Shortcut to Mushrooms: A Vegetarian Foodblog

Review: Candy Cap Mushrooms

2011-11-27T15:24:00.001-06:00

Initially, Marx Foods approached me about participating in a Candy Cap Mushroom contest. Through a series of unfortunate events including empty grocery shelves and the stomach flu, I was unable to meet the deadline, but I did want to review these mushrooms for you. I ended up using them as a twist on my Thanksgiving dessert, and it worked out quite well!

When the mushrooms arrived, I wasn't quite sure what to do with them. Reviews described them as tasting like maple syrup and being very sweet, but the smell was more of a smoky/sweet combination, and somewhat unusual. What would they go well with? I ended up doing something very simple, and it worked out very well. Since dairy takes on flavor so effectively, I let a good handful of the dried mushrooms sit in a small bowl of heavy cream overnight. When I whipped it, I added a couple of teaspoons of maple syrup, resulting in a great smoky/sweet topping for pumpkin pie. My take? Surprisingly good! I'm not sure I could find many uses for these, but as a special treat, they're a fun and unusual accent to a recipe.

Balsamic Onion Cheesy Biscuits

2011-10-30T11:26:00.002-05:00

This post is about a recipe that my girlfriend Hilary and I made way back in March, and now it's just coming around to be cold enough again to make sense to post. I know I've been lagging on this blog, but I want to continue to post the recipes I make, and hopefully will get more regular about that with time. This particular idea was Hilary's invention, adapted from the amazing Simply Recipes recipe for Rustic Onion Tart. Instead of using the rustic tart dough, Hilary made cream biscuits, split them for a base to cover the bottom of a loaf pan, layered the onions on top, and topped with Dubliner cheese to melt in the oven. This was an awesome idea. Oniony, balsamicy, buttery, cheesy, yum. You can also slice the melty mess into individual biscuits again, wrap, freeze, and then just stick in the toaster oven one at a time for breakfast.

Farmer's Market Finds: Dallas-Style Cornbread and Green Tomato Okra Stew

2011-09-05T08:08:00.000-05:00

As you may have noticed, I took a break from this blog for the summer. Unfortunately, I realized when loading it back up again that a post queued for May never appeared! In that post, I reviewed Kelapo coconut oil. Many apologies to the Kelapo team for not posting the review! Instead of putting that old post up now, I decided to make a different recipe with their product. I also wanted to bring back Farmer's Market Finds after heading to the Waverly Farmer's Market in Baltimore with my friend Hanne this Saturday and bringing home an impressive haul. I put together a green tomato and okra stew, adapted from a Mark Bittman recipe, and realized that cornbread was the perfect accompaniment. In comes the coconut oil!

Kelapo makes a virgin coconut oil that is probably best used as a finishing oil, given the strong flavor. However, I wanted to add a little to the sweetness of this cornbread, contrasting with the poblano pepper I picked up at the Farmer's Market and substituted in place of jalepeno in the recipe. I used 1/3 cup coconut oil in place of the canola oil I would normally used, and I thought the coconut flavor contributed very nicely. This is a dense, moist cornbread, sweet and spicy and perfect with butter melted on top. (I used South Mountain Creamery butter from the Farmer's Market). Next time I try this recipe with coconut oil, I'll probably cut the sugar down.

Chou-Chou's Original Dallas Hot-Stuff Cornbread

from The Cornbread Gospels by Crescent Dragonwagon

1-1/4 cups unbleached white flour

1-3/4 cups stone-ground yellow cornmeal

3 T sugar

1 T + 1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1 t salt

3 eggs

2-1/2 cups milk

1/3 cup mild vegetable oil (or coconut oil)

2 fresh garlic cloves, pressed (I used 2 t Trader Joe's crushed garlic)

1 large onion, finely chopped or grated

1 cup canned cream corn (I used the whole can)

1/4 to 1/2 cup sliced jalapenos (or a diced poblano if you can't take spice)

1-1/2 cups (6 oz) grated sharp Cheddar or Jack (I used a taco blend)

1 T butter

salt

Preheat the oven to 400 and spray an 11 x 15 baking pan with oil. Sift or stir together the first six ingredients. Whisk eggs well, then whisk in milk, oil, and garlic. Combine wet and dry with a few swift strokes, then add onion, corn, peppers, and half the cheese. Pour into pan and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Dot with butter and sprinkle with salt.

I got some really awesome okra, as well as a box of green tomatoes, at the Farmer's Market. I love okra, but I'm not a big fan of the whole drench-and-dredge fry preparation. Instead, I went hunting through my vegetarian bible for something else to do with the okra and found Mark Bittman's recipe for okra stew with tomatoes. The green tomatoes were perfect for this. It's kind of a Southern taste explosion.

Okra Stew with Tomatoes

from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

6 T extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, halved and thick sliced

salt and pepper

1/4 cup flour

1 lb okra, trimmed

2 T chopped garlic

4 cups chopped tomato (can be canned, I used 5 chopped green tomatoes)

1 T minced fresh oregano (optional, I completely forgot it)

chopped parsley leaves for garnish (didn't bother)

Put 2 T oil in a deep skillet or large pot (I used my Dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Add onion, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, 2-3 minutes or until soft and turning golden. Remove with slotted spoon. Add remaining oil to the pot and turn heat down to medium low. (My stove is a bit wimpy and I actually ended up having to up the heat again at the end because my roux wasn't getting much darker). Add flour and cook, stirring almost constantly, until the roux becomes tea-colored and fragrant. This is supposed to take up to 10 minutes and you should lower the heat if it's sticking. I had to up the heat and it got darker but never tea colored. When I added the okra though, the oil splattered and it got dark fast. Add the okra and stir 3-5 minutes or until the okra starts to soften. Add the garlic and cook a minute or so, stirring once or twice. Add onion and tomato, plus a cup of water (maybe a little more if you're using green tomatoes). Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bring to boil, then bubble gently, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes or until okra is very tender and sauce is thick. Add oregano if you like and garnish with parsley.

Product Review: FungusAmongUs Mushrooms

2011-05-22T14:02:00.007-05:00

As I'm sure will be no surprise to any regular readers of this blog, when I have a chance to sample a mushroom product, I always take it! I recently had a chance to try FungusAmongUs dried porcini, chanterelles, and porcini salt, and used them to create the recipes below. If you're interested in FungusAmongUs, you can visit the FungusAmongUs website or take advantage of a Facebook deal they're running now for $10 truffle products. Or, stay tuned for a giveaway coming up on the blog where you can win a FungusAmongUs sample! Disclaimer: The products reviewed on this post were provided free of charge by FungusAmongUs. No other financial ties exist between the blogger and FungusAmongUs.

Grilled Cheese for Grownups

1 cibatta loaf
3 slices baby Swiss cheese
1 oz dried porcini mushrooms, snipped
a splash of red wine
olive oil
a pinch of porcini salt
mayonnaise

I've been wanting to get my hands on some dried porcini mushrooms for ages, so I was thrilled to try this jazzed-up grilled cheese with porcini and Swiss. You could do this with a fancier cheese, too. I simmered the dried porcini in water first, then added some Cabernet once the water cooked off. Next, I tossed in some olive oil and dried herbs, along with a pinch of the FungusAmongUs porcini salt. After cleaning out the skillet, I assembled the sandwich on cibatta, using a portion of the mushroom filling, plus a spread of mayo and the cheese. I generously buttered the outside of the sandwich to grill, getting a good dark crisp on the outside. The mushrooms had a nice dark, earthy flavor, a good compliment to the mild cheese.

Chanterelle, Sundried Tomato, and Mozzarella Omelet

2 eggs
generous splash of milk
salt and pepper
1/2 oz dried chanterelles
handful of sundried tomatoes
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
a few chives

This was a somewhat less successful experiment, though I do know the reason. I reconstituted the chanterelles in hot water, but didn't cook them before adding them to the cooking eggs in the pan. The best thing to do would be to chop them up very small and sautee, then toss in the omelet with the cheese and tomatoes. The texture of the chanterelles is less appealing to me than the porcini, though I think they'd be a good addition to a soup or stew.

Chanterelle and Sundried Tomato Couscous

1/2 oz dried chanterelles
handful sundried tomatoes
1 cup dry couscous
olive oil

With the leftovers from the omelet, I made a somewhat more successful dinner. This is very simple--cook the couscous with olive oil and sea salt, then toss with sundried tomatoes, sauteed chanterelles, the olive oil from the sauteeing, and a bit more salt.

4/20 Celebration Snack: Peanut Butter Jar Fudge

2011-04-20T19:05:00.003-05:00

Although I don't partake in the activity for which 4/20 is famous, I feel that I oughta post a recipe for those of you who do. I also feel that I should note that if you're at all concerned about the toxins found in plastic, this recipe is not for you. For me, the risk is worth the bliss of a one-dish easy dessert that can be made from what I have lying around the apartment.

This was something of an experiment, so I figured it out in steps. Basically, you want to take a peanut butter jar that's about a third full and dump a couple of tablespoons of powdered sugar in the jar. Use a mug to microwave about a half a stick of butter, add to the peanut butter, and stir until the mixture is smooth. While you're stirring, microwave an almost full mug of chocolate chips and then stir the melted chocolate in. I originally did a little too much butter and not enough chocolate, but I think this is about right. When it's smooth, put the lid back on and chill overnight. You'll have delicious fudge in the morning, or for a holiday-appropriate late night snack.

From the Pantry: Frozen Vegetable Weeknight Casserole

2011-04-11T19:37:00.003-05:00

This is a thrown-together, easy and healthy casserole that anyone can throw together on a weeknight using simple ingredients that anyone has around the kitchen. Start with a layer of brown rice, then add a few bags of frozen vegetables. I used a bag of mixed veggies, a bag of collards, and a small bag of green peppers. You don't even have to thaw, because nothing will burn in this. Dump in a can of cream of mushroom soup, add a cup of shredded low-fat mozzarella or cheese of your choice, and put the dish in the oven at 350 until hot, bubbling, and the cheese is melted.

Sweet Potato Enchiladas with Lentils and Couscous

2011-03-28T04:47:00.002-05:00

I keep seeing recipes around for sweet potato enchiladas and burritos, and it had given me a craving a couple of weeks ago. My initial plan was to stick pretty much with a recipe from Budget Bytes, but after I got the sweet potatoes I realized that I didn't have any soy chorizo. So instead, I decided to improvise a little bit and instead of chorizo and poblano I used some couscous and lentils I had left over, mixed with canned green chilis. It was a little odd, but I think it turned out really well once the whole thing was smothered with requisite sauce and cheese. I used burrito sized tortillas, three to an 8 x 8 pan, and rolled them in advance so when I got home all I had to do was add the sauce and cheese and pop the whole thing in the oven.

From the Pantry: Bulgur Beanastroni

2011-03-24T12:00:00.000-05:00

I think the bulgur in this variation on my Daddy's recipe may just kill the "oni" part, but I'm willing to live with this. This is a super-easy, super filling meal that's packed with protein. It may not look like much, but it's pretty tasty for healthy food. My trick was to start with the Trader Joes 17 legume mix, which has just about everything. I soaked the beans and got them simmering with oregano and a bay leaf, then towards the end, turned the heat up a bit and added a large sliced carrot and some chopped onion. Normally, Daddy throws some pasta in here, but instead once the veg was cooked I tossed in a cup of bulgur and took the pan off the heat, letting it soak covered for half an hour. At the very end, I added a drained can of garbanzo beans and another of diced tomato. I didn't even add salt, because I thought the bay and oregano were enough. A little bit of cracked pepper and you're good for two weeks of dinners!

Like Me On Facebook!

2011-03-24T08:49:00.003-05:00

Quick news: I have a new Facebook fanpage so that you can follow my posts on your news feed and also see food-related comments and photos of things I've been eating that aren't on the blog. I'd love to see you there--just click "Like" on the Page and suggest it to any vegetarian foodie friends!

Restaurant Review: Shuckers of Fells Point

2011-03-22T11:00:00.001-05:00

I realized when I started to write this review that I'm doing something I've never done before on this blog. I'm showing you something that isn't actually vegetarian. So, warning! If pictures of seafood make you sad, click away! I quietly went pescatarian in November, and while I won't be sharing any seafood recipes here, because I do remain dedicated to this blog as a vegetarian food blog, I had to share this review because I loved the restaurant so much.

Shuckers is a popular Fells Point seafood place and bar, but I'd never actually been there, so I was happy to have the chance to use a Groupon and get a good deal. Their prices are moderate, high for my budget, but they do have a $5.95 lunch menu every day and some pretty good specials. For a treat, I'd definitely recommend it. If you're not familiar with Baltimore, Fells Point is an historic neighborhood near the water, set back a little bit from the touristy inner harbor. It's a popular drinking destination for young people, and also where you can get the best seafood.

We started with an appetizer that really justifies the term "food porn." Ever since I first looked at the menu, all I knew is that I wanted crab dip. And this is crab dip. Melt in your mouth, cheesy, creamy, and of course heavily laced with Old Bay. We kind of wanted to beg for the recipe.

Once we recovered from the Holy Crab Dip, we decided to split an oyster po boy and an order of Prince Edward Island mussels. The mussels were delicious and served with a buttery broth you'd want to just slurp up from the bowl. I had to share this photo, though, because of my devoted love of sweet potato fries. What is it that makes the seasoning so perfect? The sandwich was, well, a po boy, though I was impressed by how gargantuan the oysters were.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

2011-03-20T08:43:00.003-05:00

So my vacation has been kind of a flurry of cooking. I had a houseguest who actually actively enjoys cooking (as opposed to me, loving cooking only because I love eating) and doesn't get flustered in a grocery store. I kind of let her do whatever she wanted, so wandering around the grocery store she got the idea to do a shepherd's pie with mushrooms instead of meat. As you can see, we used a large souffle dish that was not quite large enough for all our vegetables. Being a teacher, I kind of had to giggle that she forgot about the concept of displacement. Fortunately, a cookie sheet underneath worked pretty well.

This is one of those "it's not a recipe, it's a process" things. Basically, a couple of packs of white button mushrooms and an onion, sauteed, then a pack of onion and mushroom gravy powder added to the mix and some cornstarch mixed with water to thicken into a gravy. Pour in the pan, add a couple of bags of thawed veg (we used peas and corn) and top with some instant mashed potatoes. These were romano cheese flavored and very good. Bake at 350 until you see some browning on top. Eat.

Comfort Chili and Spoonbread

2011-03-04T20:11:00.004-06:00

I really think this is the ultimate comfort food. Chili, courtesy of Mark Bittman's recipe for Black Bean Espresso Chili (page 608 of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, available on Google Books), along with the Dixie Spoonbread from Crescent Dragonwagon's Cornbread Gospels (page 191). This chili has an amazing, unforgettable depth of flavor from the espresso and the cinnamon, and though the spoonbread was maybe a little uneven in terms of texture, the two went really, really well together. A successful experiment in cookbooks and a new favorite recipe!

Vegetable Cobbler

2011-03-03T05:11:00.004-06:00

A little bit earlier in the winter, I decided to try my hand at a really intriguing recipe for Vegetable Cobbler that I found on Ezra Pound Cake's blog. It's a Moosewood recipe, packed with good veggies, and though it looks pretty daunting with all the ingredients, it turned out really well. The taste of the liquid is amazing, and you can sop your biscuits all up in it--extremely filling, so you don't want any side dishes, but very tasty.

I started this recipe by making stock with a method a friend suggested for all my leftover vegetable odds and ends. When you have leftover onion tops, parts of veggies, whatever, toss them in plastic bags and fill full with water before closing. Freeze them, and then just dump the veggie-ice in a pot to make stock. Salt to taste and boom, you're done. This process does take quite a while if you have a big baggie, as you can see from the chard here. You also want to make sure your bag is smaller than your pot!

I pretty much carried on with the rest of the recipe as is. I love the mix of vegetables because it's colorful and therefore pretty rich in nutrients. The biscuit topping is really amazing, though I would probably try smaller spoonfuls and more biscuits next time, so that a serving size isn't so epic. You end up grabbing a bunch of veggies so you have enough liquid for the biscuit, and it's kind of overdoing it.

Back with a Vengeance

2011-02-28T19:40:00.002-06:00

Chirp, chirp. Anyone still here?

I've been rather absent on this blog in recent months, but I'm hoping to turn that around with a brand new site redesign and a new focus in my life on healthful, mental health-friendly foods! I've been struggling with anxiety and depression all winter long, and I've come to admit that, as much as I disagree with the diet movement and the absolutely poisonous and disgusting attacks on obese Americans, I do have some "trigger foods" that are negatively impacting my life and making it harder to cope.

So I'm back to cooking more, and trying to focus on large healthful meals with things like whole grains, beans, tempeh, and vegetables. These foods, incidentally, also help a lot with IBS. That doesn't mean I'll stop posting desserts here! But I've noticed that my blog is balanced a little heavily towards the sweets side, which doesn't make a lot of sense for a vegetarian blog (since all sweets are vegetarian). I'll try to feature more great vegetarian main courses and side dishes that I find in my cookbooks, my favorite food blogs, and my experiments. So, if you've stuck through the lull, thank you! I owe you one. Stay a little longer and I hope to reward you with some tasty eats.

A Birthday Banana

2010-12-05T07:49:00.002-06:00

Recently, my mom celebrated her birthday and I went home to North Carolina to see my parents for the occasion. For dinner, we had Smitten Kitchen's mushrooms bourguignon, which I've blogged about previously (always choose a familiar recipe to cook after a five hour drive) but I tried something new for dessert. Daddy doesn't really like super sweet things, and I knew I wouldn't have time to bake, so I decided to go in a fruitward direction. The choice was Alton Brown's recipe for bananas foster. Alton's usually a pretty sure shot, though sometimes I can be underwhelmed by his recipes.

Sadly, this was one of those times. It wasn't bad, per se--you got the banana and the liqueur flavored rum sauce surrounding it--but the instructions didn't really yield a nice bubbly caramelized banana like I was picturing, and getting the thing to catch on fire was a hell of a task. Don't expect that his "get the pan really hot" trick will work. You do need flame. We got the sauce to light, but only for about 15 seconds, so it didn't really do its job. Hence the sad cold banana sitting in sauce photograph. Oh well. At least we tried!

Blogs to Be Thankful for, 2010 Edition

2010-11-25T21:13:00.002-06:00

Every year since I started this blog in 2007, I've done a little Thanksgiving special shout out to my favorite foodblogs. This year is no exception, but a lot has changed. Unlike last year, when I was more or less unemployed and managed to actually *cook* something from 20+ blogs in time for Thanksgiving, I'm now working 9 hours a day and commuting 4 hours a day and therefore rarely manage to cook at all, let alone blog. I've had to cut back my food blogs a lot, which is quite a bummer for a compulsive recipe collector. So this year, instead of saying something about each of a few favorite blogs, I'm going to tell you all the blogs I still read, grouped by category, so that maybe you can discover something new!

Baking and Desserts

Beau à la Louche
Chocolat et Caetera
Joy the Baker
Bake or Break
Brown Eyed Baker
Culinary Concoctions by Peabody
Foodbeam
La Cuisine d'Helene
Sugar Plum
Tartelette

Simple, Reliable Recipes

Cafe Fernando
Coconut & Lime
Delicious Days
Kitchen Wench
La Tartine Gourmande
Smitten Kitchen
The Passionate Cook
Use Real Butter
Evil Shenanigans
David Lebovitz
Ezra Pound Cake
Greedy Gourmand
Hey That Tastes Good
Inn Cuisine
My Madison Bistro
Picky Cook
Simply Recipes
Tracey's Culinary Adventures
101 Cookbooks

Regional

Almost Turkish Recipes
Binnur's Turkish Cookbook
Ev Cini
Homesick Texan
Nami Nami
Pham Fatale
Russian Season

Self Consolation with Peanut Butter Fudge and Butterscotch Brownies

2010-11-08T05:20:00.002-06:00

Confession: I've been a little bit down about food blogging since I got kicked out of Project Food Blog in round one. I didn't think I'd go much further, but since I had about a 2 in 3 chance of advancing, and since the whole basis of that first round was the blogger's personality, it feels a little like a rejection of me. So I've been licking my wounds and eating a lot of prepared food in the meantime.

Of course, one thing that's always been a tried and true mood lifter is sugar. Specifically, in this case, brown sugar. Brown sugar in square form. Really, any square dessert will make me happy. The first thing I tried in this vein was a good getting-back-on-the-horse recipe, in that it involves a microwave and comes from Alton Brown, one of my most trusted recipe-creators. It was very tasty, though the method kind of backfired. 1/3 of the butter mixture ended up all over the inside of my microwave and my floor. I recommend that you be very careful with the last two minutes, and try stirring again at minute 3 if your microwave is powerful. I omitted the vanilla and it was still very good.

The second recipe, for butterscotch "brownies," is of more dubious provenance. I attributed it in my recipe database to "Joy of Cooking," but the recipe for butterscotch brownies in my copy of Joy of Cooking is definitely more complicated than this one. I'm guessing it's either from my dad's copy or off the internet somewhere. Anyway, it's pretty simple--you melt 3 tbsp butter, combine it with a cup of brown sugar until wet, let cool a bit, then add 1/2 cup flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla, and an egg (I used 3 Tbsp applesauce). I also dumped in about 1/2 cup cinnamon chips. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes in a greased 8 x 8 pan. As you can see, mine turned out very thin and bubbly. Next time I would double the recipe, because I liked the gooey effect but I would prefer a bit more weight to my "brownies." Loved the butterscotch flavor.

Reminder: Time to Vote!

2010-09-22T05:20:00.002-05:00

Just a quick reminder that voting is in full swing for Project Food Blog. You can vote on the left-hand side of the the screen, and on Friday 400 bloggers will be selected to move on to round two. Thanks for voting!

Project Food Blog #1: Ready, Set, Blog!

2010-09-18T07:04:00.006-05:00

So, mesdames et messieurs, here we are. Week One of the long-anticipated Project Food Blog contest. The judges have asked us, for this round, to talk about what defines us as a foodblogger. In other words, who the heck am I? Some of you have been around since this blog's humble beginnings in 2007, when I eagerly moved into my first all-alone apartment as a first year law student in Iowa City. You witnessed my excitement at having an opportunity to do my shopping, pick my meals, and create them without any rules in place. The kitchen was, in those years, a refuge for me. It was a place outside of the strict environment of school, where I could make beautiful, sensuous desserts and messy, spectacular failures without anyone but you, the sympathetic online audience, to judge me.

Others of you are new, here by way of Foodbuzz, and so I believe a proper introduction is in place. My name is Judith. I am 25 years old, and I live in Baltimore, Maryland. I have a busy, hectic life as an administrative assistant for a small non-profit in Washington, DC. Every day I spend about 13 hours working and commuting by train to and from work, so my blog is in a state of transition right now as I learn how to cook in a constantly stressed, barely-there-budget environment. In a way, this contest is a great time for a blog rebirth. I'm not here to impress you with flashy photography (can't afford the camera!) or a gorgeous layout (can't afford Photoshop!) But what I do offer is a blog that comes from the heart. Food and writing are my passions. The other day I admitted to a friend "you know what? I don't think I actually like to cook that much. I like to eat." So this is my space to express a means to an end, and to give other stressed out, overworked and underpaid young people an idea of how to EAT well.

I bring a number of influences to the kitchen. First, I'm a Southerner. Second, I'm a vegetarian. That's right, folks, it's not an oxymoron. I grew up in North Carolina, and spent many years of my childhood and adolescence not eating meat. I went back to vegetarian at age 20, and this Thanksgiving will be the five year mark. I'm also something of a Europhile. I speak French, German, and some Russian and Turkish. I love playing with different cuisines, but northern French cream and butter is where my heart is. When you read my travel diaries, you might wonder what else I did in Europe, other than eat! Those laborious descriptions of every pastry, every cheese plate, were the seeds that ended up blossoming into this blog. It's been a challenge incorporating lactose-intolerance into my cooking, but I'm slowly learning how to be creative in a kitchen where cheese has always been my secret ingredient.

So what you can expect in this contest, and in this blog as a whole, is a mélange of food, creativity, and challenges coming together. I love to try to make downhome Southern food vegetarian. I love mixing different cuisines. And I love coming up with new ways to address the challenges of dietary restrictions and a limited time and budget. These days, I'm switching over from a mentality of scarcity to one of abundance. I may not make a lot of money in most people's terms, but gosh darnit, I know how to stretch it! I hope you enjoy this journey with me, and of course, remember to vote using the widget on the left hand side of your screen. Voting for this round starts September 20th!

Trader Joe's Quick Breakfast Fix

2010-09-17T16:50:00.003-05:00

That raggedy old camera is on me again, but I'm going to go ahead and post this and append the image later because the brilliance of Trader Joe's never fails to astonish me. I love the soy chorizo they sell, which is cheap and very meat-like, but it's really spicy. I mean really spicy. So here's my solution, an original recipe using all Trader Joe's products (and no, I didn't get any compensation for this, I just really like their food):

Vegetarian Breakfast Mash

1 tube Trader Joe's soy chorizo
1/2 jar Trader Joe's eggplant and garlic spread
1 tube Trader Joe's polenta

Mix all the ingredients together well. Microwave until hot. If you want it even less spicy, try adding some frozen corn with butter sauce.

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

2010-08-03T05:45:00.001-05:00

Well like I said in my last post, I had a few queued up, and then I lost the queued post! So I'm going back a bit in the recipe annals, which is probably good since I recently discovered my lactose intolerance and haven't been cooking as much while I adjust. The recipe for this strawberry ice cream is just the one in the Cuisinart ice cream maker manual. I made it with really great fresh strawberries from the farmer's market, and I think what really makes the taste is that you use lemon juice. I upped the portion of milk to cream and it was still thick and delicious, which proves that with fruit ice cream, it really is mostly just the quality of the fruit!

From the Pantry: Granola Bars

2010-07-05T15:21:00.003-05:00

First, apologies for the posting gap! I've been transitioning to a new job and thus a little bit absent, but I'm back now and have a few posts written in advance.

Now, granola bars. I wanted to do a little experiment to see whether I could save money by making my own granola bars as a portable snack during the week. I can't really afford to buy boxed granola bars regularly, and I went to Smitten Kitchen for the recipe that Deb highly recommended. These were very tasty, but more like a dessert bar than anything. I think the problem was that I picked mix ins like butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and coconut instead of dried fruits or nuts. I did use the optional peanut butter, and I included peanuts as well. I might try this recipe again, but I'd use unsweetened fruit and nuts to try to make the bars firmer and less sweet.

New Blog Tags

2010-05-30T13:53:00.002-05:00

Hello, readers!

While I'm waiting for my camera batteries to charge and gearing up for an evening of cooking the bounty I picked up at the farmer's market this morning, I wanted to introduce a few new tags I'll be using on the blog. I normally tag by ingredient, as well as a few other things like special blog features, and you can see all the tags on the left-hand side of your screen. I'll be cleaning the ingredient tags up a bit, but I also will be adding a few things to make the navigation more practical. These are the new tags and what they mean:

make again: recipes that I would make again, not necessarily all my favorites (those are starred in the recipe index), but the ones that I both liked and consider worth the effort required to put in regular rotation

make ahead: recipes that require advanced preparation, usually at least half a day

quick recipes: something you can put together in 15-20 minutes or less total

quick prep: might take a while, but the active cooking time is low; good recipes for folks with low energy or spoons

from the pantry: this is an existing tag, but I wanted to draw your attention to it because this is the tag where budget recipes live

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian Month One: Tomato Bulgur Pilaf with Cinnamon

2010-05-26T07:15:00.002-05:00

I've been hesitant to start this feature while my camera battery charger is missing, but I'm hoping that doing a post without a photo will magically cause it to appear. The feature I'm referring to is something that was loosely inspired by the Julie/Julia project, a project which I admittedly had no great love for when it was happening but was inspired by nonetheless. I wanted to do something like that with a cookbook, though I didn't really want to cook an entire book, and I didn't want to cook only from that book for a year. Instead, I decided to do a monthly cooking project, and what better book for this vegetarian blog than Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian?

I've broken the book down into 158 sections. I went mostly with the same level of section headers, though in some cases where a header at that level had an awful lot of content, I used the sub-headers. I left out a few of the vegetable headers that either didn't have a recipe at all or had one recipe and would be almost impossible to find in Baltimore. The goal is to expand my repertoire of simple, standard dishes, not to go wild and crazy. I'll be cooking from at least one section a month, which means that this would take thirteen years to complete if I didn't do any extras, but I will probably do extras. I won't be posting the recipes for copyright reasons, but I will include page numbers, and you can find them all in the hardcover edition of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, available wherever books are sold.

So, month one. I started with an old favorite, bulgur. The Bulgur section is just a few recipes, but I had to go for it first because I've been eating bulgur a lot, and frankly, it's a little tired. I picked out the Tomato Bulgur Pilaf with Cinnamon on page 556, which is actually a variation on Bulgur Pilaf with Vermicelli. One of my favorite things about this book is that it's full of variations, lists, and charts to expand the main recipes. I thought the way the variation was written out could use some work, because it told you what to add but not when or how to add it. Still, I did all right. I didn't use tomato paste or garlic, and I used water instead of stock. It turned out nice and spicy and flavorful. I did think the cinnamon made the flavor quite complex, but I would dial down the red pepper flake next time because the spice overwhelmed the rest of the flavors somewhat.

Product Review: Cuisinart Pure Indulgence Ice Cream Maker

2010-05-10T21:18:00.003-05:00

I recently received a Cuisinart Pure Indulgence 2 QT Ice Cream Maker to review from Cookware.com. Cuisinart advertises this machine as being able to make two quarts of ice cream, sorbet, or frozen yogurt, so I decided to give it a whirl on the frozen yogurt. I used a recipe for vanilla frozen yogurt from the manual that came with the machine, and I was impressed with how well it did the job. You'll notice from the picture that what you come up with is a lot of creamy frozen yogurt with some frozen shavings dumped on top. This is because the bowl freezes the ice cream through a coolant that is housed within the walls of the bowl. Thus, the metal walls are much colder than the middle. I recommend having your plastic or rubber spatula ready to go as soon as you stop the machine, because the quicker you scrape, the less you get those frozen shavings. That said, they mixed in well, and once I froze the yogurt for a couple of hours, it was a homogenous substance.

The benefits of this ice cream maker are its size and its ease of use. It's very simple and it does what it's supposed to. The 2 quart size is great because you can make enough for a party if you need to. You do have to store the bowl in the freezer, which means you need room for it, but you can use the base on your counter and it only takes 20-30 minutes to make dessert. The frozen yogurt I made was smooth and creamy, though I thought the recipe in the manual was a little bit too sweet. It also doesn't freeze well for the long term; if you're the only one eating you probably want to make ice cream instead. You can get your own ice cream maker at Cookware.com. I also noticed when I was browsing the site that they have a ton of decently priced bakeware, so you might want to check that out as well.

Disclaimer: Cookware.com provided an ice cream maker for review free of charge. Shortcut to Mushrooms reviews books and products as provided only when given complete freedom to write an honest review. No direction was provided in writing this post.

Foodie Bookshelf: Barbecued Tempeh Spread

2010-04-19T09:52:00.006-05:00

Just a head's up first about some changes around the blog. I have a bit of a recipe-collecting obsession, but I rarely actually *cook* from the recipes I collect! I'm trying to remedy this by paring down my google reader from 150 blogs to 75 to give me more time to cook and to blog. I'm going to try to blog twice a week and to cook more from blogs and cookbooks that I've been meaning to try. I also left Tuesdays with Dorie, in hopes that I'll have more time to do desserts from different sources now.

So we're back into spring/summer recipes, and I'm going back through stuff I cooked last year that I never got around to blogging. I can't believe I missed this one, because it's one of my favorite recipes! This is barbecue tempeh spread, and it comes from an unassuming little book called Simple Vegetarian Pleasures. The book isn't illustrated, but it's chock full of tasty vegetarian recipes, most of which are actually quite easy.

This was my one of my first attempts at cooking with tempeh, and I found that I love the stuff. At my co-op in Iowa City, it wasn't much more expensive than tofu, but the texture is to me much more palatable. As you can see here, when you chop it up and combine it with other ingredients it's not unlike meat, and the barbecue spread is rich and flavorful. It may not taste exactly like barbecue, but it's an entirely pleasant substitute for sandwiches.

I also tried a dessert recipe called "Wacky Cake." Apparently this is a fairly well-known retro cake, but I'd never tried it. I had run out of vanilla, so I actually replaced the vanilla in the recipe with anise extract for a licorice-flavored Wacky Cake, and it was a pretty good substitution! The glaze is sweet and sticky, and I liked pouring it on the cake in the pan because that's a much less messy way to do it. It's best the first day, but stays fairly moist.

Barbecued Tempeh Spread
Simple Vegetarian Pleasures

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1-1/2 tsp chili powder
8 oz. tempeh, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely diced
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp ketchup
1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp molasses
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a medium, non-stick skillet over medium. Stir in chili powder and cook ten seconds, then stir in tempeh and toss to coat. Cook, tossing frequently, about seven minutes or until golden. Scrape into a bowl and let cool. Stir in celery and onion. In a small bowl, combine all remaining ingredients. Pour over tempeh and toss well. Cover and chill a half hour to three days.

Wacky Cake
Simple Vegetarian Pleasures

1-1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp distilled white or apple cider vinegar

Chocolate Glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat to 350, 325 if using Pyrex. A good ten minutes later, start cake. Place flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, and salt in an 8 x 8 cake pan. Stir with a fork until uniform in color. Pour on water, vanilla, oil, and vinegar and immediately stir with the fork until completely blended. Use rubber spatula to help get anything in the corners. Place in oven and bake 30 minutes or until knife comes out clean. Cool cake completely on wire rack, about two minutes. Don't unmold. For the glaze, combine sugar, butter, milk, and cocoa in small saucepan and bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to a lively simmer and stir constantly for two minutes. Remove from heat and stir five minutes or until cool. Add vanilla, then pour glaze on the cake. Let cool completely before serving, about an hour.

TWD: Swedish Visiting Cake

2010-04-13T17:00:00.002-05:00

I just started muttering "My Swedish Visiting Cake brings all the girls to the yard..." I may be beyond help. Anyway, this cake was the Tuesdays with Dorie pick for today, and I found it absolutely delicious! I made it during that cold weekend of baking, which was perfect. The cast iron really does allow for a crisp crust, and though I left it in the oven on the long side to let the middle get golden, the bottom was still just a medium brown. The cake had a lovely dense, moist crumb, and like the Coconut Tea Cake it was really good for breakfast.

Quick Hit: Pomegranate Kir Royale

2010-04-08T07:18:00.003-05:00

I hadn't decided whether to blog about this because I couldn't get a great photo with my phone, but it was a really tasty drink! It's the pomegranate kir royale at Bonefish Grille, something that you may only be able to get in the wintertime, but it's worth it. Bonefish is a chain restaurant, so grab some friends and plunk down on your nearest barstools to order a few as soon as you get the chance. Look for some more tasty reviews coming up soon!

From the Pantry: Tater Tot Casserole

2010-04-02T08:52:00.004-05:00

Last weekend, I cooked up a bit of a storm. After getting back from New York, I was on a simple food kick, mainly because of all the time I spent flipping through my aunt's collection of Real Simple magazine. I also wanted to do a last round of comfort food on a day where it was cold enough to run the oven, so I ended up with a number of items including this ultimate comfort food, tater tot casserole. I've been needing to eat more fruits and veggies, and this recipe has plenty: a box of frozen corn, a box of frozen peas, and a couple of onions. I also just happened to have a bag of tater tots in the freezer, so it used those in a way that balanced out fried with healthy. I modified the recipe from this one by Jael Baldwin. I actually did intend to include beans (black) but I completely forgot them! It didn't really matter, though.

Vegetarian Tater Tot Casserole

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 bag frozen tater tots
1 can water
2 small yellow onions
1 small box frozen peas
1 small box frozen corn
onion powder
garlic powder

Stir together cream of mushroom soup and water in 13×9 pan. Add approximately 1/4-1/3 of the tater tots, and the frozen veggies. Roughly chop the onion and sprinkle over. Shake on some garlic and onion powder. Spread the remaining tots in a single layer on top. Bake in 375 oven for about 45-50 minutes. You should have crispy tater tots on top without them being burnt, and the mixture beneath should be happily bubbling.

Eating Out: Baltimore, Raleigh, and New York

2010-04-01T13:42:00.005-05:00

I've been a bit remiss in restaurant reviews lately, even though I don't actually go to that many restaurants. This first picture was taken at my birthday brunch, when my friend Rachelle took me out to my favorite restaurant in Baltimore, the Golden West Cafe. I almost always get the same thing, Huevos Montulenos, which are pictured more appetizingly below along with a few of the tater tots I really cannot go without. They come with chipotle mayo and ranch, which is enough to make me happy. The huevos are also really good, mostly because of the fried plantains. I can't get enough of those things.

I also went to a couple of very good restaurants a couple of weeks ago in New York, though the lighting wasn't really blog-worthy for photographing. We went to lunch at Blosom Cafe, a vegan place on the Upper West Side (I think it's Columbus and 82nd). The service was pretty terrible, though I blame it all on this one egotistical waiter and would be willing to try again. It's a bit pricey, but not terrible. I had a Southern Seitan sandwich, which could've done with less bread, but I'll forgive them because the sweet potato fries were amazing, as were the charred brussels sprouts I ordered as a side. We also had the carrot cake, which was yummy, and some very tasty tea.

For dinner after a screening of Alice and Wonderland, we went to the midtown Europa Cafe (there are multiple locations). It's a good place for a light meal, with a menu that includes quiches, crepes, and salads as well as some more substantial entrees. I had a very tasty salad with warm goat cheese on top, and the next day I tried my aunt's leftover spinach quiche, which was amazing. This last photo is actually from a holiday trip to Raleigh in December, and it's mostly there to prove a point. Vegetarians, order sides in chain restaurants! We went to the Bonefish Grille and my veggie sides and salad were just as tasty as my parents' pricier entrees.

TWD: Coconut Tea Cake

2010-03-30T19:13:00.003-05:00

I was actually surprised by the Coconut Tea Cake because from the description I expected a much more typically European cake. My cake was moist and fluffy with a lovely crackly golden crust and a sweet flavor. I used almond extract because I was out of vanilla and I also used Bacardi Limon instead of dark rum because it was what I had on hand, but both those substitutions worked fine. I'm looking forward to the other half in my freezer! As always, don't forget to visit the other TWD bakers.

TWD: Thumbprints for Us Big Guys

2010-03-10T09:37:00.003-06:00

I'm a bit late on this, because my camera batteries were all drained yesterday, but here's Tuesday's recipe. I thought these cookies were really tasty with that roast hazelnut flavor. I used key lime jelly instead of jam, so it was a bit thinner and as you can see some of it missed the cookies. I ended up just letting the bottoms absorb the jelly and it was quite tasty. Lime/hazelnut is an odd combination, but not a bad one. I would recommend that you really press all the way to the bottom when poking the holes; I got a lot of thick cookie and not as much space for jam. I also think this would be really good just dropping a couple of dark chocolate chips into the cookies right after they come out of the oven. See the rest of the TWD bakers' progress here.

From the Pantry: Scalloped Potatoes

2010-02-26T14:49:00.003-06:00

We've all heard about food porn, but this is cheese porn. Sadly, I've developed a sensitivity to cheese and can't eat it very much, but I did a variation on scalloped potatoes here that allows a little bit of cheese to go a long way and is also easy on the wallet. I found potatoes and onions on sale, which is easy to do in winter, and left the cheese out between the layers, instead focusing on that browned top. I also used the Essence that Foodbuzz sent me a while back to season the flour, giving it a spicy kick. Delicious!

Scalloped Potatoes

2 russet potatoes
6 small yellow onions
flour
salt
milk
margarine
Emeril's original "essence"
grated Italian cheese blend

Lightly grease a 13 x 9 Pyrex and preheat to 350. Wash the potatoes thoroughly and slice them and the onions relatively thin. Make an overlapping layer of potato slices. Salt the layer, then dust with flour and essence. Dot with margarine. Use all the onions for the next layer, then the rest of the potatoes. Do the same salt, dust, and dot routine. I forgot the margarine on that layer but it didn't really matter. Cover with foil and pop in the oven for 45 minutes or so, or until the potatoes are tender when pierced by a fork. Uncover and sprinkle with a light layer of cheese. Return to the oven for about 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is nicely browned. It'll be pretty wet, but that's okay. Serve warm.

Eggnog Pancakes

2010-02-23T13:25:00.002-06:00

So back in January, I had some buttermilk lying around to be used, and I'd been in the mood for pancakes. Joy the Baker's recipe for Eggnog Pancakes showed up on my feed reader, and I decided impulsively to try it. My impressions? I think her chai spice latte pancakes were better, but mileage may vary, because I don't have a spice grater and thus I was using pre ground nutmeg, which everyone knows is not nearly as good. The flavor of the alcohol did come out a lot, and I liked it. Good with maple syrup!

From the Pantry: Hilary's Super-Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-02-18T21:28:00.004-06:00

My friend Hilary is the sort of cook I would like to be--someone who walks into a grocery store, sees ingredients, and has an idea of what to do with them. Also someone who sees something on a foodblog and goes to the store that very night to get the ingredients. This is her recipe, the world's easiest freaking cookies ever. Okay they're more just a way to eat peanut butter straight without it sticking to your mouth, but I have no problem with that. It's a great go-to when you want cookies but don't want to work for them. You can bake one at a time, and just grab some dough when you're in the mood.

Hilary's Super-Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

Stir. Bake cookies in the toaster oven one or two at a time, about 350 for about ten minutes or until the bottoms are starting to brown. You can also do it longer and they will become more solid and cookie-like, but dark. Leave the dough in the fridge and use at will.

TWD: Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-02-16T10:33:00.005-06:00

It's kind of sad to see how the other TWD bakers did this week, because everyone has these lovely, thin, crispy chocolate chip cookies, which is exactly what I love. On the other hand, I followed the recipe to the letter and I got these so-so cookies that were sort of chewy warm, but like rocks when they cooled. I dunked them in tea and they weren't a total loss, but I could've bought the same thing at the grocery store. Definitely sticking with my tried-and-true recipes (and maybe Jacques Torres' if I get around to it).

TWD: Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia

2010-02-09T19:21:00.002-06:00

My new. Favorite. Brownie. I don't care what the other TWD bakers say about it being too wet, too gooey, underbaked. I loooove me some melted chocolate. And this is one gooey, melty brownie. Warm, it looks like this, with a cakey bottom, fudgy middle with lots of melty bits, and thin, crispy top. Chilled, you get something very dense and fudgey, or you can bring it to room temp for something in between. I used a mix of white, brown, and golden sugar with the eggs because I ran out of white, and that worked just fine. I also used sea salt, which I highly recommend, and didn't reduce the amount because I like my sweet and salty. I used an 8" square pan, ungreased, and that was fine. Dorie warns that the brownies are very delicate, but I found that once cooled to room temp, they sliced very neatly and were easy to lift from the pan and wrap for freezing. The delicate part is the top, so just don't press on that and you'll be fine.

Tasting Notes: Just Like Mama Used to Make

2010-02-02T10:35:00.004-06:00

First, I just want everyone to have a moment of respect for that pan. Damn. Okay, anyway, on to the post... You may have noticed that my parents come up from time to time on this blog, and rightfully so. I wouldn't necessarily call either of my parents a "foodie," but they both know their way around the kitchen. For all I think of Daddy as the chef in the family, and use him as my go-to guy for a panicked grocery store phone call about what to substitute for this and that vegetable or for advice on how to save a potentially ruined dish, I've noticed that Mom comes up more often on here, and there's a reason for that. Mom knows how to do comfort food, and a lot of this blog has been about getting back to my roots, embracing what's Southern in me, and indulging in some good old fashioned cheesy comfort. You've seen several incarnations of mommy pasta so far, as well as Mom's standby gratins dish, but since it seems to be a pimento cheese week, it's time to unveil Mom's tried-and-true grilled cheese technique.

Grilled cheese shows up a lot on this blog, mainly because I cannot get enough. When I was home for a weekend in December, and Mom made me grilled pimento sandwiches for lunch both days, I was kind of in comfort food heaven. The funny thing is, I am physically incapable of reproducing her technique. I don't know what it is, but I can't do it. Nevertheless, I'll recount her instruction here, and maybe some of you are better bloggers than me and will be able to create the heavenly grilled cheese pictured. Absolutely key, Mom says, is getting your pan hot. Make sure it's very hot before any bread touches it--it's better to lower the heat mid-grill than to have to turn it up. Put some mayo on the inside of your sandwich, spread with pimento cheese (see my last post for a homemade recipe), and generously slather the outside of the bread with margarine. Now grill that sucker. Let it chill for a while before you check it. It's better a bit burnt than undercooked. Flip (carefully). Repeat. Eat that sucker. Yes, I know, it's kind of sad that I can't manage this. I blame my stove. But go on, friends! Go forth and be cheesy! Live long and pimento.

My Southern Christmas Lunch

2010-01-31T14:52:00.003-06:00

I didn't really celebrate Christmas last year, but I did humor the holiday by doing a little something for lunch. I had been craving yeast rolls, and I saw these dill sour cream rolls on Coconut & Lime so I decided to give them a shot along with some homemade pimento cheese. The cheese was awesome and easy; I combined a couple of different epicurious recipes and made it with extra sharp cheddar only (some call for white cheddar but that's harder to find). The rolls kind of failed, but I want to make it clear that that was entirely my fault, not Rachel's recipe, and I may try again with less fail-y yeast and a warmer environment. I knew they wouldn't rise in my 65 degree apartment, but tried anyway. I have to say though, despite the completely different consistency (very, very dense and not flaky or fluffy), the taste is pretty good. They worked well for a little pimento sandwich.

Pimento Cheese

8 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
4 oz pimentos, drained and mashed up into little pieces with a fork
2/3 cup mayonnaise
Black pepper and cayenne to taste

Mix together everything but the mayo, then add mayo and mash it all up real good with a fork. Let rest in the fridge a couple of hours. Enjoy.

TWD: Cocoanana Bread

2010-01-26T13:43:00.003-06:00

This week, the TWD bakers are making Cocoanana Bread. This bread is chocolate to the max, almost more like a cake. I loved the taste, with the melty bittersweet chocolate chunks and my good Trader Joe's cocoa powder. It was a little thick and hard to work with with the hand mixer, but my little mixer persevered well. It was a little dry, and I think next time I'd do the optional melted chocolate in the batter to see whether that helps. The top is wonderfully moist and cakey, though. A hint for any banana breads: if you freeze your bananas once they get brown, you can stick 'em in the microwave for a minute per banana and then you'll have a warm, pre-mashed banana ready to go. Just cut the peel open and let your banana glop out into the bowl.

From the Pantry: A Slightly Shinier Beans and Rice

2010-01-22T13:48:00.002-06:00

I must have been about five when I learned that beans and rice are the perfect protein complement. And when I'm trying to save money and get my nutrition in, they are definitely the way to go. This New Year's Eve, I ignored the black eyed peas wisdom and threw together this simple black beans and rice combination. One bag of boil-in-a-bag brown rice, one can of black beans, a healthy dollop of sour cream, a big shake of garlic powder, and a fair shake of paprika, and you've got this beans-and-rice medley. Sour cream makes everything worth eating.

Devilled Eggs

2010-01-16T15:04:00.000-06:00

A while ago, I looked through a book of devilled egg recipes. Just devilled eggs. Sixty or seventy devilled recipes. Some were really weird. Some were intriguing (avocado?) Some were just plain snooty (caviar). The other day, I needed something to eat and I didn't feel like going shopping, so I boiled some eggs, and I decided to make them more fun by deviling. The recipe I was used was not really a recipe, it's just what I tend to do. The yolks of four eggs go with a big spoonful of mayo, a small spoonful of mustard (I used the Emeril's horseradish brand that Foodbuzz provided to me a while ago; very good combo), a bit of garlic powder, and of course paprika on top. You can't really go wrong.

TWD: Cocoa Buttermilk Birthday Cake

2010-01-05T21:45:00.002-06:00

Happy birthday, Tuesdays with Dorie! This week there were two options to celebrate TWD's anniversary, and I chose Cocoa Buttermilk Birthday Cake. I had to buy malted milk powder online, so it was a bit of an ordeal, but fun nonetheless. My cake turned out a bit dry, probably because I didn't add the optional melted chocolate to the batter. It was the kind of cake that really is best on day one, served room temperature as suggested. The frosting is tasty, sweet, and smooth, so even if you're eating the cake throughout the week, you can do a trick where you microwave a slice for 30 seconds, softening the frosting to a melty consistency, and then combine the frosting and cake crumbs to balance moisture and sweetness. It didn't have an obvious malt flavor, but maybe that's just me. You can see how the other TWD bakers did here.

2009 Wrap-Up

2009-12-30T16:44:00.002-06:00

So my Google Reader alerted me to the fact that it's about that time again: time for a year-end wrap up. This has been a year of a lot of cooking and not a lot of posting, so instead of doing a month-to-moth I'm just going to link some of my favorite recipes for the year. 2010 will mark some changes, I think. I'm resolving to post more, and especially to comment more on the foodblogs I enjoy. I've also had some stomach difficulties recently, which means my diet may shift a little bit away from the cheese and sugar end of things. Other than TWD, I'll be avoiding desserts. Finally, I got a breadmaker for Christmas, so there may be some bread recipes every now and again when I decide to shift away from plain whole wheat sandwich bread. Happy New Decade, everyone!

Best 2009 Recipes

Dim & the Dark Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Savory Scones
See the Top Ten or So Here
Pecan Pie

Cookbook Review: Cornbread Gospels

2009-12-29T20:16:00.003-06:00

This review is a long time coming, and I'm a little embarrassed because this is actually the best review copy I've received so far as a foodblogger. Way back in October 2008, I posted about an unfortunate cornbread experience. Soon after, cookbook author Crescent Dragonwagon contacted me about her book, Cornbread Gospels, and offered to send me a copy. I was really excited when I flipped through, because it's chock full of recipes for one of my favorite foods, and I really like the way it's organized by region so you both have an idea of what you're getting and can take a little tour of the cornbread world. Which brings me to my cornbread experience. So, a year later, after law school, I finally got around to actually making cornbread again. I thought I'd use some leftover buttermilk in a recipe, but ended up committing cornbread sacrilege. See, I'm from North Carolina, and I picked a recipe in the Yankee section of the book (technically "Northern Cornbreads," chapter two). The problem is, I've always loved sweet cornbreads, and none of the Southern recipes had quite enough sugar to be satisfying. So I ditched the buttermilk, got some half and half, and tried Durgin Park cornbread. Yes, not only Yankee, but Boston, even. And it was very good. Dense, sweet, maybe not the best cornbread I've ever had, but definitely satisfying. No recipe, because you can get the darned book for $10 on Amazon, and it's worth it. I noticed that Crescent has a book called Passionate Vegetarian, too, so I may have to take a look at that.

Cookbook Review: Vegetarian Revenge

2009-12-28T18:33:00.003-06:00

Recently, the publisher Purslane Press sent my a review copy of a book called Vegetarian Revenge. The book is geared towards low-fat vegetarian cooking, which isn't necessarily my personal focus (I care more about all-around nutrients than fat content). It does have a good selection of recipes, though, if you're looking to eat healthy, and nice full-color photos. I tried a balsamic roast onion recipe, which was easy and pretty tasty. I think next time I would've boosted the proportion of sugar to vinegar in the recipe, or maybe just used better vinegar. The onions were pleasantly soft, though, with a good flavor, and easy to eat. Thanks to Purslane Press for the book!

TWD: My Favorite Pecan Pie

2009-12-22T20:48:00.002-06:00

I have to agree with Dorie on this one, folks. This is definitely my favorite pecan pie, too. Someone mentioned that the chocolate and espresso and cinnamon cut the sweetness of the pie, which is what makes it so good, but for me it's just chocolate. And espresso. I mean, say no more. It's beautiful just a teeny bit warmer than room temp, with the chocolate still melty. I don't have a pie tin so I made it in a 9" cake pan, and the dough turned out kind of thick around the bottom, so I made 2/3 of the filling recipe to compensate, which worked perfectly. The crust is like one big cookie. It's definitely good, though I'm not sure the effort is necessarily worth it compared to a frozen crust. This would be great for Christmas Day if anyone's still looking for recipes. You can find out how the other TWD bakers did here.

Sage Apple Crumble with Eggnog Sauce

2009-12-18T11:32:00.002-06:00

So this is one of those recipes that I made last year and sadly can't for the life of me remember how I did it. It's a combination of a few recipes, I do remember -- one for the apple filling, one for the crumble topping with the sage, and another for the eggnog sauce. So it was really good, but perhaps not recreateable. I'm going to think about it and get back to you if anything comes to me!

Roasted Applesauce & Delicata Squash

2009-12-17T13:17:00.003-06:00

Given how much I cooked last year around this time, and given how much my budget is reduced having been unsuccessful at job-hunting for 14 months, I'm taking this opportunity to blog some winter recipes that I made last year. This post features a recipe for roasted spiced applesauce that I found on a blog called my muffin thursdays and a recipe for maple-glazed delicata squash rings found on a blog called chick in the kitchen. I made these both to bring in to an editing session for my law journal, and they got very good reviews.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I think I used pancake syrup or maybe honey for the squash, because I know I didn't have maple syrup at the time. I might try the recipe again now that I have the real thing. The applesauce was really impressive. I love that dark, roasted apple flavor with the spices. I kept it quite chunky, too.

TWD: Sablés

2009-12-08T20:51:00.001-06:00

They're far more appetizing than they look in this image, enough so that I ate 15 in two days, but I have to say that the recipe was kind of a pain. I always have this problem with shortbread, where the dough is too crumbly to work with and most of it ends up on the counter or floor. About half of my cookies were pieced together from crumbs, and I got 15 instead of fifty. Even with plastic I couldn't get an actual log shape, and it hardly held together when yolking, sugaring, and slicing, even after six hours in the fridge. The taste is mostly worth it, as I've been craving shortbread forever, but I wouldn't make it more than once a year. Check out all the other TWD bakers.

Cranberry Relish

2009-12-05T18:21:00.002-06:00

For this giveaway, Michelle at Brown Eyed Baker is asking us to blog about our favorite holiday recipes. I have to admit, though, that I haven't actually made any of my family's holiday dishes since I started taking photographs of my food. I hope a photo-free post will thus be welcomed. Also, my #1 favorite holiday dish has a seafood, which I don't eat anymore, and my #2 favorite isn't a recipe at all (yeast rolls, which we buy at the store). Now that I think about it, I don't actually have a favorite holiday recipe, because we don't really have any holiday recipes in our family. Thus, I'm going to have to go with the only recipe I know of, which I don't even like, but hey, it's a holiday recipe! Cranberry relish, made with a meat grinder. No, I don't know why. It's tradition. That was always my job, and as the meat grinder got older, it got more and more difficult, until we finally stopped, but the basic idea is this. Take a bunch of cranberries and couple of orange peels sliced in ribbons and feed them through an old fashioned hand-crank meat grinder. Add sugar to taste. Ta da!

Shortcut to Mushrooms Recipe Index

2009-12-04T14:12:00.005-06:00

Please note: This is a comprehensive index of all the recipes found on my website. Some are typed out in full, some are just linked. I'll try to make a note if the links are to a non-English website. Of course, full credit for all recipes goes to whoever created them originally; this is just intended to be a way to surf around the blog if you're looking for meal ideas. Original recipes are indicated by an (O) in front of the link, and my favorite recipes have a * in front of them.

Snacks

Cranberry Hazelnut Crisps
Sweet and Spicy Walnuts

Breakfast

*Breakfast Quinoa
*Chai Spiced Buttermilk Pancakes
(O) *Cheesy Grits My Way
*Crepes
Crunchy Granola I
*Crunchy Granola II
(O) Deviled Eggs
Eggnog Pancakes
Fried Matzoh
Menemen
(O) *Menemen My Way
*Rosemary and Feta Fried Potatoes
Scrambled Eggs
Spanish Tortilla

Spreads, Dips, Jams, Jellies, and Other Condiments

*Barbecued Tempeh Spread
*Caramelized Onions
*Cheddar Ale Spread
(O) Coconut Corn and Black Bean Salsa
(O) *Fig-Whisky Jam
*Pimento Cheese
(O) Spinach Dip
*Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Sauces

Cilantro Sauce
Eggplant Marinara
Hollandaise Sauce
*Mushrooms Bourgignon

Appetizers and Sides

Asparagus with Citrus Sauce and Almonds on Mashed Potatoes
Balsamic Roast Onions
Bloomin' Onion and Horseradish Sauce
Corn-Stuffed Red Peppers
*Curried Green Tomatoes Over Polenta
(O) Everything But the Kitchen Sink Devilled Eggs
Fried Brussels Sprouts
Fried Green Tomatoes
Fried Okra
Eggplant Caviar
(O) Grilled Tortilla Wedges with Fancy Mustard
(O) Judith's Super Easy Vegetables
Leeks Simmered in Wine
(O) Melon Bruschetta
Microwave Mushroom Leek Risotto
(O) *Mushroom Improv
(O) *Mushrooms Over Polenta
*Poêlée au Champignons du Miel (French)
(O) Quick Veggie Fry Up
Ricotta Stuffed Mushrooms
(O) *Roast Acorn Squash
Roast Delicata Squash
Roast Delicata Squash II
(O) *Roast Summer Squash with Goat Cheese
*Roasted Applesauce
*Spaghetti Squash
*Zucchini Patties

Soups and Salads

Bulgur Salad
Cacik
Cucumber and Avocado Soup
Cucumber Salad
Eggplant Panazella
(O) Eggplant Yoghurt Salad
(O) Fruit Salad
*Leek and Potato Soup
Lebneh
(O) Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad
*Winter Friendship Soup

Sandwiches

Cucumber and Cream Cheese Sandwiches
*Grilled Cheese
Mom's Grilled Cheese
*Mom's Grilled Cheese II
Pa amb Tomàquet

Pasta

(O) Cheesy Pasta with Cheese (and Basil)
(O) *Cherry Tomato Mommy Pasta Variation
(O) Easy Peasy Pasta
(O) Eggplant "Leftovers Pasta" with Tomato Sauce and Goat Cheese
Linguine with Sage Burnt Butter Sauce and Sauteed Sweet Potato
*Mac 'n' Cheese I
*Mac 'n' Cheese II
*Mushroom Caviar
*Mushroom Stroganoff
Pasta Gratins with Goat Cheese, Sage, and Mushrooms
Spaghetti with Avocado and Cashew Pesto
(O) Spring Pasta

Casseroles

(O) Broccoli Casserole
Corn Pudding
Corn Pudding II
*Eggplant Rounds with Cheese and Red Wine Tomato Sauce
Herbed Summer Squash and Potato Torte
Scalloped Potatoes
Squash Casserole
Sweet Corn Puddin'
Tater Tot Casserole
*Vegetable Gratins

Curries, Stir Fries, and Sautes

*Bohemienne (French)
*Cheesy Baked Leeks
Coconut Curried Tofu with Green Jasmine Rice
*Eggplant Korma
*Roasted Eggplant Medley
Thai Butternut Squash Over Quinoa
Tofu Scramble
Vegetable Tian

Other Mains

(O) Beans and Rice Medley
(O) Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onion Tortilla
*Cheesy Tortilla Pie
*Cottage Cheese Walnut Nutloaf
(O) Easy Tacos
Orange-Glazed Tofu
Quinoa Cakes with Zucchini Ragu

Quickbreads

Banana Bread
Banana Bread with Cinnamon Chips
Cake au Miel, Romarin, et Gorgonzola
Cocoanana Bread
*Durgin Park Cornbread
Fresh Corn Cornbread
Pain d'Epices
*Vegan Banana Bread

Biscuits, Rolls, and Savory Pastry

Caramelized Vegetable Tart
Dill Sour Cream Rolls
*Green Tomato Tarte Tatin
Parmesan and Rosemary Shortbreads
Mini Pizzas
Port Salut Tart
(O) Quick Mushroom Pastry Pockets
*Savory Scones
Sweet Potato Biscuits

Muffins

Allspice Crumb Muffins
(O) Good Life Muffins

Cakes

(O) Cheater Black Forest Cherry Cake
*Chocolate Espresso Mousse Cake
Cocoa Buttermilk Birthday Cake
*Coconut Angel Food Cake
Coconut Cupcakes
*Coconut Tea Cake
*Ginger-Ginger Cake
*Grapefruit Yoghurt Cake
Holiday Bundt Cake
Mocha Coffee Cake
*No-Bake Cheesecake with Cherry Sauce
*Red Plum and Kiwi Cheesecake
*Red Velvet Cake
Sachertorte
*Spice Cake
*Swedish Visiting Cake
Wacky Cake

Pies

Chocolate Chess Pie
*Mooless Chocolate Pie
*My Favorite Pecan Pie
Pecan Pie
*Ridiculously Amazing Pumpkin Pie Thing

Brownies and Bars

*Chocolate Cream Cheese Ricotta Brownies
Espresso Cheesecake Brownies
*Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia

Cookies

*Almond Crunch Cookies
Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
*Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies II
*Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies
*Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Chocolate Mint Cookies
Cranberry Oat Cookies
*Dim and the Dark Cookies
*Feqqas
Everything Oat Cookies
Hilary's Super-Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
*Mini Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies
Sablés
Thumbprints for Us Big Guys
Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
*World Peace Cookies

Pastry

Flaky Apple Turnovers
Holiday Fig Scones
*Kala Jamun

Fruit-Based Desserts

Apricot Compote
*Apricot Crumble
Brandied Plums
*Cran-Apple Crisps
Figs in Muscat
Pumpkin Challah Bread Pudding
* Sage Apple Crumble with Eggnog Sauce
(O) Sweet Rice Pancakes

Frozen Desserts

*Cool Coffee Granita
Red Wine Granita
Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

Confections

*Black and White Truffles
*Whisky Peanut Fudge
White Chocolate Gnocchi with Strawberry Sauce

Puddings, Mousses, Etc.

*Butterscotch Pudding
*Chocolate Orange Custard Cups
Coconut Creams with Poached Rhubarb
Coconut Panna Cotta
Pumpkin Flan
Sabayon with Blackberries
Tangelo Creme Brulee

Drinks

(O) *Cherry Garcia Cocktail
(O) *Chocolate Cherrytini
Egg Cream
(O) Frozen Berry Smoothie
(O) Judith's Calcium-Fortified Debate Cocktail
Mulled Wine
(O) *Peanut Butter Smoothie
Root Beer Float
(O) *Sweet Tea
(O) White Peach and Banana Smoothie

Blogs I Am Thankful For

2009-11-26T21:42:00.003-06:00

All right, folks. Behold, the project I've been working on for the past two months, which is why I've only had TWD posts for a while. As you know, I normally do a blogs I am thankful for post, but this year I wanted to not only mention the blogs but actually make a recipe from each of them. This was a somewhat daunting tasks, but I succeeded, with only one exception (I was going to make something from Delicious Days today and there was a big of an egg shortage in my refrigerator). In order from least to most successful recipe (though let's be clear, the blogs themselves are all great -- sometimes I just have a faux pas), here are some of my favorite blogs. Happy Thanksgiving!

#21: Sweet and Spicy Almonds from Dragon's Kitchen

The failure of this recipe, I have to point out, was totally my fault. I was watching fairly carefully, stirring every few minutes as Dragon suggests, but in about 30 seconds they went from golden and bubbling to blackened. I tried a few anyway, but I couldn't really stomach my blackened walnuts. That said, I really like this blog because it's full of fairly basic recipes that look tasty and easy to prepare.

#20: Cranberry Hazelnut Crisps from La Cuisine d'Helene

This is a blog that I come across frequently when I'm looking for baking and dessert recipes. I tried the cranberry hazelnut crisps, which weren't bad, but I had a little storage snafu. Don't put these in a bread box -- they were crisp when they came out of the oven, but then softened up in the bread box, and ended up tasting kind of stale. That said, I like the cranberry and hazelnut flavor a lot and the recipe's not hard. You want to make sure the loaf is nice and cold before slicing, but you don't have to do it paper thin to get results.

#19: Linguine with Sage Burnt Butter Sauce and Sauteed Sweet Potato from Cook (Almost) Anything Once

Cook (Almost) Anything Once is a long-time favorite blog of mine because of the beautiful pictures and very simple recipes. Unfortunately, the recipes often feature some specialty ingredient or brand that I can't get or can't afford, so I haven't done much cooking from this blog. The linguine I found to be good overall, though it took me a long time to get the butter to even start to brown, and I don't think it was really dark enough. The pasta was mostly oily, though the sweet potato and sage were nice flavors and I enjoyed it with shaved parmesan.

#18: Pasta Gratins with Goat Cheese, Sage, and Mushrooms from Cafe Fernando

Cafe Fernando is one of those big-name blogs that everyone reads, and I don't keep terribly good track of it, but I studied Turkish and so I enjoy seeing what Turkish food bloggers are cooking. These gratins are a really clever idea for health food, but I found them lacking in taste. The mushrooms came through, but the sauce was quite bland. It was mostly the taste of the herb (I used basil instead of cheese), and I didn't think that was enough to carry the dish. I might try a stronger cheese were I to do this again. Also, I used a little bit more pasta than called for so I ended up getting six tartelette tins and an 8 x 8 dish out of it The big dish was much better and more moist.

#17: Eggplant Marinara from Coconut & Lime

This eggplant marinara didn't strike me so much as marinara as just a pasta sauce. It was thinner than I think of for marinara, with big chunks of eggplant, instead of uniformly thick. That said, I liked the tangy taste and it went well with pasta, if not so much a great dipper for mozzarella sticks. I love Coconut & Lime's blog because Rachel does only original recipes, and because she's a fellow Baltimore blogger. I also enjoy that there are thoughts after each recipe so that you get an honest, concise take on the recipe. I've done several recipes from her blog and though this isn't my favorite, it's a good staple pasta sauce.

#16: Sweet Corn Puddin' from Kitchen Wench

I used to visit Kitchen Wench more than I do these days, but it's still a great standby blog for recipes. I love corn puddin', just like all the delicious Southern corn recipes -- cornbread, corn muffins, corn pie... really, after living in Iowa, I wonder if we don't like corn more than they do. This is a nice reliable dish, dense and sweet and plenty corny, as well as being easy to prepare. It's also not watery, which is a problem I've had before in corn pudding.

#15: Spaghetti with Avocado and Cashew Pesto from the Passionate Cook

Again, a blog that I don't visit as much as I used to, but a very reliable source for recipes. This pesto was an interesting idea, though I did a lot of substitutions, using mint and almonds instead of the specified ingredients. I liked the way the creamy avocado brought the pasta together, though the mint taste as very strong and next time I would probably just stick with basil.

#14: Pain d'Épices by Amuses Bouche

I have a number of French blogs on my list, and this is a longtime favorite. The pain d'épices was relatively straightforward, and the taste was about what you would expect: a dense, sweet spice cake. The amount of honey in the recipe seemed really off to me, so I reduced to a few tablespoons and that worked well. I also mixed my own basic ratio of quatre d'épices, playing around with it a bit.

#13: Eggplant Korma by Beau à la Louche

Beau à la Louche is a fun blogger I've been following for a while, and this korma did not disappoint. It's my standby fare for Indian restaurants, but the last time I tried it at home I wasn't too impressed. I found that using full-fat coconut milk really helped, and quality does make a difference here. The recipe was a great balance of sweet and spicy, and definitely recognizable as korma.

#12: Cheddar Ale Spread by Peabody

I adore Peabody because not only does she produce consistently tasty-looking recipes, but she also has a sense of humor and always comes across as very candid in her blog posts. She's a big fan of sweet things, but I selected a savory recipe this time, and was not disappointed. The flavor of the ale (I used Pyramid's apricot ale) was definitely pleasant, and the crunch of the hazelnuts worked well. My food processor situation right now is... interesting... so there were more chunks than intended, but I actually liked that. Very dense, actually works as a meal if you're so inclined. Also, it looks like potato salad in the picture but in reality it's orange.

#11: Chocolate Espresso Mousse Cake by Tartelette

I have to admit that I'm kind of intimidated by Tartelette, who always has the most gorgeous little desserts with several different subsets of steps. However, despite the number of steps her recipes usually seem doable enough, and this first one was not bad at all. The cake was a bit dense and dry in European fashion, but the mousse was fantastic, and so the combination worked really well. I didn't bother with a crumb coating and I don't think it needed it. Got rave reviews at the office.

#10: Cake au Miel, Romarin, et Gorgonzola by Foodbeam

Foodbeam is a fantastic French/English blog that specializes in desserts but has a little bit of everything. This "cake" is sort of in between a cake and a bread, with a really interesting mix of flavors. It has a nice dense, moist crumb with a delicious melty ribbon of blue cheese running through the middle. My crust got a bit too dark, but I found it really yummy sliced and reheated by the slice for about 30 seconds in the microwave.

#9: Poêlée de Champignons au Miel by Chez Lorette

Another French blog I enjoy is Chez Lorette, and of course any mushroom recipe gets bumped up a few points by default on this blog. Like any side dish involving mushrooms, these reduced down a lot so that they were dark and delicious but only a few servings. Still, despite my wanting more more more, I liked the idea of doing a mushroom sautée with honey, and I loved the really dark and sweet mushrooms.

#8: Mini Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies by Sugar Plum

Sugar Plum is a fun storyteller whose blog uses tons of photographs and lots of original recipes. I actually had intended to make a different recipe, and this was the first one I chickened out on and switched at the last minute, from Cheddar Chipotle Biscuits to these cookies. I'm glad I did, because cookies are easy and these were very good cookies. I froze half the dough for later and was able to pop it in the toaster oven for a quick dessert option for a birthday potluck at work. Everyone loved them, especially with my sub of cinnamon chips for chocolate.

#7: Chai Spiced Buttermilk Pancakes by Joy the Baker

Joy the Baker has one of my favorite blogs because her personality comes straight through the screen and you just want to grin with her. She's a breakfast nut, and hopefully would approve of my turning to her blog to satisfy a 3 am pancake craving. The chai spice is a great flavor for these pancakes, and I love how yummy and fluffy they are. 3 am needs more pancakes, really. I enjoyed them with some real Canadian maple syrup (#1 medium, in case you were wondering) and thought this was an awesome idea.

#6: Butterscotch Pudding by David Lebovitz

David Lebovitz is quite a big name blogger, and though I don't use his blog much for recipes, I like how simple they are, and I also like that he throws in some of the French recipes I crave. This butterscotch pudding was awesome, and relatively easy for a pudding recipe. I tend to suck at any kind of smooth, creamy, make over the stove and don't mess up recipe, especially if there's a danger of curdling, but this barely curdled at all, and all the curdle stayed at the bottom so I could just leave it in the pan. Perfect.

#5: Spinach and Artichoke Dip by Stephanie's Kitchen

Stephanie is yet another tasty, reliable food blogger with fabulous easy recipes. This dip really hit the spot, so much so that I did a spin off (post to come). I loved the combo of cream cheese and cheddar with the veggies, and baking it with the parmesan in the last step. This is another dip you can eat as a meal. It's also good on baguettes if you want to add in some carbs.

#4: Mac 'n' Cheese by My Madison Bistro

My Madison Bistro is one of my newest favorite blogs, which lured me in because of the pretty pictures but kept me because of the awesome recipes. I am a huge mac 'n' cheese freak, and this is definitely going to be one of my standbys. It's nothing super fancy, just your usual bechamel sauce and cheeses, but I thought the panko bread crumb topping worked really well, as did the thyme. This is my first try at panko, and I loved how it turned out. Of course, it probably doesn't hurt that she got the recipe from Ina Garten!

#3: Bohemiènne by La Tartine Gourmande

Another of my absolute favorite French foodblogs, with gorgeous photos and recipes. You really can't go wrong with a recipe like this. I've seen quite a few variations on the basic eggplant, tomato, onion, olive oil combo, and I never can complain. In fact, my only complaint is that they never seem to have enough servings! I am a huge fan of earthy vegetables, and this dish wins for that.

#2: Mushrooms Bourgignon by Smitten Kitchen

I'd been planning to make this for my Thanksgiving entree for quite a while. A small bridge was thrown in the works when I saw the price of baby bellas, and so I actually used half the mushroom amount (and no pearl onions, because there weren't any). It was thus a little more gravy like, but still awesome. I ended up getting invited to Thanksgiving with friends, and so instead of an entree for one with leftovers, it ended up being a sort of gravy for four over mashed potatoes. I used a Cabernet for the wine and Emeril's vegetable stock, courtesy of my awesome partners at Foodbuzz, for the liquid. Delicious, earthy, boozy, and dark. Can't go wrong. Smitten Kitchen remains my favorite blog, and I hope she sticks around for many years to come.

#1: Almond Crunch Cookies by Use Real Butter

I'm so amused that this was my favorite recipe of them all, because it was really an accident. I had an egg crisis last night at 11 pm when I was getting ready to make crustless pumpkin pie to take to Thanksgiving and realized that I only had one egg, that the store was already closed, and wouldn't be open today due to the holiday. I didn't want to neglect Use Real Butter, as it's one of my favorite blogs with never-fail recipes and great photos, but I couldn't go with the plan. After a small anxiety attack, I found these cookies instead, and boy were they awesome. The inside is like marzipan, the outside crunchy and delicious. Perfect for dessert as pictured with apple crunch, vanilla ice cream, and runny custard.

TWD: Holiday Bundt Cake

2009-11-24T23:42:00.002-06:00

It's Tuesday, so that must mean my camera's funky! This is kind of a placeholder post while it's still Tuesday, but the basic idea is that I loved the holiday bundt cake. I used sweet potato instead of pumpkin, almond extract instead of vanilla, and almonds instead of pecans, but it worked really well. Nice and dense and crumbly, with the tartness of cranberries and mild sweetness of apples. Very nice.

TWD: Cran-apple Crisps

2009-11-10T07:17:00.007-06:00

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie host is Em of the Repressed Pastry Chef, and she chose Cran-Apple Crisps for our recipe. This one was a big hit with my Sunday brunch guests, which is a bit of a relief, since Dorie's recipes have not been on the whole particularly successful for me thus far. I don't want to believe that such a big book of such good-looking recipes will yield a ton of flops! Here, my friend Bizzy shows her enjoyment of said crisp.

I made one large version as Dorie allows for, but instead of a 9" deep dish pie pan I used an 8" square pan (a little topping left over, but for the most part it worked. I had a vegan and a gluten-free guest coming, so I made the filling first without the flour and put a bit of the fruit into a couple of oiled tartelette tins, then finished the recipe. The small ones only took about 25-30 minutes, the full crisp about 40. The fruit was hot and bubbling before the crisp was browned, but everything worked out well. Other bakers complained about the sweetness of the crisp, and I suppose it could be more tart, but I had enough of a sweet tooth to enjoy this one

TWD: Sweet Potato Biscuits

2009-10-20T22:51:00.002-05:00

A bit of a placeholder post tonight, since there are some computer issues, but I'll go ahead and post my thoughts on time. Sadly, I couldn't not overwork these biscuits. The recipe is super easy, but it's very difficult to quickly incorporate the mashed sweet potatoes with the flour mixture. They didn't rise and were dense rather than flaky, telltale signs of overworking. They also ended up black on bottom after the minimum time, and I didn't love the taste. Oh, well.

TWD: Allspice Crumb Muffins

2009-10-13T10:24:00.003-05:00

Today's recipe, Allspice Crumb Muffins, was selected by Kayte at Grandma's Kitchen Table. I didn't think it was a fabulous recipe, but it was a good one. As with most struessel topping muffins, I ended up with extra streussel, but I piled as much on top of each muffin as I could. I did have a couple of oopsies, one being that the butter wasn't quite cool enough when I added the milk, so it solidified and I had to stick it back in the microwave to thin it out before adding to the batter. That didn't affect anything. I also misplaced my allspice, so my muffins had nutmeg in the crumb and cardamom in the muffin, which worked quite well. You can find out how all the other TWD bakers did at the Tuesdays with Dorie site.

Taste & Create: Scrambled Eggs

2009-09-26T16:41:00.003-05:00

I had some technical difficulties this month, so I hope my partner, Columbus Foodie, will forgive my T&C entry being a couple of days late! Once again, I had a bit of trouble finding a recipe I liked. With omnivorous blogs, I keep ending up having a week where I don't really want to make a sweet, and so it takes a lot of digging to find what I'm looking for, but after scrolling through CF's recipes, I found a Gordon Brown recipe for scrambled eggs that she enjoyed. I decided to try it, and this is the result. My thoughts? I have to admit, I like my own scrambled egg style better. It took an age for any setting to occur, and I ended up having to crank up the heat. The eggs took about half an hour to scramble. However, I did like the addition of sour cream to the eggs. I paired them with Morningstar Farms sausage links and a hashbrown for a nice big breakfast.

TWD: Flaky Apple Turnovers

2009-09-15T18:03:00.002-05:00

Bear with me - my camera's being funky and since I need to get TWD up tonight, I'm going to post now and add the picture later. Anyway, this week's recipe was Flaky Apple Turnovers. I thought they were pretty good, but far more of a pain than I expected. I don't know that it was really worth it. The dough seemed really neat, with few ingredients and sour cream for moisture, but it was hard to work with. Last night, I did the first two steps, and I found that it needed a lot of pressing and kneading together to make it possible to roll out. Then tonight when I finished the recipe, I had trouble getting it to roll thin enough, and it kept tearing so I had to patch it up, creating thicker bits of dough that weren't very flaky when baked. I couldn't get much of the apples in, so I only used half the apples. I'm wondering if maybe I could just boil the remainder down for applesauce so that it's not a total waste. The final product was sweet, crispy, and fairly flaky, if a little light on the apples. I froze half for later, too, since Dorie suggests that you don't refrigerate or freeze the end product. You can see how the rest of the TWD bakers fared here.

The Edible Word: Confessions of a Master Baker

2009-09-03T18:00:00.004-05:00

Okay, the Internet's being a bit funny so let's see if I can get this out without having to look anything up. The Edible Word is a foodie book club hosted by The Happy Sorceress and A Blithe Palate, and this round we're reading Confessions of a Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado. Whew. Did it. Okay! So I read the book a few weeks ago and I found it quite enjoyable. It's a light, easy read, and like most foodie memoirs has a recipe at the end of every chapter. Film fans may enjoy the Hollywood references (Gesine being the sister of Sandra Bullock), but for me the best part was the family stories about food and Gesine's German heritage. I spent some time in Germany as a teenager and I studied German for a long time, but the same could be said for French. My high school German teacher and I used to tease each other about my liking French more, including (especially) French food. She was always trying to open me up to the joys of German cuisine, and even gave me a German cookbook as a high school graduation present. Thus, it was fun for me to read about some of the delicious German treats like Mandelhörnchen (literally, little almond horns) made with marzipan. I thought about trying one of those, but I ended up really intrigued by a savory scones recipe. The first time I tried scones, you may recall if you've been reading for a while, they fell rather flat - quite literally. This time, I used a very gentle hand, and they came together perfectly. I left out the ham in the recipe, of course, and used shaved parmesan rather than grueyere. It worked out just fine that way! I love the feel of the heavy, elastic dough with big chunks of butter in it, and these scones are heaven just out of the oven with a pat of butter or margarine. They're sweet, but subtly so, and fluffy with crisp bottoms. Though any baked good is best right out of the oven, these also freeze well and warm just fine in the microwave. Thanks, Cath and Steph for hosting, and thanks Gesine for the lovely stories and the great recipe!

TWD: Espresso Cheesecake Brownies

2009-09-01T17:24:00.003-05:00

Yes, I finally decided to join Tuesdays with Dorie. I've had the book since Christmas, but I just couldn't commit to baking twice a month in law school. Even now, I'm not sure I can afford to, but I'm going to give it a try! This month's recipe was Espresso Cheesecake Brownies, picked by Melissa of Life in a Peanut Shell. You can get the recipe at her blog and see the other bakers' efforts here. My impression of these brownies? Well I loved the idea. I've done swirl brownies before and loved them, but I've never done one where you put part of the brownie on top of the cheesecake layer. I was right to be sceptical. I found the cheesecake layer great and really tasty, but the brownie layer was dry and uninspired. Letting it sit while preparing the cheesecake layer makes the batter thick and hard to swirl, and may also account for the lacking moisture. I also did it in a round 9" pan, lacking a 9" square pan, and I baked the full 35 minutes. I left the sour cream topping off because it seemed kind of extraneous.

Taco Time!

2009-08-26T15:02:00.002-05:00

I've been craving tacos for a while. This is really the easiest thing ever, not actually a recipe. I got some of those easy-to-stuff shells with flat bottoms, warmed them in the microwave, and stuffed them with warmed refried beans mixed with grated Cheddar. Then just a couple of torn pieces of lettuce and a little spoonful of sour cream and we have a happy camper! Yum.

Comfort Food

2009-08-24T07:42:00.005-05:00

What does comfort food mean to you? Meatloaf? Mashed potatoes? A big tray of sticky buns? I think that for most people, comfort food has roots in childhood. This scrambled egg and toast with butter combination is something that makes me think of my father, and breakfasts that were never spectacular but were warm and filling nonetheless. Most of my other comfort foods weren't something I ate much as a child though. Biscuits and gravy, grits, veggie pot pie, mac and cheese, grilled cheese... you may notice a carb theme, here.

Another major comfort food for me is chocolate cake. Dense, delicious, terrible for you chocolate cake, preferably with soda, which I rarely consume otherwise. This is the cake and root beer I mentioned plans to pick up for my blogaversary. Sadly, the vegan chocolate cake slice was not nearly as good as vegan cake normally is. There's just something about the icing that I usually love in vegan cakes, but New Pi didn't do too well with this one. Ah, well.

Before I moved, I had some puff pastry I needed to take care of, and I developed this comfortingly fatting pastry pocket for a tasty dinner treat. It's basically just rectangles of puff pastry stuffed with canned mushrooms, whole grain mustard, and cheese. Boy is it tasty! Sometimes I just need a little fat and salt to get me through my day.

Restuarant Review: Miss Shirley's

2009-08-24T06:47:00.003-05:00

I've been slacking on bringing my camera to restaurants lately. I wish I could show you the zucchini brie pancakes from the Golden West that I've been dying to recreate, or my very tasty eggplant with cabrales cheese sauce from La Tasca (sadly, the only really tasty thing on offer; the manchengo cheese was not that great, nor were the churros). But I did remember Friday morning, when I ate with my friend Jen at downtown Baltimore's breakfast-all-day place Miss Shirleys. They do lunch, as well, but I was far more enticed by their breakfast menu (and need to come back to order more!) I had fried green tomatoes, which were fabulous, and this veggie egg tower, which I had already dug into when I realised I should be photographing it. It's basically a variation on eggs florentine. Instead of an English muffin or cooked spinach, you have fresh spinach, tomatoes, avocado, and of course poached eggs and hollandaise. Delicious!

More from the Land of Restaurant Dining

2009-08-13T09:02:00.005-05:00

The weekend before last, I went to a family reunion in the NC mountains, which was nice in terms of seeing family but also, of course, in terms of good old southern food. The night we arrived I gorged myself on hush puppies and cherry cobbler to a certain extreme. The next day my mom and aunt and I went out to lunch, and I picked a place in Boone called the Red Onion Cafe for its vegetarian selections. I got a kick out of this portobello sandwich complete with cole slaw. As you can see, I also indulged my inner sweet tea enthusiast.

I've also been doing restauranting in Baltimore, though I keep forgetting my camera. I went to lunch at a Turkish place called Cazbar and had acili ezme and imam bayildi, both very good but the latter was fantastic. Also Sunday I had brunch after church at Donna's, a well-loved Mt. Vernon spot. They do a fantastic portobello omelette with roasted red peppers and goat cheese, plus roasted potatoes, homemade rye toast, and fruit for only $8. As you can see, I did have one opportunity to bake recently. My roommate had some bananas that were overripe so I offered to make banana bread. I used a new recipe that I got from Simply Recipes via Cafe Fernando. It's supposed to be not too sweet, so I added cinnamon chips. Actually it's pretty sweet, so if I were going to add nutella I would take out some of the sugar. Still very good!

Salads, Salads, and New York Restaurant and Bar Reviews

2009-07-27T18:20:00.014-05:00

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming! I've moved from Iowa City to Baltimore and am all settled in, so I thought I'd pop in and tell you about a few things I've been eating and drinking lately. This first photo is of a lovely salad that my friend Cass made me on a stopover in Pittsburgh Wednesday night. It was fabulous to have some nice fresh veggies for dinner after eating energy bars all day on the drive. Here we have lettuce, tomato, dried cranberries, roasted red peppers, and ranch. Yum!

I arrived in Baltimore on Thursday, but immediately disappeared again for a weekend in New York. After another day of energy bars, I had a great dinner at John's Pizzeria in midtown Manhattan with Rita, my Aunt Judith (pictured here with me), and her partner David. I went to John's once several years ago, and though the pizza wasn't exactly what I remembered, it was still very good. Rita and I split a spinach salad and a bruschetta pizza. I like the lack of tomato sauce, and the ingredients were definitely high quality.

After we said goodbye to Judith and David, Rita and I headed to the nearest Pinkberry for frozen yoghurt. Apparently, yoghurt is a big deal in New York this summer. There have to be at least ten chains, some national and some just local. I had meant to go to Pinkberry in LA but was too full, so it was fun to try it here. This photo is Rita and I at the Pinkberry, and below you see our cups (we were too eager to take a picture of the actual yoghurt!) I had coconut yoghurt with cherries and strawberries, which was good but maybe not as fabulous as all the bloggers had led me to believe.

We also went to Yogurt Station on Saturday evening, after the many food adventures described below. I liked it a lot better. There were more choices of flavors, the yoghurt was really good, and you get to choose what you want. You pay 35 cents an ounce and can get whatever you want - a little, a lot, multiple flavors, toppings or none. I had coffee and cheesecake yogurt with graham cracker crumbs, resees, and heath bar crumbles. Delicious!

Backtracking a bit, this photo is of me in Dean & Delucas, which I couldn't pass by when we stopped downtown for sunscreen. I got a peach to eat on Brighton Beach as well as some chocolate covered brandied cherries and chocolate covered espresso beans. All good, though I was bummed that there wasn't any matcha powder. I couldn't spend too long in there or I would have gone broke, quite literally. I'd love to go sometime and just sample chocolates all day!

After the beach, we headed to Rita's friend's Kim's neighborhood in Brooklyn (Court Street) and decided to go to a place called Mezcals. It was a tossup between that and South Brooklyn Pizza, apparently the best pizza in New York, but I'm glad we picked what we did. The food was great, especially the guacamole taco (isn't that an awesome idea?) I had a couple of drinks called Chilam Balam that involved cream of coconut, kaluha, rum, and pineapple juice, and also tried Rita's Mexican Coffee. This is my "that's interesting" face. After dinner, we went to lower Manhattan for cocktails at Death & Company, a very cool little bar with lots of cocktail choices and a prohibition theme. I had a delicious gin cocktail called the European Union in honor of a class Rita and I took in law school.

We then went to Mamoud's, an amazing falafel place where you can get falafel with baba ghanoush for $3, and Yogurt Station. Finally, there was just enough time the next morning to run to my beloved Pink Teacup for grits and biscuits to eat at the bus station. All in all, a good trip for eating! The last picture for today is of tonight's dinner, another salad made with spinach/lettuce mix, strawberries, goat cheese, and pomegranate vinaigrette. Yum!

Shortcut to Mushrooms' Second Birthday!

2009-07-18T13:31:00.002-05:00

Last year, I celebrated my blogaversary with a cake. This year, I'm moving in four days and the only food in my house is two pre-packaged salads, a wrapped spanikopita for the road, a rootbeer, two slices of bread, half a jar of peanut butter, a few jars of jam, and some organic cherry pops. I think I may, nonetheless, go to the co-op and get a cake slice to have with my root beer :-)

So here are some of my favourite cake recipes:

Coconut Angel Food Cake
Ginger-Ginger Cake
Grapefruit Yoghurt Cake
Red Velvet Cake

Looking forward to another, more productive year!

Some Good Things and an Update

2009-07-16T14:33:00.002-05:00

I've been trying not to update without pictures, since that's what a foodblog is about, but I feel like at least letting my readers know that yes, I'm still alive, that if you still have me on your RSS feeds please don't give up on me, and to give you an idea of what's going on with me. I'm moving to Baltimore next week, at which point I'll finally get a chance to decompress and live life at a semi normal pace. It's not that I haven't had time to blog lately, but actually more that I haven't thought about it because I haven't been cooking. The combination of needing to pack up my pans and appliances and food and the fact that it's been warm enough not to want to use a stove have led me to a lot of simple things like salads. I do have a few things I'd like to recommend, though, while you wait for me to return for real:

1) Larabars. I might have just spent $77 on a very large supply of them at Amazon (so worth it).

2) Cascadian Farms jam. It's organic, and it's really, really tasty. I've tried strawberry and raspberry but I'm saving the even more appealing apricot and blueberry for later.

3) Tofurky kielbasa. It's kind of surprising, but if you fry them they're really tasty and spicy and sausage-like.

I may not be cooking much over the next few weeks, either, since I'm trying not to unpack much when I'm in a sublet for three weeks, but I am definitely excited about being back to Baltimore restaurants - Sofi's! XS! Golden West! Cazbar! Liquid Earth! - and I'll also try to get up some of the dessert recipes I made a little while back and didn't post.

Cooking for Our Rights: Nyponsoppa

2009-06-26T13:36:00.004-05:00

Long ago I posted about a package I receieved full of Scandinavian goodies, most remarkable being that fabulous Danish Sortie Sara cheese. Well, I've recently had an opportunity to try something else in that pacakage, a powdered soup mix called nyponsoppa (rosehip soup) and the accompanying Mandelbiskvier (almond cookies). The sender informed me that the key to this soup is to dunk the cookies in it, and a friend also suggested that I add vanilla ice cream. The verdict? Well, I like cold fruit soups, and I really like almond, so the cookies were fantastic (they're quite hard but the soup helps that). The taste of the soup itself is very strong. I followed instructions and mixed with a liter of water, but if I were to try it again I might dilute it more. I ended up letting the ice cream melt a bit, though, and when I swirled them together it cut the taste of the soup so it made quite a nice dinner. Yes, I had ice cream and cookies for dinner. This also means that I can cross Sweeden off the Cooking for Our Rights challenge list!

Follow me on Twitter!

2009-06-20T20:12:00.002-05:00

In a few weeks, I'll be leaving Iowa City and all my residual law school busy-ness behind. What this means for the blog is regular posting once again, hurrah! I started this blog when I started law school, and I admit that I've been really slack in the last semester, but I'm going to be assessing my blogging priorities, assigning a certain amount of time each week to work on posts for each blog, and get back on the posting train. Until then, if you're on Twitter I encourage you to follow me @shroomshortcut. I'm using Twitpic to update more regularly with little things, pictures of what I'm eating when the recipe isn't worth sharing or I've posted it here before, or sometimes food I had in restaurants and don't have time to review. I've noticed that my harddrive tends to fill up with these pictures, and I can't think of much to say about the food for a real post, but that makes a Twitter tie-in for the blog perfect! If you're following my personal Twitter, feel free to continue to do so; I'm just switching to follow all foodie Twitters from the new one to keep things organized. Happy summer eating, everyone!

Happy Anniversary, Coconut & Lime!

2009-06-06T10:26:00.002-05:00

So I know I've been away for almost two months, but I hope you won't take my blog off your read-list. I'm only a few weeks away from being DONE with law school, and back to regular posting. I did want to show you some of the massive supply of desserts I baked for a going-away party, and the first recipe is brought to us by Rachel, blogger over at Coconut & Lime, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary! I thought this was particularly appropriate for my going-away party, since where I'm going is back to Baltimore, where Rachel lives. This recipe is for Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, and it was very much up to the C&L standard. You may remember me mentioning this blog before on the site - Rachel's recipes are all original, and I'm constantly impressed. They're not all super fancy, but they're always delicious. This one is a great comfort dessert. The cookies are soft and crumbly, but still with a little bit of crisp. Though crumbly, they don't fall apart too badly, and I love the peanut butter flavor. They were one of the most popular desserts on the table.

Cookbook Spotlight: Fried Matzoh from Gale Gand's Brunch

2009-04-16T18:14:00.003-05:00

This month, Stephanie invited me to join an event called Cookbook Spotlight, where foodbloggers get a review copy of a new cookbook and are asked to make and review one recipe from the book. This round the book was Gale Gand's Brunch, and I was thrilled because brunch is certainly a meal I love. I've been getting more into breakfast foods lately, and this book has plenty of them, from pancakes to eggs to more ambitious offerings. Most of the recipes are fairly simple, and the one I chose especially so. From the photo here, you can see why she didn't include one with the recipe - matzoh brei is quite tasty when it's Passover and you have to eat matzoh, but it isn't all that visually appealing. It's also not a recipe that can be varied all that much, but Gand's version was perfectly tasty. I didn't have the maple syrup she suggests, so I used some organic cherry applesauce as an accompaniment. If you're not familiar with matzoh brei, it's like a combination between omlette and pancakes, but not too eggy. Salt it well and serve it with something sweet. You can find the recipe on page seventy two.

Mocha Coffee Cake for a Sunday Breakfast

2009-04-05T18:32:00.002-05:00

Joy the Baker recently asked her readers to make breakfast on a particular weekend. That Sunday, I made her mocha coffee cake. One thing I love about Joy is that she blogs as if she is a friend of every one of her readers, so when she says "hey, why don't we all make breakfast?" I say "okay!" And it did make my weekend happier, if a little more hectic for the time it took to put the coffee cake together. It's not what I normally think of when I think of coffee cake - no crumble topping, for example. I like the three marbled flavours (espresso, chocolate, and vanilla). I was a little impatient with the glaze, though, and didn't wait for the espresso I was using to fully cool before whisking in the sugar, which make it a little thinner than it necessarily should have been. Nonetheless, I liked to effect that came from soaking the dense cake in a coffee-flavoured glaze. One warning is that this should probably be served right away. It's a fairly big cake for one person, and it dries out quickly. If you want to make it and are worried about this problem, you could always have a little extra glaze to add for later portions.

Excuse me a moment for a non-food, personal note...

2009-04-03T09:01:00.000-05:00

THE IOWA SUPREME COURT IS GIVING US SAME-SEX MARRIAGE!!!!!

(I know some of you may disagree on this point, but it's my blog and it's my state so I have to say it. Back to our regularly scheduled foodie program soon.)

From Food to Books

2009-03-26T08:34:00.002-05:00

Little break from the usual. I was tagged by The Egalitarian Bookworm on a literary meme that looks like fun, so why not?

1) What author do you own the most books by? I've just gotten into trying to read multiple books by an author, and I have a few favourites, but in terms of owning Tolkien still takes the cake.

2) What book do you own the most copies of? Multiple copies of the same book? Um, I don't know, I have a couple accidental duplicates but that's it.

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions? Yes! (Pet peeve.)

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with? Hmm. I had to think about that a little, since I don't really have book-crushes. Maybe Eowyn?

4a) What fictional character would you most like to be? Glorfindel! (I'm a broken effing record, I know.)

4b) What fictional character do you think most resembles you? I don't actually know of any, to be perfectly honest. A book about someone who works as hard as I do would be frankly boring!

5) What book have you read the most times in your life? Hmm, this is another one where I just don't read things multiple times. Probably the Book of Tao, actually.

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old? Oh God. The entire Babysitters Club series.

7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year? A book called Working in Language and the Law by a rather arrogant and obtuse forensic linguist.

8) What is the best book you've read in the past year? The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst.

9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be? Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin. Though I might trump it with Yes Means Yes edited by Jessica Valenti and Jaclyn Friedman.

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature? Ian McEwan.

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie? How about Emma Donoghue's Hood? That could be great with the right director.

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie? Oh, I don't know. Ulysses, ha.

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character. I don't know that I've ever had such a dream. Or actually, I did once dream that I was a hobbit. That was pretty weird.

14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult? Um. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants?

15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read? Possession by A.S. Byatt.

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen? I've only seen Macbeth.

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians? Don't make me choose between my two favourites, come on!

18) Roth or Updike? Not familiar with either.

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers? I haven't read Dave Eggers yet. I like Sedaris in the New Yorker but less in book form.

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer? Milton.

21) Austen or Eliot? Assuming we mean George, then Eliot.

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading? Oh God, there are a lot of those. I really haven't read many of the "modern classics," which I'm trying to remedy, but maybe Victorian England would be the most embarrassing. I've only read a couple of the classics.

23) What is your favorite novel? That's just a mean question. I don't know if an epic like LOTR counts. If not, then I think I'd probably say Mrs. Dalloway.

24) Play? The Importance of Being Earnest. (Though I'm sure once I read the play version of the History Boys I'll change my answer.)

25) Poem? Ferlinghetti, L'Occupation Obsédée,

26) Essay? It's hard to think of a single essay. I remember the collections better, my favourite being Sarah Vowell's Take the Cannoli.

27) Short story? Ooh, here we hit a gap.

28) Work of non-fiction? Probably Foer, Soccer Against the Enemy.

29) Who is your favorite writer? Tolkien! After that Virginia Woolf, Ian McEwan, Alan Hollinghurst, David Levithan.

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today? Ooh, I'm not sure. Maybe Meyers but I haven't read her stuff yet.

31) What is your desert island book? Lord of the Rings? *ducks*

32) And ... what are you reading right now? Sarah Waters, Tipping the Velvet (awesome!)

As for tagging, it's hard to know which bloggers/LJers are readers, but I'm going to go with:
Mom
Molly
Amanda Mae
Rachel (of Coconut and Lime)
Lis
Cass

Restaurant Review: Les Salades de Provence, West Hollywood

2009-03-21T18:15:00.004-05:00

I think it's just about time I admit defeat. I'm never actually going to be able to post all the photos and recipes that I have "in the queue" in order. By trying to do that, I'm depriving you all of recent recipes that are actually, you know, in season. So by that token, I'm just going to try to post as much as I can until I finish my law classes in June, and then it'll be back to your regularly scheduled, at least once a week posting schedule.

That said, I wanted to let you know about a fabulous little restaurant I discovered on my recent trip to Los Angeles for an academic conference. For that matter, the food at the conference itself was fabulous, but this little French place in West Hollywood is worth writing home about. The ambiance is simple, and though the outdoor terrace adjoins a very loud, busy street, I couldn't help but sit outside. After all, it isn't often you get sunny and sixty-eight degrees in Iowa. The owner was the only staff person present when I showed up, admittedly at an odd hour (when you've just flown through a couple of time zones, 4 pm seems like a perfectly logical time for a meal). He was very kind and it was a joy to speak French again. I even got a little card for a free glass of wine with my next meal, which I gave to a local friend. The salad I ordered was quite large, as you can see, and very filling. I loved the little polenta triangles, and the fresh mozzarella. I also love the very French touches - a carafe d'eau, the little toast squares. They're open for three meals a day, and besides a number of salads they offer quiches, including a daily special. They also do crepes, croissants, and other French fair for breakfast and a prix fixe brunch. Located at the corner of La Cienga and Holloway.

Also, I have to express my glee at finding the conference hotel right next to a Trader Joe's. I'm absolutely in love with Trader Joe's, yet I never manage to live near one. As you can see, I stocked up, and all this was only $20. Unfortunately the airline restrictions meant no raspberry fruit spread or blueberry dessert spread, but I did eat an entire punnet of strawberries for breakfast. Fresh fruit! Almost makes me want to live in California. I also highly recommend their toffee, of any flavour. Delish.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

2009-03-17T20:49:00.003-05:00

I'll have food for you soon. Until then, a photo of myself in Youghal, Ireland, from when I lived in Cork at the ripe young age of 21:

Taste & Create: Hollandaise Sauce

2009-02-24T20:09:00.006-06:00

Can I be honest? Once again, I had a bit of trepidation about Taste & Create. Last time, it was less about the recipes and more about the flood and difficulty getting to ingredients. This time, I didn't have that sort of excuse, but I did notice that my partner Katie, of One Little Corner of the World, cooks quite a bit of meat. Normally, the obvious solution is to choose a dessert or baked good to make instead of an entree, but I've been trying to eat relatively healthy and my dessert budget was already full for the month. So what did I do? Give up? Of course not!

Luckily, I was able to find three or four savory vegetarian recipes, and one of those was fairly quick and easy and something I could serve with a vegetable: hollandaise sauce. Katie made this recipe from Good Housekeeping last Easter, and I thought it looked pretty tasty. Hollandaise with asparagus was a big Easter thing in our family, too. My mom used to make it from scratch, though lately she's been going the packet route (please don't be mad that I admitted this to the world, Mom! I love your hollandaise sauce!) I've never tried it myself, but we always did the stovetop method. When Katie said that she's only done it in the blender with raw eggs, I was surprised. I'm not afraid of raw eggs, but I've never heard of the method.

Anyway, the sauce was smooth, creamy, and lemony, just the way it should be, and perfect with entirely unadulterated asparagus, which I just did a few minutes in a pan of boiling water. This asparagus was so good, nice and sweet, that I can almost pretend it isn't from Mexico or somewhere. I know nothing locally grown would be ready in time for Valentine's Day, though. This last picture is kind of a funny story. See, when I first looked at Katie's post, I saw the roasted potatoes with aioli and thought that was the hollandaise. Hollandaise and fries? Wow. So when I ran out of asparagus, I used the rest of the leftover sauce on curly fries. Highest calorie lunch ever, but an interesting change from honey mustard.

A Cinnamon Celebration with Dim and the Dark Cookies

2009-02-12T20:39:00.003-06:00

This recipe has been on my to-do list for at least two or three years. The lovely Miss Shelley Adams of Richmond, Virginia created the recipe in honor of the band Jump, Little Children's last full album, Between the Dim and the Dark, and when I saw the awesome mélange of ingredients I knew I'd have to try it some time. A couple of the members of the band were friends of mine (and music instructors!) and though I've moved past my indie rock kid days I do miss them all. I've linked to a song I've uploaded if you'd like to hear them (a live track so I don't get in trouble). It's one of their more fun crowd-pleasers, if not the most musically challenging, featuring my friend Matt on vocals, and it's actually a track from the first concert of theirs I went to back in 2003. Also, be sure to check out the lovely blog A Southern Grace for the Cinnamon Celebration round-up. Happy V-day to you all! I'll be celebrating with a mushroom stroganoff, a glass of wine, and the film Paris Je T'aime. It should be a fun Self-Love Night.

Dim & the Dark Cookies
recipe by Shelley Adams
makes a couple dozen, give or take

Ingredients:
● 1 cup flour
● 1/2 cup plus 1 T cocoa powder
● 1/4 tsp salt
● 1/4 tsp baking soda
● 1/2 cup sugar
● 1/2 cup light brown sugar
● 6 Tbsp butter
● 1/2 tsp cinnamon
● pinch cayenne pepper
● 1 tsp vanilla
● 1 egg
● 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks
● 1/2 cup cinnamon chips

Directions:

Sift together a cup of flour, ½ cup plus 1 T unsweetened cocoa powder, ¼ t salt, and ¼ t baking soda into a medium bowl. Combine ½ cup sugar with ½ cup light brown sugar and mix with the fingers to press out lumps. Add 6 T slightly softened butter, ½ t ground cinnamon, a generous pinch of cayenne, and 1 t vanilla. Mix about a minute on high, then beat in an egg. Slowly add the flour mixture on low speed. Stir in ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks and ½ cup cinnamon chips. Drop by tablespoons on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes at 350. Cool on a wire rack. Remove cookies to racks to cool.

This are super-amazingly delicious, soft and crumbly but not too cakelike for a cookie-lover like me. The cinnamon gives it a great spicy kick, and I would recommend a generous pinch of cayenne. I was kind of wimpy with it but that's not necessary.

Le Chocolat

2009-02-05T10:17:00.004-06:00

I know, I suck at posting lately. I have been quite crazy busy. Anyway, I keep meaning to let you all know about my experience with Amano chocolate bars, two of which I won courtesy of Amano and Blake. I posted a photo of these on my photo blog in January, but I finally got around to tasting both of the bars recently. My thoughts? Well, I thought the Madagascar bar was fairly plain. It's obviously high quality dark chocolate, and it's good if you just want a simple dark tasting bar, but it was more like something I might use to bake if I were going all out as opposed to a favourite tasting chocolate. I preferred the Jembrana, which comes from Bali and has a more unique taste - bitter, but not unpleasantly so. It's a complex flavour, and though I don't have the vocabulary to describe chocolate properly, I'll just tell you that it was good. I would serve this as an after-dinner treat.

La Fête du Fromage: Apple Cinnamon Monterey Jack

2009-01-10T16:45:00.004-06:00

I've been absent from Loulou's cheese event the past month or so, as the time before last in Kalona we (gasp!) forgot about the cheese shop. I wasn't about to pay regular price for any cheese beyond shredded cheddar and mozzarella, so I've had to abstain, but fortunately we returned to the joys of cheese this month. You can see a photo of the making of cheese curds at my photo blog, if you're so inclined. I didn't get any cheese curds, but I did get a few new cheeses to sample, including this lovely (on sale) apple cinnamon monterey jack.

Like any monterey jack, this one is soft and a good melter. I melted it on a tortilla for a snack, which is satisfying, and I also tried it as pictured on crackers with a green salad for a light supper. The apple cinnamon is stronger in smell than in taste, which is very subtle. The cheese is dotted with little bits of it, but you pick up more on the monterey jack's own cheesy flavour than the addition. That was okay by me, as super-sweet cheeses are much harder to pair with other things. This went well with my toasted wheat crackers, which at least gave me the illusion that I was eating healthy!

Can I Interest You in a Kiss?

2009-01-03T18:48:00.002-06:00

I was super-bummed when my area for whatever reason didn't carry the Pumpkin Spice or Candy Corn kisses in autumn, because I love getting the different seasonal flavours, but it's all right because I think this is my absolute favourite, up there with peanut butter. I put these candy cane kisses on top of some chocolate cookies for a variation on the familiar peanut butter thumbprints. They were fortunately tasty and not super-dry à la Josh's taste on the West Wing, but I can't for the life of me remember where the recipe came from. I know it was a blog, and one I read frequently at that. I'll update this post when it comes to me. Anyway, I do think the cookie itself would be better with the white chocolate chips that were suggested, but when you press on a kiss and let it get all melty, it's a wonderful combination.

More Quick Hits

2009-01-01T14:46:00.008-06:00

Since it worked well in the last post, here's another little dump of the random stuff floating around waiting to post, so that I can start getting into the bulk of my November/December recipes.

This is Leeks Simmered in Wine from page 386 of Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I'm not posting the recipe because I found it fairly so-so. It wasn't bad or anything, but it's basically just leeks with a bit of wine and flavour, not a real sauce. I have a habit of flipping through this cookbook by vegetable, but what Madison really does well is sauces and more substantial vegetarian meals, so I'm going to try in the future to do some more focused flipping to find her gems.

This was a very nice dish, just some curried green tomatoes that I served over some polenta. I used a recipe from The Perfect Pantry, but I thought I'd like the pairing with polenta a bit more than brown rice or adding tofu. I was right, and the slightly spicy preparation and the tart tomatoes went wonderfully with the smooth, buttery polenta. Try it with white wine!

Continuing in the chocolate chip cookie quest, I tried the Martha recipe with toffee again and this time had considerably more success. The cookies were perfectly chewy, and I was happy to take them to school for a treat to go along with my World AIDS Day presentation. They fall apart when warm, so you have to be careful when transferring them, but otherwise perfect. It's funny how on the first go of two recipes, one comes out heads and shoulders on top, but then on the second go they flip-flop completely.

This was my first time playing around with delicata squash, so I just sliced it into lengths and roasted it simply with a bit of salt, pepper, and olive oil. It was still sweet but the skin crisped up pleasantly and I like the texture of this squash better than the other winter varieties. I think this would be a great snack for throwing in the bento box if I had one.

Welcome, 2009!

2009-01-01T09:51:00.003-06:00

A lot of people are posting year-end round ups, so I thought I'd chime in. These are my favourite recipes for each month of 2008 (posting month, not necessarily the month I made it). Happy New Year!

January: Chocolate Orange Custard Cups
February: Winter Friendship Soup
March: Red Velvet Cake
April: Granola
May: Chocolate Chip Cookies
June: Cheesy Tortilla Pie
July: Espresso Granita
August: Grilled Cheese
September: Coconut Angel Food Cake
October: Eggplant Rounds with Cheese and Red Wine Tomato Sauce
November: Grapefruit Yoghurt Cake
December: Macaroni and Cheese

Quick Thoughts

2008-12-29T11:47:00.002-06:00

1) I know, I know. So much for catching up over the break. I got called in to pet-sit and I just cannot concentrate with the animals running around.

2) Nature hates me today. I planned quad shot espresso brownie cupcakes à la Gretchen on the 25th to use up some heavy cream, but realised I needed eggs. Planned to come back to apartment to make them today, the day before cream expires. Go to CVS, they're out of eggs, so I can't make the bus. Get eggs elsewhere, get home, cream has gone bad. F** it.

3) Is anyone else bugged by people calling things "adult" food. "Adult" mac n cheese, "adult" candy. Do adults not eat mac n cheese and candy? Am I delusional?

4) Food Network is far too addicting. This is why I don't have a TV. This is also why I'm getting no work done. And I was tickled pink to find that not only is there now an American version of Iron Chef but Pim was a guest judge. It's so weird to see a person you read all the time, who feels almost like a friend despite your total lack of commenting ability, on television. Bloggers represent!

Holiday Desserts

2008-12-22T10:41:00.002-06:00

Since I'm highly unlikely to get to this year's holiday desserts before the holidays are over (though I am all about the mint chocolate creme brulee I just had for breakfast, mm mm) I thought I'd go the route of some other bloggers and post a list of links to previous recipes that would make good holiday desserts. All of these are desserts I enjoyed, though check the posts for specific tips on how to make them turn out right. Credit is given on individual posts for non-original recipes.

Black and White Truffles
Chocolate Chess Pie
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Feqqas
Figs Baked in Muscat
Fig-Whisky Jam
Ginger-Ginger Cake
Mint Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cookies
Mooless Chocolate Pie
Red Velvet Cake
Ridiculously Amazing Pumpkin Pie Thing
Sachertorte
Spice Cake
Vegan Oatmeal Toffee Cookies
Whisky-Peanut Fudge
World Peace Cookies

Well You're Just Plum Crazy!

2008-12-20T16:59:00.003-06:00

This particular dessert wasn't really a success, nor a failure. I got the recipe from Meeta, who served them with a sabayon (or zabaglione). The big difference is that I used the red plums, which are bigger, and so there wasn't much reduction/losing of shape/etc. The brandy did improve the flavour of the plums, though, and they were a tasty snack to have around. I think next time I will try David Tanis's White Wine Peaches and see if I have better luck.

Blog Party Traditions: Eggnog and Grapefruit

2008-12-18T23:23:00.004-06:00

Okay, so my traditions may seem a little bit weird, but everyone pull up a chair, grab a grapefruit half and a glass of eggnog, and I'll explain. Two of my aunts have places in Key West, Florida, and so every Christmas for the past few years one of my mom's presents has been a big box of grapefruits and tangelos, which means that December and January are pretty much citrus months for us. Even before that, we'd always get a tangerine or two in the stockings, though I always gave mine to mom because I don't like oranges. I still don't like oranges, but I love grapefruit. My tradition is to dump a million pounds of sugar on top, but I'm learning to go without. I also loved eggnog when I was a kid, and was happy to drink it from November to January if I could. I still usually drink it plain, though occasionally add a drop of brandy or bourbon. I tried to make it from scratch once for an Australian roommate who'd never heard of it, but our house in Ireland didn't have an electric mixer so even after an hour of whisking it tasted a bit eggy. I still remember sending our other roommate Jen for supplies, though. "Get eggs. And nutmeg. And alcohol! I don't know, any alcohol!" Happy holidays, everyone! Stay safe, and thanks as always to Stephanie for hosting us.

Judith's Tips for Eating Healthy and Losing Weight

2008-12-18T20:08:00.003-06:00

I was thinking today about how easy it is, really, for me to lose weight when I put my mind to it, but also about how difficult it is for me to actually eat healthy - balanced diet, not too much sugar, fat, or sodium, enough vitamins, etc. I figured I'd share some things I've learned over the years with you. These tips can be applied to pretty much any diet, or to a healthy lifestyle change in general.

Me 1-1/2 years ago, at close to my skinniest, enjoying some strawberries, brie, chocolate, and wine: proving point #1

1. Don't give up your favorite foods. Yes, eat in moderation, but there is really no point in giving up what you love the most, or even what you're badly craving at the moment. If you're miserable, you'll probably give up on your diet. Sit down, though, and think hard about what foods you really, really love, what foods you're so-so on, and what foods you don't like. For example, I like potato chips, but I've not had them for months without noticing anything missing. On the other hand, cutting chocolate cold turkey might kill me. If something you kind of like but aren't in love with is incredibly bad for you, then it'll probably pretty easy not to eat it - not necessarily giving up entirely, but just don't eat it once a week.

2. Keep a record of what you eat. It seems time consuming, but then you get into the habit and it's no big deal. Keeping a record, even if you're not on any diet, will make you eat healthier, just because you're paying attention. When I'm not writing it down, I'm given to random binges where I just keep eating and eating, but if I write it down, I don't do that. It's also a good way to find out, if you use a program or website that can give you a fairly detailed nutrition analysis, if you're eating way too much of something or way too little of something else. It helps you balance because you're seeing on the screen just how much bread and potatoes you're eating (or whatever).

3. Ease into smart shopping habits. Throwing out all the tasty food in the house won't put you in a very good mood, but once you've done the analysis in step one, you can stop buying the junk you don't honestly love all that much and phase in some healthier choices. Vegetables and fruits can be surprisingly filling, and make good snacks. An apple with a moderate amount of peanut butter keeps me going in the afternoon and doesn't have that many calories at all. Frozen veggies are similarly my lifesavers. As you start shopping healthier, decide whether you want to buy things fat-free or sugar free or reduced or lite or whatever. I recommend buying a single unit of whatever it is in a reduced version and seeing whether you like it or not first. For example, I can't tell the difference between reduced fat and regular cheese, but after years of never touching real butter, I learned that it really is superior for some baking products. Also, I don't mind diet soda, but using splenda in tea or coffee makes me ill. Figure out your preferences and replace things when you can't tell. Keep butter around for when you need it, but don't use it on your veggies or toast if you like margarine just as well.

4. Don't go long periods without eating. Once again, being miserable about your diet is a bad idea. Being hungry is miserable. Space your meals according to when you get hungry. It's amazing how much weight you'll lose if you normally overeat and then start eating only when hungry - but always eat when you're actually hungry. For example, I eat a medium-sized breakfast like a bowl of cereal or a bagel, and if I got up early, need a morning snack, but if not I won't get hungry till around 11:30 and I'll have lunch. I may need a couple of afternoon snacks to make it till 6:30 or 7 for dinner, but I don't need anything after dinner most nights. Figure out what works for you. Similarly, eat moderate portions and stop before you feel full. Wait twenty minutes, and if you feel hungry still, have another portion, but usually, if you're eating a moderate amount, you won't be hungry later. This is especially true if you take your mind off the food by clearing away the dishes right away and doing something else.

5. Drink plenty of water. Like vegetables, water is really good at keeping you from being hungry all the time and is healthy besides. Obviously, water is not going to keep away a major hunger pang, but if you drink it regularly you'll go longer between periods of feeling hungry.

Help, help, I'm drowning!

2008-12-13T18:59:00.010-06:00

Not in water, nor in work, but in an addiction. I'm addicted to recipes. Recipes, you say? But recipes are good! I like recipes! Yeah, me too, but this is getting out of hand. I very reluctantly hit the "delete" button on FoodGawker in my Google Reader today, and I had to keep saying to myself "this is the right thing to do, this is good." Because let's face it. The point of copying all these recipes diligently into my database is supposedly that I can have a lot of great things to cook. But I don't have time to cook, I certainly don't have time to plan meals, and lately I haven't had time to blog or leave comments or enjoy this community that I'm in because I've been so busy diligently going through my reader, bookmarking recipes, and then importing them one-by-one into YummySoup. This seriously has to stop. In the interest of catching up a little, I've trimmed back so that I'm only using Tastespotting and the individual blogs I like, and I'm only copying recipes that are actually unique or really something I want, and I'm using this post to dump some of the photos that I'd like to blog about but let's be honest - I don't even remember how I made these things from September or October! So it's not quite cold turkey, but it's a start, and maybe I'll even dig into some of the wonderful cookbooks I own and sit down and plan some meals, instead of getting swept so heavily into the hurricane force winds that are the internet.

This was a sort of middle eastern-style toss up I made with roasted eggplant, yoghurt, lemon, onion, parsley, and dill. I'm becoming very attached to plain yoghurt, and I tried to have some vanilla the other day for breakfast and it was just painfully sweet. Maybe that's good news for my sugar addiction.

In case you ever wondered how I normally start my day, this is it. I'm still addicted to Adagio, though I'll admit that Mighty Leaf ginger twist and rainforest maté are tasty enough that I considered going back to them just for those two at the Christmas sale. The multigrain cheerios are my normal starter, except in the dead of winter, and I have six boxes in my closet from a sale at the grocery store.

I never did give you a final verdict on the Sachertorte. I liked it, though next time more apricot jam. It was predictably dry, as European cakes are, but the Schlag always fixes that. The Austrian professor was happy that I'd remembered it, though he did mention that he has Sachertorte for breakfast every morning. Psh. How was I to know?

Before cutting back on sugar, I went on a bit of a Choxie binge. Their chocolate isn't cheap, but I do highly recommend this key lime thing, which has bits of graham cracker in it, as well as all their various espresso/coffee flavours and the cake flavoured truffles. You can get Choxie at Target.

Rita and I had a seminar together this semester, and she came over one day to work on our research together and put together this lovely little spinach salad.

I meant to take my camera with me when my friend Matt and I finally got a chance to try out Seoul Grille, but I didn't, so behold leftovers. It was actually quite good, though I had to do some bargaining since there wasn't anything vegetarian on the menu. Fortunately, they could do this dish with tofu and without the egg, which I didn't really want. There were lovely bits of marianated seitan (or maybe it was tempeh) and all sorts of vegetables to throw in (or eat alone).

This tasted better than it looks, but you have to admit that the combination of blue cheese and caramelized onions is a good one.

A New Favourite Standby

2008-12-03T19:20:00.004-06:00

Admission: I'm still posting recipes from October. Yes, I know, I know. School has been kicking my arse lately, so please forgive me. But the good news is that I'm cooking lots and still have plenty to post, probably more quickly after December 19th.

Can I just say how much I love this macaroni? No, love is not a strong enough word. Worship. Am infatuated with. It's simple, actually, very simple, but three good experiences with it is enough to call it a winter. The first taste was back in May, when my friend Audra brought it cooked in a crockpot and shared the recipe (warning me not to freak out because she didn't use any meat). I kept meaning to make it, but finally got around to it early in October. I used white wine instead of broth, which I highly, highly recommend. It gives it a very sophisticated taste. I used Pinot Grigio, and as you can see I like a glass with my macaroni. I also only used 1/2 a cup each mozzarella and (freshly grated) parmesan and rounded it out with 1/2 a cup each havarti and fontina. I didn't do the extra cheese on top, and I used a 13 x 9 glass pan. This is the result.

The second time, a couple of weeks later, I repeated the recipe but used the fantastic Sortie Sara cheese I told you about receiving for Blogging by Mail. Oh. My. God. This blew me away, quite seriously. I can conjure the taste up in my mouth perfectly now, two weeks later, and wish I had a plateful. You have to like strong cheeses, but if you do, it's perfect. I did put the extra cheese on top, which was a good move. Well, you can clearly see that. Would you like a little macaroni with your cheese, sir? Yes, this macaroni does involve a teeny tiny bit of work in terms of grating cheese and making a sauce on the stove, but not too much. With the Sortie Sara, I just diced it, and you could do that with any soft cheese. Play around with cheeses and combinations, and don't be afraid of the strong stuff. Bon appetit!

(Oh, and speaking of that - do you know how happy I am that Bon Appetit has budget recipes this month? I haven't looked at them yet, but I've been disappointed with Bon Appetit since I ordered it a few months ago and hopefully this will change my mind.)

A Roast Event and a Diet

2008-11-27T18:56:00.005-06:00

Greetings again!

I've decided to go ahead and post the nutloaf I made the other day that I'm entering in Waiter, There's Something in My Roast, hosted by Johanna at The Passionate Cook. It seems like a festive thing for a festive day. Now you may be asking, what does a nutloaf have to do with roast? Personally, I always called it a nut roast, but I got the recipe from Green Gourmet Giraffe, and she says loaf. Either way, I think it's about the closest vegetarian alternative to a roast, so here it is. This is so fabulously easy, and so incredibly tasty, that I may actually make it again, and that's rare for me. I don't know why, but I hardly ever make the same thing twice.

It's lovely and moist inside, but cripsy and browned outside, with plenty of spicy flavour from the pepper and the mustard. The only slight changes I made were seasoned breadcrumbs and coarsely ground pepper instead of peppercorns. I just blitzed the nuts in the food processor, threw it all in a bowl, into the pan, and done! Perfect for a very busy working holiday week. Speaking of the holiday, you're all going to think that I'm crazy (and maybe I am), but I've chosen today of all days to go on a diet again. Well, maybe not really a diet. The thing is, I'm happy with how I look, but I recognize that my diet is not at all balanced and that my weight is on an incline. I don't care that much, but I also don't want it to reach unhealthy, so I'm using Calorie Count to track my food intake (by the way, if anyone knows of a better site or program that tracks all nutrients including vitamins, allows you to input foods to create a recipe and analyze its nutritional value, and does a decent report of your nutritional intake over time, please let me know!) I'm basically trying to follow the food pyramid, and keep my vitamins high enough and my fats and sugars low enough. I want to live a long time, and at this rate I'll be dead at forty. I did pretty well today, though. I'm doing a 1600 calorie target, and I'm a little over 1300 now with room for another mini pain au chocolat for dessert! I haven't felt hungry much today, for which I have sweet peas to thank. Thank you, peas. Really, for me it's just a matter of eating something like a vegetable when the craving hits, but it does take a conscious effort to get in the recommended fruit and veg. Today I pretty much made the target, though my sugar was four times the recommendation. Oops? Maybe not so much with that pain au chocolat. I'll let you know how it goes.

Blogs for which to be thankful

2008-11-27T10:00:00.004-06:00

Since I'm not actually making or eating anything special this Thanksgiving (deadlines, what can I say?) I'm going to continue with the tradition of last Thanksgiving and post instead about some of the foodblogs for which I am thankful. My reading patterns have changed a lot in the past year - I've gone from painstakingly clicking every link in a del.icio.us category every few weeks to having a Google Reader that I can easily trawl through every day - and so have the blogs I read. Though I still read almost all of the blogs I featured last year (and you should go to that post to see the praises previously sung), my priorities have changed a bit and there are some new favourites to introduce. These are the blogs that I "can't put down," so to speak, the ones that I find myself constantly coming back to. Not necessarily my blogging friends - I find you guys here, and you know I love you! - but blogs that are just objectively right for my purposes. These days, I look for great photos, pleasant narrative, and recipes that I, well, like. I also tend to be a fan of recipes that I can copy into YummySoup, so sometimes a blog that I would otherwise be a big fan of isn't a favourite just because it's so time-consuming to use any of the recipes. That's not to say they aren't great blogs, but for a person who moves as quickly as I am, I admittedly have limited time to sit with a leisurely cup of tea and read all the content and comment. Hopefully this time next year, I will be a much more conscientious reader. As it stands, I still enjoy blogs that are less recipe focused like C&Z or Cooking with Amy, but just never get around to reading them as frequently as I would like. Anyway, without further ado, on to the blogs...

New:

Almost Turkish Recipes

Though I still love Cafe Fernando, I must say this is the Turkish blog that's been getting most of my attention lately. It's very sort of no-muss, no-fuss, with lots of authentic Turkish recipes and many of them vegetarian. I'm hoping to try ispanaklı tepsi böreği soon, as you really can't go wrong with the combination of spinach and phyllo dough.

Baking & Books

I've been reading Ariella's blog for a while, but only recently really started to appreciate it. Granted, the monthly book giveaways did get my attention, but more generally I love all the book recommendations because I'm a big reader as well as a big eater. I like the layout, and the balance between narrative, discussing the food, and instructions. The very most recent post is actually the one I most want to share with you, because I'm a huge fan of spices with chocolate - chocolate chipotle brownies.

The Boastful Baker

Melissa's posts are short and to the point, and her photos are gorgeous. It's not all baking, but a lot of it is, and I'm not complaining. Recipes aren't always posted, but are frequently linked, and this is a blog where the focus is on the food and the beautiful photography. I'm intrigued by the sweet & spicy walnuts; they look a lot like something you could buy for quite a lot of money at home.

Chez Loulou

Chez Loulou is a favourite blog of mine in large part for nostalgic reasons, and hopeful ones as well. See, Loulou lives in my absolute favourite part of France, where I lived briefly myself, and I really want to live there myself one day. She emigrated, so it gives me hope, and I also love looking at her many photos of the region and its fabulous cheeses. I really want to jump through the screen and taste this cabretou, par exemple.

Chocolat et Caetera

This is another fantastic French dessert blog. I found it through a trail of bloggers that had made the cream cheese swirl brownies I tried once last year, and now I'm completely hooked. Almost all chocolate, all the time, and I can't resist. The dessert ideas are creative and tempting, and often the instructions are fairly simple. For example, take a look at this bittersweet chocolate and fig tart.

Coconut & Lime

This quick and to the point recipe blog features 100% original recipes, and I can't figure out how Rachel keeps coming up with these things time and time again. I appreciate the recipe-centric focus, though I also have a personal point of connection as Rachel lives in Baltimore, where I went to school and may shortly return. There are a lot of meat dishes, but also vegetarian plates and plenty of desserts. One very interesting idea is this ginger lime spiked cranberry sauce, just in time for Thanksgiving.

Cook (Almost) Anything Once

I like this blog for two reasons. One, the photos are beautiful, and two, the recipes are very easy. It's not uncommon to find a recipe with two or three ingredients. The downside is that Haalo tends to come across a lot of interesting, hard to find ingredients and so these recipes aren't always possible to replicate, but they're fun to read about in the way that people who don't cook read Gourmet. I liked the super-simple recipe for gözemle that went up recently. I've been trying to do more Turkish food, and though I don't eat meat, I could definitely go for spinach, cheese, and onion.

Foodbeam

Fanny is fun and bubbling and her recipes are to die for. She's currently doing an apprenticeship with Pâtisserie Lac, which is pretty amazing, and she's been sharing her experience with us. She mostly (only?) does desserts, and her blog is in English, though Fanny is French. I love her go at Nigella's famous chocolate loaf; it looks amazingly moist and delicious.

Joy the Baker

Joy is lovely and delightful, and her entries are full of life. This is a blog with a personality, and it's good enough that I can forgive the lack of recipes from time to time. I recently used her sit and stay a while apple crisp as inspiration for a sage-apple crisp with an eggnog "creme anglaise" (coming soon). It was very tasty and just as comforting as the blog.

Pete Bakes

Whether by coincidence or just the gender ratio in the blogging world, Pete is one of the few male foodbloggers I like to read (along with David Lebowitz and Cenk of Cafe Fernando). I stumbled upon his blog very recently, and I can't get enough. Superb photos, but most importantly he's got the same talent that Deb of Smitten Kitchen does when it comes to being a real instructor on his blog. For example, see this recent post about baking stones. Pete knows his stuff, and I'm thrilled he's chosen to share it with us.

Smitten Kitchen

At the moment, this is my number one favourite blog. Why? Well you have the beautiful photos, the fantastically helpful tutorials, the easy-to-prepare and well annotated recipes, the convergence of tastes between Deb and myself... but really I think it comes down to the blogger. Deb is someone with whom I know I'd love to be friends. Me and three thousand other people, I know, which is why food blogs are great - you have an opportunity to peek into someone's house, listen to them talk, and feel like you're just another gal in the room, even with the most popular kid in the class. It's easy to see from Deb's posts that she's very genuine, and she wants people to succeed. Most of her recipes aren't original, but she really provides the extra help the cookbook authors don't by tweaking recipes, pointing out problems her readers have had, and responding in the comments when readers have trouble. I recently went through all her archives and copied a bunch of recipes - two hours well spent! Also a sort of personal plus for me is the abundance of Jewish recipes. At passover, you have to start thanking the lord when someone compiles 17 passover safe desserts for your baking pleasure! As for recent posts, I strongly recommend her updated pie crust tutorial if you've ever had trouble with dough.

Spicy Ice Cream

Posts here are often simple and brief, the photos are beautiful, and the recipes are lovely and do-able. I drooled a little over this blueberry and vanilla frangipane tart, but I'm a huge sucker for frangipane. Lisa hails from Australia, and she does a lot of desserts but also sometimes posts about eating out or trips with a photo montage.

Stephanie's Kitchen

Stephanie's kitchen is another great place to get simple food, with a bit of commentary but focusing on the recipes. She does a lot of desserts, and lately a lot of fruits, but some savory dishes as well. The very most recent post, chocolate lava cookies, makes me wish I could have one right now. She also posts a lot of original recipes.

Use Real Butter

Jen is an amazing photographer, and along with her food she shows us pictures of her amazing natural habitat. As a skiier, I admit to being very jealous of her circumstances - living in Colorado is pretty much ski paradise - but at the same time I don't envy having to always adapt recipes for high altitudes. Jen posts a lot of meat dishes, but she also does her share of desserts and veg-friendly items, always with plenty of "process" photos. I'd love to try these simple and comforting potatoes au gratin.

Returning from Last Year:

Beau à la Louche

Okay, so I might still have a teeny tiny crush on Loukoum, but who could blame me? Her blog is fantastic, her desserts are always something I want to munch right off the screen, and her commentary never fails to brighten my day (in French, I'm afraid). She has a thing for cheesecake, and who on earth could blame her? One dessert that nearly made my mouth drop open recently was a chocolate, cassis, and balsamic vinegar dessert. Luscious, creamy, and starring some of my favourite flavours, what's not to like?

Cherrapeno

Though her layout isn't quite as fancy as La Tartine Gourmande or Tartelette, I put Nicisme of Cherrapeno in a similar category. She makes a wide variety of reliably tasty recipes, and is also one of the few bloggers on this list who also comment here (thanks, Nic!) I'm all about the chocolate & pistachio wedges - the dessert recipes featured on this blog look tasty and fulfilling, but rarely the kind of thing you're going to have to scratch your head and gather tremendous courage to prepare.

Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

This blog, and Peabody's other amazingly tempting one, Northwest Noshings, are a standby great choice for desserts, comfort food, and the like. I enjoy reading Peabody's commentary, but this one is also all about the food. She often features things that look like I could make them, which is a plus, and the ingredients tend to be more or less seasonal. Also as a Pacific Northwest resident-wannabe, the second blog makes me want to move, pronto. Take a look at these butterscotch tarts the next time your sweet tooth is. They're nearing the top of my list.

Tartelette

What dessert lover can get enough of this blog? I sure can't. Granted, these are the kind of recipes you really have to steal yourself to prepare, but they look so gorgeous and are perfect for a special occasion. One recipe that intrigued me recently, partly because it only has six ingredients but also because they look so light and delicious, is raspberry parfait lollipops. Helen's desserts are often "cute," and these are no exception, but I think we all need some cute in our lives from time to time.

La Tartine Gourmande

Bilingual, gorgeous photography, and plenty of charm. Bea is a gorgeous mother to be with a penchant for both cooking and taking professional photos, and her recounting of franglais conversations always makes me smile and occasionally miss France. Most of the time it's a light and sometimes humorous blog, and the recipes focus heavily on dessert, though there are plenty of vegetarian savory dishes as well. The most appealing recipe of late for me was leek, tomato, and blue cheese quiches - some of my favourite flavours! Bea's blog was one that was a bit harder to navigate before RSS, but now it's a breeze.

So thank you to these bloggers, but also to all the hundreds of foodbloggers I read, and especially to those of you who read this blog and comment time and time again, even when I'm being scattered and frazzled and infrequently posting and infrequently replying to your comments. I read each and every one of them, and I greatly appreciate the time you take to hang out in my kitchen. Happy Thanksgiving, if you're celebrating, and if not, a very happy Thursday to you.

Blog Party Holiday Party: Indulging in a Little Holiday Nostalgia

2008-11-13T16:50:00.005-06:00

The holidays for me, as they are for most people, are a time when memories start to loom large. They're a time for missing those that are gone or far away, and missing things as they were. When you're a kid, you want things to be bigger and more impressive, and you have ambitious dreams. For the most part, I'm fulfilling those dreams, and I'm happy doing it, but at the same time I do badly miss the holidays at my Grandpa's house with my entire family lingering around, and the big extended family gatherings in Boone or Winston Salem with their typically Southern cuisine. I got the recipe for these parmesan shortbreads from a book I've had for a while - I saw it at my friend B's house at New Year's and was so impressed that I bought my own copy this past spring, but this is my first chance to make something from it. The minute I bit into one, the taste brought me back to my Grandpa's kitchen (with him it was cheese straws, not shortbread, but it doesn't matter).

There are a few foods that will do that to me - that trail mix with the wasabi peas and the spicy orange crackers, mince pie, parker house rolls, lemon curd. I lived in my mother's house my whole life, but it doesn't really bring back a nostalgic feeling because I forget that I don't actually live there anymore. When I visit, I wake up in my bed without any sense of surprise, and I drive around Raleigh forgetting that I ever moved. Grandpa's house, though, symbolizes my childhood in a different way. Last year at this time, I made chess and pecan pie, and mulled wine. This year I'm struck by an intense desire for caramel cake. I don't plan on doing any sort of Thanksgiving or Christmas meal, but I probably will throw together a few things throughout the season.

Anyway, the shortbreads were tiny, but quite tasty. I kept having to add water to the dough, which isn't called for - my dough skills really could use some work. The above picture demonstrates my fabulous mess-free grating technique. Using paper towels on a cutting board, you can make it easy to grate, scoop it into the measuring cup, and set the measured portion aside in batches, and then gather up the paper towel and pour all the cheese into the food processor. The drink I'm providing for the Blog Party is also a childhood reminiscence. I remember when Arbor Mist came out and I badly wanted it from the commercials, but of course it was alcohol and I was probably about fifteen at the time. I finally got around to trying it, and as you can see by the embarrassingly empty bottle it was a hit. Any kind of white wine would go great with these shortbreads, though.

Parmesan & Rosemary Shortbreads
adapted slightly from Hors D'Oeuvres by Eric Treuille & Victoria Blashford-Snell
makes 40 very small shortbreads

1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour
salt
cayenne pepper
3 T cold butter, diced
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp dried rosemary

Grate the parmesan as described above to make it easy on yourself and dump in the food processor. Sift in 1/2 cup flour (I suppose you should sift before measuring but I don't bother). Throw in a dash each salt and cayenne, plus the rosemary. Dice and add the cold butter. The instructions say pulse to form a smooth dough, but that didn't happen for me. I pulsed until it was basically coming together, dumped on my flour cutting board, then worked it together with my hands, adding some water a little at a time. Adding water while in the food processor would probably work well. Roll out a quarter of an inch thick. I did thinner but it was fine. They puff up a bit. You can cut out 40 rounds with a 1-1/2 inch fluted pastry cutter, but if you think that sounds ridiculous, use a shot glass. You'll probably only get twenty with the rim, but I used the bottom as a guide and cut them out with a knife instead. Put on the baking sheet with just a little bit of space in between the shortbreads and chill half an hour. Bake at 350 for about eight minutes or until golden brown. Cool.

Left Over But Not Forgotten

2008-11-12T13:12:00.005-06:00

One thing I've never been particularly inventive with is leftovers. I don't have the aversion that some do to eating the same thing for dinner five nights a week, or more commonly for me the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for forty-eight hours. Granted, if the meal is bad, I might try to drown it in cheese or sugar to make up for the pain, but I don't like wasting food. Still, I recognize that some need to do something new with a dish to make it look like something else the next day, whether for kids or their own piece of mind. That's why those little balls of fried risotto keep showing up on my RSS feed, I suspect. I will admit that the latkes Molly came up with New Year's morning by taking the mashed sweet potatoes, adding salt, and frying them up worked very well. This pasta dish was thrown together with fettucine, the fabulous tomato sauce I posted about recently, and the addition of eggplant, onion, red wine, and tomato all simmered up in a pan to make the tomato sauce go a little further. Something tells me as this economic situation continues to unravel, we're all going to be coming up with ideas like this to make every meal stretch just a little bit more.

Fête du Fromage: Port Salut and a Tart

2008-11-10T16:46:00.005-06:00

My November entry to Chez Loulou's Fête du Fromage event is a fabulous Port Salut cheese - soft, mild yet distinct, and a great melter. This is my first experience with Port Salut and it couldn't be more fabulous. I tried a bit plain but I wanted to do a recipe as well, so I tried this tart from BBC Food, specifically James Tanner. The crust is a bit simple and a bit less than fabulous, but the topping is very tasty. The Port Salut matches quite well with the sweet onions and the red pepper, and the basil is a nice touch. I recommend going heavy on the olive oil because the crust is quite dry. The edges of the tart were almost inedible, but the center was great. Next time I would spread the filling nearly to the edges. Also it looks small, but I got four servings out of it.

Grapefruit Yoghurt Cake: A Fabulous Success from Smitten Kitchen

2008-11-07T20:59:00.005-06:00

So I mentioned a while ago that I had been longing to try something from Smitten Kitchen, and that I tried that one squash and potato torte and this was the other thing. Boy, what an other thing it was. This cake is amazing - it has a beautiful dense, moist golden crumb, and especially if you do what I did for the second of two cakes I made in a single week (best breakfast, morning snack, and dessert I've had in a ten-day period) and poke all over with a fork to really let the syrup soak in, the grapefruit flavour is fantastic. I let the bottoms get pretty dark, but that was all right. It needed that much time to cook and turned out perfect. You can find the recipe (adapted from Ina Garten) here, but I'll let the photos speak for themselves this time.

Waiter, There's Something in My Winter Squash!

2008-10-31T19:42:00.004-05:00

I'm submitting two entries to round twenty of Waiter, There's Something in My... The theme this round is gourds, and I decided to showcase a couple of my standby squashes for winter. First, the lovely orange butternut, pictured here in an adaptation of this recipe from Epicurious. The original is a noodle dish with a very thai feel. I had no coconut milk, but I did a version of it with a little less of a Thai flare, served over quinoa for a fall feel. I actually didn't have any regular milk onhand either, so I used powdered milk made with water and a little bit more broth, and added just a little bit of vanilla. I didn't use the chili or red curry paste, but I sprinkled some red pepper flakes in for my slightly less spice-friendly palette. It was pretty tasty! I would caution you though, use regular milk if you have it because this dish isn't very conducive to stirring so the powdered version tends to separate.

Second is my old standby, acorn squash baked with fall spices and butter. It's very simple, just take an acorn squash (this one was small enough to be just two servings, and I don't eat much) and cut it in half using a sharp knife. Put the halves in a dish with a little bit of water and stick a pat of butter and some brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in the hollows. Bake it at about 400 F or so until tender, an hour more or less. You really can't go wrong.

BBM Package Received!

2008-10-27T18:59:00.005-05:00

This round I got a fabulous Blogging By Mail package from Sweden! Lexi sent me all kinds of fun treats, and it was great fun to sort through them and see how much of the labels I could read (I've studied a little bit of Danish). I also found the package really amusing when it arrived at my door. So many stamps! I've never tried to send something internationally with stamps before, but it's a pretty neat idea. So anyway, in the non-food category I got a fun necklace and some lip balm that's really nice. She says it can serve as lotion as well, but my chapped lips need all the balm they can get for our dry (and yet somehow still snowy) winters. Then, of course, a load of food. Yum!

One of the best things for me about these exchanges is that I sometimes end up with a sender from a country I know very little about, and so I get to discover a bit of their culture (or cuisine) as I go along. Last winter I got a package from Finland, for example, with photos, and I had no idea how beautiful it is there. This time I got some really interesting tastes to try - for example, salty licorice, which I've never heard of but is actually pretty tasty. I'm a huge licorice fan, and I just love these candies called Kick. They're much softer than our licorice and easier to chew, and so tasty. I also got some other typical Swedish candies to sample, and a huge chocolate bar. Milk chocolate with little bits of peppermint candy in it. Yum! I'm a huge fan of the mint/chocolate combo. I got a couple different types of biscuit, which I haven't tried yet, and also some little ones that Lexi suggests I sprinkle over the rosehip soup and serve with ice cream. I'm really curious about that one, but I'm going to save it for later so I have something new to try as the month wears on. Also a box of a grain that's kind of like couscous. You can probably tell from this blog that I'm a fan of new grains, haha. And finally, best for last, cheese! Sorte Sara, a Danish cheese, which is really tasty. Since I don't usually keep sandwich bread around, I decided to use it for a batch of macaroni and cheese. Maybe the Danes would frown on that, but it was sooo good. I love the strong taste, and it's a great melting cheese. Thanks, Lexi! You did really well.

SHF: Spice Cake

2008-10-26T13:10:00.006-05:00

It's been a long time since I did an SHF, and I keep wanting to but timing fails me. This month, though, the fates aligned, because I had been wanting to bake a spice cake and lo and behold, the theme is spices! The host, Dessert First, is a blog I've recently discovered and love. I found it through Tastespotting (or maybe it was Food Gawker), which has been a great way to find new blogs lately. Speaking of which, if anyone knows a good-quality free online image resize site, or a good-quality free image resize program for Mac, please share the love. I want to get on those sites but my pictures always get rejected, probably because they're resizing funny.

Anyway, back to the spice cake. I remember having one of these once as a kid, probably ten or eleven, at my friend's mom's house. I helped her frost the cake and kept thinking "no way something made of SPICES is going to be any good." I assumed that a cake had to have fruit, or chocolate, or something along those lines to be tasty, but I was wrong. I love spice cake, and I'd been craving one. The recipe comes from here, and it's delicious. Perfectly moist and flavourful - the only problem is that you need to either not flour the pan (just grease) or maybe let it cool longer than instructed. About half the cake came out of the pan and the other half didn't, so I had a cake covered in cake bits. Still good, but I'm glad I wasn't bringing it to anything. Also, the cake is huge, so find some friends.