Considering the Garden

Today of all days I started thinking about this year's garden. I am realizing two new things this time around. The Twin Cities have a shorter growing season than Chicago. Our deck gets minimal sunlight.

I've played around with the idea of putting a Roma tomato plant in a container near our front steps, which face south. Other ideas include lining the east side of the building with herbs and other veggies that can do without full sunlight. Our backyard is HUGE but all shade (great for parties and hanging out, not great for growing).

Also, this year I will learn to preserve food. Like canning. Here is a slideshow of inspiration.

Fried Egg Sandwich with Salsa

It was a bright (and really cold) morning when J suggested we go for a walk before breakfast. As we walked around our neighborhood like penguins trying to not fall down on icy sidewalks, the decision was made to visit the bakery/coffee shop a couple blocks away. We arrived back home with a huge loaf of 100% whole wheat bread and I was compelled to weigh it: 34.5 ounces. Maybe that's more standard than I realize, but wow.

Breakfast is not something I usually cook. But on a morning when I'm putting off research as long as possible, it happens. Lately we've been hooked on fried eggs with salsa between two slices of lightly toasted bread. Timing and process are important in making this, because I think it's best eaten hot.

For each sandwich:
• Have two slices of bread ready.
• Put one slice of bread in the toaster, and simultaneously heat fat in a skillet for egg frying. The fat can be olive oil, butter, bacon grease, anything you'd like.
• Crack egg into the fat once it's hot.
• Toast will probably pop up now. Butter one side if you'd like (I do) and place on a plate.
• Put second slice of bread in the toaster.
• Check egg, and cook to your liking. I don't do runny eggs and often attack the yolk to make sure it is completely cooked through.
• Place egg on buttered toast, top with a little salsa.
• Second piece of toast should pop up at this point. Butter, place on top, and eat.

Make this your own by adding cheese, vegetables, last night's leftovers... the list goes on and on...

Tortillas Rodriguez

I realize this video has been around for a few years. But here's the big deal: I did it. I really did it. I made Robert Rodriguez's tortillas from his Sin City 10-Minute Cooking School video. They are superb. And totally worth the time. I will never buy packaged tortillas again!

He suggests using butter or lard, but I didn't have any of the latter.  J and I both thought butter tasted great, even though we didn't really have a comparison because we've never had tortillas made with actual lard (except maybe at La Pasadita back in Chicago… they probably use lard… and they are very good...)

I wrote the ingredients down while watching the video, stopping every few seconds to capture what he's saying. I'll leave the 'how to' part up to him (because he's the master), so please take a look at his technique.

Total side note, one of my favorite food quotes ever is from this video: Not knowing how to cook is like not knowing how to ____________. You fill in the rest.

Robert Rodriguez's Tortillas from Sin City 10-Minute Cooking School
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup fat (like lard... butter...)
3/4 cup water (more or less)

Mr. Rodriguez, will you please please write a cookbook? Or just start a food blog?

Roast Chicken in a Cast Iron Skillet

Hey I'm back! Quite a bit has happened since I last posted. I'm in my second semester of grad school, and J is in his first. Life has changed since leaving Chicago and, uh, earning a salary. However, the Twin Cities are fantastic and here we are getting through our first arctic winter. I'll be doing my best to post frequently though be warned, meals in our house tend to have the following characteristics: healthy, fast, familiar, and cheap. So let's see what happens.

I really wanted to make roast chicken this week. I find that odd because normally I can't stand eating or seeing it. It's the first whole (raw) chicken I've purchased in awhile, and I bought it at Super Target. For real. It was weird to do this, as that's where I go to buy things contact lense solution and toilet paper. Alas, this box store wonder carries a chicken that is vegetarian fed, cage/hormone free, from a Minnesota family farm, and cost less than a rotisserie chicken meeting the same criteria at Whole Foods. Sold.

While I hung out in the kitchen listening to Talking Heads, this 3.5 pound bird roasted at 400 degrees in a cast iron skillet, atop a bed of potatoes and garlic, drizzled with lemon juice, olive oil,  and sprinkled with sea salt and cracked pepper. It took close to an hour and fifteen minutes, until juices ran clear. I'd give you a recipe, but this is about as detailed as I can get.

Eat it with the potatoes and savor those juices!

Bright New City

Here's a pic of the mighty Mississippi running through our new home: the Twin Cities. Technically Minneapolis, but we're only two blocks from the St. Paul city limits. I apologize for the lack of posts but, well, moving does that. There are new dishes I'm wanting to try out, farmer's markets to shop, and many restaurants to visit! Stay tuned, a new post is near....

Video Link: Cooking with a Hippie Chickpeas

Three things about this video crack me up:
1. This dude really does use a shaker full of LOVE as a seasoning.
2. There's a rain stick involved.
3. I watched this twice and actually wrote down the recipe.

In the brilliant words of Jacques Pepin... happy cooking!

Tuna and Potato Salad with Green Peas and Egg

This has become my favorite meal to assemble--it can hardly be called cooking, because it's so easy to throw together. I rarely plate meals (when I'm hungry...I'm just hungry....) but this is just weirdly kind of fun to put together. The recipe below serves two.

2-3 potatoes, baked (or nuked)
1 can tuna packed in olive oil (or other really good quality tuna)
olive oil for drizzling (optional)
1/2 c frozen green peas, thawed and ready to serve
2 hard boiled eggs, quartered
sea salt & pepper

On each plate, layer in this order: baked potato (flattened slightly so that it acts as a base), chunks of tuna, a drizzle of olive oil as you like, a sprinkling of peas, and four wedges of egg. Season with a little sea salt and pepper.

Tastes best eaten outside...and followed with a chunk of dark chocolate for dessert!

Eggplant and Goat Cheese Calzones

There is something so comforting about a calzone, hot little pocket of savory wonderfulness! I picked up a couple Japanese eggplants over the weekend at Mitsua, and made this in an effort to use them while still fresh. Pleased with how they turned out, I will definitely make them again---and am excited about endless variations! I think a cheese of some sort is a must, it sort of binds everything together. But then again, I bet a curry filling would work too...

2-3 Japanese eggplants, cut into 1/4" slices
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4-5 oz goat cheese
2 slices chopped bacon or pancetta
1 recipe fantastic pizza dough (or buy it ready-to-go)

After you've mixed up the dough, and while its in the 20-minute rest phase:

Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with olive oil and grill until lightly browned. Note: when I made this, it was rainy and nasty outside and therefore using the "real" grill was beyond hope. I used a non-stick grill pan on the stovetop instead. Worked great.

Brown the bacon/pancetta (add a little olive oil if you need to), then add onion and garlic. Cook until softened.

Combine the bacon/onion/garlic mixture, eggplant, and goat cheese in a bowl. Mix so that the goat cheese is thoroughly distributed.

Divide dough into 8 pieces (cut the ball of dough in half... then in half again... then in half again... etc etc). Roll into circles about 6" in diameter. Place a couple tablespoons of the filling on each (evenly distribute the filling among the eight dough circles).

Fold each dough circle in half over the filling, so that it becomes a half-moon shape. Then, with your fingers, roll the bottom edge of the circle over the top edge to seal--or just press edges together. The idea is to seal it up like a big pocket, however you want to achieve it is up to you.

To bake, I usually use a pizza stone but a regular baking sheet is fine. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

I roasted a few pints of cherry tomatoes with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. It took about 45 minutes in a 400 degree oven, and they're fantastic tossed with pasta, more olive oil, and some goat cheese or parmesan.

Red Lentil and Carrot Soup

All day long I kept thinking about carrots. And soup. Since we’re currently working with a no-cow’s-milk scenario in our home, this warming dinner hit the spot. It surprised me, too—it smelled wonderful while it was simmering, even before I added the seasonings.

As with many things I've written about, there are endless variations. We ate this topped with some goat’s milk feta; yogurt or sour cream would work great as well. The seasonings could also be adjusted, by trying a little ginger or chopped cilantro. Serve this with naan and/or rice (side note: we realized tonight that the naan purchased at a traditional Indian/Pakistani grocery contains milk and butter... this will be more difficult than we thought).

3 T olive oil
2 onions, grated or finely chopped
3 good sized carrots, grated or finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed
1-1/2 c red lentils
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
7 c vegetable stock (or 1 msg-free veggie bouillion cube and 7 c water)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper

Heat oil in a large pot; add onion and carrots and cook for a few minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute or so.

Add the stock, lentils and tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Simmer with the lid half on the pot for about 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cumin and coriander, then salt and pepper to taste. Cook another five minutes, then serve.