The Little Girl's Guide to Sugar and Spice

Peach-Pecan Muffins

2011-08-14T08:35:00.004-10:00

Summer bounty equals far too many peaches at times (though there really is no such thing). Some of these peaches were getting a bit... squishy, and since I can't use more than one in a smoothie each day, I decided to make muffins. It's also that on-and-off drizzle outside that northeastern Ohio excels at during the last summer, so I relished the opportunity to turn on the oven.

Peach-Pecan Muffins

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon Trader Joe's Spicy Chai Mix (I threw this in on a whim, because I like spiced peaches, but if you don't have it, consider a teaspoon of cinnamon, a hearty pinch of nutmeg, a half teaspoon of ground ginger and some cracked black pepper instead.)

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk (or soymilk, or apple juice, or peach nectar...)

1 egg

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup chopped fresh peaches

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Mix together dry ingredients, beat together wet ingredients with a fork. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the wet and stir until just combined. Fold in peaches and pecans, then spoon into muffin tins lined with cupcake liners until 3/4 full. Bake at 400 for around 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Eat while warm with butter.

The Adjective Sandwich

2011-07-12T11:42:00.004-10:00

I began making adjective sandwiches at the Decafe, Oberlin’s made-to-order sandwich-salad-smoothie bar/grocery store. The Oberlin Alumni Magazine did a little write-up of my creative endeavors, which was read by a glorious alum named Gwendolen Gross. After some consulting and totally excellent emails, her book The Orphan Sister hit the bookstores featuring some adjective sandwiches between its covers.

I received her book in the mail on Wednesday, July 6th, and it was chock full of thanks and wonderful things (haven’t read the book yet, as I’m saving it for a very long plane ride next week, but Ben Jones found a section full of sandwiches and read it to me), and I realized how much I missed making sandwiches.

Enter The Adjective Sandwich, a website dedicated to the creation of new sandwiches, fueled by volunteered adjectives. I haven’t stopped thinking up combinations, and while my previous eaters are now all around the world, now I can share my creations with everyone, rather than one sandwich at a time. Enjoy.

I want an adjective sandwich! How does this work?

Email adjectivesandwich@gmail.com with the following bits of information:

- your adjective,
- likes/dislikes/things you can't eat,
- vegetarian, vegan, or omnivorous,
- your tolerance for spicy things.

Please add your name so I can thank you, too!

Zucchini Soufflé Casserole

2011-04-28T12:58:00.006-10:00

If there is any ingredient I love to embrace the versatility of, it has to be eggs. I love everything about them. A few years ago, I experimented with seperating the eggs that went into a frittata, ending up with a thin rich omlette on the bottom of the dish and a fluffy pesto meringue on top. It took your average clean-out-the-fridge fast meal and instantly made it classy.

Tonight, on this verge of springtime in northeastern Ohio, I want eggs, and I want vegetables, and I want them now. Enter the zucchini soufflé attempt.

3 medium zucchini
5 cloves garlic, crushed or finely minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons lemon juice
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 tablespoon dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Grate zucchini and combine with garlic, butter, olive oil, several dashes of salt and a few pinches/grinds of black pepper in a medium saute pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Add lemon juice and cook until zucchini is no longer white, about 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and drain off liquid.

Separate the eggs into two large bowls. Beat the whites with a whisk until stiff, then whisk in dried basil, salt, and pepper. Beat the yolks with milk, salt, and pepper, then add the flour and whisk for a few more beats. Add zucchini and cottage cheese and whisk until just combined.

Add 1/3 of the beaten egg whites to the zucchini mixture and stir a few beats. Add another 1/3 of the egg whites and gently fold into the zucchini mixture. Repeat with remaining egg white mixture.

Pour into a greased 9x13" glass baking dish and bake for 40 minutes at 375 degrees, or until the top is browned and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Serve with a salad that most definitely contains cucumbers (mine was artichoke hearts, onion, and English cucumber).

Fiercegiving Leftovers: Triple Decker Sandwich

2010-11-27T07:45:00.004-10:00

Ali and I are the masters of Thanksgiving leftovers. Today, Ali made a toasted sourdough sandwich with a fried egg, provolone, green bean casserole, and mustard.

I made this:

Triple-Decker Thanksgiving Sandwich
Serves 1, easily multiplied

3 slices pumpernickel bread, toasted
Cooked turkey, shredded (I prefer dark meat, but white will do fine)
1 slice pumpkin pie (or a single serving of extra pumpkin pie filling that has been baked in a mini custard dish)
Green bean casserole with caramelized onions (recipe below)
Cranberry sauce
Mayonnaise
Salt and white pepper

On the first layer of bread, thinly spread mayonnaise and top with shredded turkey, salt and pepper to taste. Top with a second slice of bread, with thinly spread mayonnaise on the side touching the turkey, and pumpkin pie filling spread on the top.

Next, cover the pumpkin pie with green bean casserole, and top with the final slice of bread, that has a thin layer of cream cheese and cranberry sauce coating it. Anchor with a toothpick or two and enjoy.

Green Bean Casserole
Fills a 9x9 square baking dish

1 pound fresh green beans, cleaned and snapped into 1-inch pieces
2 white onions, thinly sliced into rainbows
1 cup stock
1.5 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Steam or boil green beans in salted water until tender. Strain into a colander and run under cold water to stop the beans from cooking.

Caramelize the onions in a large pan with olive oil, one tablespoon of butter and salt and pepper over medium heat. Stir every few minutes, until the onions smell sweet and turn a creamy brown, about 20-30 minutes.

Melt remaining butter in a medium saucepan. Add flour and whisk in until a thick paste forms. Begin gradually adding stock and milk and whisk until all the lumps of flour have dissipated. When the sauce becomes thick, salt and pepper to taste, and remove from heat. Add green beans and stir until combined.

Pour into a 9x9 glass baking dish and top liberally with caramelized onions. Bake in a 350 degree oven until bubbly, about 30-35 minutes.

Turkey Udon with Butternut Squash and Corn

2010-11-26T18:15:00.005-10:00

Post-Thanksgiving: dealing with leftovers, and lots and lots of stock. With some of yesterday's ingredients and this morning's stock, I concocted this soup.

Turkey Udon with Butternut Squash and Corn

Serves 4

6 cups turkey stock
1 medium sized butternut squash, cubed
1 cup corn
3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried lemongrass
3 bunches of udon, cooked to package directions
1 cup cooked turkey, shredded (I prefer dark meat, but white is also delicious)
Salt and white pepper to taste

Chopped green onions

4 eggs, optional

Bring 3 cups of turkey stock to a boil with an additional cup of water. Boil squash until fork-tender and remove with a slotted spoon. Add remaining turkey stock, ginger, garlic, and lemongrass, and simmer until fragrant (10-15 minutes). Add corn and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and white pepper.

Divide the udon into four large, deep bowls and top with butternut squash and shredded turkey. Cover with boiling turkey soup and garnish with green onions and a hard boiled or poached egg, if desired.

My moody squash, posing.

Bacon, Cheddar, and Pear Grilled Cheese

2010-11-18T18:07:00.005-10:00

Partially inspired by Home in Disarray's grilled cheese post from yesterday, Ali and I decided on a sandwich to accompany our asparagus salad.

This is Ali, with our asparagus salad. She's wearing the best hat.

We ended up making a bacon-cheddar-pear grilled cheese sandwich as our second course.

Bacon, Cheddar, and Pear Grilled Cheese:

For two sandwiches:

2 pieces of wheat flatbread, cut in half-moons
4 piece of turkey bacon
1 Bartlett pear, cut into slices

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
White pepper

Lime juice

Toss pear slices in a bit of white pepper and a squeeze of lime juice.

Cook the bacon until brown and fragrant, peppering each side lightly. Remove from pan to a paper towel lined plate, reserving the fat. Once cool, chop the bacon finely into pieces.

Place half of each flatbread in the pan over medium-low heat, top with some grated cheddar, then pears, then more cheddar, then top with bacon and the remaining halves of flatbread. Flip over sandwiches carefully and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the bottom later of cheese has melted.

Slice, serve, and know that if you're taking classy photos, the other diner will finish their food in the span it takes to take all the pictures. It was really freaking good.

Zucchini Frittata Sandwich

2010-10-30T09:09:00.003-10:00

I'm reading Tom Colicchio's 'wichcraft book. I am all kinds of inspired. So, sandwich day!

Zucchini frittata sandwich with spinach and tomato

For the frittata:

Grate 1 medium zucchini and saute in olive oil, a clove of minced garlic, salt, and pepper until cooked through. Equally divide cooked zucchini into a well-greased muffin tin (a six-piece pan). Sprinkle each cup with 1/2 oz of grated swiss cheese each and top with a mixture of three beaten eggs, salt, white pepper, a tablespoon of half and half and a tablespoon of water. Bake at 325 degrees until eggs are set on top. Run a thin knife around the edge of the tins to loosen. When you plan on putting the frittata on the sandwich, you'll probably need a spoon to scoop out all the creamy eggy and zucchini goodness.

Lightly toast two slices of whole wheat pane bread (it's a mildly sour Italian loaf that I got at Trader Joe's). Ideally, 'wichcraft toasts only one side of their bread, but I'm not that magical or skilled (or maybe I'm lazy and don't want to figure out all the details with my toaster oven).

On one side, thinly spread a thin layer of mayonnaise and top with 6 slices of very thinly sliced roma tomato. Salt and pepper the tomatoes, then add a three-leaf thick layer of baby spinach leaves. Top the spinach with two of the frittata pieces. Spread a thin layer of Grey Poupon on the second piece of bread and top off the frittata with this piece of bread.

So, this sandwich isn't really perfect since zucchini is a pretty juicy vegetable and as soon as I put the frittata on the sandwich, the weight of the egg made the zucchini juice out all over the sandwich. While this doesn't bode well for looks and cleanliness, the juiciness soaked through the bread, tomato, and spinach, which wilted the spinach and softened the toasted bread nicely.

The flavors were stunning, though. Wow.

Creamy Veggie and Shrimp Udon

2010-09-25T11:52:00.003-10:00

I'm always looking for new things to do with udon. With a bit of cheese and milk, plus tomato and spinach and basil, add some shrimp and ginger, and you have east-meets-west udon. It may sound strange, but it's a great combination of flavors.

Creamy Veggie and Shrimp Udon

1 bundle udon

1 tablespoons olive oil

½ onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated (I like to freeze ginger, and then grate it on the fine part of a grater; no skin, no ginger hair)

3 shiitake mushrooms, chopped

½ cup spinach, chopped

1/2 cup chopped tomato

1 tablespoon dried basil (If I had fresh, I would have used two tablespoons chopped)

1 cup milk

¼ cup grated parmesan

5 raw shrimp, peeled, chopped

salt and black pepper to taste

Cook udon, drain and rinse.

Brown onion, garlic, and ginger in oil. Add spinach, tomato, shiitakes, basil, and a dash of salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the milk and parmesan bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low, add shrimp and cook until pink. Add udon and cook until heated through. Serves one hungry person, but easily multiplied for the masses.

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

2010-09-21T12:32:00.006-10:00

Today for lunch, Ali made broccoli grilled cheese... which I opted out of for my delicious BLT: turkey bacon, horseradish cheddar, spinach, and heirloom tomato.

I can't escape a broccoli and cheese temptation, though, so I made broccoli-cheddar soup this evening, and silly me, after tweeting, I got recipe requests from some friends. Enjoy.

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup:

2 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, finely diced

1 stalk celery, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups broccoli (about 4 small heads) cut into very small pieces (you want them to fit on a spoon)

2 cups chicken stock (I used two chicken bouillon cubes dissolved in two cups of hot water)

2 cups milk

1/2 cup flour

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Salt and white pepper

Melt butter in a pot over medium heat, add onions and celery plus a pinch of salt and pepper and cook until soft. Add garlic, cook for another minute. Add broccoli, cook for one minute, then add the chicken stock and cover. Allow the broth to come to a boil, and cook until the broccoli is soft.

Whisk together flour and milk until combined. Add this mixture to the pot, stirring gently. The soup will thicken (yay starch!) and once it's thick and creamy looking, add the grated cheddar. Salt and pepper to taste, serve with toast.

Asparagus Salad

2010-09-19T15:56:00.005-10:00

When I was a junior in high school, our food service program started Taste of Konawaena, an evening food festival of student-cooked dishes, for the public to enjoy. My senior year, I prepared an asparagus salad, and won first prize in appetizer and the people’s choice award. It’s still one of my favorite composed salads. Recipe follows.

Asparagus Salad:

1 pound thin asparagus, tough ends broken off, then cut or snapped into 1 inch pieces (if you want to make it really pretty, you can cut the stalks on a diagonal)

4 cloves garlic, finely minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 hard boiled eggs, sliced into circles (or ovals, whatever tickles your fancy)

4 hearts of palm, sliced into circles

Salt and fresh cracked pepper

Pecorino-romano, grated

Combine olive oil and garlic in a saute pan with a pinch of salt. Cook on medium heat until the garlic is dancing in the pan and smells cooked, about a minute. If you were to taste it, the garlic would be soft and aromatic, not crispy. Turn the heat on low, add the asparagus pieces and another pinch of salt and a grind of pepper and cook for a few minutes, until the asparagus is bright green and the center of the stalk is no longer bright white. If you were to taste the asparagus, it would be crisp and not stringy. Remove from heat immediately.

Arrange the salad on four plates, with one egg, one heart of palm, and a quarter of the asparagus on each plate. Play with circles and lines and the beautiful asparagus tips, and make it pretty. Scatter a few grinds of black pepper on the top and sprinkle with grated pecorino-romano.

(Feeds four as an salad course, or one hungry Ma’ayan who is craving asparagus, though I only used one egg and two hearts of palm for my single dish)

My Summer Dinner

2010-08-16T14:13:00.004-10:00

Brandi and I cooked potato leek soup and inari sushi. Helena joined us.

Look at my pretty sushi!

Winter Term, Day Thirty One: Sometimes Good Things End

2010-02-07T09:36:00.009-10:00

A final trip to West Side Market and Trader Joe's today, to get all the ingredients for our last final delicious meal.

On the menu:
Hummus by me (topped with sambal and sriracha OR za'atar and olive oil)
Oregano flatbread by Daniel
Terra chips brought by Carolyn
French onion soup with Gruyere toast by Michael
Greek salad with lemon vinaigrette by Amanda
Grilled asparagus, zucchini and red peppers by Daniel
Penne alla vodka with pancetta by me
Spaghetti with mushrooms, garlic, and olive oil by me

Dessert:
Nainamo bars by Eli
Chocolate espresso scones by Daniel
Lime-coconut macaroons with haupia (coconut pudding) filling and chili chocolate dipping sauce by Daniel
Grapefruit cupcakes with grapefruit curd, whipped cream, and spun sugar by Eliza

In addition to all this great food, we had lots of great people around: Mike, Hana, Carolyn, Yoshi, Chris, Sneha, Tevi, Daniel, Michael, Eliza, Amanda, Eli and Matt. Thank you all who came and brought plates. It was an incredible end to the month of food.

Winter Term, Day Thirty: Pizza Day

2010-02-05T23:36:00.004-10:00

Daniel had made granola by the time I woke up this morning. I proceeded to make a Feve-brunch like scramble with cubed flank steak, avocado, onions, cilantro, salsa, and cheddar cheese.

Dinner was pizza night. Toppings included:

Tomato sauce
Alfredo sauce
Roasted red peppers
Onions (raw and sauteed)
Roasted shallots
Roasted garlic
Sauteed spinach
Sauteed portabellos
Black olives
Pepperoni
Shredded chicken
Cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese

We also had Italian wedding soup with mini meatballs, orzo and spinach, Chris made baked brie, and Daniel made espresso chocolate chunk scone with a coffee glaze for dessert. Yoshi and Sneha rounded out house pizza night.

Winter Term, Day Twenty Nine: Nacho Night II

2010-02-04T23:51:00.001-10:00

Daniel's back, and he brought back many Dutch treats, like a poffertjes pan and mix... tiny puffed Dutch pancakes topped with butter and powdered sugar. One bite pancakes are definitely my style.

Tonight was nacho night, take two.

The options included:
Mexican chicken by Daniel
Seasoned beef by Amanda
Guacamole by Amanda
Pickled onions, with and without habeneros by Eliza
Cheddar cheese sauce by me
Grilled onions by Daniel
Sauteed peppers and onions by Amanda
Roasted red pepper tomato soup by me
Rice, cilantro, salsa, minced onions, queso fresco, lime, tortilla chips

Winter Term, Day Twenty Eight: PHO Real!

2010-02-03T23:56:00.001-10:00

Started off my day with the beginnings of pho beef broth (blanching the bones, charring the onions and ginger, toasting the spices), but as I worked, I needed sustenance. I made a meatball sandwich on wheat bread with provolone, basil, crushed red pepper, tomato sauce and then melted, and then topped with spinach, salt and pepper, and olive oil.

I prepped all the things for last minute dinner making, and then headed to the airport with Brandi. We returned, Daniel finished up the summer rolls (fillings included tamari-marinated fried tofu, bean sprouts, green onions, garlic chives, cilantro, basil, carrots, cucumbers, pickled daikon, and mung bean noodles, with sweet chili sauce and peanut sauce to top) and I finished prepping the beef pho: boiling the beef stock, cooking the rice noodles, then pouring the boiling broth over the thinly sliced flank steak and noodles. Yoshi, Brandi, Daniel, Aries and I then topped the soup with bean sprouts, lime, basil, green onions, hoisin sauce, sriracha and sambal, depending on taste.

Winter Term, Day Twenty Seven: Snausages and Stuff

2010-02-02T20:17:00.002-10:00

I woke up this morning and realized I had so many sandwich options... I opted for toasted wheat bread with turkey and mozzerella, melted, then topped with garlic chives, avocado, red leaf lettuce and salt and pepper. This photos are purely to make my mom dream of enormous sandwiches with avocado.

Yoshi went crazy at West Side Market this week and wanted all kinds of fresh poultry sausages for some meals this week. Tonight, he made garlic parmesan chicken sausages topped with sauteed red peppers and onions (no onions and peppers for Chris) served with green beans and chimichurri potatoes. Sooooo delicious.

Winter Term, Day Twenty Six: On Top of Spaghetti, All Covered with Cheese

2010-02-01T19:59:00.002-10:00

Tonight: simple, classic, delicious. The triad of winter term housemates tucked in a fair amount of spaghetti with basil marinara and meatballs and a side of garlic bread.

While making dinner, I had a delivery of a slice of fresh foccacia from Harris. I have lovely friends.

Winter Term, Day Twenty Five: A Dinner at the Hark

2010-01-31T14:33:00.005-10:00

A momentous day: nothing cooking planned at Slapdash house, because Ardea and Oliver invited me to Harkness for dinner! I spent most of the afternoon with Harris, at the public library and in my kitchen talking about food and drinking tea with Yoshi.

They made a coconut cauliflower curry and white rice topped with toasted coconut. There were roadkill/squashed toad cookies for dessert (a hearty flat chocolate chip and oat cookie that I found a reference to on the Fern Country Store website, billed exclusively for pre-teens) and two kinds of bread: sourdough baguettes and cinnamon swirl bread. So much deliciousness.

Thank you for the invitation, guys. :)

Winter Term, Day Twenty Four: Pan-tastic Pan-Asian

2010-01-30T14:13:00.003-10:00

Another West Side Market and Trader Joe's trip, with an added stop at Seoul Korean Market as well (I got a crushed pear drink as well as pickled daikon and dumpling wrappers).

Tonight's meal was a Pan-Asian selection of goodies:

Curry udon with beef, carrots, onions and potatoes by Michael
Tteokbokki (a Korean chili stew) with whole hard boiled eggs, garlic chives, daikon, and Korean rice cakes by Eliza
Mushroom broth by Amanda
Tuna, pickled daikon, lettuce, carrot, avocado, cucumber and green onion sushi by me (More than half the green onions came from the ones growing in my kitchen... I'm impressed!)

Chris got her adorable rice bowl sans nori, and Yoshi and Mike helped us devour all things on the table, but we had enough food to feed twice as many people, even after we stuffed ourselves.

Also, I only really seem to be painfully stuffed after Asian meals. I do love them so. Everyone else was stuffed as well, so before we cleaned up, we watched Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death. A good humorous lull in the evening.

Winter Term, Day Twenty Three: Dough Day, Pizza Day

2010-01-29T23:38:00.000-10:00

Epic dough meant epic baked goods: Pizza, a loaf of bread, a loaf of garlic bread, and rolls. What a pleasure. Chris punched the dough for me, just like freshman year.

Toppings for this week:
Basil tomato sauce
Cheddar alfredo
Fresh sliced tomatoes
Roasted red peppers
Sauteed mushrooms
Sauteed spinach
Minced onions
Pepperoni
Mozzerella

Winter Term, Day Twenty Two: Nacho Thursdays

2010-01-28T23:33:00.003-10:00

What do you call cheese that isn't yours? NACHO cheese. Thank you, Chris.

Jamie was leaving on Friday and we decided to give her a break on tortilla making. We had nacho night instead of taco night this week.

The menu:

Slow-baked chicken by Eliza
Ground spiced beef by Eliza
Seasoned crumbled tofu by Lady Jamie
Cheddar cheese nacho sauce by me
Peppers and onions by Amanda
Guacamole by Amanda
Black beans, cilantro, minced onions, sour cream, tortilla chips, salsa (pico de gallo, mild and super spicy)
Black bean and corn soup by me

Other dinner attendees included Yoshi, Chris, Mike, and Michael.

Winter Term, Day Twenty One: Sheppy Shappy Happy Shepherd's Pie

2010-01-27T23:10:00.000-10:00

Sam Abrams came over for tea, complimented me on my food blog, and I invited her to dinner (it works out well :P). Together we made shepherd's pie, a big dish made with ground beef and veggies, and a mini lentil and veggie pot pie for Sam, who is vegetarian. We also put our projector to good use, and Sam invited over her friends Patrick and Laura to watch A Serious Man. I bowed out and ended up talking to Aries and Yoshi instead of watching the movie, but it was still a very good evening.

Winter Term, Day Twenty: Dumpling House

2010-01-26T08:39:00.003-10:00

Despite the two photoshoots earlier in the day, I really needed a time consuming and involved dinner for the evening. Amanda and I talked a bunch and rolled out dumpling wrappers for pork and green onion potstickers (or gyoza, or dumplings... it really depends on how I feel for what name I use) and as Amanda fried/steamed/boiled them, I made a veggie and noodle stirfry. Yoshi got so excited about dinner than he yanked the silverware drawer so quickly it ended up on the floor.

I am so proud of these dumplings. They're totally gone, too, by the way. Dumplings don't last long around me.

Winter Term, Day Nineteen: Julia Child's Kitchen

2010-01-25T19:43:00.004-10:00

Despite its perceived difficulty, I decided to make coq a vin tonight. The recipes, at least that I found online, aren't that consistent, so I went with a logical flow:

Rendered the pancetta, took the pancetta out, sauteed the onions, added butter since there wasn't enough fat from the pancetta, took the onions out, cooked the mushrooms, added more butter because mushrooms drink butter, took the mushrooms out, cooked chicken legs (still connected to the thighs) until golden, tossed the cooked veggies plus carrots with flour, added the veggies to the chicken, added two cups of chicken stock and a cup of merlot. I added bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper, and cooked until the chicken was falling off the bone. I then added a bit more flour to thicken the sauce and served it over egg noodles topped with chopped parsley.

My house will smell like this for at least another day, but that's a-okay by me. It's absolutely delicious.

Then later Lady Jamie came over to unload some cinnamon rolls... she apologized for the toasty bottoms but honestly, the burnt sugar tasted like campfire marshmallows. Delightful.

Winter Term, Day Eighteen: Turkish Delights

2010-01-24T23:31:00.003-10:00

Spent some time catching up on things, starting my day with cleaning and such and then making a turkey-munster-spinach-tomato-sweet-chili sandwich.

For dinner I made a Turkish inspired meal... lamb meatballs seasoned with crushed red pepper, sumac, onions, garlic, and parsley, sauteed zucchini, sauteed tomatoes, basil herbed couscous, and pickled onions.

Winter Term, Day Seventeen: Indian Extravaganza!

2010-01-23T23:32:00.001-10:00

Another trip to West Side Market/Trader Joe's today. We left 40 minutes later than we usually do, and got back to Oberlin 40 minutes earlier than usual. Hurray for efficiency!

Did you know I'm obsessed with cannoli? I got one to finish up my lunch at West Side yesterday. It was hand-filled when I ordered it, and was better than any cannoli than I've had in New York. Oh deliciousness.

Last night's classy meal was Indian extravaganza. Finally, my spices are being put to good use!

On the menu:

Lentil-coconut-carrot soup by me
Curried tomatoes and chickpeas by Sandhya
Saag with faux paneer (tofu) by Amanda
Lentil-tomato-eggplant curry by the Jamies
Potato and okra curry by Eliza and Michael
Naan with garlic oil by Lady Jamie with extra help from Jessie, Lilly, and Sir Jamie
Kheer (rice pudding) by Jessie
Rice

Our table and floor additionally contained Chris, Aries, Reid, Michael's brother Matthew, and Yoshi. Naan jokes were more than plentiful... a naan-issue, really.

Winter Term, Day Sixteen: Another Non-Dinner

2010-01-22T23:26:00.006-10:00

Again, I blame Obama. My phone died and I had to get a new one and I was (rather easily) convinced to go to the Feve for dinner. So I had a cheeseburger with tater tots and coconut curry sauce and saw Ben and Tanya.

I blame Obama. Not too much, cause it was very very awesome.

And now I share Obama photos with you too. Enjoy.

Winter Term, Day Fifteen: Taco Night II

2010-01-21T23:29:00.004-10:00

This is what my foyer looks like when there are a dozen people here.

I have a panini press that I purchased for two dollar during the Oberlin yard sale day, and I have gotten so much use out of it. Today I made a version of Sandhya's Decafe sandwich: wheat bread with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sweet chili sauce, swiss, provolone, spinach and salt and pepper, grilled, with two pickles on the side. I ate one of the pickles before I took the picture, though.

Another taco night has exploded in my kitchen... there were actually too many people to sit around the table and Chris and I had tiny-table-taco-night at the small table I got at the free store earlier this year.

Taco Night was brought to you by:

Roasted red pepper and corn soup with homemade corn stock (vegan and non-vegan) by me
Spiced ground beef by Eliza
Sauteed onions and peppers by Amanda
Fresh Salsa by Sir Jamie
Tortillas, hand rolled by Lilly and Lady Jamie
Margarita cookies by Jessie
Black beans and rice
Sour cream, cilantro, cheddar cheese, lime, and spinach as additional toppings

Eli, Mike, Michael, Yoshi and Chris joined us for dinner, and a personal taco was delivered to Sean, who is sadly sick.

Winter Term, Day Fourteen: Immediate Indian

2010-01-20T23:24:00.002-10:00

Sandhya and I made speedy-quick Indian for dinner: a lentil-coconut carrot soup, curried chickpea and tomatoes, and rice. Everything was done within 30 minutes, except for the chickpeas that took over 4 hours to cook on Tuesday night. Ridiculousness of deliciousness.

Winter Term, Day Thirteen: A Non-Dinner

2010-01-19T18:38:00.002-10:00

Leftovers for dinner. I'm not tired or lazy, but rather I spent four hours waiting in line for a ticket to see Obama on Friday. He'll be at Lorain County Community College to speak with town and business leaders and community members. I didn't get a ticket from standing in line, however, since there were a ridiculous amount of people and we made some wrong turns along the way, but Yoshi has bequested his second ticket to me. Photos of Obama to come, obviously.

Read more about my exciting day at my Oberlin blog.

Winter Term, Day Twelve: Quick Carbonara and Friends

2010-01-18T17:56:00.000-10:00

Amanda demonstrates a post-dinner nap. Foooooood.

Lunch was roast beef dip sandwiches with grilled onions and swiss. The Kriek was from last night, but the bottle was pretty and appropriate.

Tonight was a lazy night for me, so four-cheese pasta carbonara with peas and asparagus it was. Lady and Sir Jamie came over to make Camargue chicken, a stewed chicken, rice and leek dish, and Daniel made some Camembert-fig-and-basil puffs and walnut and brown sugar rolls for dessert. Yoshi and Amanda enjoyed the fruits of our labors as well.

Winter Term, Day Eleven: Tongue Thai'd

2010-01-17T23:36:00.000-10:00

Starting to tone down the crazy cooking and decided to make Thai food: prep, minimal cooking, tasty results with lots of leftovers.

Daniel and I watched the season one finale of Burn Notice on the projector, with some small intermissions of finishing up dinner: yellow shrimp curry, chicken pad Thai (from my previously posted pad Thai recipe), and coconut creme caramel for dessert. Yoshi showed up with perfect timing, about ten minutes after the food was done.

(The last two photos are courtesy of Daniel. Thank you.)

Winter Term, Day Ten: Classy Pasta Coma

2010-01-16T23:04:00.001-10:00

Another trip to West Side Market, though a rather speedy one since Sean had to get back by 1.30. I took a photo of my lunch, though, a delicious bratwurst sandwich on a hard roll with sauerkraut and mustard.

We stopped by Trader Joe's for some weekly ingredients too, and took photos with their posable sign outside.

Then we all went our seperate ways to make our hearty dishes, and we regrouped at my house a few hours later for an Italian feast.

Chris also managed to check out a video projector, making our living room amazingly technological... and awesome.

The menu included:

Baked brie with grape, strawberry, and raspberry jam by Chris
Rigatoni with fresh tomato sauce by Michael
A veggie-cheesy lasagna with zuchinni, eggplant, and spinach by Eliza (plus a single-serve vegan veggie lasagna for Eli)
A meaty-cheese lasagna by me
Salad with Italian vinegrette by Amanda and Bryan
Bread with a tomato dip, a bean dip, and pesto by Eli and Sean
A citrus-and-other-fruits blend iced tea by Sean
Homemade tiramisu (with homemade ladyfingers) by Daniel
Vegan date and cashew truffles by Daniel
Carob and walnut biscotti by Daniel
Candied walnuts by Eli and Sean

And Yoshi is our favoritest and best dishwasher ever.

Winter Term, Day Nine: Hurray for Pizza Day!

2010-01-15T23:08:00.001-10:00

In a throwback to OSCA, Friday is deemed Pizza Day, the best day of the week (according to The Aquabats).

I made epic pizza dough (with basil, garlic and onion) and did six small rounds of parbaked dough so that we could top each pizza differently to everyone's liking.

Toppings included:

Spinach, roasted red peppers, sauteed mushrooms, olives, caramelized and raw onions, sundried tomatoes, pepperoni, cooked chicken, feta, parmesan and mozzerella, plus tomato and alfredo sauce (courtesy of Chris!).

The meal was partnered with incredibly good cheap white wine, garlic knots from the leftover pizza dough, minestrone, and carob and walnut biscotti (courtesy of Daniel!). Also, a hilarious game of Bananagrams concluded our evening.

Winter Term, Day Eight: Taco Thursdays!

2010-01-14T23:38:00.000-10:00

I'm becoming spoiled by all this food... Chris and I woke up to pannekoeken, or delicious thin Dutch pancakes, topped with bacon, cheese, maple syrup/molasses, powdered sugar, or a combination thereof. God, so good.

In a throwback to the original Foodship, Thursdays are Taco Night... or as Sir Jamie say is "TACO NIGHTTTTTTTTTTT!)

On the menu:

Homemade tortillas by Lady Jamie and Lily
Ground beef "like Daddy makes it" by Amanda with aid from Bryan
Seared skirt steak with citrus by Eliza
Grilled peppers and onion by Eliza
Caldo verde by me
Various other toppings such as cheddar cheese, cilantro, sour cream, salsa, spinach, and fresh lime
Sopaipillas by Daniel

Delightful additional consumers included Yoshi, Chris, Michael and a later visit by Mike.

Winter Term, Day Seven: Simple Sushi

2010-01-13T19:18:00.003-10:00

When I was at home in Hawaii, I would make sushi when I wanted something easy, or fun, or calming. Today was one of those days, since I spent most of the day catching up on some photos and some food blogging (look, I'm all caught up!)

Yoshi, Chris, Amanda, Daniel and I tucked in an entire six rolls of tuna-cucumber-carrot-green onion-lettuce sushi and miso soup... and then made a sizable dent in the root beer cake from a few days ago.

I made Chris a seaweed-less sushi, since she loves the fillings but doesn't like the nori. 'Sokay, since the bowl turned out gorgeous.

Winter Term, Day Six: Gourmet Greek

2010-01-12T23:21:00.000-10:00

Daniel had this plan at the beginning of the month to have a gourmet meal. Not that what we were eating up until now wasn't gourmet, but he meant multiple courses and drinks and invited guests staying outside of the kitchen. We decided on Greek food. Yoshi, Eliza, and Michael sat and were overwhelmed. Chris joined us at the end of the meal, and Aries dropped by for dessert.

We had hummus, tzatziki, and oregano flatbread to start.

Then Avgolemono soup (a Greek chicken-lemon-rice-egg soup) and Greek spinach salad with cucumbers, red pepper, tomato, onion, asparagus, parmesan, and a lemon and olive oil dressing (I was too excited to eat it and forgot to take a photo).

Then the main course: savory granola encrusted chicken, which had been pounded and then rolled around a mixture of feta, olives, and parmesan. This was served with herb roasted potatoes and a roasted sweet tomato sauce.

We ended the meal with lemon shortbread and Telestrations, a game of drawing and writing that takes the game of Telephone to a new level. We had to stop because our stomachs hurt from too much laughing.

Winter Term, Day Five: The Classics and The Consumption

2010-01-11T10:48:00.000-10:00

I woke up to the smell of cinnamon rolls. This is always a good way to wake up.

As we left Ray's birthday party last night, my friend Katie offered to give away cinnamon rolls to reduce the amount of sweets in the house. Daniel tried to say yes, but Katie quickly offered some of the cinnamon roll dough before he managed to finish his sentence. He was much happier with that option.

So, I woke up to the smell of cinnamon rolls. Daniel had already made two batches of granola (one savory for Tuesday's Greek meal, and one sweet for general breakfast and snack consumption). He continued on his oven rampage and made a not-so-successful looking chicken and cheese pretzel bites but god, were they delicious. A repeat is in order.

Dinner was tomato soup, grilled cheese (Camembert, Munster, or swiss, depending on the palate), potato salad, and the pretzel bites. Chris came home to some of her favorite foods... welcome back, darling!

A mass of folks (the Jamies, Amanda, Eliza, Michael, Mike, and Aries) came by for a dessert and tea and coffee party. We had the root beer cake, some vegan chocolate orange cupcakes that I'd made, coffee, and some incredible Earl Grey that Michael brought. Wowza. We're a fabulous bunch.

Winter Term, Day Four: Classic Comfort

2010-01-10T11:30:00.004-10:00

Daniel had big baking plans for today, starting off the morning with a batch of Honey Florentine cookies. I spent an hour cleaning a waffle iron, because when you want waffles, you need waffles. By this point, it was well past 1pm, and felt that breakfast seemed redundant at that hour... but... I had cleaned the waffle iron!

A brilliant food idea occurred: use the waffles and bread and make a delectable sandwich. It was a success: a triple decker BLT on waffle bread with Camembert or Munster (depending on the palate). This is obviously sustain us through the rest of the day's cooking.

Daniel managed to complete two batches of Honey Florentine cookies (the first batch had ended up a bit... crispy) and a root beer chocolate cake with sour cream chocolate icing (which I made) while I made potato corn chowder, roasted chicken, and lemony asparagus. The two of us devoured the meal, and made up a plate for my new housemate Yoshi, who luckily made it to Oberlin this evening. Chris, who was also expected today, had her flight rescheduled for tomorrow.

We snacked on the cookies and shared between the three of us one sliver of cake, but saved the majority of it for a postponed dessert party for the next night.

Winter Term, Day Three: People Food

2010-01-09T23:34:00.000-10:00

Today included a visit to West Side Market, the best indoor market ever, where many of us stocked up on weekly produce, local meal and other delicacies, and Trader Joe's, for some more practical cooking ingredients.

Upon our return, a flurry of cooking in many locations began. Michael went on an adventure to buy a soup pot and made potato leek soup. Eliza pounded out (with her mind) three loaves of no-knead bread. Eli whipped up a batch of curried corn and bean soup, a recipe he'd been experimenting with for a while. Daniel worked for hours on a broiler cake, a many-layered concoction of classy proportions and a cute vegan spice cookie with raspberry jam. Amanda dragged the ingredients for broccoli tempura across campus to my house, and spent her time turning out incredibly fried tidbits. I was in Mediterranean mode and made a cucumber tomato salad and hummus, which required some silly substitutions since the tahini didn't make it to my house.

And then there was a classy gathering at Slapdash house. If there's one thing the Foodship does well, it's classiness. Closely followed by cooking and eating good food.

Totally stuffed. Soup'll do that to you. So will potlucks. And good food.

Winter Term, Day Two: Hearty Homestyle

2010-01-08T16:27:00.007-10:00

(This is not in black and white. That's how contrasty the outside was today.)

Our shopping trip to the best market in the world (plus Trader Joe's) is tomorrow, so I'm still getting by on my staples, still. It was a brisk 17 degrees today, too, so the only contact with the outside world was to open my door to friends and to take some photos of the massive icicles outside my windows.

With the additional six inches of snow from the past day, the only thing on my mind was keeping my kitchen as warm as possible. Today's menu was chili and fresh oat and honey bread (and some rolls, since our shopping journey starts way too early tomorrow morning), and Daniel made a batch of cream cheese cookies with strawberry preserves.

Due to the lights being ridiculous, I only got to photograph about 1/6 of what I wanted to shoot today, but what I did looks great! I also figured out how to tether my Nikon through Aperture, so I can use my computer as my camera's shutter, or click the shutter on my camera and see the photo on my computer screen. Technology. Love it.

Due to the cold, it was only the two of us for dinner. It was delicious, though.

Winter Term, Day One: Scents of My Old Kentucky Home

2010-01-07T15:41:00.008-10:00

Back to the food bloggy world! Why? I am on campus for winter term, the month of independent learning that Oberlin College requires three out of four Januaries of a student's undergraduate education. As hoity-toity as that sounds, I've done amazingly cool things; over the past three years I spent a month in art museum tour guide training, I made a short documentary film about a student production of Steel Magnolias, and I was an intern at the theater group The Striking Viking Story Pirates (watch their videos! They're hilarious!).

This winter I have completed all my necessary requirements, but I'm spending the month at home working on the bulk of my senior project, a stop motion animated soup cookbook. The soup is just the start of my daily cooking, since I'm cooking accompanying dishes so my month is well-rounded and delicious.

Before starting such a large food project, I took it upon myself to organize my entire kitchen, both to figure out dinner tonight and take stock of what I have and what I need to buy. Amanda dropped by to say hello, and drink tea, and helped me make lots of lists of ingredients. Thank you, darling.

Day one: Slightly low on fresh veggies, but lots of basic ingredients that I had frozen or refrigerated before my two week winter break, heavy on the potato and onion side. The plan: French onion soup (with requisite cheesey toast) and potato galette. These two things are two of my dad's specialties, so my Ohio home smelled very much of my old Kentucky Home today.

I shot a majority of the photos for a possible stop-motion French onion soup recipe this evening as well, which is as painful as it sounds. Many tears.

Lady Jamie is also allergic to dairy, so I made this whole French repast without butter, though we did have melted swiss on our toasted bread (she just had the fresh bread).

In attendance were Jamie Flynn, Amanda Lozada, and Daniel Dudley. We are currently painfully full and ready for tomorrow.

Also, those Republican napkins are woefully ironic; they're a holdover from my housemate Melissa's NASCAR themed goodbye party last month.

Pad Thai

2009-06-29T19:51:00.003-10:00

So this blog has gone slightly by the wayside, BUT I have something to add. After three years of trying to make pad thai at home taste like pad thai in a restaurant, I finally found a combination that works.

“This actually tastes like Pad Thai!” Pad Thai:

The Noodles:

16 oz. Rice Sticks (I used King Brand, but any Thai rice stick (it looks like rice fettucini) should work)

Submerge in cold water until the noodles are pliable but not soft. Drain.

The Sauce:

½ cup tamarind pulp (without seeds) It should be the consistency of room temperature ketchup.
½ cup fish sauce (if you want to veganize this thing, it recommends light Thai soy sauce, but I don't know if that will work the same way)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon sambal (or 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper) This is scant, but you can spice it more once it's cooked, don't overdo it.

Whisk together. It should taste tangy and salty. It'll be about 1 ½ cups of sauce. You'll use most of it.

Protein:

Choose one:
- Shrimp (1 lb raw shrimp, deshelled and deveined) and Tofu (1/2 lb extra firm tofu, water drained, cut into matchsticks) This is the traditional combination.
- Tofu (1 lb extra firm tofu, water drained, cut into matchsticks)
- Chicken (1 lb, cut into bite-sized pieces) (If you cook with chicken, you may want to add two cloves crushed garlic when cooking it.)

The Other Stuff:

2 carrots, julienne
½ cup fined sliced cabbage
1 stalk finely sliced celery
12 green onions, cut into 1” pieces
3 cups bean sprouts
4 eggs

½ cup water
Oil

The Garnishes:

½ cup chopped roasted peanuts
1 lime, wedged
More crushed red pepper

Secret One: Have everything ready before you even think about starting cooking. Everything should be in its own separate bowl at a hands reach away.

Secret Two: Make it in batches, two servings at a time. This will assure that the noodles don't stick and everything is covered in sauce and everything is cooked. Sooooo... decide how many batches you will cook and divide ingredients accordingly when cooking. The following process you will follow twice for the amount of ingredients above, so use half the ingredients each time.

Heat oil (Secret Three: don't skimp. 3-4 tablespoons at least) in a wok on high heat. Swirl around until the oil coats all of the pan. If you are cooking with tofu, add the tofu and cook until slightly crispy and browned, a few minutes. If you are cooking with chicken, add crushed garlic and chicken pieces and cook until the outsides are no longer pink. (I used tongs for this, it's easy to toss the ingredients this way.)

Add carrots, cabbage, celery and noodles and toss to combine. Add a half cup of the sauce and toss together. When the noodles will start to look like they are floppy and cooked, add the shrimp, and then push noodle mixture to the side to make space for the eggs. Break two eggs into the cleared space and break the yolks. Grind a small amount of fresh pepper and mix the eggs briefly. Wait until the bottoms of the eggs set, and mix again. Once the bottoms set one more time, mix the eggs into the noodle mixture. Stir until the eggs are cooked. If the noodles look pale, add more sauce, but don't make it soupy. Add green onions and bean sprouts and ¼ cup water and cover for a minute (this will finish cooking the noodles). Uncover and mix, taste and make sure the noodles are cooked. Remove from pan and garnish with peanuts, fresh lime and crushed red pepper.

When making the second batch, make sure the pan is scraped clean and add another 3-4 tablespoons oil. Repeat the process again and again and again and again.

It got thumbs up from my dad and my brother, the two pad thai connoisseurs in the family. Delightful!

Vanilla

2008-08-05T00:19:00.007-10:00

Vanilla: iPOD love:

Vanilla is a member of the orchid family and originated in Mexico. Only one insect is known to pollinate the flower and must coordinate with the orchid's flowering cycle. Now, vanilla is hand pollinated, part of the reason why pure vanilla and vanilla pods are so expensive.

It's only cultivated in a few places around the world, including Hawaii, which is the only place in the U.S. to produce vanilla. Like salt, Hawaii also has a special kind of vanilla. According to Hawaiian Vanilla Company, Hawaiian vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world (saffron, the stigma of a certain species of crocus, is the most expensive).

Types of vanilla:

French vanilla: French vanilla is not actually vanilla from France. It refers to a flavor combination for a custard or cream (made in a French cream/custard style) with vanilla added. It's creamy and good, but it's not exactly vanilla.

Tahitian vanilla: An extremely aromatic and full-bodied vanilla flavor. It is rich and very intensely vanilla flavored. From Polynesia.

Bourbon/Madagascar vanilla: Aromatic, produced and labeled as their location. From Madagascar and other Indian Ocean islands.

West Indian vanilla: Mass produced for commercial usage. If you're buying vanilla at a store without looking at names, this is probably what you're buying. It is good, but if you're looking for more flavor, head for something different.

Vanilla Lingo and What to Purchase:

You can buy vanilla in bean, extract, or powder (I haven't ever seen this form, but it exists) form.

Vanilla refers to both the flavoring that is derived from vanilla beans, either by extraction into an alcohol or from a straight vanilla bean steeped in another liquid. Commercially, you can buy vanilla extract, which is sold in a 35% alcohol solution or more. (Don't drink it, it's rather disgusting. The flavor of alcohol disappears as soon as it is mixed into another substance.) If you have the chance to get ahold of a vanilla bean (they're expensive, but totally worth it), do it. Information about usage of vanilla beans will continue later.

Vanillin is a chemical compound that is a component of pure vanilla, but it is also a compound that can be created by steeping wood in alcohol or made chemically in a lab. Because it's not pure vanilla, it's cheap. And it doesn't taste like vanilla. Avoid this like the plague. This is not food.

Vanilla concepts and pairings:

Vanilla is a commonly recognizable scent and is used in a variety of perfumes and aroma therapy, as well as being a vital ingredient in baking. It is so distinct that we associate it with many sweet things without even thinking about it as an ingredient. If we think sweet, we think vanilla.

Vanilla is really good. REALLY REALLY GOOD. Hence, you can add it to anything. It really enhances sweet-inclined dairy products very much, including whipped cream, ice cream, cheesecakes, yogurt, sour cream.

Due to its light flavor, it works well with delicate desserts like flans, custards, and soufflees. It also enhances other sweet things, so add it to any dessert, baked good, fruit (fresh or raw), anything chocolatey.

Vanilla and savory dishes also work together well. I like vanilla with more naturally sweet things, like carrots, winter squash/pumpkins, sweet potatoes, etc,; however, it complements a mild curry powder well, as well as shrimp and other seafoods.

To assure the most flavor, add vanilla near the end of preparation (it allows the alcohol to evaportate if using extract, and doesn't let the flavor to get lost).

Also, anytime it mentions the amount of vanilla in a recipe, it's just a recommendation, not a maximum. Vanilla is delicious. Use it liberally.

Vanilla Beans:

Remember how I mentioned that vanilla beans are amazing and if you have one... well... There are a few things you can do. Splitting the bean down the center and scraping out the seeds with the dull side of the knife gets those beautiful little black specks that people associate with vanilla. You can add these to anything (I highly suggest scalding [warming in heated but not boiling] with any sort of milk or cream product) and it will be tasty.

But you spent so much on that bean! And IT SMELLS SO GOOD. Now that you have taken out the seeds, you can do a few other things with the pod... You can make vanilla sugar (or vanilla salt, if you wish. Sweet-salty is always good) by placing the pod in granulated sugar within a sealed container for at least two weeks.

You can also make homemade vanilla extract by placing the bean in alcohol (usually vodka, though brandy, rum, or bourbon [I'm southern, sorry] works just as well.) From what I've seen online, 3 vanilla bean pods to one cup of alcohol seems to be a good proportion. The longer it sits, the more flavor it gets. Store out of light.

Salt

2008-08-01T00:24:00.007-10:00

Salt: Without it, you wouldn't taste a damned thing.

Salt is amazing. I don't know if you guys realize how vital salt is to our existence. I don't need to go into much depth, but everything that we know in the history of the world was affected mostly in part of salt processing, distribution, and use. Read Salt: A World History. It's totally worth your time.

Other than being an ingredient in almost every food imaginable, salt is a basic taste for our taste buds, and is something we commonly crave. Convienently, many popular snacks are high in sodium and hit that salt craving nicely when necessary.

Salt is very underused in our society's home cooking, and then most of our food is bland. Does your food taste like nothing even though there are great things in it? Add salt! It will bring out many of the flavors with a single pinch. Add it until you can taste the flavors of the dish, not the salt.

Kinds of Salt:

Basic salt (the one that you find in salt shakers everywhere) is usually iodized salt. It's processed with iodine, and they look like tiny cubes. It's salty. Not much here. I would use it to salt water for boiling

Kosher salt is coarse. It's flavorful and dissolves well in dishes that are being cooked. This is a readily available salt and I would recommend it, since it's easy to find and tastes pretty good. I like it for anything involving flavoring foods, especially soups, stews, and liquid heavy stirfries. It's also great for brines and for picking.

Sea Salt is usually coarse and chunky and a bit aromatic. It's large, and usually needs to be ground or crushed before it is added to a dish, unless you are dissolving it in warm liquid. Sea salt is also delicious. It can be used to help keep ice frozen for icecream making, or ground into any dish of your choice, though I would lean towards seasoning warm dishes unless you choose to grind it. I like sea salt best, because it has dissolved minerals in it, and is less processed than other kinds of salt.

There are many kinds of specialty salts, such as grey salt (from France), red salt (from Hawaii), fleur de sel (very fine sea salt), green salt (with algae); color and taste are all based on the minerals in them. There are also many kinds of seasoned salts (smoked, herb, bacon, etc.) These tend to be used for specific flavorings, or as a finishing touch to a dish. If you ever get the opportunity to eat them, do it. They're fucking fantastic.

Salt concepts:

* First of all, everything, from sweet to spicy to sour will benefit from the addition of salt. It enhances the natural flavor of everything.

* Salt veggies (fresh, raw, steamed, whatever), salt chocolate (sauce, cake, cheesecake, cupcake), salt fruit (in the south, people eat melon with salt and pepper. It's really good), salt meat. Salt anything.

* Salt does cause the rupture of cell walls, though, so keep it in mind when cooking. Salt will make anything juice, so if you want a dry vegetable, remember to rinse and dry after salting if you plan to cook it some other way. Because of this, salt can remove bitterness from eggplant, cucumbers, and many other vegetables.

* Salt can be used to raise the boiling point and lower the freezing point of water. Use it when making homemade ice cream (rock salt keeps the ice colder) or when boiling water. If food is cooked in a liquid, the food will take on the flavors in the water. Use this to your advantage (more detail later. This is one of my other food goals). Foods that are cooked in water, including pasta and veggies and potatoes, especially, will absorb salt as they boil in the water. It is very difficult to properly salt things after they are cooked.

* Salt is used as a preservative. Use it on raw veggies with a touch of vinegar and/or sugar to make quick pickles (I've done this with cucumbers, beets, daikon, radishes, carrots, or pretty much any raw hard vegetable; usually over a few days).

* You can also use salt to brine (brine: salt + water, and any kind of spices; since salt causes the rupture of cells, all the good flavors can dash inside) any sort of animal protein. Wash it off before cooking it as you would regularly seasoned meat. It is not recommended to salt legumes until they are fully cooked, however.

* Salt is also one of the simplest seasonings to use, since it's an enhancer. To make wonderfully flavorful roasted veggies, toss vegetables of your choice in salt, pepper, and olive oil, and bake until soft.

* To make tasty seasoning salt (also known as finishing salt; which are used in food at the end, usually sprinkled on top, as a touch of extra flavor. Adding salt to other taste dishes [sweet, sour, spicy] increases the levels of enjoyment), grind dried herbs such as rosemary, sage, or garlic (or any kind. They're all tasty.) with coarse kosher salt or sea salt. You can use this instead of any salt in savory dishes, or as a finishing touch to anything.

Oh noes! I put too much salt in a dish! What do I do?

Well... Martha Stewart swears that if you put in one peeled potato into the dish and continue cooking it, the potato will absorb the excess salt and you will have a desalinated dish. I've never actually had to do this, though based on the above theory, it should work. I TASTE TASTE TASTE when I cook, and add things gradually and to taste, rather than following a certain amount in a recipe (seasoning amounts are just guidelines, anyways), so I have never run into this problem. I also tend to salt near the end of cooking, since cooking things for a long time concentrates the flavors, and concentrated salt is just saltier.

Wow. There is a lot about salt. Hope some fragments of this were helpful.

Nutmeg

2008-08-01T00:19:00.009-10:00

I have had a request to start writing about cooking, spices, and spicing. It'll be a learning guide, with some background and research (for my benefit) and some cooking recommendations.

I'll start with nutmeg.

Nutmeg: This is LOVE.

Firstly, nutmeg is probably my favorite spice. According to Wikipedia, nutmeg is an evergreen seed from tropical Asia. Mace, which is another spice derived from the same plant, is the covering of the seed.

Where do you get it? What should I look for?

Like most spices, you can buy it already ground. Ground spices are delicious and cheap, require less preparation tools, etc. They don't last forever, though, but then again, nutmeg shouldn't either. It's great. At school, I have a container of ground nutmeg, which you can buy practically anywhere, though mine is from this spice shop at the West Side Market in Cleveland. At home, we have whole nutmeg seeds and a cool little grater with a holder in the top to hold the seed when it's not in use.

Where have I had it before?

Nutmeg is a common addition to pumpkin pie seasoning (which also includes cinnamon and allspice), as well as to gingerbread cookies, and is a natural match with anything involving cinnamon (anywhere where there is cinnamon, you can add nutmeg... about twice as much cinnamon to nutmeg is a good proportion).

Nutmeg, much like cinnamon, can be added to sweet as well as savory (a definition of savory is kind of ambiguous... I think it was decided that it was similar to umami, the 5th taste. It's a flavor combination that is not sweet but is full-bodied and with much flavor, usually coming from reduction, caramelization or proper spicing.) Savory foods are my favorite, but a complexity of flavor can be reached by having a variety of tastes within a food creation (combining any or all tastes: sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter, and savory... think about a chili sweet-and-sour chicken/tofu... it tickles the tastebuds in a variety of places). Combining tastes is one of my food goals anytime I cook.

My favorite nutmeg additions (These aren't really recipes, but if you want recipes for these concepts, I can pass them along.)

Anything involving chocolate (hot chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, truffles) can easily have more depth of flavor if you add a pinch of nutmeg and/or cinnamon. Also, cayenne, but that's another thing later...

Things that are sweet... anything fruity (pies), sugary (icing), syrupy (with maple syrup, on pancakes), whipped-creamy (spiced whipped cream is fucking fantastic on chocolate, strawberry, or coffee desserts), etc. It just tastes good.

Any baked goods or breakfast things: cakes, pies, cheesecake (crust for both the previous things), pancakes, waffles, french toast.

In savory dishes, I like nutmeg (and cinnamon) in things that are mildly to very spicy. It adds a hint of sweet to something spicy, layering the flavors. Many Greek dishes also call for nutmeg, including moussaka (a rich eggplant cassarole) and pastisito (a mulit-step pasta dish that has a thick meat sauce tossed with pasta and then covered with a nutmeg scented white sauce and baked). Nutmeg also works very well with ground meat (beef, turkey, pork, what have you.)

Anytime I make a white sauce, alfredo sauce, cheese sauce or anything else white/creamy/soupy (including cream of "insert veggie here" soup). It's good with asparagus and mushrooms, especially.