word cloud!

Here's a word cloud of this bog. Garlic much? If you click on it it gets bigger and cooler.

cod in packets!

So I was heading off to babysit the other day (lie, I was watching kids by the dozen on my couch, waiting for the kid to call me) the mom calls, and says: "max isn't coming home till later, but you can come make dinner now. I have some cod fillets for Jesse, and some steak for max."

I was like, "sure!" and then immediately sped to the internet. what would I do with cod? Cook's illustrated to the rescue! cod in foil packets with zucchini and tomatoes! I was lucky - this recipe is from the March issue! http://cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=18757

I am not one for quantities, but here's roughly what I did, in pictures and some words.

I sliced one zucchini into half rounds, put it in a salad spinner with salt, and let it sweat.

then I chopped about 12 cherry tomatoes in half, and diced two large cloved of garlic. I tossed those together in a bowl with someolice oil, salt, pepper, dried oregano, and just a few chili pepper flakes. You're supposed to de-seed the tomatoes, and they're supposed to be plum tomatoes, but, who's counting?

I am just making two fish fillets, so, I tear off four approx 12"x12" pieces of tin foil and lay them out.

next I take my "sweaty" zucchini out of the salad spinner and put them flat on a layer of 3 paper towels, and press down on them with a layer of three more paper towels. I probably should have let them sweat longer, because there was definitely still some moisture left in them.

I mounded half the now sorta dry zucchini in the middle of one piece of tin foil (dull side up) and half in the other. then I poured about a tablespoon of white wine on top of each of the zucchini mounds.

Next I cut the fish into two slightly rectangular pieces, (about 4 inches long?) and patted them down with a paper towel, although they weren't that wet to start with, and then put a little salt and pepper on each side. I laid each piece of fish on top of a mound of zucchini.

then I put half of the tomato mixture on top of each piece of fish.

Finally - packet time! I put the second piece of foil on top of the fish, and folded the edges over 3 times on each side.

Jesse wasn't ready to eat yet, so I put the packets in the refrigerator. when she was ready, I preheated the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, and I put the fish packets on a baking sheet. When the oven was hot, I popped them in the oven for 17 minutes. (I added two minutes because of the fridge time - usually it's 15 minutes.)

when they came out, I used a knife to open the packets *away from me* and slid everythign inside onto a plate. ta dah! (not so) instant meal!

Jesse ate the whole thing! success! There are several other packet fillet recipes, you could put most veggies in, I think, you just want to make sure there's not too much liquid in there.

fyi

Sorry for my intense and obvious lack of posting, y'all...

I haven't cooked in a month. No joke. I boiled some pasta and put pesto on it the other day, but that was a major event. And I had purchased the pesto at the store.

I am hoping this isn't a permanent state of affairs... look for a post from me next time I cook...

xoxoqueen of ellipses

and now, a word from my mother

"You are of course a genius inventive cook. Do you know where I always keep/kept the ginger? Right, in the freezer. But I cooked so seldom you probably thought it was a relic from Pennsylvania."

so it looks like my happy accident may have been genetically engineered. whatevs.

(I'm currently pre-heating the oven and waiting for my rosemary-whole wheat bread to rise. it's a nice afternoon activity.)

ginger breakthrough

I think I discovered something brilliant. possibly.

a while back my ginger fell off of the top of the fridge into my freezer. I discovered it about a month ago. at the time, I couldn't think of a reason why I should or should not take the ginger out, most likely because I was contemplating something else, like where I put my jeans. (in the underwear drawer, btw.)

well, tonight I needed the ginger to make spicy sweet potato and coconut soup. the recipe required 2 inches of ginger peeled and thinly sliced. I personally hate doing minced or finely cut ginger because ginger, my friends, is a hairy beast. it is fibrous in such a way that makes it very difficult to slice it with any sort of elegance.

not so with frozen ginger! I was able to cut the knob into slivers of slices. so easy! so simple! I think that, from now on, I will put some ginger into the freezer maybe a day before I plan on using it. it will make my life a much better place.

my only concern is that there is some detrimental effect upon the ginger from the freezing. does anyone know of one? or some other reason why this is a really stupid idea?

carrot muffins. with frosting. cream cheese frosting.

we have a whole lot of carrots from the farm share.  a whole lot.  like 8 poundsish right now.  We would have more carrots, but last night I made lentil soup with quadruple the normal amount of carrots.  and today I made carrot muffins.  the frosting makes them like dessert.

the recipe was an all-recipes situation.  Check out the original here.  

first I preheated the oven  to 350 degrees and I buttered the bottoms, only, of the muffin tins.

next time I would use muffin cup liners because it was a little hard (but not too hard) to get the muffins out of the tins.

then I mixed together:

1 1/3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

then I whisked briskly 3 eggs and 1 cup of sugar, then I added 3/4 cup of vegetable oil and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

then I added in the 2 cups of finely grated carrots that I had grated earlier.  I washed the carrots and then grated them.  I thought that maybe I should have peeled the carrots and I was worried that the muffins would be bitter - but they were not!

finally, I folded in the dry ingredients, then I ladled the mix into the muffin tins and baked it for 18 minutes.

while they were baking I put two tablespoons of butter and two ounces of cream cheese in the microwave for about 20 seconds.  then I popped them into a bowl with 1 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla extract.  then I beat it with a wooden spoon - and it was frosting!

when the muffins came out, I used a knife to help them out and once they had cooled on the rack for a bit, I used a knife to spread frosting on them.  and then I got to eat them, and share them!

white vegan chili (with cheese)

today I decided to peruse simply recipes, a blog that we've featured here before. I was collecting recipes for a work project right now, but all the recipes have to appeal to folks who a) eat meat, and b) don't really want to change their eating habits but know that they should be eating healthier food. so I do a lot of retyping and formatting recipes for "quick beef casserole," and "baked southern fried chicken." a few hours of that and I just want to think about what I'm going to cook for myself, not what would lower a person's high cholesterol (which I don't have).


this here is a white bean chili that was intended for turkey but I went in the other direction. I upped the garlic and the onions and used some red chili flakes. it's yummy. not too spicy, but a lot of flavor and I froze heaps of it for the winter.

you will need:

• 2 cans of cannelloni beans
• 3 cups vegetarian chicken broth
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 medium onions, chopped - keep each onion separate!
• olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon oregano (recipe called for dried, but I used fresh and it was fine)
• pinch of ground cloves
• pinch of red chili flakes
• 2 4-oz cans chopped green chilies - mild or hot...or both!
  
• 1 package tempeh
• salt to taste

you will do:

• add the beans, the no-chicken stock, garlic, and 1 chopped onion (because you separated them) in a large soup pot. bring it to a boil, my friends.
• while the stock is boiling, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. saute the onions until it's tender.
• add the green chilies, tempeh, and the spices and mix the whole thing up. cook for 5-10 minutes.
• add the chili-tempeh stuff to the soup pot. stir it in and let it simmer for a while with the top off.
  
• the chili will thicken during the simmering process. keep an eye on it so that you can achieve your ideal consistency. for more of a soup, simmer for 5-10 minutes. for more of a chili/stew, simmer for 10-15.
  
• then, if you're a lapsed lactose-intolerant like myself, you put some into a bowl and sprinkle sharp cheddar on it. oops.
  

Poll: should sarah emily attend polenta school?

I've discussed my polenta quest before here. so far, I haven't really discovered anything revolutionary, other than the polenta croutons I had at dinner this summer. now I've found the perfect solution to my dilemma - but I don't know if I should do it. The Cambridge Center for Adult Education is offering a winter course called, "The Possibilities of Polenta."

Discover the rich, delicious possibilities of a Northern Italian staple food — polenta. As versatile as pasta, there are several types of polenta (white and yellow, and coarse and fine). You will prepare and feast on polenta accompanied with three delicious toppings — a hearty sausage sauce, a delicate white sauce made with gorgonzola and marscarpone cheeses, and a tasty onion sauce. We’ll also try fried polenta. Learn how to use polenta as a side dish to entrees or as a meal in itself! Feel free to bring your own wine.

it's $56 for a 2.5 hour session. this seems like the opportunity I've been waiting for, except I'm not feeling as enthused as I think I should be. please help me make this decision. basically, if enough folks think it's worth my time to go, I'll do it. or if people think that going to a polenta class is stupid, I'll take that into account too. help please?

big piles of food

I'm in Brooklyn this week for work and last night I went out to dinner with some New York-dwelling friends. because we were in a hurry to catch Eric's show, Riz and Johann suggested a quick place near their apartment. it was definitely quick, but what perhaps would have been more informative was that Mama's Food Shop is a monster of food. Heather and I decided to split a plate of three sides. this is how much food we were served:

those are three sides, folks. not main dishes. sides. it was just a massive amount of food. that plate cost about $10, which was totally fine for two people and the fact that Heather and I needed Eric's help later on to finish it. the brussel sprouts were rad, the beets were tasty. it's not the most flavorful food in the world, but it was fast and enormous and pretty convenient. there are plenty of options for both veggies and meat eaters. I don't know if I would suggest this for a tourist, but this would be a rockin' place to have in your neighborhood.