North African Stew

North African Stew

My Aunt Norma, who is a veggie lover, gave me a really awesome cook book for my birthday, Jump Up and Kiss Me: Spicy Vegetarian Cooking, by Jennifer Trainer Thompson. This is a wonderful book for me because 1) Tony and I love spicy foods and 2) Handling raw meat is nasty. A "limited preview", which seems to me to be the entire dang book, is available on GoogleBooks. I am posting a rendition of the recipe, but, of course, all the credit should really go to the author.

Reagents:

2 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbs. diced jalapenos (i used a refrigerated canned version)
1 medium yellow onion, minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
3 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup lentils (washed and picked over)
1 medium butternut squash, diced
1 bunch of kale, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

*If you're really daring you could add in some crushed red pepper for extra heat, but this recipe is pretty spicy as it is*

Procedure:

1. Chop and mince the onion and garlic. If you want to use fresh jalapeno chilies, use about 3 and also dice them finely. I ended up having some jalapenos diced in a jar, so I took the lazy route and just measured out about 2 tablespoons.

2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large stock pot, until the veggies sizzle upon contact. Cook the onions, garlic and jalapenos until tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the chili powder and cumin to the pot, allowing them to mix with the chopped veggies for about 1 minute.

4. Add the broth, can of tomatoes and lentils to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.

5. Meanwhile, chop up the butternut squash. This is actually surprisingly easy, especially if you follow this tutorial from Simply Recipes. Also take this time to wash and chop up the kale.

6. Add in the butternut squash, and simmer on medium-low heat until the squash is tender (about 20-25 minutes). At this point your whole house (or teensy apartment) will smell incredible.

7. As the last step add the kale and allow it to wilt for about 5 minutes in the stock pot. Season the stew with salt and pepper to taste.

This, by far, is now one of my favorite recipes. Tony also enjoyed it (or at least he ate all of it), which I was very happy about. He normally doesn't enjoy going the "vegetarian" route. This stew tastes delicious left over as well, probably because the flavors melded after the stew was ...um...stewing? :)

Enjoy!

A First Attempt

At work, as well as at home, some things require a definite mustering of courage to try something new. In chemistry, this is commonly known as an activation barrier. Basically, in terms of the progress of a reaction, there are some points which require more energy (or in layman's terms, a little more oomph), which when reached, everything else is downhill from that highest energy point. The easiest way to picture this concept is to imagine yourself walking along a path, and up ahead, you see a hill (a really, really big hill). You know that climbing the hill is going to be really awful, but once you get to the top you can 1. Roll down like a little kid to the bottom and 2. at the bottom there is a pool of cookie dough (or marshmallows or whatever else makes you giggle).

Graduate school has been a series of hills for me. Every technique I have learned in the past few months has required me to climb a really big hill, and not only break my back doing so, but also humble myself by constantly asking for help from my peers and labmates. Cooking and baking for me have been no different. I've had to really work up the courage to cook certain things.

This whole "working one's self up" to try a new technique (in the lab or in the kitchen) is ridiculous. My energy has constantly been placed in building courage and trying to harness my fear of failure.

Yesterday, I attempted a *sacred* Ryno family recipe for yeast rolls. Whenever my mother-in-law makes these, I try to eat my weight in them (as does everyone else in the family). They are indescribable. My first attempt was not a total failure, though it was certainly not a stones throw close to Tony's mom's rolls. Mistake 1 was using a glass pan versus a metal pan: the rolls cooked differently on the bottom than on the top. Mistake 2 was kneading the rolls for too long (or with a mixer dough hook versus by hand).

At any rate, these rolls were edible, and my dad ate about 4 within a day. I dare not divulge the recipe without permission, but you can see the fruit of my labor :).

Happy Holidays!

The first of many holiday posts: Homemade Cranberry Sauce

It's Thanksgiving. It's my birthday (basically). I have my mom and dad here in California to celebrate both with me and my hubby. I have a totally amazing new camera to explore a new, and hopefully therapeutic hobby. Life is good.

This means many things: 1. I am now the slowest person in any group whenever I have my 15 pound camera around my neck, mostly because I now take pictures of EVERYTHING. 2. I have a lot of recipes stock piled with cool pictures ready to write up and post, mostly (obviously) of holiday-centric dishes. 3. I am one happy Pookie. I hope that you all enjoy what's to come, as most of the dishes have been in either Tony or my families for generations. Luckily for me, our families both like to follow simple directions (WOO HOO!)

The recipe below is most likely the easiest of them all. My family has always just had the canned cranberry sauce...left in the shape of a can. I opted to make my own tradition by starting making REAL (not can-shaped...) cranberry sauce.

Reagents:

1 12 oz package of fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Procedure:

1. Wash cranberries thoroughly, and remove any bad berries and stems.

2. Bring water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan, allowing the sugar to dissolve (supersaturated solution, anyone?).

3. Add cranberries and reduce heat in order for the mixture to simmer for about 10 minutes. The cranberries will burst.

4. Allow the mixture to cool completely first at room temperature and then refigerate.

See...painfully simple...and definitely not can shaped :).

More holiday recipes to come!

Brown Sugar Acorn Squash

This recipe was adapted from one of my favorite websites, and food blog author, The Pioneer Woman, She always has really great recipes, and most of them are fairly simple.

Anyway, it is the fall season, and that means there is an abundance of a lovely variety of squash (squashes, squaesch...I can't pluralize worth a darn). This recipe is painfully simple, and is equally delicious.

Brown Sugar Acorn Squash

Reagents:
1 Acorn Squash
4-5 Tbs Brown Sugar
2 Tbs Butter
Coarse Grain salt
Maple Syrup (optional)

Procedure:

0. Preheat the Oven to 400 F.

1. Cut squash (carefully) in half. Notice the manly hands, these are my husband's. I was afraid that slippery squash + big knife = Lisa fainting and a trip to the ER, so I "allowed" him to do it instead. (Actually, I begged.)

2. Scoop out the seedy, stringy innards of the squash, and discard them. Place the halved (or kinda-halved, like mine) squash in a baking dish. Sprinkle them with a pinch or two of salt, and score them a few times.

3. Place 1 Tbs of butter (or more, if you like your arteries to get a good hardening) in each of the hollowed out insides. Then, place about 2-3 Tbs brown sugar in each of the hollows.

4. In the original recipe, PW drizzles her squash with pure maple syrup. We didn't have that, and I didn't want to destroy the entire recipe, so I delegated a single half to be drizzled with...um...Hungry Jack syrup. Tony liked it, but he's pretty easy to please :).

5. Fill the baking dish with about 1 cup of water, so the acorns have moist heat, and cover the dish with tin foil

.

6. Place them in the oven for about 30 minutes covered. Then, take off the foil and allow them to bake for another 30-40 minutes.

Then, allow them to cool for at least 5-10 mintues, and enjoy!

Tony actually liked the redneck Hungry Jack drizzled squash much better, but I thought the flavor of the brown sugar-only version was much more developed (i.e. not drowned in syrup and without its original, squash-ie flavor).

Either way, I would definitely make this dish again!

The Tapioca Disaster...

(from wikimedia, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Tapioca_pearls_and_cranberry_seeds.jpg)

So I alluded to this story during my last post on figs. This is easily one of the more embarrassing things I have done in terms of cooking, particularly with my background being in the physical and natural sciences.

I used to LOVE tapioca when I was little. My mom would make the Jell-O cook and serve kind, and I thought it was the best stuff on the planet. Last winter when Tony and I were in Missouri for Christmas, Tony's mom and dad introduced me to the Mennonite store 20 minutes away from their house. (I would like to point out that there house is in the country, and their next door neighbors live far away. I wish I lived there :(...) Anyway, this store is like a little piece of heaven for me. It has locally made goods, such as jams and jellies, along with bulk items like whole wheat pastas, spices and teas. Walking along one of the aisles, I saw it. A massive bag of tapioca, for about $2. The recipe was on the side, and I was good to go.

Fast forward to about a month later. Tony had staff duty (guarding the barracks) and I was home alone. I decided that I was going to make tapioca for the both of us, and it would be a nice surprise for Tony after he had worked a long (ridiculous) shift.

Everything was going fine, until I learned the hard way about how a solute (in this case, protein) effects the boiling point of a solution. This is easy stuff. Milk is not water. One should never, EVER "boil" milk on the highest stove setting. *Flashback*:

"The "9 or 10" setting on your stovetop should really only be used for boiling water..."

"Yep. Got it, mom."

Needless to say, I wish I had a picture of the incredible catastrophe that occurred. It was frightening. It was gruesome. It was...well...milky :(. The milk boiled out of control, even after I removed it from the heat. Thankfully, there was another burner open for me to place it on. OH, WAIT. No, there wasn't another burner open, because we used to have the teeniest, tiniest kitchen on the face of the planet. So, the milk, boiling out of control, had to be held above the burner (because Lord knows the darn sink was still full of unwashed dishes). Then, there was smoke. Milk, particularly milk with some sugar in it, burns like a champ.

So there I was, holding a heavy pot full of boiling milk at arms length, coughing, gagging, probably (definitely) thinking/yelling very bad things. The damage that this stupid experiment-gone-wrong had done was pretty vast, so I did what any hard working, diligent, loving wife would do: leave it there until Tony came home.

Noooo, not so he would clean it up (though he helped), but instead so he could see the awesomeness of the milk+tapioca explosion that our kitchen now was.

Tony walks in the door:

"Hey Pook, is something burning???"

"Um, nothing's burning...now..."

"Really? It smells like fire..."

"Yeah...I know.."

My strong, handsome, loving husband walked around the corner into the kitchen.
"What the..... (*&^%#??!!??" (If you are Tony's momma or grandma ryno, feel free to insert "heck" in here...everyone else, use your imagination...)

As my strong, handsome, loving husband walked around the corner, he saw a sight no man should behold: a milk bomb that his wife couldn't bear to witness all by herself. Needless to say, we used roughly an entire forest of paper towels to clean the milk from off the stove, refrigerator, cabinets, floor and sink. Then, we lifted off the burners to clean underneath, and found the other 3 cups I had misplaced. Did you know that milk+burnt-on stuff from 8 tenants ago= gray sludge that smells like feet? I owe Tony for that one, because while I was busy dry heaving in the corner of the apartment next to the hole where the rats got in (it was really not a nice place...but that's an entirely different story), he cleaned up that part of the mess.

Low and behold, I've never put milk on the stove again and turned the heat to above 4. I don't really care if it takes an eternity, but I suppose one wouldn't after witnessing milk Hiroshima in a 5'x2' kitchen.

-Lisa-

Figs...

I'm glad I am completely incapable of updating this blog regularly, due to the incredible awfulness of being a graduate student. I made these figs MONTHS ago. Literally, I made them back in September, took photos and then realized that my life has been reduced to working and sleeping. My family assures me that this is true in all cases of being an adult. I'm pretty sure I'd be happier if Tony and I lived in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of cows, but I bet even then the grass would be greener somewhere else. This has been a depressing realization.

Anyway, I did use figs, and I did take pictures. Now, I finally have time to write about it :). For me, the verdict for this particular fruit was only ho-hum. I didn't really enjoy them, but I wasn't totally appalled. Perhaps I should have prepared them another way, but I guess I'll have to try again next year. They are "good" by themselves, just eaten raw. The seeds are crunchy and tiny and it does remind me of Fig Newtons, although those are made with dried figs instead of fresh.

Honey-Cardamom/Cinnamon Roasted Figs

Reagents:

4 Figs
2 Tablespoons of honey
Cinnamon
Cardamom*
Squeeze of lemon juice

*Cardamom is one of my most favorite spices. Ever. I bought it in bulk, which is why it's in a "homemade" jar.

**Also, note my super-cute glass pumpkins in the background. They match our 1980s glass table, baby.

Procedure:

This is REALLY, painfully easy.

1. First, preheat the oven to 375 F. Wash and cut off the top of the figs, getting rid of the stems.

2. Then, cut the fig about 75% down the center into faux-quarters. You want the fig to remain held together at its base.

3. Place the figs carefully in baking dish. Squeeze just a little bit (maybe like a quarter of a teaspoon) of lemon juice on each one. I have absolutely no explanation for why I did this, it just seemed like a good idea. In the end, I couldn't even taste a hint of lemon, but there was a lot of juice in the dish to re-drizzle the figs with, which was a good thing.

4. Pry the figs open slightly, so the center is sufficiently exposed. Drizzle about a half a spoonful of honey into the center of each fig. Don't bother resisting licking the spoon, it's just too good.

5. Sprinkle cinnamon or cardamom (or a mixture of both) on the figs. I made two cinnamon, two cardamom, because I wasn't sure if Tony would eat the cardamom flavored ones. Turns out he ate everything. Hah. Shouldn't have worried about that.

6. Place the figs in the oven to roast for about 15 minutes. I checked on mine every 5 because I'm neurotic and paranoid I will burn the house down. I plan on telling a cooking disaster story for my next post, and it involves tapioca and fire.

Overall, I think that these figs turned out well. I also think I don't really like figs, which was an issue at the time, since I bought these at Costco and had 20 others I needed to think of something to do with. For the most part, I was just lazy and ate them raw :).

Happy almost November!!!

-Lisa-

Frozen Strawberry-Blueberry Pie

Yum. There is nothing better than a creamy, fruity pie on a graham cracker crust (that I didn't have to make). This pie lasted us a while, primarily because Tony didn't really eat much of it. I did find through a lovely trial and error experience that this pie MUST be stored in the freezer. It can remain in the fridge for a few hours, but the ingredients will separate into a watery ick-filled mess. Then, you'll have to mourn the two slices you could have had, or perhaps attempt to eat the top part and realize your decision was a grave, disgusting mistake.

I adapted this recipe from a cooks.com recipe.

Reagents:

1 single serving carton of strawberry yogurt
1 single serving carton of blueberry yogurt (there are 2 in the picture, because that's w
1 8 oz container of Cool Whip
3/4 c. chopped fresh strawberries (and one whole strawberry for garnish)
1/3 c. pureed blueberries
Pre-made graham cracker crust


Method:

1. Mix about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cup of the whipped topping with the strawberry yogurt until blended.

*Yes, this looks dreamy because that's the way it ACTUALLY LOOKED! Okay. Maybe there was a little Photoshop editing...*

2. Fold in the chopped strawberries, and spread the mixture into the graham crust.

3. Puree the blueberries in a fabulous Kitchen Aid food processor ;).

4. Mix about a 1/2 c to 1 c whipped topping with the blueberry yogurt, and fold in blueberry puree.

*NOTE: This is the point when I realized, holy moly, I have WAY too much blueberry goodness to fit in my tiny pie crust. I ended up "filling up" the crust with the mixture to the brim, and saving the rest of the blueberry concoction in my freezer. No shame in saving some for later :).*

5. Add decorative strawberry top in the center, and freeze.

We didn't eat this pie until the next day, so it was sure to have been frozen all the way. The original recipe states that it needs to freeze for at least 4 hours to be firm. Once fully frozen, allow to thaw in the fridge for about an hour before serving. Remember: DO NOT STORE IN THE FRIDGE! It will separate, and it will be disappointing.

Portobello Wraps

What is it about portobello mushrooms? They're earthy, they're juicy and they are totally versatile. This recipe uses portobellos as the main component of a summertime wrap. I cannot, however, take all of the credit. I have adapted the recipe from a recipe called Portobello Wrap with White Bean-Chile Spread from this version of Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook that my grandmother-in-law (those don't actually exist...they are really just grammas :)...) gave me for Christmas (love Grandma Ryno!). I use my own hummus as the spread, and I make it less classy by simplifying some of the other ingredients (who needs to be classy when they're hungry, anyway??)

Reagents:

Portobello caps, gills removed
Italian Salad dressing, divided
Hummus
Fresh spinach
Shredded mixed cheese
Flour tortillas

*I know I didn't put any measurements. This is not hard, people. Just read the method, and breathe. Everything will be fine. Just pretend you're making tacos, and make as many as you need, ok? Gauge 1 portobello cap per person, and about a handful of greens. I normally can only eat one of these, because they are pretty filling, but some people (named Tony...) may eat more than 1.*

1. Preheat broiler. Brush both sides of the cleaned portobello with Italian dressing--make sure you've covered it up well enough for it to marinate for at least 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, drizzle the spinach with some more Italian dressing, and mix well

3. Place mushroom caps on an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet, and broil for 6-8 minutes, turning over at about 3-4 minutes.

4. Spread hummus (liberally, if you're like me) on flour tortillas. Add about 1/4 cup of the spinach with dressing, some cheese and slices of the portobello caps

5. Wrap up like a burrito and enjoy!

This is one of my "staple" recipes to use whenever I see that portobellos are on sale--it's so easy!

The Long and Short of It.

I donated my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths yesterday. I was very worried in the beginning, that I would look like some hideous short-haired goblin, or something. I think that I look much better with shorter hair. Infinitely better. I feel like I cut off a weight, in more ways than one.

My shower this morning took 5 minutes. 5 minutes, people. My stylist, Jeremy, was the "bomb dot com", as Veronica likes to say :). He made sure that I was emotionally stable enough to cut off the 12 inches I took off (not to mention the other 2-3 inches he took off styling it). He ensured that I would not have to use a curling iron or a flat iron, since I have no idea how to use them. Just a big roll-y brush and a hair dryer is necessary. Of course, I learned this morning, when styling it on my own, that I look like a baby moose taking its first steps when I am juggling a hair dryer and a brush. This is my own styling below. It's a little more relaxed, which I am okay with :).

On to a new life...without super-long hair ;).

Bean Greens

This is another very simple recipe for sauteed green beans. My mom makes the best sauteed green beans EVER, and I think she uses some rice wine vinegar (which I don't have). This is a modified, semi-fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants thing. It also could be voodoo.

***please try to disregard my water-spot laden pasta thinger***

Reagents:

green beans (I normally cook about 2 fist-fulls)
2 Tbs olive oil
ground black pepper
1-2 cloves garlic (depends if you are a garlic-lover or not)


Method:

1. Wash and prep the green beans. Cut off both ends of the beans and remove the string.
2. Pour olive oil into a skillet-wok-whatever and allow it to heat up on medium heat.
3. Once oil is hot, place quartered cloves of garlic (or, if you want no friends you can mince them) in skillet.
4. The garlic cloves will begin to sizzle, and that's your cue to add the green beans.
5. Saute the beans, adding pepper to taste, until they have wilted a bit, but are still crunchy.
6. Remove the garlic cloves, and add a pinch of salt to taste.

Kitchen Reflections

So, let me preface this post by saying there is not going to be a recipe in this one tonight. My personal computer is being repaired, and I don't want to hassle with getting cooking photos onto my husband's. This is going to be more of a "reflection" post, rather than a recipe.

On the way home from work, while my wonderful husband was driving and talking about the future, I found myself zoning (sorry honey) and thinking about my day. I did not have the best day at work/school, and I was trying to think of things that lift my spirits. Of course, God, husband, family and friends are at the top of the list. I am, however, an intense person, and I had to dig deeper. I have become very passionate about cooking over the past year, and some of my happiest moments have been at the stove.

Being ridiculous, I rationalized this. My day job is a chemistry/biology graduate student. I spend most of the day either at the bench failing at seemingly simple tasks, or burying myself in the literature at my desk, trying to figure out why I am failing at the simple. When I come home to cook dinner, I am basically continuing my work at the lab bench. Things are carefully measured, appropriate temperatures are reached, and patience is exerted. Chemistry, however, is not glorified cooking. There is thought to cooking, but comparing it to chemistry would be comparing a molehill to a mountain, not to be trite. Cooking is like chemistry, in that having good hands leads to success and experimentation can be handsomely rewarded. Cooking does not require a broader picture, like science does. My sense is that you cook because you enjoy eating, and all things accompanied with gastronomy. Science is not so simple. One is a scientist because they want to improve the quality of life of the next generation, or explain our reality, from sub-atomic particles to heavenly bodies. Perhaps my view is biased (no doubt it is), because science is my job and food is my hobby. The more I think about the comparison between cooking and science, the more similar they can be. A foodie may only cook food for his or her own pleasure, but my guess is that there are people who are enamored with food, looking for the types of food that cure cancer, give longer life, and ultimately improve the quality of life for humanity.

Maybe, we are not so different after all.

Granola Bars---who needs Quaker???

Here's another thrifty recipe. I buy my oats, chocolate chips, flour, and sugar in bulk (well, from a bulk barrel), making this recipe much cheaper and more satisfying than any purchased granola you could find.

Moreover, this recipe should be used as merely a springboard---make it your own! Add crasins, rasins, nuts, dried coconut, carob chips, or whatever else tickles your fancy. In this recipe, I chose sunflower seeds to feed my salt craving, and semi-sweet chocolate chips to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Reagents:

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/4-1/3 cup honey (depends on how chewy you want them)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
handful sunflower seeds
1/2 TBS cinnamon (or more to taste)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper, or lightly grease.

2. In large bowl, combine oats, baking soda, flour, butter, vanilla, honey, cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir in chocolate chips and sunflower seeds (or any other ingredients of choice).

3. Gently press mixture into prepared pan, and bake for about 18-22 minutes until golden brown.

4. Cool for about 10-15 minutes before cutting into bars. Let the bars remain in the pan until completely cool.

Wrap individually in cling wrap, or serve immediately!

Homemade Pita Chips

Being a busy (and oh so poor) graduate student, I don't necessarily have time to use up all of the fresh items I buy at the store weekly. Namely, I can never finish an entire pack of pita bread before it expires. Now, my husband suggests that I just eat regular bread, the kind of stuff he eats. I have my limits, people. Yes, I am thrifty, but I have to enjoy lunch. It's my one break during work where I should be able to enter pita heaven...not processed wheat bread hell.

So, I use the slightly stale (neeeever moldy) pita bread to make pita chips to dip into my hummus. This is a painfully easy recipe, so I expect everyone to try it!

Homemade Pita Chips

Reagents:


Pita bread pockets
Olive oil
Italian seasoning spices (parsley, oregano, thyme...whatever)
Garlic powder, or 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
Chili powder (if you want a kick)
Ground pepper
Sea Salt

***Notice there are no measurement values listed. I never really know how many pitas I will have left over at the end of the week, so I normally play it by ear. If you would like a definitive amount, I would suggest for 6 pita pockets about 1/4-1/3 cup olive oil, and about 1/2 tsp. for all of the spices.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Stir the spices (except for the sea salt) into the olive oil and let them mellow for a few minutes.

3. Cut pita bread into 8 triangles, and place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.

4. Brush each triangle with oil and spices with a pastry brush.

5. Sprinkle sea salt on top, and bake for about 7 minutes. Pay attention! Ovens vary, so be sure to keep an eye on them so they do not burn.

Enjoy with hummus, with any other favorite dip, or just plain!