Greens Soup

I've been working on an academic paper for the past 9 months or so.  It's been rough going and one of the biggest problems I've faced is trying to figure out what exactly it is that I'm trying to tell people by writing this and using the university's money to get it published in a highly visible journal.  After taking a few days to step back and ponder, I think I really understand the message I want to get across and this has allowed me to become more focused and efficient.  I think the same goes for this blog.

What is the purpose for writing this?  Is it to just share recipes that we've swapped, or should there be something more?  Personally, I've used this to try to step up my game in terms of picture taking.  I'm working on quality too, but even taking pictures has been a struggle for me over at my other food blog.  Ahem.  But there's more to this blog than just disseminating our culinary results.  One of the main purposes here is to promote cooking at home.  It doesn't matter if it's fancy or simple, but the act of controlling what goes in one's food allows the home cook to cater to specific tastes, maintain the nutritional integrity of a dish, and generally increase the quality of what one eats.

It's hard to always make time to cook.  It seems that with busy lives and schedules, it's hard to sit down to eat, let alone start with a cupboard of ingredients.  One thing that I've started to do more and more is making large batches and freezing the leftovers.  The CSA that Colby and I belong to has been really greens heavy in the past.  It's not a problem, but sometimes it's hard to use up all the produce before it goes bad.  I've taken to blanching and freezing the greens for some later purpose.  It wasn't until tonight that I finally put my first big batch in a dish.  I also made way too many potatoes awhile back and froze those as well.  Colby and I got home from work on the late side and I decided that I wanted something simple for dinner.  This is what we came up with.

Greens soup
2 bunches greens, blanched or wilted (I used my freezer supply of swiss chard and spinach)
~1/2 lb potato, boiled (I used Yukon golds)
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 c stock
1/2 c milk
s+p, to taste
sour cream

In a medium-sized sauce pan, sweat the onions and a pinch of kosher salt in oil until they are translucent. ~5 minutes or so. Add in the crushed garlic and stir until fragrant ~30 s. Add in the greens, potatoes, milk, and stock.  Cook until everything is heated through and then puree until smooth.  Taste for seasoning.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

This recipe is incredibly versatile.  This was made with whatever I happened to have on hand.  Instead of a yellow onion, I had some really nice green onions from my CSA, so I used them before they went bad.  The greens are definitely interchangeable, as well as the liquids.  I used milk because I just bought a gallon and chicken stock because we always have that.  For a rich, tangy taste (without the sour cream) you could sub in some buttermilk, for instance.

Green Pie!

It was late on Sunday night when I was overcome by a sudden, overwhelming urge to bake pie. Nothing else would do, it had to be pie! After all, I shortly realized, Tuesday was Pi Day (3.14), so it did in fact have to be pie. But not just pie, it had to be green pie, because this week is St. Patrick's Day too, and therefore green is a must.

This led to a google image search (sorted by color, mind you) of possibilities. It turns out there are only about 3 possibilities when you want a truly green pie. The first was grasshopper pie, a delicious blend of mint and chocolate, which happens to be one of my favorite flavor combos, but since I anticipated sharing my pie with my co-blogger Julie, who isn't much of a chocolate fan (I know, I've been demanding her woman card for that one), I opted against it. The next option I found was avocado pie. Ew. Blech. I don't like avocado, but for many reasons that just sounds gross. Enter Option #3, key lime pie! Perfect winner!

I came across this link in the process for Lemon Chiffon Pie. I thought this post was great. I have really enjoyed the Community Supported Home Cooking experience so far, especially contrasting my own cooking style with others'. That blog post is a perfect example of the differences between my personal cooking style and Julie's. Most of what I make is fairly quick, easy, and functional. It's not supposed to be pretty or refined, it's supposed to fill me up and taste good doing it. Julie's cooking is very often about style and refinement, with little to no shortcuts. Everybody has their own ways of doing things, I just thought this was a great moment to realize that everyone cooks for different reasons. Some people cook to express themselves and release their creativity, which sometimes I do, but usually for me cooking is a wholesome, enjoyable way of putting food in my belly.

The blog post alluded to a Key Lime Icebox Pie, which was perfect for my intentions, so I went for it. I always make my own graham cracker crust, but even better for certain situations is vanilla wafer crust (also, gingersnap crust is amazing). I have a standard recipe for graham cracker-like crusts, which I got out of my Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cheesecake Cookbook:

Dessert crust:
1 1/2 c. crushed cookies
3 tbsp sugar
1/3 c. butter (which always turn out too dry so I'd go with 6-7 tbsp)

Also, a personal cooking problem of mine: overenthusiastic use of vanilla. This recipe called for 1 tsp vanilla in the icebox pie. Being the enthusiast I am, I never measure vanilla with a proper measuring spoon. I just pour a little in the batter and call it good. Well, this time I went a little too far. There was definitely a blow-by-blow battle between the vanilla and lime juice for the leading role of this pie. It was still tasty, and satisfied my pie need, but I think I've finally come around to admitting my vanilla hubris.

Meyer Lemon Sherbet

I finally found the recipe for the meyer lemon sherbet we made for our dinner party.  I also discovered that I misread the recipe in the first place.  Oops.  It was still quite delicious, so here's both a link to the original recipe and what I ended up making

Meyer Lemon Sherbet
1/2 c meyer lemon juice
zest of 3 meyer lemons, very finely chopped if not using a microplane grater
1 c heavy cream
3/4 c whole milk
2/3 c granulated sugar

In a small sauce pan, combine the sugar and lemon juice and heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Mix all the other ingredients, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, though longer is better because the flavors can meld.  Pour the mixture into a standard ice cream maker and once solid-er.  Freeze for a couple hours to really set.

We served this with some really yummy blueberries and it was great.  I love meyer lemons and this sherbet didn't disappoint!

Still Alive!

Okay, I admit that we've been a bit lax in our blogging lately, but that doesn't mean that we've been lax in cooking.  The cooking always comes first and thank goodness it does!  We've made some pretty tasty dishes over the past month and a half.  The goal is to recap every other week, after we've finished a cycle.  This time, I'll recap everything that we've made and starting in two weeks from now, it'll only be for the those items we cooked and links therein.


30 January 
Athena - Asian-inspired chicken and rice casserole
Chalence - Chicken and Forty Cloves
Julie - Lasagna
Randi - Jambalaya


6 February
Athena - chicken and shrimp stir-fry

Julie - Tibetan Beef Dumplings, Kimchi and Turkey Mandu, and Lai Wong Bao

13 February
Chalence - Chicken Paprikash with Dumplings
Randi - False Alarm Chili

20 February*
Colby & Julie -  Pot Roast with Root Vegetables, meyer lemon sherbet
Randi - Mexican Lasagna

27 February
Athena - Shepherd's Pie
Chalence - Curried Chicken with Noodles

6 March
Julie - Sriracha Salad with Chicken
Randi - Greek Salad and Hummus

On the 20th, we had our first CSHC dinner party.  Colby insisted on cooking and came through with flying colors.  He'll post about this soon.  *AHEM*.  Since this was a good forum for food that isn't easily transportable, I took the opportunity to use up some of my meyer lemon stash and made a quick sherbet.  Recipe to follow when I can find where I hid it. :)

Attack of the Veggies! Part II.

As a Midwesterner, I'd be remiss to dismiss the wonderful nature of meat and potatoes, but echoing Randi's sentiments, sometimes you just need your vegetables.  We both came to this conclusion separately this week and while Randi went to Greece, I found myself in Asia by way of Great Britain.  And what I mean by that is that I gathered some inspiration from Nigella Express.

Nigella includes a recipe for an Asian-inspired salad using tom yum paste and bean sprouts.  I had neither on hand and I kind of hate bean sprouts, so I modified the recipe to feed 8 people and include whatever I had lying around in my fridge.  This recipe is super simple and involves little cooking.  Mostly it's prep work and blanching, which I find strangely therapeutic.

Sriracha-inspired salad (Serves 8)
1/4 c rice wine vinegar
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

1.5 T sesame oil

1 T honey

3-4 T sriracha (depending on how spicy you like things)
4 cloves garlic, peeled, boiled for ~5 minutes, and mashed
kosher or sea salt to taste

2 spring onions, sliced

2 cans baby corn, drained, rinsed, and chopped into bite sized pieces

~2 c red cabbage, sliced

broccoli florets from ~3 crowns, blanched for ~3 minutes

~1/2 lb green beans, blanched for ~2 minutes
4 chicken breasts, baked, cooled, and sliced

For the dressing: whisk together rice wine vinegar, EVOO, sesame oil, honey, sriracha, garlic, and a pinch of salt.  Make sure the garlic is super mashed up.  I actually pass the boiled garlic through the garlic press.  Taste and season if necessary.  Or add more sriracha because you're obsessed.  I won't judge. :)

To blanch: bring a large pot of water to boil with a lot of kosher salt.  As Thomas Keller says, it should taste like the sea.  Once you get a rolling boil, add in the vegetable of choice to blanch for the prescribed amount of time.  Different vegetables take different amounts of time.  Remove the vegetable from the water and immediately shock in an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

To assemble:  Toss everything in a large bowl.

This definitely gets better with age.  The other awesome thing about this recipe is that you can sub in whatever vegetables you have on hand.  I've made this a couple times now just for myself and I've used spinach instead of red cabbage and leeks instead of spring onions.  It's all very flexible and no matter what, pretty much anything is delicious when it's coated with the sriracha dressing.

Attack of the Veggies! Part I.

From Doodle-A-Day

Or, how eating meat centered leftovers for a few weeks will cause massive cravings for fresh vegetables...

Or, how a wimpy Austinite craves summer and this is the next best thing...

We've had lots of great dishes exchanged, but I'm pretty sure all of them have revolved around meat, many times with a paired starch, such as noodles, mashed potatoes, etc. These are all wonderful, but sometimes I'm just dying for a veggie meal to make me feel balanced. Enter, Greek night! Tonight I made my own fresh hummus and Greek salad. (Actually, I had my hummus-God boyfriend make the hummus, but I soaked and cooked the chickpeas!)

This week's meal was a bit more expensive than my usuals just because of all the fresh produce, but boy was it worth it! And it's ok because the hummus was dirt cheap. The secondary theme of this week was "Recipes? Who needs 'em?" since I basically just grabbed stuff that sounded good and threw it together until it tasted like I wanted. "Recipe" follows:

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Greek salad:
4 cucumbers = $2.72
2 bags cocktail tomatoes = $6.94
1/2 red onion = $0.88
1/3 jar kalamata olives = $1.50
8 oz feta = $3.98
splash EVOO
salt, Greek seasoning
total salad: $16.25 (8 servings, $2.03/serving)

hummus:
16 oz bag dried chickpeas = $1.00
1/4 jar tahini (about 1/2 c) = $1.25
4 cloves garlic = $0.10
lemon juice
EVOO
salt, cumin, garam masala, cayenne etc from the cupboard
Soak the chickpeas overnight, then cook them in the crockpot on low for 12 hours (or possibly somewhat less, but that's when I got home from work). Drain. Throw everything in a food processor. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Total hummus: $2.50 (makes 32 oz!, so at least 16 servings=$0.16/serving=damn cheap!!!)
1 pita bread for dipping = $0.42
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Even with the slightly more expensive salad, I'd like to see you get a fresh, delightful meal like that for < $3 when eating out! What can I say...cooking well and saving money makes me very proud of myself.

Lasagna-inspired Mexican casserole

Not long ago, Julie wowed us with her homemade lasagna! I've had a hankering for Mexican food lately, and since everyone is always underwhelmed by the spiciness of my dishes (false alarm chili), I made an effort this time to spice it up to the edge of my comfort level. This dish was ridiculously easy to make, and also quite cheap!

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Taco-layer casserole (aka Randi throwing random Mexican ingredients in a 13x9 pan):

1/2 package corn tortillas (1 pack=$1.14, so $0.57)
1 can refried beans ($0.69)
2 lbs. ground beef ($4.76)
homemade taco seasoning, see below
1 can Hatch Tex-Mex diced tomatoes & green chilies ($0.50)
1/2 jar salsa ($1.99/2=$1)
1 pack shredded cheddar ($1.95)
one tomato, diced ($0.38)
1 c. sour cream ($1.22)

I found this a long time ago and have used it religiously ever since. I almost never keep the taco seasoning packets on hand, but I always have the ingredients to throw together taco seasoning, plus you can modify this to your personal taste. I like lots of cumin!

In a small bowl, mix together the homemade taco seasoning:
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
chili powder to taste

Preheat oven to 350 (because I hate recipes that don't tell you to preheat, and then I get all the way to the end with everything assembled, and realize I have to wait 5 min for my oven to heat).

In a large pan, brown ground beef, draining the fat afterward. Mix in the homemade taco seasoning and the can of Hatch tomatoes. Set aside.

In 13x9 pan, layer corn tortillas, refried beans, seasoned beef, salsa, and 1/2 package shredded cheese. Repeat layers without cheese. Top with tortillas, sour cream, diced tomatoes, and rest of shredded cheese. Bake for 30 min, until warmed through and cheese is melted. 8 servings.
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This was just at the border of my tolerable spiciness where I was still able to truly enjoy the meal, although I think the spiciness faded a little with time. I ate mine with tortilla chips to reign in the spice a bit. The Hatch chilies are amazing, but their availability is tied to central Texas, so in a pinch you can substitute Rotel tomatoes and chilies, which will have slightly different seasonings.

I listed the costs per item above, but the final total comes to $11.07, which is $1.38 per serving. Stop and think about that. You could easily go out to eat and spend that on one meal. For the same price, you can feed 8 people (or yourself 8 times)!