Messy cupboards and why I love garlic

Ok, I'm feeling a bit random today.  Probably cause it's Sunday, so whatever OCD to-do list has been sitting in my head all week, patiently holding it together, is finally spilling out as a mess of house chores, random food alchemy, and disjointed musings.  Cool...

 Sitting here with a nice delicious cup of milk tea.  Here's how I make the stuff (and you should too!):

1. Boil 1 cup of water in a small saucepan and add tea of your choice (loose or in a bag, who cares?)
2. Reduce heat to low and simmer tea for 5 minutes. 
3. Add 1 cup of milk and heat on low for about 3 minutes, until the tea is steaming hot.
4. Strain into a big ol' mug and sweeten to taste with honey (or sugar.  if you want to be that way. [behold my judging face])

Moving right along... remember how, just a few sentences ago, I mentioned OCD?  Speaking of, this is my kitchen cupboard, full of spices, beans, grains, pasta, tea, etc. - very, VERY messy by my standards, and driving me semi-batty... 

Moving on again! ...I was prepping the ingredients for some Moroccan spoon beef this morning, and I stopped to muse on the many wonders of garlic: O, Allicin.  Who is smellier than thee?  Who gets my nose running and my throat burning like you can?  In your raw form, you hurt so good, especially when your oils get into all the micro-cuts on my fingertips, into the dry-skin crevices between my fingers, but ours is a twisted relationship, and I love the short-term suffering for the long-term payoff, the flavors and the smells that waft through my house as the hours creep by and the slow-cooker rocks on.  *Sigh*

Told you I was feeling random.

Last bit before I dissolve into a total Sunday stupor: what the hell is Spoon Beef??  Well friends, spoon [insert meat variety here] is any piece of protein that's cooked so gently and for so long that when you remove it from the cooking vessel, you could do so with a spoon.  Now you know.  Here's how I'm making mine:

Moroccan Spoon Beef
Serves 8
3 pounds chuck roast, cut into 1-1/2 to 2 inch thick pieces
flour for dredging
1 tablespoon oil
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1/2 cup Ras el Hanout**
1-1/2 to 2 cups dry red wine

Set a heavy skillet over high heat while you dredge the meat in the flour, seasoned with salt and pepper.  Add the oil to the pan and sear the meat, about 4 minutes a side, one piece at a time.  Place the seared meat in the bottom of your slow cooker.

Sprinkle the meat with half the spices, then pile the vegetables on top and add the remaining spices.  Pour in the wine and set the slow cooker on high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-10.  Remove the meat to a platter and cook the remaining liquid uncovered on high until it reaches desired consistency.  Serve the meat topped with the thickened sauce and the vegetables.

**Ras el Hanout (Moroccan spice blend)
Makes about 1 cup
1/4 cup cumin seeds, toasted and ground
3/4 teaspoon saffron, crushed
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup paprika

Quick post on slow-cooking!

My bro Paul got me a super-sweet slow cooker for my b-day, and I've already used it twice, to make split pea soup and then some luxuriously creamy Irish oatmeal!  I love this thing!  I fill it up, turn it on, and leave it.  It's a workin' lady's dream come true.

I have the Cuisinart 3-1/2 Quart Programmable Slow Cooker

This model is pretty perfect for a 1-2 person household.  Most slow cooker recipes are written for something in the 4 quart range, and it's also very easy to adapt other braise/soup/stew recipes to a slow-cooker.  Just reduce the liquid by 50% and double the cooking time (at least).  You always want to keep the meat browning step, but otherwise you can throw all your ingredients together in the slow-cooker and fuggeddaboudit!

Split Pea Soup (adapted from Cuisinart slow-cooker recipe book)
Makes 8 servings


6 ounces shallot, finely chopped
1 celery rib, trimmed and finely chopped
8 ounces Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
8 ounces carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced
1 pound green split peas, rinsed and picked over
6 cups water
1 ham-hock, meaty ham bone, or 8 ounces cubed ham
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1/4 cup dry sherry

Put all ingredients except sherry into slow cooker and set on High for 2 hours.  Switch to Low for another 6 to 8 hours (time needed will depend on your slow-cooker).  Remove ham hock or ham bone, discard the bone, shred the meat and return to the soup.  Stir in the sherry and serve.

And this is a cucumber salad I threw together last night, as far from slow-cooking as it gets!  I wanted to share with you because the combination was lovely: peeled and sliced cucumber, pitted kalamata olives, torn mint leaves, black pepper, and a dressing made of Greek yogurt, red wine vinegar, and a bit of olive oil.  Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and savor every Mediterranean bite!

Big Night of Pizza

This past Saturday I recreated my own version of the Big Night food spectacle, in which excessive amounts of food are steadily and shockingly produced from a very hot and crazy kitchen.  And it was SO MUCH FUN.

It was my birthday pizza party!  I made the dough from scratch using (roughly) the following recipe:

2 teaspoons instant yeast (note: this is not the same as "dry active yeast")
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cup lukewarm water

I used my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook attachment to prepare the dough, but you can just as well do it by hand in a big bowl with a wooden spoon.  First mix the yeast, flour,olive oil, and salt, then add the water slowly, stirring as you do, until it forms a shaggy ball of dough.  Now knead until it's smooth and slightly sticky and springs back when you poke it.  Transfer to a big oiled bowl and let rise for 1 hour before dividing into two balls of dough for pizza, or you can rise for 45 minutes and refrigerate 4 to 24 hours until you are ready to use it (just be sure to take it out about 2 hours before you plan to use it).  Roll each ball of dough to your liking (I made mine into about 14-inch pies) and top however you please!

Here's what I had for toppings:

The Margharita: sliced Roma tomatoes, shredded mozzarella, and torn basil leaves
The Sausage: tomato sauce, browned hot or sweet Italian sausage, thinly sliced red onion, and mozzarella
The Goat: (most popular!) pesto with roasted garlic, roasted red pepper strips, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, goat cheese, and oregano
The Popeye: Spinach sauteed with garlic and nutmeg, and ricotta cheese

Once your pizza is topped, either bake it on a sheet tray or slide it onto a pizza stone in a very hot oven - as high as yours will go.  Mine was cranked up to 500 deg. F.  Set the timer for 10 minutes, check to see if the crust is browning and the cheese melting to your liking, and if it still needs some more time, check back every 1 minute, up to 20 minutes.  My oven's sweet spot was 13 minutes flat.

Give it a try! and check out some action shots:

On being a mad scientist, MIA

I've dropped off the radar recently.  There's been a lot going on -- which is great!  Thus very little time to blog.  But that doesn't mean I've been out of the kitchen!  I've been finding new and freaky ways to create interesting flavors and smells through the wonders of lacto-fermentation.  And so, with those few words, I leave you to peruse a few pics of my latest science experiments.

Yours Truly,
Chief Mad Scientist, Apartment D6

Sourdough sponge bubbling away

My little wheat berry sprouties

Oats fermenting 

Multigrain bread dough, pre-rise

Multigrain bread dough, post-rise

The finished loaves, chock full of sprouted wheat, sunflower seeds, fermented oats, and sourdough starter

Honeymoon & Chicken Salad

Hey folks!  We're back from our honeymoon, and I've just successfully completed my first week of work at my new part-time office job - woohoo!  I also catered a wine n' nibbles reception for my client last night, which went off without a hitch.  So satisfying!  I'm finding that the balance of mental work there at the office and physical work in the kitchen is even more ideal than I had expected.  It's tough getting back into the swing of things, though, after such a fabulous honeymoon with my honey :)

Looks pretty terrible, huh? 

Now, let's talk food:  I think I've perfected the chicken salad, since my client has been asking that I make it for his lunch.  My big secret?  Homemade mayo, and keepin' it simple.  So I call this...

5-ingredient Chicken Salad
(makes about 3 cups)
Note: the key to making good mayonnaise is to use a strong blender on the highest possible setting (usually it's something intense-sounding like "liquefy").  Without that crazy blending action, you won't get an emulsion - that's dorky kitchen talk for a mixture of two or more liquids that is virtually un-blendable.  Think salad dressing that will never, ever separate into oil and vinegar.  Cool, right?  Most important of all, be fearless.  It's only mayo, no big deal!

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 large egg
1 cup blended oil (half canola or grapeseed, half olive oil)

2 chicken breast with ribs (about 1.5 pounds)
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine in the blender the lemon juice, egg, a pinch of salt, and 1/4 cup of the oil, and whir on high speed for a whole minute.  With the blender running, carefully drizzle in the remaining oil, very slowly at first and more steadily as you go.  Continue to blend on high, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides, until the mixture has become a paler yellow and is totally homogeneous and thickened.  Pour into a large mixing bowl and set aside in the fridge.

Set the chicken in a shallow baking dish and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.  Pour 1/4 cup of water into the bottom of the dish and cover with foil.  Place in the oven and let it steam, tightly covered, for about 30 minutes, until the juice runs clear when you prick it and the internal temperature registers at 160 degrees F.  Remove to a plate to cool.

Once the chicken is cooled, remove the skin, tear it off the bone, and cut it into 1/2-inch chunks.  Add the chicken and chopped celery to the mayonnaise and mix well to combine.  Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately, or keep in the refrigerator up to five days.

The spread at the party I catered last night

Shake It Up

It's the beginning of a new year!  Go crazy - eat salad for breakfast!!

Ok, granted, that's not such a wild proposition.  But it sure is weird, right?  And it's what I did this morning, after waking up at the wee hour of 5am because I'm so darned excited to be leaving on our honeymoon tomorrow afternoon.  7-day Caribbean cruise with Dan my Man, here I come!  Also, I just landed a steady, part-time job to supplement my cooking work, so all is pretty groovy.  Take that, 2012.

I made a fun trip to my favorite spice shop on 1st Avenue in the East Village the other day and stocked up on some exotic but useful staples, such as sumac, Chai masala, and red honeybush tea.  The sumac is a particularly well-loved spice in my household, where I throw it on anything and everything that demands salty acidity (salad being the most obvious choice).  It's also great on soups, eggs, meat, veggies - anything that needs some extra pop!  It's essential to my Greek salad, below.

Greek Salad
Serves 2
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
2 vine tomatoes, sliced
1/2 large cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, chopped crosswise
2 scallions, green part only, sliced thin
scattering of pitted kalamata, or other black, olives
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sumac (available at Middle Eastern food store)
sea salt

In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients and set aside.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, yogurt, olive oil, and sumac.  When ready to serve, toss the salad with dressing and season to taste with salt.  Serve immediately.

Happy New Year!

Just a quick note to wish you a wonderful 2012 full of good times, good friends and, most of all, good food!

To get you off to the right start, here's a dish you might try - it's celebratory and impressive, though not difficult, and just decadent enough.  Thanks to all of you who have continued to tune in throughout the year and check out what's cooking with me.  I appreciate your appetite!

Pasta with Vodka Sauce - adapted from Grace Parisi's Get Saucy
(Makes 6 servings)


A Brief Word on Pasta:  Although vodka sauce is traditionally served with penne, I recommend any pasta that is substantial (ie. not too thin) and pleasing to you - maybe fusilli, gemelli, rigatoni, or even bucatini (pictured), a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the middle.  Whatever the variety you choose, make sure you cook it in rapidly boiling, well-salted water (no oil!!), stir frequently, drain promptly, and reserve some of the pasta cooking water to help glue the sauce to the pasta - it makes a big difference!


1 pound (16 oz.) dried pasta

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
4 ounces thickly-sliced pancetta, diced
1/2 onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Pinch of dried oregano
1/4 cup vodka
One 28-ounce can peeled whole Italian tomatoes, with juice, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup frozen green peas, thawed
salt to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, and then salt generously.  Cook pasta according to package instructions.  Drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid, and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large, deep pan over medium-high heat and add pancetta, stirring occasionally until browned and the fat has rendered.  Add the onion, garlic, red pepper, oregano, and tomato paste and stir until softened, about 3 minutes.  Add the vodka and cook until evaporated, scraping up the browned bits stuck to the pan (hooray for pre-cleaning the pot!).  Add the tomatoes and simmer over medium heat until thickened slightly, about 20 minutes.  Add the cream and peas and simmer another 10 minutes.  Season with salt and more red pepper to taste.

If the saucepan is large enough, add the pasta now and reduce heat to low.  If not, transfer both the pasta and the sauce to a clean, large pot, over low heat.  Stir well and add pasta cooking water to thin sauce to your liking.  I like to make it a little too thin at this point, and wait an extra 10 minutes for the liquid to evaporate - this helps the sauce really stick to each piece of pasta.  If you're in a hurry, you can skip this and just serve immediately.  Either way, enjoy with a sprinkling of freshly chopped parsley and a hearty appetite!

'Tis the Season for Gingerbread

Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, don't care for all the sale-shopping, tree-lighting, and sleigh-bells-ringing bunga-bunga, you're still going to want to make this gingerbread and intoxicate your anti-consumerist sensibilities with the heady aroma of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove and ginger.

DISCLAIMER: Preparing this recipe will put you in the holiday spirit.


Spiced Ginger Cakes (adapted from this post on Roost)
Makes 2 tea loaves or 1 standard loaf


1-1/2 cup oat flour (simply grind rolled oats finely in the food processor)
1 cup brown rice flour (or use wheat flour if you aren't worried about gluten)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1-1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 eggs
1/2 cup molasses (I highly recommend the Wholesome Sweeteners brand)
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
1/2 cup melted butter (or your preferred baking oil, ie. coconut)

Preheat oven to 350F degrees and lightly grease your baking pans.

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another.  (Note: wait until melted butter cools to room temp before mixing with eggs.  You don't want scrambled eggs!)  Add wet ingredients to the dry and combine with a few swift strokes.  Immediately pour into loaf pan(s) and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Remove from oven and allow gingerbread to cool at least an hour before attempting to remove from pan(s).  Can be refrigerated up to 4 days, or frozen up to 3 months.

Good Ol' Fashioned Tuna Noodle Casserole

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  This recipe I'm about to post is about as far from turkey as you can get.  But we're all pretty sick of that stuff by now, right?  Hope you all got your fill of the good stuff this weekend.  Here's a good make-more-to-store weeknight dish, inspired by my cousin Kate's recent blog post which covered the tuna-noodle situation.  Can't go wrong!  I added leeks, mushrooms and nutmeg to give it a nice wintery feel.  And although you don't necessarily need to be as careful as I'm being, I cut back on fat by using skim milk and low-fat cream cheese.  Enjoy!

Tuna Noodle Casserole
Makes 8 servings (6 points each)

8 oz. whole wheat wide noodles
2 tsp. butter
2 leeks, halved lengthwise, cleaned, and sliced thin
1 lb. cremini mushrooms, cleaned, destemmed and chopped
2 medium carrots, diced
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 3/4 cups fat free milk
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup lowfat cream cheese
zest from one lemon
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 5-oz. cans albacore tuna in water, drained and flaked
salt and white pepper to taste
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add salt and noodles and continue cooking, covered, according to package instructions.  Drain, toss with a bit of pasta water to prevent sticking, and set aside in a large bowl.

Preheat oven to 375F degrees and lightly grease a 2 quart baking dish.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the leeks, mushrooms, and carrots and cook until slightly softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the flour and cook another 1 minute.  Stir in the milk, mustard, cream cheese, lemon zest, and nutmeg.  Stir and simmer 10-15 minutes, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.

Add the sauce and the tuna to the pasta and combine.  Taste and season to your liking with salt and white pepper.  Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and sprinkle the top with the bread crumbs.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the contents are bubbling and the top is golden.  Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving.  Will keep up to 5 days covered in the refrigerator.

Chicken Tortilla Stew

Before I jump into how to make this delicious stew, I wanted to share a new feature of my blog with you: I'll be including Weight Watchers Points values with each recipe.  Why?  Well, because I'm on Weight Watchers (wasn't that obvious?)  And maybe if I proclaim it to the world, I'll feel accountable to more than just myself for sticking to it.  I tried the diet once before, in high school, and it worked out pretty well, so when my dad decided to give it a shot a few weeks ago, I thought I might revisit the regime and shed some extra pounds I've been carrying around for too long.

Confession concluded, now on with the food!

Chicken Tortilla Stew
makes 8 servings (6 points each)


For steamed chicken:
1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 4)
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 dried red chilis (optional)
1 star anise (optional)
Salt
2 tablespoons water

For tortilla strips:
8 corn tortillas (preferably whole grain)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt

For stew:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced thin
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large carrot, chopped
2 fresh jalapeño peppers, minced
1/4 cup Chili Powder Blend (see recipe or use store-bought brand of choice)
One 26-ounce box Pomi chopped tomatoes (or a 28-ounce of canned tomatoes)
2 cups water
8 ounces frozen corn kernels, thawed
1.5 cups chopped fresh cilantro
juice from 2 limes
Salt to taste

Cook the chicken: Preheat oven to 350F degrees.  Combine the chicken and spices in a medium baking dish.  Sprinkle with salt, pour water around the chicken (not on top of it) and cover tightly.  Steam in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the chicken temperature registers 160F degrees with instant-read thermometer.  Remove to a plate, allow to cool, and shred by hand, discarding spices and any gristle.  Strain cooking juices from baking dish into a small bowl and set aside.

Make the tortilla strips: Slice the tortillas across into thin strips, about 1/4 inch thick.  Slice strips in half lengthwise, so they're about 2 inches long.  Toss with olive oil and salt and spread out on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake until crispy and slightly golden, about 12 minutes.  Baking time will depend greatly on your oven - a good practice is to check after first 5 minutes, then after every couple of minutes, tossing each time to ensure even cooking.

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and add onions.  Cook over medium-high heat until lightly caramelized, about 15 minutes.  Add garlic, carrot, jalapeños, and chili powder and cook another 5 minutes, until vegetables have softened a bit.  Stir in the tomatoes, the reserved chicken cooking juices, and water.  Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer.  Cook with cover another 20 minutes or so.  Stir in the corn, cilantro, and lime juice and season to taste with salt.  Simmer another 5 minutes and serve with tortilla strips on top.