Filed under: Uncategorized
I am graduating tomorrow and it seems like a good time to stop writing in this blog. I’m sure there will be more to come in my life, but for now I can no longer accurately represent rural college cooking. Hopefully you will get around to making some of these recipes at some point… I promise they’re tasty.
Filed under: Italian, pasta | Tags: chevre, cous cous, feta, pasta, spinach, tomato, vegetarian
So I realized that almost everything I make now is inspired by the cheese that I get from Guinevere. Here are two more dishes that I made with them that turned out well, one with feta and the other with chevre. I am busy snacking on some cheddar and crackers as well!
From recipezaar:
Alexandra’s Feta Pasta (I don’t know Alexandra, jus the name of the recipe!)
1 (16 oz) bag frozen chopped spinach
2 (14 1/2 oz) cans diced tomatoes (one with Italian seasoning the other with onion and garlic)
1 onion, choppped
8 oz crumbled feta (but you can use more or less, I probably used less)
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbl olive oil
16 oz pasta (something large, short, and shapely like ziti… I used multigrain)
1/4 cup fresh parmesan, grated
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt, crushed red pepper, and pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 350 F and defrost the spinach. Boil water for pasta according to package directions in a saucepan. Meanwhile, saute the onion in in the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once onions are soft, add the garlic, then the tomatoes (partially drained) and the drained spinach. Drain the pasta when cooked and put half in a 9″x13″ pan. Put half the veggies on top, half the feta, and half the cream (and seasoning). Mix together and repeat. Sprinkle the parmesan on top, cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Take the foil off for the last few minutes to get a crusty top. Some people suggested adding bacon, green peppers, Italian sausage, or chicken breast, but I thought it was pretty good as is!
This recipe tastes really good and is simple to make but I am not always a big fan of using canned tomatoes and frozen spinach. Frankly, this time of year produces pretty watery tomatoes at the grocery store and there is no farmer’s market to speak of so canned seemed like a good alternative and I gave in.
Another recipe I tried was just jazzed up cous cous. I have had three boxes of “Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil” cous cous sitting in my pantry for at least a year so I finally decided to cook one. To make it more of a complete meal, I added bits of chevre and chopped fresh spinach. So try that too!
I love this pilaf because it is my own little one-pot meal invention and it is great comfort food. You can experiment with what fruits, vegetables, and herbs you like, this is just how I made it this time around.
Caroline’s Pilaf
1 cup brown rice, uncooked
1 onion, chopped
a big handful of tomatoes, maybe almost a pint, any kind (I use grape, chop up big ones)
1 red bell pepper, chopped in slices
capers
fresh basil, chiffonade
a few dashes balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
garlic, minced (as much as you like, I put in 4 cloves)
salt and pepper, to taste
chevre (from Guinevere!)
olive oil for cooking
1 1/4 cups water
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft. Add a little salt, then add the peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and rice and toast for a few minutes. Add the water, maybe a little more salt, bring to a boil, then cover and cook over low heat. Check once in a while to see if it needs more water. It will probably need to cook for 40-50 minutes, until the rice is tender. When it is ready to serve, add the pepper, balsamic or lemon, capers, basil, and chevre and stir it up well. The chevre will melt and make it kind of like a risotto or cheesy rice (but not risotto!). Serve!
It is a rainy and cold April day and perfect for a warm, hearty meal. My mom warned me that the Lamb Stew with Potatoes recipe from How to Cook Everything was a little bland, so I made a few alterations to its preparation. I had bought a pound of stewing meat from Mint Creek Farm at the Green City Market in Chicago in anticipation of making such a stew. It is grass-fed, local, and not to pricy at $7 a pound. I am going to eat this with some homemade olive and thyme bread I have been saving in the freezer for such an occasion.
Irish Stew
1 lb boneless lamb shoulder trimmed an cut into 2″ cubes
1 1/2 lbs waxy red or yellow potatoes, cut in 1/4″ slices
1 1/2 cups sliced onions
salt and pepper to taste
1 to 1 1/2 cups broth: any combo of water, red wine, chicken, beef, or veg stock (I used 1 cup veg stock and about 1/4 cup of Sierra Nevada barleywine. I also added a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce)
1 cup minced fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish
Season and brown the meat over medium high heat in olive oil in a saucepan. Set aside. Saute the onions in a saucepan with olive oil over medium low heat. Once they are soft, sprinkle with salt and cook a little longer. Add everything except for half the potatoes which you should set aside in cold salted water. Bring to a near boil over high heat and then let cook for about 45 minutes over low heat. Add the other half of the potatoes and cook for another 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender but not mushy. Serve hot with parsley. Serves 3.
Filed under: breakfast, cheese | Tags: breakfast, cheese, cornbread, egg, vegetarian
It’s been a while! I made this many moons ago and have been meaning to make some more… it makes a nice little breakfast sandwich, like a healthy Egg McMuffin!
All you need to do it stack cornbread and a slice of swiss cheese and pop it in the microwave or oven to warm it up and melt the cheese. Then top it with a fried egg and, if you’re like me, some hot sauce (I am devoted to the Red Devil brand).
This is a cornbread recipe I have used from Moosewood. It wasn’t my favorite but my neighbors (who don’t usually eat cornbread) really liked it.
Basic Corn Bread
butter for the pan
1 c cornmeal (Paul’s Grains!)
1 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda, salt
1 c buttermilk or yogurt (I used non-fat yogurt)
1 egg
3 tbl sugar or honey (Ebert honey!)
3 tbl melted butter
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch square pan (or a 9- or 10-inch cast-iron skillet) with butter or margarine. Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine the wet ingredients (including sugar or honey) separately. Stir the wet into the dry, mixing just enough to combine (I always forget about this part). Spred into the pan and bake for 20 minutes or until the center is firm to the touch.
Filed under: cheese, pasta, snack | Tags: fondue, macaroni and cheese, pasta, stilton, swiss
Last week Guinevere gave me some eggs, a stilton style cheese, and a baby swiss. I put them to very good use:
Stilton Mac and Cheese
1/4 lb dry pasta (elbow macaroni!)
about a tsp of butter
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp each salt and dry mustard
about 2/3 cup crumbled stilton cheese, 1/3 cup grated low-fat mozzarella or whateva, extra for sprinkling
1/2 cup milk (I used skim)
Preheat the oven to 350. Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain and stir in the egg and butter. Stir in the cheese and pour into a gresed casserole dish. Mix the mustard and salt with 1/2 tbl hot water and add to the milk. Pour the milk over the top of the casserole and sprinkle on some cheese. Cook for about 45 minutes of until the custard sets.
The macaroni recipe was adapted from President Reagan’s Favorite Macaroni and Cheese on Recipezaar. The egg is critical. This was incrdibly rich and crusty and easy to make and I am just infatuated with it!
Stilton and Swiss Fondue
some stilton and swiss cheese, about twice as much swiss as stilton (6 oz altogether? play with the quantities in this recipe)
1/4 cup dry white wine
splash of brandy
black pepper and nutmeg, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp cornstarch
bread or fruit or whateva for dipping
I kept adding wine and cheese so I am not sure what the exact quantities are. Just throw them in a saucepan, melt and mix them, and keep tasting until it is to your liking. It’s not like you can mess this up. It’s cheese and wine and garlic and brandy!!! I tried to eat it at the table but the cheese got hard before I could finish so I ended up eating it off the stove. The drawback of not having a fondue pot.
Nate and I are usually on very different meal schedules but last night the stars aligned and we decided to make dinner together. This recipe is something we both like and I posted it because it requires little preparation and was just really fun and low-stress to make together. I fried the tortillas and browned the meat while Nate put together his “specialty,” guacamole (aka the only recipe he knows). I will list what we did but you can use any variation of the these or add your own ingredients.
Tortillas = corn and fried on medium-high until crisp in oil, the base of your tostada
Guac = we just mashed up two ripe avocados with lime juice, salt, chopped cilantro, and minced red onion
Shredded lettuce = you can buy a head of lettuce and shred it yourself but we were hungry so bought it in a bag
Taco cheese = a mix of shredded cheeses with “taco seasoning.” Nate wanted cheddar but somehow I thought this would be better
Pineapple Mango Chipotle Salsa = you can use any kind but this was damn good
Refried beans = you can do this yourself but again, we were hungry, so we went for the canned variety
Ground beef = brown it over medium or medium-low heat in a skillet
Assemble everything on top of the tortilla in your preferred quantities.
Every Monday morning I drive out to the McIntyre’s house to feed, water, and pet the noses of their goats, sheep, chickens, geese, cats, dog, and llama and every Thursday Guinevere brings me some homemade goat cheese. The past two weeks she has given me pyrenees style cheese. It’s a semi-soft white cheese that tastes kind of like Drunken Goat if you’re familiar with that one. It’s firm but buttery, making it a good snacking cheese. It was also really good in a sandwich!
I first had a variation of this at the Hop Leaf in Chicago. If you like beer (particularly Belgian ales) and have only one night in the city, go here! They have about 40 beers on tap not to mention a list of bottled brews that must number in the hundreds. The food in phenomenal; their menu features local, high quality ingredients and is very reasonably priced. The atmosphere is cozy and very European and their draft and food menus are always changing (although mussels and frites are a staple). The first time I went I had a duck reuben: marble rye, slow-roasted duck breast, cranberry cream cheese spread, emmenthaler, and house-made sauerkraut with pomme frites on the side. Last time I opted for the CB&J, the inspiration for my only slightly less decadent pyrenees cheese sandwich: sourdough, house-made cashew butter, morbier cheese, and fig jam, pan-fried and served with Mac-&-Stilton Cheese and house-made chips. I ate it my homemade version with sauteed spinach on the side!
Grilled Pyrenees Cheese and Fig Jam Sandwich
two slices of bread per sandwich
thin slices of cheese (no more than a quarter inch), enough to cover the bread
fig jam
oil or butter for frying
Heat a skillet with the oil or butter over medium heat. Place the cheese on one slice of bread and spread the jam on the other. Stick ‘em together and grill them, about 4 minutes on both sides (but check to make sure it doesn’t burn!!). Cut in half and serve warm with a pile of veggies and a good beer.
(I want to add a picture but I can’t find my camera cord! You will have to be imaginative for now)
Filed under: Indian, snack, vegan | Tags: Indian, potatoes, vegan, vegetarian
Here is a cooking tip: equip yourself with the proper spices and you will have a quick, healthy, very tasty Indian meal with whatever you may have lying around. And it’s cheap.
Here are some things you may not know: unlike French cooking, you never taste a dish until it is done in Indian cooking. Also, pure Hindu vegetarians do not eat garlic and onions as they are believed to create lust and vegetarianism is a commitment to a simple lifestyle.
Tonight I:
washed, chopped and boiled some potatoes for about 15 minutes
heat 1 tbl of oil in a skillet over medium and added 1 tsp each of cumin, asafoetida, tumeric, cayenne, and salt and 1 tbl coriander and cooked for a minute before adding the potatoes. Cook, covered, for about 15 minutes.
Sprinkle with garam masala and amchoor powder and eat with yogurt and chutney.
If you add some cauliflower it’s aloo gobi!
I have been cooking up a storm but haven’t updated for a while. I feel like I should be able to offer more insights into food than simply listing recipes. My insight here is that this is really good! Haha. I feel cool/talented when I cook it because there is a chemistry and transformation of ingredients that goes on. I made it for my Valentine as a pre-Valentine’s day treat.
Gnocchi in a Sun-Dried Tomato Bechamel Sauce
1 lb gnocchi
butter for cooking
1 yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup parsley, minced
handful of sun-dried tomatoes, ready to eat (I think the more the better!)
1/4 cup white wine
salt, to taste
2 cups bechamel sauce
For the bechamel sauce:
3 tbl butter
3 tbl flour
2 cups whole milk
salt an any combination of herbs, nutmeg, or cayenne
Melt the 3 tbl of butter for the bechamel sauce in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, stir, and cook for about 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk and bring to a boil, stirring the whole time. Let the sauce simmer on low heat for about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Add salt and any herbs or spices that you like.
Melt the butter over low heat in a skillet. Cook the onions and parsley for about 10 minutes over medium heat and sprinkle with salt. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and wine and cook until the wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the ingredients to the bechamel sauce and mix well. Cook the gnocchi according the directions, drain, and mix in with the sauce.
