Bison Chili

Fall is starting to make its presence known; even in these temperate parts we're having intermittent showers and gusty winds. Around this time one of my favorite comfort dishes is chili. The problem is, it's usually chili prepared by someone else because I'm usually too squeamish to cook with any uncooked meat besides bacon. So I decided to get over that today by cooking my own chili. This chili, based off a recipe I got from allrecipes but heavily modified, contains, not one, not two, but THREE ingredients I've never cooked with before. Pretty crazy huh? I've pointed them out in the pictures below. This recipe also uses beer, so I picked up a smoked porter from Stone Brewing Company. This brew has a smoky aroma, and is rich and sweet in flavor with a rather dry finish.

Unfamiliar ingredient #1: Lard!

1 tbsp lard
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 head of garlic or 6-7 cloves, minced
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 lb cubed beef/bison stew meat or ground meat
1 lb sausage (I used a smoked jalapeno bison sausage)
2 slices bacon, cut into inch-long pieces
1 28 oz can tomato sauce
1 14.5 oz can diced tomato
3-4 dried chipotle peppers, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
6-8 oz dark beer, such as a doppelbock, porter, or stout
2-3 dashes Red Rooster or other hot sauce
2 tbsp dried oregano
1-1.5 tsp black pepper
1 oz dark chocolate

Unfamiliar ingredient #2: Bison!

Start by heating your lard, or any fat of your choice, in a large stockpot. Add your chopped onion, garlic, and bell pepper and cook through until onion is transparent. Then add your ground meat and bacon. If your sausage is uncooked, add it at this time as well, otherwise, you can add it with everything else. Cook until meat is evenly browned (bacon may take a while longer to curl, but you'll give it lots of time later).

Unfamiliar ingredient #3: Chipotle!

Once meat is ready, add everything else. Simmer for 1-2 hours and serve hot!

I didn't include a picture of the chili itself, because all chili more or less looks the same.

Mulligatawny Soup/Stew

Alright, so I actually cooked this flavorful dish way back in July, but I got too caught up in other business to post. I made some changes to the original recipe, which I found on allrecipes.com, so hopefully I can remember everything I did.

This dish comes originally from South India, where it was loved by British sailors. Mulligatawny actually comes from two words — mulliga thhani — meaning "pepper water," referring more to its spicy flavor rather than its ingredients, which don't contain pepper at all (though the recipe does have chile peppers). By some stroke of genius or luck (more likely the latter), I happened to make a fantastic mulligatawny soup. The balance between spices was great, and though it was perhaps a tad salty it was unnoticeable when eaten with bread. Pictures to follow.

1 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp preserved ginger (I used sweet sushi ginger)
2 green chile peppers, chopped
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric (curiously I've never seen unground turmeric)
4 cardamom pods, bruised
1 tbsp lime juice
1 carrot, chopped
1 apple, chopped
3 small white potatoes or 1 large, diced (remember to boil 15 mins in saltwater first, or this could become tedious!)
1 c red lentils (masoor)
8 c chicken broth
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp tamarind concentrate or jelly
1 can coconut milk (14.5 or 16 oz)

The great thing about this recipe is that you can do it all in one stockpot, so you don't end up with a lot of cleaning to do. I started by boiling my potatoes for about 15 minutes in salted water. The potatoes I used were rather small, so I didn't bother with peeling them; you can if you prefer. After removing the potatoes and draining and rinsing the pot, return to heat, this time adding the coconut oil, onion, garlic, ginger, chile peppers, dry spices, and lime juice, and sautéing until the onion is just starting to brown uniformly. At this point I know you'll feel tempted to lean in and savor the aroma from the spices, so I should warn you: do not, repeat, DO NOT stick your face directly over the pot. Aside from the steam being scalding hot, the intense spice aroma could well knock you out. As you learned in chemistry, just waft the steam in your general direction — you'll get a pretty good idea of how your spice blend is.

Once the onions are lightly browned, add the carrot, potato, apple, red lentils, and chicken broth. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the veggies/fruit are tender. At this point you have an option: you can either blend this mix in a food processor for a soup, or not for a stew. I just kept mine as stew so I wouldn't have to clean my blender as well. After this, add the tamarind, lemon juice, coconut milk, and fresh cilantro, and stir until heated through (just under a gentle boil). Ladle out and serve hot!

Rajma (OMG Indian food!)

Alright, so I promised Preeyanka I would share my attempted forays into Indian food, so this was my trial at Rajma, based on two recipes:

Rajma - Red Kidney Bean Curry: I literally found this by typing "kidney beans indian food"

Smitten Kitchen: Red kidney bean curry: I loveeeee this website. It all looks so fancy with beautiful photography, but she did some shots to show what her kitchen actually looks like, and its tiny! I love the non-pretentiousness of this website.

Okay, so my prep came in three parts: my bases, my spices, and my wine.

My bases of course were onion, garlic, kidney beans, and tomatoes.

Spices were turmeric, cumin, cayenne, black pepper, and I threw in some anise extract into the food mix at a certain point bc I've heard anise seeds can replace cumin seeds and I didn't have either but I had anise extract bc I love licorice (nom nom).

As I'm sure you can tell, I have developed a bit of a wino habit this summer, and this has become a prime focus of any meal or gathering. Hmmm so delicious!

A little background on this wine: I had heard of riojas a few times before (mind you, anything I say 'before' just means sometime along this summer, when I started paying attention to wines) and had been under the impression that this was a type of red wine. Quite the contrary! Its actually a region in Spain, and it does indeed make mostly reds, so that's what it is known for, but it makes a few whites too! So when I stopped by my favorite wine shop The Wine Thief (perfect name, no?) and saw this baby, I had to try it. The people who work at this place are excellent, and I've rarely tried one of their recommendations without liking it. This guy had the employee's approval, and after trying it, it definitely had mine also. So good! (and yes, I agree that Indian food is probably better with reds, but its been waaaaayyy too humid in CT to touch reds, looking forward to the winter though)

Okay okay, so back to the food.

Basically I sauted the onions, then added the garlic, and a minute later all the other spices. I didn't have the tomato sauce that the smitten kitchen recipe mentioned, and I had already accidently drained the kidney beans, so I just used both the tomatoes and tomato juice from the canned tomatoes. It worked out pretty well. After everything's together, let it sit for 10 min boiling, and then I smashed some kidney beans onto the sides of the pot, which really helped thicken things for me. I also made a side of simple white rice to serve over. In the future I'll have to learn how to make naan, and then I'll be set for life! The end products:

and of course

Ladies and gentlemen, another success in the single kitchen of moi.

frittata experiment

So after a long hiatus, I am returning to the food-blogginess. I have a few lined up to eventually be added here, but for now I'll start with tonight's dinner. Let me lay out my day:

In the AM I was motivated about work, but then lost that motivation. On my way out the door, my landlady was moving out and had several boxes of old LPs and offered to let me search through them and take any I wanted. SCORE! She had amazing stuff, and I even made her keep the original MJ Thriller and Beatles records, you can't toss that stuff. Definitely a mood booster. ...Then I got to lab. BOOORRING plus stupid people. My friend mentioned wanting to go shopping, which I've had in my mind for a while now but I don't like shopping by myself. So post boring crappy stupid-people labness on a saturday, this was the rest of my day: shopping. home. dinner. wine. old movie. AWESOMENESS.

So lets talk about dinner. First of all, the important stuff:

Wine accompaniment: Chardonnay Steel American Table Wine by Gouveia Vineyards
local winery in Wallingford, CT, SUPER CUTE, had a lovely picnic there a few weeks back.


Movie accompaniment: Noble House, starring Pierce Brosnan
Based on the book by James Clavell anything by him is AMAZZZZINGGG. I've read everything except Whirlwind. Best book: Shogun, first-book recommendation: Taipan.

Okay, so now for dinner: my experiment at spinach frittata, a la the following basic recipe: Spinach Frittata Simply Recipes

I love both this website (simply recipes) and Smitten Kitchen for most of my starter recipes.

Basically I approached this as "what veggies do I have?" + eggs/cheese.
#1: veggies
I had spinach (obviously), mushrooms, and tomatoes (you choose if its a veggie/fruit), also the requisite onion and garlic. I love both onion and garlic, by the way. This has been a total discovery in this past year,but they are SO DELICIOUS. o.m.g.
The rest was eggs, milk, I used gouda cheese and since i didn't have a grater, I cut it into small pieces and melted it for 30 seconds in the microwave.

So I think the three-way prep that the recipe mentions is important. Separetly, prep:
#1: cook spinach in 1/4 cup water until its

wilted, take it off the heat and drain, set aside.
#2: (for me melt the cheese cubes and then..) mix cheese, eggs, and milk, and add salt and pepper to taste. set aside.
#3: In a baking pan (I don't have a skillet that is oven-safe) I sauted the onions, then added the garlic for one minute, then the mushrooms and wilted spinach for a few more minutes, and lastly the tomatoes for a

bit.
After your veggies are patially cooked (depending on how well done yo

u want them in the end), then add the cheese mixture and smoothen everything out. Let this cook a little while on the stove until partially solidified. Then, magic!


Move it into the oven, preheated at 400. Let this go for 15 minutes, then take it out and let it cool. When done, the cheese/egg covering should have the same consistency as scr

ambled eggs.


Apologies for my crappy pictures due to crappy lighting in my kitchen. But still, a lovely ending:

Almenta with Cooked Endive Salad

I've just been getting over a bout of the cold, so I figured I'd celebrate by getting back into cooking and putting the more successful dishes up on here, since it's been a while anyways. Today, I'm making an endive and greens salad with almenta (c). Yup, I just copyrighted that. It's polenta made with almond meal instead of cornmeal. I have no idea how it's going to turn out, but I figure its worth the experimentation. The original recipe is from the Anheuser-Busch cookbook, "Great Food, Great Beer." The latter part of that title is questionable, but the food is quite delicious.

Almenta and Endives (serves 2-3)

3 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, thinly-sliced
3-4 endives, chopped
2 c spinach
1/3 c dried cranberries
1/4 tsp salt
1 c almond meal
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 c vegetable broth
1 c milk
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, grated/shredded
4 tsp pine nuts

For the almenta, start by lightly toasting your pine nuts. You'll know they're ready by the smell. Next, heat the olive oil. Add the thinly-sliced garlic, then the endive, then the spinach. Give a minute or two after adding each ingredient for the oil to draw out the flavors. Stir in the salt and the dried cranberries, then cover and simmer on low heat for about five minutes before removing from heat.

In a small saucepan, combine the almond meal and red pepper flakes over medium-high heat. Next, add the vegetable stock and milk, keeping the mixture from clumping with a whisk. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for ten minutes. It is important to note that, though a watched pot may not boil, an unwatched pot always boils over. Be vigilant. After the mix boils down to a thicker consistency, stir in the cheese. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, fill about halfway with the almenta, then spoon in as much of the endives mix as you desire. Top with pine nuts and enjoy!

If Monks Had Cafes...

Finals are over, a year of grad school is complete. What better way to relax and de-stress than with a fine ale, no?

Monk's Cafe Flemish Red Ale, known elsewhere in the world as Bios Vlaamse Bourgogne, comes to us from the last operating brewery in Meetjesland, Belgium, the Brouwerij Van Steenberge, brewer of such well-known ales as Gulden Draak and Augustijn.

The Flemish Red ale is a Flanders farmhouse style which originated in the 19th century, when farmers would brew beer on the side to supplement their produce and meat. The majority of the beer was drunk within the home — since most everyone brewed their own beer, there was little outside market to be exploited. Since wheat was readily available, it was a common ingredient in these ales. Herbs and spices were routinely added for extra flavor.

This particular ale itself is a beautiful, reddish-brown hue. Citrus, vanilla, and pear notes on the nose give way to a mild acid astringency. The initial flavors are reminiscent of dry cider, with apple, pear, vanilla, cinnamon, and clove, with a creamy mouthfeel. There is an acidic twang in the aftertaste, but the beer is not nearly as sour as one would expect from a Flemish farmhouse ale. It is absolutely one of the most delicious ales I've tasted, and its relatively low alcohol content make it enjoyable at any time. Pair it with a fruity dessert like fruit tarts, fruit cheesecakes, and puddings, or with summer salads with oranges or strawberries.

Banana Bread

Abstract:

This is my mom’s recipe, mostly. She has a secret ingredient which makes hers even better which I did not have, and hence it is not included in this recipe. I made a loaf earlier this week, and my co-workers ate all of it, demanding more. But now the number of coworkers at my office has dropped precipitously, so I needn’t worry about that anymore. Oh yea, its really easy.

Doesn’t that look loafly.

Prep:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 13x9” baking dish or two loaf pans.

Materials:

Dry ingredients: 2 cups Flour 2 cups Sugar 1 tsp. Baking Powder 1 tsp. Baking Soda	A legend would only make this post dry.
Don’t have a mixer? I won’t b lend you mine.	Wet ingredients: 4 eggs 1 cup oil 3 bananas (note: the bananas look ripe and bruised. Ripe bananas taste sweeter)

Methods:

1. Blend wet ingredients (do not blend to death)
2. Combine dry ingredients in a big bowl
3. Pour wet into the dry ingredients and mix with your hands. note: I hope your hands are clean. Don’t whip it up too much, we don’t want the baking soda reaction to start too early.
4. Pour mix into pan
5. Bake 325°F for ~45min

 I won’t lend you my hand either.

Conclusion:

This stuff is really good. I made two batches in one week, and it disappears fast. The top tastes wonderful, and it is a staple in my dessert diet. :)

I hope things pan out…

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Smoothie

Intro:

I realized I should probably put one of my things here, because this blog has the characteristic of coolness enough for me to participate in. And everyone else is putting up such awesome stuff that I need to join in.
I was perusing around in Jamba Juice while waiting for my Protein Berry Workout when I came across this recipe in one of the smoothie tomes that JJ has for sale. Using my spendthrift talents I took a picture of the recipe and got the ingredients to make it at home. I made it the same day Nik came over, and I'm pretty sure he thought it was good. My mind was occupied by the awesomely big bear hug he gave me. Yes, just think about that for a moment...

(I apologize in advance for the photos. I spilled water on my camera, and half the photos are messed up.)

Two guys, two cups. Trust me.

Prep:

Freeze two bananas the day before: peel them and put them into a ziplock bag in the freezer.

Make:

1/2 cup chocolate rice milk (I used soy)
1/2 cup soft silken tofu (I used firm, which Nik estimated into 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 fresh bananas, frozen and sliced
2 tbsp. chocolate syrup
6-7 ice cubes

1) Combine the milk (first), tofu and peanut butter in a blender. Stir it a bit. This was actually pretty tough, but just get it mixed.
2) Slowly add bananas, chocolate syrup, and ice cubes.
3) Blend until smooth.

Seems easy, but the blending part can be quite tough/tricky. You have to shake the blender or push down the entire mix every now and then (do not do it while it is on!) so that the blades can reach an even mix. After a while of pureeing, it should fall into the traditional tornado shaped mixing motion inherent in proper liquid blending procedures.

Drink:
Drink.

Outro:
It comes out very thick, creamy, and luscious (sorry, I couldn't find any alternative yet satisfactory words to describe it). It is quite filling, and can serve up to 3 people. Talk about being a third wheel.

Schick Quattro:
The only thing I did not have on hand was the tofu. Next time I plan on adding a little bit more chocolate milk for ease of blending and greater throughput of a more liquid product. Have fun and don't burn out your blender!

Kale Chips

Before yesterday, I had never tried kale. I had wanted to for a while; they look so pretty, so lush all bundled and stacked together at the grocery store. It had never made it into my shopping cart until yesterday because I didn't know what to do with it. Do I toss it in a salad? Put it in my turkey sandwich? Determined to find a use for this obscure crinkly leaf, I began Googling kale recipes.

Um...My search gave me over 1.5 million results. Where had I been all along?

You can sauté it, boil it, eat it raw. You can it eat with rice, you can put it into a smoothie, you can parboil it. You can it eat it with a fox, you can eat it in a box.

But seriously, I don't know why I underestimated it so. One cup of kale has 206% Vitamin A, 134% Vitamin C, 9% calcium (percent daily value). I guess it always just looked like garnish to me. The one recipe, however, that people all over the internet are raving about is...Kale Chips! So simple, so nutritious, so yummy! It's the healthy alternative to potato chips. Something this healthy MUST taste awful right? WRONG.

Simply cut or tear the washed leaves off the tougher stem, line them on a baking sheet, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and salt (start with a little then add more to taste). A small grating of parmesan cheese on top would also be fabulous. Put them in a 325 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. The edges should be brown, but not burned. As soon as they're out of the oven, you have a delicious snack that crunch in your mouth just like a Lay's potato chip.

You really have to try it to believe it.

Pineapple Fried Quinoa

Most of the dishes I cook come from a cycling of left-over ingredients. I buy stuff for one dish, and inevitably I have more of something than I need, like garlic, cilantro, eggs, or even something exotic like tahini. Then I'll search for recipes that use my left-over ingredients, I run out to grab a couple other things from the store, and after that meal I have new left-over ingredients. And on it goes. So this recipe came from a hunt for something that had both cilantro and chicken broth. Luckily, it also had quinoa, which has been quietly hanging out in my pantry since I cut back on my carb consumption. Thing is, I was supposed to use cilantro in my zucchini stir-fry salad on Monday, but I completely forgot to add it in. In any case, most recipes only use a tablespoon of the stuff at a time since it's so strongly flavored, and I didn't want a whole bunch wilting on my watch.

So down to the good stuff. I used green onions this time just to give it some color, otherwise it would be all light brown and unappealing. There are technically three parts to this recipe: quinoa, scrambled eggs, and sautéed spices/flavors. The quinoa is the easiest and takes the longest to prepare, so we'll start there.

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 cup water

Bring everything up to a boil, then lower the heat to low, cover (leave a small gap for steam) and let sit for about 20 minutes or until the quinoa looks "fluffy." While this is going on, whisk 3 eggs and scramble 'em. Leave aside for the time being.

Now comes the fun part. Get a large wok-like skillet (I wish I had one) and add, over medium-low heat:

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp hot sauce or chili oil (If using hot sauce use something "runny" like Tabasco)
• 5, yes FIVE cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bunch of green onion stalks, chopped

Sauté about 5 minutes, then add

• 1 cup diced pineapple
• 1-2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (I eyeballed it)

Sauté another 2-3 minutes, then add in the quinoa, immediately followed by 1/4 cup soy sauce (it will prevent the quinoa from drying out), and the scrambled egg. Mix thoroughly, and serve hot!

Zucchini Stir-Fry Salad

Another allrecipes.com adaptation, this is a recipe that I've made before. I followed it to a tee last time and wasn't incredibly fond of it, but I've decided to give it another go after making some necessary (in my opinion) modifications. First change: I'm heating the liquid ingredients, the "dressing," with the seaweed to absorb the iodine and other nutrients before tossing the seaweed out; last time I left it in and it was... weird. Second, I'm substituting shallots for the green onions the recipe calls for. I find chopping green onions a bit of a pain because the cleaning is a little more involved (green onions are like little tubes that launch water all over the place), and the flavors are similar enough. Finally, today I'm adding pink salmon flakes to the mix, just to add some protein and essential fats. Here's what you need for 6 servings (I halved it because I only feed myself):

• 1 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 3 tbsp miso paste (I used red genmai miso)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 tbsp hot sauce (ideally Thai chili but I only have Louisiana Red Rooster)
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 6 medium zucchini, julienned (cut in half, then twice lengthwise; I also diced them crosswise again to make them easier to eat)
• 2 sheets kombu (thick seaweed)
• 2 tbsp slivered almonds
• 2 packets Seabear ready-to-eat wild pink salmon

Start by dry-toasting the sesame seeds over low heat; this should take about five minutes or until the seeds are just starting to brown (you'll be able to smell it). Meanwhile, combine the liquid ingredients in a small saucepan, cut your seaweed into strips, add to the liquids and heat on medium-low for 5-10 minutes without reaching boiling. Then remove and dump the seaweed.

In a large bowl, combine the chopped veggies, salmon, miso paste, hot sauce, sesame seeds, cilantro, almonds, sugar and heated liquids. Mix until thoroughly chaotic, then refrigerate until serving time. It tastes good lukewarm, but it's much better cold.

Result: Boy, am I glad I gave this recipe another shot. The sauce is perfect, and the salmon adds to the flavor without being too fishy. I didn't know I was this good =]

Earl Grey Tea Cupcakes

Alright, here goes my first post. I am warning that the recipe is in progress, and the pictures were in low light, but I'm still excited so here you go.

As most of you know, I love tea, so when I saw this recipe I had to try it. Characteristically enough, it came to my attention during some quality facebook stalking, where someone I barely know (but still regularly spy on) posted their pictures of earl grey cupcakes, so I looked up a recipe. Most seem to be a general variation of this one: desert candy and so this is my attempt. I followed the recipe as listed, except that I only did half (ie, enough for one cupcake tray instead of two) and where the recipe calls for mixing the tea and and 1/2 flour and adding that, then adding the rest of the flour and milk, I instead added 1/2 flour, then milky-tea and the rest of the flour, but let me demonstrate...

I'll repeat the recipe for clarity, but as said, I followed the original:

1 cup (1/2 lb) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups self-rising flour
1 cup milk
2 bags or 2 tablespoons earl grey tea i used loose leaf earl grey from Archer Farms





Preheat the oven to 350 F, fill 2 cupcake pans with paper liners or grease well. In a bowl (or with a stand mixer), beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and cream the butter with the sugar until it is light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating each egg very well so that it is thoroughly combined before adding the next egg. Beat in half of the flour along with the tea. Then add the milk and the remaining flour, stirring until just combined.
This was actually a bit tough, and so the picture was my best first attempt, but I think I got it right.

Here's where I made my main change. Instead of adding 1/2 flour + tea, I instead added the half flour, and then poured my loose leaf tea into the warmed-up milk and let that sit for a while. I got impatient and put it in the fridge for a few more minutes, and then added it with the second half of the flour while it was still fairly warm. This may have been a bad idea (the warm tea part)...



You can also see my mixed flour on the left. I didn't have self-rising flour, so instead used the following short cut to make my own from all-purpose flour:

1 cup self-rising flour = 1 cup flour + 1.5 teaspoon (tsp) baking powder + 0.5 tsp salt

After mixing, I poured the dough into the cupcake pan, and it was super lightweight! It really surprised me. After baking about 20-25 minutes, I took them out. They hadn't risen very well, which I think may have been because I poured in the still-warm milk, and they were a bit difficult to get out of the pan, but they were delicious! I'd even say maybe a bit too sweet, and next time I'll definitely cut down a bit on the sugar, and probably making mini cupcakes instead.

Lastly, for the topping:

Lemon Buttercream

1 cup (1/2 lb, 2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 lb (4 cups) powdered sugar
zest of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons limoncello or lemon juice

1. Cream the butter until smooth, gradually beat in the powdered sugar until the mixture is very fluffy. Zest the lemon over the bowl into the frosting, add the lemon or limoncello, stir until smooth. Spread or pipe the frosting on cooled cupcakes. Please remember buttercream should be served at room temp.

This was super easy, and again I halved the amounts, which was good because I was still slightly short on powdered sugar. Also I skipped the lemon zest and didn't miss it. This is also super sweet in the end, but still good. If I can get the cupcakes to be a bit less sweet, I might skip the topping next time all together.

My cupcakes!


Conclusions:
-using loose leaf tea is not a problem, actually looks very attractive and tastes fine
-buttercream is delicious

Things to change:
-might want to make it a bit less sweet, may reduce sugar amount
-need to test between following the recipe or mixing the tea+milk but making sure to let it cool down entirely
-if I keep them this sweet, I'd likely switch to making mini cupcakes so its a more bite-size snack

I ate a few and brought the rest to a game-night with some friends and everyone enjoyed them! I'll definitely be making them again soon!

Nut Meringues

For my first entry, I thought I'd start out with one of the first cookie recipes I ever tried out, from the first cookie recipe book I ever owned.

The Better Homes and Gardens: Cookies Cookies Cookies (editor: Shelli McConnell) is a fairly standard recipe book with your classic cookie recipes with a somewhat gimmicky twist: flip the book over and you get a variety of Christmas cookies to bake! Anyways, I've developed a small collection of cookbooks throughout the years, but this one has been around the longest (over 10 years!) and is therefore my favorite. So you can expect to see many recipes coming from here.

I believe the first cookie I ever made from scratch was the good ol' chocolate chip cookie, but that's boring so I've chosen not to write about it. Instead, let me introduce you to the Nut Meringue. Two things initially attracted me to this recipe: 1. There aren't very many ingredients needed and is therefore perfect to satisfy my frequent urge to bake something...anything!...without needing to run to the grocery store and 2. I'd heard of the mystical "stiff peaks" resulting in beating egg whites for a long time, but never actually witnessed or produced them myself.

And who knew such a simple recipe would result in such a delicious, light-as-air dessert? Surely, my 12-year-old self didn't! Yeah, it takes a bit of elbow grease to whip up those egg whites (even with a handheld mixer) but oh, it's worth it! You can also argue that it's a healthy cookie because of the almonds and egg whites.

I recently made a batch by halving the recipe and doubling the size of the cookie. Can you believe just one egg white (and no flour, of course) can make six giant cookies?!

Definitely give this recipe a try.

Nut Meringues

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup very finely chopped almonds and/or hazelnuts

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

1 teaspoon shortening (or butter)

~In a medium mixing bowl, let egg whites stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

~Add vanilla to egg whites. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed till soft peaks form (tips curl). Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed till stiff peaks form (tips stand up straight) and sugar is almost dissolved. Fold in nuts.

~Bake in a 325 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or till edges are lightly browned. Remove cookies and cool on wire racks.

~In a small heavy saucepan, melt the chocolate and shortening or butter over low heat, stirring occasionally**. Drizzle over cookies. Makes about 30.

**I just microwaved the chocolate and a tsp of butter. Works just fine.

McConnell, Shelli. "Nut Meringues." Recipe. Cookies Cookies Cookies. Des Moines, Iowa: Better Homes and Gardens Books, 1992. 63.

Inauguration!

This is the beginning of something great. I can already feel it. It's right on the tip of my tongue! (Pun intended).

The last couple of days I've been struck with inspiration with regard to my experimentation in the kitchen. That might have something to do with the fact that I had a final exam this morning (yes, I know it's Sunday) and that I have a major presentation on Tuesday night; it's just speculation at this point. Last night I took a peek in my fridge and realized that I had a leftover green bell pepper that was rapidly ripening and a half-can of garbanzo beans that was probably nearing the end of its rope as well. So I plugged those two into allrecipes.com and came across something for garbanzo bean soup. Fantastic. Although the recipe for that didn't sound all too appetizing, since it involved blending my cherished beans into some kind of mush and then watering it down. I instead opted to boil everything directly, added a spoonful of garbanzo flour and reduced it down to a thick curry. Turns out I was on to something.

Ingredients:

• 1 green bell pepper, diced


• 1 clove garlic, minced


• 1/2 can garbanzo beans


• 1 tsp garbanzo/chickpea flour (Two names for the same bean)


• 1 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)


• 1/2 tsp dijon mustard (I used Sierra Nevada Stout mustard)


• 3/4 c. chicken broth (You can use water to make it veggie; I do it this way so I don't have to worry about salt)

Throw everything into a medium saucepan. It should look pretty soupy and milky at this point (see above). One word though, when you add the tahini, resist the urge to lick the spoon afterwards. It tastes like really bitter peanut butter, but sticks more.

Cook over medium heat for about 10-12 minutes, until it has the consistency of a curry. You'll know this by when you can push it against one side of the pot and it stays there for any measurable amount of time. Stir every 2-3 minutes to keep from scorching any flour that's stuck on the bottom.

And there you have it. Garbanzo curry.



So I ended up eating a little last night, but little did I know that it turned out to be the perfect complement to tonight's meal. I've had these salmon burgers from Whole Foods that I've kept in the freezer since maybe six months ago, and I had yet to crack into them because I'd also gotten tuna and mahi-mahi burgers as well, and you get four to a pack, and I just got to my salmon. I decided the best oil to go with the salmon would be olive oil, so I poured maybe two or three tablespoons worth into a small frypan. Heated it up to medium-ish, then tossed on my salmon patty. Browned it on one side for about five minutes or so, then flipped it over. Then, I had a stroke of inspiration! As it was, I had recently bought a dozen eggs and I was getting sick of hard-boiling them, so I was jonesing for some more creative ways to use them. Caught up in the moment, I decided to crack one over my salmon patty, turning it into a "French fish," if you will. I tried to snap a picture while the yoke was still on top:



Oh well. So much for artistry. I eventually had to shove all the egg back on top to keep it from overcooking, resulting in the glorious platter you saw at the beginning of this post.

So, just to recap:

• 1 salmon patty
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large egg

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.