yum yum yum - dinner

dinner is my favorite. work sucks, we dont have a stove top, just a crappy little microwave. wtf. how am i supposed to make rice-a-roni for lunch when it takes up the nuker for 30 minutes straight? everyone would kill me. so, instead, when i get home we go all out when making dinner. yum. look at those bitches above. you wouldnt even believe me if i told you they were made out of couscous, wouldja? just some dry couscous, flour, baking soda, sugar, salt, and buttermilk. mixed up, fried like pancakes. here's a hint : let the batter sit for a couple of minutes (10 or so) so that the couscous can soak up the moisture. you could probably even make these even more delicious by using day old couscous! yum!


this bowl is much larger than it appears in the photo, hence, that is enough tri-color tomato and cilantro salad for three. it's just a large bowl. also, i had already helped myself to a HUGE portion! yum. it's just tomatos, cilantro, lemon juice. i salted my portion cause i really like salt on my tomatos, but that's to taste.



Now this shit, this is the BOMB. Apples sauteed in butter and a ginormous amount of molassas, with spinach. turns out we had less spinach than apples, but before we cooked it the spinach was also ginormous. yum yum yum. also add a pinch of salt to draw the water out of the greens when cooking, it makes them wilt faster without over cooking. yum yum.





Final plate! the couscous patties i ate with sour cream with the spinach and apples, and i wish we had a photo to show you but the bread was with GOAT CHEESE BRIE. HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF ANYTHING SO DELICIOUS IN YOUR LIFE? NO. IT WAS AMAZING. FUCKING WINGS.

sooooo good. i wish there were leftovers! tonight we're trying japanese noodles with a peanut sauce we made that was originally supposed to go over popcorn, but the popcorn got kinda stale so we dipped it instead piece by piece. which meant we have lots of peanutty goodness left!

also, i bought some saffron. after i make saffron and shallot flavored butter, what should i make?

Baked Chicken

Last night I threw some chicken in the fridge to marinate with some onions. This morning i pulled that bitch out and baked it. I cooked up some quinoa and spinach with the leftover marinate and then made an absolutely failed holindaise sauce. I wasnt paying attention to it and it settled. Whatever, it was still friggin excellent. A perfect morning dinner.

Noodle soup with delicious toppings

Still living at home. My mom and I collaborated on a noodle-soup-with-toppings dish, similar in spirit to a ramen or udon composition, which is Ben's and my favorite food format. Beware of having something like this out at a restaurant, where you may encounter a wussy broth and a dearth of toppings. What you are looking for is a very hearty broth with something other than cabbage or broccoli floating around with the noodles.

Here, we have a gingery clear broth made with ginger, carrots, and scallions. We steamed some baby bok choy, quartered or eighthed, and I used the shiitake poaching technique featured in the nabeyaki udon installment in cooking with dog.

Shrimp dumplings were made by food-processing some raw shrimps with herbs and a little corn starch. Dumpling balls were formed and dropped into boiling broth. As the dumplings finished cooking, I dropped some already softened rice noodles in there. Soup then ladeled out and and topped.

Misleading Beer Commercial Jargon

So, the major beer companies, Budweiser (InBev), Miller (MillerCoors), and Coors (MillerCoors), have decided for some reason that rather than improving their product they will put all their money into advertising. (This might not be entirely true, however it often seems this way.) One thing that I have seen in all three companies' ads is that they highlight an unremarkable part of the brewing process as if it is some brand new breakthrough method. Here are a few examples:

Miller Lite: Triple Hopped

A few months ago, Miller started to tout the fact that they "triple hop Miller Lite for that great pilsner taste." Right off the bat I'd like to point out that pilsners generally don't have a great taste. That's mostly the beer snob in me coming out, but pilsners are simply light lagers like Budweiser and Yuengling. Anyway, for those of you not familiar with the brewing process, hops are usually added multiple times through out the brewing process. As a home brewer I can only remember one time that I used less then three hop additions. In fact, most commercial beers have at least three hop additions. It's really not much of a selling point. My question for Miller is: Where did all the hop flavor go? Sure, it's great they had three hop additions, but it would have helped if they added more then a nominal amount of hops each time. One blog I read quipped that they probably rolled the kegs through a room containing hops three times.

Coors Light: Cold Filtered

All commercial beers are cold filtered. This is simply the process of bringing the temperature of the beer down to just above freezing so that the yeast and other particulates drop to the bottom of the fermenter. The beer is then drawn off the top. This is done to achieve a nice clean beer. Many home brewers have implemented this process when kegging. It is a good way to get the yeast out of your beer but really not something that belongs in a national ad campaign. It is really an unremarkable process. What is more remarkable about Coors Light is its similarity in taste to New Brunswick water.

Budweiser American Ale: Top Fermented and Dry Hopped Using Northwest Cascade Hops

Bud AA is probably the best product that Bud has ever put out. Just slightly better then Budweiser Y Clamato (if you don't know, check it out). I would feel semi bad calling out this beer if it was produced by a different company. But it's not, so fuck Bud. Bud American Ale is a middle of the road amber ale with a nice hop finish. When if first came out last year they gave it a good advertising push. They highlighted the fact that AA is top fermented and dry hopped using Northwest Cascade hops. Neither of these facts are very impressive. All ales are top fermented. That is what makes them ales. Ale yeast strains ferment on top, while lager yeast ferments on the bottom of the batch. This gives Ales a more complex flavor and lagers a cleaner easy to drink character (drinkability?) As for the hops I really actually like ales that are dry hopped with cascade. This is for me a selling point. However, it is worth pointing out that Cascade hops are the most common variety of hop in this country. I guess my only gripe is that they are trying to sell cascade hops as if they are something remarkably different. If you really want a beer that is dry hopped using cascade hops drink Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

It's interesting that all three major beer companies used this tactic to market their beer. Miller has gone so far as to put a “triple hopping” logo on their bottles. I'm sure you can find the same tactics used in car commercials and on cereal boxes. Olive oils will tell you if they are virgin, extra virgin, first cold pressed and what not. I guess the difference is in the presentation. Beer companies act like these processes are revolutionary. Well they are not. MillerCoors and Bud should spend more time on their product and less time trying to trick the American public.

breakfast for dinner!

did you know that breakfast for dinner is delicious? and that croissants make delicious french toast? and sangria is a great side? mmm.

french toast:
croissants, sliced into two or three slices. use a bread knife and work the sawing motion rather than a pushing motion to obtain your immaculate slices. dip in eggy dip. fry on both sides in butter. keep in warmed oven until eating.
eggy dip:
eggs (3 eggs frenched 3 whole croissants), add a splash of vanilla, some brown sugar, some cinnamon all mixed up with two splashes milk. add a pinch of salt to break up the egg whites. yum. leftovers are good for cooking like scrambled eggs!


sangria: 2 bottles white wine (dry and without oaky flavors. we got a really good cheap dry argentinian from trader joes), some fruit (for white wine sangria we used the fruit off of a luncheon plate matt snagged from work - oranges, pineapple, watermelon, honeydew, strawberries, grapes), some sugar (about 1/4 cup. frankly, it didnt need it), 2/3 cup apricot flavored brandy, 2/3 cup triple sec (maybe should have used contreau? triple sec was very sweet!), some lime juice, some mint.
combine all of the above. put the lime juice on the fruit before adding it to the liquids and they will keep their bright colors. tear the mint into teeny tiny bits before adding so that the oils really seep into the wine. after combining the above, put in fridge for a minimum of 1 hour. best if overnight (so sayeth the internet).
when serving, add a splash of sparkling water if you desire!

yum. watch out, because of the added sugars can lead to a monster hangover.

More like EpiFURIOUS

Ever toast marshmallows over an open fire and burn just one side of it quite badly while leaving the other side uncooked? Picture that. Now you know what my attempt at tofu treats looked like. Epicurious has been dropping failure after failure into my lap and I've had enough. Last night, for a large and ultimately successful potluck, I took a blind swing at making these little critters:

I placed the tofu blocks into the broiler after brushing them with the miso paste from the recipe only to have them emerge destroyed and smoking. Never again will I trust Epicurious. Luckily enough people showed up with excellent food. Thanks to everyone else for covering up my horrible disaster. Fuckin' internets.

hey guys - sorry i haven't posted for a while, but matt's been away for a week and honestly i don't cook for just one. i've been eating ice cream and edamame all week! i promise i'll post something redic when he gets back and we start cooking again!

THE SOUP

Anyone who knows Meredith and me know our obsession with THE SOUP. The story goes back years. Ever since we both started coming to Rutgers, we've always had dinners together to celebrate stuff. Anything we can find we celebrate. The first was the fact that we were both there. We chose to go to Noodle Gourmet. Excellent place. I think most of my greatest college take-out memories are tied to Noodle Gourmet. Eat there. The first time we went I got a giant noodle soup. I'm not sure if any of you have ever had their noodle soup but that fucker is cheap and giant.

After that we spent a few years with Edo as our hangout before we eventually started celebrating at Saporo. That was a big leap for us and also the first encounter with THE SOUP. I can't remember what we were celebrating but we were there and decided to get the Nabeyaki Udon and some rolls. We could absolutely not finish that soup. Its not quite as big as the Noodle Gourmet soup and nowhere near as cheap, but the taste is infinitely better. Its like comparing a Kia and a Porshe. We've been hooked ever since. Any time we can we go sit and wait for that glorious pot to get set down between us where we delicately divy up the treasures burried within and setting atop those wonderful noodles and that flavorful broth.

Years later when I finally balled up the plate, this was the goal. Ever since we've been attempting to find others like it through our own cooking and through little eateries in the area. It's been a staple of my dutch oven cooking and my almost daily breakfast/dinner. Something about soup with an egg cracked into it is just the perfect breakfast/dinner combo I need to complete my day with the sunrise. Meredith has been getting on me forever to finally post one so last night with my extra time off work i finally decided to do so.

This was a quick one. I used a granulated bonito for the dashi with a little extra soy sauce and sesame oil. Once that was going I threw in two frozen dumplings and the miso. From there I added udon, seaweed, chicken, and dumped in a raw egg to poach in the soup. Thats always been my favorite part. Just before it was ready i threw in some kimchi. I've had it sitting around and I don't have many ideas so it went in. Just enough to sweat some of the flavor into the broth. I gotta tell you, its wonderful.

This kimchi will haunt me till the day I die. Or that day I move out and decide to not take it with me.

Store Brand Non Low Fat Yogurt

So the last post inspired me to go get some yogurt. Why the fuck did I do this? I went and picked up some store brand low fat yogurt. The consistancy was remincent of snot and chalk. It also tasted like that too. I'm not knocking all yogurt, personally I've enjoyed quite a few yogurts in my time. This yogurt, however, was gastronomic atrocity. Also in that shopping trip I picked up blackberries only to find that in the dead center of all the blackberries there was a GIANT FUCKING FUNGUS. Not cool Stop and Shop, not cool.

I just ate my first soy yogurt

It was a lemon WholeSoy & Co. I have to say it was almost exactly the same as regular yogurt, maybe a little nuttier. Could have done without the lemon shards, but otherwise a pretty fulfilling yogurt experience. For anyone who is unfamiliar, soy yogurt is made exactly the same way as regular dairy yogurt (but with some sugar added to feed the yogurt bacteria...see wikipedia) and has the same probiotic benefits.

Into it!

cukes

This post is about cucumbers, but also about sandwiches. I am temporarily living back at home for a few months. Drag, right? Wrong. I opened the fridge this morning to make myself a lunch sandwich. WHOA. There was so much great stuff in there, I didn't know where to start. (Of course, food is not the only reason that living at home is not a drag!)

Beginning with spelt bread, I layered on avocado, basil, olive tapenade, cheeses, carrots...the possibilities could go on. BUT. The crowning sandwich element was the cucumbers. My mom prepares a healthy flavored water that involves soaking various ingredients overnight in the fridge. The bonus byproduct of this process is the leftover cucumbers which were hanging out and mingling for hours with lemon, mint, and ginger.

The most refreshing thing you will ever eat EVER. I was advised as well that they are not only dynamite in a sandwich, but also make a really sweet salad.

S&M

I think just about everyone has a preferred hangover food. Before I started cooking as much as I do now I would always opt for some sort of take-out. For example, with a little guidance, PJ's in New Brunswick can throw together what is--for me at least--the perfect cheese steak. But alas, PJ's is no longer convenient for me and the take-out in Sunset Park, Brooklyn can be risky business if you don't know where to go--and personally, I don't. When I have a hangover, I am not interested in experimenting. 

My last hangover came with a craving for a definitively satisfying and comforting meal. After turning over take-out options in my head for a bit and weighing the severity of my hangover I decided to just go to the grocery store, buy some ingredients, and throw together some spaghetti and meatballs. Again, I turned to the Joy of Cooking, but mainly as a reference. The first time I made my own meatballs I followed the JOC Italian meatball recipe almost to the letter, but even then I thought, Dude, that's way too much parsley. But that's one of the fun things about meatballs. You don't have to be precise. I think meatballs are really more about doing what feels right. I put in what looks like enough of every ingredient listed--even egg. I never use a whole egg. It's too much for a pound of ground beef. I'm sorry, JOC, it's just too much. 

So, in a surprisingly short amount of time and really without even very much effort, I had a really wonderful meal that nourished my slightly hungover self with some of the most comfortable comfort food I can think of. This experience made me curious about other people's favorite hangover treats. Aside from PJ's cheese steaks, a few of my past favorites for an afternoon-after include: a bagel and a big thing of chocolate milk; ramen noodles with a little sesame oil and soy sauce; or a nice warm, mushy bowl of mediocre Chinese food (fried tofu and broccoli in brown sauce with white rice usually). 

Whole Wheat Pizza with Rapini Pesto and Roasted Garlic/Tomato/Red Pepper Puree

This is the pizza I made. It was amazing. AMAZING. I had tentative plans to make pizza this week anyway because of this new recipe I saw for whole wheat crust. I have made whole wheat crust before just by subbing out half of the white flour for whole wheat, but having an actual recipe in front of me lit the fire. I probably could have let thing slide, but Ryan got in touch and said that HE was interested in pizza-making this week as well.

So, I got up early and got the dough going. Dough advice: do not bother with the food processor. There is no reason that I can see to dirty the most annoying appliance in the world to wash, just to do something that is easily executed with a large mixing bowl and a spatula. While the dough was rising, I started preparation for the topping elements. My original concept for the pizza was the standard vegan white sauce (ie nutritional yeast, flour, soy milk, mustard, etc) with some veggies on top. On the way to the store though, I started thinking about Two Boots pizza with its sauce layers and varied crusts and I got the idea for a pizza with side-by-side purees and sparse cheese.

I already had some pesto made earlier in the week, so I decided to do a rapini (broccoli rabe) puree with the pesto worked in (which I have done before as a pasta sauce with great success) and a roasted red pepper and tomato puree alongside. To do the tomato-pepper business, I first blanched a tomato to remove the skin. I cored it and cut it lattitudinally (poles being on the stem ends), then removed the guts so that all was left was the tomato meat. I put the halves on some parchment paper, drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled on some basil, bay leaves, salt, and pepper (terragon also works but I was out), then put them in a hot oven. I don't have a gas oven (arrggghh) so I let the red pepper char in the oven along with the tomates. When the skin of the pepper was blackened most of the way, I put it in a paper bag for a few minutes to steam the skin off, then wiped off the charred skin, cut off the top, and cleaned out the seeds and membranes. I had also roasted some garlic with the other guys, which involves taking a few cloves and wrapping them in foil, still with the husks on. When the cloves are soft, they can be de-husked. All of this got tossed into the food processor with some olive oil and a dot of tomato paste. The rabe puree was just a matter of lightly sauteeing the rabe and then food-processing with the pesto and many squeezes of lemon juice; salt and pepper to taste.




By this time, Ryan had gotten here and we rolled out the dough. I usually do the pat out from the middle with the fingertips style, but Ryan recommended a rolling pin, which ended up giving a more even thickness to the crust. I spread out the green element and piped on the red using the plastic bag with the corner snipped off method.

I call it Green Pie with Red Suspenders:



Disaster was narrowly avoided when we made the decision not to corn meal the underside of the dough before sliding it onto the pizza stone. We tried all kinds of pulling and coaxing with multiple spatulas. The solution was pivoting and nudging with spatulas a little at a time to sneak bits of cornmeal underneath, until shimmying the board got the pie sliding around on the meal.

You can see how much less adorable it was by the time we got it into the oven.



What's that you say? It looks equally adorable as before its near miss? Oh, alright.

Note the pizza stone. This is essential to a delicious crust. We let the pizza hang out until the underneath of the crust was the color of a crust of a pizza that you would want to eat. Then we put Ryan's pizza in. It gets honorable mention, hence fewer pictures:




Ryan went the extra cheese, sliced tomato, and scallions route. Not bad actually.

Family Dinner

When you can't eat steak, tofu steak. Yup, that's right. Tofu steak. I was shitting around with John and told him that I would take care of the sides and he could make the steak. Being that we're communally vegetarian in this house, tofu steak. He let the tofu marinate in steak sauce and then coated them in flower and seasonings and fried them up with onions and mushrooms. At the end I pulled them out and threw some wine in with the veggies and reduced for a sauce. I also made some mashed potatoes with cheddar cheese and garlic. While the potatoes were boiling I threw my new bamboo steamer on the top as a lid and put broccoli in the bottom and spinach in the top. Just a little al dente for those real veggie lovers.

Here's everything all ready to go. We called Kyler in and sat down for a home cooked family dinner. It was excellent. Here's a picture of the boys sitting down to chow.

The pictures were all rushed because I totally forgot to charge my camera! Anyway it was an excellent departure from the foreign one panners that we all usually try to throw together. And there were leftovers!

Just so you know...

Pringles ARE potato chips.

Some stuff from my fridge that I threw together

Basically, this has been a big trying-to-use-things-up week for me. My main motivation was a long-stem artichoke turning in the fridge. The good thing about the long-stemmers is that the stem is delicious and a lot of non-main-artichoke related possibilities open up. I was really interested in getting some carbs into this dish, so after peeling the tough outer layer of the stem and slicing it into half-coins, I made some pasta dough and cut that down into linguine-width strands using the I-tossed-out-my-pasta-machine-because-I-didn't-think-I'd-ever-use-it method.

I sauteed the half-coins in a little olive oil and then put some liquid in the pan to soften them up while the pasta water got to boiling. When the stem pieces were a little softer but still al dente, I threw in some crimini mushrooms that needed to get used. Just before the mushrooms started to sweat, I poured in some red wine and let the sauce reduce. In the meantime, the pasta was ready to get cooked, which happens almost instantaneously with fresh pasta.

The sauce finished up and at the last minute I stirred in some of the pesto I made earlier in the week. Not something I would usually do to a wine sauce, but it was worth it! I lowered the heat and added the noodles to the sauce. This saucing step is essential. When you are working with a noodle dish, the noodles should remain a bit undercooked and added to the sauce at the last step so that they can cook the rest of the way in the sauce and everything gets nice and incorporated.