salad!

dressing: (thank you magic bullet!)
apple cider vinegar, white raisins, evoo, s&p, oregano, carmelized onions
tip: warm the raisens in water until they are plump before magic bulleting.

spinach, goat cheeze, roasted red peppers, dried cranberries, almonds, dressing

bruschetta

Bruschetta with pan fried baguette and balsamic reduction:
A great party appetizer, can serve a whole lot of friends.

What you'll need:

fresh basil. a bunch.
mozarella
roma tomatos
white onion
garlic salt
baslamic vinegar
a baguette
vegetable oil
slice up the baguette into slices that are less than a half inch thick. coat a frying pan with oil, and fry both sides on medium heat. add more oil as necessary.this is honestly nice to have cut up before hand. i use roma tomatos because they are less juicy/seedy and they have more flavor. Cube the tomatos, mozarella, and white onion. The smaller the better, but don't puree them! Equal parts tomato and basil, a little less white onion. A couple pinches of garlic salt, and a good amount of basil.i want to put that in my moutthhhhhh!! finish and drizzle with baslamic reduction. which as you know, is made up of butter, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and... what makes it brown? oh yeah, bacon fat.

kiddin. reduce baslamic vinegar in a large frying pan until it becomes syrupy. i suggest making a bunch of it and just having it in your fridge, it keeps well .

thanks for these photos, rach :)

portobello burgers and roasted yams*.

1) yams*:

wash

slice + half (skin optional, usually preferred, and recommended)

tossed in evoo, s + p

minced garlic^

roasted at 350 until done (about 20 minutes)

*can be substituted for sweet potatoes. the grocery store just didn't have any so yams, it was.

^maybe a bit of cinnamon & sugar would be nice in it's place.

2) grill the burger and the bun:

toss mushrooms in evoo and s & p first!

3) the fixings:

.baby spinach

.red onions

.provolone

.lemon honey mustard

.and the yams that were originally thought of as a side dish

.herd butter on the bun tops (that simply means "some rosemary and thyme or parsley or something like that...")

.avocados very suggested but not shown here

nom

green beans, black beans, red bliss potatos, sweet corn, honey goat chz, sea salt, lemon pepper, crushed garlic, evoo

....parsley might be a good addition to this.

serve chilled over a bed of spinach.

love the girls <3

Cooking for one

My sister sent me some pretty cool suggestions on different topics to post about. One that I find interesting is cooking for one. I have a lot of friends who are in their early twenties, have some roommates, and need to cook for one in a way that they have satisfying, healthy, inexpensive meals that don't waste a lot of food. She also suggested something for people who don't really like to cook, but i might tackle that later ;).

*These are all vegetarian, though some grilled chicken with almost any of this stuff would be pretty good too.

• 
  
  
  here are some ideas for your next grocery list.

eggs
red bliss potatos kale
a can of black beans
rice
red cabbage
tomatos
corn tortillas
yellow onion
portabello mushroom(sort of expensive.)
pasta
sliced almonds, dried cranberries (sort of expensive.)
frozen beans
shredded mexican cheese
bread
crushed garlic

I don't mind putting a bit of prep time into my cooking when i have a spare hour. so if you want to, here's what I'd suggest for this grocery list. Kale - Blanch it. Dip, for a only a second, the leaves into a pot of boiling salt water and immediately place in a bowl of ice water. Soak until the kale is entirely cooled, wring out, and store in some tupperware in the fridge. I like blanched kale because it takes away the bitter taste, retains the nice texture and a lot of the nutrition. Cabbage - cut 1/2 the cabbage into nice thin strings. place in a tupperware container with about an inch of vinager. I like using rice vinager for the flavor. Onion - Use 2/3 of the onion. cut into nice thin strings. the thinner you can manage, the better. Then, over low heat and a bit of oil, carmelize the onions. Pay attention to them, though, because burned onions are nasty and have a really bitter flavor. Tortillas - 4 tortillas. cut into fours, and fry with some veggie oil. sprinkle with sea salt and lime juice, for extra flavor.

• breakfast 1 - a hearty brunch! heat up a red bliss potato in a bowl of water in the microwave for 5 minutes. I would say boil your potatos, or brine them in water, salt and vinegar overnight, but the former is quicker and brining might irritate your roommates who are already squeezing their groceries into one shared space. slice the potato so that there are about 8 chunks and sautee with salt, pepper, & olive oil. Throw in some rosemary if you have it. and then when they are starting to brown, throw in some caramelized onions. mmmmmmmm. eggs - wisk two to three eggs in a bowl, add milk. I like doing two eggs with yolks and one with just the egg white. or 1 egg yolk and 2 egg whites. you can save the yolks for something else later, if you want. pour in a frying pan over medium heat and add the leftover chopped tomato, onion, and beans from the night before! And used some of that pickled red cabbage from your prep earlier for a little salad. And cut up a tortilla and fry with oil to make little chips. Add some sea salt and lime juice and they are delicious.


• breakfast 2 french toast! wisk a few eggs with some milk and brown sugar/vanilla extract (teeny tiny bit) OR lemon juice (no milk) and cook until golden brown on both sides. medium heat. * a cool little syrup to this would be to melt a 1/4 stick of butter with some milk, adding brown sugar, white sugar, and dried cranberries.


• lunch 1 Stir fry -cook your rice. scramble an egg. slice some cabbage. sautee some green beans and when thawed, add some cabbage. Throw in some onions, if you have any leftover from the stuff you didn't caramelize. throw in some kale. add some crushed garlic, or soyaki, chicken, sliced almonds, or whatever! but it's a healthy&hearty lunch and makes for great leftovers.


• lunch 2 sandwich with roasted portabello, caramelized onions, kale, and some olive oil and vinegar. some goat cheese would go really nicely with this.


• dinner 1 - quesadillas! chop up a bit of your onion & tomato and strain your black beans. over medium heat in a frying pan, put a tblsp of veggie oil. throw on a tortilla, cheese, fillings, and more cheese. put on the top tortilla and flip. (i shouldn't be telling you how to make a quesadilla. you probably know.)


• dinner 2 pasta! cook your pasta. sautee sliced portabello mushrooms in some olive oil. definitely use the stem, if you have it. add the caramelized onions and mix in with the pasta. this is so simple and delicious! add some butter and parmesan, a little salt and pepper. golden. even add a bit of the kale you blanched earlier for some greens. mmm mmm good.


• dinner 3 sautee some green beans in an inch of water and add a handful of dried cranberries. cook until the water is gone or the green beans are thoroughly cooked. when finished, add sliced almonds. make some mashed potatoes with two red bliss potatos, add some salt, milk, and butter. make some garlic bread by baking a piece or two with crushed garlic, butter and cheese. broil or 6 minutes at 450. (this dinner needs some protein)


• dinner 4 rice, beans, pickled red cabbage and a couple of eggs over medium. traditional ecuadorian feast :)!


• dinner 5 by this time your bread might be a little stale, and your eggs need to be used. sweet. make some bread pudding for dinner. you might want to make this the night before, so you can just pop it in the oven when you are hungry. bread pudding was traditionally made to make use of the bread going stale and whatever else that might be turning soon. so it gives you a great opportunity to make a floorsweep dinner. cut 3 pieces of bread into squares. wisk 2 eggs ( a good time to use leftover yolks) with some salt and 1/3 cup of milk. and whatever spices you'd like. garlic, rosemary (sidenote - i've been using a shitton of rosemary lately, it seems to grow everywhere in san francisco, so i'm taking advantage). soak the bread in the egg milk mixture and throw in some sauteed portabello and carmelized onions and shredded cheese. even some dried cranberries. this can be cooked uncovered at 375 for a just over ten minutes. you do want it to be moist, but browning at the top. i would serve this with some sauteed kale that you've blanched earlier.
  


• snacks - man i love blanched kale all by itself for a snack. that might just be me. chips & salsa. - use the tortilla chips, chopped tomato, onion, and black beans. chop the pickled red cabbage into more manageable pieces. add some sea salt. mmm. dried cranberries and sliced almonds in a bag for on-the-go.

Hope this inspires you!

Before the weather gets warmer

I am surprised that I haven't posted this recipe yet. I did send it to rachel, so I know it's somewhere in san francisco ;)

Butternut squash soup - this soup is rich and made with warm (middle eastern) spices. Though I've tried to make it a bit healthier by making it vegan - smart butter, rice milk... The real thing is way more worth it. A great soup for cold weather. Serves 8. ish. And a hand mixer or processor would be uber helpful.

1 butternut squash
1 batata (not the orange kind)
2 shallots
heavy cream, butter
allspice, cumin, corriander, cinnamon, cloves, tumeric, brown sugar, saffron (if you have it. it's expensive!)

Boil batata in very salty water until soft.
Roast butternut squash for an hour or until soft at 350, let cool and peel/cut skin off.
Roast sliced shallots for 20 min at 350.

Add those ingredients to a big pot and process with a half quart of heavy cream. Add more cream/butter to texture. Add sugar, salt, & spices to taste. It is meant to have a warm rich taste, but not too sweet.

It must be the weather

Today I had an overwhelming sensation to use crab meat. I really did. I was thinking maybe some crab rangoons with cream cheese, scallions, a bit o ginger, garlic, red onion, etc... But then I remembered someone telling me how difficult it is to make a perfect crab cake. I wanted to see how close I could get without following a recipe. Here goes:

1 Gala apple, processed
1 Large yellow onion, processed
1 red pepper, processed
1 sleeve of white flour buttery crackers (I used trader joes social crackers) * I also used a couple pieces of whole wheat bread and about a cup of rice crispies , all processed. yay for magic bullets!
18 oz of crab meat
4 tblsp of fresh lemon
1/2 cup of chives, chopped finely
1 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan chz
2-3 cups of panko bread crumbs
1 cup mayonaisse

4 tblsp minced crushed garlic

1 stick o butter
1 egg
* Go veg! : 1 portabello mushroom, processed

Quick! The Aioli!

Bowl - 1 cup of mayo, more or less depending on how much you like aioli.

Whilst processing the red pepper, over a tblsp of red pepper juice was produced. So. I used that, along with a tblsp or so of the processed red pepper and a tblsp of lemon juice and a modest handful of chives, add salt and pepper to taste. Done and done.

As for the rest.

1. Put bread crumbs in large bowl.
2. Melt stick of butter in frying pan and simmer chopped onions med low til cooked. Add mixture to bread crumbs.
3. The bread crumbs should still be a little dry, add egg and lemon juice to mixture until all is moist.
4. Add the rest of the red pepper, the apple, and a modest handful of chives. And a couple of tablespoons of minced garlic. 2 - 4, depending on your taste for garlic.
5. Here's where I split. My 2 roomates are veggie, so I made a little batch for them, processing a half a portabello mushroom and adding that to the mix. The rest of the batch I used a ton of crabmeat, 18 oz, for some really crabby cakes. ahah. Mix it in and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, whatever, to taste. I love using pink himalayan sea salt, cracked black pepper, white pepper, love it!
6. Roll into balls of a size you would like to eat. For appetizer portions, I like to do a meatball size. Entrees, 2, 2.5 meatballs mushed into one. I roll the balls in panko bread crumbs and either store them to be cooked later on, or place them on a cookie sheet with tinfoil.
   
   
7. Bake those biddies for 12 minutes at 425 or until the panko bread crumbs are browning.
8. Drizzle with red pepper aioli and SERVE! I love a sprout and spinach garnish.

~ 25 appetizer crab cakes, or ~ 12 entree crab cakes.

UPDATE: I tried making crab cakes again for my family a few days later. I nixed the parm cheeze and used about half the bread crumbs. I added a little parsley and a scoop of mayonaisse. They were delicious... Wayyy better! But if you were gonna stick with the portobello, I would keep the same amount of bread crumbs and cheeze, add parsley, no mayo. muah.

Fraaaank! He ruined our salaaaad!

Charlie has returned to Cranshack!

Pat & I had a celebratory lunch:

Salad:
spinach, arugula
carmelized onions
warm dried cranberries
thinly sliced radishes, sprouts
almonds, gorgonzola
dressing: fresh lemon, whole grain mustard, olive oil, black pepper


And:
Ziti alfredo with broccoli and chicken. mmm.

winter hummus

2 cans of chick peas
garlic, shallots, radishes, butternut squash seeds
parmesan cheese, olive oil, vinegar
s+p, brown sugar, cane sugar, black pepper



roast 2 shallots and 2 med size cloves of garlic at 350 for 20 min
roast butternut squash seeds (salted) at 350 for 10 min
pickle sliced radishes in vinegar, brown sugar, cane sugar, and pinch of salt
process chick peas, add water and olive oil to desired texture
add 2 tblsp of shallot and garlic together, add the rest to taste

heat hummus. drizzle olive oil on surface. sprinkle on seeds, radishes, and fresh parm as desired.

god bless the indian summer

salad :

mesculn grns

balsamic vinegar reduction
strawberries

blue chz

mmmm corn :

corn cobs

butter

mayo
cayenne pepper

fresh parm cheese

cilantro

garlic

onion powder

onion

olive oil

sugar

s + p

milk - soy, rice, or cow.

corn: throw some corn into a pot of water, maybe 3.5 inches of water.

add a few tblsp of sugar (be generous), a pinch of salt, and a splash of olive oil

and a quarter of an onion, in chunks.

boil or steam for less than five minutes and let soak for a few hours.

aioli: depending on how many corn cobs, but fancy yourself a little bowl of mayo and add a tblsp of melted butter. some s+p. a dash or so of onion powder. simmer some diced garlic with olive oil + throw that in as well, leftover olive oil/garlic can be thrown into corncob pot. add some splashes of milk, and wisk the aioli mixture. it should not be soupy, it should be thick but not as gobby as the original mayo mixture.

grill the corn cobs til they have charred slightly.

put the corn on a platter, cover the centers with the aioli and let the cobs sit in the remaining mixture. sprinkle cayenne pepper as desired. add fresh parm chz. add bits of cilantro, everywhere. serve. enjoy.

quadruple death baked mac & cheeze

just screwing around in the kitchen. i couldn't take pictures faster than my roommates were eating it, sorry for the lack of aesthetic appeal ;)

medium shell size pasta
small shell size pasta
6 servings total

milk - i've used both rice milk and whole milk and they've suited me fine.
1 1/4 cup

5 tblsp butter (unsalted is better)

cheeeeeeze: handful of gorgonzola crumbles, lotsa gruyere, white cheddar, sprinkle o feta, lil bit o mozarella. Mozarella kind of gives it a lumpy texture after it sits for a bit. if that's not your thang, substitute for more cheddar.

trader joes party crackers or ritz crackers. any buttery white flour based cracker.


cook pasta to an al dente. strain.

melt 1 tblsp of butter and mash up some crackers. 12 ish crackers. mix with butter.

in a little saucepan, bring a cup of milk and 4 tblsp of butter to a simmer. slowly add gorgonzola, cheddar and gruyere. add the mozarella and sprinkle of feta last. stir until the texture is something like gak meets water. add spots of milk as necessary.

turn on your broiler and have a oven safe bowl type object ready for use.

add cheeze sauce to pasta over low heat. stir in 1/4 cup of milk quickly, but don't mix it in too well. transfer to oven safe bowl. top it with butter crushed cracker mix and broil it for a good 3 minutes.

let it sit for a few and serve and enjoy. and then go to the gym.