Pumpkin Pie & Pancakes

Well I successfully made two pumpkin pies for Mordechai’s birthday!! Our hips and thighs will remember them for a while to come.

So I had some leftover pumpkin, and since I dont like to waste what the good Lord has blessed us with I decided that I needed to make pancakes or fritters or something in that family out of them. I mixed in pretty much the same ingredients into the leftover pumpkin and knew that at the very least it would taste good. Looking back I realise that I should not have added milk and should have waited for the pan to get scorching hot. I proceeded to try and cook this bowl of pumpkin goop for the next 45 mins. Cooking batches and then recooking it till it was almost burnt to a fine crisp.

Eventually I had had enough and said enough is enough. Tada! I presented my darling husband for his birthday dinner “Scortched Pumpkin Goop on a Plate”

今日の料理

Here’s my recent attempt on the Prosciutto, Apple, & Brie Panini I mentioned in a post a few days ago:

 

Prosciutto, Brie and Apple Panini with Scallion Butter

I think my attempt was fairly successful, though I used a slightly different bread than the recommended baguette/roll. I used a  firm cheese bread and made the mistake of using salted butter (I didn’t realize it would be SO salty with prosciutto… ugh!). It wasn’t half bad save the saltiness — I really would go with the unsalted butter next time. If you really like cheese — I definitely wholeheartedly recommend using the cheese bread from Wegmans if there’s one near you. Also, I felt like the scallion butter could’ve been better if I’d used an unsalted composite butter (e.g. Kerrygold’s Garlic and Herb Butter) along with the scallions. I liked the use of dijon in the recipe but felt like there wasn’t enough of it — so I added a bit more. I also realized that I still don’t like prosciutto very much (though, I really am trying to… it’s just so salty most of the time) — I think you can definitely sub in honey/sugar ham in with gruyere and it would be just as good.

My other cooking attempt over the past couple of days has been my own rendition of Swedish Meatballs:

 

Swedish Meatballs

I made the meatballs and sauce from scratch and poured that concoction over some egg noodles.

It was my first attempt at guessing how to make this dish and I think it turned out great. For the meatballs, I used a half veal, half pork combination with some fresh breadcrumbs, fresh parsley, fresh pinch of nutmeg, eggs, parmigiano regiano, salt, and pepper — oh and a little soy milk (because I just can’t overdo my dairy!). I rolled them, froze them overnight then, I baked the meatballs on one of those weird little pan/rack combinations to let the drippings pool in the pan. Next for the sauce, I diced then sauteed half a white onion. When they turned clear I added a can of cream of mushroom, some soy milk, sour cream, sea salt, some dill (though only a tiny bit), and black pepper. I let that cook over medium heat until it thickened up a little bit — after which, I added the meatballs and some mushrooms. The result was the picture above — and great compliments from my date (though he could’ve just been polite!).

 

 

Virginia Wine Experience 826 Caroline St Fredericksburg VA 22401

Wines, wines and more wines cover every corner of this wine shop both upstairs and downstairs on the main level.  They strive to cover price points from affordable to extravagant for their wines both domestic and imported from numerous countries.  If you’re looking for just the right wine for your next party or holiday event, stop by and get their recommendations for the wine pairings to best complement your menu.  Extremely enthusiastic, helpful wine consultants will assist you with picking out the wines for your gathering.  Their phone number is 540-373-8878 , their e-mail address is edwin@virginiawineexperience.com with a website at http://virginiawineexperience.com .  All rights reserved 2009 and copyrighted 2009 by Sherrie Hartzell, licensed real estate salesperson in Virginia with Keller Williams Preferred-Stafford, VA.  Reach her at 540-903-0212 or by e-mailing sherriebh@yahoo.com .

Pumpkin

Cooking with Pumpkin

 

     I love this time of year because pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors.  Fortunately, pumpkin also happens to be good for you.  You may be surprised that canned pumpkin is one of the world’s healthiest foods.  Canned pumpkin (behind green leafy vegetables) contributes more of the Daily Recommended Value of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber than any other fruit or vegetable.  Cooking an actual gourd will give you the same nutrients but it is much less convenient and 100% pure canned pumpkin can be used any time of year, not just the fall when pumpkins are in season.  This doesn’t mean that pumpkin pie is a health food, but choosing items containing pumpkin over other options does improve the nutritional quality of a dessert.  Look beyond the pie and explore the versatile, delicious and healthy ways pumpkin can be used.  Check out my favorite, totally tasty pumpkin recipes in the recipes section.  If you have a tasty way use pumpkin, please share!   

Pumpkin Bread                Pumpkin Soup   

Pumpkin Pie                     Pumpkin Cake

Pumpkin Cookies           Pumpkin Bagels- Noah’s Bagels

Pumpkin Butter available at Williams Sonoma and Cost Plus

Pumpkin pancake mixes available at William Sonoma and Cost Plus this time of year (I have yet to find a good recipe)

Cake Balls!!!

So, if you haven’t tried cake balls yet… YOU ARE SOOOO MISSING OUT!!!!  These things are little bites of awesome.  I highly recommend!

This weekend I make Orange Vanilla Cakeballs with Dark Chocolate Coating.  I didn’t really have a recipe for this particular type of cake balls, but that’s the great thing about this dessert… you can do whatever combination or cake, frosting and coating you like. 

Here is the jest of it…

1. Prepare the cake mix according to package directions.  For this recipe, I used vanilla cake and added 1 tbsp of orange extract and some orange food coloring.  When the cake is done baking, crumble it up while it’s warm into a large bowl, and stir in a container or cake frosting until your concoction is crumbly and moist (I added 1 tsp orange extract and some food coloring to the frosting as well).  
2. Use a melon baller or small scoop to form balls of the cake mixture – then realize that you don’t need the melon baller, say “screw this” and just use your hands (or at least thats what I do).  Once you’ve rolled all your balls, place them in the freezer for at least an hour.
3. Melt chocolate coating in a double boiler over the stove (I used dark chocolate candy chips that I got from Michael’s – I would suggest getting 2 packages for every box of cake).  Dip the balls into the chocolate using a toothpick or fork to hold them. Place on waxed paper to set.   Once they are set, enjoy and try not to eat them all in one sitting!

Here  is a picture of what mine looked like…

Orange Cake Balls with Dark Chocolate Coating

They were a huge hit.  I made them Saturday night and with a little help from my husband, daughter, sister and brother-in-law… Let’s just say it’s time to make some more cakeballs!  And go to the gym…

Dumplings: Hun Tun/Wontons 2

馄饨

Wontons are my favorite dumpling because I like the soup that comes with it too.

Filling:

• Shrimp
• Napa cabbage
• Garlic chives
• Soy sauce
• Hoison sauce
• Ginger
• Green onions
• Corn starch
• Sesame oil

Soup Ingredients & Instructions:

1. Boil a pot of water with chicken bouillon/chicken stock
2. Once boiling, put wontons in and cook until ready – 10 minutes on medium-low heat after wontons are floating
3. Splash with seafood flavored soy sauce and dice a couple of green onions and put it into the pot, turn off heat after 10 seconds

Chicken and Dumplings

Since I seem to be coming down with the crud, we decided to make some chicken and dumplings last night. While a bit on the bland side, for a simple throw together soup, it was great. The dumplings were very light and fluffy, and were great with the slightly thickened broth and chicken mixture.

Ingredients
1/2 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 clove of garlic
2 lbs chicken breast, cut into chunks
Broth, to cover

Saute veggies in some olive oil until translucent. Add broth and chicken. Bring to a simmer. Add herbs and pepper as desired. We let this simmer for an hour or so, then made a slurry of water and flour to thicken it a bit before making the dumplings.

Dumpling Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp melted butter
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
Pepper, herbs to taste

Mix dry ingredients. Add butter, egg and milk and bring together. With the soup at a simmer, drop spoonfuls of batter onto the top of the soup. Cover and let cook, undisturbed for 15 minutes. Serve.

Vegetable Soup

My mother made the best vegetable soup in the whole world. Mine is similar and very good, but hers was great. And of course, she didn’t follow a recipe or write it down. Mostly it was just what she had on hand, although she always started with bacon, and since both of our sons don’t eat meat now, I nearly always omit it. But it really is better with the bacon.

I don’t follow a written recipe either, but I will try to give approximations. This is a very flexible and forgiving soup; if I don’t have one ingredient, maybe I have something else that will work. For instance, I like to add about 1/2 c. of barley after it’s boiling to thicken it. If I’m out of barley, then I grate a raw potato. Also, I like a variety of colors, so I put in corn (frozen or canned), or maybe some chopped yellow squash. For something green, it’s green beans, peas or broccoli. When using broccoli, I don’t add it until about the last 1/2 hour or it will turn to mush; very unpleasant. When our youngest son was a teenager and nearly all he ate was meat, surprisingly, this soup was one of his favorite meals. Inexplicably, vegetables that he wouldn’t have touched if served separately, were eaten along with everything else. I even used to sneak in a turnip once in awhile because it looks about like potato in the general mix. So, here goes:

VEGETABLE SOUP

1-2 T. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
salt
pepper
herbs and spices (optional)
paprika
chili powder
oregano
~
3 carrots, scraped and chopped
Water
Tomato product: sauce, paste, canned tomatoes
6+ potatoes (I like a lot of them) peeled and chopped
yellow vegetables, chopped if necessary
green vegetables, chopped if necessary

1. Turn burner to medium heat and add olive oil.
2. When oil is hot – but not smoking – onion, celery, & garlic.
3. After vegetables become translucent, add salt and pepper, paprika,
chili powder, & oregano.
4. Add carrots.
5. Pour in about 2 quarts of water and tomato product.
6. Add potatoes, yellow and green vegetables.
7. Bring to a boil and add barley or grated potato.
7. Stir occasionally. It will stick and burn if left completely unattended (especially if you add barley).
8. Set heat on low and cook for about 2 hours.

Notes:
~This is a very nourishing, thrifty and comforting soup. For a small family, it will make several meals.
~If you want to add bacon, fry it first, then crumble and use the bacon grease to saute the onion, celery and garlic.
~If you use canned tomatoes, the broth will be thinner, of course. Tomato paste will make a thick broth, more stew-like. When I use paste, I cut the vegetables in bigger chunks.
~Leftover spaghetti sauce can even be used for the tomato base. If so adjust the other herbs/spices accordingly.
~Add water while it’s cooking if it looks like it needs it, or you like it thinner.
~Use your own judgment about what leftover vegetables you would like to add. Personally, with the exception of lima beans, I don’t care for beans in vegetable soup but if you do, go ahead and put them in.
~Omit all the herbs and spices if you prefer the flavor of the vegetables alone. Or, if you want to make it more like minestrone, eliminate the chili powder and add basil and beans.
~I’ve never been successful in adding macaroni or rice to this recipe, but if you know just when to add them, try it. Neither one should be put in for the whole cooking time.
~My mother added shredded cabbage, but this is something else I can’t seem to get right. Maybe I’ve tried to use too much. Maybe she just put in about a cup of shred. It was very good in hers.
~Even though our sons are grown and gone from home, I still make a large kettle of this soup. It’s actually better the second day after it’s been refrigerated overnight. And it’s so easy to just re-heat a couple of bowls for lunch on Saturday when we’ve been working out in the yard or come in from church on Sunday.
~On subsequent days, it will look like it needs water added before reheating, but only add a little, if any at all. It becomes more liquid as it heats.
~If reheating on the stovetop instead of a microwave, stir fairly constantly while heating. It sticks and burns easily.
~Cornbread is the best accompaniment, but cheese and crackers are good, too. My husband likes it with hot, buttered toast.

Salt of the Earth

To compliment someone, you might say “she’s the salt of the earth,” but saying “she’s the kosher salt of the earth” might make a better compliment. There are many reasons to like kosher salt which is why it’s commonly found in good restaurants and professional kitchens. Kosher salt offers several taste, health and cooking advantages over common iodized table salt.

Kosher salt is removed from salt mines just like table salt, but a different processing technique creates large flakes instead of small compact salt grains. It is also refined less than table salt and retains some of its natural minerals. Unlike most table salts, it does not contain anti-caking agents or iodine. Iodine can impart a slight metallic flavor to table salt whereas kosher salt tends to have a clean salt flavor.

Because of the size and shape of the flake, kosher salt provides more flavor with less sodium chloride (the salty part of salt). This is because the crystal flakes have irregular shapes and holes that create a better taste sensation than smaller crystals of table salt. These larger flakes can also be crushed between your teeth and play on your tongue better by offering little bursts of salt flavor.

The irregular size also results in an uneven distribution of flakes when seasoning foods with salt. When foods are uniformly seasoned across a surface or within a mixture, your taste buds become sensitized to the taste. Variations in seasoning levels stimulate your taste receptors more unexpectedly resulting in a sensory “party in your mouth”. This increased level of satisfaction can help reduce the overall amount of salt used.

The crystalline structure of the kosher salt grains has a specific culinary advantage since they dissolve well and the large flakes are visually attractive as decorations for large baked pretzels and margarita glasses. When used to season foods such as chicken, you can physically see the large flakes. This provides a visual method of controlling the amount of salt you use which is better for taste and health.

Freschef products use kosher salt for seasoning foods and sauces to take advantage of the taste and culinary benefits the salt offers. To use kosher salts, there are a few tricks. Because of the larger salt crystals, kosher salt contains less sodium than fine grain table salt by volume. When replacing table salt with kosher salt, use between 20-50% more kosher salt by volume depending on the brand of kosher salt, for example:

Morton Table salt: 590mg salt per ¼ teaspoon
Morton Kosher salt: 480mg of salt per ¼ teaspoon
Diamond Kosher salt: 280mg of salt per ¼ teaspoon (pyramid shaped crystals take up more room)

Don’t try and use kosher salt for baking as the salt will not disperse uniformly the way table salt does in mixtures. So next time you reach for salt, you can consider these recommendations “with a grain of salt” or take them with a grain of kosher salt and improve the taste of your food and potentially use less salt.

the odd couple: the pig and the cow

fictional hero Forrest Gump said he and lifelong love Jenny went together like peas and carrots. some perceived them, perhaps, as an odd couple. but most as a beloved one. and so, to me, has become the pairing of the pig and the cow.

much like barbecue, cooks of all abilities are impassioned about the contents of their pie crusts: all-butter. all-shortening. a perfect split. or something more asymmetrical. ever on the mission to improve my mediocre attempts, i’ve spent what some might deem as an inordinate amount of time lately researching the topic. until i unearthed my pie crust true north: a fusion of rendered leaf lard (the fat that protects a hog’s kidneys) and european-style butter.

great cooks have already waxed poetic about this winning combination—a combination that results in the most flaky, memorable crust. so, i set out to give it a try. first, i sent an e-mail to Heath Putnam of Wooly Pigs to ask if he had any leaf lard on hand. Heath was kind enough to give me a call to let me know he planned to bring some leaf lard to the next Seattle University District Farmers’ Market. then, early (i’d say bright and, but it was one of those Pacific Northwest gully washers) on Saturday morning, my friend Lourdes and i met at the market. even though we got soaked to the skin, we had a fantastic time and left with Wooly Pigs’ leaf lard in hand. the next step? rendering the lard.

i learned a ton about rendering leaf lard from Ashley’s wonderful not-without-salt post and by watching her video using the stovetop method. there’s also a very nice compilation of other leaf lard-related references. run down after my market outing, i chose to render my leaf lard using the oven method at 200F. lessons learned?

1. exercise patience during the oven-rendering process (i.e., stop looking through the glass door every 20 minutes; go to bed).
2. probably don’t store your beautifully rendered, precious-as-gold lard in muffin tins (one of the methods i read about); go out and get a nice Ball canning jar. easier to manage and store.
3. pie crust born of the seemingly unusual union of pig and cow can be used for both savory and sweet applications. oh, and from my new vantage point, simply cannot be surpassed.

i introduced the pig and the cow to the chicken. you’ll find the results here, created mostly with a bunch of leftovers. a rich, hearty filling that takes advantage of  the flavors of seasoned rotisserie chicken. and, of course, topped with that heavenly, flaky, to-die-for crust.

Odd Couple Chicken Pot Pie
a variation based on a turkey pot pie recipe from Emeril’s TV Dinners

INGREDIENTS

for pie crust
recipe of your choice. mine new favorite is here. i don’t pretend for one second to know how to make it like Kate McDermott does, but i aspire to learn one day.
for this recipe, you can choose to have a top and bottom crust or just a top crust. i went with the latter.

for filling
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion (e.g., Walla Walla, yellow)
salt and pepper
6 tablespoons unbleached organic flour
2 cups chicken stock or chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup diced potatoes (i just cooked small Yukon Golds in boiling for about five minutes, then let cool and cut up) or any leftover potatoes (not mashed!)
1 cup leftover sweet potatoes
1 cup diced carrots (i used whole petite carrots and threw them in with the Yukon Golds for about two minutes)
1 cup sweet young peas, fresh or frozen; defrost if frozen (i used fresh snap peas)
2 cups shredded cooked, leftover rotisserie chicken or turkey

DIRECTIONS

1. preheat oven to 375F.
2. grease a 9-inch square baking dish (i used 4 small, individual casseroles).
3. heat butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.
4. add the onions, season with salt and pepper, cook/stir for 2 minutes.
5. stir in the flour and cook for 3 to 4 minutes to make a roux.
6. stir in the chicken stock, and bring the liquid to a boil.
7. reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for about 4 to 6 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken.
8. stir in the half-and-half and continue to cook for another 4 minutes.
9. season with salt and pepper.
10. stir in the potatoes, carrots, peas, chicken and any other leftover vegetables.
11. season to taste.
12. if you’re using a bottom crust, line the baking dish with the rolled-out crust.
13. pour the filling into the prepared pan.
14. place the top crust on top of the filling.
15. carefully tuck the overlapping crusts into the dish, forming a thick edge.
16. crimp the edges, and cut vents in the top crust.
17. place the baking dish on a cookie sheet.
18. bake until the crust is golden brown, around 25 to 30 minutes.
19. let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Le Cumin et Les Noix de Pecan

That’s cumin and pecans for any strict Anglophones out there.  Two decidedly not-French ingredients.  But they are the two featured ingredients for Foodie Fights Battle #14, in which I was chosen to participate.  Cumin, at least, is fairly easy to come by around here, but pecans are horrendously expensive.  Lucky for me, Nick recently brought back a bag full of goodies from Trader Joe’s, including some pecan halves.  Game on!

At first it felt a little weird trying to construct a dish based around a spice and a garnish; but then I have been known to build an outfit around a pair of shoes, which I guess would be the sartorial equivalent.  So… cumin and pecans.  Cumin makes me think of Mexican or Indian food, while pecans are 100% americana.  I had a number of ideas floating around – curried carrots on cumin rice, cumin-pecan kettle corn - none of them really gelling into something I wanted to get off my butt and cook.  Then I remembered that it’s sweet potato season.

And suddenly I had to have something Thanksgiving-y.  The cumin would be an unusual twist, but I thought I could make it work.  Smoky bacon (what else?) and sweet maple syrup provided the catalysts that ended up tying it all together.  The pieces of the puzzle fell together while I was at work, so I quickly scribbled “Cumin-Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes w/ Sweet + Spicy Pecans   Bacon!” on a torn-off scrap of paper, very excited to buy some sweet potatoes at the Asian market and make this dish happen.

Which it did, Saturday night.  We had some guests for dinner, so I made the sweet-spicy-salty pecans first, appropriate for nibbling in between Wii bowling games.  Honestly, the pecans by themselves were a huge hit, and I got repeated requests for the technique.  I could have left it at that, but why would I, when I could use the pecans to top cumin- and bacon-scented sweet potatoes?  I definitely wanted to use whole cumin seeds, but I didn’t want them to be too crunchy, so I tossed them with the potatoes, some chopped onion, blanched lardons, and a little oil before covering the baking dish with foil and baking/steaming it for 30 minutes.  However, steamed sweet potatoes don’t excite me nearly as much as roasted ones, so after the initial half hour, I took off the foil, drizzled on a vinaigrette made with maple syrup and apple cider vinegar, and continued roasting for another hour while I prepared the rest of the meal: duck breasts and spinach wilted in the duck fat.

It was a great dinner for a chilly autumn night, and I can definitely see this one on the holiday table.

The battle starts tomorrow (Tuesday, October 20).  I’d love it if you headed over to Foodie Fights and voted for me.  It should be worth checking out, even if you ultimately decide I didn’t earn your vote – I haven’t seen the other entries yet, so I don’t know what I’m up against.  The winner will be announced on Thursday, so get your votes in!

Click through for the recipe, which I heartily encourage you to try.

Cumin-Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Spiced Pecans

A Fall side dish par excellence, these heady, flavorsome potatoes would make a great accompaniment to just about any meat from sautéed duck breast to roast chicken to grilled venison steaks.  The cumin perfumes the potatoes while the maple syrup enhances their sweetness.  Toasted sweet and salty pecans provide crunchy contrast.  Or you could just snack on them while you wait for the potatoes to finish cooking.

For the pecans:
1 cup / 130g pecan halves
2 tsp. oil, preferably peanut, though any neutral vegetable oil would be fine (not olive!)
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch ground cumin

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F/190 C.
2. Toss the pecan halves with the oil until evenly coated.  Add the salt, sugar, cayenne, cinnamon, and cumin and stir again to distribute.
3. Spread nuts on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake about 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until they deepen in color and entice you with the aroma of toasted spices.
4. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.  If you’re going on to make the sweet potatoes, leave the oven on.

For the sweet potatoes:
3½ oz./100g lardons or diced bacon (optional) (not really)
2 large sweet potatoes (about 2 lb./1 kg), peeled and diced
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp. cumin seeds
A generous pinch of coarse sea salt
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Vinaigrette (whisk together):
            2 tsp. maple syrup
            1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
            Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
            3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Dump in the lardons or bacon and return to a boil for 1-2 minutes.  Drain.
2. Combine the sweet potatoes, onion, lardons, and cumin seeds in a roasting pan.  Drizzle with 1 Tbsp. oil and season with coarse salt.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, until potatoes are beginning to become tender.
3. Remove the foil and stir the vinaigrette into the potatoes.  Continue roasting for another hour or so, giving them a stir every now and then.  When the potatoes are fully tender and are starting to brown on the edges, they’re ready to eat.
4. Gently stir in the pecans and serve hot.

Serves 4-5 as a side dish.

Originally published on Croque-Camille.

Creamy Tomato Soup

I love a good tomato soup.  And even though I’ll still crack open a can of Campbell’s and be happy enough, I much prefer a heartier version. In fact, Le Madeline’s sells some in a jar that is pretty good. But you know, that can get expensive. Especially as often as I want soup.

Now that my blender is all fixed, I thought now would be the perfect time to give this a shot. And this recipe from Martha Stewart (shut up) seemed like a winner.

Creamy Tomato Soup

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic (I used 4 because I like garlic)
2 14-ounce cans of whole peeled tomatoes (I got the kind with basil in it, since my store didn’t have fresh basil)
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 heavy cream

Melt butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic, stirring constantly, until translucent about 3 minutes.

Add tomatoes and their juices and the chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes.

Working in batches, transfer tomato mixture to blender (put a towel over the lid) and puree until smooth.

Return soup to a clean pot and set over low heat. Whisk in cream and heat through.  I tasted it at this point and added some more salt and pepper, along with a dash of ground thyme. It needed more salt than I expected, but the cream probably had something to do with that.

If you have some leftover and you want to reheat it, do NOT do it in a microwave. This will break the cream and it will be really gross. Heat gently over low or medium low.

I made a grilled cheese sandwich to go with this and it was fantastic!!

Chocolate Cut Out Cookies

I’m a massive fan of the Nigella Lawson Butter Cut Out Cookie recipe, they’re easy to make, easy to cut out, actually keep their shape and what’s more, taste delicious, oh and the dough keeps really well in the freezer and as the recipe makes alot of dough, that’s a really useful feature. So, when there were some panicked text messages yesterday that our class cake sale was actually today, I didn’t actually have much cake making ingredients in my kitchen, but I did have the ingredients for the cut out cookies but as delicious as they are, they’re a little plain if you don’t ice them and you know how bad I am at icing, so, feeling in the mood to experiment, I decided chocolate coloured cookies would be a little more attractive, so I substituted 40g of the flour with 40g of cocoa powder. Getting out all the biscuit cutters I never normally get a chance to use (I’m more of a free form biscuit maker normally) I had great fun cutting out shapes and once in the oven, they came out beautifully.

Tasted darn nice to, but that was I think more because I used Green & Blacks cocoa powder than anything else!

fun with Halloween molds

Last week I picked up Wilton’s Halloween cookie pan (with my 40% off coupon!) and couldn’t wait to use it.  Being the indecisive person I can be, I just couldn’t justify only using the pan for cookies.  So I made a list of different liquids I could pour into the shapes (to harden or freeze) and came up with the following…

frozen yogurt - I actually don’t recommend this.  Out of the 12 shapes, only 1  actually looked like anything, the rest wouldn’t pop out of the pan and had to melt too much to get out.

finger jello – my kids loved this one!  Use different colors of jello for the different shapes.  Be sure to lightly spray with Pam before pouring in jello.

sugar cookies – what the pan was intended for, and everything worked, everything was cute, and it was fun decorating with fun, fancy frostings!

whip cream (for hot chocolate) – I used Cool Whip (because sometimes I’m lazy), and it didn’t work.  It would do fine with homemade whip cream, just be sure to spray the pan first, then pour, then freeze.

corn muffins – super cute idea to serve with a big bowl of chili or soup!  Just be careful – you do not need to cook for more than 4 or 5 minutes.  And also remember that corn muffins poof way up, so you don’t need to fill the cavities much.

Our First Successful Event..The Fiesta!

Hi, my name is Kristen Fuller and I am a student of Jacksonville State University. My major is Dietetics and am only 1 semester away from graduating. I have completed most of my requirements for the degree and am finally getting to enjoy the classes like Quantity Food Production, where I get to use all of the information and knowledge I have been collection for over 3 years of studying. It is finally all coming together!

I have to admit, I was a little scared when we first started the semester and received our assignments to do 4 large events where we were assigned to cook, serve, entertain, and teach a group of 50 people. It was just completely overwhelming to think about. During our first meeting, we brainstormed a lot and came up with the themes for each event and what kind of decorations we could use and how to keep our budget to a minimum while still creating a healthy and memorable event.  We were separated into groups such as entree, side dish, appetizer, and desert. This really helped and slowly, as we started to blog and work together in our groups, it started to seem like a possible mission to accomplish.

Our groups each came up with their dish, making them as healthy and inexpensive, but still tasty as possible. The appetizer group chose a wonderfully tasty Mexican Caviar. The side dish group chose a zucchini/pepper/onion/ and tomato dish. The entrée group chose a spicy turkey taco and the dessert group chose a wonderful orange dessert. As we showed up on the day of the event, the craziness immediately began. All of us were there ready to help, but because it was the first event we have ever done, there was a few problems with people knowing where they were supposed to be at the right time. I think by the next event, we will all be more prepared and have a better understanding of what should be done first.

All in all though, I felt that everyone jumped in to help and volunteered for anything they could. Everyone seemed flexible to jump in and help other groups and get the food done first that needed to be done first.

After working hard over the stove in the hot kitchen, I quickly moved into the dining room when the people arrived to work as a server. I have a little bit of serving experience so I didn’t feel too uncomfortable. I did feel it was very hard to serve as the speakers were trying to talk to the listeners, but we did our best to stay out of the way. During our next event, we are working to set up the design of the room slightly different in order to stay out of  the way a little better while still serving.

I am very excited for our next event. I am working the dessert group and think we have some tasty plans.

Classic Date Scone Recipe

Eating Baking always cheers me up and I knew exactly what I wanted to make today.  I have only recently become a fan of dates, they seem to be Abby’s favourite scone variety so whenever we have morning tea she always comes equipped with some date scones.

Dates are yummy, are grown on palm trees and are a source of vitamin C – now you know!

The staple Edmond’s recipe is a winner and it’s what Ethan and I used today to whip up these guys; he did an awesome of chopping all the dates up for me – that boy loves to eat cook as much as his parents do!

* 3 cup flour
* 6 tsp Baking Powder
* 1/4 tsp Salt,
* 75g Butter
* 1 -1.5 cups Milk

For Date scones add 3/4 cup chopped dates, 1 tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon to flour

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Cut butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Add milk and mix quickly with a knife to a soft dough. Knead a few times. Lightly dust oven tray with flour.  Press scone dough out onto this.  Cut into 12 even sized pieces. Leave a 2 cm space between scones.  Brush tops with milk.  Bake at 220C for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes 12

(209 cal per scone approx.  not bad)

Stewed Chinese Mushrooms

am not a big fan of Chinese mushroom but this is really good. I learned it from a friend at a potluck party. Don’t let the name mislead you into thinking that this stew dish takes a long time to cook– it’s very simple and pretty quick as long as the mushrooms are soaked through.

Stewed Chinese Mushrooms

Stewed Chinese Mushrooms Recipe

Ingredients:
20-30 medium Chinese mushrooms — soaked overnight
1 clove garlic– finely chopped
1 can chicken broth
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

seasoning:
3/4 tsp chicken bouillon powder
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp sesame oil
(note: if you have oyster sauce feel free to add to the seasoning, adjust to taste)

Method:

1. Squeeze off excess liquid from mushroom and trim off the stems. Cut into 1/2, 1/3 or 1/4 size if desired.
2. Season the mushroom with the seasoning and mix well. Let it stand for at least 20 minutes.
3. Heat up a deep pan and fry garlic until aromatic but not burn. Add mushrooms and quick stir to prevent sticking.
4. Pour in chicken broth and let it boil. Turn heat down to medium, half cover, and cook until the sauce gets thicken. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Adjust seasoning to taste. Garnish with some blanched/steamed green vegetables i.e. broccoli, baby bok choy, mustard, lettuce etc… if desired for nicer presentation.

What Does a Vegan Eat for Dinner?

I might not usually post about something so mundane as my favorite easy and healthy dinner, but this being Vegan MoFo, I thought I might as well share. Everyone knows how to make stir-fry, right? Well, I am particularly partial to mine, as I have a penchant for throwing in a zany variety of spices and flavors, which makes it come out differently delicious every time.

Carrie’s Weeknight Stir-Fry

Step 1: Drain and cube a package of firm or extra firm tofu. Brown tofu in a skillet coated with sesame oil. Brown for a loooooong time. This is crucial. People who say they don’t like tofu have not had it cooked properly. It needs to get golden and chewy on the outside and soft on the inside. So keep on cooking it, turning occasionally, until it’s good and brownified.

Step 2: Chop any variety of veggies you desire (organic and local, if you can get them). I particularly like bell peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, green beans, onions, cauliflower, and zucchini. It’s nice to get veggies of bright colors so the final dish looks pretty (and is super good for you).  This is also a good time to experiment with unfamiliar Asian greens from the farmers market, like bok choy. Sauté until tender (but not too soft) in sesame oil. (If you don’t like all this sesame oil—it does have a strong flavor—use olive, vegetable, or canola, or non-stick spray.)

Step 2.5: Here’s the fun part! While cooking both the tofu and veggies, toss in dashes of any or all of the following: red pepper, black pepper, salt, chili powder, dried orange peel, lemon pepper, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, curry paste, basil, oregano, and cumin. Or just about whatever the heck you have on hand. You can’t really go wrong here. The more spices the merrier!

Step 3: Combine tofu and veggies, dish up. If you’re fancy, use chopsticks. Oh and if you need some carbs (which I try to minimize) by all means steam up some rice or boil up some ramen or other nifty noodles.

Enjoy!

Overly flash-y photo taken by me the other night.

Tastey Thursday: Alex's Garlicky Penne

Sarah and I geeking over my creation

Theme: Pasta

Difficulty Level: Novice

Prep Time: less than 30 min.Ingredients:

3 lbs of Organic Whole Wheat Penne Rigate

1.5 tablespoons of Borsari Seasoning

1-2 teaspoon(s) of freshly minced garlic

± 6 Heirloom Tomatoes

1 stick of Goat Butter

Directions:

1. Boil/Cook/Rinse Penne

2. Combine garlic, Borsari, and butter into a vesicle that is microwave safe

3. Heat up said vesicle

4. Dice the Tomatoes, add more or less depending on preference

5. Combine Penne, seasonings, and tomatoes into a large mixing bowl

6. Stir, serve and enjoy

Kitchen Tricks: Tomato Paste

Sometimes I presume that everyone does all the same little tricks in the kitchen that help make our cooking lives easier and more efficient. Like laying down a dampened paper towel under a cutting board to keep it from slipping around on the counter (though my no-skid KitchenAid cutting board makes that unnecessary). Or using the side of a broad chef’s knife to first crush hazelnuts a bit before trying to chop them, avoiding the whole nuts rolling around on the board.

But thought I’d go ahead and pass this one along just in case. I have a pot of tomato sauce simmering on the stove for tonight’s pizza (making enough to have a few portions to freeze for another time). After the onions and garlic had lightly browned and the canned diced tomatoes simmered for a few minutes, I added a generous tablespoon of tomato paste. Didn’t need to open a can, just grabbed this sheet of frozen tomato paste from the freezer, snipped around one of the mounds, and plopped it into the pan. Could not be simpler, and does wonders for stretching the life of one of those cans of tomato paste, large enough that I seldom use the whole thing in one recipe.

Whenever I do open a can of tomato paste and have used the tablespoon or two called for, I cut a piece of plastic wrap and set it on the counter. Then, on go the mounds of tomato paste, spaced well apart. You can be precise if you like, making them each a level tablespoon for measured portions, but I just do it freestyle.

Then the paste is covered with another layer of plastic, a bit larger than the first to allow for covering the mounds. I don’t obsess about there being no little pockets of air, but do my best to seal the outer edges and envelop the tomato paste as well as I can. Then into the freezer on a flat surface until frozen solid. At that point, you can bunch up the sheet and store it in the door nook or some other out-of-the-way spot. Next time you need some tomato paste, just cut around a mound or two with scissors, peel away the plastic, and you’re good to go.

How to Toss a Salad

   

Tossing a salad is a very delicate matter. You can’t be too rough with the tossing or the “salad” will bruise. Tossing salad is a delightful experience for both the “diner” and the “chef.” Here are directions on how to properly toss salad(s):

1.) Before washing and storing greens, remove and discard discolored or wilted outer greens. Translation: Peel away stray hairs, dingleberries, leftover poop morsels, and other debris that may compromise taste.

2.) Any water that clings to the greens will dilute the flavor and consistency of the “dressing” and will make the salad overly soggy. After washing the greens, place them on some paper towel and gently pat dry. Translation: Nobody likes to grizzle a sopping wet colon, so don’t be afraid to dry that shit with paper towels, ya hear?

3.) To avoid bruising the leaves or causing them to brown, tear, rather than cut, salad greens into bite-size pieces. Tearing greens also exposes more of the insides of the leaves so they absorb more “dressing.” Translation: Don’t be overly aggressive and “bite off more than you can chew.” Analingus can cause tearing if performed in an overly aggressive manner.

4.) Before tearing romaine, cut the fibrous rib from the larger leaves by placing each leaf on a cutting board and slicing along both sides of the rib with a small, sharp “knife.” Translation: Go down the middle of the butthole. Don’t nibble at the corners. There’s more fiber in the middle of the strike zone.

5.) Dress the salad just before serving to prevent wilted, soggy greens. Add enough dressing to lightly coat the greens, then toss with salad servers or two spoons. Gently push downward to the bottom of a deep bowl with the servers and lift upward so the greens at the top fall to the bottom. Translation: You can use jelly, syrup, or mustard to dress the salad. For best results, use a spoon to jab between the butt cheeks and press down gently.

*Note that tossing the salad can be done in many ways, so don’t be afraid to experiment. Tossing a salad can get messy, but don’t forget it’s an easy clean-up afterwards. Also remember that tossing a salad can be hard work, but tossing a quality salad is the most rewarding part of any “home cooked meal.”

Bella Cooks - LC's Lentil Soup

I have been waiting to make this recipe for about a month.  Waiting for the weather to cool down enough so that a nice, warm bowl of soup would be satisfying.  And finally the weather has turned to our normal autumn temps (mid 60s) and I knew it was time to make it.  Since I took an extra day off, I wanted to make at least 2 “big pot” dinners this weekend.  This was one of them.  (Not sure yet what the other will be).

My sister was the one who first told me about this soup, hence the name.  She found pre-cooked, steamed lentils at Trader Joe’s and said that this was one of the heartiest, flavorful soups that she’d made in a long time.  She said her kids even liked it, which is really saying something when we’re talking about lentils.  LC made hers very basic – just lentils, carrots, onions, and vegetable broth.  I knew I wanted to add the chicken sausage just to give it a bit more substance.  Then yesterday on the phone with my mom, she suggested that I add pasta, and when I told her I didn’t have any on hand, I thought about adding the brown rice.  So, this really is a family collaboration.

Ingredients:

Trader Joe’s steamed lentils (about 2 cups of lentils)
1 pkg spicy Italian chicken sausage (4 links)
2-3 cups baby carrots, cut in half
1 cup brown rice
2 32-oz containers vegetable broth (I used low sodium)
1 onion, chopped
4-5 cloves minced garlic (or as much as you like)
1 TBSP olive oil
salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

Nutrition info: When I pulled these ingredients into the WW Recipe Builder, it came out to 7 points for 6  large servings.

Directions:

Cook the brown rice according to package directions.  Mine took 30 minutes.  1 cup rice to 2 cups water.

After rice is finished, chop the onion and begin sauteeing it in 1 TBSP olive oil.  Add minced garlic, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.

While the onions are cooking, cut each baby carrot in half.  You can obviously cut them as small as you like, but since I don’t like my cooked carrots to be too mushy, I wanted them a bit larger.

Add carrots to pot.

Next I cut each pre-cooked chicken sausage link into 7 pieces.  I did this so that I’d know how much to include in each serving.  (About 4-5 pieces).

I like these sausages because they’re quick, and each one is only 3 points. In general, though, I like the taste of the Jenny-O Italian turkey sausage better.  These are what I had on hand and they’re also really convenient, because they’re already cooked.  I added them to the pot so that they could get some of the flavors of the veggies and garlic and brown up a bit.

Next, add the brown rice and vegetable broth.  Stir well.

Keep on high until the pot comes to a boil – about 10-15 minutes.

At that point, lower the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.

This slightly tilted cover is the way my mom always simmers sugo (pasta sauce) and soups, so it’s the way I do it, too.  I allows a bit of air to escape, letting whatever is in the pot get a bit thicker.  Or something like that.  I do it because Mom does it, ok? 

The house smelled so good while this was simmering away on the stove. This is really one of the easiest soup recipes I’ve made, and I love that it has so much protein and fiber in it.  Although it does take some time, it is a great thing to make on the weekends and eat all week.  You can get a lot of other household chores done while the rice is cooking at the beginning and while the soup is simmering at the end.

Yum!  This bowl not only satisfied me for hours, it warmed me inside and out. I’ll definitely make this again and again throughout the fall and winter months.

Dessert in a flash!

Here in NSW, Australia, yesterday was Rugby League Grandfinal Day.  Sorry, but that’s about as excited as I get about it.  Sub intelligence blokes with chunky thighs running forwards down a paddock, but throwing the ball backwards???? Go figure!

Anyway, my friend over the road is a mad keen fan and decided to put on a barbie late lunch/early dinner to celebrate and suggested I join her and her kids with my kids as her hubby was away and mine was at work.  Sounded like a good idea to me, so I asked what I could bring along in the way of food.  It was pretty much all organised, but I always like to take something along (plus any chance to have a play in the kitchen of course!), so I decided to try out something that had caught my eye a while ago made by Helene of Tartelette fame.  I highly suggest you check out her blog.  To call it awesome is a MASSIVE understatement!  She is my culinary idol!  My gastronomic hero!  Now I do have one small favour to ask.  Please don’t look at her magnificent masterpiece and my pitiful, meagre attempt on the same day.  Please???

Chopped Berries

Anyway, back to lunch at Liz’s.  I had a few mulberries left over that my friend Tomoko gave me the other day when we went to scab some wood from their fire pile to use as garden borders for my new herb patch, along with some strawberries I had bought for the girls.  My stash of sweet tartlette cases are still surviving in the freezer, so all I needed was some fresh cream.  A quick trip to the general store (didn’t have time to go into town for more complex ingredients) sorted that out and I was well on my way.

As the mulberries were a little tart, I decided on Chantilly cream rather than just plain cream, especially as vanilla goes so well with fresh fruit, so I whipped that up, pulled some tart cases out of the freezer, chopped the berries roughly and put it all in a box to take over the road.  Now for the fun part!!  The stained glass toffee – or rainbow toffee as my girls dubbed it.

It is actually a really easy process.  Line a baking tray with baking paper (I

Tray with drops of food colouring

also sprayed it lightly with oil first to make the paper stick to the tray and in case any toffee spread off the paper on to the tray).  Put a few drops of food colouring around the place.  I used gel colours as they are much more intense than the liquid ones from the supermarket.  Then you make the toffee.  It is really easy.  Just 1 part water to 4 parts sugar,

Toffee

heat it gently till all the sugar is dissolved, then let it boil away WITHOUT STIRRING ONCE IT IS ON THE BOIL.  Brush the sides down with a pastry brush dipped in water every now and then to prevent crystals forming on the sides of the pan as they will ruin the toffee.  After a while, (the actual time will depend on how much you are making and how fast you are boiling it down), the syrup will have thickened and look a bit plasticy.  If you have a sugar thermometer, use it.  You want the syrup to reach soft crack stage which is around 140 celcius.  If you don’t have a thermometer, just drop a teaspoonful of syrup into a glass of cold water and it should immediately form a hard solid ball.  I try to take my time bringing the temperature up because I have found in the past that boiling it too rapidly makes bigger boiling bubbles which then pop and splatter syrup up the sides of the pan which then crystallise, fall in to the syrup and make the whole lot crystallise before it’s ready.  Ruined.  Here is a video of how fast I like to boil it and the consistency when it is ready:

Once it has reached temperature and before it begins to colour, take it off the heat and let the bubbles subside.  Then, VERY carefully, pour the syrup onto the prepared pan.  Tilt the pan around to spread the toffee across all the dollops of colouring and voila!

Stained Glass Toffee

Aint it purty!!  When it is completely cold, you can snap it into shards of whatever size you like.

After dinner, all I had to do was fold the berries into the cream, dollop it into the cases and top with a shard of toffee.  Quick.  Easy.  Delicious.  Oh yeah, and I added a couple of borage flowers because they are running rampant in my veggie garden at the moment!

Strawberry and Mulberry Tartlettes with Rainbow Toffee and Borage Blossoms

Just quickly while I’m here, I want to share 2 more photos of things I’ve made in the past week or two.  One is Ange’s new favourite dessert….Chiffon Cheesecake.  It is heavenly.  It is a baked cheesecake, but with a texture half way between cheesecake and sponge cake.  It is lovely and light and luscious and just wonderful with chocolate, cream and fresh strawberries.

Chiffon Cheesecake

and finally, here is what we had for brekkie the other day:

Bacon and Eggs Nana Glen Style.

The eggs had only been laid by our chooks that morning (in fact they were still warm from the chook’s bum!), the salad greens had been out of the ground for minutes only, the beetroot was from our garden and home pickled, and the tomatoes had been collected from the farm gate down the road only half an hour before.  Seriously people, can you think of a better way to start the day?

Bacon and Eggs Nana Glen Style

How to cook satisfying sabzi and rice in microwave oven

For sabji, just wash and cut any amount of a lot of veggies [finer chops may be more amenable], green chilli, tomato, garlic, onion, salt and put in the bowl with some water. Preferably cover it. Cook on full power for about 15-20 minutes [more amount = more time]; check it once while it’s in progress. Use a mash to mash it once it is done [you may choose not to mash it]! Cook for 2-4 more minutes after mashing. You will get awesome taste with some trial and error. This sabji tastes so good, you will love it even with roti or paranthas! Warning: such sabzi is addictive; cook at your own risk!

For rice [not brown rice] I have always successfully followed this wikihow tutorial. Internet is a great source of info for cooking.

Hello, Mofo!

It’s the first day of Vegan Mofo III, the annual daily blog-a-thon of bloggers around our little globe through the month of October. I signed up this year — well, if you could call it that. I just added this little fromage-free page to the list, it wasn’t like I got accepted or anything.

I’ll kick off our month of vegan blog-a-logging with a minor amount of bitching/prosthelytizing. If you don’t want to read it, you can look at this picture of my cat and then move along.

I'm a cat and I don't like cheese either!

I must have had some kind of unconscious ESP when I started this blog — it really couldn’t have come at a better time. Joe had lost his job early in the summer, and we’ve been ducking in and out of a tailspin ever since. When things look up, they careen down again — and just when they get really bad, something good happens. It’s an exhausting cycle, but one that I feel like I’ve distracted myself pretty well from by cooking.

This isn’t the first time in our relationship that we’ve struggled to make ends meet. But it’s by far been the toughest, I think, because we truly are working the hardest we ever have. Each period when we’ve gone through rocky spots with cash, I turn to cooking. It distracts me from thinking too much. For a couple of hours, I forget about money and landlords and jobs and futures and collections agencies. I have a pretty good track record too. Some great vegetarian food has emerged from my misery. Since my tastes have long been more attracted to vegan ones than to the more lavish end of things, it’s become pretty easy for us to whip up really tasty food on the cheap.

Until recently. Our cash flow has been so minimal and so sparse, we’re having to get really creative. We’re stretching 50 cent cans of food and watering down soy milk. Hell, the other day I made an entire soup from a head of broccoli and that watered down milk. Our days of running to the store for a quick $30 bag of groceries are in hibernation. When we’re out of something, we’re just out.

Today I forgot my lunch. And that sucked. I had a little brown rice to eat, but no apple and no snack (which I rely on pretty heavily, and we don’t have the cash for easy grab-n-go snacks right now). A nonexistent cash flow made it so I couldn’t leave work for a quick snack. I bummed a rice cake off a co-worker. But I finished the day off frazzled and famished.

As we drove home, I realized something: Being hungry is exhausting. Having to constantly scrounge for food is tiring. Joe and I are lucky that we know how to cook — but as I was looking out the window of our car, my hunger made my mind turn to our problems. Where’s rent going to come from? Why can’t we get a break? How can we find more? How did this happen? When will it end? How much more can we take? I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, and I realized they were starting in my stomach. My hunger was making my mind spin out of control, leaving me feeling hopeless.

I’m lucky I have a rational husband that understand when I snap. I’m lucky I got a paycheck yesterday that will cover the rent. But for those people that don’t have those things, it made me realize how difficult it truly is to be hungry. It’s all consuming. Don’t get me wrong: I am fully aware that hunger is much, much, much more intense than what we are experiencing, but what I am gaining a glimpse of is this: when you’re hungry, it’s hard to think about anything else. You can’t think about changing the system that keeps you hungry. Or digging yourself out of a deep hole of debt. You just think about getting that next meal — and that’s it.

I’ve always scoffed at people who dog on panhandlers. Or those people who look down on the poor, homeless and hungry, dismissing them by saying “why don’t they get a JOB?” Or those people who look skeptically from their cars at the line of clients who come to the CK Community Dinner (a meal I try to help out at once a week). Because I think those people have never truly understood what hunger is. When you’ve got an empty pit eating away at your stomach, it’s hard to launch a revolution against the institutions that keeps you hungry.

Now how does this relate to being vegan? Lately, that’s the only way I’ve been eating — and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t because we’re poor. Cheese is a luxury — one that I sneak if I get the chance. But I’m learning that it’s not key to my survival. Now, I didn’t think I’d die without cheese — hellooo, not that dumb. But I didn’t realize that in this time of sparse-living, my diet would become focused on other things: where my protein was coming from, where I’d get some whole grains today or if I could score some free grub from work.

Being poor and exploring veganism has taught me a lot these days. About what I want. What I value. What kind of lifestyle I want to live. What’s necessary to my survival. And a lot of that is coming from how I’m eating. My mind centers itself at the table — and if I can’t sit at a table to consider my life’s options because of financial strain, then food becomes my new goal. Furthermore, I can pave out my goals by determining how I want to eat. Do I want to be able to afford fresh produce, or do I want to be able to eat on the fly for the rest of my life — a pizza here, a burger there. I’m realizing that my life is so much more fulfilled when it comes from my own kitchen. We may not have a pot to piss in, but I can look at the food I make each evening and say, “damn, this girl knows how to stretch a buck.”

The Poor Cookbook: Quesadillas

Lets take a look at another college food staple, quesadillas. Its cheap, easy, and rather fulfilling to make these at home with the right tools and foresight when purchasing ingredients.

Needed:

Tortillas (bigger the better)

Cheese (shredded works best but deli but will work)

Meat (i usually use diced ham, lunch meat works as well)

Pan

Butter

So making these is pretty straight forward. Heat your skillet to medium or just above, throw some butter on and follow it with a tortilla. Now you have to make a decision; you can either A) make a half size by folding this one tortilla in half, or B) make a full size by topping this tortilla with another and flipping the whole thing over which takes some skillz.
Depending on your size decision lay down your first dusting of shredded/sliced cheese. For half size sprinkle cheese over approx half the tortilla (duh) or for full size go crazy with it. After your first layer of cheese is down apply the meat to your liking (thats what she said), and then top it off with some more cheese. Having cheese top and bottom will keep our ingredients in the quesadila whilst turning it.
Now comes the fun part, brown the tortilla on the first side. If your making a halfy you will want to fold the tortilla as soon as all your ingredients are down, for a full size obviously there is no folding. On the half size once your first side is brown flip her over and repeat this process (you may want to add somemore butter to keep the shell from burning). The full size is a bit more challenging. Toss on the second tortilla and prepare to flip. My method here is to take a plate, set it carefully onto the quesadilla (fingers + hot skillet = pain) then pick up the skillet by the handle and flip it over so the quesadilla is plated. It is now rather simple to re-butter the pan and transfer the quesadilla from the plate back to the skillet to brown the other side.
Whatever path youve chosen we should now be looking at a delicious meal, hot and ready to be consumed. Now for our cost analysis:

Package of 12 burrito size tortillas ($3)
Diced Ham ($3)
Cheese ($2-5)

Now we are only using a max of 2 tortillas per meal, which is 6 meals from one package making our tortilla cost $.50 per meal. If we assume our ingredients will be used evenly then the meat and cheese will follow suit, leaving us at approximately $1.50-$1.75 per full size quesadilla. Thats a tasty value.
Of course this recipe has alot of room for experiment. Personally i like to throw in some pepper jack cheese, and all color of lunch meat can be substituted for variety. If you want to dice up some union or tomato into the mix that is always welcome, and of course when this meal is plated i suggest a good spoonful of sour cream and salsa to match. These extras are also extra $$ but well worth the investment.

Happy cooking