- Heat your oven to 450. (Incidentally, this would be a good time to warm up that little pretzel bread thing that you picked up at Trader Joes because they advertise it in the 'underwriter plug' on NPR.)
Split and seed a butternut squash, and just throw it on the oven rack. Roast until slightly soft, meaning you can stick a fork in it with some effort.Coarsely chop some sweet white onion - I used a little less than half a big one.Heat up your trusty giant cast-iron skillet, and slick it with olive oil.Drop in a couple big spoonfuls of Patak's Curry Paste (don't let the oil that collects on top bother you. Don't stir, just spoon.) Once the curry paste starts bubbling, you'll feel nervous that it's going to burn into a layer of asphalt (hardly out of the question) so throw a little water in there, and the onions, and stir it around.Check on the squash. If it's sort of soft, remove it from the oven. You can now peel it with your (overn-mitted) hand, by breaking and pulling off the thin crisp blistered skin.Once your onion is a little soft too - solid but not crisp or hard - cube your peeled squash and throw that in the pan with the onion and curry paste. Stir to get the dark orange stuff to coat the brighter orange stuff.Now. open a can of coconut milk. Reduce the heat under the pan to medium-high, and pour in some coconut milk, stirring until the dark-orange is also brighter orange.Cook for about 5 minutes to give the flavors a chance to mingle. Serve in bowl, eat with spoons. Half a large squash fed two starving adults.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Curried Butternut Squash - fast, easy, vegan
Monday, May 13, 2013
Recipe: Curried Quinoa thing
While that's cooking, slice some red and yellow peppers that you found (also softening) in the (poorly-named) "crisper". About the equivilent of one large pepper (which is what's left when you excise the iffy parts.) Cut into small dice. Don't do anything with them yet. If you find you have a cucumber, peel and dice that as well, and set it aside.
If the onions are turning golden, it's time to drop in the cooked quinoa. (You can cook some fresh - take the onion pan off the stove, tell everyone dinner will be 10 minutes later than you had said, and cook according to package directions. I had some left over - most of a cup.)
Open and rinse a can of chick peas. Throw those in with the quinoa and the onions. Turn down the heat - a little crispy brown in awesome, but blackened is not delicious. Splash in a little water if you're worried about burning. Throw in the diced peppers.
Stir in a large spoonful of Patak's curry paste. We use hot, but there's also milder. Let that cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat - stir in a handful of dried cranberries and cover, let it sit for a few more minutes.
Serve with salt, pepper, plain yogurt and the diced cucumbers on top. Bizarrely deliscious. Kinda beige, though.
Vegetarian (vegan without the yogurt), high protein, all the fiber you need. Very very good.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Valentines day lava cakes
This is the second year in a row that our Valentines Day has been a feast of familial love, rather than the conventional romantic variety. Last year, I made chicken adobo (this one, which sounds just gross at first read but is in fact delicious) and a more complicated variation of the molten chocolate lava cake. I found an easier one this year, and adapted it further (because by the end of a Thursday, I am not up to separating eggs or unearthing a bag of confectioners' sugar from the pantry.) it's an awful lot like the full-sized French chocolate cake that I made a week or so ago. This is messier, less refined generally, and WAY faster.
I found the recipe on SweetSavoryLife, which looks like a terrific resource; check out the cakes on her bio page!
I found the recipe on SweetSavoryLife, which looks like a terrific resource; check out the cakes on her bio page!
Recipe: Cucumber Salad
Find a big lidded container. Mine was 10 cups (a little more than 2 liters.)
Find some cucumbers. I used one super-gigantic one and one fairly normal one, and I would have had room for at least 2 more normal ones.
Peel the green rind off the cucumbers and discard.
Then, keep peeling! Making long, thin, see-through strips of cucumber.
Stop when you get so close to the middle that the seeds keep you from cutting nice strips.
Take a sweet onion and cut into fine slivers.
Put the onion slivers and the cucumber strips into your container.
In a small pan, combine vinegar and water.
You can use:
1/2 cup white vinegar, a cup water and 1/2 cup sugar
OR equal parts seasoned rice wine vinegar and water, with a couple spoonfuls of sugar.
Bring that to a boil, and pour it over the cucumber and onion mixture. Stir and let sit.
You can stir in some herbs - I used about a teaspoon of dill.
When cool, refrigerate.
It's sort of a salad and sort of a pickle - intensely flavored, refreshing on a hot day, good on a ham sandwich. I made it with CRCC cucumbers, which are excellent.
Asian vinegar is in the international food aisle at the grocery store - it's less acidic than regular vinegar, and has some sugar already in it. I use this brand:
or this one
both delicious, and widely available. Store it in the fridge once it's open (unlike normal vinegar.)
Monday, April 01, 2013
Gluten- and Dairy-Free Carrot Cake.
Dude. no fooling. My first try at g-free baking was such a success that I am left speechless. I didn't think this could work.
Carrot Cake adapted by ME!!
Preheat oven to 350, move a rack to the center position.
Grate some carrots (You need 2 cups) and let the grated carrots sit in a colander and dry out for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, drain a 20 oz can of crushed pineapple in juice.
Beat 4 large eggs, one scant cup granulated sugar, and one cup vegetable oil. And beat them and beat them and beat them, longer than you think could possibly be necessary, so they are as light-colored and foamy as they can get. This will work better if the eggs are close to room temperature - it makes them less gloppy. Add in the carrots and the pineapple, plus a cup of dried cranberries (Craisens).
(I didn't say it was a low-sugar recipe.)
In a separate bowl mix:
one scant cup white rice flour
one cup brown rice flour
1 teaspoon (or a small palm-full) salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
dry spices depending on your taste. Be generous. I used at least tablespoon of cinnamon, plus a generous shake of allspice. Use a LOT.
(If you're using a powerful mixer, you don't really need to pre-mix the dry ingredients - you can just throw them into the bowl with the wet stuff.)
Stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract; you can throw in a cup of nuts now, if you like. Walnuts are good.
Drop into greased muffin tins; you can fill them most of the way, a little more than you would with another cake batter. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes.
I have not tried these in a full-sized cake pan, so I don't know what effect it would have. They do rise in muffin tins, some.
They don't need icing, really. Also, DON'T seal them in plastic bags - the moisture will condense into, like, slush. This is good advice for all baked goods, but with something as moist as this, it's really important.
to me, these are indistinguishable the wheat flour ones. I'm stunned.
Carrot Cake adapted by ME!!
Preheat oven to 350, move a rack to the center position.
Grate some carrots (You need 2 cups) and let the grated carrots sit in a colander and dry out for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, drain a 20 oz can of crushed pineapple in juice.
Beat 4 large eggs, one scant cup granulated sugar, and one cup vegetable oil. And beat them and beat them and beat them, longer than you think could possibly be necessary, so they are as light-colored and foamy as they can get. This will work better if the eggs are close to room temperature - it makes them less gloppy. Add in the carrots and the pineapple, plus a cup of dried cranberries (Craisens).
(I didn't say it was a low-sugar recipe.)
In a separate bowl mix:
one scant cup white rice flour
one cup brown rice flour
1 teaspoon (or a small palm-full) salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
dry spices depending on your taste. Be generous. I used at least tablespoon of cinnamon, plus a generous shake of allspice. Use a LOT.
(If you're using a powerful mixer, you don't really need to pre-mix the dry ingredients - you can just throw them into the bowl with the wet stuff.)
Stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract; you can throw in a cup of nuts now, if you like. Walnuts are good.
Drop into greased muffin tins; you can fill them most of the way, a little more than you would with another cake batter. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes.
I have not tried these in a full-sized cake pan, so I don't know what effect it would have. They do rise in muffin tins, some.
They don't need icing, really. Also, DON'T seal them in plastic bags - the moisture will condense into, like, slush. This is good advice for all baked goods, but with something as moist as this, it's really important.
to me, these are indistinguishable the wheat flour ones. I'm stunned.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Recipe: Quinoa
Warm Quinoa Side Dish
Put 2 cups of water on to boil in a medium saucepan.
Chop half a large white onion, half a red pepper, and 2 stalks of celery into small bits.
Heat a splash of olive oil in a small sauté pan. Saute your veg until the onion is starting to soften, with a bit of salt and pepper.
Once the water boils, stir one cup of quinoa (I like Trader Joes Red Quinoa) into the saucepan. When the quinoa comes to a boil, reduce the heat and cover.
At the same time, reduce the heat under the veg. Stir occasionally. Throw in a bit of butter if you like (and if no one is vegan/anti-saturated fat.)
If you like, add some leafy greens. Hearty things like kale will retain a lot of body, and need a little longer on the stove, and maybe a couple spoonfuls of the water from the quinoa. Wait a few minutes before adding soft greens like baby spinach; they should wilt but not completely collapse in the remaining cooking time.
Back to the quinoa - simmer it with the lid on for 10-15 min until the water is absorbed and the white ring is visible in the quinoa grains. Remove from heat and set aside.
Combine the cooked, still-hot quinoa with the cooked, still-hot and still-a-little-crunchy vegetables. Plate. Season with salt, pepper, butter, hot sauce, rice wine vinegar, or whatever.
Put 2 cups of water on to boil in a medium saucepan.
Chop half a large white onion, half a red pepper, and 2 stalks of celery into small bits.
Heat a splash of olive oil in a small sauté pan. Saute your veg until the onion is starting to soften, with a bit of salt and pepper.
Once the water boils, stir one cup of quinoa (I like Trader Joes Red Quinoa) into the saucepan. When the quinoa comes to a boil, reduce the heat and cover.
At the same time, reduce the heat under the veg. Stir occasionally. Throw in a bit of butter if you like (and if no one is vegan/anti-saturated fat.)
If you like, add some leafy greens. Hearty things like kale will retain a lot of body, and need a little longer on the stove, and maybe a couple spoonfuls of the water from the quinoa. Wait a few minutes before adding soft greens like baby spinach; they should wilt but not completely collapse in the remaining cooking time.
Back to the quinoa - simmer it with the lid on for 10-15 min until the water is absorbed and the white ring is visible in the quinoa grains. Remove from heat and set aside.
Combine the cooked, still-hot quinoa with the cooked, still-hot and still-a-little-crunchy vegetables. Plate. Season with salt, pepper, butter, hot sauce, rice wine vinegar, or whatever.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Bonus Recipe Links: Broccoli Gribiche plus.
Here's a link to the recipe I made this weekend. I loved it and it was hoovered up at a potluck.
Heidi Swanson's Broccoli Gribiche
which is, strangely, not on her own really excellent and beautiful website 101 Cookbooks
(home of the infamous Golden Crusted Brussels Sprouts which could not possibly be better )
but is in her terrific second cookbook Super Natural Every Day.
But the person who transcribed it on her own blog took some good step-by-step photos - I like step-by-step photos in a recipe, especially of the steps that make me say "Ew, that looks gross. That can't possibly be right, I must have messed something up." For example: whisking hard-boiled egg yolk and red wine vinegar together.
Obviously I'm babbling.
The end.
Heidi Swanson's Broccoli Gribiche
which is, strangely, not on her own really excellent and beautiful website 101 Cookbooks
(home of the infamous Golden Crusted Brussels Sprouts which could not possibly be better )
but is in her terrific second cookbook Super Natural Every Day.
But the person who transcribed it on her own blog took some good step-by-step photos - I like step-by-step photos in a recipe, especially of the steps that make me say "Ew, that looks gross. That can't possibly be right, I must have messed something up." For example: whisking hard-boiled egg yolk and red wine vinegar together.
Obviously I'm babbling.
The end.
Dinner tonight: Veggies, roasted, blanched and ravioli-ed
I posted this on Facebook, and the 'likes' seemed to be swarming, so I thought I would describe how I made it.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Into a large bowl, slice half a large white onion, about a cup of grape tomatoes, 2 cloves of garlic, half a gigantic red pepper, and whatever other leftover veg you have knocking around your fridge - I had about half a yellow squash. You can slice as thickly or thinly as you like - the thinner you slice, the sooner it will be ready. You don't have to slice the tomatoes much, though. Halving or just squishing them is fine.
Toss with a small splash of oil, either regular olive oil or flavored oil like that herby Basting Oil they were giving away at Wegman's last week. It's quite a nice thing to have around, incidentally. Sprinkle some salt in, toss to coat, and dump out onto a rimmed baking sheet. Spread out to make a mostly single layer (you don't have to be OCD about it.) Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes, and check it. You want the veggies to be soft, and some to have touches of brown but not entirely blackened. Mine took a total of 30 minutes. After the 20 minute check, put a pot of water on to boil. Once it boils, turn it down.
Now slide a whole 8 oz package of Rising Moon Organics Frozen Feta-Hazelnut Ravioli with Butternut Squash into the hot water. The package is covered with instructions that say Never cook ravioli in rapidly boiling water and Do not overcook! and I didn't, and you probably shouldn't either.
Immediately also drop in several big handfuls of cut kale. I bought mine in a bag at Trader Joes, and it was cut into about 1 inch pieces. So I recommend that size of bits if you have to cut your own.
The ravioli package directions say to cook for 8 minutes, and mine weren't quite as soft as one might hope, plus the kale was still really hard, so I let mine go a little longer - probably 10 minutes. Remove your veggies from the oven and put them back in the bowl they started in. Fish out your raviolis and kale and add them to the bowl. Toss everything together to spread the fabulous oil and veg juices around onto the pasta and kale. Plate. Eat. The kale is still a little crunchy after cooking for 10 minutes; the veggies are soft and carmelized, and the pasta is creamy/silky and absorbs the garlicy juices. Plus it's gorgeous. Plus it's 30 minutes.
My husband is constantly bugging me to 'write down that recipe!" Look, honey, I wrote it down. Go me.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Into a large bowl, slice half a large white onion, about a cup of grape tomatoes, 2 cloves of garlic, half a gigantic red pepper, and whatever other leftover veg you have knocking around your fridge - I had about half a yellow squash. You can slice as thickly or thinly as you like - the thinner you slice, the sooner it will be ready. You don't have to slice the tomatoes much, though. Halving or just squishing them is fine.
Toss with a small splash of oil, either regular olive oil or flavored oil like that herby Basting Oil they were giving away at Wegman's last week. It's quite a nice thing to have around, incidentally. Sprinkle some salt in, toss to coat, and dump out onto a rimmed baking sheet. Spread out to make a mostly single layer (you don't have to be OCD about it.) Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes, and check it. You want the veggies to be soft, and some to have touches of brown but not entirely blackened. Mine took a total of 30 minutes. After the 20 minute check, put a pot of water on to boil. Once it boils, turn it down.
Now slide a whole 8 oz package of Rising Moon Organics Frozen Feta-Hazelnut Ravioli with Butternut Squash into the hot water. The package is covered with instructions that say Never cook ravioli in rapidly boiling water and Do not overcook! and I didn't, and you probably shouldn't either.
Immediately also drop in several big handfuls of cut kale. I bought mine in a bag at Trader Joes, and it was cut into about 1 inch pieces. So I recommend that size of bits if you have to cut your own.
The ravioli package directions say to cook for 8 minutes, and mine weren't quite as soft as one might hope, plus the kale was still really hard, so I let mine go a little longer - probably 10 minutes. Remove your veggies from the oven and put them back in the bowl they started in. Fish out your raviolis and kale and add them to the bowl. Toss everything together to spread the fabulous oil and veg juices around onto the pasta and kale. Plate. Eat. The kale is still a little crunchy after cooking for 10 minutes; the veggies are soft and carmelized, and the pasta is creamy/silky and absorbs the garlicy juices. Plus it's gorgeous. Plus it's 30 minutes.
My husband is constantly bugging me to 'write down that recipe!" Look, honey, I wrote it down. Go me.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
sofi's crepes
it's not a wall decoration, it's a site-specific work, called "choices".
new addition to the collection: museum gift shop
this might be it, actually. 
fresh hot crepe with semi-sweet choc chips and marshmallows. Made a believer out of him. (I had 'the classic' - ham, gryere, dijon.) I also badly offended Ian when I grabbed the remains of his crepe out of his hand - he was long since full and obviously uninterested - and popped it into my mouth. Just because he didn't want to eat it didn't mean I should.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tonight's recipes:
Curried Potatoes and Peas - this is tasty but a little spicy for me. Perhaps I was a little casual with the doubling of the spices. I used waxy potatoes - I think fluffier ones might have thrown off some starch and thickened the gravy. Still, popular and nice for a snowy evening and a worthy basis for further refinements.
Cranberry Relish:
Combine: 16 ounces fresh cranberries (that's one bag plus some) rinsed and picked over; 2 cups sugar; 1/2 cup fresh orange juice; 1 tablespoon orange zest; and a tablespoon of fresh grated ginger. Put all that in a sauce pan, and heat over medium heat until the berries pop open, about 10 minutes. Skim the foam off the surface with a spoon and discard. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, covered, up to 3 months. Apparently, you can freeze it too, though we have never tried that.
This is an adaptation of a Sheila Lukins recipe from Parade. It's really hard to screw up.
We buy cranberries when they're cheap and keep them in the freezer.
Cranberry Relish:
Combine: 16 ounces fresh cranberries (that's one bag plus some) rinsed and picked over; 2 cups sugar; 1/2 cup fresh orange juice; 1 tablespoon orange zest; and a tablespoon of fresh grated ginger. Put all that in a sauce pan, and heat over medium heat until the berries pop open, about 10 minutes. Skim the foam off the surface with a spoon and discard. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, covered, up to 3 months. Apparently, you can freeze it too, though we have never tried that.
This is an adaptation of a Sheila Lukins recipe from Parade. It's really hard to screw up.
We buy cranberries when they're cheap and keep them in the freezer.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Dinner Tonight: Fast, easy, delicious and fattening.
I was reading my email over lunch today (Homemade pad Thai! Go me! I'll tell you how I made that another time.) Anyway, my brother sent me something that led to something else that linked to something else and eventually I was reading this. And so when I got home, I did this:
Set a huge pot of salted water to boil.
Heat up a cast iron deep skillet or dutch over on the other burner over fairly high heat. Into that, drop 2 slices of bacon and stir them around to keep them from sticking. Once they are very floppy, and some bacon grease is rendered, drop 3 cloves garlic, smashed, and about one-third of a huge sweet onion, thin-sliced. Cook that until the onion starts to get soft. Drop in some sliced mushrooms. Keep moving the stuff around the pan. (You can add some butter or olive oil if it seems to be getting too dry.) Add salt and pepper. If it seems like just a little too much - that's the right amount.
Take you kitchen shears in your hand, point the tips down into the pan, and clip the bacon into small random pieces, right there on the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat a little (from about 9 to about 6.)
At this point, your pasta water should be boiling like crazy. Cook about 8 oz of pasta (I used whole wheat fettuccine) in the water until it is ALMOST as 'done' as you like it. (Don't forget to stir the bacon mixture. You don't want it to stick irreparably.)
Is it almost done? Good - now throw half a bag of frozen peas into the water with the noodles and put a lid on it.
Back to the bacon pot. Lower the heat again, to about 2. Splash in some cream or whole milk and stir. Drop in some grated parmesan - say a quarter cup - and stir until it's smooth.
Drain the pasta and peas. Turn off all the burners, mix the pasta and peas with the stuff in the cast-iron pan.
This is really, really delicious, and takes very little time or technique.
Set a huge pot of salted water to boil.
Heat up a cast iron deep skillet or dutch over on the other burner over fairly high heat. Into that, drop 2 slices of bacon and stir them around to keep them from sticking. Once they are very floppy, and some bacon grease is rendered, drop 3 cloves garlic, smashed, and about one-third of a huge sweet onion, thin-sliced. Cook that until the onion starts to get soft. Drop in some sliced mushrooms. Keep moving the stuff around the pan. (You can add some butter or olive oil if it seems to be getting too dry.) Add salt and pepper. If it seems like just a little too much - that's the right amount.
Take you kitchen shears in your hand, point the tips down into the pan, and clip the bacon into small random pieces, right there on the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat a little (from about 9 to about 6.)
At this point, your pasta water should be boiling like crazy. Cook about 8 oz of pasta (I used whole wheat fettuccine) in the water until it is ALMOST as 'done' as you like it. (Don't forget to stir the bacon mixture. You don't want it to stick irreparably.)
Is it almost done? Good - now throw half a bag of frozen peas into the water with the noodles and put a lid on it.
Back to the bacon pot. Lower the heat again, to about 2. Splash in some cream or whole milk and stir. Drop in some grated parmesan - say a quarter cup - and stir until it's smooth.
Drain the pasta and peas. Turn off all the burners, mix the pasta and peas with the stuff in the cast-iron pan.
This is really, really delicious, and takes very little time or technique.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
New Recipe - That's Better.
So I made this chicken paprikash for dinner on Monday night. And it was fine. It had some decent flavors, and it kind of 'grew on us' as we ate it.
But tonight I looked into the fridge and said "I can do better."
Better Quick Chicken Paprikash:
Heat the oven to 450, and at the same time warm some olive oil in a cast iron skillet on the stove top. Take 5 boneless chicken thighs - salt and pepper them and brown them - about 4 minute on one side, 3 on the other.
During those 7 minutes, wash a pint of grape tomatoes, and squish them (I guess you could cut them in half, but I just used my fingers.) into a baking pan with olive oil.
When the chicken is a little brown on both sides, remove the pan from the heat, and remove the chicken from the pan. Put the chicken pieces on top of the tomatoes in the baking pan and pop that all in the oven.
Slice half a large sweet onion and several cloves of garlic. Throw those into the stovetop pan - it will still be pretty hot and oily. Return that to heat and cook until the onions are soft and brown. Drop in some slices of red pepper and some sliced mushrooms and cook some more. (You may need to drop in a bit of olive oil or butter with the mushrooms.)
Take the pan out of the oven; assuming the chicken is done, put the chicken on a plate and cover it (with foil or another plate.) Pour the rest of the contents of the baking pan (oil, tomatoes, juices) into the stovetop pan and stir.
Now add:
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
a tablespoon of paprika
a tablespoon or more of those chopped hot peppers they put on hoagies
and a quarter to a half cup of heavy cream.
(You will want to shake that cream before you pour, in case it's separated.)
(You will want to make sure the little cardboard carton is really totally closed before you shake it. Maybe pinch the foldout spout.)
It's all bubbly now - slip some of the chicken into the sauce (it's probably won't all fit) and turn down the heat, and simmer it a little while - like 6 minutes or so, which is how long it takes to make egg noodles.
Seriously, this is good. Don't use canned tomatoes when there are fresh ones around. And seriously - hoagie peppers.
AND it took 36 minutes from walking into the kitchen.
Go me.
But tonight I looked into the fridge and said "I can do better."
Better Quick Chicken Paprikash:
Heat the oven to 450, and at the same time warm some olive oil in a cast iron skillet on the stove top. Take 5 boneless chicken thighs - salt and pepper them and brown them - about 4 minute on one side, 3 on the other.
During those 7 minutes, wash a pint of grape tomatoes, and squish them (I guess you could cut them in half, but I just used my fingers.) into a baking pan with olive oil.
When the chicken is a little brown on both sides, remove the pan from the heat, and remove the chicken from the pan. Put the chicken pieces on top of the tomatoes in the baking pan and pop that all in the oven.
Slice half a large sweet onion and several cloves of garlic. Throw those into the stovetop pan - it will still be pretty hot and oily. Return that to heat and cook until the onions are soft and brown. Drop in some slices of red pepper and some sliced mushrooms and cook some more. (You may need to drop in a bit of olive oil or butter with the mushrooms.)
Take the pan out of the oven; assuming the chicken is done, put the chicken on a plate and cover it (with foil or another plate.) Pour the rest of the contents of the baking pan (oil, tomatoes, juices) into the stovetop pan and stir.
Now add:
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
a tablespoon of paprika
a tablespoon or more of those chopped hot peppers they put on hoagies
and a quarter to a half cup of heavy cream.
(You will want to shake that cream before you pour, in case it's separated.)
(You will want to make sure the little cardboard carton is really totally closed before you shake it. Maybe pinch the foldout spout.)
It's all bubbly now - slip some of the chicken into the sauce (it's probably won't all fit) and turn down the heat, and simmer it a little while - like 6 minutes or so, which is how long it takes to make egg noodles.
Seriously, this is good. Don't use canned tomatoes when there are fresh ones around. And seriously - hoagie peppers.
AND it took 36 minutes from walking into the kitchen.
Go me.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Fail or No Fail - Dinner edition
Improvised chicken soup = NO FAIL
delicious, filling, used up leftovers and produce odds and ends. I may make soup every Friday.
Improvised whole wheat cheddar biscuits = FAIL
Massively salty. Otherwise, not that bad. Plus we get to use these ridiculous little butter knives.
How I made the soup:
Warm a splash of olive oil in a dutch over (high heat.)
delicious, filling, used up leftovers and produce odds and ends. I may make soup every Friday.
Improvised whole wheat cheddar biscuits = FAIL
Massively salty. Otherwise, not that bad. Plus we get to use these ridiculous little butter knives.
How I made the soup:
Warm a splash of olive oil in a dutch over (high heat.)
Slice 2 small onions and chop 5 stalks of celery, and drop into pan. Salt and pepper them generously. Stir occasionally.
Cut 3 carrots (or like 10 baby carrots) into thick slices and drop into pan.
If the pan seems too dry and the onions are sticking, add a splash of some liquid (I used broth, water or wine would be fine.)
Add the shredded meat from about half a cooked chicken. Stir. (Add any leftover cooked veggies you would like to see out of the fridge – I had a braised leek, which added a lot of flavor, and some sliced of potato.)
Sprinkle in a little (probably less than a teaspoon) McCormick’s Montreal Chicken Grilling spice. (YES it has sulfites, don’t judge me.)
Add 32 oz of chicken broth (that’s a box of Swanson’s Natural Goodness.)
Add fresh green beans (2 cups?) Lower the heat to medium.
Add a few handfuls of pea pods (what are these things called, anyway? I love saying pea pods, for some reason.)
Simmer until the beans are as tender as you like them.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Link to the shrimp recipe (if I can get away with it.)
I know the NY Times occasionally objects when civilians link to their content, but I'm going to give this a try.
Here is a recipe I've been making for a really long time. I saw it in the Times, a Wednesday food section, and I had it tacked to the corkboard in my kitchen for years. Now I have it memorized (though I rarely trust my memory for recipes, since, as my recent birthday cake slip-up* indicates, I'm not that precise even when I have the text in front of me.) I believe (guessing, from the notes in my kitchen notebook) that I clipped this recipe about 1997 or so.
I made this tonight for friends, which was a bit of a risk - it's got very strong flavors, and I can imagine someone finding it inedible. Happily, both the shrimp devotee and the more hesitant friend loved it. Even Ian ate a bite!
I usually eat this with white rice, but was too lazy for rice tonight - I bought a baguette, which we made very short work of. We had green beans and asperagas, which was also well received. (I cut up some cucumbers for this kids, and that made me realize that some kind of cucumber side dish would be really good with this, to contrast the salty and sharp flavors. )
In related food news, Ian and I had a tremendously successful first trip to the Grand Everyday Fresh Mart in South Laurel. Large selection of very nice produce at low prices, first of all, which is what I was looking for. (Seriously - Driscoll strawberries for 2.19 instead of 2.59, grapes for .99 a pound instead of $1.99. Large (don't know the official designation, but they were BIG) shrimp for 4.99/pound )(cheaper if I had been prepared to deal with the heads, which I was not). Live crabs and lots of fish on ice, which, along with making me what to cook them, make the trip much more exciting for Ian. The prices are competitive with the PanAm Latin American market, but it's much bigger and the produce looks nicer. Like the PanAm, it's pretty chaotic, but that suits me fine.
*The cake mistake - I have a lovely recipe for pound cake, from this excellent book which I totally recommend. Yes, it's got some jello salads and some things which require cans of mushroom soup. So don't make those. Duh. The things that are good are really good, including the sour cream pound cake recipe, which is what I made for Eric's birthday Friday. I used yogurt instead of sour cream, and where the recipe calls for 6 eggs, I only remembered to put in 3. It's still absolutely delicious. It's just a little more, um, "substantial".
Here is a recipe I've been making for a really long time. I saw it in the Times, a Wednesday food section, and I had it tacked to the corkboard in my kitchen for years. Now I have it memorized (though I rarely trust my memory for recipes, since, as my recent birthday cake slip-up* indicates, I'm not that precise even when I have the text in front of me.) I believe (guessing, from the notes in my kitchen notebook) that I clipped this recipe about 1997 or so.
I made this tonight for friends, which was a bit of a risk - it's got very strong flavors, and I can imagine someone finding it inedible. Happily, both the shrimp devotee and the more hesitant friend loved it. Even Ian ate a bite!
I usually eat this with white rice, but was too lazy for rice tonight - I bought a baguette, which we made very short work of. We had green beans and asperagas, which was also well received. (I cut up some cucumbers for this kids, and that made me realize that some kind of cucumber side dish would be really good with this, to contrast the salty and sharp flavors. )
In related food news, Ian and I had a tremendously successful first trip to the Grand Everyday Fresh Mart in South Laurel. Large selection of very nice produce at low prices, first of all, which is what I was looking for. (Seriously - Driscoll strawberries for 2.19 instead of 2.59, grapes for .99 a pound instead of $1.99. Large (don't know the official designation, but they were BIG) shrimp for 4.99/pound )(cheaper if I had been prepared to deal with the heads, which I was not). Live crabs and lots of fish on ice, which, along with making me what to cook them, make the trip much more exciting for Ian. The prices are competitive with the PanAm Latin American market, but it's much bigger and the produce looks nicer. Like the PanAm, it's pretty chaotic, but that suits me fine.
*The cake mistake - I have a lovely recipe for pound cake, from this excellent book which I totally recommend. Yes, it's got some jello salads and some things which require cans of mushroom soup. So don't make those. Duh. The things that are good are really good, including the sour cream pound cake recipe, which is what I made for Eric's birthday Friday. I used yogurt instead of sour cream, and where the recipe calls for 6 eggs, I only remembered to put in 3. It's still absolutely delicious. It's just a little more, um, "substantial".
Friday, February 20, 2009
Dinner tonight: finally, a happy ending!
Tonight we had 'use what you have' meatloaf, which turned out quite well, and this, which I was trying for the first time. I had been re-reading Mollie Katzen's Brocolli Forest, (incidentally, that link is for the NEW Enchanted Brocolli Forest; I have the OLD one, no photos, handlettered...) which has quite a few souffles in it, and was curious about spoonbread. But I was scared off by her recipe, with it's 6 separated eggs and the allowing of time for things to come to room temperature...since I already had meatloaf in the oven.
Well, Easy Basics to the rescue, as always. (This is the best cookbook I own, and it is a crime, a CRIME that it is out of print.) (Although I feel less guilty about posting the recipe, since you can't buy the book.)
It's perfectly lovely. It fits in my souffle pan. It is a bit 'washing-up intensive', using multiple bowls and pans, and it does require one kitchen technique that I am still far from mastering. And it's still great.
Spoonbread
Preheat the oven to 375, and find your soufflé dish. (Mine was behind the stack of loaf pans. I mention this at the beginning so that you do not find yourself, as I did, wondering what you’re supposed to pour this stuff – THIS stuff here, in the pan in my HAND – into.)
Butter the soufflé dish.
Mix in a bowl ¾ cup cornmeal and 1 cup milk. Let it stand for 3-5 minutes.
In a medium-sized saucepan, heat another 1 ¼ cup milk until just boiling. Add the contents of the bowl – cornmeal and cold milk – to the hot milk and cook it until it thickens, anywhere from 2-5 minutes. Cornmeal is unpredictable, I have found recently.
Remove the pan with the thickened cornmeal mixture from the heat. Stir in ¼ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and a stick of butter cut into 8 pieces. Stir until the butter melts.
Now let that sit and cool a little, while you separate 3 eggs.
Beat the whites of those 3 eggs until they are stiff (able to stand up my themselves) but not dry.
Take the yolks of those 3 eggs and beat them, one at a time, into the cornmeal mixture.
Okay, here’s the tricky part. This is the part where you FOLD the fluffy whites into the slippery, heavy cornmeal stuff. Easy Basics recommends transferring a big glob of whites into the saucepan and folding those in, then, once that mixture is all incorporated and pretty even, dropping all that on top of the rest of the whites (into the bowl of the stand mixer, in my case) to finish the folding.
Folding has always confounded me. You’re supposed to be gentle, so you don’t whomp all the air out of the egg whites; at the same time, you’re supposed to get it fully mixed, eliminating any big clumps of egg. These two goals seem mutually exclusive. Guess I’ll never get that Cordon Bleu certification. Use a stiff, heat-resistant silicone spatula to lift the batter over the puffs of egg, turn the bowl as you fold, scrape down the sides and the whole bottom. Don’t do it for too long.
Here’s the good news – mine looked totally bad, with big white dunes of egg visible after I transferred it to the soufflé dish. I thought I had messed it up totally.
Not so! It was completely delicious. And puffy like a soufflé, but the cornmeal gives it some structure so it doesn’t fall.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the middle firms up a little (the cookbook said ‘until it doesn’t jiggle’, but mine jiggled somewhat and it was perfect.
This was so light and SO delicious I could have fainted. Serve immediately by huge spoonfuls.
Now THIS is a successful starch.
Well, Easy Basics to the rescue, as always. (This is the best cookbook I own, and it is a crime, a CRIME that it is out of print.) (Although I feel less guilty about posting the recipe, since you can't buy the book.)
It's perfectly lovely. It fits in my souffle pan. It is a bit 'washing-up intensive', using multiple bowls and pans, and it does require one kitchen technique that I am still far from mastering. And it's still great.
Spoonbread
Preheat the oven to 375, and find your soufflé dish. (Mine was behind the stack of loaf pans. I mention this at the beginning so that you do not find yourself, as I did, wondering what you’re supposed to pour this stuff – THIS stuff here, in the pan in my HAND – into.)
Butter the soufflé dish.
Mix in a bowl ¾ cup cornmeal and 1 cup milk. Let it stand for 3-5 minutes.
In a medium-sized saucepan, heat another 1 ¼ cup milk until just boiling. Add the contents of the bowl – cornmeal and cold milk – to the hot milk and cook it until it thickens, anywhere from 2-5 minutes. Cornmeal is unpredictable, I have found recently.
Remove the pan with the thickened cornmeal mixture from the heat. Stir in ¼ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and a stick of butter cut into 8 pieces. Stir until the butter melts.
Now let that sit and cool a little, while you separate 3 eggs.
Beat the whites of those 3 eggs until they are stiff (able to stand up my themselves) but not dry.
Take the yolks of those 3 eggs and beat them, one at a time, into the cornmeal mixture.
Okay, here’s the tricky part. This is the part where you FOLD the fluffy whites into the slippery, heavy cornmeal stuff. Easy Basics recommends transferring a big glob of whites into the saucepan and folding those in, then, once that mixture is all incorporated and pretty even, dropping all that on top of the rest of the whites (into the bowl of the stand mixer, in my case) to finish the folding.
Folding has always confounded me. You’re supposed to be gentle, so you don’t whomp all the air out of the egg whites; at the same time, you’re supposed to get it fully mixed, eliminating any big clumps of egg. These two goals seem mutually exclusive. Guess I’ll never get that Cordon Bleu certification. Use a stiff, heat-resistant silicone spatula to lift the batter over the puffs of egg, turn the bowl as you fold, scrape down the sides and the whole bottom. Don’t do it for too long.
Here’s the good news – mine looked totally bad, with big white dunes of egg visible after I transferred it to the soufflé dish. I thought I had messed it up totally.
Not so! It was completely delicious. And puffy like a soufflé, but the cornmeal gives it some structure so it doesn’t fall.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the middle firms up a little (the cookbook said ‘until it doesn’t jiggle’, but mine jiggled somewhat and it was perfect.
This was so light and SO delicious I could have fainted. Serve immediately by huge spoonfuls.
Now THIS is a successful starch.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Dinner Tonight: Sorta like marinara
Before Dinner:
Husband: Spaghetti sauce? Are you going to put in some sausage or something?
Me: Not tonight. Tonight, just tomato sauce.
Husband: Hmmmph.
After Dinner:
Husband: WOW! That was great! Was that a new recipe?
Me: Sorta.
Husband: (suspicious) 'Sorta' how?
Me: well, sorta new, as in I've never tried to make it this way before.
P taught me how to make it. But it's really only 'sorta' a recipe.
(This 'sorta recipe' has impeccable credentials: P, a co-worker of mine, is from Philadelphia, and she is Irish, and this is the sauce that she used to win over her Italian inlaws.)
She sent me an email, really mostly just some ideas for ingredients, with kind of vague amounts. I think you really can't do it wrong if you keep stirring and tasting, I guess.
Husband: You should go write down exactly what you did! So you can make it again!
Fine.
P's Red Sauce by Betsy:
warm about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a deep skillet.
Dice one quarter of a huge sweet onion, and add to that a couple of spoonfuls of minced garlic. You can also dice up a couple slices of pepperoni - P suggests pancetta, which would be lovely, but we had a plastic bag of pre-sliced pepperoni.
Cook these in the oil for 3-8 minutes with salt and pepper.
When the onions start to get a little brown, slippery and a little softer but not yet actually soft, open a can (26 oz) of diced tomatoes in juice. (P suggested crushed tomatoes, you know, like a normal person would, but the can I grabbed out out the cupboard was diced.) Pour that in.
Bring that to a light boil, and reduce the heat to keep it simmering.
Simmer for 10 minutes. Taste.
I added: dried oregano, dried parsley, fresh (well, frozen) rosemary - just a few needles
(An aside: I got a boatload of rosemary when Tony pruned his outdoor plant, which I believe is on his balcony and has the size and density of a prison privacy hedge. I stripped 2 branches and froze the needles, and put the other 2 branches in a vase of water on the windowsill. I am hoping it takes root. The avocado is setting a good example.)
(I would really love having a garden bed that I've grown exclusively from garbage - like the avocado seed - and cuttings from friends. So every plant would have a story.)
P suggests a lot of fresh basil, of course, but I have used up my frozen basil from this summer and have not gotten any dried yet. She adds red wine. I used pasta water by the ladle-full when it looked like it was getting too sticky.
And we are unanimously in favor of sugar. Add a fairly small amount at a time - like a tablespoon - and give it time to disperse before you taste again.
Salt. Pepper. I didn't add pepper flakes, but that's hardly out of the question.
Just keep simmering and stirring occasionally - about 30 minutes total. It's chunky but also saucy.
It was really good. And I really believe that you cannot mess this up if you keep tasting.
Husband: Spaghetti sauce? Are you going to put in some sausage or something?
Me: Not tonight. Tonight, just tomato sauce.
Husband: Hmmmph.
After Dinner:
Husband: WOW! That was great! Was that a new recipe?
Me: Sorta.
Husband: (suspicious) 'Sorta' how?
Me: well, sorta new, as in I've never tried to make it this way before.
P taught me how to make it. But it's really only 'sorta' a recipe.
(This 'sorta recipe' has impeccable credentials: P, a co-worker of mine, is from Philadelphia, and she is Irish, and this is the sauce that she used to win over her Italian inlaws.)
She sent me an email, really mostly just some ideas for ingredients, with kind of vague amounts. I think you really can't do it wrong if you keep stirring and tasting, I guess.
Husband: You should go write down exactly what you did! So you can make it again!
Fine.
P's Red Sauce by Betsy:
warm about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a deep skillet.
Dice one quarter of a huge sweet onion, and add to that a couple of spoonfuls of minced garlic. You can also dice up a couple slices of pepperoni - P suggests pancetta, which would be lovely, but we had a plastic bag of pre-sliced pepperoni.
Cook these in the oil for 3-8 minutes with salt and pepper.
When the onions start to get a little brown, slippery and a little softer but not yet actually soft, open a can (26 oz) of diced tomatoes in juice. (P suggested crushed tomatoes, you know, like a normal person would, but the can I grabbed out out the cupboard was diced.) Pour that in.
Bring that to a light boil, and reduce the heat to keep it simmering.
Simmer for 10 minutes. Taste.
I added: dried oregano, dried parsley, fresh (well, frozen) rosemary - just a few needles
(An aside: I got a boatload of rosemary when Tony pruned his outdoor plant, which I believe is on his balcony and has the size and density of a prison privacy hedge. I stripped 2 branches and froze the needles, and put the other 2 branches in a vase of water on the windowsill. I am hoping it takes root. The avocado is setting a good example.)
(I would really love having a garden bed that I've grown exclusively from garbage - like the avocado seed - and cuttings from friends. So every plant would have a story.)
P suggests a lot of fresh basil, of course, but I have used up my frozen basil from this summer and have not gotten any dried yet. She adds red wine. I used pasta water by the ladle-full when it looked like it was getting too sticky.
And we are unanimously in favor of sugar. Add a fairly small amount at a time - like a tablespoon - and give it time to disperse before you taste again.
Salt. Pepper. I didn't add pepper flakes, but that's hardly out of the question.
Just keep simmering and stirring occasionally - about 30 minutes total. It's chunky but also saucy.
It was really good. And I really believe that you cannot mess this up if you keep tasting.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Busy Kitchen yesterday:
a couple batches of these, for neighborhood distribution and church on Sunday
8 loaves of bread - a couple of loaves burned! which has never happened to me before! Weird!
plus a double batch of this, which I would make again with sharper cheese
and a pound of this, which needed more hot peppers. I didn't have the tiny red peppers I used last time, which come from a houseplant...guess I should have stopped by the auto shop and checked to see if the plant was still producing. My store-bought peppers reflect my timidity in these matters - I am terrible at getting the peppery-ness right.
The salad and the cassarole were for a party, where all the food was amazing. I also totally lucked out at the competitive gift exchange (Is this a southern thing? I never heard of this activity until I moved to the dc area. You know, where you draw numbers, and then, when your turn comes, you can either take a wrapped gift or poach someone else's desirable gift? It can be totally cut-throat - last night was hilarious, but moderately civilized- and it definately is entertaining and revealing of character.)
Anyway, I ended up with a cookbook and placemats! So we can eat our seasonal produce on handloomed indigeousnous textiles. That totally rules.
It also totally rules because the gifts we contributed were very popular, totally in keeping with the theme (good for the recipient, good for the world) and as close to free as humanly possible. I made a reusable string grocery bag (it actually wasn't finished yet - I put it in the box with the needles and a note) and a couple organic free-trade dark chocloate bars. (Expensive for candy bars, but very cheap for a Christmas gift.)
Both these gifts were extremely hotly contested, poached as many times as the rules would allow. Because, in the competitive gift exchange, I'm totally not competitive about getting gifts - I'm competitive about contributing desirable gifts, as confirmation of how damn clever I am. Not that anyone necessarily has to know it was me. I just have to know. It's satisfying.
Should you be competitive in this way too, here's a hint for next year:
It is impossible to go wrong with chocolate.
8 loaves of bread - a couple of loaves burned! which has never happened to me before! Weird!
plus a double batch of this, which I would make again with sharper cheese
and a pound of this, which needed more hot peppers. I didn't have the tiny red peppers I used last time, which come from a houseplant...guess I should have stopped by the auto shop and checked to see if the plant was still producing. My store-bought peppers reflect my timidity in these matters - I am terrible at getting the peppery-ness right.
The salad and the cassarole were for a party, where all the food was amazing. I also totally lucked out at the competitive gift exchange (Is this a southern thing? I never heard of this activity until I moved to the dc area. You know, where you draw numbers, and then, when your turn comes, you can either take a wrapped gift or poach someone else's desirable gift? It can be totally cut-throat - last night was hilarious, but moderately civilized- and it definately is entertaining and revealing of character.)
Anyway, I ended up with a cookbook and placemats! So we can eat our seasonal produce on handloomed indigeousnous textiles. That totally rules.
It also totally rules because the gifts we contributed were very popular, totally in keeping with the theme (good for the recipient, good for the world) and as close to free as humanly possible. I made a reusable string grocery bag (it actually wasn't finished yet - I put it in the box with the needles and a note) and a couple organic free-trade dark chocloate bars. (Expensive for candy bars, but very cheap for a Christmas gift.)
Both these gifts were extremely hotly contested, poached as many times as the rules would allow. Because, in the competitive gift exchange, I'm totally not competitive about getting gifts - I'm competitive about contributing desirable gifts, as confirmation of how damn clever I am. Not that anyone necessarily has to know it was me. I just have to know. It's satisfying.
Should you be competitive in this way too, here's a hint for next year:
It is impossible to go wrong with chocolate.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
world's easiest cookie:
This is a cookie I remember from my childhood (from other kids' houses - I don't recall my dad making cookies at our house. Cakes yes - cookies, not that I can recall, except the sliced Pillsbury roll.)Anyway, there are lots of complicated recipes for these on the web, but there's NO EXCUSE for working hard at making this cookie. 4 ingredients, 12 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease a cookie sheet (spray grease is fine for this.)
Mix together:
1 cup peanut butter
(regular commercial stuff, smooth or crunchy - I've never tried it with natural peanut butter yet.)
1 cup granulated sugar (you could skimp on this; one recipe I saw suggested using Splenda, which I think would work fine, though I haven't tried.)
1 egg.
When completely mixed, roll into balls. Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes. They don't turn brown, just look a little dryer.
While they're in the oven, unwrap some Hershey's kisses, dark or plain milk chocolate.
When you take the cookies out of the oven, remove them to a plate. and squish a kiss into the center of each.
Good warm, good cold. Good smooth, good crunchy. They even survive a little burn (I burned the first batch on Saturday. Still good.) Makes 18-24, depending on how big you make the balls.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Beans in the crockpot. (edited a little since the first publication)
The night before, rinse a pound bag of dried beans - I used Goya 16-Bean Soup Mix - and soak in cold water overnight in the fridge.
In the morning, drain and rinse one more time.
Put these in the crockpot with a couple of green peppers, a couple ribs of celery, and one large onion, chopped into large pieces. Add one can of stewed tomatoes (with liquid.) Add one cup vegetable broth, and a bunch - say, a tablespoon, unless your hand slips and you put in, like, a huge handful by accident - of Cajun seasoning.
Here's the deal with the crockpot: it's magic. I seem to be unable to screw up dishes in the our crockpot, which is at least as old as I am, and belonged to Eric's mother.
I started the pot on high before breakfast, and covered it and switched it to medium before leaving the house. But you could probably start it on medium and leave it there all day; you might even be able to leave it on low all day. I do not actually know how long these take to cook - certainly they would be done in less than 10 hours...maybe 6 hours on medium-high? Guessing.
Eric checked the beans around one, and threw some more liquid in it - another cup or so of vegetable broth. (If you do not have a helpful spousal equivalent at home for the cooking process, start with more broth, or broth cut with cold water, when you put the dish together in the morning.)
When I came home at 7:30, the beans had been cooking for more than 10 hours. They weren't burned at all. The tomatoes and celery had disintegrated; the peppers and onion were delicious, as were the beans and the thick, savory liquid. I threw in some frozen corn and peas to brighten it up and add a little crunch, and heated those through. You should adjust the seasoning, now (unless your hand slipped and you dumped a whole ton of Cajun seasoning in. If that happened, it's too late, and it is what it is.)
Vegan, fat free, high protien, a little salty, very satisfying. Makes 6-8 servings, maybe more with rice. Yay, beans.
In the morning, drain and rinse one more time.
Put these in the crockpot with a couple of green peppers, a couple ribs of celery, and one large onion, chopped into large pieces. Add one can of stewed tomatoes (with liquid.) Add one cup vegetable broth, and a bunch - say, a tablespoon, unless your hand slips and you put in, like, a huge handful by accident - of Cajun seasoning.
Here's the deal with the crockpot: it's magic. I seem to be unable to screw up dishes in the our crockpot, which is at least as old as I am, and belonged to Eric's mother.
I started the pot on high before breakfast, and covered it and switched it to medium before leaving the house. But you could probably start it on medium and leave it there all day; you might even be able to leave it on low all day. I do not actually know how long these take to cook - certainly they would be done in less than 10 hours...maybe 6 hours on medium-high? Guessing.
Eric checked the beans around one, and threw some more liquid in it - another cup or so of vegetable broth. (If you do not have a helpful spousal equivalent at home for the cooking process, start with more broth, or broth cut with cold water, when you put the dish together in the morning.)
When I came home at 7:30, the beans had been cooking for more than 10 hours. They weren't burned at all. The tomatoes and celery had disintegrated; the peppers and onion were delicious, as were the beans and the thick, savory liquid. I threw in some frozen corn and peas to brighten it up and add a little crunch, and heated those through. You should adjust the seasoning, now (unless your hand slipped and you dumped a whole ton of Cajun seasoning in. If that happened, it's too late, and it is what it is.)
Vegan, fat free, high protien, a little salty, very satisfying. Makes 6-8 servings, maybe more with rice. Yay, beans.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Squash me
< carnival squash
butternut squash>
I used one of each to make tonight's dinner, a pasta dish vaguely modeled on this Mario Batali recipe. Very good, even though I had rather a free hand with the crushed red pepper and it came out spicier than I'd like.
I made it with whole wheat pasta, and a perfect combination of texture. Plus, this would make a terrific vegan dish as well - I adore cheese, but this would be just fine without it.
This may be the healthiest thing I have ever cooked.
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