Bring us some noggy pudding

During the past few weeks, I've been to several holiday parties. The group of knitters that comes into the bookstore on Thursdays had their shindig earlier in the month. A few weeks ago, one of the ladies, Susan, brought in some leftover bread pudding that she had made for the holidays. She said it was made with eggnog. I usually don't care for it but that didn't deter me from sampling the dish. I must have had a wild hair that day. I'm glad I didn't skip out because it was good! I asked her for the recipe and she wrote it down for me. Not only is it tasty, it's easy!

Instead of bread, she uses Italian panettone. I have to admit that I normally skip over these guys at the grocery store but at the same time, I've always been curious about them. I was excited for the excuse to pick one out from the display at Trader Joe's.

The recipe is simple:

1 Italian panettone

1 quart of eggnog (Do not use lite! Get the real deal!)

4 eggs

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp of vanilla

Break up the bread and put it into a casserole dish. Whip the eggs, nog, nutmeg and vanilla together and pour it over the top. I used a ladle for more even and controlled distribution. Bake it for 50 minutes to an hour at 350 and then you get this...

I made it for a party with some friends the other night and it went over quite well! I've had it warm and cold and it's delicious either way! You could probably even add a touch of rum or brandy to the batter before baking. It couldn't hurt!

This was a hectic, yet wonderful holiday season for me and I hope that it was equally joyful for anyone reading this. Merry Christmas!

Birthday Pie

Yesterday was my 32nd birthday. We basically spent the weekend celebrating. Saturday was an outing with some friends in Doylestown, PA (post coming within the week) and Sunday was spent reading the onslaught of internet well wishes and talking on the phone with friends and family. Thinking about it still makes me feel mighty special.

My birthday was a gold mine of blog inspiration between the PA trip and the 25 year old bottle of balsamic vinegar that my friend Shannon got me (!!!). The focus for today will be the lovely dinner we had with the inlaws last night.

My mother-in-law is always very thoughtful when it comes to fixing meat free stuff and I always appreciate it. If she makes spaghetti, she always makes me a small pot of marinara sauce. For Thanksgiving, I know I can count on a small pan of stuffing that wasn't cooked inside of the turkey. She knows that I absolutely love it when she makes spanikopita and so she decided to throw down for my birthday.

She always refers to it as Spinach Pie. Chris and I hopefully don't sound too much like foodie elitists we call it spanakopita. She did call him a wise ass over the phone the other day when he said it! The recipe actually comes from her sister-in-law, Madeline (who is Greek). Consider it your party favor. ;-)

Spanakopita

2 bags of spinach

6 eggs, beaten

1/4-1/2 lb of butter, melted

2 large onions, minced

Filo dough (in the frozen section of your grocery store)

Flour

1.5-2 lbs of feta cheese

Allow your filo to defrost in the fridge the day you are planning to make this dish.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl: Mix spinach, eggs, half of the butter, onions and feta cheese. Add enough flour to soak up extra juice.

Butter the bottom of the pan Layer the bottom and the side of the pan with filo dough. Put one half of the spinach mixture in the pan and cover it with 6-8 lightly buttered sheets of filo. Add the rest of the spinach mixture and top with more buttery filo layers. Fold in the sides. Add butter to the top.

Bake for an hour and check for doneness. Add an additional fifteen minutes if it needs it.

For dessert, I always request a cherry pie from Delicious Orchards on my birthday. It's one of my favorite things. The pies at Delicious Orchards are amazing but on the pricey side so we usually save them for a special occasion.

This place is pretty awesome though. They have a huge bakery as well as a nice selection of cooking ingredients. There is a deli, a lovely produce section and all sorts of delightful edibles tucked here, there and throughout. Everything from mustards to extracts. I recommend stopping in if you're in the mood for something a little bit special.

Delicious Orchards

320 State Route 34

Colts Neck, NJ 07722

732-462-1989

Very Apeeling

Thanks to one of my Tuesday knitters, I got to try something I've always wanted to do! I cannot tell you how long I've been plotting an eventual attempt at making candied orange peels. When I was younger, my Oma would tell me stories about her childhood. She grew up very poor and was the middle of nine children. My great grandmother Una put herself into an early grave working 3 jobs in order to keep food on the table. When I think of this, I am always extraordinarily grateful for all of the opportunity and blessings I've had in my life. I never knew my great grandmother but my Oma has played such a huge role in my upbringing. I grew up on a completely different part of the spectrum than she did because she and my Opa spoiled me rotten! When we talk on the phone now, I'd say at least half of our conversation is about food so I get it honest!

One day, she was telling me about Christmas time when she was a child. She would usually get an orange in her stocking. In those days, it was a true luxury. They didn't have trucks hauling citrus from Florida and California all year round like we do now. She didn't want to waste any part of it so when she was finished eating the fruit, she would make candy out of the peel. I was completely dumbfounded by this! That bitter junky stuff that I always threw away could be made into candy?

Fast forward to about three weeks ago. My knitters were talking amongst themselves and one of them, Eileen, mentioned how she eats a lot of oranges. She said she always saves the peel and makes candy. I interrupted her (oops!) and exclaimed that I'd been meaning to try doing that. I have a few books with recipes but, for some reason, it always intimidated me. She told me it was terribly easy. The next week, she was even so kind as to bring me in a baggie full of peel and her recipe! It may sound small but I know that she lives on a very fixed budget and I was so moved by her thoughtfulness.

It took me about a week and a half to get around to actually making them into candy but they held up just fine in the fridge. You have to boil them for ten minutes and them dump the water. Then you have to repeat that process two more times to remove the bitterness. I tended to them while I did random housework and it made the whole condo smell like oranges. Nice bonus!

Candied Citrus Peel

Peel from various citrus sliced into 1/4 inch strips

2 cups of sugar

1/2 cup water

Extra sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Boil peel in enough water to keep them covered for ten minutes. Drain. Repeat two more times. Drain peel and add two cups of sugar and the half of a cup of water. Boil until the syrup is thick and the peel is translucent. Syrup might be completely absorbed.

Lay on wax paper to dry overnight. You can coat in sugar after about an hour of initial drying. I actually only used 1/4 cup of water and a cup of sugar because Eileen told me that there wasn't enough peel to warrant the full amount.

I know it says the extra sugar is optional but it looks so gosh darned pretty that I can't see why not!

My husband and I could not keep our hands out of these things while they were drying! They are absolutely delicious. You have to make sure they are 100% dry before storing them. I have mine in an old jar and they will keep for a looong time. I already have some fresh peel gathering up in the fridge for another round next week! I think this will make excellent holiday treats!

A Love Cake

This week has seen a lot of celebration in my household.

Sept 15th was our 3rd wedding anniversary

Sept 16th was my husbands 33rd birthday

Sept 17th marked one month of Chowder

Special occasions like this are always good for reminding me of how blessed I am. It's also a good excuse to bake a cake. Not just any cake will do though!!

My arsenal of go to recipes has a few feature attractions. One of them happens to be a carrot cake. When I was a teenager, the church that my family attended put together a cookbook with recipes that were contributed by different members of the congregation. The major benefit of being raised in a southern baptist church was the food. Southern potlucks RULE. I can still remember walking past all of the tables filled to the brims with deviled eggs, dressing, banana pudding, cakes, cornbread... It was enough to make you fall to your knees and shout Hallelujah!!

When I first took up an interest in learning how to cook, one of the first things I wanted to do was to bake for the holidays. I made several recipes from that book. Three in particular were massive hits with my family. One of them was this carrot cake. Over the past decade, I cannot tell you how many times I've made it. It was always a major resolution to do so because it requires shredding three whole cups of carrots. This was super special because the carrots came from our garden. Before I had my standing mixer, I also had to mix the icing by hand and that will put serious biceps on anyone!

I like to make the joke that this cake was one of the things that helped me to reel in Chris. He usually requests it for his birthday and I figure I should be nice and make it for him. It is so loaded with fat and calories that I only make it once or twice a year now. It can be quite labor intensive (unless you cheat and buy those dried out pre-shredded carrots) and it helps if your efforts are fueled by love.

The Cake that made Chris love me.

2 cups of white sugar

1.5 cups of oil (the recipe specifies Wesson but I used safflower)

4 eggs

2 cups of flour

2 tsps of baking powder

1 tsp of salt

2 tsps of cinnamon (I actually add a lot more)

3 cups of grated raw carrot

1 cup of crushed pecans

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Mix the oil, sugar and eggs together. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl and sift into the wet mixture. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well.

Pour into two layer cake pans and bake for 30-40 minutes (depending on your oven). This recipe yields two thick layers of cake.

Cream Cheese Icing

1 8 oz. bar of cream cheese

1 stick of butter

16 oz of powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Let the butter and cream cheese soften at room temperature. Combine them and slowly add the sugar. Beat out all of the lumps. Add the vanilla.

I am pretty sure you can take it from here! :-)

Movie Star Dinner

I don't know if it's because of the movie or not but anytime I mention that I am making ratatouille for dinner, my daughter is thrilled! What's not to be thrilled about? It's a great way to use up and serve a bunch of different veggies that you might have lying around. It requires very little effort and it's pretty healthy. To top off the list, it tastes good!

There are many different variations and methods but my version is quite simple. The especially exciting aspect of the one I made this week was that it featured the lone eggplant that I was able to harvest from our garden this year! I am pretty sure it will be the only one because that plant was small.

Isn't it cute?!

The list of ingredients isn't long and you can easily change it up. Sometimes I don't have eggplant so I just put extra squash or zucchini. If I'm really bored, I'll layer each piece but this last casserole was just tossed together. No one noticed that anything was different so next time I need to kill some time, maybe I'll just read a magazine.

This pan is a 2.75 liter capacity, just so you have an idea.

Ratatouille (much more fun to say if you roll the r and really emphasize the t's. :-D)

*Any combination of 4-5 medium eggplants, zucchinis and squash sliced into medallions.

*One medium sliced onion (or two small), chopped.

Mix them all up coat with a drizzle of olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss in some fresh or dried thyme (about 1.5 tsp) Top it off with homemade breadcrumbs and fresh parmesan cheese. If you want to get the breadcrumbs dark like the picture, give it a spritz of cooking spray.

Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.

This is optional but sometimes I will heat up a small can of tomato sauce and add a splash of heavy cream. I put a ladle full on a plate and then spoon the ratatouille on top. It makes for a more satisfying main course. My family (2 adults and 1 child) will demolish the entire thing in one sitting.

Pesto Change-O!

This is my overgrown herb box. We bought it from the farmer's market about a month ago and it as pretty much tripled in size! I'd been wanting to get some more plants for the house and this once is great because it serves two purposes! It looks good and it tastes good!

The basil leaves were starting to look like elephant ears so we plucked several of them and I made some pesto. I toasted the pine nuts ahead of time and then combined them with the leaves and drizzled some garlic infused olive oil to bind it. I mashed it all up with a mortar and pestle and seasoned with salt + pepper. The only thing I would have added is lemon juice but I didn't have any at the time. It would have brightened it up a bit!

I had some prepackaged gnocchi from Trader Joe's in my cabinet and decided it would be a nice vehicle for some homemade pesto. Chris is somewhat of a gnocchi expert and he had his doubts but he didn't stop me. It's not a common dish in the south and I only really got into it when I moved up here but I love it! It's difficult not to love cute little dumplings made of potatoes!

The pesto was sort of lacking since my original lemony pick up idea was dashed so I went back to the drawing board and decided to mix it with some browned butter. I consider this to be my Ace in the Hole. It is my theory that there is nothing that brown butter can't cure. It takes a lot of attention but doesn't require too much effort. Once it was ready, I immediately dropped the pesto in and it created a delectable sizzling sound! I believe Emeril would say BAM! in a situation like this.

After that, I tossed it into the gnocchi and served it for dinner. Chris no longer doubts me. We've had a pestoesque dinner two nights in a row now. Last night was heirloom white beans with an arugula and walnut pesto. I think it's time for a change tonight!

Please don't beat me up Anthony Bourdain!

Last night, I dove into a recipe that I've been itching to try for weeks! I saw it in Bon Appetit magazine. I just subscribed yesterday and I'm pretty excited! I even get a free cookbook! I'm sure I can squeeze it in somewhere! The article was dedicated to revamping classic American fare. The classic was macaroni and cheese. The twist was adding Swiss chard to the mix. I saw this rainbow chard at the market last weekend and figured it'd be perfect.

I will say right now that chard is not my favorite tasting leafy green. However, I love to look at the rainbow variety. It's so gorgeous and I could probably spend hours photographing it. I should also say that I rarely make macaroni and cheese. The last time I tried, I used a recipe from the book Mom's Secret Recipe File. The book is full of recipes from the mothers of top chefs. The mac and cheese recipe I used was from Anthony Bourdain's mom. He states that her recipe is the best in the world and he will meet anyone who says otherwise outside. Considering how many recipes for mac and cheese there are, I considered this to be a pretty bold statement and it was the first one that I tried out of the book. The recipe seemed so simple. I am partial to my Oma's mac and cheese but she uses a lot of processed ingredients (Velveeta) so I steer clear of making it myself. The only other time I tried to use real cheese, I ended up with a clumpy mess! Mama Bourdain's recipe didn't require making an actual cheese sauce so I figured this would be perfect! Despite the fact that Anthony could probably knock me from here to next week, I have to say that I wasn't impressed with how it turned out. I am willing, however, to consider the fact that I could have somehow screwed it up and will not hold it against him or his mother. My mom always made it from a box.

This recipe really made me feel like a winner! For the first time in my life, I managed to make a glorious cheese sauce from scratch without using processed cheese! I still smile when I recall the velvety texture that surrounded my wooden spoon yesterday. To add to the pleasure, I can also remember how fast my family gobbled this up!

Macaroni and Cheese with Swiss Chard. (adapted from Bon Appetit magazine)

INGREDIENTS

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, divided
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 3 cups reduced-fat (2%) milk
• 4 cups of shredded cheese. (I used 2 combo bags of mozz, prov, asiago and a few others.)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 pounds Swiss chard. I also added some fresh kale.
• 12 oz elbow macaroni
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• 
  

PREPARATION

• Melt 3 tablespoons butter in large pot over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, then flour; stir constantly 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Cook, whisking occasionally, until mixture begins to boil, about 5 minutes.
  
  
  I used an immersion blender to "hide" the large chunks of onion. My kid will eat leafy greens but she will totally stick her nose up at onions.
  Add 3 cups grated cheese. Stir until cheeses melt, about 2 minutes. Stir in cayenne and nutmeg. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
  
  
  (LOOK at this gorgeous cheese sauce!!!!!)
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch baking dish.
  The recipe says to boil the greens but I just cooked it in a little oil.
• Return water in pot to boil. Add macaroni; cook until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Stir macaroni into warm cheese sauce. Place half of macaroni in dish; smooth top. Top with 1 cup cheese, then chard.
  
  
  Top with remaining macaroni mixture; spread evenly.
• Melt 3 tablespoons butter. Place breadcrumbs in medium bowl. Drizzle butter over; toss. Add 1/2 cup cheese and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over mac and cheese.
• Bake mac and cheese until breadcrumbs are golden and edges are bubbling, about 40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.

This was made in a vintage pan from a thrift store. It says lasagna on the bottom.

The Healing Power of Cake

Cake is a magic word. It feels good to say it. It even feels good to type it out.

Cake.

Cake.

Cake.

It's also a delightful word to hear. Especially if it is within the context of some sort of conversation about the day's menu. Whatever is listed off as the planned meal for dinner can always be nicely punctuated with ...and I made a cake for dessert. Sinking your teeth into the soft and spongey confection (with or without frosting) releases an instant wave of bliss in the brain. Whatever is going on in your life is okay, even if it's just for a few minutes. You will find some comfort here.

The entire process of making and eating cake is a great source of contentment and peace for me. One that I enjoy too frequently, I admit. I try to keep my baking levels to a minimum and I usually only do so for special occasions. I was reading a magazine a few weeks ago and I came across a recipe for rhubarb coffee cake. For some reason, I had a difficult time forgetting about it after I put the magazine back. The thought of the tartness from the rhubarb mixed into the sweet layer of cake was quite appealing. It was a great way to take advantage of the season since I am seeing it everywhere right now. I picked some up from the market last week and I eagerly used the invite to my inlaw's house for dinner a few days ago as an excuse to make it happen.

I originally saw this recipe in MaryJane's Farm Magazine. I tried to Google it and was able to find a blog of some sort that had used it to make a strawberry cake instead of a rhubarb cake. I made a few modifications and the results were enjoyable and satisfying.

Rhubarb Coffee Cake

2 cups flour 2 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup sugar 1 organic egg, lightly beaten (I didn't have one so I used EnerG Egg Replacer) 1 cup organic sour cream (I only had about half of a cup so I substituted lemon yogurt) 1 cup local rhubarb 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 tbsp local butter, slightly softened

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt with a fork.
3. Add in sugar, egg, sour cream, and strawberries. (I found it to be a bit thick so I added some soymilk) Mix completely and pour into an 8 x 8 inch pan.
4. In a separate small bowl use you hands to combine the sugar, cinnamon, and butter. (I also added a bit of flour)
5. Top the pan with the mixture.
6. Bake for about 25 minutes. (Mine took way longer than this! I would say it was closer to 40-45 minutes)

Upcycling

After Molly's birthday party, I had a considerable amount of mashed potatoes leftover.  I decided to give them new life as knishes.  This is a fairly recent addition to my rotation of recipes and I've only made them a few times.  Half of the work had already been done since I didn't have to cook the potatoes.  It can still be pretty time consuming work.  I'm sure it's much easier if you have a bigger kitchen!

I have limited counter space and since I'm somewhat of a foodie, I have LOTS of ingredients and gadgets so it's a constant struggle to maintain order.  I don't always win but at least I can function in there so I don't sweat it.  

The first time I had a knish was not long ago.  I'd never heard of it until I started learning more about New York City.  It was cold and blustery in the lower east side in December of 2007.  The day was grey and drizzly but nothing that kept me from wandering around.  Chris was playing guitar with a friend who lives right across the water from the city so I was on my own.  It was the first time I'd ever gone to NYC by myself.  It was early afternoon and since I hadn't had lunch yet, I started looking around on Houston.  I remembered seeing all of these hole in the wall places while passing through on previous visits and one in particular had caught my eye because of the delectable looking things they had in their window.  I went in and the place was tiny and run down but it was still inviting.  A knish looks like a giant biscuit with some sort of filling, usually potatoes along with another veggie or meat and cheese.  There were so many different kinds at this place that they looked like they could revolt at any given moment and take over the tiny restaurant.  After some making some difficult decisions as to which one to try, I placed my order.  I don't remember what the adorable purse made of dough contained anymore but I'll never forget how good it was.  It conquered my chills and eased me into a carb fueled rhapsody.  I recalled similar incarnations of bread and potatoes that I'd experienced in the past.  This combination of familiar southern delights felt so right.

I thought about that knish for months.  It didn't seem like it would be rocket science to put one together.  I had a gift card from Barnes&Noble and I had been eyeing one cookbook in particular to splurge on.  When I saw that there was a recipe for potato and leek knishes, it was an instant sale.  The knishes that you see in the picture below didn't follow the recipe exactly.  I didn't have any of the flour that I normally use on hand so this was a multigrain baking mix.  I prefer the taste and texture that comes from whole wheat pastry flour.  I also skipped out on the tofu.  I would advise you to go with the book.  It has never let me down and although the resulting knish is a healthier version of what I had in the city, it is still fantastic.  They also make excellent leftovers!

Veggie Knish (from The Hippy Gourmet's Quick and Simple Cookbook for Heathy Eating)

2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour

1 pinch of salt

1 cup of Spectrum or Earth Balance spread

1 cup of ice water (I usually just stick a cup of water in the freezer and let it chill)

In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt.  I use my hands to mix in the margarine until the flour takes on a crumby texture.  Slowly mix in the water.  Roll into a smooth ball and cut into 8 slices, like you would a pie.  Place them on a plate, cover it with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge while you complete the next few steps.

2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced.

Slice and steam potatoes for 15 minutes or until fork tender.  I leave the skins on mine but it's a personal preference.   I usually can't be bothered with peeling. 

1 Tbsp of olive oil

2 leeks (white part only)

1 clove of chopped garlic

salt + pepper to taste 

1 14-16 oz block of tofu (use firm or extra firm, not silken)

Juice from 1 lemon

A small amount of soymilk (1/4-1/2 cup)

Saute leeks and garlic in the olive oil for about five minutes.  Add the potatoes, the tofu (it helps to drain it in advance) and the lemon juice.  Mash everything together.  If you need to, use the soymilk for even consistency.  I cannot recall ever having to do this part.  Season with salt and pepper.  

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Lightly grease a baking sheet.  Leaving the plastic on your dough, flatten each piece with a rolling pin.  Remove the plastic and fill the center of the dough with a scoop of the filling then fold up the bottom and the top.  Pinch it to seal.  After you finish forming all of your knishes, place them in the oven and bake until they are golden brown and slightly cracked on the surface.  

You're welcome.

Going on a Picnic

I always enjoy the picnic postings over at Vegan Lunchbox.  Well, I actually enjoy all of her posts but the picnics are especially fun!  The weather has been gorgeous in the Princeton area as of late.  My husband is going into his third year playing for the Siemens Demons, his company softball team.  They had a game a few days ago and I knew it would make him happy if we came to watch him for a bit.  The grass was really tall and lately, I've been paranoid about ticks.  I checked myself and Molly from head to toe when we got home!  

It didn't put a damper on our fun though!  I had some odd and end leftovers, mostly from the Cinco de Mayo potluck, that I needed to get rid of so this was a perfect excuse to get creative and throw together some portable edibles.  

I told myself later that I should have eaten that one on the top for art's sake.  Ha!  It isn't like I didn't eat a my fair share while I was rolling them up!  These are pretty self explanatory... Soft shells that are slathered with refried beans and sprinkled with cheese.  The kiddo loved them.  I should have added the avocado that I had in the fridge.  Next time.

Leftover salsa.  I had some chips in my bag and it also went well with the rolls.  I still have some left!  I'll probably incorporate it into lunches and breakfasts over the next few days.  

Some corn and black bean salad that took two seconds to make.  Frozen corn, canned beans and leftover salsa.

For dessert, we have strawberries with sugar.  As you can see, these babies were not very ripe.  The extra sprinkling of sweetness was essential!  I need to stop buying them for a few more weeks and see if I can find some locally grown ones!  The West Windsor Farmer's Market will kick off the 2009 season TOMORROW MORNING and we are beyond stoked!  It's finally back! The three of us really enjoy waking up and heading over to see what's going on.  Our friends at Silver Forge Farm will be back this year and we're hoping to see our other favorite vendors tomorrow!   

Cinco de Mayo....a few days later.

There's a lot of controversy surrounding Cinco de Mayo.  Some Mexicans seem to get all in a huff over the fact that we choose to have our friends over for good eats and drinks on May 5th.  I don't let it bother me.  And they shouldn't let it bother them!  I mean, it's sort of a tribute!  Who doesn't love Mexicanesque type edibles?  It's one of the more vegetarian friendly fares so I never have to worry about starving to death. It also seems to bring out the best in everyone because it's the type of food that just makes people happy!  (Especially my husband!)  I have great memories of taco and burrito night when I was growing up.  It's a perfect excuse to get together and have some fun!  I don't see it as an excuse to drink...I see it as an excuse to EAT! Chris used to work with this Mexican guy at UPenn who never had a burrito in his life until he came to the U.S.  Go figure.

This year, I had a potluck and we had a reasonably large group of people over!  They all contributed something.  I made a big pot of brown rice, a pot of black beans and a pot of pinto beans, some salsa and some guacamole.  I also made a burrito pie from a recipe inspired by an article I saw in Family Fun magazine.  It was a huge hit!  I used vegetarian chorizo in place of beef and each layer had either refried pinto or black beans.  I also sprinkled in some caramelized onions and frozen corn.  

My salsa recipe has not changed much in the ten years I've been making it.  It isn't revolutionary or different.  The list of ingredients is a basic round up of the usual suspects.  I combine them by feel so it's difficult to really jot down exact measurements.  I can tell you that I always make my salsa the day before I plan to serve it because it's always better the next day.

I painted this bowl as a gift for Chris a few years ago when we were dating.  The man LOVES salsa and all of the associated foods that come along with it.  I always joke that if we ever need to spice up our love life, I just need to wrap myself up in a tortilla shell.  

The guacamole is more simple.  I made a huge batch for Cinco de Mayo and it got completely tapped.  The dark spots you see there are the pits.  I keep them in the guacamole because it helps to keep the avocados nice and fresh.  This bowl has ten mashed avocados in it!  I just add juice from one and a half limes along with salt and pepper to taste.  Some people also throw in sour cream but I really love the taste of avocados so I don't add much to it.  It's like the part in Love Actually where the guy is holding up the sign.

Black Gold

I had one of those moments this week where a few stars felt like they must have been aligned.  I got to thinking about balsamic vinegar and how I would love to make a reduction.  I had a theory but it just seemed too easy.  It always sounds so swanky when I read it on a menu and I thought surely it must be some major process!  

It's not.

I was reading the current issue of Shape magazine.  Mollie Katzen, of Moosewood fame, has a column.  She just so happened to be writing about vinegar this month!  I almost let out a foodie squee when I saw that she included instructions on how to make a balsamic reduction!  It sounded so easy that I used the remainder of the bottle that I had in my cabinet to try it out for myself yesterday.  Mollie states that you don't have to use fancy shmancy stuff.  The vinegar I had was less than $5 from Trader Joe's.  I heard of someone today who ruined a 125 year old bottle of balsamic while trying to make a reduction and my heart wept.  You do have to pay attention to it but there isn't much more to do that stir it from time to time.  I don't know what went wrong with hers but I would be devastated!  

I set my stove to medium and it came to a pretty rapid boil.  I reduced the heat to med-low and let it simmer until I had about half of what I started with.

I let it cool down for a bit and then transfered it back to the original bottle.  I have already used it for all sorts of fun stuff like dressings and drizzled over yogurt.  I've also done the obvious...

Gotta Eat Your Spinach, Baby!

This is my "No Fail" meal.  I probably make it once a week and I will not hear a single complaint from my husband or my daughter.  I don't complain about it either!  Why?  Because it takes ten minutes to prepare, uses only one pan and costs about eight bucks to fill three hungry bellies.

What is this miracle?  Spinach and white beans!

This is my family fallback.  I always try to keep a giant salad container of organic baby spinach in the fridge and some canned white beans in the pantry.  The baby spinach is awesome because you can toss it in just about anything so it never has the chance to go bad.  I do spice it up from time to time.  As you can see, I threw in some Tofurkey Italian Sausages.  Sometimes I use arugula or broccoli raab.  

It's simple to make:  Saute some garlic in olive oil and then toss in the spinach and let it cook down.  I add two cans of drained white beans afterwards and it seems to be the perfect amount.  There is never any leftover.  Top it off with salt and pepper to taste.  If I have some homemade breadcrumbs, I might use that as well.   I usually add fresh parmesan cheese.  

As a rule, I always use fresh parmesan!  When I was in high school, I worked at a pizza place and one of my side jobs at the end of the night was to take this massive plastic bucket of powdered parmesan and fill up the shakers on the tables.  When you deal with large amounts of the powdered stuff, you cannot help but notice that it smells like puke!  I am basically scarred for life now!  For a while, I wouldn't even touch fresh parmesan but I realized eventually that it tastes (and smells) nothing like the powdered version!  It is way better!  It may seem like a lot of money to buy the block but it does last for quite a while.  

Since I already played this card for the week, I now have to think of what to prepare for dinner tonight and for the next few days!  

Adventures in Cooking

My family and I regularly shop at the Whole Foods on Route 1 here in Princeton. One of my favorite things to do is to swoop past the hot bar to see if they have roasted plantains.  I realized last year that I effing love these things!  The best I've had so far was a food stand at a festival last summer from a restaurant in Trenton that I don't know the name of.  I still dream about those plantains!  Whole Foods has pretty good ones though!  I pumped one of their cooks for information on how to make them along with searching the internet and reading the list of ingredients that they post on the bar (which isn't long at all).  I finally got up the courage to give them a go yesterday. 

 

These are my roasted plantains.  My biggest shortcoming is the texture.  The ones from WF are shiny and glistening.  Mine were kinda dry on the outside.  As far as taste was concerned though, they were pretty darn close!  I guess that is all that really matters, right?  Here's how I did it (for future reference!)

*I roasted them at 375 but I might try 400 next time.  They took about 20-25 minutes before they had that nice color.  

*I used really ripe plantains.  Since the peel was almost black all over, it was really easy to take off.  When they are still greenish, I usually have to have a peeler.  

*Drizzle them with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper and toss them in the oven.

I'm still going to do some tweaking and see if I can improve the texture but I'm pretty happy that I don't have to pay $8.99 a pound for roasted plantains now!

Brain Boosting Smoothie

I was fortunate enough to receive a subscription to Vegetarian Times magazine as a gift last year. For those of you who don't know, I am a magazine junkie! Each issue had bunches of recipes and inspiration and I loved getting it in the mail every month! One recipe in particular has become almost like a crutch. I fall back on it constantly for a quick jolt either for breakfast or a midday snack.

It's a chocolate banana smoothie that uses soymilk. Who doesn't need the occasional soy protein boost? Your heart will love you for it! (as long as you're not allergic). The 'brain boosting' part is from the cinnamon.

1 banana*

1 cup of chocolate soymilk

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 Tbsp of cocoa powder

8 ice cubes (optional---I never use them)

*I've used bananas in varying stages of ripeness and they all work fine. When they still have a bit of green, I've noticed that the smoothie will be a bit on the thick side probably due to the extra starch. It's a great way to use up some bananas that are either not ripe enough or too ripe. My sister still eats them when they're really green and I can't stand them like that. I like a little stank on a banana.

Crispy Curly Greens

I have been wanting to try my hand at making kale chips for a while now.  It's no secret that I love salty and crispy things.  Especially when they come in the form of nontraditional crisps!  The last time I was at Trader Joes, I bought a bag of their green bean chips and ate them in an entire sitting.  In my defense, the bag was on the small side.  

I have seen several different recipes and such concerning kale chips.  Evidently, there have been many failed attempts.  I am happy to report that this was NOT one of them!  My only modification when it comes to future batches will be to cut back on the salt.  I was reminded of a Seinfeld episode while I was munching away on the fruits (or should I say 'veggies'?) of my labor because I kept thinking

Man!  These kale chips are making me thirsty!

These were beyond easy to make!  As you can see, I used the curly kale.  I've never had kale I didn't like but my family complains about the curly kind because they say it's too chewy.  The crisps, however, were light and whispy.  Here's what you need...

One bunch of curly kale

Cooking spray 

Sea salt

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees (F) and  tear the kale away from the stems.  Spread it out on a cookie sheet and spray it.  I used sea salt but I am willing to bet that any seasoning would work here!  Masala seasoning is next up on my list! Also, I'd love to see if I can churn out some salt and vinegar chips!  That would rule!

I baked mine for 20 minutes.  Check them at 15 to make sure they are alright.  When they are light and crispy to the touch, they are done.  You don't have to wait for them to cool either!  The entire batch was history within 15 minutes of them coming out of the oven.  I have a feeling, this recipe is going to become my new best friend.

Let the Sunshine in.

So despite the fact that it started out looking gloomy and damp, today turned out to be absolutely gorgeous!  I went over to the garden and rolled back the plastic coverings.  I still have them secured to the edges so all I have to do now is unroll them and secure the other ends.  It will be a much easier operation if I have to protect the seeds again!  I is smart.

I haven't seen any sign of green peeking out yet from the ones I started in the house last week.  I watered them with leftover blue tea (from San Francisco) this morning.  Can't hurt, right?  I am sure they appreciated the antioxidants.*  

Last night we had 13 bean soup for dinner.  This is twice in one week that I have remembered to soak my beans overnight!  When I was younger, I used to marvel at freshly cooked beans.  I know I am not the only one who has ever been intimidated by the process.  I used canned beans for the longest time and still do for the sake of convenience.  Especially if I am throwing something together at the last minute.  However, I've become reasonably proficient in cooking them from scratch.  Unless I am following a particularly ethnic recipe that calls for specific seasonings, I usually flavor them all the same way.  

I use: sea salt, bay leaves (about four), bruised garlic**, an onion and a bit of freshly ground black pepper.  

Beans and Greens.  A match made in Heaven.

Depending on the type of bean, the cooking time will vary.  Lentils usually don't take longer than an hour or so but anything larger (pintos and such) tends to take at least three.  My trusty Le Creuset Dutch oven cooks them up real nice.  About half of the time, my attention turns to other things and the beans will scorch at the bottom because I forget to add additional water but even then, they are still good.  I can admit this now because I've gotten over the shame of buring my beans.  It happens to the best of us.

*Edit: We saw some kale and spinach peeking out just now!!!!

**Using the flat side of a chopping knife to smash a garlic clove.

Wild Edibles

My friend Shannon and I went on a Wild Edibles Hike over at the Watershed Nature Reserve in Pennington yesterday morning. The guide's name was Jeff and he is such an experienced and knowledgeable naturist! He told us about so many different things that we encountered on the trail yesterday from plants to insects (along with his experiments in eating them) and the animals we encountered along the way. He has been associated with the Watershed for over 20 years. If I had to be stuck in the wilderness with someone, it'd be this guy for sure!

I'd say there were about ten people in the group. This was organized by the Princeton Adult School program which is also where I attended the Africa lecture series that just ended last week. If any of you are looking for some additional outside educational enrichment, I cannot recommend PAS enough. They don't have anything in the summer but they will be back full throttle in the fall. The lecture series will be touching on modern day events in the various countries that were explored by Marco Polo. I'm so there! The Africa lectures were delivered by Princeton professors on campus and I took so much away from them. They were bargain priced at about $90 for 9 lectures. I'll make a note when registration starts for the fall because I know several people who are interested.

The hike itself was fun and very informative. It lasted about 4 hours with lots of stopping and talking about various species of plants. We had to navigate through some pretty swampy areas and my shoes are coated in mud! After a while, I didn't mind the fact that my socks were soaked and squishy. He identified various seeds, blossoms, roots and leaves that we could pick right up and eat. We did too! A few were bitter but most of them were very good! I've been interested in learning more about wild edibles for about a year and a half now (ever since reading Wild Fermentation) and so I was delighted when I saw this walk in the PAS catalogue. It was really worth the $35. The last thing he helped us to identify was a definite crowning moment. Wild leeks, also known as ramps. I LOVE leeks. I am excited because I could readily identify them if I were to spot a patch now. Shannon and I picked several of these gems and then she cooked them up for us last night for dinner. She used this recipe from Molto Mario. It was awesome.