Home Ec-O

The Pull of the Blog

2009-04-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

Every time I think I’m going to abandon the blog, it just pulls me back in. And then I have to play catch up and write a monster post (like this one) that encapsulates weeks of ideas and meals.

Last weekend, "Bob" and I made a huge batch of chicken pot pies. We used our usual recipe, but amended it slightly by adding an extra cup of chicken stock (because we had it) and an extra cup (or two) of chicken meat (because I wanted to use it up quickly). Well, all those little bits of "extra" made a LOT of pot pie filling. That was fine, I now have plenty of bakeware for single serve pot pies, but I should’ve made extra dough. To conserve dough, we filled some of the Emile Henri bowls we normally use (two servings in each bowl for the price of one crust). For the record, the single serving sizes look awesome in all the Fishs Eddy bakeware I've acquired over the past few years.

We ate one of the pot pies that night, and still the freezer is packed. I also made a tragic mistake. Some frozen pizza was left out in the refrigerator overnight. I meant to keep it there for only an hour or so--until the tops of the pot pies firmed up so that they could support the weight of the pizza. I forgot and went to bed. While making coffee the next morning, I realized the pizza was done for since you shouldn't refreeze foods. The pizza has since been donated to Iz’s dog Kiki. He eats anything (including, unfortunately, an unsuspecting possum or two).

We’ve also been having yogurt parfaits for breakfast on the weekends. To a ½ cup (each) of vanilla yogurt (organic) we add a bunch of fruit (typically, fresh berries and canned pineapple) and either GrapeNuts or my homemade muesli/granola. We’ve also been using our new electric kettle and our old(er) French press and Mr. Coffee coffee grinder. Before decommissioning our old electric coffee maker (which had an internal coffee grinder), I used the Mr. Coffee coffee grinder for grinding spices. I dread the day that I’ll need to grind some mustard seeds. With my electric grinder completely coffee-encrusted and infused, I’ll have to use the mortar and pestle and put my back into it.

Last weekend, I also made my second batch of homemade yogurt. I never blogged about my first batch. That’s because it was nothing outstanding. I have a rule I try to follow: When making something for the first time, follow the recipe exactly. It’s not because I think that recipes as written are always better (okay, "Bob’?), it’s just that I like to have a baseline (or, control) to work off of (ah, the beauty of the scientific method).

With that in mind, I followed the recipe that came with my Salton yogurt maker (yay Christmas!). My maker is the 1-quart Model No. YM-9 (it has one big tub instead of several small glass jars). The basic recipe calles for 4 cups milk (whole, 2%, 1%, or skim), plus 1/4 to 1/2 cup no-fat dry powder (I think I used 1/4 cup). You also need 1/2 cup plain yogurt (to act as a starter). I used Stonyfield plain nonfat yogurt and Alba dry milk, which I had left over from a failed, make-your-own cocoa mix experiment (I wanted to control the sweetness and sugar content…turns out mine had more of everything--sugar and calories--than Swiss Miss).

The rest of the yogurt maker instructions are relatively easy. Combine milk and dry milk in a saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring frequently to just below boiling point. That's the tricky part. How do you know something is almost boiling? Boiling is obvious. But almost boiling? That's tough. So, I searched around (Internet and cookbooks) and apparently, milk is just before the boiling point when tiny bubbles form at the edges and steam rises off the surface. When that point is reached, you take the pan off the heat and allow it to cool until lukewarm (between 100 and 110 degrees F). Then you prewarm the yogurt maker and add the plain yogurt to the warm milk, stirring gently to blend. Pour the mixture into the yogurt container and process from 4 to 10 hours. The longer it "cooks," the thicker and tarter the yogurt becomes. After processing, it should be partially set. Then chill at least 2 hours. It will thicken further in the fridge.

The verdict: Honestly, I think I surpassed "almost boiling," but it worked anyway. The yogurt was thick, but I could taste the dry milk. Just as you sometimes get a bit of freezer burn taste from old ice cream, I could taste the Alba. Yuck.

After those lackluster results, it took me a while, but I finally got around to making another batch last weekend. This time I made it with yogurt culture (my semi-friendly neighborhood Williams Sonoma keeps a stash in the storeroom; you have to ask for it). I followed the culture's instructions as best as I could. I had to recalculate everything since the culture (Euro Cuisine) recipe called for 42 oz of milk, and my maker can only accomodate 32 oz. Instead of the entire packet of culture (5 g), I weighed out 4 g. After that, the basic instructions are: heat milk to 180 degrees F (which I presume is just before boiling) and then cool to 111 to 113 degrees F. Place the lukewarm milk into a pitcher and stir in the culture and lightly stir with a whisk until dissolved (hint: premix some of the lukewarm mix with the yogurt culture in a small bowl first, and then add this mixture the rest of the milk).

After 4.5 hours in the yogurt maker and 2 hours in the refrigerator, the yogurt was tasty but very thin. So, I decided to strain it. There are at least two ways to do this: wrap the yogurt in a double layer of cheesecloth and suspend it over a bowl in the fridge OR line a colander with 3 layers of paper towel and pour the yogurt over that and let it drain for 3 to 4 hours. Since the question of how to suspend a ball of yogurt over a bowl in the refrigerator proved too complicated for me that night, I opted for the more straightforward paper-towel-colander method. Wow, after 3 hours, the yogurt lost 75% of its volume! Where I once had a quart of yogurt, all that remained was a single cup. (And since I used too shallow of a plate under the colander, a lot of the watery whey wound up on the kitchen floor. Next time I'll nestle the colander in another bowl or in a casserole dish).

Though much reduced in size, the remaining yogurt was delicious. I also used it later in the week as an accompaniment to the soup that "Bob" made: black-eyed pea and tomato broth. The soup was delicious but was way too hot because of some mighty powerful jalapeno pepper. The yogurt cooled it just enough, and the tartness was a nice touch with one of the soup's other prominent ingredients: lemon juice. I'll try and post the recipe at a later date. (FYI: "Bob" had made it once before without the pepper and it we had enjoyed it much more that time, which is preciseely why he doesn't always bother following recipes to the letter.)

As luck would have it, The New York Times had this article about homemade yogurt this week. Good information all. But I’ve been doing additional research. I'm on the hunt for a better culture that will assure a thicker yogurt and will post about it. The next time I make yogurt, I'll also post pictures of the entire process.

Menu a la Week: 3/29/09 - 4/3/09

2009-03-29T16:38:00.000-07:00

This should be a relatively easy week. Hopefully. Time to use some of the spices we bought in Tangiers. I must admit, I hope the saffron we bought is really saffron. I have no real taste reference. It could be red-dyed tea for all I know.

Menu 3/29/09 to 4/8/09
Sunday March 29, 2009
Roast chicken breast, couscous with Moroccan saffron(!), and sauteed green beans

Monday March 30, 2009
Red pepper soup with grilled cheese

Tuesday March 31, 2009
Late work night

Wednesday April 1, 2009
Chicken stir fry with asparagus

Thursday April 2, 2009
Soup (perhaps red pepper) and tossed salad

Friday April 3, 2009
Chicken stir fry or pizza

It's De-Lovely and Other Choice Words

2009-03-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

Geez, I just re-read yesterday's post. How many times can I use the word "lovely" and worse yet, "though"? Edit much, Des?

Stay tuned for a menu. Promise. Really. And I'll never use the word "lovely" again. "Though" stays though. Just can't help myself.

Not Enough Time for Anything

2009-03-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

Between work, house stuff, jewerly class, and, since I've failed miserably with FaceBook, Twittering haiku (look to the menu on the right for updates), there's just not enough time to blog. But I still try.

Today I made granola again. It is almost too delicious. I did have one problem though: I bought pre-roasted and salted sunflower seeds. I prefer to use completely raw seeds. I must admit though, that the salt added quite a nice counterpoint to all the sweet (honey, figs, aprill cots, raisins). Next time, I'll buy raw, but I'll be sure to add salt.

We also had some lovely yogurt parfaits for breakfast this morning. Later, I picked apart another roast chicken carcase and "Bob" made a lovely stock from its bones (plus those of another roast chicken). You know what that means: There will be pot pies before too long (and I'll finally get to use all those baking dishes I bought from Fishs Eddy for this sole purpose). The winter is over and we've still got butternut squash ravioli in the freezer, plus a bunch of roast chicken meat, some turkey meatloaf, homemade breadcrumbs, frozen vegetalbes, frozen ginger, and, thankfully, pizza from my birthday earlier this month.

Tomorrow I'll post another menu. There will be soup, chicken stir fry, and (hopefully) some delicious recipes to follow.

Menu a la Week: 2/15/09 - 2/20/09

2009-02-16T16:41:00.000-08:00

I'll make this as brief as possible. At the end of a long weekend I still have laundry, work, writing, and cleaning to do.

Menu 2/15/09 to 2/10/09
Sunday February 15, 2009
Pork loin with mustard rub, smashed potatoes, and tossed salad with balsamic vinaigrette

Monday February 16, 2009
Red lentil soup with parsley and shallots

Tuesday February 17, 2009
Pork loin with mustard rub and smashed potato pancakes (see fri-ta-toe recipe)

Wednesday February 18, 2008
Evening out...no dinner at home

Thursday December 11, 2008
Red lentil soup and tossed salad

Friday December 12, 2008
Soup and salad: red lentil soup and pork loin panini with goat cheese and fig spread

Presidents Day: Meals Fit for a King

2009-02-16T16:28:00.000-08:00

After some recent travel to France, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, and California, we're back on our menu-making schedule. And that always includes soup...yay! Yesterday, "Bob" made a favorite entree: pork loin with a mustard-rub, which was discussed before here. That was accompanied by smashed potatoes (recipe here) and a tossed salad with balsamic vinaigrette (finally recorded in this post). And today, we had a beautiful new soup.

"Bob" started with our basic vegetable stock recipe (which, after a quick search of this blog, I just realized that I never recorded here before). He then turned that into a gorgeous red lentil soup; amazingly enough, we had the red lentils on hand because I bought them--impulsively--at the supermarket a few months ago.

Vegetable Stock

1 unpeeled onion, roughly chopped

2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 stalks of celery (again, roughly chopped)

2 parsnips (yup, you guessed it, roughly chopped)

1 handful of fresh parsley (leaves and stems)

1 or 2 sprigs of fresh dill

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 piece of fresh ginger chopped into very large pieces

Directions

1. Add above ingredients to 2 gallons of water.

2. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

3. Simmer partially covered until reduced by one third (approximately 1 hour).

4. Strain and cool.

Red Lentil Soup with Parsley and Shallots

Serves 10 to 12

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspooon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

5 cups vegetable stock

1.25 cups red lentils

1 can (14 oz) chopped tomatoes

3 shallots, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

2/3 cup plain yogurt (approx. 1 tablespoon per serving)

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Put cumin and coriander in a saute pan and cook over high heat until the spices just start to smoke. Remove from heat and add turmeric. Set aside.

2. In a large stock pot, heat olive oil and saute garlic and onion until tender (approximately 5 minutes). Add spice mixture and cook for 2 more minutes.

3. Add 5 cups of stock to pot. Bring to boil and simmer.

4. Meanwhile, rinse lentils and add to stock pot. Bring all to a boil, then simmer over medium to low heat.

5. Cook for approximately 20 minutes, add tomatoes and cook for 5 more minutes. Then remove from heat and puree (with an immersion blender is ideal).

6. Spoon into bowls and top with dollop of yogurt seasoned with minced parsley and salt and pepper. Garnish with pan fried sliced shallots.

Aside from our globe-trotting, I've also been working with homemade yogurt and packaging (for friends and family) our spices from Morocco: curry, cumin, and ground saffron. Honestly, the spices are a bit on the bland side..the souks probably blended them with sawdust for we gullible tourists.

Before I Forget

2009-01-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

I keep meaning to write down my balsamic dressing recipe and I always forget to do it, mainly because I'm a bit unsure of all the proportions. I do a lot of "eyeballing" with this dressing.

Tonight I tried to pay attention and measure out the amounts. Basically it's 1 part vinegar to 2 parts olive oil. The rest is a bit dicier. Case in point: After adding too much mustard, I had to double the recipe to compensate for overdoing it with that particular ingredient.

Of note: One of "Bob's" Christmas gifts was an immersion blender. What ever did we do before they were invented?

Balsamic Vinaigrette
Serves: Quite a lot

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic minced
1 -1.5 tsp dijon mustard (Maille preferably)
4 Tbsp. honey (approximately)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Combine and blend all ingredients except for olive oil.
2. Stream in olive oil while blending.

A Tale of Two Mueslis

2009-01-18T12:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, that first batch? Awesome, if a bit overcooked. I followed the instructions and baked it for nearly 30 minutes. If I had taken it out around 20 minutes, it would've been perfect.

On to the next batch: a "Bob"-friendly nut-free muesli (or granola, I still have no idea what the difference is. I'll research that later).

The Other Bob's Muesli

6 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw sunflower kernels
1 cup natural pumpkin seeds
3/4 cup honey
4 Tbsps vegetable oil
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped dates
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
1/3 cup chopped dried cherries

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and line two baking sheets (with rim) with parchment paper.
2. Combine oats, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds in a large bowl.
3. Warm the honey and vegetable oil in a saucepan over low heat.
4. Pour the honey-oil mixture into the oat mixture, and mix until the oats and seeds are evenly coated (be sure to fold and get to the bottom of the mixture to distribute the moisture evenly).
5. Spread the coated muesli evenly in the lined baking pan.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until toasty golden brown and let cool.
7. Transfer muesli to a large bowl and mix in the chopped dried fruits.
8. Store in air-tight containers.

Hint: To prevent stickiness: Chop the dried fruit on a cutting board "floured" with corn starch and a knife prepared the same way.

Slow Start to a New Year

2009-01-18T10:11:00.000-08:00

Still no new menus. That's becuase we've been working through some soups and stuff in the freezer. Those meals have mostly been augmented with salad. New menus and recipes will be forthcoming.

I'm a bit pudgier from the start of the year. I attribute that to some extra work at work and a lack of structure to our meals (namely, no menus). Add to those reasons: leftover candy and pastries, homemade chocolates (including pomegranate cordials), and a Chick-Fil-A sandwich last night. It's been probably a year since I've been to the mall. I had no choice but to go last night, and since "Bob" hates the mall, a tempting trip to the food court was enough to allay his bearishness and make the trip worth his while. So, naturally, I had a Chick-Fil-A.

Today, I've resolved to make an even cleaner start of it. I'm going to put that yogurt maker to work today and I've decided to do something with that "raw" muesli that's been taunting me in the cupboard. Truth be told, one of my favorite breakfasts is plain yogurt with fresh fruit, muesli (or granola or Grapenuts) and creamed honey.

Some backstory: A few weeks ago I bought Bob's Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli. It did not make me happy. There's a Swiss brand that I love. It's crunchy and yummy and is awesome straight from the bag (beat that Grapenuts!). Bob's Red Mill Muesli is not that kind of muesli. It's not baked, so that's probably the problem. In an effort not to waste it, I went it search of a baked muesli recipe. And found this:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000173.html

I had to modify it though since it starts from scratch. I had fewer dry ingredients and the fruit has already been added (not sure how that'll turn out). So my recipe is this:

From Raw to Rowwrrr Muesli

3 cups Bob's Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli
1/4 cup honey
1 1/3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and line a baking sheet (with rim) with parchment paper.
2. Pour "raw" muesli into a large bowl.
3. Warm the honey and vegetable oil in a saucepan over low heat.
4. Pour the honey-oil mixture into the muesli. Mix until the muesli is well and evenly coated.
5. Spread the coated muesli evenly in the lined baking pan.
6. Bake for 30 minutes.

NOTE: In the future, bake for 20 minutes.

For the honey I used the tried and true Golden Blossom honey. But, I was at the end of the jar so I added creamed honey (from two different jars: one from Tremblay Apiaries in Van Etten, N.Y. and the other from Andrew's Local Honey; both jars were bought at the Union Square Greenmarket). It's baking in the oven as we speak.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T10:43:00.001-08:00

You'll notice no menus have been posted for most of December. That's because we've been bad and have been eating out a lot or just subsisting on, well, junk. I attribute this to the lack of structure and discipline that the CSA gave us. "Bob" says it's mainly because of the holidays and I should just learn to relax. Well, good thing. The holidays are over and it's Resolution time! So I don't have to relax. Instead, it's time to buckle down, make menus, cook more veg, and lose some weight (and exercise, let's not forget exercise).

In the spirit of the New Year and home-cooked frugality, here's a link to a New York Times blog post on what to do with leftover champers. I think I'll be making the vinaigrette (yes, for salad).

Parmesean Peppercorn and Pix

2008-12-08T21:07:00.000-08:00

As promised: a picture (Tomato Pasta soup) and a recipe (for Parmesean Peppercorn Dressing).

Parmesean Peppercorn Dressing

1 cup mayo (lowfat) OR 3/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp white vinegar (or more to taste)
1/4 tsp dried basil (or Italian seasoning)
1/8 tsp garlic powder OR 1/2 to 1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup grated parmesean 1/2 tsp (or more to taste)
ground peppercorn (cracked or ground)
1 to 2 Tablespoon milk (lowfat; or more to taste)
Kosher salt to taste

Directions
1. Mix all ingredients (but milk) together.
2. Whisk in milk last (add additional milk depending on desired consistency).

Menu a la Week: 12/8/08 - 12/12/08

2008-12-08T20:58:00.000-08:00

Okay, this won't be a straight copy of last week. We have some turkey needing attention and that tomato pasta soup just doesn't seem to end. It's yummy, but this is getting ridiculous.

Menu 11/23/08 to 11/28/08
Monday December 8, 2008
Tomato pasta soup (AKA kitchen sink soup) and tossed salad

Tuesday December 9, 2008
Turkey Tetrazzini

Wednesday December 10, 2008

Tomato pasta soup and tossed salad

Thursday December 11, 2008
Turkey Tetrazzini

Friday December 12, 2008
Butternut squash ravioli and a tossed salad

Leftover Do Over

2008-12-07T12:39:00.001-08:00

You know what? I'll be honest. This week, I'm just copying last week's menu of the week and posting it for this week. Sure, I'll correct the dates, but that's about it. Why such sloth? I worked and/or went out nearly every night last week (don't judge me!). Just pretend last week never happened. That's what I'm doing.

TK: a picture of one of last night's dinners (soup, for sure) and the recipe for Parmesean Peppercorn Dressing. I promise!

Menu a la Week: 11/30/08 -12/5/08

2008-11-30T18:47:00.000-08:00

Three days later and we're still recovering from Thanksgiving dinner. My mom, as always, cooked an amazing meal: turkey and gravy, stuffing, green beans with garlic and lemo, and dessert (jumbo chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream). "Bob" and I made the mashed potatoes and tangy cranberry dipping sauce. Both turned out great. The best part was Friday: turkey sandwiches on rye with plenty of mayo (Hellmann's...which reminds me: they still haven't answered my last query!) and another of mom's gigantic homemade chocolate chip cookies. I could use another sandwich and cookie right now, but there's nothing of the sort Chez moi et "Bob."

This week continues our efforts to clear the decks by getting through our food in the freezer. We're eager to make some new soups as well as a whole bunch of winter favorites: tomato sauce, meatballs, lasagna and/or raviolis, braciole, meatloaf, roast chicken, pot pies (yay!), and a lovely pork loin, along with the occasional foccaccia pizza and panini. I also want to try my hand at cassoulet and beef bourguignon. Though we aim to get through most of our soups and such, our ample supplies of frozen pesto and butternut squash ravioli will likely last us most of the winter.

Tonight we'll be making yet another dent in our neverending supply of Kitchen Sink Soup. Fortunately, it's a particularly tasty soup, so eating it ad nauseum isn't actually nauseating. We'll also be topping our salad with my first attempt at parmesean peppercorn dressing (which, like everything this past week, features a lot of mayo).

Menu 11/23/08 to 11/28/08
Sunday November 30, 2008
Tomato pasta soup (AKA kitchen sink soup) and tossed salad with parmesean peppercorn dressing

Monday December 1, 2008
Pasta with pesto and a tossed salad

Tuesday December 2, 2008
Tomato pasta soup (AKA kitchen sink soup)

Wednesday December 3, 2008
Chicken stir fry

Thursday December 4, 2008
Butternut squash ravioli and a tossed salad

Friday December 5, 2008
Chicken stir fry

It's My 100th Post, and I Celebrated (in Advance) by Going THERE Again

2008-11-24T18:40:00.000-08:00

I just couldn't resist.

Armed with a coupon and accompanied by a couple of colleagues, I visited Fishs Eddy today. For the upcoming chicken pot pie experiments, I bought another four French onion soup bowls (which are very similar to four other bowls/bakers I bought months ago; these new ones are just a bit bigger).

I also bought a very interesting fruit platter. With about a dozen circular indentations, the platter is pretty cool looking. I also purchased a large white serving bowl. They have tons of these at the store and they're selling them for a pittance ($5.99 each).

With the coupon I got 20% off and three free Christmas ornaments. Unfortunately, my ornaments are less than satisfactory; instead of getting one each of a mini mug, teacup and saucer, and double-handled bowl, I got two bowls and one mug. Adding insult to injury: the mug has a rather large chip in it. I'm going back tomorrow to see if I can get a better set.

I lugged the bowls home, but the platter, large bowl, and ornaments are still at work. As soon as they make it on the long slog home via NJ Transit, I'll take and post pictures.

Dinner Update:
Tonight we had the herbed crepes with a simple tomato "relish" made from the last of the Roma tomatoes from my plants (I have no idea how these last few tomatoes ripened off the vine, but they did). The relish was made from two small Romas (diced very small), olive oil, dried basil leaves, Kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. I mixed this all together and spooned it over the warm crepes. We also had a nice tossed salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

A Sunday Like Many Others

2008-11-23T16:40:00.000-08:00

After doing a bunch of chores, we defrosted a batch of "Kitchen Sink" soup, toasted up some rye bread, and settled in for a nice, quiet Sunday dinner. The strips of ziti held up quite well in the soup, they weren't at all soggy. But the soup suffered from a problem I've noticed with so many of our soups that have spent some time frozen: not enough salt.

After the usual extra dashes of Kosher, it still wasn't seasoned enough, so we added a few pinches of celery salt. Perfection. The celery salt perked up the soup's overall flavor and even added a certain "smokiness" to it too. Honestly, I'd been strangely reluctant to add anything "different" to the soup, but I came to my senses and realized that just because a spice wasn't in the original list of ingredients, didn't preclude its addition to the leftovers.

I considered baking some chocolate cupcakes with vanilla bean buttercream frosting, but after relaxing over dinner, I thought better of it. Maybe this coming weekend I'll placate my sweet tooth.

Menu a la Week: 11/23/08 - 11/28/08

2008-11-22T19:47:00.000-08:00

A short week (Thanksgiving) deserves a down and dirty menu. We've still got plenty of goodies in the freezer, including herbed crepes, pesto, butternut squash ravioli, and plenty of soup. Despite all those welcome choices, I still can't wait for turkey!

Menu 11/23/08 to 11/28/08
Sunday November 23, 2008
Tomato pasta soup (AKA kitchen sink soup)

Monday November 24, 2008
Herbed crepes with ricotta (topped with a fresh plum tomato relish) and a tossed salad

Tuesday November 25, 2008
Tomato pasta soup (AKA kitchen sink soup)

Wednesday November 26, 2008
Butternut squash ravioli and a tossed salad

Thursday November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving

Friday November 28, 2008
Leftover turkey sandwiches (if we're lucky!)

The Last Month: Things Happened and Mistakes Were Made

2008-11-22T10:20:00.000-08:00

There' s a few things I wanted to mention:

If you shop at ShopRite you can get coupons from their web site: http://www.shoprite.com/. (Thanks Rebecky!)

When you make the squash and potato torte, bake first, then freeze. After assembling the tortes a few months ago, I froze one, and we baked and ate the other one that same night. I baked the frozen one a few weeks ago. It went straight from the freezer to the oven. Then straight from the oven to the garbage can. After baking, the torte was a hot, wet (and gray) mess. What a waste of food, time, and energy.

The CSA? Done. I told "Bob" that he didn't have to go to all the distributions at the end of the season. So he didn't. We wasted about three weeks' worth of money, but it was better than him beating someone about the head and body with a yellow squash out of sheer frustration with the wilty moldy lettuce and rotting onions. There was a survey, but I begged him not to complete it. No need to have such animosity on record somewhere.

What else?

We went to an art nouveau jewelry exhibit earlier this month at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Too beautiful and very intimidating craftsmanship.

R.I.P. Precious (2001 - 2008). Our beautiful Leopard Gecko died this past week after a prolonged illness.

I have to update the "'Tis the season..." section of this blog. I expect it'll be mostly an exercise in using the delete button.

There was a "home economics" article in The New York Times this week:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/garden/20math.html

The people featured in the article are the usual cast of entitled rich people that N.Y. Times journalists tend to pal around with (and think of as "regular" folks) . Read the comments section for better tips and a much broader demographic.

Both Ina Garten and Giada de Laurentiis came out with new cookbooks. I hope I get them for Christmas (hear that Santa "Bob"?).

We'll be making some dishes to bring to mom's for Thanksgiving: Martha's Mashed Potatoes (yes, that Martha) and cranberry dipping sauce (c/o Alton Brown). Stay tuned.

Psyche!

2008-11-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

I'm back! I realized that this blog added more to our lives than it subtracted from my time or impinged on other activities. So, this time, I'll try and inject some sanity into my blogging (specifically, imposing some limits on time and effort expended), while extracting all the benefits. And what are the benefits of this crazy, little-read blog?

1. We waste less food because we plan our meals
2. There's a record of our recipes
3. I can easily share recipes/home stuff with friends and colleagues
4. Lots of what I do is experimental, and not reporting on the results is a bit of a bummer (what, no archived records? The meal might as well not have even happened!)
5. I use my camera more
6. I remember to keep up with some new interesting activities (like composting, etc.)

So, expect more posts. I'll also find some way of archiving the recipes easily. (Linking to a recipe from another source is really easy, but what if the site disappears or the link goes dead?)

Expect a new Menu a la Week by tomorrow (Sunday) and some recipes during the week, plus some new links (like the very unappetizingly named FatSecret). As for that compost pile? STILL no compost! I must be layering all wrong.

Home Ec-o Adieu

2008-10-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

This will be my last post on this blog for awhile. The CSA season is almost at an end, and though I conceived of this blog separate from our CSA pickups, I feel the end of the growing season is a good time to put the Home Ec-O blog to rest and start some other projects.

Honestly, I now realize that the blog takes a lot of time, and I still don't have enough to make it exactly how I want it to be (specifically, I haven't gotten around to calculating the nutrition information and the costs per serving for each recipe). I've decided to move on to other projects (still cooking and baking, but also silversmithing/jewelry-making and a lot of other writing projects that I've neglected).

As a parting post, I've decided to write about the last meals I cooked that are worth mentioning: the savory green tomato pie and the sweet green tomato tarts.

I made the savory tomato pie following the basic recipe from Everyday Citizen: 4 cups chopped green Roma tomatoes, 1.5 cups grated Parmesean cheese, finely chopped garlic, and a handful of chopped semi-fresh herbs (oregano and marjoram). For the pie crust, I used Martha Stewart's Perfect Pie Crust recipe (2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3 tablespoons chilled vegetable shortening, 1/4 cup ice water) and combined her instructions with Julia Child's for the food processor method (I mainly used Julia's instructions but I deferred to Martha when adding the ice water bit by bit).

The result? Surprisingly good. I'm now a fan of marjoram AND green tomatoes too! Making a savory pie seems to be a better use of the green tomatoes than frying them. My coworkers said that the pie reminded them of pizza. Despite the praise, next time, I'll add seasoned bread crumbs and olive oil. And next time, I'll be sure to get my tomatoes in the ground earlier.

For the remaining green tomatoes I made two small sweet tarts (top crust only) in some of those bakers I bought from Fishes Eddy. Again, I used the recipe from Everyday Citizen but added lemon jucie because the recipe was so close to an apple pie recipe that I had to add lemon. It just seemed the right, and necessary, thing to do. Despite the addition of the lemon juice, I thought the tarts were a tad too sweet ("Bob" disagreed). I was also quite surprised that I could taste the tomatoes and they were still delicious in a sweet dessert. This recipe will put to rest any doubt that tomatoes are a fruit.

And this post puts to rest the Home Ec-o blog. I'll likely post from time to time here or my Des Obsessed blog. But for now, I'm on to other things. Don't forget: waste not, want not!

Total Tomatoes

2008-10-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

With all the late season tomatoes I picked today, it seemed like a good idea to try to make fried green tomatoes.

The first batch of green tomatoes (the Rutgers hybrid), I seasoned with salt and pepper and dipped in yellow cornmeal. Then I fried them in vegetable oil (on medium-low flame). These were just "okay." The next batch, I followed "Bob's" advice and tried a different recipe. This one created more of a crust on the tomatoes by first dipping the salt-and-peppered tomatoes in flour, then in beaten egg, and then in the cornmeal. I added a few dashes of Tobasco sauce to the egg. It didn't do much for the flavor. We also decided, after experimenting with various thicknesses, that the thinly sliced tomatoes were better tasting. So, for the third batch we fried up thinner slices, and I also added some Worcestershire sauce to the egg. I think it added a bit of tang.

We also diced some of the Romas I had ripening on the windowsill for a fresh relish. With some feta, I thought that was quite tasty. I couldn't decide what vinegar to add to the tomatoes; I'll keep experimenting with that idea (I might even forgo a vinegar and just use a sweet oil).

The fourth and final batch was made from a very thinly sliced green Roma tomato. Bob liked this the best. I liked the third batch best. Marital spat ensued (approximately 5 seconds).

I hope to use up the rest of the green Romas in a green tomato pie this week.

Menu a la Week: 10/11/08 - 10/17/08

2008-10-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

Today's dinner will be...nothing. We went to a surprise birthday party today (happy 4oth Glenn!) and ate our fill of burgers, fries, and cake.

Since we've been cooking like crazy and the freezer's full, it's time to empty out the backlog of dinners and make some room. The from-scratch cooking this week will be very limited. I noticed that the first six vegetables I listed from this week's CSA shipment (potatoes, celery, tomato, oregano, parsnips, and onions) suggested their very own soup! "Bob" will be making it on Monday or Tuesday.

Tomorrow I'm going to pick the last of the Roma tomatoes. There's a bunch of them and they're all green. With the frost coming and the sun not shining as long as it had, there's really no hope that they'll ever turn red, so I'll be using them in a recipe calling for green tomatoes. I'm leaning towards making a green tomato pie (the recipe I plan to use is from Everyday Citizen which is publishing a bunch of "end of the harvest" recipes). There are also recipes here: http://southernfood.about.com/od/greentomatoes/Green_Tomato_Recipes.htm

Menu 10/11/08 to 10/17/08
Saturday October 11, 2008
Birthday party food

Sunday October 12, 2008
Soup and salad

Monday October 13, 2008
Squash and potato torte

Tuesday October 14, 2008
Potato and parsnip soup and salad

Wednesday October 15, 2008
Stuffed peppers

Thursday October 16, 2008
Bob's summer squash?

Friday October 17, 2008
Pesto with pasta and salad

Quick CSA List

2008-10-10T19:09:00.001-07:00

This is what "Bob" grabbed from the CSA on Thursday: 2 lbs. potatoes, one bunch of celery, one tomato, handful of oregano stems, two parsnips, four onions, two squash, three small eggplants, and some strange greens (not collard or mustard). I threw the greens in the composter because they already wilted to nearly nothing.

We'll be making beet and carrot salad this weekend (we bought beets at the supermarket last weekend).

A Little Behind and a Big Ass...

2008-10-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

That's how I find myself weeks after my trip to Russia and England, specifically: a little behind (on the blog) and a big ass (both figuratively, for cooking way too much last weekend, and literally, for eating too much too).

Though the blog has suffered for posts in the last few weeks, let me assure you, we’ve been picking up our produce from the CSA and cooking. Two weeks ago, "Bob" made a wonderful Kitchen Sink Soup out of everything and anything that looked like it was hanging around too long (including, homemade chicken stock from a carcasse in the freezer, carrots, onions, a can of beans, a can of diced tomatoes, a swiftly decomposing squash, some rigatoni, and some whole wheat spaghetti). Then, last Thursday (October 2) at the CSA, “Bob” took home quite a few things: carrots, radishes, escarole, butternut squash, melons (not ripe), tomatoes, romaine lettuce, some herbs (oregano and marjoram), a few small eggplants, some green peppers, and corn.

Because I was a little homesick for some home cooking, and a wee bit overambitious, we overdid it with our cooking for the weekend: stuffed peppers, lentil and turkey sausage soup with escarole, homemade butternut squash ravioli (with homemade semolina pasta), herbed crepes with tomato sauce, and eggplant caviar (from a Chocolate & Zucchini recipe). I still can’t believe I fit everything into the freezer by the time we finished on Sunday (I made a bit more room by donating our long-frozen, and none-too-popular spinach pie to Iz's dog Kiki).

I’ve also updated the “in season” list to the left. It’s like September never happened.

The Menu a la Week for October 2 through October 10 went something like this:

Menu 10/2/08 - 10/10/08
Saturday October 4, 2008
Kitchen Sink Soup

Sunday October 5, 2008
Eggplant caviar for lunch
Pasta patches leftover from ravioli making and selected butternut squash ravioli not suitable for freezing

Monday October 6, 2008
Greek-style stuffed peppers and tossed salad

Tuesday October 7, 2008
Lentil soup with Italian sausage and escarole and a tossed salad

Wednesday October 8, 2008
Herbed crepes with ricotta, green bell pepper, and spring tomato sauce and a tossed salad

Thursday October 9, 2008
Lentil soup with Italian sausage and escarole and a tossed salad

Friday October 10, 2008
Eggplant caviar (for snacks)
Lentil soup with Italian sausage and escarole and corn on the cob

There and Back Again

2008-09-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

For those of you keeping track of me: like all good hobbits I made it back home.

I thought I wasn't going to make it out of St. Petersburg. After my limited success navigating the public transportation system of St. Petersburg, I decided to give it one last whirl and use it to get to the airport. So, after a disheartening beginning involving some tough going--lugging my baggage down Nevsky Prospekt wasn't easy with all my souveniers--and slow service from a local cafe (I really didn't want the coffee, just the change for my 50 Ruble note--which they didn't even have. I had to buy gum from a convenience store and then rush back to the cafe to pay them with the change), I did successfully manage to take the Metro (from the Maykovskaya to Teckhnologichesky Institut to Moskovskaya stop) where Bus #13 stops for the airport. From there it got a bit dicey. Especially since, yet again, I got shooed off a bus.

Above ground from the Moskovskaya stop, there are a LOT of bus stops. I found one with the magic #13 listed. And I waited. And waited. A few buses stopped and--having learned my lesson from my first attempt at boarding a bus in St. Petersburg--I let them pass on by because none were labeled 13. After 15 minutes or so had passed, victory!, a #13 bus stopped. As I climbed the steps, I asked the bus driver in my best Russian "Pulkovo Dva?" And, as my luck would have it, she said "Nyet" and like all the bus drivers before her, she Nyet-ed and waved me off the steps of the bus.

Crestfallen, again, I summoned up the nerve to ask a young woman also waiting at the stop about the bus #13 stop. We had made eye contact earlier and she saw me get kicked off this bus, so I figured this witness to my despair just might be sympathetic to my plight and help me out. Unfortunately, contrary to what the guidebooks say, and if my experience is any indication, many of the young folks in St. Petersburg cannot speak English. But, after the usual pantomime and struggle for a common vocabulary, I finally understood some valuable information from this young lady. From what I could gather, the bus stop was across the street, where she had pointed, AND near a "Mickdoonills." After I had pointed across the street and reiterated the name a few times, I was certain my passage out of this place was near what probably amounts to the most iconic representation of American capitalism and culture. So bless that girl's heart and--I can't believe I'm writing this on this blog--thank God for McDonald's, otherwise I might be wandering the streets of St. Petersburg at this very moment. That or I'd be 100 bucks in the hole for a cab to the airport. Surely, either of those two things.

It was a long hike to the bus, but I made it. I'm sure the bus driver overcharged me; it should've been no more than 22 Rubles, still less than a dollar, but I probably paid close to 40 Rubles. I really didn't care. Afterwards, I wandered into the arrivals area (instead of departures) but after finding yet another kind person, I made it to the right building and eventually got on the plane. There were more adventures at the ticket counter and my two separate waits on line for passport control, but I won't go into any further details. The plane was delayed, and after I got into Heathrow the metal detector broke down, and I nearly lost my eyeglasses at security. So, making my connecting flight didn't look good. But, at the end of the day, nothing horrible really happened and I landed in Manchester later that evening and successfully boarded a train to Manchester Piccadilly station and walked the 5 or 6 (long) blocks to my hotel on Princess Street.

I spent the week in Manchester, healed my toes and feet, and went to London with "Bob." I truly loved Manchester (especially the ability to get lost and find my way around without panicking too much). With its brick buildings, manufacturing past, and rainy days, it really is my kind of town. A walk along the canal was really a highlight for me (along with coronation chicken and tons of Minstrel chocolate candies). London was gorgeous, I learned that the 99 Flake must be the creamiest and most delicious ice cream cone anywhere, and I had my first pint of Guinness (I'm hooked) at Black Friar pub, following a play (Timon of Athens) at the Globe Theatre and an evening at the Tate Modern.

When we got back on Sunday, September 21, I was grateful to be home. No tomatoes survived the great squirrel raids of the past two weeks, but both the cat and gecko were alive and all the comforts of home cannot be beat.

This week resumes the CSA and cooking reports. Thank goodness for that. I don't think I touched many vegetables in Russia. The water there is highly chlorinated because of loads of bacteria and it also contains heavy metals, so I really didn't feel like having any salad rinsed in that kind of water. In England, I ate my way through fatty comfort foods and chocolate.

Finally! The Hermitage and the Skirt

2008-09-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

I found both the Hermitage and the skirt today. I tried on the skirt. I like it but it is pricey and I've been spending rubles like a drunken sailor. I might zip down their tomorrow and buy it, but I'm still debating it. My flight leaves at 5 pm. So I should be there by 3 pm. I still haven't decided whether or not I'll take a cab or public transportation (Metro to Bus #13!).

As if to even things out, along with finding two things, I lost two others: my ticket stub to the Hermitage disappeared within 15 minutes of entering the exhibit area. I have no idea what I did with it. I always save my ticket stubs to museums (and this one was particularly nice looking from what I remember). It kind of bummed me out throughout the museum but the third floor filled with Renoir, Cezanne, Daubigny, Matisse, Van Gogh, Picasso, Rousseau (Henri and Theodore), and other amazing artists cheered me up imensely. There's the very interesting "Death after the Masked Ball" (by Gerome Jean-Leon), and for the first time I also truly appreciated what an amazing portraitist Renoir is/was.

The other thing I lost was a notebook. It had some travel plans and my expenses written down. Of course, I had to recalculate my expenses, but the weird thing is that I have 250 py (rubles) more than I expected. I don't know if I short changed someone some cash or if I just don't know how to add and subtract. Of course, I'm worried that I actually took out more money than I remember and I'm actually missing rubles! I'm also missing the mini Crunchie bar that I got on the flight here and a small pack of tissues. The Gremlins are really after me this week!

Close to the Hermitage is the unappealingly named Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. Gorgeous church, just stunning. No time to go inside though!

Pretty Ugly

2008-09-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

I know why so many St. Petersburg natives smoke: they’re going to die of lung cancer anyway from all the exhaust fumes. Russia has to do something about its emissions policies. They're a health issue for humans and the city itself. Though St. Petersburg is beautiful, it's also grimy and ugly. That holds true of individual buildings as well. They’re beautiful but dirty or broken down. In today's post I've included some photos of the street my hotel is on. If you click on the pictures to enlarge them, you’ll see why I was bit concerned that first night. The architecture is lovely, but if you look closely, many building have glass missing from their windows or peeling paint, or worse. The last picture is my hotel. Although it has rained almost everyday here, today it was nice and bright, a beautiful breezy fall day. I think that's shown in these pictures.

Speaking of beauty: The women here really like to dress up. But sateen pants before 5 pm? What are they thinking?! My editor (he's here for the conference too) noticed something else that I've been able to corroborate on my own. If two girls are walking together, usually one has on high heels and the other flats, with the be-heeled one leaning against the flat-footed one. I guess they take turns every other day or week.

You know, I haven't seen that skirt again. I wasn't exactly sure where it was. But I know what street it's on and I've been up and down it several times in the past few days. I would've looked harder for it today, but my feet are killing me! I got caught in a downpour last night, my shoes got soaked, and that just completely ruined any chance I had of my blisters getting better. So I had to hobble along the street to my hotel. And I spilled my cappuccino all over the table at the cafe where I had lunch/dinner. Figures. Even in Russia, I spill my coffee.

Adding insult to injury, this café didn’t take credit cards, even though the menu said they took international credit cards. I thought MasterCard was included in that group. Luckily I still had some rubles on me.

Hardly any place takes credit cards around here! I thought I'd have enough cash to last me until I left the country (using the corporate card for most meals), but that hasn't been the case. So, even though I'm nearly lame, I had to go in search of an ATM, because I still have to eat for the next two days.

Luckily I remembered seeing CitiBank locations when I first arrived. But, of course, I was pretty disoriented then and I couldn't recall exactly where I'd seen the bank. I took an educated guess and after about a mile of walking, I found a CitiBank on Ligovsky Prospekt. I still can't find any grocery/convenience stores though. Maybe they're what Ipresume to be liquor stores. I'm not altogether brave enough to wander into a store if I don't know what’s being sold inside.

I didn’t get to the Hermitage today but I did a little shopping. I bought a beautiful amber necklace. It wasn't a steal, but I love it. It was way too expensive, but it was only one of two or three that I really liked. I tried on dozens of necklaces. Even the guy that rang up my purchase remarked about me taking a long time to decide. He wasn't being snide though. He said something along the lines of "Well, these things take time; that's what we're here for." There was an amazing chunky deep yellow royal amber bracelet, but it was crazy expensive: about $1,500. Maybe next time I'm in Petersburg (ha!).

I also bought some matryoshka dolls, which I've wanted ever since I was a little girl. They sell them everywhere. Unfortunately, the young guy that was waiting on me had a hard time opening one of the dolls. While I wasn’t looking, he tried opening it up with a pair of scissors and wound up opening up a finger instead. It eventually stopped bleeding. I bought the doll, and not entirely out of pity. It's quite pretty.

A note on my limited photography skills: All over St. Petersburg there are stunning monuments and beautiful landmarks. But, somehow, I seem to be the only person taking pictures. I thought there’d be more tourists. Most of the pictures I’ve been taking, I’ve been “sneaking” them (i.e., taking them as quickly as possible) because I feel as if I’m not allowed to take pictures. PLUS, there’s not much memory on my camera's memory card so I can’t take lots of pictures and just sort through them later. So if you think the picture quality leave something to be desired, it's because they're taken under duress.

The Palace Pictures, Part II: Inside

2008-09-10T13:38:00.001-07:00

Here's a few pictures of the inside of the old palace/House of Scientists. Many of the rooms have different themes: the Oak Room (pictured to the left), the White Room, etc. The one unifying theme: dust and must.

The top of the second floor where the conference sessions were held is a grand space. The stairs lead down to a first landing and then from there it continues down to the main staircase and entrance. For the first few days, I hadn't realized that there was a second floor greenhouse (as seen through a window in the hall outside the White Room)! I don't know how to access it as there was no door to it that I could see.

The hall outside of the White Room (the room is right through those arches), where many of the symposia took place.

Bonus picture: The Bronze Horseman. This is the statue of Peter the Great that saved my hide on Monday when I got lost walking back from the conference. I passed by the statue, knew it was famous, and found it in my guidebooks and map. After that, I was able to orient myself. Thanks Peter!

The Palace Pictures, Part I: Pre-Palace

2008-09-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

I made sure I took a few pictures of the House of Scientists and its immediate vicinity. The former palace is on the Dvortsovaya emb. and the street behind it is Millionnaya Ul. It's pretty much right around the corner from the Winter Palace (which houses, in part, the Hermitage museum) and Palace Square. Because the conference hosts are renting it out, we can take pictures of it for "free." Normally, visitors to the palace, must pay to take photos. If I had to pay for photos, there wouldn't be any. So, enjoy!

Since I can only upload about five pictures per post, this will be in two parts. The streets around the palace and then some interior shots.

The Winter Palace and/or the Hermitage is/are pictured here (I'm not sure which is which). Lots of buildings in Russia are covered with this green netting and undergoing facelifts. Many, many more are in need of the same treatment. The cat licking itself is one of several that make this area their home.

Millionnaya Ul. is home to Nicholas I's New Hermitage (a bunch of Atlases hold up the front portico). Further down the street is one of the many canals cutting through the city (pictured at the top of the post).

...And Then She Pushed Me!

2008-09-09T15:48:00.000-07:00

Yup, one of those young, overdressed, St. Petersburg women actually pushed me into the metro this morning. Apparently I wasn't going fast enough for her. I could feel her hands pushing into my back. My first instinct was to turn around and say something along the lines of "What the F&*^ do you think you're F&#^ing doing, b!$tch?" that or deck her, but then I realized, either action in a very packed St. Petersburg subway would likely get me pummelled by a lot of the other passengers (I don't think speaking English would help me make my case against the pushy chick), either that or I'd be hauled off to some Siberian gulag. Besides, they are pretty aggressive on that subway, so full-contact-subway riding may, in fact, be culturally accepted there. [Pictured to the left on Nevsky Pr. is the Kazan Cathedral, this is probably the worst picture of it taken, ever; to the right is the Singer Building (of sewing machine fame), we have/had one in Newark, N.J., though I don't remember it being this ornate.)]

So, in the dual interests of self preservation and revenge, I did the only thing I could do: passive-aggressively push back into her and try and nail her with my totebag (which usually feels like I'm hauling a cinder block in there). I felt much better.

I had a workshop at the conference today, which went quite well.

Yesterday, I got lost on the walk on the way home from the House of Scientists (formerly the Palace of the Grand Prince Vladimir Romanov) along Dvortsovaya emb. (pictured to the left). Earlier in the day, another conference attendee and myself had walked there together (and had gotten a little lost along the way...the usual story, we made a left when we should've made a right). So, on the way back, I succumbed to hubris--probably right as I was walking through Palace Square. [The Palace Square is surrounded by the Winter Palace, the Hermitage, and the General Staff and Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs building (pictured below); at the center of the square is the Alexander Column (pictured below).] I put away my map and thought I knew exactly where I was going. Well, about two hours and two more blisters later, I finally got back to the hotel. This morning, I was sure to use the map. Just to be on the safe side. Tonight it rained again and we ate at the-restaurant-formerly-known-as-Propaganda. Now it's called Lenin something-or-another. Tomorrow, I'm going to the conference. Since it's only being held half the day, I also hope to see some of the Hermitage and perhaps some shopping (stores supposedly stay open to about 7 p.m. here). They have amazing shoes here and I saw an incredibly beautiful skirt in a store window. First I have to get more cash. The restaurants haven't been taking Mastercard so I've blown through a lot of rubles.

Sunday in St. Petersburg: Pictures

2008-09-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

Here's pictures of the Vosstaniy-Mayakovskaya Metro area (Moscow Station is also located at ploschad "place" Vosstaniya). The first picture was taken as I walked "up" Nevsky Prospekt (from my hotel).

The monument with the star at the top? I can't find out the name of it anywhere in my travel books.

Yes, it rains a lot in St. Petersburg. It was a very gray day with a lot of drizzle. I didn't pack, or buy (for those who recall my trip to Munich), an umbrella.

Away from Home Ec-O: Special Russian Edition

2008-09-07T13:49:00.001-07:00

I haven’t been blogging in quite some time. Instead, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks, preparing for my two-week business trip. Since I had to do some last minute shopping for it this past Thursday, “Bob” didn’t pick up the CSA share.

Right now, I’m sitting in a tiny bed in a tiny hotel in St. Petersburg, and at the end of the week, I’ll be on my way to England.

I have to admit it, yesterday was a lot harder than I imagined it would be. I thought with my Russian phrasebook and three St. Petersburg guide books, I’d be good to go. Since I’m stubborn, instead of hailing a cab at the airport, I took public transportation from the airport (“airports” to be exact) to this hole in a wall of hotel that appears to be in a “gentrifying” street in the Lower Nevsky/Smolny Convent area of St. Petersburg.

After I got off the plane, the passport control area went smoothly. I walked past the baggage claim where dozens of people were gathered holding up white signs with people’s names written on them. None were mine. Apparently my cab never made it. So after cashing in some dollars for rubles, I went to the tourist information kiosk and asked the young, somewhat helpful girl about the bus that goes to the metro (there is no train from the airport). She confirmed that bus #13 would stop at the Metro and that it would be just outside on the street (which I could see from where I was standing). I exited the building and saw lots of people boarding. I hesitated and just as it was nearly filled, I decided to chance it. I’ve been at places before where I didn't get on the first bus that I saw and then had to wait hours for the next one. I squeezed in, and the doors closed behind me. Huge mistake.

As the bus pulled away from the curb, I saw another bus pull up to the curb behind us. It had a large piece of paper taped to the front window with a huge #13 drawn on it. The bus I was on? It was full of German tourists who didn’t understand a word I said in Russian or in English. And it was not going to the Metro. This bus was going to the other Pulkovo airport; there's Pulkovo 1 and Pulkovo 2. I landed at 2 (the domestic airport) but took a side trip to 1 and waved goodbye to the German tourists who all seemed to know where they were going.

After realizing my mistake I decided to stay on the bus and just ride the bus back to Pulkovo 2. But, the bus driver waved me off the bus. He wouldn’t let me stay on. Reluctantly, I got off and waited at the curb, trying to not look suspicious and hoping another bus would come soon. I didn’t want to go into the building behind me because there was an x-ray machine. The last thing I wanted was my luggage confiscated and boarded on some plane while I was stuck in St. Petersburg without a ticket to wherever my bags were headed. I read through my travel books and learned that bus #39 goes from Pulkovo 1 to the metro. Suddenly a bus appeared around the bend. It was #39. I was saved. People got off, I got on. Then I got off because the bus driver shouted at me (in Russian) to get off the bus. I was confused. After I got off the bus. He kept talking-shouting at me and pointing downwards. I watched as he drove off.

So, I’m there outside the Pulkovo 1 airport trying to find stairs that go “down” to someplace where buses suddenly appear and take you to a metro station. There were no stairs. No escalators, no elevators, nothing. Then the soldier guys came outside. They stood on the curb. And as I continued to search for stairs to somewhere, they kept watching me as if I were up to no good.

Not wanting to get hauled off to a gulag, I finally worked up the nerve to ask a normal looking middle-aged man for help. He didn’t speak English but he did say “down” and made a bit of sense from a lot of hand gestures about how to get to the bus. I’d have to go into the airport building and through the security check point. I didn't want to go through security. Going through security can often lead to trouble. But I had no choice. I got on line anyway. I tried asking one of the guards about the buses, but he quickly said "hold on" and dragged over some younger guard to speak to me. He was really kind and calm (I wasn't) and told me how to get downstairs and then he told me that I'd have to put my bags through the baggage scanner. It was okay. I managed to finally find my way downstairs (remember, this is Pulkovo 1...where the domestic flights are; no one really has to speak any other language but Russian at this airport).

So, then I finally got on bus #39. I tried to spy how much people were digging out of their pockets for the fare. I thought it was 10 rubles. But when the old lady came around to collect the cash from me, she continued to hold out her hand after I handed her the 10 ruble note. So I handed her a second one and she gave me about 4 rubles in change. I soon discerned that she was getting impatient with everyone (not just me) because we were all giving her 20 ruble notes and not exact change. Then behind me, I heard her say to one guy "spasseeba," which is how "thank you" sounds in Russian. I could hear the clink clink clink of the exact change as he handed it to her. She laughed and the bus felt a little less tense. Until, of course, I realized that I still had no idea if I was on the right bus or not. We made about 4 stops before I worked up the nerve to ask the young guy sitting next to me. He didn't speak very much English at all. But he didn't indicate that I was on the wrong bus either. I sat tight and spotted the big M (for Metro) and the name of the stop I was looking for. Finally! I had some idea of where I was.

The St. Petersburg metro is a strange experience. The tracks are very deep underground, so the escalators are steep. I tried to take a picture, but the batteries weren't in the camera then, I’ll have to remember to take a picture next time.

Many of the subway stops look just like a bank of elevators. The solid, recessed doors in the wall slide open and then you climb onto a subway car. You don't even see the tracks and when the train stops most, if not all, of the signs are obscured. To get to my hotel’s neighborhood, I had to transfer three times. So, I counted my stops carefully and listened to the announcements as best as I could, and somehow I figured out the right direction to go each time I transfered.

I made it to my last stop: Ploschad Aleksandra Nevskovo I & II (which looks nothing like that in the Cyrillic alphabet). I took the long elevator ride up and was confronted with bedlam. Streets were torn up, construction equipment was beeping, fumes, exhaust, smoke were choking me, tons of people (both well dressed and hardly at all) were everywhere, and most of the street and sidewalks were missing--nothing but rubble everywhere. I had to lift my bag up over pebbles, and sand, and gravel, walk over 2x4s and, of course, try not to look to touristy with a map in one hand, a suitcase in the other, and a befuddled look on my face.

So, after I saw a famous swanky designer store (whose name escapes me now..some Italian male designer) I realized this must be Nevsky Prospekt, the 5th Avenue and Champs Elysees of St. Petersburg. So, I just kept walking. I couldn't find a single street sign that made sense or matched the names on my map (which had all the names in the Roman alphabet, not the Cyrillic one). But I just guessed and figured my hotel street had to be parallel to this one, so I cut down one of the blocks, walked down a bit, and encountered a very shabby area. I kept walking. Some of the blocks and building looked okay and some didn't. Then I finally spotted a sign on a building: KOHHaR. Earlier I had figured out that this is how my hotel's street name should look using the Russian alphabet (in Roman letters it's Konnaya). So I walked and kept looking for 10 Konnaya. After passing a 28 and a 20, I found a 10 that looked like it was burned out and closed up by the St. Petersburg Board of Health (there was an official looking sign, which I couldn’t read, tacked up next to the door). A guy who thought I was following him, ducked into a very run-down building next to it. So, I kept walking and found a very nice little side street park with benches. I sat down, got my wits about me, pulled out my language books, and figured out what my Hotel's name should look like in Russian. In Roman letters it's Kholstomer. So, I converted the sounds those letters make into Cyrillic. And I got: xoЛC+oMr...turns out I'd passed a place with a name that looked almost like that spelled out in neon. It was next to the semi-burned out building. And, yup, it was the right place.

The room is tiny (I'll take more pictures) but it seems clean. I have my concerns because all these buildings are connected, but I'll keep my clothes in my bag and one eye open at all times.

That was yesterday (Saturday, September 6). Today (Sunday), I had breakfast at the hotel. Then I walked “up” what I thought was Nevsky Prospekt, but which I learned later was Ligovsky Prospekt. I think I walked as far as the Obvodny Kanal.

I also tried to find a 3-prong adapter for my computer, but was unsuccessful at the electronics store (I saw a really cute green toaster though).

This afternoon, I had my meeting at a café that truly was “up” Nevsky Prospekt. Later, I had some caviar, blini, beef stroganoff, and vodka tonight at a very unusual little restaurant on Fontanka Naberezhanay! We had trouble finding it at first because we couldn’t find the “house number” (not an unusual occurrence here) and we couldn’t find a sign for the restaurant either. The restaurant was named “Propaganda” but now it looks like it’s called something else. It was about $100 for the three of us, which we deemed a good deal. The best part of the evening: being able to talk to some people. The second best: Nevsky Prospekt at night. It looks a lot better with the old building facades lit. I’ll take pictures next time. Since I had to walk all by myself from Ulitsa Mayakovskogo to Telezhny (which intersects Nevsky Prospect and my hotel’s street Konnaya—Telezhny runs perpendicular to both), I decided to keep my camera in my bag and just keep walking. Past the Ploschad Vosstaniya and Mayakovskaya (Moskovsky Station), Nevsky Prospekt really gets dark and less populated. It’s mainly fancy retail shops and very few restaurants.

Here’s some tips if you ever go to St. Petersburg: Bus #13 is very clearly marked. If you plan to use this bus to get to the metro, do not get on a bus that isn’t marked with this number. If you do, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll be on the wrong bus.

Also, get maps that have the Russian geographical names in both the Cyrillic and Roman alphabets. The signs are not in Roman letters. So if you are lucky enough to find a legible street sign, you won’t be able to find it (or verify it) on your “for-English-speakers-only” map (unless you transcribe it phonetically by sounding out the names and converting those sounds into their Cyrillic symbols).

That’s it for now. It’s about 12:30 am (Monday morning) and about 4:26 pm New York time.

Menu a la Week: 8/24/08 - 8/30/08

2008-08-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

I'll be making pickles again tonight. That'll finish off the cucumbers, and some dill I had tucked away in a Pyrex dish lined with paper towel. Tonight's stir fry should finish up most of the vegetables.

Some other weekend updates...The compost bins are looking good. Still no homemade soil but I think the first barrel is getting there (left) and the second barrel is still relatively new:

The tomatoes are also looking great. The romas are much more abundant than the Rutgers. According to my friend Louise, I was supposed to pinch them back; if I had, I'd probably have a lot more tomatoes on the way. Now the Rutgers plants are bushy, instead of fruit laden. Luckily I planted two of them.

Menu 8/22/08 - 8/30/08
Sunday August 22, 2008
Vegetable stir fry with lime-hoisin sauce over brown rice

Monday August 23, 2008
Soup du jour with slaw (cabbage, fresh fennel, and carrot)

Tuesday August 24, 2008
Tuna salad sandwiches and salad

Wednesday August 25, 2008
Chicken pot pie and salad

Thursday August 26, 2008
Soup du jour and salad or sandwich

Beautiful Blogs

2008-08-24T09:27:00.001-07:00

I found a few new blogs that I'm adding to the "honor roll" to the right.

The Delicious Life
run by Sarah J. Gim who also runs the incredibly beautiful

Tastespotting
which is where I spotted the following

Will Work for Food

The Repressed Pastry Chef

and

The Daring Bakers' Blogroll

I Bought Too Many Dishtowels and Other Horror Stories

2008-08-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

I admit it: buying housewares is a weakness. I should just avoid stores like Fishs Eddy (and the occasional foray to Williams-Sonoma) altogether. But Gail finally agreed to go to Fishs Eddy and see what all the fuss was about. She bought a few juice glasses and a lasagna baker; everything in her basket was on sale so she spent less than $20. Meanwhile I bought two small Central Park-themed oval dishes, a little bowl that should be perfect for mixing small batches of vinaigrette or other dressings, and six new Hall bakers (this adds to those that I bought back in May). For the sake of pot pie enthusiasts everywhere I will evaluate all the bakers (there are four different styles) when the weather turns crisp enough to make a long hot day in the kitchen seem like a treat.

The bakeware was on sale and a bargain compared to the four dishtowels I bought. I couldn't help it though: one was Alice in Wonderland themed (like a platter I already have), another was blue (matching my kitchen) and had the alphabet printed on it, and the other two were topical and instructive: one lists "Cooking Temperatures" and "Measurements" and the other "Cold Storage" temperatures for foods in the fridge and freezer. The Alice towel and the blue alphabet towel were super soft--suprisingly so because they're made of bamboo fiber. For those keeping track of my spending (people like Gail) they were $10.95 each. The other two towels were more pricey, but they're educational...so they're entirely worth it.

A car accident, a missed CSA shipment, plus some wrestling with the Russian Consulate and my Accounts Payable Department rounded out this week quite nicely. Because it's related to work, the Russia-AP story has no real bearing on this blog (except for my availablity and mood), but suffice it to say: even after all the problems I went through to get my Russian visa this week, my trip is still up in the air because of the current political situation between Russia and Georgia. As always, I'm praying for world peace, but at this point, my prayers are primarily for selfish reasons; with peace, I get to go to Russia, without it I have to miss the trip entirely.

The car accident: Poor "Bob." This is his second accident this summer. Both were within a mile of home (at least he's statistically correct) and both were not his fault. Our next car should be a bumper car at this rate. Because "Bob" was on his way to pick up the CSA share when it happened, he never made it. He called our organizer and left a message telling her that he'd been in an accident and that they should put aside our share so we could pick it up later (this is standard operating procedure of the CSA). Well, we drove by the organizer's house, and no shipment awaited us. They didn't even call to see how he was after the accident. I bet there was more corn this week. Darn.

So, this week's menu, which I will get to tomorrow, will not involve any new produce from the CSA. We have a few squash to eat--no surprise there--and some carrots and beets and a few soon-to-be pickles. We might even get through some of those chicken pot pies still in the freezer.

Un-Barbeque

2008-08-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

It was a barbeque without anything actually barbequed. "Bob" and I pretended to have pulled pork while we munched on corn on the cob and yet another slaw. The cabbage, fresh fennel, and carrot slaw was colorful and quite unusual in flavor. We added peppers to the recipe (available here). We better get used to it quickly because there's about 1.5 gallons of it left.

Then there was the corn. The amazing, beautiful, delicious corn. I had two ears of the tastiest corn I've ever had the pleasure of eating. It was beautiful (not a single kernel was missing) and extremely sweet. Paired with lime butter, I could've eaten four more ears (the nerve of "Bob" not giving me one of his ears!). Considering how much we liked the corn, it's likely we won't see anymore from Farmer John this year.

Lime Butter
Serves 4-6

3 tablespoons butter (melted)
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
2-3 dashes cayenne pepper (or a dash of hot sauce)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions
1. Combine the above ingredients.
2. Spoon over cooked corn on the cob.
3. Add cilantro or other minced fresh herb if you're feeling adventurous

Some Ups and Downs

2008-08-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

Thumbs Up: Farmer's Market Salad. We substituted gouda for the goat cheese. It would've been better with goat cheese, but gouda's still good. We didn't have any sesame seeds either, but we did add green peppers. The basil was a really nice "baby green." Honestly, this is a good "kitchen-sink" recipe. Once you've thrown green beans, potatoes, and cheese into a salad, it seems anything goes.

Also delicious: Squash Basil soup. We had a recipe via Epicurious.com for Zucchini Basil Soup (zucchini, squash, same diff) and though it wasn't very creamy, it was a nice light soup for the summer. We'll cook anything to go through all this squash; well, anything but make the obvious like zucchini bread or vegetable lasagna.

Thumbs Down: The kohlrabi and carrots was not something we'd eat again. The cooked kohlrabi was awfully fibrous. The brown sugar and raisins were good though. Because we used up both kohlrabi "bulbs" for this recipe, we won't be having the kohlrabi saute on Thursday. I guess we'll just have to starve.

Menu a la Week: 8/17/08 - 8/22/08

2008-08-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

Let's just skip what happened the last few days.Thursday, Friday, Saturday...they came and went and the only thing we made in the kitchen was coffee. But what is summer for anyway, if not to enjoy with friends, eating out, and enjoying oneself in general--rotting vegetables be damned!

Part of this weekend's revelry was spent in the Highlands of New Jersey and lower Hudson Valley, New York. If you're ever in Warwick, New York, visit the Warwick Valley Winery for some great cafe-type food at Pane Cafe (I still haven't learned how to make accents aigu in Blogger, so just pretend that the e's at the end of both Pane and Cafe have accents. Thanks). The chef at the winery's cafe attended the Culinary Institute of America (I saw her bakery course certificates hanging on the wall).

My friend and I ordered salads with grilled chicken; both were excellent. Mine was topped with apples, pears, and grapes from the winery's orchards. "Bob" had a pizza that he deemed just "okay", which is understandable; as natives of New Jersey's workingclass town's and cities, we know from good pizza. And, yeah, New Jersey has good pizza. Brooklyn is not the only place Earth with pizza--or Italians, for that matter. My friend's fiance had a nice rib-eye sandwich. While you're there, try the large selection of wines, ciders, and liquers ($5 for 6 samples).

So, I still must answer the question: What will we eat this week? We got a lot of new produce from the CSA plus we had some leftover veg from the week before. This is what we have to work with:

2 squash
1 large bunch of basil
2 peppers +3 peppers from last week
4 ears of corn
1 tomato
1 fennel
1 bunch of carrots
2 cucumbers +2 cukes that I missed last week
1 lb beans

Add to that:
2 kohlrabi from last week
1/4 head of red leaf from last week
2 beets overlooked from last week
1 head of cabbage from last week
6 potatoes from last week

The best I could come up with is this:

Menu 8/17/08 - 8/22/08
Sunday August 17, 2008
Farmer’s Market Salad with Spiced Goat Cheese Rounds

Monday August 18, 2008
Zucchini Basil Soup
Kohlrabi and carrots

Tuesday August 19, 2008
Cabbage, fresh fennel, and carrot slaw (add peppers as suggested by one reviewer)
Corn on the cob with lime butter

Wednesday August 20, 2008
Stir fry peppers, green beans, ginger, scallions, and whatever else over brown rice
Beet and carrot salad

Thursday August 21, 2008
Kohlrabi saute

Friday August 22, 2008
What's left over? Corn? Peppers?

Snacks:
Refrigerator pickles

Eat All Your Vegetables

2008-08-13T18:06:00.000-07:00

Let me sum up this week's eating in three words: squash, beets, carrots. For the last 3 days, that's what we've been eating. Tonight we mixed it up a bit and had green beans with garlic along with the leftover summer squash and the beet-carrot salad. We also had pickles for snacks, of course. I have two little cucumbers in the fridge that I missed. I'll have to add them to the pickle juice (I think that's okay to do, even with the cold processed type).

Pickle Update

2008-08-11T19:51:00.001-07:00

Oh my, the pickles taste great. They're not supposed to be eaten yet, but we just had to try them.

Here's my recipe (thanks to onebadpenny's recipe at Instructables and for the how-to basics and photos). There are plenty of recipes for refrigerator pickles posted online. But this one has a distinct advantage: absolutely no cooking necessary at all.

Cold Refrigerator Pickles

2 large cucumbers
2 cups cold water
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 teaspoons sugar
6-8 whole peppercorns
Freshly ground black pepper
2 large cloves garlic
2 sprigs fresh dill

Directions
1. After cutting off the ends, slice cucumbers in half and then, to achieve the desired spear shape, cut these halves lengthwise into sixths.
2. Peel and then cut the garlic cloves into large pieces, then smash these pieces to fully release their oils.
3. Pour the cold water into a bowl. Then stir in the salt, vinegar, peppercorns, and ground pepper. Dissolve as much of the salt and sugar as possible.
4. Fill a quart-size, wide-mouth Ball jar.
5. Pour in liquid and add sprigs of dill.
6. Refrigerate for two days (be sure to shake jar on second day).

Mixing It Up

2008-08-11T18:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made the carrot and beet salad from the Chocolate & Zucchini web site. I made it in advance so all the beet and carrot-y goodness could meld. Because we aren't the most patient of couples, we had the beet and carrot salad for dinner tonight (instead of waiting for Wednesday) along with the summer squash side dish. The carrot-beet/beet-carrot salad was absolutely delicious. The recipe is subject to a rather wide variety of interpretations; I mainly used the basic ingredients proffered by Clothilde: beets, carrots, olive oil, dijon mustard (Maille), balsamic vinegar, pepper, sea salt, and Tabasco sauce.

Now I have to completely reconsider our entire menu for the week. This week's cooking/eating is starting to look like this:

Monday: Carrot and beet salad and summer squash side dish
Tuesday: Green beans with garlic and a green salad
Wednesday: Kohlrabi saute and carrot and beet salad (if any left over)
Thursday: Kohlrabi and carrots and stir fry cabbage with green peppers

I'll probably kick myself for saying this, but I really hope we get more squash and kale. I want to try my KCMO friend's kale salad recipe and this zucchini soup recipe from Epicurious.com is also tempting. As always, the reader reviews on Epicurious are a must read; they offer some revealing criticisms and smart revisions.

Doh!

2008-08-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

I forgot the potatoes! We have several potatoes from the CSA. They may, or may not, make a guest appearance for dinner this week. Since I'm undecided, I won't bother adding them to the week's menu.

Uncooked Cukes

2008-08-10T13:20:00.001-07:00

Those cukes are now on their way to becoming refrigerator pickles. I picked a recipe that didn't call for any cooking at all.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Refrigerator-Pickles---Quick-n_-Easy/

One word of caution: I had more liquid than jar space in my Ball jar, so I had to pour some out (if you use a gallon-size ziploc-type bag, this shouldn't be a problem). Since all the salt (and maybe even sugar) couldn't have dissolved, I added a few flakes of sea salt on the top. I also made sure the whole peppercorns made it into the jar.

Menu a la Week: 8/10/08 - 8/15/08

2008-08-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

So many vegetables to eat through, so little time This coming week we're reluctant vegetarians again (largely because we have leftover veg from last week). We'll have to bring salads to work to ensure that we get through the lettuce. If we don't get to the latest batch of green beans by Thursday, I may either blanch and freeze them (I think that's the best way to preserve them) or maybe make a soup. I plan to make refrigerator pickles out of the two small cucumbers we have.

After a bunch of evening plans derailed last week's menu, we have dinner plans for tonight too. So the menu really doesn't start until tomorrow night.

Menu 8/10/08 - 8/15/08
Sunday August 11, 2008
Dinner with the folks

Monday August 12, 2008
Green beans with garlic with the neverending summer squash side dish

Tuesday August 13, 2008
Stir fry cabbage with green peppers and a salad on the side

Wednesday August 14, 2008
Carrot and beet salad with kohlrabi saute
(there's also some nice kohlrabi recipes here, especially one for a traditional kohlrabi in bechamel sauce with nutmeg)

Thursday August 15, 2008
Kohlrabi and carrots and whatever else happens to be laying around

Salads and Sides

2008-08-10T10:11:00.000-07:00

Als usual lots of plans late in the week kept us from adhering to the menu (movies and John Hiatt at the State Theatre in New Brunswick; "Bob" and I were some of the oldest people at Wall-E and some of the youngest at the concert). We did finish up the pork though and I had the rest of the carrot soup for lunch yesterday.

So what's left? Quite a bit of our usual summer squash side dish (the one with tomatoes and peppers). As for all the unprepared vegetables we have: green beans (though we almost had them Thursday night), 2 cucumbers, 2 kohlrabi, 3 beets, 1 bunch of carrots, 2 squash, and a bit of lettuce. Add to that this week's CSA share: green beans (yup, again), red cabbage, green peppers (2 small), cucumbers (2 small), red leaf lettuce, beets (3), bunch of dill.

This can only mean one thing for this week's menu: lots of salads and side dishes.

Ay, There's the Rub: On Ham-let and Other Midsummer's Night's Meals

2008-08-05T17:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday, we had roast pork loin with a dry rub along with the summer squash recipe. A word to the wise: make sure the ratio of summer squash doesn't overwhelm the rest of the vegetables in the recipe. It's tempting to do this because chances are you have a ton of squash to get through, but it tends to make the recipe less appealing. For the record, I'm also finding that using a few canned Italian plum tomatoes in the recipe really works a lot better than some less-than-juicy nearly-in-season tomatoes from the supermarket.

The pork was easy to prepare (since "Bob" did it all). He says the nearly 2-pound pork tenderloin was rubbed down with kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and dry mustard and roasted for 2 hours at 350 degrees.

Monday we had a special guest (Iz!) and a new cole slaw recipe. I made paper-thin panini: a slice and a half of Swiss cheese, a few very thinly sliced pieces of pork, and grainy mustard on rye bread. I slathered the olive oil on the press and the pan, warmed both of them over a medium flame, then added the sandwiches to the pan. In a matter of 10 minutes (don't forget to flip the sandwich once and apply pressure to the press every so often) I had a pair of delicious sandwiches. "Bob" meanwhile prefered to have his cheese and meat on dry toast--his British DNA wins out over every once in while.

The cole slaw recipe we used was from this page of the Seasonal Chef web site. I've copied it below, but I would suggest that you perhaps halve the sugar amount. It was pretty sweet. Yes I know that "sweet" is in the recipe's name, but still, exercise some caution. The vegetable oil was not gross, which I had feared it would be.

Tonight we skipped ahead: hot dogs, cole slaw, and some leftover summer squash. Tomorrow we'll have the pork with a side of green beans..

Sweet and Tangy Cole Slaw

1 cabbage, finely shredded
1 medium red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 cup vinegar
2/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions
1. Combine shredded cabbage with sliced onion.
2. Combine remaining ingredients and bring to boil.
3. Pour over cabbage and toss.
4. Cool, then refrigerate.

Curried Carrot and Apple Soup

2008-08-02T19:26:00.001-07:00

I love curry. "Bob" loves carrots. We both like apples. With this soup, we're both very happy. We adapted this soup from The Ultimate Soup Bible (2005, 2006, Anness Publishing Ltd.). For the record, adding croutons makes us ecstatic.

Curried Carrot and Apple Soup
Serves 4

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
1-1.25 pounds carrots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 green apple, chopped
3 cups chicken stock
Salt and ground black pepper

Directions
1. Heat oil in a large pan and cook the curry powder for 2 to 3 minutes on high heat.
2. Stir in the carrots, onion, and apple; be sure to coat all with curry powder.
3. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. Cook for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Stir occasionally.
4. Transfer mixture to food processor. Add half of the stock and process until smooth.
5. Return this mixture to the pan and add the remaining stock.
6. Bring the soup to a boil and season to taste.

Menu a la Week: 8/2/08 - 8/8/08

2008-08-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

I was out last night, so "Bob" dined solo: salad and pasta with Parmesean cheese. We didn't get around to making the beets from last week, so we'll have to use them up very, very soon. We'll try and fit salads (all that red-leaf lettuce) in all week, if not for dinner, then for lunch. We're also going to give my mom 1/2 of the green beans. We could freeze the extra, but it's better to share the bounty.

Menu 8/2/08 - 8/8/08
Saturday August 2, 2008
Carrot soup and croutons and green salad

Sunday August 3, 2008
Lunch: Carrot and beet salad
Dinner: Summer squash and pork loin

Monday August 4, 2008
Cheese panini, cole slaw (new recipe), and carrot soup

Tuesday August 5, 2008
Pork loin and green beans with garlic (this recipe from C&Z looks good)

Wednesday August 6, 2008
Cole slaw and hot dogs or hamburgers

Thursday August 7, 2008
Kohlrabi and carrots and pork loin

CSA Take

2008-08-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

All the vegetables from this week's CSA delivery look beautiful because "Bob" got to the latest (there have been three) pick-up site earlier than usual.

Here's the haul from the CSA this week: three onions; two each of kohlrabi, cucumbers, and squash; one head each of radicchio and red-leaf lettuce; one pound of green beans; and one bunch each of carrots, dill, and basil.

It's our first delivery of cucumbers, carrots, and green beans, and I finally get to try the farm's radicchio (or is it endive? "Bob?").

Catch Up and Ketchup

2008-08-01T06:33:00.001-07:00

I'll have to make this recap of the past few days quick: Wednesday night we had cole slaw and hot dogs (I had mine with the best hot dog mustard ever: Kosciusko spicy brown), "Bob" had his with Dijon mustard and ketchup.

More cole slaw and ketchup was had last night. I had just the cole slaw and Bob had the last bit o' turkey meatloaf with a smattering of ketchup. Bob's cole slaw recipe was excellent. And with the red onion and carrots, quite colorful too. Though we finished the first batch, there's still sliced onions and cabbage, and shredded carrots in the fridge ready to go for a second batch. We're debating dressing it differently. Perhaps with a mainly vinegar-based dressing.

Colorful Cole Slaw
Serves 6

1/2 head cabbage
2 carrots
1 red onion sliced
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
1/2 C. Hellman's low-fat (or is it reduced?) mayonnaise
2 pinches of Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons sugar

Directions
Slice as thin as possible the head of cabbage and red onion. Grate the two carrots. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Season to taste.

Quickies: i.e., Post and Meals

2008-07-30T07:21:00.000-07:00

Monday night we had the panini with dill potato salad, just as planned. Last night (Tuesday, just in case you lost track) I had a banana and two rice cakes with SunButter (a great peanut butter alternative for those who have family members with peanut allergies, as I do). Then, I promptly fell asleep.

Dill Potato Salad
Serves 6

5 potatoes
1/2 white onion
1 carrot
Kosher salt (to taste)
Freshly ground pepper (to taste)
1/4 cup dill (not tightly packed)
Splash Of white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon course grain dijon mustard
1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise

Directions
1. Peel and cube potatoes, dice onion, mince dill and grate carrots.
2. Cook potatoes until soft, drain and cool.
3. Combine all ingredients and mix.

NOTE: Clearly I haven't been posting nutritional information. Perhaps one day when I have a bit more time. And after typing up this recipe, I realized that those slackers at Hellmann's still have not answered my follow-up question regarding their reduced fat/low fat mayo.

Menu a la Week: 7/26/08 -7/31/08

2008-07-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here's the menu for the week. There's a few blanks to be filled in, but I'll do that by Monday. There's also no "real" dinner for tonight. We had take-out (Wendy's) because we were busy with chores and I was rushing to get a jewelry project done too. I hope to post the dill potato salad recipe by tomorrow (hint, hint "Bob").

While working on the jewelry project in my basement, I was listening to NPR (WNYC). I heard a story on Marketplace Money about a California family that has suddenly found itself in dire straits (house foreclosing, no income, savings gone, going to the food pantry). The husband and wife were both in the real estate lending industry when the market there went south. What struck me as odd is that making soups and freezing leftovers were such a new way of cooking for the wife (her mom is instructing her on how to cook frugally). I guess, for me, I've always frozen some things, perhaps not as compulsively as now, and soups and stews just seem like a good idea for winter cooking (not just for when you're poor). She also mentioned canned vegetables. Honestly, I'm not a fan of most canned veg, but tomatoes and beans (kidney, etc.) and sometimes even corn often hold up pretty well. I guess I see it as sad that exercising commonsense is seen as something to only do when you've fallen on hard times; otherwise, when money's flush, waste away!

Menu 7/26/08 - 7/31/08
Saturday July 26, 2008
Grilled chicken and dill potato salad and salad with Caesar dressing

Sunday July 27, 2008
Wendy's :-)

Monday July 28, 2008
Chicken panini and potato salad

Tuesday July 29, 2008
Meatloaf and Bob's summer squash

Wednesday July 30, 2008
Cole slaw and hot dogs

Thursday July 31, 2008
Beets and ?

Weekend Update

2008-07-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

Dinner on Friday? Pizza. I had a few slices saved up (yes, in the freezer). Generally, we order a whole pie, eat two slices each and wrap up the remaining half in foil (each of the four slices individually) and then bag it and freeze it for later. We used the rest of the red leaf head and cut up some of the onions included in this week's share. I dressed the salad with the Caesar dressing I'd made earlier in the week.

On Saturday: more chicken emerged from the freezer (yes, there was that much in there!). Since I defrosted enough for two meals, the rest will be used on Monday. Bob made a dill potato salad with carrots (he didn't use the recipe I linked to). Because the lettuce we got from the CSA this week was rotted, we bought a head of red leaf at a farmer's market type store along with some carrots and fruits (blackberries and peaches). Along with the potato salads and chicken we had a garden salad and used up the remaining Caesar dressing.

I hate to say it, but a dozen or so peaches, a 1/2 pint of blackberries, a nice head of redleaf and a very large bunch of locally grown carrots was less than $10. Our CSA share for 22 weeks works out to more than $20 per week. Again, we're seriously evaluating the whole CSA to see if it's worth it in all respects (financially and gastronomically).

Speaking of the CSA share and if it's worth it or not. For this week's menu, there's not a lot to incorporate from our vegetable share. I will be using that cabbage (and our new carrots) for slaw. That leaves three beets, some Swiss chard, and you guessed it: squash. I'll post the menu separately.

My friend C from KCMO (wow, all these people with secret identities!), has promised to supply me with an absolutely delicious salad recipe that will forever change my views on kale. Apparently, the first few bites are unimpressive but by the fifth bite, the salad takes on magical qualities and you're hooked forever. I can't wait to get the recipe and try it. There's got to be some kale in my future.

Deliveries and Disasters

2008-07-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night, along with some grilled chicken that I had socked away in the freezer, we had our first bites of Swiss chard. "Bob" made it using the crystallized ginger recipe and it was very tasty. Unfortunately, the crystallized ginger and lemon flavors were so pronounced, I still have no idea what Swiss chard really tastes like. Good thing that some more chard was included in today's shipment from the CSA.

Which brings me to today's topic. "Bob" was not happy at all with our CSA today. The share included: a bunch of moldy-topped onions, a blackened garlic bulb, a rotting head of lettuce, a decent head of savoy cabbage, a wilty bunch of basil, three rather small red beets, one very small flat squash, and a single average-size summer squash. The only good thing about this week's share was that it was delivered to our doorstep. "Bob" is reconsidering his desire to sign up again for next year. I guess we'll just have to see how the whole year goes before we make a firm decision. But this locavore eating has it's ups and downs.

"Bob" has some theories regarding our sad looking shares: we're either getting the worst of the batch because the farmer is selling better produce at farmer's markets (while our food is already paid for no matter what it looks like) OR we're getting the leftovers from farmer's markets. Either option is not all that appealing.

Of course, Bob is not alone in his conspiracy theory. Another disgruntled CSA-er (and friend of mine) has decided to blog about her CSA frustrations. For more laughs than you thought possible from the very, very serious topic of saving the planet through eating locally and organically, you MUST visit Complaining Jane's new I Hate My CSA blog (as with "Bob" her real identity will remain a closely held secret).

Last night I had dinner with some friends and "Bob" had the Italian turkey sausage dinner (made with chicken sausage) with pasta. When I got home, we had no electricity thanks to a large storm in our area. For a few hours I worried that all my frozen soups, meats, pesto, pot pies, and bread crumbs were going to suffer a horrible meltdown. No worries. Power was restored at about 2:30 a.m. and everything was still intact this morning (I didn't dare open the freezer last night; I didn't want to let any cold air escape).

I had a huge lunch of mussels and popcorn shrimp and fried calamari, so there's no dinner planned. The rest of this week's menu will have to be made tomorrow. I have off tomorrow so I still plan on making a dill potato salad and maybe even some cole slaw with that new cabbage head.

Please Know Your Peas

2008-07-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

All this week I'm thinking we have sugar snap peas awaiting in the fridge. Nope. They were regular English peas. That's okay, "Bob" prefers the regular peas.

Tonight, he made peas and carrots (even yummier than the ones he made the last time), while I made grilled chicken caesar salad with the red leaf lettuce and some chicken we had in the freezer. The basic recipe is here. (I must confess that I used romano cheese instead of parmesean. Still good).

Peas and Carrots
Serves 2

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped (medium)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1.5 carrots sliced
1/2 pound English pea pods (yields 1/3 cup shelled peas)
1/4 cup water
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Directions
1. Saute garlic and onions in butter and olive oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add carrots and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Add peas and a 1/4 cup of water and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Carrots should be firm but not squishy.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Almost forgot to mention: we made another composter yesterday. The other can can do its work uninterrupted now.

Poultry Sausage and a Long-Awaited Recipe

2008-07-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

Last night we didn't have the scheduled sugar snap peas with ginger. Instead, we finished up the potato and squash torte. Though delicious, I will definitely cook the torte longer and lower at first and then jack up the heat at the end when the aluminum foil comes off. I still have that extra one in the freezer to test this out.

Tonight we had the Italian Turkey Sausage Dinner, except for a "few minor" changes: we used chicken sausage instead of turkey sausage, we also omitted the peppers, and "Bob" also deglazed the pan with white wine, whole tomatoes (from a can) instead of crushed, and Romano cheese instead of Parmesean. Along with the smashed potatoes, we also served a red-leaf lettuce salad with mustard vinaigrette, and the remainder of the broccoli and cauliflower with lemon-dill-butter sauce.

Okay, it's taken awhile but here's Bob's summer squash recipe that was served July 16.

Bob's Summer Squash

Serves 4

2 lbs squash, sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeds removed, sliced
2 Italian tomaotes, skinned and chopped
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
1 clove of garlic, chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly grated parmesean cheese
Basil, chopped fresh
Salt and pepper

Directions
1. Put onion, garlic, squash, and bell pepper into a large saucepan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook on high heat for several minutes to slightly soften the vegetables (do NOT overcook).
2. Once vegetables have softened, add tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add fresh basil.
4. Remove from heat, add the cheese, and cover the pan for 2 minutes to melt the cheese.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Menu a la Week: 7/19/08 - 7/24/08

2008-07-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, I was supposed to have this ready on the new, menu-posting night, Thursday. But, it looks like I'm still on the old schedule. Just like vegetables, you can't force some things (namely me) to be ready before their time.

I'm looking up recipes for Swiss chard, and I've discovered something. Way too many vegetable recipes either call for sauteeing in olive oil and adding crushed red pepper flakes OR roasting/blanching/baking/sautee-ing and topping with parmesean cheese. Not that I have anything against cheese, but finding (or creating) truly novel and delicious recipes for veggies is quite a task. That's why, this week, some of our favorite new recipes will be featured again. Nothing like the tried and true.

This week we'll try and use up some of the chicken we've stowed in the freezer (either grilled or roasted) as well as that can of tomatoes we opened up for the summer squash and red pepper recipe from last week. For lunch today we'll have the broccoli and cauliflower. Lunch tomorrow will have to be the squash torte (not that there's anything wrong with that). We also have to use up the rest of the potatoes (they're making eyes at me) and all that beautiful dill from the CSA (it was an amazingly beautiful bunch). Perhaps a small dill potato salad is in order!

Menu 7/19/08 - 7/24/08
Saturday July 19, 2008
Sugar snap peas with ginger and previously grilled chicken

Sunday July 20, 2008
Italian turkey sausage dinner with pasta or potatoes and a red-leaf lettuce salad with broccoli and yellow squash

Monday July 21, 2008
Swiss chard, either with tomatoes or candied ginger (thanks Mariquita Farm) and chicken

Tuesday July 22, 2008
Chicken panini and dill potato salad

Wednesday July 23, 2008
Italian turkey sausage dinner and pasta with salad

Thursday July 24, 2008
Bob's summer squash recipe (or some other squash recipe) and whatever's left over from the week

CSA: It's Okay

2008-07-18T19:10:00.001-07:00

Yesterday "Bob" picked up the vegetables from the CSA and also cleaned out the crisper drawers. It's freed up a lot of space in our refrigerator. It'll be interesting to see if the cripser actually does what it's supposed to do.

For this week we have: 1 bunch broccoli, 1 bunch red-leaf lettuce, 1 bunch dill, 1 bunch chard, 1 bunch white turnips, 1 yellow squash, 1 green squash, 2 yellow onions, 1 bag sugar snap peas.

Bob also discovered that the palaak paneer is now officially saag. Those weren't spinach leaves I used, it was a bunch of chard. It just goes to show: one green leaf with a red stem doesn't look much different from another.

"Bob" and I evaluated our CSA experience so far and the consensus is this: It has more pluses than minuses. Joining a CSA has certainly forced us to eat a lot more vegetables. We've also experienced new foods. We eat at home everynight, and we probably shop at the supermarket a lot less. And we were also compelled to set up a composter. So far, we'll likely join the CSA again next year. We were considering just going to a farmers market, but good habits can take a long time to take root. We don't want to fall back on bad habits next year. Two years of eating local and in season might just be enough to make eating more vegetables in greater variety a permanent habit.

CSA Delivery

2008-07-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

For lunch I had the squash torte. It held up well in the microwave. It makes for a good, quick lunch.

For dinner, we had broccoli and cauliflower with lemon-dill butter sauce plus a fairly large salad to use up the leftover sliced squash and the head of Boston/butter lettuce. The lettuce almost didn't make it. I don't think it had even another day in it. Regardless, I made my mustard vinaigrette and used up all the remaining salad fixin's (carrots, celery, cucumber) we had laying around in the fridge.

The broccoli and cauliflower dish was easy to make. Just trim the stems from the broccoli and cauliflower (reserve those for the composter) and then blanch the florets for a few minutes (until just cooked and slightly tender). For the butter sauce follow the recipe below.

Lemon-Dill Butter Sauce
Serves 4 to 6

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon freshly chopped dill
Juice from 1/2 a lemon (or more)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Directions
1. In a small bowl melt the butter in a microwave until just melted (it should look a bit thick and creamy).
2. Add the lemon juice, dill, salt, and pepper.
3. Toss over broccoli and cauliflower

Here's the mustard vinaigrette. I think I forgot to add garlic (sometimes I throw it in). I usually go a bit light on the oil as I'd rather it less "fatty."

Mustard Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
4 tablespoons (or more) extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Directions
1. Add mustard, vinegar, and olive oil to a jar with tight-fitting lid. Shake vigorously until thorough mixed.
2. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Squash Nosh

2008-07-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

For lunch today, "Bob" and I both had the summer squash leftovers from last night with brown rice. It was really, really good ... really. "Bob" made it perfectly, the red pepper strips were still crisp and the squash was tender, but not mushy. Just perfect.

Speaking of no-squish squash, I just finished preparing the herbed summer squash and potato torte. It's in the oven as I write.

....and now it's done. It's good. I could've baked it longer to brown it more, but the small slice I had was good. Next time I'll use less squash since I sliced up too much. The food processor was a smart move for slicing the potatoes and the squash. I left the potatoes au naturel (I didn't bother to peel them).

Vegetarian Dinner

2008-07-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you join a CSA and you get inundated with veggies: You suddenly become a vegetarian. Tonight for dinner was palaak paneer and a summer squash recipe. I must say, we were pleasantly surprised by the squash. "Bob" adapted the recipe and it turned out great. We finally used up the red pepper that was looking rather sad in the crisper (I moved it there four days ago as a last ditch effort to prolong its usability). We also used some canned tomatoes (peeled Italian) instead of fresh, and substituted the cheese they recommended with the Parmesean we had on hand. The results were outstanding. I didn't expect to like squash this much. Luckily I enjoyed it so much since I'm having it for lunch tomorrow.

We also had the palaak paneer with brown rice (to avoid "Bob's" disappointment as discussed here). It was good but not as good as that first batch. I might be because I used baby spinach the first time around. This bunch tasted more strongly of spinach and was less sweet. It was still good, but it wasn't great.

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!

2008-07-15T19:05:00.000-07:00

Last night we had Wendy's burgers and fries and soda. It was one of those Mondays.

Tonight I came home late, so instead of making the spinach with red onion, I made palaak paneer again. The spinach didn't look like it'd last another day. The vegetables that I'd set on the first shelf of the fridge all seemed to take a turn for the worse. Bob had to eat through most of the radishes because they were going soft and I noticed that we really have to get through the yellow squash tomorrow, or else. I'm not sure if they're suffering because the area on that top shelf is too open or if it's becase they were too close to a bowl full of apples (perhaps they emit some kind of vapor, like bananas do).

I packed up the palaak paneer and set it aside for dinner tomorrow night. We may have to make the summer squash recipe and serve that tomorrow as well. Plus, I hope to have time to make the squash and potato torte tomorrow (there should be enough for 2 of them). We may even have to freeze both tortes and save them for some future dinner. We'll see.

We Go Together Like Peas and Carrots

2008-07-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

This evening, we shelled the English peas together and "Bob" made the herbed peas and carrots. We also finished up the rest of the romaine head (it was getting quite droopy) and had some turkey meatloaf (delicious as always).

The recipe (from Chow.com) for the peas and carrots was good. Next time we'll add ginger as "Bob" suggested. The recipe (we halved the amounts that it called for) made enough for four servings, so we'll have some for lunch tomorrow along with the kohlrabi slaw.

The spinach is looking like it won't last much longer, so that'll have to be made tomorrow. Despite all the produce we started with, we're staring to make a dent in a lot of it (giving my mom a head of romaine and 2 green squash didn't hurt).

We're going to have to start a new composter. The materials in the one we made a few weeks ago appear to be decomposing, but we'll never have any compost if we continue to add new waste. Speaking of waste, we're doing very well with our garbage output. We're down to less than a bag per week. Most of what we use can be recycled or composted. We'll have to start paying attention to the types of plastic containers we buy though. I want to make sure that we only purchase the most recyclable types.

Menu a la Week 7/12/08 - 7/17/08

2008-07-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

In an effort to get through the CSA vegetables faster—since the amount we're receiving is, errr, growing—I've decided to create the week's menu on Thursday night so that we begin to use the "new" vegetables as soon as possible (Friday). Consequently, this week's menu (waaaayyy below) ends on Thursday. Next week's menu will begin on Friday. The sooner we start cooking the new vegetables, the less the chance there is that they'll wilt and/or rot.

Today, I took care of all the basil I had culled from the pot. I cut some on Thursday because the potted basil was getting a bit tall and bushy and I don't want the plant to turn "woody." I also had some leaves preserved in Kosher salt in the freezer from a couple of weeks ago (I discussed the source of my inspiration, Kalyn's Kitchen, in an earlier post here, but I also found a more comprehensive basil preservation discussion at http://www.apinchof.com/preservebasil1106.htm).

The total amount was perfect for my usual pesto recipe. I didn't have to add any salt because of the salt-preserved basil (let that be a lesson to you: Don't use this method for preserving basil unless you need the basil in a recipe that also calls for salt).

Basil Pesto
Serves 8+

1 1/2 cups of packed basil
1/4 cup grated Parmesean cheese
3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1/4 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions
1. In a food processor, process basil and garlic until coarsely pureed.
2. Add grated Parmesean cheese and puree further.
3. Add olive oil to top of food processor (if it has a hole in the top) so that it streams into the bowl. Process so that it becomes a thick mixture.
4. Process in salt and pepper to taste.
5. Use on pasta or freeze.

I used these directions to freeze it in an ice cube tray for future use. Important tip learned: After filling the cubes with pesto, cover the ice cube tray with plastic wrap (pressing down on the tops of the pesto-filled cubes) so that no oxidation occurs (preserving the green color of the basil). After they froze for about 5 hours, I popped them out of the tray (actually, "Bob" did), wrapped them in plastic wrap, then put them all in a large freezer bag.

After making the pesto, I made the kohlrabi slaw, using the recipe for Kohlrabi with Apple Salad and Creamy Mustard Dressing. We had the "slaw" for lunch and it was light and delicious, although the 1/2 cup of heavy cream makes me wish I had used plain yogurt or some other low-fat alternative. I thought there weren't many recipes for kohlrabi, but after I committed to the slaw recipe, I found this page on Chow.com.

For dinner, aside from 2 bottles of wine, we had grilled chicken and sugar snap peas (from last week's CSA delivery).

Sugar Snap Peas with Ginger
Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 lb sugar snap peas, cleaned and "stings" removed
1/2 cup water
Soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Heat oil in a large pan over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking
2. Saute shallots, ginger, and garlic for 1 minute.
3. Add peas and stir for about 2 minutes.
4. Add water and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes. The peas will still be crisp.
5. Season with soy sauce and pepper.

Menu 7/12/08 - 7/17/08
Saturday July 12, 2008
Grilled chicken, sugar snap peas with ginger, and kale with cannelloni bean leftovers

Sunday July 13, 2008
Turkey meatloaf (?), herbed peas and carrots, and salad with radishes

Monday July 14, 2008
Summer squash and grilled chicken

Tuesday July 15, 2008
Squash and potato torte and spinach with red onions

Wednesday July 16, 2008
Grilled chicken, broccoli and cauliflower with lemon dill herb butter sauce, and salad and radishes

Thursday July 17, 2008
Squash and potato torte and salad with radishes

Leftovers and a CSA Bumper Crop

2008-07-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night I had a business dinner, so "Bob" had the stir-fried beef leftovers. Last night we used a CSA recipe to eat the rest of what we thought was kale or something related to kale. The original recipe called for escarole. I think any leafy green that you usually don't like to eat would be a great substitute.

Kale with Cannelloni Beans
Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 garlic scapes, or 1 garlic clove, minced
1 head of kale, stems removed and leaves torn into pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 15-ounce can cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained
Dash of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese

Directions
1. Heat oil over medium heat in medium frying pan. Add garlic scapes, stir to coat, then cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally until they just begin to brown.
2. Add kale and salt, cook and stir continuously until dark green and wilted (approximately 2 minutes).
3. Add cannelloni beans, broth, and red pepper flakes. Cook down until the liquid is almost completely evaporated.
4. Serve and sprinkle with freshly grated Romano cheese.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

We had to eat as much of the lettuce that we could tonight—especially since we acquired two new heads from the CSA today (romaine and Boston). We had salad for dinner (humungous radishes came in the CSA delivery) along with cheese and crackers (yes, again), but only because Gail mentioned that combo at work. Now we are behind with the peas: There's a whole bag of sugar snap peas just waiting to be cooked, and we just got a bunch of the English peas today. So peas must be on the menu tomorrow night. No matter what. The squash will just have to wait. Luckily, the kohlrabi looks like it's holding its own in the fridge.

The rest of the CSA delivery included: one small cauliflower head, one broccoli, a bunch of flat-leaf parsley, and four large green squash. There's no more room in the refrigerator.

Cherry Soup and Green Salad

2008-07-07T18:28:00.000-07:00

Right on schedule: sour cherry soup (aka meggyleves) and a beautiful green salad made with the CSA red leaf lettuce and some other supermarket vegetables. I also made the raspberry vinaigrette (about 1/3 cup of rasperry vinegar, 2/3 to 3/4 cup of oil, about 3 to 4 tablespoons, or more, of honey, and 1 teaspoon Kosher salt).

Other than that, lots of chocolate was enjoyed today. I can't help myself!

Beef: It's What Was for Dinner

2008-07-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

We had the stir-fried beef recipe I found on Cooks.com. The mustard greens, if that's what they were, wilted down to nothing. We opted for chicken stock since we had that on hand and used garlic scapes (keeping them in a brown paper bag in the refrigerator really worked; we only have two left now) instead of garlic. It was a good recipe but not amazing. It could stand a few tweaks. The beef was cooked too long and the flavor was a bit flat, a little too "one note." I think a bit of pepper (perhaps flakes) would probably be a nice addition. A bit more sugar, or even brown sugar, would be worth a try too. I'm sure more mustard greens or something similar is in our future so we'll likely have another shot at this recipe.

Note: We'll be updating throughout the week the nutritional information for the recipes we've posted.

Have a Littledeer with Your Le Creuset

2008-07-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

Grrrrr. A few months ago I was thrilled to find that wooden cooking tools from a maker (craftsman, actually) I adore had become readily available in the United States. They didn't offer everything, but a set of five particularly useful items (spreader, tongs, paddle, pot scoop, and serving scoop) was offered for $99.95. Now it looks like Williams-Sonoma is no longer selling any of the Littledeer utensils. I guess W-S would rather sell such useful things as mozzarella slicers, tomato slicers, and mango pitters.

I first discovered Littledeer Mapleware in an art shop (Boutique des métiers d'art du Québec) in Montreal in 2006 during a business trip. The sinuous and smoothly carved maple cooking utensils were too irresistible to pass up.

Exercising a bit of self control, I bought only three of them: a pan paddle, tines, and a sweet scoop. Apparently, wood is a better implement for savoring ice cream because it doesn’t conduct heat. I wouldn’t know. Ice cream never sits on any spoon of mine long enough to test this theory. These tools are a pleasure to use (they come in left-handed or right-handed designs) and my Le Creuset pans are certainly now in safe(r) hands with them. Plus, those tines are especially good for pulling stuck slices out of the toaster without electrocuting yourself.

Visit http://www.littledeer.ca/ to see their full product line. W-S didn't even give the line a fighting chance (I bought my mom a set of five for Mother's Day; just 2 months later and they're gone from the site).

Menu a la Week 7/5/08 - 7/11/08

2008-07-05T13:41:00.000-07:00

We've deciphered most of the vegetables we got this week. Some were a little tougher to identify than others, especially, the kohlrabi. I really thought it was a turnip. It's not. It's a member of the cabbage family (just like our friend broccoli). I think we have a bunch of mustard greens too. I have no idea how to cook them, though I did find a ton of recipes for mustard greens with ham hocks. "Bob," regrettably, does not really like ham (specifically, smoked versions). I found just a single recipe for mustard greens with beef; we'll be making it tomorrow.

There will also be lots of salads this week. The two heads of lettuce (red leaf and Forellenschluss romaine) are absolutely gorgeous, and they're humongous. I've never seen lettuce this large at the supermarket.

Menu 7/5/08 - 7/11/08
Saturday July 5, 2008
Green salad with homemade vinaigrette

Sunday July 6, 2008
Stir-fried beef with mustard greens

Monday July 7, 2008
Meggyleves soup and salad with dried berries and raspberry vinaigrette

Tuesday July 8, 2008
Grilled chicken and sugar snap peas with ginger and garlic (scapes)

Wednesday July 9, 2008
"Kale" and canelloni beans

Thursday July 10, 2008
Grilled chicken and kohlrabi and apple salad with creamy mustard dressing

Friday July 11, 2008
Herbed summer squash and potato torte with parmesean

Note: Please visit the Restaurant Widow blog (I've also linked to it above). There's a lot of information there about kohlrabi plus an interesting recipe for kohlrabi pickles.

Meggyleves (Hungarian Sour Cherry Soup)

2008-07-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

When I was in Budapest for work last year, I was only there for three days. Most of that was spent in the conference hotel, so I didn't have a chance to try Meggyleves, or traditional Hungarian sour cherry soup. I don't know how traditional the recipe I've used is, but it has red wine in it so, who cares? Last night it was warm, so the chilled soup was a treat.

Meggyleves
Serves 6

1.75 - 2 lbs sour cherries (washed and pitted)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar (it could've used a bit more)
2 cinnamon sticks
3 cups red wine (Cabarnet Sauvignon)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup evaporated whole milk (or light cream)

Directions
1. In a large pan, put the pitted cherries, water, sugar, cinnamon sticks, and wine. Bring to a boil then simmer about 30 minutes (or less). It's a good idea to taste for sweetness about 1/2 way through (add sugar if necessary).
2. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk into the sour cream. Then stir this mixture into the soup (which is off the heat source!).
3. Chill and serve.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

Last night, after the play ("Kicking a Dead Horse" by Sam Shepard) we had to pick up the CSA vegetables. It was midnight by the time we made it home. This week's haul looks pretty good: there's some beans, a lot of different lettuces, turnips (I think) and something that looks an awful lot like kale (oh no, not again!).

A word on the play: it was just "okay. "My first impression was that it was very reminiscent of Beckett's "Happy Days" (which I also saw this year at BAM): the stage, the setting, the limited cast (really just one person; the single "other character" in both plays doesn't talk), the dialogue as monologue, and to some extent the subject matter (looking on the sum of one's life is a theme of both). After reading the Playbill it said that the main actor (Stephen Rea) had worked with Samuel Beckett and Sam Shepard before; the fact that Rea had worked with Beckett is something that impressed Sam Shepard. Despite that history, I find it hard to believe that Shepard wrote the play with Rea in mind. "Bob" and I both think that it could've been a much stronger play with a different lead actor...but there you go. End of theater review.

This morning I got up and started pitting the cherries from Iz's tree. Turns out that a bobby pin does indeed do a good job. After discarding a bunch of decomposing cherries, I wound up with nearly 2 lbs of recipe-ready fruit!

Sandwiches (Fish and Fowl) and Something Altogether Foul

2008-07-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

Aside from a bowl of cereal, there's probably nothing easier to make than a sandwich. Tuesday night we made chicken panini (I have the Le Creuset grill pan and the matching panini press) with fontina cheese and dijon mustard on mulitgrain "French" bread (the supermarket didn't have our favorite panella bread from Calandra's in Newark; we'll have to complain to the store manager). I must admit, even with the subpar bread, the panini was awesome.

We used the grilled chicken we'd made days before. That chicken was quite dry (we used the Purdue thin sliced, not the juiciest way to grill), and after a few days in the fridge, it only got drier. But lo' and behold, during the panini cooking process, the chicken was somehow "reconstituted." I'm assuming the moisture from the mustard, cheese, and olive oil, managed to "steam" the chicken as it cooked (over medium-low heat!). Brilliant! We paired this yummy sandwich with "crispy kale." Bad call.

Crispy kale? More like sucky kale (which is why I'm not posting the site or the recipe). I got the recipe from a kid's cooking site, but the only way any sane child would eat kale prepared this way (dry and dehydryated) would be to drown out the flavor with plenty of salt. No matter how super-nutritious kale is, I don't think risking sodium-induced hypertension is the way to encourage kids to eat it.

Last night instead of the sour cherry soup I planned on making (no time to remove all those pits), we had delicious tuna sandwiches prepared by "Bob." Friday I'll make the soup.

Menu a la Week 6/28/08 - 7/4/08

2008-06-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

Yes, the menu's a bit late, but ever since half the vegetables got destroyed I've been winging it. Sunday night we had the last of the scape pesto. Instead of pasta we served it with brown rice because we didn't have enough pasta for three and we had a surprise dinner guest (Iz!). Quite honestly, though tasty, the rice wasn't delicate enough to let the pesto's bright taste truly shine. To round out the meal, we had a crudite of carrots, celery, and scallions along with the Universal Salad Dressing.

Tonight: turkey meatloaf (from the freezer, still tastes outstanding!) and another crudite, plus some cucumbers that have been marinating along with red onions in balsamic vinegar.

No dinners are planned after Wednesday. Thursday night we're going to see a play (Sam Shepard's "Kicking a Dead Horse" at The Public Theater) and Friday is the 4th so something somewhere will be grilled. Since we're down a bunch of vegetables, we're going to be making do with some leftovers (chicken) and some surprises (sour cherries from Iz's backyard).

One more important note: I'm still trying to figure out how to calcuate the E-Co$t of meals since we're now using our CSA vegetables. Since they're not priced by the vegetable, do I go with the going price at the supermarket? Do I just divide the CSA cost per week by the number of vegetable types? When I decide on a method, I'll start posting the E-Co$t again. I plan to start posting the dollar figure along with the recipe...just like the nutrition information (yes, I haven't posted that in awhile either).

Menu 6/28/08 - 7/5/08
Saturday June 28, 2008
Ginger-garlic bok choy stir-fry and some cheese and crackers

Sunday June 29, 2008
Garlic scape pesto with brown rice and crudite with Universal Salad Dressing

Monday June 30, 2008
Turkey meatloaf, crudite with Universal Salad Dressing, and cucumbers and red onions with balsamic vinegar

Tuesday July 1, 2008
Chicken panini with kale (crispy, roasted, or sauteed)

Wednesday July 2, 2008
Meggyleves (sour cherry soup)

Thursday July 3, 2008
A night out at the theater

Friday July 4, 2008
Happy 4th of July!

Spinach and Bok Choy, Oh Joy

2008-06-28T17:45:00.001-07:00

Sure, we lost half of our CSA delivery due to exploding water bottles, and last week's menu was hardly followed at all (no Asian soup and no peas and carrots, since I went out a few nights this week). But all was not lost.

Last night we grilled chicken (just marinated in olive oil and salt and pepper) and I made saag (an Indian dish) with the spinach (because I made it with spinach leaves, I believe it's more appropriately referred to as palaak paneer). It was delicious! I think I could've added a bit less of the cumin and more of the garam masala (which is alongside the regular spices now, thanks to McCormick's worldly ways). I served the saag as just a side dish, but "Bob" would've liked it much more if I had made some rice or put out some nan (or any bread for that matter). He found it a bit strong to eat all by its lonesome—he likened it to eating pesto without the pasta. Me? I just shoveled it all in.

Tonight, after the great vegetable disaster, we decided on having bok choy and some crackers and cheese (and wine). The bok choy was a bit wilty and in need of immediate attention. The stir fry with ginger was flavorful and quick. The recipes for both vegetable dishes follow.

Saag/Palaak Paneer
Serves about 4 (but I ate twice as much as I should have)

12 ounces spinach (stems removed and leaves washed and chopped)
1 medium onion (chopped)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
1-inch piece of ginger (quartered)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons tomato puree (or 2 teaspoons of tomato paste diluted with 2 tablespoons water)
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 tablespoons evaporated milk

Directions
1. Put onion, garlic, and ginger in a blender with a little water and blend to a paste.
2. Heat oil in a small-to-medium pan, add onion mixture and cumin, and let this turn golden-brown over medium heat (add additional oil if necessary)
3. Add turmeric and the spinach.
4. Stir for 5 minutes and add the coriander and tomato puree.
5. Let the spinach cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat.
6. Add the garam masala and the evaporated milk and stir.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Ginger-Garlic Bok Choy Stir-Fry
Servings 2 -4 (we ate it all since it was our main course)

1 "head" of bok choy
1/2 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup of English peas
2 garlic scapes, minced
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Directions
1. Separate the dark green top leaves of the bok choy from the white portion of the bulb.
2. If the leaves are still firm and fresh, separate the small leaves from the large leaves (put the small leaves aside). Otherwise do not use the leaves if they are too wilted.
3. Chop the large leaves into 1-inch pieces (put aside with small leaves.
4. Chop the white portion of the bok choy into 1/4 slices (on the diagonal looks nice).
5. Heat up oil in pan on highest heat.
6. Toss in white slices of bok choy and red pepper and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.
7. Then toss in the minced garlic scapes and grated ginger and saute for another 30 to 45 seconds.
8. Add the leaves, cook for 30 seconds more and then deglaze with soy sauce.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Oh No, What a Disaster!

2008-06-28T16:50:00.001-07:00

We got our latest CSA share on Thursday. Not much again: about 8 radishes (though they were quite large), some bok choy, curly endive, a large bunch of kale, escarole, and a head of Boston lettuce. Now, there's even less.

This afternoon I discovered bits of green glass in the refrigerator. Two bottles of sparkling water froze and blew up in the back of the fridge. The water soaked the bags filled with our vegetables and then re-froze. A lot of the vegetables (escarole, lettuce, and endive) were ruined. A few, but not all, of the radishes were also frozen. That leaves us with kale, bok choy, and radishes.

There is a silver lining though. "Bob" made us our garbage can composter today. After hemming and hawing about this for weeks (buy a new one or try and get one off of Freecycle or Craigslist?, make it out of metal or plastic?, are plastic garbage cans safe or should we buy a foodsafe plastic container?, and so on), we decided to go the plastic garbage can route. We have plenty of these cans on hand since we do a lot of home projects and use them for hauling and storing renovation and landscaping materials. After a quick viewing of this "how to" guide on About.com, "Bob" made the composter. Then he filled it with various "green" and "brown" materials. Last week I trimmed the wisteria so we had plenty of green material. Plus we had a huge cardboard box that he ripped up, so that took care of the brown.

Afterwards, "Bob" rolled it around the yard and then put it on the cement base he had made for our long-deceased rain barrel (it was plastic as well and the seams burst one year; the composter now fits perfectly on this old base).

What else can be composted? We can throw our chipboard products in there, and I read that you can put junk mail in as a brown material too. I didn't toss in the stems, branches, and leaves from my rose bushes because they had a lot of black spot on them. Though I think the compost will get hot enough to kill the fungus, I really don't want to push my luck just yet.

After we thought the composter was done for the night, I discovered the destoyed vegetables. We were able to fill up the can that much more. Paper towels went in there too as well as some coffee grounds, egg shells, and some vegetable ends I'd saved up in the fridge for this occasion. Remember, you can't throw everything in a composter (dog and cat waste and meats are verboten).

These sites provide a lot more information on the ins and outs of composting:

Everything you wanted to know about plastics and composters:
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/08/compost-tumbler-solution-to-potting.html

The About.com video that we watched for making our bin:
http://video.about.com/greenliving/Homemade-Compost-Bin.htm

The metal versus plastic debate:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nwgardens/321517_smith30.html

You shouldn't use dog waste in your compost, but you can compost the stuff on its own to keep it out of the trash:
http://www.plantea.com/dog-waste-compost.htm

Another garbage can how-to:
http://www.ehow.com/how_16876_make-compost-bin.html

A source (free) with a list of other sources (not free):
http://www.idealbite.com/tiplibrary/archives/scrap_happy

Making compost tea:
http://www.kitchengardeners.org/

The EPA's guidelines; hopefully, in the future, we'll be able to trust this agency again:
http://www.epa.gov/composting/by_compost.htm

One of the best, most comprehensive composting guides I found online:
http://www.compostguide.com/

This Week We're Weak Willed

2008-06-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

Aside from devouring chocolate-covered graham crackers and horrible honey-mustard pretzel chips at work (the pretzel chips are truly disgusting, yet strangely addictive), I also dug into the chocolate-chip mint ice cream at home. And now, I've added yet another addiction to my repertoire: garlic scape pesto.

"Bob" and I couldn't wait another day. So, we had it for dinner last night (a bit ahead of schedule). I also made a salad with cucumbers, carrots, onions, red leaf lettuce, the last of the broccoli, and some homemade salad dressing. I followed the recipe for Universal Salad Dressing that was included in the weekly newsletter from my CSA.

Universal Salad Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise or buttermilk (or a blend of both) or replace 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of the preceeding with 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of sour cream or plain yogurt.
1/4 cup fresh green herbs (popular choices are parsley, cilantro, or dill)
1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar (red wine vinegar, white balsamic, sherry vinegar, etc.)
1 to 2 garlic scapes (or fresh garlic after scape season)
Salt and pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes or several dashes Worcestershire sauce

Directions
1. Place the ingredients into a food processor and blend until desired consistency.
2. Store in the fridge and use throughout the week.

I adapted the recipe as follows: I blended 1/2 cup of reduced fat Hellmann's mayo (and, yes, I still haven't heard from their customer service department; I guess it's time to pester them a bit) with 1/2 cup of low-fat plain yogurt. For the acid, I used red wine vinegar. I also added some Worcestershire sauce as suggested. The herbs I used were thyme and oregano (from the CSA) and a tiny bit of minced parsley. I must admit, preparing the herbs in advance as suggested by that post on the Chocolate & Zucchini blog has kept them fresher and has made them more convenient to use.

Today "Bob" and I had garlic scape pesto for lunch. The end of garlic scape season will be tough to endure.

In the Stir

2008-06-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

You'd think after all the Chinese food we had last week, we'd be sick of it now. But tonight, "Bob" made stir fried chicken and vegetables. We used up the rest of the broccoli and about half of the English peas. With the red pepper, it was a very colorful dish (we ate it and packed up the leftovers before I remembered to take a picture, so you'll have to take my word for it).

Chicken Vegetable Stir-fry
Serves 4

1 to 1.5 lbs chicken cut into 1/2 strips
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 cup shelled English peas
1 cup corn
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup brown rice

1. Mix chicken, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger, half of garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and crushed red pepper in medium bowl. Let stand 1 hour.
2. Heat skillet/pan/wok over high heat and add chicken mixture; sauté until chicken are just done and transfer to bowl.
3. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan, then add sugar snap peas, corn, bell pepper, 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger, and remaining garlic. Stir-fry until vegetables are crisp and tender, about 3 minutes.
4. Add chicken and juices to pan; stir-fry 1 minute longer.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve over cooked brown rice.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Garlic Scape Pesto

2008-06-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

This is the last post of the evening. The garlic scape pesto was both beautiful (an amazing shade of green!) and delicious. You can see we've stored it in my prized Pyrex containers. The lids are plastic but the bowl is glass. The glass is freezer, dishwasher, oven, refrigerator, and microwave safe. I bought two sets from Amazon.com. I expect that these the Pyrex will outlast all my Ziploc and Tupperware plastic containers. Plus, I can use the glass in the microwave without the worries of warping and plastic contamination/leaching.

I must admit, if we had never joined a CSA, I probably would never have eaten scapes. But since you get what you get with a CSA, you have no choice but to try it all. I often get in a rut with some foods, especially with vegetables, since you never know if you're really going to like a vegetable or not until you eat it (with cheese, it's pretty much a certainty I'll like it). It's much easier to make the same ol' same ol' week after week, month after month. Now, we must make and try new things. The garlic scape pesto is something I'd definitely have again (and lucky for me, we will, on Wednesday).

The CSA provided a garlic scape pesto recipe in the newsletter, but we had to modify it (my husband is allergic to nuts). The recipe they provided called for: 1/3 cup walnuts, 3/4 cup olive oil (we used less than that), and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Parmesean cheese (we used grated Romano instead). What follows is Bob's recipe.

Garlic Scape Pesto
Serves 6 to 8

1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated romano cheese
1 pinch Kosher salt
Freshy ground black pepper to taste

Directions
1. Place scapes in the bowl of a food processor and process until well combined and somewhat smooth.
2. Slowly drizzle in oil and process until incorporated.
3. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl.
4. Add Romano cheese to taste and also add salt and pepper.
5. For 1/2 pound short pasta such as penne, add about 2 tablespoons of pesto to cooked pasta and stir until pasta is well coated.

Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Menu a la Week: 6/21/08 - 6/27/08

2008-06-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

It's a day late, but what follows is this week's menu (and what happened last week).

Recap: Friday night we had nothing for dinner since we both had big lunches and Thursday night my husband had oatmeal and raisins since I went out drinking for the departure of a colleague to grad school (Bye Sarah! See you soon for cocktails).

Since the broccoli head from our first CSA share looked a bit wilty, we started with that first. ("Bob" passed on the offer of broccoli leaves since he couldn't think of anything to do with them; I've since learned you can use them like kale and as a base for broccoli soup). About a third of the broccoli florets was used for last night's salad. We also had one of the frozen chicken pot pies (and it was fine without the egg wash, just not as glistening and pretty).

Since we didn't get through all of our frozen foods last week, we'll have more things to choose from in our freezer this week. With all the planting we did yesterday, there wasn't much time to cook anyway.

This week, we'll have to get through the broccoli (easy) and the scapes. What are scapes, you ask? A green flower from the garlic bulb. These shoots emerge from the ground and are ripe for harvesting for about 2 to 3 weeks. Check out The New York Times article on scapes that was published last week.

There are so many English peas, that they'll be coming out of our ears by Friday. As for the spinach, I know what not to make with it. I also have some new ideas on how to prepare it. For lunch Friday, I had a great Indian spinach dish (I believe it is called palak paneer). Now I'm on the hunt for a good recipe for it. I already have a good semi-Italian spinach recipe, and, of course, spinach will be incorporated into our salads. Armed with four or more recipes/uses, we should be able to get through all the spinach they throw at us.

By the looks of this week's menu, we'll be needing plenty of ginger. In searching around for various pesto recipes (Gail needed some basil/pesto advice), I came across this blog: Kalyn's Kitchen. This post talks about freezing basil but I also noticed that she freezes ginger root. I didn't know that could be done.

My freezer is going to be jealous of hers. Hers is so much better looking.

Hers
vs.

Mine

Menu 6/21/08 - 6/27/08
Saturday June 21, 2008
Chicken pot pie and salad (with broccoli and red leaf lettuce and mustard vinaigrette)

Sunday June 22, 2008
Garlic scape pesto with pasta and salad

Monday June 23, 2008
Ginger chicken and broccoli stir fry with brown rice

Tuesday June 24, 2008
Chicken and palak/saag paneer

Wednesday June 25, 2008
Scape pesto and green salad

Thursday June 26, 2008
Turkey meatloaf and herbed English peas and carrots (with garlic scapes!)

Friday June 27, 2008
English pea Asian chicken soup (or some other English pea soup)

CSA Iron Chef

2008-06-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

We got our first "delivery" of CSA vegetables (my husband picked it up from the drop zone Thursday night). There wasn't much in this weekly share: about a pound of broccoli, a bunch of spinach, a whole mess of English peas (about 2 lbs), 20 garlic scapes, a head of red lettuce, and some oregano. I guess it's a good way to ease into what might become an unmanageable amount of produce. When he picked up the veggies, "Bob" was told not to worry, because there would be more vegetables in future weekly shares.

Given the small haul, this week will amount to a practice week for incorporating the seasonal vegetables into our menu planning. As I had anticipated, all of our meals will have to be planned around the CSA shipment if we don't want to be wasteful. My friend Gail got a lot more from her first CSA shipment in the Bronx. I am jealous, but since I'm helping her out with recipes (what to do with all that squash? how do you prepare turnips?), I'll probably be more prepared when these vegetables suddenly come our way (even though I'm not entirely sure if our farmer is growing squash and turnips).

Today we were out in the garden planting some new flowers and moving some old plants to new locations (the clematis better cover the pergola, unlike the two honeysuckles we bought last year). I also bought two new hanging baskets: absolutely beautiful black-eyed susan vines. On the patio, I've potted some French lavender, basil, and we'll be moving our azaleas tomorrow and replacing them (temporarily) with tomatoes: Romas and Rutgers (my alma mater).

Since oregano was part of this week's CSA share, now's a good time to point out this incredibly instructive Chocolate & Zucchini post about what to do with fresh greens when you get them home. Especially important is the comments that readers of that blog have posted. I think the comments/message boards are the most interesting and lively area of any blog—especially when there are a lot of them (hint hint).

On tonight's menu is the chicken pot pie. There's no eggs in the house, so no egg wash (oh no!). We'll see what happens. We'll also have salad (the red leaf lettuce from the CSA) with the rest of my mustard vinaigrette.

So Far, No Good

2008-06-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

Geez, you'd think eating up a bunch of stuff from the freezer would be easy. Apparently not. So far, we didn't have a dinner on Monday. On Tuesday we had Chinese food (yes, again) with friends before heading out to see a play. And last night (Wednesday) we did have the turkey meatloaf and vegetables as planned. Tonight I will be heading home later than usual (a colleague is bidding us farewell), so who knows what will await me. Especially since today is Delivery 1 of our CSA veggies! "Bob" is picking them up after work. More to come later.

Good Reading for Better Eating

2008-06-16T16:24:00.000-07:00

There's leftover lo mein in the fridge and tons of food waiting to be defrosted in the freezer. Tonight should be turkey meatloaf, but we're both still sodium saturated from last night's Chinese food extravaganza. Those fried noodles dipped in duck sauce get me every time.

Well, as I continue to debate whether dinner will be served tonight or not, feast on these very good articles about the movement to grow your own fruits and vegetables (which, I hope to do in the near future). Many thanks to Sarah's comment on Saturday's post for spurring this "for further reading" smorgasbord (you bet I spelled it correctly).

A very inspiring article of what old industrial cities should do with their brownfields: turn them green, of course:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/us/20philadelphia.html?ex=1211947200&en=98be3c497a6c03fc&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore's Dilemma) is the best and asks "Why bother?":
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/magazine/20wwln-lede-t.html?scp=1&sq=pollan%20why%20bother&st=cse

Anne Raver has the answers for what to do if you're behind on planting your tomatoes...as I am (where does the time go?)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/garden/05garden.html?scp=1&sq=garden+grow+your+own&st=nyt

Anne Raver also wrote about kitchen gardens:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/garden/17garden.html?ex=1209182400&en=2c43c98c75d12145&ei=5070&emc=eta1

And this columnist picks up on the trend and asks for reader comments about the grow-your-own movement:
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/as-local-as-it-gets/?scp=10&sq=grow%20your%20own%20vegetables&st=cse

Don't forget, fruits can be grown in your backyard too. My husband and I bought my grandparents' house. Sadly, when we moved in, the cherry tree my grandpa planted was infected with something, and the grape vines weren't producing anything anymore. Plus we had to put up a fence and a small apple tree (it might've been a crab apple) was "in the way." Yes, I regret all of this. What remains? One small raspberry bush (it was really the neighbor's, but part of it hopped the fence), and a gooseberry (I think) "tree" in the backyard. Inspired by this article, I'm planning for at least two fruiting trees in our yard this year. My husband has requested apples and pears.

Bonus: Sarah was kind enough to link to a Studio 360 piece on an activist/artist whose mission is to turn front yards into gardens. Read Sarah's comment here. And listen to the story here.

And another thing: Legz, your questions regarding deglazing (the June 5, 2008 post) are now answered. Yes, I know, what took me so long? The answer is "Bob." For those curious enough about deglazing, go to this post.

E-Co$t: Turkey Sausage, Spinach Pie, and Veg Soup

2008-06-14T19:41:00.001-07:00

It was a light week, but that spinach pie was pretty pricey, especially considering how little we enjoyed the first meal of it. The totals for the main meals for the Menu 6/7/08 to 6/13/08:

Spinach pie: $15.67 for pie ($1.95 for each serving)
Turkey sausage: $11.22 ($2.24 for each serving, not including pasta or potatoes)
Vegetable bean soup: $6.19 ($0.88 per serving, based on 7 servings)

Menu a la Week: 6/14/08 - 6/20/08

2008-06-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

Now for a very special menu. The freezer is overstuffed so it's time to clean it out. The best way to do that is to eat through as much of the frozen food as we can (including that ice cream in the upper right-hand corner). So, no new cooking for this week. To make this week even easier, we won't be home for dinner every night.

Our first CSA delivery is scheduled for this week. Rumor has it there will be lots of lettuce.

Menu 6/14/08 - 6/20/08
Saturday June 14, 2008
Turkey sausage with toast

Sunday June 15, 2008
Father's Day (eating out!)

Monday June 16, 2008
Turkey meatloaf and vegetables (or salad)

Tuesday June 17, 2008
Macbeth play (dinner out)

Wednesday June 18, 2008
Spinach pie and salad (dinner all by my lonesome)

Thursday June 19, 2008
Chicken pot pie and salad

Friday June 20, 2008
Asparagus soup and salad

"Exceptional" Dinners

2008-06-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

Thursday night I went out after work with colleagues for drinks and some deep-fried appetizers. Being true to our little piggy natures, we ordered two snack platters of appetizers—one right after the other. Meanwhile, back at home, my husband was busy being good. He adhered to the plan and had vegetable soup for dinner.

Last night (Friday), the week of exceptions continued. We went out for dinner instead of cooking. Nothing fancy, just a particularly good diner near us that makes exceptionally good and crispy French fries. I ordered a burger and regretted it. Not because it was bad, but because it wasn't really really good. There are three places in my area that have really really good burgers: Shake Shack in Madison Square Park in New York, White Diamond in Clark, N.J., and Stewart's in Rahway, N.J. I was fully prepared for the Shake Shack burgers to be completely overrated. They weren't (see my friend Bill's post about our lunch there). The White Diamond burgers are very similar to those at Shake Shack (very flat and sem-crispy around the edges). The Stewart's burgers are comparatively thicker but no less yummy, though the root beer and carhop atmosphere probably add enormously to the whole burger eating experience there (plus Stewart's has really good curly fries and onion rings).

What's to come this weekend: The E-Co$t tally for the meals made this week (excluding our dinner at the diner; that bill was for about $20), the nutritional information for the recipes missing that particular information, and a very special edition of the Menu a la Week.

Spinach-Onion Pie? What Spinach-Onion Pie?

2008-06-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

Neither of us was really hungry, so instead of trying to spin spinach pie dross into spinach pie gold, I declared tonight "fend for yourself night." I just wasn't up to repurposing that spinach-onion pie into something more palatable. I had some organic brown-rice cakes with banana slices and delicious SunButter. SunButter tastes very much like peanut butter, but it's made from sunflowers. Since my husband is extremely allergic to peanuts, it's a godsend for me and my peanut butter urges.

Et Tu, Mark Bittman?

2008-06-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

Well it's about time. There's video on The New York Time's Dining & Wine section about what to do with leftovers. It's called "What To Do with Leftovers":
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/dining/index.html

I'm a Bag Lady

2008-06-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

If everyone could just see the real effects of plastic bags on the environment first hand—up close in all their disgraceful and wasteful convenience—choosing bring-your-own bags over plastic ones at the grocery store would likely be made without hesitation.

Case in point: me. I really felt the need to stop using plastic bags because of my trip home one day on NJ Transit. At the Newark International Liberty Airport (EWR) stop, I noticed the top of the 10-foot-high chainlink fence surrounding the station was festooned in black, white, and yellow plastic bags. Shredded and torn, hundreds and hundred of bags were caught in the fence wire. It was sickening. When it became clear that I was part of the problem (my bags might not get caught on the fence, but just by using plastic bags, I'm a participant in the "demand" for their manufacture), I resolved to invest in my own reusable bags.

After buying a bunch of those green permabags for sale in my local supermarket (I think we had a set of 8 or so), I soon regretted my purchase. After just two short weeks, one bag ripped when the semi-sharp corner of a cereal box sliced through the material. I searched online for instructions on how to repair the bag (maybe patch the tear or stitch it up); instead, I discovered that the green bags weren’t made of natural fabric after all, but out of some polypropawhatever. I also learned that these bags are expected to last only about 2 years. After that, like other plastic bags, they will outlive their usefulness at the dump. So I went in search of a better, more sustainable bag and found it in canvas.

The best I found were these from Eco-Bags. Their Shopping Systems (which include large canvas totes, French market string bags, and some cotton grain/produce bags) are the perfect shopping companions. I use fewer bags (which equals fewer trips lugging the groceries from the car to the house) and they are sturdy and more structured than the plastic bags (no more soup cans rolling around the Jeep). I haven’t used the produce bags yet, because I don’t want to freak out my supermarket cashiers. They’ll never find the produce codes with these woven and largely opaque bags.

Because some people might not buy these bags because of the initial investment, I've purchased a number of sets as gifts for families and friends, including Mom! She loves them now, especially after my stepdad cut out some cardboard to fit into the bottom gusset to stiffen/stabilize it. I have yet to do that myself. (I must admit: with their plastic inserts set at the bottom, the green tote bags really did have better stability.)

I keep hoping to see more of these bags in use at the grocery store, especially since they were featured on Oprah (for once she shills for something I really like). But, alas, we're still in the minority at the checkout. One day...

And, yes, I know, even if most shoppers start bringing their own bags to market, there will always be those buffoons who refuse to tote their own. They're the same people who don't pick up shoes they knock over in stores or bring the grocery cart back to the cart corrals because it's too much of a bother and because "they pay people to do this anyway." Picking up after oneself, it's becoming a lost art.

Hot Hot Hot! Soup, Sausage, and Summer

2008-06-10T17:43:00.001-07:00

The Northeast's been broiling these past few days—four days straight of 90-degree weather. Despite the heat, "Bob" went shopping yesterday and made soup. He's keeping to the menu! And it was a very satisfying soup: yummy beans, veggies, and pasta. Everything tastes great with pasta, especially bow-tie pasta, or as it's "officially" known on the package: farfalle (translation from the Italian: butterflies).

Tonight, we had the turkey sausage with pasta. You can't beat bow-tie pasta two nights in a row; some pasta shapes just taste better than others ;-)

Vegetable Bean Soup with Pasta
Serves 6 to 8 (we'll see)

12 cups chicken stock
3 large carrots, diced
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 large scallions
1 14-ounce can red kidney beans
8 ounces bow-tie pasta (1/2 of 1 lb box)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Bring chicken stock to a boil.
2. Add vegetables and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add beans and pasta. Let simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Season to taste and serve.

NOTE: The Gorgeously Green book arrived today. It should make for good reading on the train to and from work.

Quick Eco Tips

2008-06-08T19:26:00.001-07:00

A lightbulb in our bedroom burned out and my husband (we'll call him "Bob" since he wishes to remain anonymous) replaced it with a new fluorescent bulb (Sylvania, 60 watt). Instead of replacing all the bulbs at once with these more energy efficient versions, he's been replacing them one at a time as the old incandescent bulbs burn out (it's less costly and stressful that way).

Another tip: Bring back your wire hangers to your dry cleaners! It keeps them out of landfills, plus our dry cleaner really appreciates it. It's an easy thing to do. (And, yes, I've been cutting down on the amount of drycleaning we do too.)

One more: To cut down on paper towel waste, use dishtowels. You can compost paper towels (as long as they're not drenched in awful chemicals), but if you're not currently composting, save some trees by replacing your paper towels with cloth ones. (I'll write more about composting later; I'm still in the midst of researching this topic.)

E-Co$t Debut

2008-06-08T17:20:00.001-07:00

Nope, I didn't forget about the new E-Co$t feature of this site. Last week we spent $131 on groceries. We bought a lot of stuff and mostly it was food related. But amazingly enough, only a total of $74.44 was for food for dinner prep—and that includes the $14.99 for a 44-fluid ounce bottle of extra virgin olive oil. The organic baby spinach at $3.79 per 6-ounce "box" (evil plastic) was also a big chunk of the bill since we bought three of them (the spinach and the olive oil totaled $26.36). The other expensive items were non-dinner related (sparkling water, organic cereal bars, yogurt, and coffee beans). I have several ideas for cutting down those costs, which I'll post about eventually.

Here's the totals (approximate) for the meals for the Menu 5/31/08 to 6/6/08:

Turkey meatloaf: $10.81 for loaf ($1.08 for each serving)
Smashed potatoes: $3.15 ($0.52 for each serving)
Lemon-herb roasted chicken: $10.55 for entire roast ($2.63 per serving; however, the carcass meat does get recycled into stock and other meals)
Fri-ta-toe: $1.68 ($0.42 per serving)
Chicken-Spinach Faux Casserole: $12.46 ($2.49 per serving)
Prosciutto Pasta: $6.65 ($3.33 per serving)

I'll have to probably refine this feature of the blog as some of the costs can be misleading. For example, the chicken-spinach faux casserole: the total includes the costs associated with the first chicken meal (lemon-herb roasted chicken) from which the faux casserole is derived. So, it can be argued that the costs are more accurate this way, but for a true idea of how much we are actually spending, the cost for that initial chicken meal would have to be excluded (because I didn't really go out and buy more food). In other words, all the ingredients for the casserole (including those for making 2 servings of the lemon-herb chicken) totaled $12.46. But because I already paid for those 2 servings of lemon-herb roasted chicken ($2.63 x 2 = $5.27), the outlay for the second "left-over" meal was really $7.19 ($1.44 per serving). The same is true of the fri-ta-toe; the only new ingredients were red pepper, onion, olive oil, egg, and salt and pepper.

Italian Turkey Sausage Dinner

2008-06-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

Oh darn, I forgot to use those two scallions again. They're getting wiltier and wiltier each day. Since tomorrow calls for soup, let's hope we remember to throw them in with whatever else is going into the pot (scallions go with everything, honest). We did remember to use up one very important leftover—the smashed potatoes. Plus we got rid of that half a red pepper too.

Normally when we make this turkey sausage dish, we serve it with pasta. But, the potatoes were an inspired choice: the dinner reminded me of traditional Italian sausage sandwiches—or Italian hot dogs (hot dogs served with peppers, onions, and potatoes in a hoagie roll)—without the roll. Later this week, we'll serve it over pasta since we finished up all the potatoes.

This dish took no more than 30 minutes to make.

Italian Turkey Sausage Dinner
Serves 4 to 5

19.5 ounces turkey sausage (Sweet or Italian); about 5 links
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic mincex
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2- 3/4 red pepper chopped

28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Mashed potatoes or cooked pasta
Grated parmesean cheese

Directions
1. Par boil sausages until mostly done, about 3/4 done (about 12 minutes straight out of the freezer).
2. Meanwhile, heat up olive oil in very large sauce pan. I use a 3-quart (or it might be 3.5 quart) Le Creuset saucepan (it has a lid) on medium-low heat.
3. Add garlic, onions, and peppers to pan. Cook until soft. Add salt and pepper.
4. Add sausage and cook until done and turning brown (or browned).
5. Add crushed tomatoes (and fresh basil if you've got it) and cook until hot.
6. Serve over pasta (or warm/hot smashed potatoes). Sprinkle on some Parmesean cheese (not too much!)

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Spinach-Onion Pie

2008-06-07T17:12:00.001-07:00

Even though this pie is pastry-less, it still packs a quite a fat wallop: 3/4 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup Parmesean cheese, 1/2 stick a butter. I adapted a recipe from Southern Living (available here) and changed up the recipe a bit. But I didn't make it low fat. Tonight it's our main meal, but I think it'd be best to serve it as an accompaniment to soup and/or salad (half-size servings). I forgot to add the chopped scallions, so I'll use those up tomorrow with the turkey sausage.

Post-dinner recap: Okay, I'll admit it. If I had this recipe to do over again, I'd probably add a crust, lower the fat (use olive oil and regular milk), chop up the spinach into small (and very dry) pieces, and drain off any liquid remaining in the sauce pan. My husband didn't care for this recipe much (he's not a fan of omelettes or slippery spinach), so we found a way to use up the fri-ta-toe after he suffered through two bites of the spinach pie. At any rate, adding a crust (or phyllo dough to make spanakopita), would've been a much better route to take for using up the spinach. Lesson learned. Since I have a lot of servings left, I will have to repurpose the pieces of "pie." I have some ideas: drying it out a bit in the microwave, adding it to cubed potatoes in a skillet, turning it into a panini filling with chicken or sausage, and chopping it up into cubes and adding it to pasta and recooking it. With six slices in the freezer, I'll likely have to try all of these fixes. Waste not, want not.

Pastry-less Spinach Pie
Serves 8 (or more with 1/2 servings as sides)

10 ounces baby spinach
4 tablespoons butter (unsalted)

1 clove garlic minced

1 medium red onion, chopped small

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose, unbleached flour
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup of shredded Parmesean cheese

Directions
1. Rinse spinach and remove most of stems. Drain well.
2. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-low heat.
3. Add garlic and onion and saute until translucent (add a touch of salt and a twist of pepper).
4. Add spinach and cook until just wilted. Remove from heat.
5. Combine flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
6. Add spinach, eggs, cream, and cheese. Stir well.
7. Pour mixture into a lightly greased pan (9-inch pie plate or similaly sized baking pan)
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until set.
9. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut into pieces.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Green as Glam: I Hate Marketing

2008-06-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

I just ordered the book Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano. It has received celebrity endorsements (Julia Roberts and Oprah), which was enough to make me reconsider buying it. But the real sticking point? This quote from the author (the interview on Amazon.com is available here): "You so don’t have to become the tree hugger/hippie to live a green way of life. I feel passionately that you can still have the glitz, the glam and the gleaming house because now there are so many eco-friendly companies that offer you safe and healthy choices: nail polishes, organic clothes that are fabulous to name a few.."

Well you know what? I already know that. I'm not walking around with dirt under my nails (except when I've just come in from the garden), but I'm not a "girly girl" either, well, not every day anyway (and when the hell did that term come into common usage anyway? It really grates on my nerves). I never thought I had to choose between"eco" or "glam." In fact, that there was a choice never entered my mind. We have to be green. Sooner or later, we're all going to have to wake up and realize that our old ways just aren't sustainable.

I told my husband that I didn't think of myself as glam or granola and he said "that's right, you're no different than someone else that might buy the book." Exactly! Not everyone is an extreme one way or the other. Most are in the middle. A lot of people will buy this book with that "you can be green glam" message, not because they are "glam" or "eco" or "eco-glam" but because they aspire to be eco-glam. I keep forgetting a lot of marketing is aspirational. We don't always buy things because of who we are; often we buy them because of who we want to be. Which is exactly why I had second thoughts on buying the book: reverse aspiration. The "angle" was turning me off, but not necessarily the information in the book. I was torn between buying the book and, in effect, rewarding the author and publisher for a message I disagreed with ("you can be oh-so-glamorous and eco-friendly") or not buying the book and denying myself access to some useful information (in effect, cutting my nose off to spite my face). In the end, I bought it. I will review it here on this blog and also on the Barnes and Noble site (which has a review that takes issue with it's point of view as well).

There's also a quote from her book that says "you deserve the best." Really? Every reader deserves the best? No wonder our planet is in such sorry shape. Selfishness is okay. The common good is not enough. Heaven forbid if we sacrifice anything for something as small as, oh, the future of the entire planet! That said, I'm thinking she's doing more good than not (especially as I continue to poke around her Web site).

Speaking of marketing, this is a great post on Gawker http://gawker.com/tag/books-about-sheep/?i=394762&t=you-just-a-bunch-of-brands. Rob Walker writes the "Consumed" column for the New York Times Magazine; his book Buying In looks like it just shed more light on how we just keep buying into images of our own making. The fact that both Walker and David Brooks (of the New York Times) spend so much time (and press) thinking, and obsessing, about marketing says a lot about our world, country, and economy.

One last thing: If all the things you buy are green, but you still buy a lot of stuff, you're really not being green. In short: Overconsumption is not green.

Okay, rant over. I usually try to make this blog rant free and save them for my family and coworkers :-)

Menu a la Week: 6/7/08 - 6/13/08

2008-06-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

Deviating from the usual plan, we have three or four new meals planned for this week (instead of the usual two to three). Today, spinach pie. With it, I plan to use up some ingredients that have been in the refrigerator for a while: the chopped onions I had left over from the turkey meatloaf, scallions from the mashed potatoes, fresh baby spinach that we haven't used yet, and the heavy cream I had laying around from the asparagus soup recipe.

The one big puzzle: What to do with the "fri-ta-toe" in the fridge from Wednesday and a bunch of smashed potatoes. That'll have to be tomorrow's lunch or I'll have to use the potatoes with the turkey sausage instead of pasta. I wish I had frozen some of the potatoes, but I had no idea that the smashed would stretch so far. That's a good lesson: If in doubt, freeze. It doesn't hurt to have a backlog of meals in the refrigerator, especially during the summer when hot days and the opportunities for fun abound.

Menu 6/7/08 - 6/13/08
Saturday June 7, 2008
Spinach pie

Sunday June 8, 2008
Turkey sausage with pasta

Monday June 9, 2008
Soup of the week and bread

Tuesday June 10, 2008
Turkey sausage with pasta

Wednesday June 11, 2008
Spinach pie and salad

Thursday June 12, 2008

Soup of the week with salad

Friday June 13, 2008

Fish day: Tuna wraps or other fresh fish

Bits and Pieces

2008-06-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

Tonight was G&T (gin and tonic) night on the porch. We felt like cold drinks and a hot meal, but since it had been a warm day, we didn't want to heat up the kitchen too much. I had just the right recipe.

Last year, the New York Times published the quickie dinner list to end all quickie dinner lists: "Summer Express: 100 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes" by Mark "the Minimalist" Bittman. It's available here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/dining/18mini.html?_r=1&oref=slogin. If you can't access the entire article for free (which I seem to be able to do just by being a registered user), it's worth the price of a download ($3.95, I think).

Bittman had just the thing (#14 on his list of 101 dinners) for using up the rest of the prosciutto we had in the refrigerator (from those canapes we made). One warning though: Do NOT add any salt to this dish. Really. I'm not kidding.

Prosciutto Pasta
Serves 2

4 ounces of dried pasta (such as spaghetti or linguini)
3-4 slices prosciutto, chopped
1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 to 3 cloves of crushed garlic
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 to 1/2 cup of bread crumbs (ours was with Italian seasonings)Pinch of red chili flakes
1/2 tablespoon of chopped flat leaf italian parsley (you can substitute dried parsley, but fresh is better)

Directions
1. Add pasta to a large pot of boiling water and let cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, add prosciutto , olive oil, garlic, and butter to a skillet over medium heat.
3. A minute later, toss in the bread crumbs and red chili flakes to taste (they're hot!!!). Mix together.
4. When pasta is finished, drain.
5. Serve prosciutto-bread crumb mixture over pasta with chopped parsley.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

EXTRA! EXTRA! I'm so excited: I have some great plans for the Home Ec-o blog this weekend. I'm introducing a new feature: E-Co$t. That's right, in addition to calculating the nutritional values of each dish (I'll be updating that data for this week's recipes), we're tallying how much each meal costs too.

Chicken, Rice, Spinach, and a Shot of...

2008-06-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight's dinner: chicken-spinach "casserole." That's right, a faux casserole. It's not baked, stewed, or cooked slowly. But like any traditional casserole, it's a good way to make a little chicken (and a lot of spinach) go a very long way. Because the chicken is from the roaster made earlier, this dish is made in the time it takes to cook the brown rice (about 45 minutes). And there's a bit of vodka thrown in too. I was tempted to freeze the leftovers but opted to relegate them to tomorrow's lunch instead.

Still no word from the fine folks at Hellmann's.

Chicken-Spinach Faux Casserole
Serves 4 to 6

1 cup uncooked brown rice
1.5 cups water
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
5 ounces baby spinach
1 small onion, chopped small
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 oz vodka
1/2 chicken breast (about 4.5 to 5 ounces)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons parmesean cheese

Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, combine water, chicken stock, and brown rice. Cook over medium-low flame for 45 minutes, covered.
2. Meanwhile, cut chicken into small bite-sized pieces.
3. Meanwhile, saute spinach, garlic, and onion in olive oil until translucent (about 10 minutes).
4. Deglaze pan with shot of vodka.
5. Lower heat and add spinach.
6. Let the spinach cook down, then add chicken.
7. Cook on medium-low heat until chicken is warmed.
8. Add salt and pepper, season to taste.
9. Mix in parmesean cheese and serve.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Update: Hello, Hellmann's? Hello?

2008-06-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

Remember my plans to contact Hellmann's about their low-fat mayonnaise? This is what I asked (in green):

Are you still making the Reduced Fat Mayonnaise dressing? It is not listed on your products page (only the light and low-fat versions are listed). When I looked at the Product Locator page, the Reduced Fat mayonnaise is listed on the pulldown menu. However, when the search is completed, the product is automatically changed to low-fat. now listed as low-fat.

Their response (in blue):

Thanks so much for writing!
The product is now called Hellmann's Low Fat mayonnaise. This product is available through distribution to any store who is willing to stock it. We suggest that you speak with your store managers and let them know you are interested in the product. Please urge them to contact their distributor.
We will forward your comments to the Brand Manager and the distribution staff. Consumer comments are very important to us and are evaluated on a regular basis. We certainly hope you will be able to find this product in your area soon.
Thanks for your interest!Your friends at Hellmann's

But based on the nutrition information on the jar I have, I'm still not certain that the reduced-fat and low-fat mayos are the same thing. So I emailed them back right away:

Thank you very much for getting back to me so quickly. I was under the impression that Low-Fat Mayo is 1 gram of fat per serving and the Reduced-Fat is/was 2 grams of fat per serving. Did the serving amounts change (I believe the the reduced-fat is 2 grams of fat per 1 tablespoon)? Thank you once again!

Except for the auto-reply informing me that they received my message and that they would respond shortly (that was May 30: 6 days ago!) , I haven't heard back from them. I'll follow up soon.

Meatloaf Sandwiches and Fri-ta-toe

2008-06-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

Since the stars were aligned against us today (my husband was in a car accident this morning— he's okay, as is the driver who hit him), we didn't follow the menu and, instead, made something easier than the chicken rice "casserole" that was scheduled. And what could be easier than turkey meatloaf sandwiches? We finished up the last of the asparagus (blanched and topped with a bit of butter), and I also made a fried potato "pancake" with leftover smashed potatoes and some other ingredients. I don't know if the potato side dish I made can technically be called a frittata, so I'm calling it a fri-ta-toe (rhymes with po-ta-to). My only regret? That I hadn't added the asparagus to the fri-ta-toe.

Fri-Ta-Toe
Serves 4 to 6

Extra virgin olive oil
2 cups of smashed potatoes (from earlier in the week)
1/4 cup chopped onion (also in the refrigerator from the day the meatloaf was made)
1/2 red pepper, chopped small
1 egg, beaten
Kosher salt
Pepper

Directions
1. Heat olive oil up in a large frying pan (I use a Le Creuset pan on medium-low heat).
2. Mix all ingredients together in bowl.
3. With a large spoon form potato mixture into 4 to 6 "pancakes," placing each, one at a time into the heated oil.
4. Cook for about 5 to 6 minutes on one side and turn it over. Brown on the other side for another 5 to 6 minutes.
5. Remove pancakes from pan when mixture is golden brown on both sides and heated through.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Don't Feed Them After Midnight

2008-06-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

Like a pair of hungry gremlins, my husband and I ate a very late supper last night (Tuesday) because of work. He heated up some asparagus soup (straight from the freezer) and popped some bread into the toaster.

Meanwhile, I worked on disassembling the chicken. One of the half-breasts is in the fridge for a meal later this week. The other half, along with the bits of white and dark meat and the bones (separate bags!), is now crammed into the freezer. It's getting awfully full in there.

Lemon-Herb Roasted Chicken
Serves 4

1 roaster chicken (about 4 lbs)
1 large onion (sliced)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper freshly ground (or more)
4 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1.5 teaspoons minced fresh dill
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
1.5 teaspoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 to 3 lemons washed and cut into quarters

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400-degrees
2. Remove organs from chicken and rinse and pat dry.
3. Toss onions (first cut in half, then in slices, to form half-round slices) with olive oil in bottom of roasting pan (I use a Le Creuset French oven).
4. Mix the herbs, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of pepper into softened butter.
5. With your clean hands take a portion of the herbed butter and spread it in the cavity of the chicken. Then separate the skin (gently) covering the breasts and smear herbed butter between the skin and meat. Be careful not to rip the skin or remove it entirely. You just want enough space to slide your fingers in to coat the breast meat with the butter mixture.
6. Spread the herbed butter over the entire outside of the chicken, covering all areas, including wings, drumsticks, etc.
7. Stuff the chicken with the lemon slices.
8. Sprinkle the top of the chicken with some Kosher salt and pepper.
9. Tuck the wings under the bird and tie the legs together with kitchen twine.
10. Roast for 1.25 to 1.75 hours, until the internal temperature of the breast meat reaches 180 degrees F.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points: