Potato Gnocchi

From Italian Cooking for Dummies.

Ingredients

• 4 potatoes (1 large, 3 small)
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 c. flour (you will probably use more)
• salt and pepper

Methodology

1. Cook potatoes in microwave. Scoop insides out of skin and mash with a fork.

2. Add eggs and salt and pepper. Mix. Add flour until you have dough. This will eventually require that you knead the dough with your hands, so be sure the counter is clean.

3. Roll out into 1.5" diameter log, cut into 1" pieces.

4. Run over the tines of a fork and drop into boiling water for about 3 minutes. Scoop out about one minute after they begin to float to the top.

5. Serve with pesto.

Notes

*Easy easy easy. The longest part was waiting for the potatoes to cook in the microwave.

*0/7 on the disaster scale.

Three-Bean Rainbow Chili

For all your chili needs. Based on this recipe from Epicurious.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded, chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 zucchini, sliced
  
• 3 large jalapeño chilies, seeded, diced
  
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
  
• 5 cups water
• 1 26.5-ounce cans black beans, rinsed, drained
• 1 15-ounce cans dark red kidney beans, rinsed, drained
• 1 15-oz can light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15-oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
  
• 3/4 cup bulgur (cracked wheat), rinsed
  
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp. salt
  

Methodology

1. Cut up the vegetables or make some other people do that. Put the olive oil, carrots, onions, jalapeno and bell peppers, and zucchini in the pot and sauté over medium-high heat until tender, about 8-10 minutes.

2. Add the spices, then the rest of the ingredients. Stir, then cover and let it boil until the bulgar is cooked, about 20 minutes.

3. Serve with cheddar cheese and/or bread.

Notes

*The original recipe said that it made 6 servings, so to feed 6 people B and I decided to multiply it by 1.5. Now it makes about 27 15 10-12 servings. If you want to cut it back down, I'd suggest cutting the black and kidney beans to one can each and taking away the smaller can of tomatoes.

*Be careful when you serve it, since it will be quite hot. Try not to burn yourself or others, it is a little embarrassing to have your cooking experiments end in injury.

*The dish was well-received by all. 0/7 on the disaster index!

Em oi! #187 & 188

Compared to next week's comics, #188 is not so exciting. I'm fond of #187 though.

Em oi! #185 & #186

Got a bit hung up on other stuff this weekend and these, consequently, were not posted.



I suppose I have no additional commentary on them, except that the longer I look at 186, the less satisfied with the art I am.

Random Vegetable Curry

Does that sound like kind of an apathetic title? Because this is kind of an apathetic recipe. Luckily it was delicious.

Ingredients

• 1/2 eggplant, chopped
• 1/2 sweet potato, chopped
• 1 large zucchini
• 1 1/4 blocks baked tofu, chopped
• 1 tin chickpeas
• 1 tin nuoc cot dua (coconut cream or coconut milk)
• 1 T. red Thai curry paste
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 1-2 T. soy sauce
• 1 handful spinach
  

Methodology

1. Put veg in pot with a little oil. Add coconut milk and let it simmer.

2. Add curry paste and brown sugar. After a while, add in the tofu and the chickpeas. Cover and let everything boil until the sweet potato is tender.

3. Add the soy sauce (to taste). Throw in a handful of spinach at the end and let it wilt.

4. That's it.

Notes

*This came out well. Good with toasted pita.

*About 250 calories if serving 6, if 8 about 192.

*Needs more curry paste.

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

From here, with some changes.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 c. white whole wheat flour
• 1 c. quick oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
  
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. margarine
• 1/2 c. + 2 T (6 oz) low fat plain yoghurt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
  
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c. + 1 T. dried cranberries
• 1/2 c. + 1 T. chocolate chips

Methodology

1. Preheat oven to 350*.

2. Mix flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.

3. Mix brown sugar, margarine, yoghurt, vanilla, and the egg in another bowl. Stir the wet into the dry until all combined, adding a little extra flour if necessary.

4. Add the chips and cranberries. Drop in heaping teaspoons two inches apart on a greased cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, or until brown.

Notes

*Makes about 30. I forgot to count before I got into them, but I think it's about 30. With my changes, it works out to about 104.5 calories/cookie.

*Very fluffy and cake-like. I was worried that they weren't good, but then my taste-testers ate about 8 of them between the two of them, so I figure they're okay. Next time maybe I'll use actual butter and just leave out the yoghurt, see if that makes them a little crisper. Also regular oats instead of quick oats.

Em oi! #184

I'm pretty sure this is exactly what Vung Tau was like. Amirite, Ly?

Another script found while moving.

Em oi! #183

This raises the question of "Should I ask?", which I guess I'm not entirely comfortable with.

This was a panel from a script I found while moving. It was never drawn, since it had too many people in the panels to look clean.

The Remarkable Ice Cream Cake

So I have this idea that major life changes should be rewarded with cake. It seems like a good way to let people know that you approve of their choices - in this case, quitting an awful job.
This recipe has a lot of parts and takes a while to put together, but it's not actually very difficult. It's vegan because the friend I baked it for is vegan, but it doesn't have to be.

Ingredients

Cake:
1 1/3 c. flour (I use white-whole wheat)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger (or a bit more)
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. pureed pumpkin
2 T. oil (like vegetable oil or canola oil)
1/2 c. molasses
1/2 c. hot water.

Ice cream:
1 quart vanilla soy ice cream (I used "It's So Delicious" brand because it was on sale)
1 package candied ginger (you can get this at an Asian food store, esp. around Chinese New Year)

Compote:
1/2 c. frozen berries
2 T. orange marmalade
2 T. grand marnier
1 T. brown sugar

Crust:
4 sheets cinnamon graham crackers
1 T. oil
1-2 T. brown sugar

Methodology

1. Cake: Preheat oven to 350*. Combine wet ingredients (pumpkin, sugar, molasses, oil, water) and dry ingredients (everything else) in seperate bowls. Mix dry into wet. Put in an oiled bread pan and bake ~35-40 minutes (I recommend checking after about 25).

2. Ice Cream: take the ice cream out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter. Open the package of ginger and chop it up in the food processor (or cut it by hand) into bite-sized pieces (think small, like raisins). By the time you finish, the ice cream should be softening but not soupy. Scoop it out into a large bowl, then add in the ginger and mix. This may take a bit of muscle to combine it well, but it shouldn't take too long. If it's really difficult, wait a few minutes until the ice cream is softer. When combined, scoop the ice cream back into the carton, cover, and return to freezer.

3. Compote: In a small sauce pan over low heat, put the berries, the marmalade, the grand marnier, and the brown sugar. You may want to add a little water, but not more than a tablespoon or two. Keep an eye on this, stirring occasionally, until the berries are melted, then turn up the heat to medium and let it simmer until you have something a bit less stiff than jam but more stiff than, oh, strawberry soup or something. This is called a reduction, incidentally. If you have corn startch, you can add that as a thickening agent (maybe a teaspoon?) when you turn the heat up, but I'd go slowly with that. When the berries are reduced, turn off the burner, put them in a container, and stick it in the fridge to cool. Incidentally, you may want to use your spoon to break up some of the larger berries to create a more uniform sauce.

4. When the cake is done, turn it out of the pan to cool. After about 30 minutes, wrap it in foil and stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Wash the pan.

5. So everything is cool. Line the pan with cling film, leaving the pieces long so plenty hangs over (later on, you will wrap these pieces across the top of the cake). Take the ice cream out of the freezer and (when it is soft enough) spread a layer about an inch thick on the bottom of the pan and a little ways up the sides.

6. The cake is sort of wedge shaped, since the bread pan is a flat-bottomed, gradually widening V-shap (like this: \____/). Cut the cake in half and put the bottom half in the pan (by this I mean the same part which was touching the bottom of the pan when the cake was baking.

7. Drizzle a teaspoon or two of grand marnier on the cake, then spread the layer with berries. You should have just enough to go across. You could also use raspberry jam or something here.

8. Put another thin layer of ice cream over the berries.

9. Put the last piece of cake on. I had to cut mine somewhat thinner to make everything fit in the pan. You can drizzle this with liquor if you want, then cover with ice cream. Put the whole thing in the freezer.

10. In a dish, crush up the graham crackers. Add the oil and sugar, mixing until you get something like a graham cracker crust. Spread this across the bottom of the cake. Cover the whole pan with cling film and return to freezer for about an hour.

11. To serve, unwrap the cling film. Put a plate on the bottom of the pan and invert, then remove the pan and cling film. You can add frosting on top now, if you wish.


Notes

*If you are not vegan, you can use regular ice cream, change the flavours around, etc. This was ginger + gingerbread because my friend really likes gingerbread. If I were making it for myself, it would probably be coffee+chocolate+rum with orange/raspberry in the middle, something like that.

*0/7. There were no problems at all, and I've been asked for the recipe a number of times already.

Em oi! #182

I love cookies.

I love boys who bring me cookies.

I know that's not really very deep, but that's the sum total of my thoughts on this.

Em oi! #181

As promised, the comic. (This one is Saturday's).

So I was going to write a formal review of Brideshead, Revisited, but this pretty much covers it.

Peanut Butter Banana Cookies

The original recipe was this one, though I'm not sure if that's the original site I downloaded it from.

My best friend and I messed with the recipe a bit, as you can see.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 2 ripe bananas (overripe is fine)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp soy milk
• 1 1/2 T. brown sugar
• 1 1/2 T. honey
  
• 2 ½ cups quick cooking or rolled oatmeal
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
  
• dash cinnamon (optional)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 c. raisins
• 1/4 c. chopped walnuts
• 1/4 c. chocolate chips
  

Methodology

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mash bananas in a bowl. Measure 1/3 c. (6 T.) of (smooth) peanut butter into a bowl and stick it in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Combine it with the bananas and add in the vanilla, sugar, honey, and soy milk.

3. Mix in the dry ingredients (oats, baking powder, flour, salt, cinnamon, and mix-ins).

4. Drop tablespoon-sized balls onto greased cookie sheets; they don't spread, so you can put them pretty close together. Bake ~13 minutes.

Notes

*May have needed more salt, but I ran a half marathon this morning, so I'm not really one to judge.

*Maybe more peanut butter next time? Also probably won't do walnuts again. I'm just not big on nuts in cookies, except possibly brownies.

*Batch made 34; a test batch I made last week made 17, so I'm fairly confident in this number.

*0/7 disaster rating. Without raisins or walnuts, and using just brown sugar instead of sugar and honey, these have about 70 calories/cookie. I'm not sure how that changes with the extra stuff.

Curried Pumpkin Soup

I haven't felt much like cooking recently, but I had some extra pumpkin in the fridge I needed to do something with.

Ingredients

• 1/2 jumbo yellow onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• about 2 T garlic or other oil
• 1/2 cube bouillion
• about 1/3 c. frozen corn
  
• 1 15-oz. tin of pumpkin, less one cup
• 1.5 c. water
• 1/2 c. skim milk
• 2 T. curry powder
• 1 T. garam masala
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• a sprinkle of cinnamon, salt and pepper to taste
  
• 1 T + 1 tsp brown sugar

Methodology

1. Drizzle oil in a pot and throw in the garlic until it sizzles. Add onion and corn. After a bit of cooking, add bouillion cube, sugar, and spices. After a few minutes more, add about a cup of water.

2. Add the pumpkin. Mix, then taste and reseason if needed. Add another half cup of water and half a cup of milk. You can add more milk or water if you want a thinner soup.

3. Serve with bread (I used rye) and (white, sharp) cheddar on top, if desired.

Notes

*Makes about enough for 3. If I'd had the blender, I'd've purreed some carrots and put those in, too.

*1/7 on the disaster index. Careful when it boils.

Banana Bread Recipe, perfected

A few changes to this recipe to make it better. Yes.

Ingredients

• 1.5c white whole wheat flour
• 1tsp baking soda
• 1.5tsp baking powder
• 1tsp salt
• 1/2c brown sugar
• 3 very ripe bananas
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3c. buttermilk
• 6 oz low fat plain yoghurt
• 1 T. cinnamon
• 1/2 c. chocolate chips, or until it looks right

Changes are bolded. Mix dry and wet as before, combine and bake at 350 for ~1 hr. If veganizing (which I haven't tried), I would replace the buttermilk with soy milk + vinegar and add plain or vanilla soy yoghurt or about 1/4 c. soy margarine. I will have to try this sometime.

Eggplant Rolls

Some recipes on here start out as “I was hungry”. Some start out as “I was bored”, or “I was tired”, or “I needed to use up a bunch of vegetables”. This one started out as a sort of combination of all of these, and turned out to be something amazing. Don’t be put off by the lengthy prep procedure; it wasn’t really very hard, and the results were worth it. Inspired by this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 zucchini
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 tin diced tomatoes (~14 oz)
• 1 large crimini mushroom
• 1/2 package frozen chopped spinach
• 1 piece baked tofu (optional)
• 2 T. feta cheese (I used fat-free feta)
• Salsa, to taste (optional)

Methodology

1. Slice eggplant into “steaks” the long way, about half an inch thick. Lay them out on a plate and salt them on both sides with sea salt, then let them sit for a while (about twenty minutes?)

2. Chop other ingredients. Heat wok with oil of choice (I use garlic oil), add garlic and sauté a little. Add onion and mushroom, wait a few minutes, then add zucchini. Season with paprika, basil, salt, and pepper.

3. After that starts to look cooked (or dry, I guess), add spinach, tofu, and tomatoes. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally.

4. Heat up a frying pan with a little oil in it. Wash off the eggplant “steaks” and blot them dry, then put in the pan. Drizzle with a little oil, season with paprika, salt, and pepper. After about 3-4 minutes, flip them and let them cook on the other side. They will become sort of pliable and soft, but they should not become mush.

5. When all the eggplant is cooked, mix the feta into the sauce. Put one piece of eggplant on a plate and top with about 1/4 cup sauce, then use your fingers or a spoon to roll it up. This is something of a delicate operation if you are really hungry.

6. Top with salsa or pasta sauce.

Notes

*Makes about enough for three people if they are not too hungry, or two if they are (which is to say, if they’re me).

*This took about 45 minutes start-to-finish, including a little time-out to clean up after a cat, yell at him, sulk, and deal with him sulking.

*Fantastic and delicious. 0/7 on the disaster index.

*Next time I will try adding either rice or chickpeas, for more texture/carbs/protein.

Lazy Brownies with Rum Glaze

What do you do when you don't want to go to the store, but you are craving fudgy brownies like woah? Improvise.

This is based on my mother's parve mayonnaise brownies recipe.

Ingredients

Brownies

• 1 1/4 c. flour
• 3/4 c. cocoa powder (unsweetened, non-dutched)
  
• 1 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 T. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/3 c. mayonnaise
• 1 small container (~6 oz.) low fat plain yoghurt
• 1/4 c. mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
• 1/4 c. dried cranberries and raisins
  

Glaze

• 1/3 c. rum
• 2/3 c. powdered/icing sugar (approx.)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• a sprinkle of cardamum

Methodology

1. Preheat the oven to 350*.

2. Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cocoa, and spices.

3. Add in mayo, water, and yoghurt. You may need to add more water to bring it to the right consistancy.

4. Add chips, cranberries, and raisins. Put in a greased 9x13 pan and bake for ~30 minutes.

5. Mix glaze ingrediants while brownies cool. Cut brownies, then drizzle glaze over with a fork. Eat.

Notes

*Not quite what I expected, but rich and fudgy. Also, rum + running is maybe not my greatest idea ever. Or perhaps it is. Mmm.

*Could have plumped raisins first with hot water. Hm.

*Had to call Daniel to ask him how long mayo keeps for. Apparently a long time.

*2/7 on the disaster index.

ETA: These keep well in the fridge, becomng even more fudgy. I recommend serving them with whipped cream and fresh raspberries. Going to try freezing them to see how that works.

Cauliflower Curry

I've been feeling kind of off my game lately. In a rut, so to speak. So I thought I'd try something much different - caulflower curry, or gobi aloo (I think this is its Hindi name). This recipe is based on a number of recipes I looked up, primarily this one. That said, if you're asking where the potato which crept in came from, the answer is I'm really not sure. A lot of the other recipes (though not all of them) called for varying amounts of potato.

Ingredients

• 1 medium sized cauliflower, cut into florets
  
• ~1/2 T. garlic powder
  
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped
  
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
  
• 1/2 tsp red cayenne pepper
  
• 1/2 tsp coriander (dry, not fresh)
  
• 1/2 tsp cumin
  
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tin diced tomatoes (large-size tin, about 14 oz.)
• 1 T. garam masala
• 1 tsp. curry powder
  
• oil
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• 2/3 c. rice and 1 1/3 c. water
  

Methodology

0. Start rice.

1. Cut up cauliflower and blanch in salted water - just drop it in for a minute or two until it is a little tender. Drain.

2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok and stir-fry the cauliflower until it starts to brown. Remove and set aside.

3. Heat half a tablespoon or so of oil in the wok and add the garlic powder, then add the onion and sauté until transparent. Add the spices except for salt, garam marsala, and curry powder, then add the tomatoes and cook for a while. The original recipe said "until the oil separates", but I just waited until it looked kind of sauce-like, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the potatoes, the cauliflower, the garam marsala, some salt, the curry powder, and the brown sugar. And keep an eye on the rice or it will burn.

5. Add about half a cup of water and cover until the potatoes are done, about 5-10 minutes. Check periodically and add more water if necessary to prevent burning.

6. Readjust spices. Serve over rice.

Notes

*A really labour-intensive recipe, and the results were...not what I'd hoped for. I had some cauliflower dumplings (I think this is what they were referred to as) at an Indian restaurant a few weeks ago, and this was not the same. That said, it was edible, and certainly not the worst thing I've ever made for myself. It seems to be growing ever-spicier in the fridge, which is kind of neat.

*5/7 on the disaster index.

*Might have been better with bread, if I'd gotten my act together and made some rotis or something instead of the rice.

Hangover Chip Muffins

A variation on this recipe. They do not cure a hangover, but they made me feel better about having one.

Ingredients

• 2 c. flour (I used "white whole wheat")
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 T. cocoa powder
  
• 1 egg
• 1 really overripe banana, frozen, thawed, and mashed
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 T. margarine, melted
• 1 1/2 c. (skim) milk
• 1/4 c. mini chocolate chips
  

Follow the rest of the recipe as given in previous entry. Makes 12 muffins, about 137.25 calories/muffin, give or take.

*Note: it's July, and these get bread mold pretty quick if you're not careful. Put them in the fridge or the freezer if you don't eat all of them the first day.

Book Review: Lex Luthor, Man of Steel

This one's almost too short to bother cross-posting it from GoodReads.com. Still.

If you've ever delved into the Superman comics at all, you've come across Lex Luthor, the billionaire who makes it his business to make life difficult for Our Hero. The back story between him and Clark Kent is pretty compelling stuff - friendship and betrayal in rural Kansas. But this isn't that story.

Brian Azzarello has interrogated Lex and come back with six issues of reasons to hate the Big Nietzschian Joke. There's nothing not to like here - the storytelling is tight, the art is gorge...more If you've ever delved into the Superman comics at all, you've come across Lex Luthor, the billionaire who makes it his business to make life difficult for Our Hero. The back story between him and Clark Kent is pretty compelling stuff - friendship and betrayal in rural Kansas. But this isn't that story.

Brian Azzarello has interrogated Lex and come back with six issues of reasons to hate the Big Nietzschian Joke. There's nothing not to like here - the storytelling is tight, the art is gorgeous and wonderfully consistent, and the story itself is perfect for Lex: rational on the surface, but with a depth of sadism to keep the sympathy at bay. Lex is always restrained and gentlemanly, but always ready to go for the jugular when you turn your head just right. He's always brutal, never losing himself in mawkish nostalgia. Best of all is the dichotomy between what he claims in his narration and the often brutal truths of his actions.

If you're looking for a good, quick read, or something which can show a neophyte how good comics can be, this is one for you.


Lex Luthor, Man of Steel, by Brian Azzarello with art by Lee Bermejo. 5 stars out of 7.

Balsamic Chocolate Drops

Originally from Habeas Brulee, via FatFree Vegan.

Ingredients

• 1 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
  
• 5 T. margarine
• 1/2 c. + 1 T. cocoa powder (not dutched)
• 1/2 c. dark brown sugar (packed)
• 1/3 c. nonfat plain yoghurt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 T. balsamic vinegar
  
• 1/4 c. mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 T. cinnamon and sugar mixture
  

Methodology

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add chips. Set aside.

3. In a sauce pan over low heat, melt the margarine. When it is done, turn off and add the sugar and the cocoa. Mix. Add the yoghurt, vanilla, and vinegar.

4. Add dry into wet. Don't overmix. Also if you are clever, wait a few extra minutes for the wet to cool enough that it won't melt the chocolate chips. Oops.

5. Drop tablespoons of dough about an inch apart on greased cookie sheets and flatten down gently. Mix the cinnamon and sugar and the sea salt and sprinkle on top. Bake about 10-11 minutes, switching the sheets halfway through.

Notes

*Makes 24 cookies, about 79 calories each.

*Honestly...this isn't what I was expecting. I ate 4 of them trying to decide if I like them, so I won't say they're bad, but they're quite savory and serious chocolate without being sweet. Actually, I think they're very much a Claire sort of cookie - she likes the savory, while I am the one with a sweet tooth.

Anyway, definitely more of a "nibble at during tea time, paired with some strawberries" than "dunk in your milk after school" cookie. Sophisticated, I think is what I mean. And also these strawberries are delicious. Mm.

*2.5/7 on the disaster index. Easy come, easy go.

*Daniel's assessment was that they are not undersweetened but a bit too dry. He recommends using low fat yoghurt instead of nonfat. I will try this.