goblinbox

In which there’s a recipe. Sort of.

After my last post, I went to the kitchen feeling poor and dejected. I knew I had corn tortillas, some cheese, and half a can of refried beans in the fridge. I figured I’d nuke the beans and have a taco or two. AGAIN.

Instead, I made enchiladas!

Not only was there half a can of refried beans in the fridge, but also milk and most of an 8 oz container of sour cream, and some grated Parmesan that was just about expired. I also had a can of fire-roasted chiles in a cupboard.

I nuked three tortillas to soften them, put in some beans and rolled them up. Then I covered them with a chile cream sauce and nuked them, finishing with some leftover salsa and a chopped green onion.

The sauce loosely follows the one in this recipe, but made use of what I had lying around, so it contained Parmesan and cumin instead of Swiss.

Not only was this totally delicious, but I have enough sauce leftover to pour over eggs on toast in the morning. Yum!

In which we talk about breakfast! Yum! Because while I read a lot of involved, uplifting, active, and self-referential blogs, personally I’m just not that interesting. Plus: there’s a bunch of food porn!

Yesterday I was craving a big old bowl of the Egyptian breakfast food known as ful medames. The stuff is just so delicious I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Since my shift today didn’t start until one o’clock, I got up and took myself to the grocery store this morning. I didn’t go to Loney’s because they don’t carry fava beans and I never can find any pita bread there. Instead, I took my brother’s truck and went over to Super 1. It was gigantic:

There, I spent about two million years fifteen minutes looking for fava beans and pita bread. They were there, but not where I thought they would be, and I must have covered two thirds of the store’s square footage before I located them.

Then I went home and watched this video again on my iPod Touch, because it’s my favorite recipe for ful and I couldn’t remember how much lemon juice to use:

After that, I cooked up a big old batch of beans with garlic and lemon and garnished it with olive oil, parsley, tomato, radish, hard boiled egg, green onion, picked vegetables, and olives. It looked really pretty plated up:

And then?

And I eated it! With whole wheat pita bread! OMG teh yum!

(G’ma said the concoction “looked pretty, but didn’t taste all that good.” This is because I did not salt it per about ten recipes I’ve read which don’t call for salt. At all. Apparently you’re supposed to salt at the table. Which I did!)

The last time I had ful was in Brooklyn, in an Egyptian place around the corner from Deboka’s brownstone. It was freakin’ delicious there, too, and came with a giant squeeze bottle of tahini (!!!) and even had green peppers in it.

The time before that, I made a batch myself and packed it in a bento box with some falafel:

And here’s an entire gallery of fuul porn, just in case you doubted the status of my fandom for this dish! (Go look. Srsly. I’ll wait.)

Ful is the bestest, cheapest, fillingest breakfast ever. Bonus: it has the added benefit of giving you garlic breath first thing in the morning!

And yes, apparently I did just write an entire post about beans. Guess who needs to get laid?

In which I might finally tackle the whole ‘learn to make decent bread’ thing this fall! Srsly!

Since bad bread isn’t even worth eating and good bread is expensive, I’ve been thinking for a looooooong time about maybe learning how to make my own bread. It’s not rocket surgery, so it can’t be that hard, right? Well, in preparation I’ve found the following items of interest on the Internet:

1. This recipe for Sicilian No-Knead Bread.

2. This article about baking your own bread.

3. This recipe, apparently from an issue of COOK’S (I found it as an image online and typed it out myself):

Almost No-Knead Bread

An enameled cast-iron Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid yields best results, but the recipe also works in a regular cast-iron Dutch oven or heavy stockpot. Use a mild-flavored lager, such as Budweiser. The bread is best eaten the day it is baked but can be wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in a cool, dry place for up to 2 days.

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting work surfaces
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1-1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons mild-flavored lager
1 tablespoon white vinegar

1. Whisk flour, yeast, and salt in large bowl. Add water, beer, and vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.
2. Lay 12- by 18-inch sheet of parchment paper inside 10-inch skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle. Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment lined skillet and spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with your finger, about 2 hours.
3. About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place 6- to 8-quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (with lid) on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or very sharp knife, make one 6-inch long, 1/2-inch deep slit along the top of the dough. Carefully remove pot from the oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot (let any excess parchment hang over pot edge). Cover pot with lid and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.

The recipe also has an Olives, Rosemary, and Parmesan variation I might try.

• artisanbreadinfive.com
• No-knead bread recipe
• Andy’s bread recipe

In which today brings a us recipe!

Left Coast Girlie says: “Here’s the yakimandu recipe. You can remove the meat and use tofu and veggies like mushrooms and cabbage…. Thought I’d share.”

Yaki Mandu

2 pkg. (30 sheets each) wonton wrappers
1 lb. lean ground beef or chopped sirloin
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
20 to 25 medium mushrooms, chopped
1 pkg. (12 oz.) firm tofu
2 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
Read the rest of this entry »

In which my Saturday is lovely.

I took Raybo out last night. The woman raises three kids – and keeps a man – so she deserves the occasional late night out with the girls. Got home late. Really late. Like, three-thirty in the morning late.

Last night after (finally) folding all of my clean laundry, I took out my whites – the clothes I wear when seeing Amma every year – so that I’ll remember to wash and iron them soon.

And today, for fun, I wrapped one of my saris on over my jammies – sloppily – and took a picture for you. You, my babies!

Then I read Plainsong for awhile.

I wanted French food but I can’t afford to eat at Petit Paris so I went to the grocery store instead. I spent $18 on bread, brie, butter, milk, lettuce, tomatoes, and an avocado. And some POM tea.

Speaking of grocery stores, EconoFoods is going out of business, which leaves our little town of just-barely-ten-thousand with only two shopping choices: the giant chain, Hy-Vee, or the little chain, Everybody’s. (AmmZon started doing more shopping at Everybody’s recently and the household food bill was over six hundred bucks last month!) I work part-time; I went to Hy-Vee.

I know I’m supposed to, but honestly I don’t care about organic produce… not in my tax bracket. (I saw a blogger friend recently refer to Whole Foods as “Whole Paycheck.” Hah! Sing it, girl.) Now, I grok how food should be raised – I’m not stupid – and I admire the people who are doing it… But. Ultimately, as a consumer living well below the poverty line, I don’t give a shit if there’s a few chemicals in my lettuce. I absorb chemicals every time I bathe in city water or slather my skin with product. Not to mention that the majority of organic foods are overpriced and less attractive, and as any kid who has ever had a garden knows, forcing produce – by milk-feeding pumpkins, for instance – is not always a horrible thing.

When I returned home, I made a lovely creamy veggie chowder (potatoes, peas, corn, and carrots) and a brie sandwich. Yes, the bread is Italian, but what do you expect? You think I can just go out and buy French bread whenever I want? I live in BFE, people!

Which causes me to wonder, why Egypt? I realize the scansion requires a two-syllable place name – after all, “Bum Fuck Katmandu” wouldn’t roll off the tongue satisfactorily – but Egypt isn’t particularly obscure. Everyone’s heard of Egypt. Why not someplace truly off the map, like, oh, I don’t know… someplace I’ve never heard of? (I have high expectations of military slang ever since FUBAR and SNAFU, don’t you know.)

Later I went to the bar with my roommates to visit with two old friends from out of town. AmmZon had spent the afternoon working in the garden over at her aunt’s house, and suddenly came down with heat exhaustion. I boxed up the food she’d ordered and drove her home, where she immediately passed out on the couch under a blanket.

Truck came home an hour later. They nagged at each other; they do that. It drives me batshit, even though they’re always apologizing for it. Eventually they went upstairs to bed. When she came down later, I finished making the cup of tea she’d started. She wanted some Gatorade, which I said I’d run for, but now I think she’s asleep and the closest gas station is closed by now.

It’s Saturday night, it’s late, and I’m poor. And besides, no need to go out when I have 400 Mb (and counting – I’m still downloading!) of new music – Ben Folds Five, Sneaker Pimps, Amon Tobin, Les Claypool, Tower Of Power, Groove Armada – from my brother! I think I’ll head to bed myself and listen to my iPod. Yum.

In which there’s a little northern Indian food festival in the kitchen!

Last night, I cooked.

A lot.

Rajma masala, cumin rice, and curried spinach to be exact!

I’d never made rajma before, so I googled a few recipes, read them carefully, and then went ahead and cooked. The outcome was stunning, if I do say so myself! I think I’ve made my peace with eastern spicing; if I’ve eaten a dish once I can replicate it later.

For the cumin rice I followed a recipe, but was out of butter by then so I used oil instead. It worked fine. (I keep forgetting to buy ghee.)

The curried spinach was simple and I made it up on the spot: skillet, oil, diced onions, minced garlic. Some garam masala, some cumin, some tumeric, a bit of curry powder. Salt. Tossed in a bag of frozen spinach and sauteed until hot through.

I made a massive amount of food, wholly intending to take some to work with me today for lunch. But when I got up this morning, there was only a little rice left.

So there is a downside to being a great cook: no leftovers!

In other news, BGhead is in town and smitten with the On Relationships series. He threatens to post, even! If any of you are feeling at all drawn to the idea, please do join in. The two posts we’ve had so far were wonderful; I know you’re out there.

In which breakfast is the best meal of the whole morning!

Vegetarian white trash breakfast from hell…

…is a light rye, veggie sausage, plasti-chee sandwich, with a hash brown patty and a home-made latte.

It. Is. Good.

…and Dinner: In other news, a falafel place opened up (!!!) in the front of the Hickory House bar. It’s a weird place for a falafel restaurant, but that’s not the point.

The point is there’s falafel in town again! I had dinner there. It was excellent. Falafel, baba ganoush, tahini, tabouli, pita, hummus. OMFG, I’m so happy! I sat at the bar, read an ebook, and ATE FALAFEL WITH MY COCKTAIL!

I might expire from joy, my babies. From joy!

In which I liked it enough to make it a second time, which means that the recipe goes on the intarwebs for your reading pleasure!

This soup is easy to make, nutritious, and cheap. I’ve made it twice — the first time I made it up as I went along, and it was yummy enough that tonight AmmZon requested it again and I decided to write it down.

So here goes: a simple, filling spinach soup my household really likes.

Creamy Spinach Soup

In a large pot over medium flame, heat:

• 1 T. butter
• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil

add and saute until translucent:

• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced.

Add:

• 2 c. whole milk
• 2 c. broth, vegetable or chicken
• 1 c. water
• scant pinch ground cloves (optional)
• dash red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. ground tumeric (optional)

Add:

• 1 large potato, peeled and diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 pkg. frozen spinach

Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes and carrots are tender.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the solids into a blender. Add a little broth and pulse until smooth, then return to the soup pot and stir.

Adjust seasonings:

• kosher salt and black pepper to taste.

Ladle into bowls and serve with a good, crusty bread.

Servings: 4-6
Cooking time: 20-30 minutes

Recipe Source
Author: Me!
Source: goblinbox.com

Now that you’re into recipe mode, go read this one.

In which I do something specifically because he told me to. He’s such a bossy kitten.

I made chili today for the First Annual Blogger Chili Blog Off! (which was actually last Saturday, but punctuality is not really my strong suit).

I more or less used this recipe, except today I used three kinds of beans (kidney, black, Navy); I left out the bullion because that’s just stupid; and I used defrosted, pureed tomatoes from AmmZon’s garden rather than canned tomatoes.

With cheese and sour cream and Saltines, it was really delicious. A pot of vegetarian chili in the kitchen is a beautiful thing, peeps!

On a different tip, this guy seems to be a total freak, and utterly deserving of the title Person No One Ever, Ever Wants To Work For, Ever. (Thanks to my bro for the link.)

In other news, who in the holy fuck decided that it was a good idea to stage the fucking Grammys in a fucking basketball stadium? Because, I don’t know, but maybe an event DEVOTED ENTIRELY TO MUSIC should maybe be held in a venue that DOESN’T SOUND LIKE IT’S AT THE BOTTOM OF A GODDAMNED WELL?!??!

In which there’s a request — from Shigeki — for a recipe. I’m so happy to oblige!

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

2 T. butter
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small carrot, finely diced
1 T. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. dried dill
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 whole clove
1 bay leaf
4 c. water, hot Read the rest of this entry »

In which I cook Indian, freak the fuck OUT — omg! you have no idea! DUDES! — on a virtual world, and talk about the perils of knitting. In the process I manage to put a rather astonishing number of links into a single entry. (Mouse over ‘em for snap-ups!)

This morning (and I use ‘morning’ loosely here; you should cleverly interpret it to mean ‘early afternoonish’), I got up and immediately cooked a feast!

Chana masala. Egg curry. Long-grain Basmati rice. Papadums. Yogurt, chutney. So good! OMFG, so good. We all ate heartily.

Then I got back on the laptop and booted into Second Life. (I was up until five-thirty this morning wandering around in there.) It’s so, so fun. I want to move to San Francisco and work at Linden Labs, like, toute suite, swear to God. And I don’t even like living in SF!

This world, this Second Life, it’s everything sci-fi ever taught me to want! It’s virtual. It’s wonderful. It’s a/the progenitor of the metaverse, and that’s HOT. Sweden is building an embassy there. You can fly in there! How did I not know about this until now? Has my entire head been up my arse since 2003? It’s practically better than knitting!

Oh, and on the subject of knitting, I’ve divided my sweater for the front and back around the armholes. This means I’m actually lurking up on being halfway done with it! Yay!

The bad news is that the bamboo circulars I bought (from Knit Picks, along with the yarn and pattern), which were supposed to be size 10, are not in fact size 10 at all — they’re more like 9.75s. This means I have to knit the entire sweater with them, including the collar and the arms (which will be a pain in the arse), or my gauge will change noticeably. Luckily the circulars in question are long enough that I can use the magic loop method, but it still kinda pisses me off. I guess it’s taught me to use my needle gauge to check new needles for accuracy of size upon purchase, at least. Pah.

In other news, I submitted a resume to Robert Half Technology last week — for a tech position they’d listed on Monster.com as “Web Administrator’s Dream Job” — and they called me back and left a message Friday night! I’ll be calling them first thing Monday morning.

I suppose moving to Cedar Rapids wouldn’t be too terribly bad; it’s only an hour and a quarter from Fairfield so I could still come see my friends on weekends, and it’s almost practically a city (by Iowa standards, at least) so if I lived there I might could find myself a working band and have access to quasi-decent restaurants!

In which I present you with a list of my recent accomplishments! Yay!

1. I finished knitting the first gauntlet.

2. I applied for a job at Cambridge.

3. I wrote a letter to Brumbaugh & Quandahl, PC, LLO, Rat Bastards about the levy on my checking account, inviting them to either provide evidence that they were legally able to attach my account or to kindly get their fucking garnishment off my account and refund my NSF fees toute suite else be hearing from my lawyer.

4. I made coffee and drank it with Silk brand French Vanilla Creamer in it.

5. I read several chapters of Hyperion, and OMG it’s sooooooo good.

6. I added additional items to my Wishlist because God knows I don’t want to be at a loss when I get a job and need to start spending money again.

[Possible 7.] I’m thinking of going to the store to buy ingredients for chole (aka chana masala) (aka kabuli chana) (aka chickpea curry) because the recipe over at Dykewife’s looks freakin’ delicious.

In other news, the weather ’round here is expected to turn reeeeeeally shitty tomorrow.

Update: I made the chole after all, and served it with rice, papadums, cottage cheese, and green chili chutney.

Instead of following a specific recipe I combined both of the linked recipes above, adding some of the pre-mixed chana masala powder I found, in the surprisingly awesome International section at Easter’s, for less than two dollars.

It was so good! I had seconds. Truck had seconds too. When AmmZon gets home, I bet she’ll also have seconds. That’s how good it is.