as desired. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to allow custard to thaw.

Slice, serve, and ENJOY.

Epic Cake

2009-11-28T11:44:00.000-08:00

This cake undoubtedly represents the pinnacle of my culinary endeavors. I really need to think of a name for it. Photos only, for now; I'll post the recipe later.

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-28T11:23:00.000-08:00

Everything was absolutely wonderful! Liz decorated the dining room with festive cloth and candles, we loaded the table with goodies, and Jacob supplied Martinelli's and egg nog, which we sipped from champagne glasses.

A few prep photos...

Happy friends!

Clockwise from top:

Roasted rosemary carrots
Mashed potatoes with yam, garlic, parmesan, and fresh parsley

Steamed broccoli

Box stuffing with caramelized onions and a celery/apple/mushroom/chestnut saute

Pan-fried tilapia with a ginger-fennel-orange cream sauce

Below:

Potato rolls! From a great recipe I found online. Wonderful flavor, though the dough didn't rise much.

Yay!

Stay tuned; The Cake is getting its own personal entry.

Thai Fried Rice

2009-11-27T11:08:00.000-08:00

Asian stir-fry is the perfect solution to leftover rice.

No time for details; on to Thanksgiving! However, did you know that if you put the bulbs of scallions in a jar of water after you've used the green part, they'll sprout up again for you? Eternal scallions! Awesome!

Ghetto Delights, Take Two

2009-11-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

I realized today that 24-Hour Salad is to me what macaroni and cheese is to so many other people. Except that it contains eight varieties of vegetable. Yeah, that's right. You eat mac 'n' cheese; I eat veggies. Judge me now, why dontcha?

Anyway, yes. 24-Hour Salad. It's cool, creamy, crunchy, and full of fat. (Oh, did I forget to mention the full cup of mayonnaise, up there in that self-righteous first paragraph? How silly of me.) It's total comfort food. One of the most blissful, satisfying meals I ever ate was a bowl of slow-simmered hambone soup, with a warm slice of homemade whole wheat bread, and a side of 24-Hour Salad.

Notes: The original recipe calls for dressing the salad with straight mayonnaise. I prefer to gussy mine up, but it works just fine on its own. Be sure to layer the dressing between the chopped veggies; somehow this infuses the whole salad with flavor. If you have any way of keeping the salad from sitting in its liquid, such as placing a wire rack at the bottom of the bowl, or putting the whole thing in a salad spinner, do it. And yes, you must wait the whole durn 24 hours. Or at least 20, anyway. ;)

24-Hour Salad

1 cup mayonnaise

good dollop sour cream

bit of lemon zest and juice

black pepper and paprika to taste

(dill might be nice, too)

1 head iceburg lettuce, chopped, rinsed, and dried

2 large carrots, grated

3 celery stalks, sliced thin

3-4 mushrooms, sliced thin

~1 1/2 cups frozen peas (still frozen; they'll thaw in the fridge)

2 scallions, sliced thin

1 large tomato, sliced

5 eggs, hard boiled, peeled, and quartered

salt and pepper

Combine dressing ingredients in small bowl and set aside. Place half the lettuce in large serving dish (a glass bowl is really pretty). Mix the carrot and celery and arrange evenly over lettuce. Spread half the dressing over the carrot/celery, sprinkle with half the sliced scallion, then add the peas. Add the rest of the lettuce, top with mushrooms, remaining scallions, and second half of dressing. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours, arranging egg quarters a few hours before serving. Add the tomatoes immediately before serving. Season with salt and pepper. Be sure to scoop deep to get all the layers.

"Let Them Eat..."

2009-11-15T22:39:00.000-08:00

I'm being haunted by a hypothetical cake. It is tall, dark, elegant --

and totally epic.

Sigh. Someday, neglected sweet tooth, restless cakesmith. Someday.

Potato Flatbread

2009-11-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

So, I happened into the possession of a half-empty bag of russet potatoes the other day (looong story). I tend to fall more on the waxy side of potato preference, so I didn't much relish the thought of roasting, baking, or mashing these spuds. I remembered that baked goods usually call for starchy potatoes like russets, so I set about finding me a recipe. I considered pierogi, latkes, and potato rolls, but ultimately what caught my fancy was the idea of potato flatbread -- like the potato cakes I enjoyed with my traditional Irish breakfast this spring. But with punched-up flavor, naturally. Darn Brits and their inveterate blandness.

Notes: I worked off of a recipe I found online, but I made so many alterations to it (including translating it from grams into cups) that I don't feel obligated to credit it. So there. The yeast I added only caused a slight rise, but I believe it really improved the texture of the dough; it was very workable after resting. Next time I'll try doubling the amount of yeast and see if that increases the rise. I cannot overemphasize the importance of SEASONING to this recipe. Think about it; you're working with potatoes, flour, and dairy -- flavor-deadeners, every one. Use lots of salt, lots of pepper, lots of flavoring. I really recommend the fresh parsley. I dunno if it was the sweet potato flavor that really complemented it, or if parsley mellows with age or something (cuz this was some ooold parsley -- though apparently it keeps for, like, EVER). Anyway, this parsley had the most wonderful fresh, earthy, carroty flavor, and was just perfect, and really pretty.

Potato Flatbread

russet potatoes (about 3 small), sliced into quarter-inch disks

sweet potato, yellow or orange, sliced into quarter-inch disks

(you want enough potato to make 2 generous cups mash)

1 scant cup flour

1/3 - 1/2 cup butter, melted

salt and pepper

spices/flavorings as desired (I went with an Eastern European approach: a clove of garlic, plenty of onion powder, some allspice, some dried rosemary, a pinch each of nutmeg and white pepper, and about a half-cup of finely diced fresh parsley. Some smoked paprika would have been awesome, too.)

1/2 tsp dry yeast

Cover russet slices in cold, salted water. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and add sweet potatoes. Cover and simmer until potatoes are fork-tender, 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, measure out flour. Melt butter and stir in all flavorings except fresh herbs.

When potatoes are cooked, scoop out 3 TB of hot potato water and, when no longer steaming, add yeast and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain potatoes and stir over heat for a minute to dry. Mash very thoroughly or send through a ricer. Stir in butter mixture and fresh herbs. When no longer steaming, stir in water/yeast mixture. Gradually stir in flour.

Form into a dough ball and knead on floured surface until elastic and homogeneous -- about ten passes. Place dough in lightly oiled bowl, cover, and set in warm place to rise for 60 minutes.

Push down dough, knead a few more times on floured surface, then divide into balls (whatever size will fit your skillet) and roll flat into quarter-inch thick circles. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Heat heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook flatbread on each side until spotty golden brown. Serve warm. Makes about 10 six-inch flatbreads.

Serving ideas: I ate mine with sour cream and jarred applesauce, which was delicious, but it'd be even better with sour cream and a homemade chutney of caramelized onion and sauteed apples. Mmm. Or use that onion/apple chutney as a filling for a quesadilla-type thing, with cheese -- ooh, Stilton and Swiss! YUM! Also, check out this cool see-through effect.

Odds and Ends

2009-11-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

1. Tarted Up

Had two separated egg yolks languishing in the fridge, so when I got a loaf of cranberry quickbread from Great Harvest, I decided to whip up some curd to go with it. I used half orange juice and half lemon juice. It was a little softer than expected, and lumpy because I don't have a mesh strainer, but still tasty.

2. Red, White, and Green...ish

Insane sales on fresh mozzarella and ripe, juicy tomatoes today. So I made a modified caprese with dried fennel seed instead of basil and smoked oysters on the side. I smashed up the fennel seeds and then let them soak in the olive oil for a couple hours. Arrange the sliced mozz and tomatoes on a plate, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with oil, and voila. Yummy, pretty, and satisfying.

3. Do You Like Greens, Eggs, no Ham?

Dinner the other night. Toss broccoli and cauliflower with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, arrange in baking dish (cut-side-down, as much as possible), cover with tin foil, roast at 400 degrees for fifteen minutes, remove tin foil, roast to desired done- and brown-ness.

Food Dreams

2009-11-06T16:28:00.000-08:00

"Dreaming is an act of pure imagination, attesting in all men

a creative power, which if it were available in waking,

would make every man a Dante or a Shakespeare."

~H.F. Hedge

Sometimes, just as I'm falling asleep, strange recipes come to me.

Last night I came up with Soft Square Salad.

The idea is to combine cubed, roasted butternut squash, still warm...

...with fresh cubed peach-flesh...

...ripe, cubed avocado...

...and cubes of some sort of soft, nutty cheese -- like fontina or livarot.

(My sleep-brain seemed to think that if you heated a very lightly oiled pan

to medium-high, tossed a bunch of cheese cubes into it, and immediately

took it off the heat and let it cool completely, they'd come away easily

and you'd get cheese cubes with one side deliciously brown and crunchy.

Dunno if that's true, but it sounds friggin awesome, and perfect for this recipe.)

Season with salt and pepper, naturally, then add

some toasted pine nuts and diced bell pepper for crunch.

Finally, drizzle with some warm, homemade vinaigrette -- which I envisioned would consist of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, some reduced cherry/redcurrant/cranberry preserves, juice from a roasted onion, a hint of cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, and cayenne, and a fresh chopped herb -- my sleep-brain said sage, but now I'm thinking oregano.

Toss all ingredients gently so as not to damage Soft Squares,

and serve warmover grilled salmon. Obviously, this would be a stunner,

visually.But the flavor combo? I can't decide if it would be absolutely

delicious or just plain weird. I guess I'll have to try it someday.

More Curry

2009-11-04T16:22:00.000-08:00

But of the Indian persuasion, this time. With potatoes. And a roast carrot puree-based sauce. Topped with herbed yogurt. So we'll call it:

INDIAN ROOT VEG CURRY WITH HERBED YOGURT.

So let it be written.

Notes: YUM! Okay, so this recipe looks all complicated, what with the steps and whatnot, but trust me, it's not bad! The prep-work takes an hour or so, but once everything is ready, the actual time spent over the stove is minimal. This recipe is part America's Test Kitchen, part Paul Prudhomme (whose cookbook, Fiery Foods that I Love, I cannot recommend highly enough), and part Annie. Which means, of course, that I have no measurements for the spice mix; I just made it up. If you're timid about making your own mix out of the spices suggested below, I recommend combining 2 TB store-bought curry powder with 1 TB store-bought garam masala, and adding a teaspoon or so of crushed fennel seeds. What would really enhance this dish is a garnish of chilled sliced grapes, diced pear, and/or mandarin oranges. Lastly, the roasted carrot sauce was delicious, but not as... intense as I'd imagined. Like, it didn't have the intense Autumnal WOW factor I was anticipating. Perhaps a roasted yam/squash puree would be better. Hmm. You could also replace the puree with a can of crushed tomatoes for a more authentic curry (in which case I wouldn't garnish with fruit).

Herbed Yogurt

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1 TB apple, pear, or grape juice
dried crushed (or fresh chopped) mint to taste
fresh chopped cilantro to taste
juice from grating ginger (see Step Two), if desired
salt

Combine ingredients in tupperware container. Refrigerate.

Indian Root Veg Curry

Step One: Vegetable Stock and Roasted Carrots

5-7 carrots, peeled and cut into spears for roasting (trimmings reserved)
olive oil for tossing
salt and pepper
1 large onion, chopped (trimmings reserved)

3-5 jalepenos, fine dice (trimmings reserved)
1 bay leaf
4 cups water (or more, if you have time; the longer it simmers, the better)

Prepare vegetables and set aside. Place trimmings in large pot with bay leaf and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer until reduced by half. Strain out 2 cups of vegetable stock and set aside.

Meanwhile, toss carrots with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast in shallow baking dish/pan at 400 degrees. Move on to Steps Two and Three. When carrots are soft and slightly browned, remove from oven and set aside (should take about 40 minutes).

Step Two: Aromatics and Spice Mix

2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 TB fresh ginger, grated or minced

chili powder, various kinds as desired
ground cumin
ground coriander
fennel seeds, crushed
ground allspice
ground cinnamon
turmeric
cayenne pepper
salt
(other suggestions: ground mustard, ginger, cardamom, mace, thyme,
powdered garlic/onion, white pepper... the possibilities are endless!)

Set garlic and ginger aside in small bowl with diced jalepenos. Combine spices as desired to equal 3 TB. Toast spice mix in small skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant and slightly darkened. Set aside.

Step Three: Assembly

3-4 red potatoes, half-inch dice
4 TB vegetable oil
1 can coconut milk, skimmed of solid fat, soft fat reincorporated
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 TB brown sugar, or 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 cups frozen peas
1 lime, halved
bunch of fresh cilantro, washed

Now you're all set! Time for the REAL fun to begin!

Heat 3 TB oil in large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add potatoes and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, puree roasted carrots, vegetable stock, and coconut milk in a blender or food processor. When potatoes and onions are nicely browned, push them to the edges of the pot and add another TB of oil to the middle. Stir in jalepeno, ginger, and garlic and cook for about a minute. Stir in spice mix and cook for another minute. Stir in carrot/stock/milk puree, bring to a boil, then turn heat down to low. Stir in sugar/syrup and garbanzo beans. Cover and simmer. Chop cilantro for garnish. When potatoes are cooked through, stir in peas and fresh lime juice to taste.

Serve over white or brown jasmine or basmati rice, topped with herbed yogurt and fresh chopped cilantro (and fruit). Makes A TON. About eight good servings, I'd guess.

तुम जियो हजारों

साल,साल के

दिन हो पचास

हजार

May you live

a thousand

years

and may

each year have

fifty thousand days.

--Hindi salutation

Alert the media.

2009-10-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

I have a new favorite cookie. Or rather, the long-standing two-way tie between my frosted pumpkin-ies and Kathleen's molasses-raisin-ies has become a three-way tie (and this sentence has too many hyphens). Please allow me to introduce:

SPICED PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE.

Notes: Now, I am not a Reese's fan. There are those for whom the combination of peanut butter and chocolate is sweet-tooth nirvana. I've never been one of them. So rest assured that these cookies stand on their own merits. The recipe is, again, very similar to one from America's Test Kitchen, but with a few adjustments and additions, including the spices and the ganache topping. Ganache is a flexible animal; the higher the cream-to-chocolate ratio, the softer the icing will be. If you want to serve the cookies chilled, use more cream, but make sure you chill the ganache thoroughly before frosting (like, for eight hours). If you want to serve the cookies at room temperature, use less cream. I suggest frosting the cookies with a spoon, instead of a knife. For the cookie batter, do observe the finer points of construction -- creaming the butter and sugar properly, using parchment paper (or a silpat!), etc. Also, if you have Mexican or another sort of high-quality vanilla, now is the time to break it out. The combination of the vanilla, cloves, nuttiness, and chocolate is... dreamy.

Chocolate Ganache

8 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or you can use chocolate chips)

3/4 to 1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Place chocolate in medium, non-reactive bowl. Heat cream in small saucepan over medium-high heat until boiling, stirring frequently. Pour boiling cream over chocolate, whisk vigorously until smooth, then keep whisking for another minute to fully emulsify. Cover, and refrigerate or let stand at room temperature, as desired.

Spiced Peanut Butter Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

scant 1/2 tsp ground cloves

scant 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 pound butter, room temperature

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup Adam's brand creamy peanut butter, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 TB vanilla

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together flour, soda, powder, salt, cloves, and cinnamon in medium bowl. In large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer until creamy. Add sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping bowl with spatula as needed. Beat in peanut butter, then eggs (one at a time), then vanilla. Gently stir in dry ingredients by hand.

Roll dough into balls of about 2 tablespoons' worth. Place two inches apart on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Wet a flat-bottomed glass with cool water and flatten each ball slightly. Bake until cookies are puffed and golden along the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. They will not look fully-baked. Let stand on cookie sheet for about 4 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.

Once they reach room temperature, frost/refrigerate as desired. Makes about 30 large cookies.

Serious Gingerbread

2009-10-28T19:39:00.000-07:00

This recipe varies only slightly from the one at America's Test Kitchen, the good people of which apparently like their gingerbread the way I like mine: strong, dark, and semi-sweet.

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 TB Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup molasses
3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 TB grated fresh ginger
2 TB candied ginger, minced

Grease and flour 7'' by 11'' inch (or smaller) pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk dry ingredients together in medium bowl and set aside. Whisk yogurt and milk together in small bowl. In large bowl, beat oil, molasses, and sugar with electric mixer until combined. Beat in egg. Gradually beat in yogurt/milk mixture. Add dry ingredients; beat until smooth (about 1 minutes, scraping bowl as necessary). Beat in fresh and candied ginger. Scrape batter into prepared pan.

Bake to desired doneness -- about 40 minutes. Cool for at least ten minutes before cutting. Serve with whipped cream, powdered sugar, or icing, if desired.

ETA: Sorry the picture is huge for some reason...?

Crock Pot Beans

2009-10-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

So this recipe is sorta white trash, but I love it.

Notes: Most recipes like this will call for a few strips of bacon, fried and crumbled, and for pork 'n' beans instead of baked beans. Your choice! I'm even less sure than usual of the exact measurements on the spices and stuff; just taste as you go. Use whatever beans you like, but don't omit the butter beans; they're awesome. Cornbread or tortilla chips make great vehicles for the finished product. What is it about corn, anyway? It's such an empty foodstuff, but boy, do I love it. I could eat a bag of tortilla chips per day, easily. Just plain, too; no salsa or nothin'. Remember that scene from The Land Before Time, where Spike comes out of his shell and eats that patch of brown grass, mouthful by crunchy mouthful? I always imagined that grass tasted like plain corn tortilla chips. Sometimes I still think of that when I eat them.

ANYWAY.

Crock Pot Beans

1 can vegetarian baked beans, NOT drained

1 can red kidney beans, drained

1 can black beans, drained

1 can butter beans, drained

1 can pinto beans, drained

1 TB olive oil

1 onion, chopped or sliced

4 jalepenos, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

2 TB cumin

2 TB chili powder

1 TB ground ginger

1 TB dried oregano

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp ground thyme

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

sour cream

fresh cilantro, chopped

Combine beans in a crock pot set on low. Heat olive oil in medium pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about five minutes. Add jalepeno and garlic and continue to cook until golden-brown, another ten minutes or so. Meanwhile, add vinegar, sugar, molasses, and spices to beans. Stir in onion mixture. Let cook on low heat 4-6 hours. Serve in bowls with sour cream and cilantro, and a side of corn chips or corn bread. Makes about eight servings.

Wondrous Websites

2009-10-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

1. America's Test Kitchen

This is my default recipe/product review site. My mom bought me a year's subscription to the site as a late Christmas gift last October. It's due to run out soon, and I can't afford to buy another, so I'll either have to lose the hundred-plus recipes in my virtual cookbook, or print them out (which would probably cost about as much as another subscription, come to think of it), or... ask my parents for an early Christmas present. Hmm.

2. The Spice House

I am so registering on this site when I get married. They sell amchoor powder. And dried Tien Tsin chiles. And nine varieties of cardamom. One day I will own a spice grinder and I will buy whole spices in bulk from this website and grind them fresh when I need them and then my food will be better than everybody else's the end.

3. Williams-Sonoma

Duh.

4. Trader Joe's

Being a Portland foodie, naturally I'm a Trader Joe's fan. Tasty vittles with an eye for organicity and healthiness, at quite reasonable prices, presented with a goofy sense of humor and unabashed love of food.

By Way of Explanation...

2009-10-15T17:42:00.000-07:00

I can do amazing things with forty dollars of groceries. Well, at least I can when I have four weeks of idle poverty to plot and plan how best to spend those forty dollars once I finally, finally get them. Well, I got them last week. That, truth be told, was the impetus for this blog. Since September, I've had to put my love of flavorful food on hold. Now it's back -- with a vengeance. So, for your entertainment and edification (ha), I give you the second meal prepared and consumed during this most beautiful and blessed Feast Week, observed with reverence in mid-October of our Lord's year two-thousand and nine:

FALAFEL WITH TZATZIKI AND TOMATO RELISH

Notes: Full-fat Greek-style yogurt is best, but I used the low-fat off-brand non-Greek stuff, and it was still dang good. Definitely drain the grated cucumber. If you have a fine-mesh strainer, voila. If not, I found that mashing the pulp to one side of a bowl and then propping the bowl at an angle for half an hour got out a lot of liquid. A quick squeeze with a paper towel didn't go amiss, either. I added a little orange zest and honey to my tzatziki -- totally untraditional, but yummy. Definitely soak the chickpeas overnight; I soaked them for nine hours and then simmered them for forty minutes, and they were still a bit too dry. A good eighteen-hour soak ain't gonna hurt 'em. Because mine were so dry, I added a couple eggs to bind the mixture, but ground chickpea packs together surprisingly firmly, so I dunno if that was necessary. The tomato relish is just my cheap answer to tabouleh, but it was a good addition. As always, ingredient measurements are very approximate; use them according to taste.

Tzatziki

2 cups plain yogurt
1 tsp honey
1/2 TB orange zest (lemon would be good, too)
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 tsp dried crushed mint (or 1/4 cup fresh chopped)
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
ground black pepper
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, grated, salted, and drained

Mix flavorings with yogurt while cucumber drains. Stir in cucumber. Refrigerate until needed (blending time will improve the flavor).

Tomato Relish

1 or 2 ripe tomatoes, diced
2 or so TB leftover fresh chopped herbs
salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients while the falafel fry. DO NOT REFRIGERATE. Refrigeration is the death of tomatoes.

Falafel

1 1/2 cups dried chickpeas (don't use canned), soaked overnight
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
ground black pepper
3/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
3/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

Pulse all ingredients in food processor or blender until well-combined. Form into golf-sized balls, flatten slightly, and fry in a quarter inch of oil over medium heat until browned. Flip with tongs and brown other side. Drain for a minute on paper towels. Garnish with tzatziki and tomato relish and serve with a side vegetable of your choice. Makes about 4 generous servings.

Thai Green Curry (Gaeng Khiao Wan)

2009-10-13T17:52:00.000-07:00

I've discovered that for me, Soul Food is all about Asia. When I'm hungriest, I don't fantasize (much) about manicotti or tamales or beef stew. I want tempura, tandoori, mu shu, samosas, sushi, and pad khee mao.

Today, after four weeks of lentils, eggs, and pancakes, I made Thai green curry.

Notes: I used a store-bought curry paste for the first time and was very pleased with the results. One qualm: it's not very spicy, and neither were the farmers' market jalepenos I added. Red pepper flakes to the rescue! This was also my first time working with coconut milk; I didn't expect there to be so much solid fat floating on top. Next time I'll probably discard all but three or four tablespoons of it. Not wanting to splurge on fresh basil, I substituted some crushed fennel seeds to get that great licorice-y flavor. Peanuts aren't traditional in green curry, but I added some peanut butter just 'cuz. The curry paste didn't quite have the flavor balance I wanted; a little allspice and cumin rounded things out. Finally, I used canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas) in place of meat; this pseudo-vegetarianism thing is turning out to be much easier and more satisfying than I expected.

Recipe (all measurements are approximate; adjust each ingredient to taste):

1/2 onion, sliced
2 TB fat from canned coconut milk

1/2 TB garlic, crushed or minced
2 TB fresh ginger, minced
2 jalepeno peppers, minced
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1/2 TB red pepper flakes

more coconut fat
1 TB Thai Kitchen brand green curry paste
2 TB Adam's brand peanut butter
1 TB brown sugar
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 can coconut milk
1 can garbanzo beans
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat coconut fat in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, cook until golden, stirring and adjusting heat as necessary (about 15 minutes). Add garlic, ginger, jalepeno, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes. Continue cooking until onions are soft and golden-brown (5-10 minutes more). Add another tablespoon or so of coconut fat, let melt, and add green curry paste. Mix well, then stir in peanut butter, brown sugar, allspice, and cumin. Cook for a minute or so (should be bubbling). Add coconut milk and garbanzos, return to a slow boil, then reduce heat. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Stir in cilantro. Serve over white or brown basmati or jasmine rice. Makes two very generous servings.

I'm not usually much of a hot chocolate fan

2009-10-13T10:37:00.001-07:00

...but THIS was awesome:

8 oz hot water
2 scoops Ghirrardelli sweet ground chocolate (it's not that sweet)
1 spoonful sugar
3 small pieces candied ginger, minced
generous dash cinnamon
pinch cayenne pepper

I whipped it up on a PMS-whim last night at 9 o'clock. Now I want to try it with milk, soymilk, coconut milk, or a combination thereof instead of water. Hm.