stuffed peppers

these are so good it's going to hurt. fortunately I have this sassy apron to shield me from the painful tastyness.
As a side note I love aprons for cooking and doing dishes. most anything, really, since I'm a messy eater. And that tends to bleed into alot of other areas of "doing things" messy.

Ready, Set, Stuff!
I l
I like doing the black beans first because they're the glue of the recipe and I like letting the flavor develop slowly. First, onions. I KNOW we eat a ton of onions. they're the basis of everything delicious, o.k.? so this is: an onion, two cans of black beans, some oil, and generous tablespoons of cumin and chili powder. (side note: Big Thank you to Aunt Lori for the spices from the Amish store Stringtown Grocery in Kalona, Ia.
I steam a zucchini or two (depending on how big they are and how much I want. When it's all soft, I throw it in with the beans and add some cheese... Cheddar, mozzerella, feta... whatever.

Then grill about 5 poblano peppers.
It's VERY useful to have tongs for this. we just throw them ( a couple at a time) on to the gas stove and let them get blackened. then you put them in a bowl with plastic wrap over the top to keep the steam in. The skin gets nice and loose, and you just rub it off with your fingers.
Don't wash it or it'll loose that tasty, smokey flavor. Once you get the skin off, you can cut around the tops, take out the centers and get the spicy seeds out. Make SURE to wash your hands after sticking your fingers into the peppers, or you'll think you burnt them. I speak from experience.
Once the peppers are empty and the filling is done, Stuff Away!! I like them almost bursting.
Then I line them up in a baking dish and give them about 10 minutes at 350 to "get to know each other". Voila.
We eat them with C-love's famous guacamole and salsa as illustrated below:
a. guacamole.
b. salsa.
c.ouch! so good! it makes me hungry, even though i just ate!

saturday night yum.

I am stuffed. I'd take a picture of my belly, but i think that'd be unappetizing. The pictures that I do have tonight are super delicious looking. We had a full menu and some fun extras.

I went to the green market at Union Square this morning and picked up some treats: brussel sprouts! I bought a whole stem. When I got home I read the Joy of Cooking entry about sprouts and learned some interesting facts:
1. smaller stems are better (whoops!)

2. cut the sprouts in half or score them with an X on the bottom to help them cook evenly (how could i not know?!?)

3. brussel sprouts are really good with browned butter and lemon juice.


For our main course I made broccoli cheese soup, perfect for the fall and super savory. very umami-y. umami-yoe. (just wanted to use all the vowels!)
I was a big fan of B-C Soup when I was younger because a woman from our church made some very tasty soup, so I never saw the hard work that went into it. Kidding, it's easy! I did however, sadly figure out that she made it with chicken broth all those long, delicious years. oops. Anyway, here's my recipe;

Broccoli Cheese Soup Uncensored.
2 cups veggie broth
2 stems broccoli or 1 frozen package
1/2 an onion
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
12 oz cheese, all mixed up!
1 cup milk (or something like it)
Side Note: it's arrived! my 8" Wusthof Black Classic Chef's Knife.

a. boil the broth and add the broccoli, cook until soft (about 10 minutes)
b. chop the onions and heat them with the butter in another sauce pan
c.use your immersion blender (see bean and cheese soup post) to mix up the broccoli a bit (leave some chunks for yum factor)
d. add the flour to the onions and butter and let it brown

e. add the milk slowly. and then the cheese in parts until it's all incorperated and thick and creamy. btw, my very favorite combination is cheddar, a bit of gouda, and some swiss. I discovered this after realizing the deli sold containers of the three in chunks (probably the end of the block) for way cheap!

f. mix the broccoli into the cheesey soup.
g. "c-love says" let the soup sit for about half an hour, then dig in.

We also toasted some of the left over blue corn bread.

For dessert I made some muffins I've been fiending for... Pumpkin Chocolate Chip. In Greensboro (nc) they make these soo good at Spring Garden Bakery and serve them at Tate Street Coffee. One summer these were part of my go-to-breakfast (along with an iced coffee). I used this recipe as a guide
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip-Muffins/Detail.aspx
and made some notable changes.. i used the equivalent amount of brown sugar and agave syrup instead of the white sugar, used half whole wheat flour, and used some pumpkin that I'd frozen. I also doubled the spices and added some ginger and allspice. After I added the pumpkin, I realized I had pre-mixed to be ready to pour into a pie crust. whoops.
They turned out amazing anyway.

GObama Election Yum!

Last night I distracted myself during those nerve wracked hours waiting for the results by cooking! It went much faster (and more delicious) than any election I remember. We made delicious chili and Blue Cornbread for dinner.
The chili was our usual "everything and the kitchen sink" as seen below;
3/4 c onion
1/2 a poblano pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 can black beans
1 can pink habichuelas (pinto beans?)
1 zucchini chopped and steamed
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1/2 a can of tomato sauce
a whole bunch of cumin and chili powder.

I used the Joy of Cooking recipe for southern cornbread, substituting blue corn meal for white, and adding a small can of whole kernel corn. it was reeeally good, except I baked it in Carlos's cast iron skillet and it had an eggy-porky flavor in the bottom crust. That may mean it's time for Carissa's cast iron skillet to join our lives.

Finally I made lemon Obama Cupcakes (from a box). They're soo tasty and cute.

We went and voted early- 6:30 am! I wanted to get my vote in and not have to worry about any complications. Then I went and enjoyed the free coffee at starbucks :) AND the free scoop of ice cream from Ben and Jerry's. To be completely honest, I liked the ice cream but I loved the sticker... they don't give out the "I Voted!" stickers here in NY like they do in NC. it's an outrage.

Biscuits

whole wheat cheddar biscuits.
1 cup flour, 4 tbsp butter cut in, 1/3 cup milk, grated cheddar cheese. bake til done at 425. For this kind of recipe I usually use the Joy of Cooking as a reference and then do my own thing. Since it is just the two of us, I only made six (yummy, warm) biscuits.

While i was making them, I was struck by the trifecta of tools that were passed on to me by my mother and grandmothers. my mom gave me the round board (made for rolling Lefse by a company in Minnesota). It has a removable, washable fabric cover. The rolling pin was given to me by my mom's mom and was my great grandmother's. It has one handle that moves and the other is attached to the center. Third, the biscuit cutter was given to me with a bunch of cookie cutters by my dad's mom. It's the one I use the most (with the state of Iowa cookie cutter coming a close second!) and I love the ingenuity of it. Hello, it's just a tuna can with some holes nailed in it. And it's probably at least as old as I am, if not older. I wonder who hammered those holes. Anyway, We sell biscuit cutters at Crate and Barrel for $7.95.

Not to be constantly talking shop, but that cookie sheet of mine is pretty hawt too... it came with a full size sheet pan, and both of them have plastic tops that snap on for easy storage and transport. It was made by Nordicware, and I'm not sure where they're available since these ones are discontinued from the C&B.


golden on the bottom, soft inside.

Curried Bean and Veggie Soup

This soup is crazy delicious and seems like it'd be difficult to make, but it's soo easy... it literally takes like, 15 minutes. I adapted it from "White bean puree with zucchini and herbs" from Vegetarian Soup for all Seasons by Nava Atlas.
here's how I make it;
ingredients
2 c of beans- white, pink, red, black or any combination.
1/2 an onion chopped
oil to sweat the onion in
1 lg zucchini, yellow squash, 2 cups of broccoli or cauliflour, Steamed.
2 tbsp of curry powder
1/2 tsp dried dill
1 tsp lemon juice

I start cooking the onions in a large sauce pan til they're translucent or I loose patience.While they're going, I chop the veggies and start them steaming with the dill thrown in for good measure.

Then open the two cans (the Blow-by-Blow!), throw them in with the onions and add the curry powder. after about 7 minutes, I add some water, let it simmer, then whirr it up with the hand blender.
once the veggies are soft, I mix it all together in the large sauce pot, add the lemon juice, let it get good and hot... and then let it sit so the flavors get good. then we eat it about half an hour later. tonight i just may make whole wheat cheddar biscuits to go with it. yummmm.

ok, so that picture is actually taken after i blended it AND threw in the zucchini, but i wanted to get my sassy blender (cuisinart smart stick hand blender CSB-77) into the picture, so I faked it. That's how tasty the soup looks when it's done. I know, your jealous.

here's the very satisfying breakdown:

curried bean and veggie soup
	% used	pkg price	cost
beans	2	0.75	1.5
zucchini	0.5	1.38	0.69
spices	1	0.25	0.25
onion	0.5	0.79	0.395
total			$2.835

I'm also working on a Sweet Potato Pie made with filling that C-love's mom sent up with me last time I was in NC. It's been in a freezer for a while, but I gave it a taste and it's soo good still. Though I don't have any shortning- just butter. usually my crusts turn out wierd without ANY shortning, sticking to the pan and so forth. Though the last one was crazy good, thanks to the addition of more salt than I usually add and Almond Meal from Trader Joes... one pound for 2.59 and it's nutty and sweet with a great, soft texture. Plus Low Carb! yaya! go sweet potato pie!

Dips For Dinner!

Tonight we had one of our go-to dinners: Dips. It all starts with whole grain tortilla chips. then we whip up;

1. Black Bean Dip
1 tbsp butter or veg. oil
1/2 cup onions
1 clove garlic or garlic powder to taste
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
salt to taste
2 cans of beans
this is usually my job. I sweat the onions with the oil (and salt, b/c Alton Brown said that makes the flavor better) then add the beans and all the spices, let it cook on medium for a few minutes, then use my immersion blender to make it mostly smooth.

2. guacamole
1 avocado
clove of garlic
salt to taste
lemon juice
C-love does this part. he's very particular about using lemon juice, no onion and no pepper. we put it in the food processor attachment of our immersion blender til smooth. Then let it chill.

3. tomato salsa
1 1/2 cups tomato (tonight we used grape tomatos b/c they were cheaper)
1/4 cup onion
handful of cilantro
any kind of pepper he can get his hands on
salt to taste
C-love also makes this... and he loves it spicy. We always have to argue about how long we have to leave everything to sit and "get good". I'm more of a 'dig-right-in' kind of girl. he's all 'the flavors have to get to know each other'. He usually wins and it does taste better.

after this we get our own bowls and usually shred some cheese and add sour cream to the beans and dig in. low stress, high fun. Good veggie protein! not very much actual veggie.

dips for dinner
	% used	pkg price	cost
chips	0.75	2.39	1.7925
black beans	1.5	0.79	1.185
tomatos	0.5	2.49	1.245
avocado	0.25	6.69	1.6725
onion	0.33	0.79	0.2607
spices		0.2	0.2
total			$6.3557

dinner bell

I'm always adventuring with food, so I thought I'd make a blog I'd like to read; recipes, prices, hints. Besides, the fam always wants what I'm eating, so this is easier than broadcasting to all of them individually.

Here's the deal:
1. I live in NYC; foodie central.
2. Vegetarian for life (16 years now) but my significant is not.
3. Trying to eat low carb for medical reasons.

And for some reason I've lately been very interested in the actual cost of different meals we make, so I'm working on an excel formula to calculate meal prices. (maybe it's the recession?)

Hope you like it!

Carissa