Rosemary Bread

I think this bread would be a REALLY good grilled cheese, or sandwich with local tomatoes.
I named it that because originally it has rosemary in it, but I ran out of rosemary and still make this bread. Granted, it wouldn't be rosemary anymore, but it's still really, really good.
Breads in the machine are neat just for the sheer fact that you can add things here and there (gradually) without messing up the bread by too much. Granted, that changes if you add something salty, for instance, because that messes with the yeast. Adding fluids is hard (see: honey or jams) because then it might get too gloopy.

I'm eating this bread right now (meaning I have the time to write my posts on breads I've used recently) after having toasted a slice and put honey on top. I think I made it a week ago, but I sliced it and put it all into a large tupperware container. A big thing with bread: it's not necessarily how much air is in there when you store it so much as WHERE you store it. The cool from the fridge makes it get tough faster, as it messes with the bread on a chemical level. However, being warm and in the sunlight is bad, because then things like green mold (penicillin, anyone?) tends to breed within 2-3 days. Why? Because there's no preservative in it. (For SHAME, haha.) So, I store mine in an air tight container, then inside a drawer that doesn't see light.
It's the same drawer the mouse visits, hence the thicker container. I don't know if it's alive anymore (my cat had some intestinal issues that, upon experiencing the smell, I have to wonder if she ate the mouse in question...) but it's not getting to my homemade bread, darn it.

As always, put the warm water with the yeast and any granulated items, like sugar and salt, and let them fester for a moment. It'll bubble; that's when I tend to add everything else.

With this one, I also just completely melt the butter and put it in with the water, salt, sugar and yeast. It doesn't seem to change much of anything, and it saves me the effort of hoping the 'softened' butter will mix thoroughly enough.
Also, don't replace the butter with anything else. I'm sure it'd be okay, but I've been reading a lot about butter vs oils, and ...I'd just stick to butter. I've always just stuck to butter if I can but.. Come to find out, and this isn't a shocker for me, canola oil helps you fatten up. It's a bad idea.


Recipe

1 tablespoon white sugar
1 cup of warm water
1 teaspoons of salt
1 + 1/2 teaspoons of  active dry yeast
2 tablespoons of melted butter
2 tablespoons of rosemary *
1 tablespoon of Italian Seasonings
3 cups of bread flour
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 beaten egg

Mix everything in as one should. Leave out the egg.
If you are using a bread machine, put everything in on wheat (which works in mine, might not in yours) and let it go. Come back when the bread has risen a bunch (an hour or hour-and-a-half should be left). Whisk up the egg (I've been known to add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and about 2-3 of parmigiana cheese) and pour it over the bread. It's worked when you stab the bread with a knife, but then it muffin topped a lot; that was a REALLY good, really ugly bread, so it's up to you. Everything on the top will cover, then spill over the sides. Don't worry, it shouldn't burn. It'll be pretty tasty.

If you are using a bread pan in the oven, do the typical spiel: knead it for a while, let it sit, covered by a towel, in a container and in a warm place. Come back to it later on, brush the loaves with the egg, and then bake at 375F for a while in a preheated oven. No idea how long that takes, but it shouldn't bake for more than about an hour and a half, I'd guess. You get the same thing each time (I think this makes two bread pans, if using the oven, but then that would depend on your pan size, too).

*I haven't used rosemary in a while, but it's really good with some marjoram and parsley instead.
Also, adding macadamia nut pieces is really, really tasty.

Enjoy!

Vegetarianism?

After today, I think I may refuse to eat out more than twice a month. None of those restaurants will include chains. I will (do my civil best to) eat locally only, as well as to give a huge attempt to eat at local chains that use local products.
I will also put sodas to once a week, which will not be nearly as difficult.

I'll likely put down a lot of what I'm doing to avoid the occasional slip. I think I'll allow eggs in moderation (too many eggs are just asking for it, somehow, although, honestly, I really can't say how, considering how studies keep changing like lava lamps).

This shouldn't be too hard, really, since I don't carry meats around with me anyway, especially in warmer months. It's harder to keep them cooled to the proper storing temperature when I need to be out and about a lot. And when I make myself to-go-out-all-weekend food over the winter, it's not hard to exclude it.

We'll see how it goes.

Any tips would be appreciated, by the way. I'm not doing this solely for one reason. I am (slowly) putting on unnecessary weight where muscle should be; I don't like how animals AND humans are treated at meat packaging plants; I don't like the carbon footprint of most restaurants; I don't like how expensive it is to eat out as it is; I don't like how much crude oil is used to sustain the demand we have for chain foods. I think my decision will at least put my conscience at ease, if anything.

Tonight: Garlic bread

• There are two parts to this: make the bread, then slice the bread and add a topping.
• As found here:  Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/bread-machine-garlic-bread-107933#ixzz1ktop2aHl
• To make:
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon powdered milk
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic or 2 teaspoons garlic powder (I minced up about 5-10 cloves, so this is up to you about how much you want. If you love garlic like we do, then 3 ts is just not going to cut it.)
• 3 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (I put in a packet. My bread keeps falling and I keep changing things to see what its issue is)

A few good shakes of the following, each: dried oregano, basil, marjoram, and a small shake of lemon peel. 

Directions:

1. 1
   Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.
2. 2
   Select Basic Bread cycle; press Start.

Or... Put in appropriate pans, knead away, let it sit and rise for about 45 minutes, then bake at 350 for about an hour and a half or until it's the crust you'd want. 




To top:


Chop up a junk load more garlic. Add more seasonings of choice, as well as olive oil. Eye this to your liking and be sure to remember it may cover a lot of slices. Add butter from the fridge and microwave until it melts. Add this to slices of your freshly baked bread and allow to broil in the oven for a few minutes, until it's as crispy as you like. Serve with your yummy meal.

Baked eggplant

I'm back! I took a trip up north, spent quite a bit of time cooking at my sister in law's (basic stuff like green bean casserole and sweet potato crunch. I didn't share the recipe because, well, it's.. one is super easy and pointless to post, and the other is a recipe in the family and I'm not sure how happy they'd be if it went public.)

Considering it's a new year, I refuse to cook things that you know will turn out tasting like dirt. There are just things I like and things I don't and there's not much one's going to do to it to change my mind. On that note, I don't want to eat a lot of fried foods, red meats or things heavy in fatty oils -- like Crisco, margerine; I'm avoiding vegetable oil due to some finds I've come across. Logically speaking I'd post a link to that, but I can't find it right now.
So I'm making a vegetarian meal that sounds like it should actually be tasty.


Serves 4.
Cook time: assumedly 25-30 minutes.

Ingredients

4 eggplants, cut in half (I'm using two, because the store had three)
1 tb coarse sea salt
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 thinly sliced onions
1 cup olive oil
1 tb freshly chopped parsely (guess who's using dried..)
2 large firm ripe tomatoes, chopped

Short version: stab the eggplant, leave it sit for an hour, cook the rest, cook the eggplant, put everything together and bake it.

Long version:
Make several deep cuts in the tops of the eggplants. Place in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Let drain for an hour. (Note: if you're going to cook rice on the side, or anything where the juice would be possibly included in the food while you're preparing, this would be good to use. The food would absorb any lost nutrients due to draining. I've been calling it the collard-green theory, because southerners often dab up the juice with corn bread).

Preheat the oven to 350.

Saute the garlic and onions in 2 tb of oil in a large pan over medium heat until browned. Season with salt, if desired. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes.

Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan until very hot. Fry the eggplants until the flesh is softened, about 10-15 minutes. Note: you can do this on lower heat, which would avoid destroying the chemical compounds found in the oil and the fruit. This is one reason why frying is generally bad.

Place the eggplants in a baking dish and fill with the onion mixture. Bake until tender -- roughly a half hour.

Sprinkle with the parsley and serve hot.

Considering I have more onion and tomato than eggplant, and I'm not really keen on frying it, I'm probably going to drain the eggplant after cutting it into strips. I'll saute like it says, but instead of frying the eggplant, I'll likely bake it for 10-20 minutes (which I can do while sauteing the other stuff) and then put it all together. This saves me from washing an extra pan, using up a lot of olive oil, and destroying good nutrients from the extra cooking process. I can't see how it would taste much differently, and having extra tomatoes -- therefore extra juice -- I'm not too scared of it drying out on me.


I may add a few potatoes, since, for one, I have a lot of potatoes; for another, I have company coming over; and for a third, I have a love for potatoes. Woo!

Wish me luck!

Post-eaten update

I successfully fed my husband, Eric, Dave Yates, Dave B., Sage, Alex, Danny, Heather, Heather's friend Christina (?), Logan, myself and Redd.
I added a whole chicken, 2 zucchini, 2 yellow squash, habanero spicy sauce and Louisiana cayenne sauce to the recipe. It tasted amazing!

I don't need to review too much. Anyone who's had gumbo knows what I'm talking about.
I used the stock from boiling the chicken all day (see: from 10 am til 4 pm). I then did what it said about boiling the shells with the stock water. I added the squashes after I put the stock and okra in. Otherwise, I did everything about the same. I never made roux before, but it was definitely just a creole alternative to corn starch and water, except corn starch and water doesn't brown soup. It'd be up to you if you wanted to brown oil and flour just to give a more caramel color to the gumbo. I could have skipped that and saved myself 20-30 minutes, but oh well.

A few people added more hot sauce, but no one needed more seasonings than that. I put more thyme in than it called for, but my measurements were all off. I also added chili powder instead of cayenne (cause I lost my cayenne apparently) and a Creole seasoning I found at BiLo, and I think that helped. The flavor was meant to have a more concentrated shrimp-stock flavor, but the chicken competed with that in a very good way. It was balanced, in my opinion, and I didn't hear anything even remotely similar to a complaint.

Everyone left full, at least if they left at all. Eric and Logan are still here.

I'm so excited this turned out to be so tasty! :D

I have photos, but they're on a camera that's busy charging. Go figure. I'll post up pictures eventually!

Recipe: seafood sausage gumbo

Let me preface this by saying that Heather donated a chicken from Earth Fare she said she'd never eat. I can't see why, but that means she used it as a buy in for this soup.
This soup is not cheap. So don't be angsty about my charging a buy-in. I've been pretty lenient this semester.
So, I am boiling the bird. Why? Because it was frozen. But I'll use that stock in with the gumbo. I can't see how that'd hurt anything. I do intend to de bone the bird, and if you choose to do the same thing then kudos -- it's a better soup, I think, when you go through the process like this. I know I love my turkey stock and I still have some left in the freezer.


As one can see from the recipe, this one is going to take me a lot longer. The roux will be 20-40 minutes; the shrimp shells simmer for 20; part 7 is 20 minutes; 8 is about 40-45. I'm sure I can multi-task, but some of that is a consistent bout of attention (see: the roux, which I'm scared I'll end up burning but such is how things go sometimes). I can definitely see this taking two hours. On the upside, my house should be quite warm. I'm also doing peppermint-brownies since it's so close to Christmas (a week!!)   =)



It says it serves 10-12 - if you add a whole chicken this won't be the case anymore :P

3 lbs raw shrimp, in shell (yes, I'm boiling the shells with the water that the chicken's in right now.)
1.5 quarts water
4 onions, 2 quarters
4 bay leaves
3/4 cup veggie oil
1 cup all purpose flour
5 tb butter
2 green bell peppers
4 celery stalks
1.5 pounds polish or andouille sausage (we actually have some jimmy dean links that were on sale, so just about whatever sausage should work)
3 cups fresh okra (in my case, frozen, since it's December)
3 garlic cloves
1/2 ts thyme leaves
2 ts salt
Black pepper and white pepper
1 ts cayenne pepper
2 tb red pepper sauce
2 cups chopped plum tomatoes (or a sweet tomato of your choice)
1 pound fresh crab meat
boiled rice for serving

1: Peel and devein the shrimp. Keep the heads and shells. Cover and chill  the shrimp while you make the sauce.

2: Place the shrimp heads and shells in a saucepan with the water, quartered onion and one of the bay leaves and let it boil. Partly cover the top and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Strain and set it all aside.

3: To make a Cajun roux, heat the oil in a heavy bottomed skillet. When the oil is hot, add the flour, a little at a time, and blend into a smooth paste.

4: Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly for 25-40 minutes until the roux reaches the color of peanut butter. Remove the pan from the heat and continue stirring until the roux stops cooking and cools down.

5: Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Finely chop the remaining onions and add to the pan with the peppers and celery. Cook over medium-low heat for 6-8 minutes until the onions are soft, stirring occasionally.

6: Add the sausage, stir well, and cook for 5 minutes longer. Add the okra and garlic, stir, and cook until the okra stops producing white 'threads'.

7: Add the remaining bay leaves, thyme, salt, peppers, and make sure it's to taste. Stir well and then stir in 1.5 quarts of the shrimp stock and the plum tomatoes. Bring to a boil, partly cover the pan, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

8: Whisk in the Cajun roux. Raise the heat and bring it to a boil, whisking well. Lower the heat again and simmer, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes,

9: Stir in the shrimp and crab meat. Cook for at least 3-4 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink.

10: To serve, put a mound of hot, boiled rice in each serving bowl and ladle the gumbo over, making sure everyone gets a little of everything. =)

Review on WonTon soup

I don't have much to say about this soup. It was hit and miss with the whole wheat with me, but I had a lot of compliments about it -- especially from Heather. Just, if you decide to try it, make sure to roll out the dough thinner than you may think you need it to be. That wheat just doesn't cook as quickly as white flour, obviously.

I also didn't add much salt, again. It has a warmer flavor that way, and I know people loved the broth. I recommend it that way; salt seems to, in this case, detract from the point of the recipe. The oils definitely make this one, so I'm not going to announce how healthy this one is as much as the others -- but at least it was a lot of oils and not heavy cream or butter, so there's that at least. It's a simple soup, and because of finals I haven't had time to talk about it. Sorry!

Hot and Sour Soup

From the left and around: Heather, Logan, Kevin's head, the top of Kyle's head, Eric, most of Dave Y's head, Sage's bald boyfriend, the top of Sage's head, Danny; DB is in the center.

I know my own mother wanted this recipe and I feel bad I haven't been able to get to it until right now. I had exams again this week, and finals next week, so I'm a bit sporadic with what happens when.

DB's shoulder, Danny, Sage, Sage's BF, and DY

I also had a couple more people than usual (and by a couple, I mean 4). I did definitely alter the recipe just because I couldn't find cloud ear mushrooms; I added a bunch of white-cap mushrooms from the store instead, thanks to Logan and Kyle's willingness to pick up what I tend to forget.

I also didn't add any salt. I used stock from Thanksgiving turkey when I boiled the bones, so I didn't use a traditional Asian stock. I would recommend a more traditional stock: it's thinner, and it just goes with it. I did thin down the stock I used a bit, and I think it could have used celery seed. No matter. On to the recipe!!

DB, Logan, Kevin, Kyle's shooting at me, Eric,
and the BF'n'Danny's heads

Serves 4 (we'll see; have you ever truly been full from hot and sour?)

1/4 ounce dried cloud ears
8 fresh shiitake mushrooms
3 ounces firm tofu (it'll say firm for those that didn't know anything about tofu... Like me.)
1/2 cup sliced and drained canned bamboo shoots (or freshly cooked shoots)
3 3/4's cups veggie stock (Asian stock)
1 tb sugar (not sure how much this actually helps)
3 tb rice vinegar
1 tb light soy sauce
1/4 ts chili oil
1/2 ts salt
a large pinch of freshly ground white pepper

Center to right:
Back of the boyfriend's head, DY, Eric and Kyle.

1 tb cornstarch
1 tb cold water
1 egg white
1 ts sesame oil
2 scallions, cut into rings for garnish

1: Soak the cloud ears in warm water for 30 min, or until they're soft and tender. Drain; trim off the hard base from each and chop them up roughly.
2: Remove and discard the stems from the shiitake (I didn't, it's not such a big deal either way). Cut up the caps into thin strips. Cut the tofu into 1/2 inch cubes, and shred the bamboo shoots. Stick all of the mushrooms, tofu, and bamboo in a large saucepan with the stock. Bring it all to a boil, then let it simmer for about five minutes.
3: Stir in the sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, chili oil, and salt'n'pepper. Stir in the cornstarch with the cold water, then add the mix to the soup and stir until it thickens slightly.


4: Lightly beat the egg white, then pour into the soup at a steady stream while stirring constantly. Cook, stirring, until the egg white changes color.
5: Add the sesame oil just before serving. Ladle into warm bowls and garnish each portion with the scallion rings.

Heather, Logan, the side of Kevin's head and the
back of DB's head

Carrot and Ginger soup

Everyone's eating it now. I served eight again, but two of them are different than the original crowd due to how the cards fell, if you will.
Carrot and ginger are fantastic together. I was scared that, due to carrots and sweet potatoes both being roots, it would be very similar to a sweet potato soup. Thankfully, it doesn't. The cost is extremely low; I spent about 20 bucks for the full amount of ingredients and didn't quite use it all, then have enough maybe to feed about 20 people (I obviously changed up the recipe).

It says it serves 6. I tripled it, so it's about accurate.

Ingredients:
2 tb butter
1 chopped onion
1 chopped celery stalk
1 chopped medium potato
5 1/2 cups chopped carrots
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 quarts veggie stock
7 tablespoons whipping cream (or, to taste)
A heavy pinch of ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

1. As per usual for a lot of these, melt the butter in your pan and saute the celery and onion. Let it soften.
2. When that's done, add the carrots, the potato, ginger and stock. Bring it to a boil, then let it simmer for twenty minutes or so. This isn't strict. Stir a bunch.
3. Process this into smoothness in whatever fashion you prefer. I still love my stick blender. Bring it back to the stove and let it warm up; add the spice, cream and the salt'n'pepper all to taste. I'd love to say to stick with the recipe, but everyone's going to prefer something a little different. Let it heat back up.
Optional: garnish with a small dollop of yogurt to each bowl.

This takes up time just because of the chopping. If you do it before hand, you'll be able to have this cook in about a half an hour. Make sure to cook it long enough to make the carrots mushy; it doesn't really need to cook much longer than that, so depending on how they're chopped (or processed) it could be done sooner.

Grade: Caribbean Vegetable Soup

• Flavor
• Texture
• Cooking ease
• Price
• Estimated healthiness
• Creativity of the recipe
• Completeness 

Out of 70 points.

Flavor: 10/10. My job of replacing ingredients because I couldn't find that one thing turned out very well, and I hope the thing I replaced tastes like what I used (does that make sense? :P ). So much was going on. It's fruity, fun, playful, and would go well at a summertime party with fruity-alcomaholic drinks and some Caribbean music. It definitely merits the wearing of bathing suits while eating.

Texture: 10/10. What is not right about this thing? I love full, hearty soups. I learned some time back that hearty doesn't necessarily mean meaty, or heavy, or thick; it can be busy, or full. The Caribbean soup seems to take everything awesome and stick them together. It goes against what we seem to think of Caribbean as, but I'm thinking it makes sense. They probably sleep on banana trees (I jest; that wouldn't make any sense, but we have to import them from far away which isn't fair. Our deal locally is berries, pears and apples, really; we don't get neat fruits like bananas.)

Cooking ease: 8/10. DEAR GOD I CHOPPED EVERYTHING. I chopped ahead of time, thinking I'd need to, and although I was correct I didn't have enough bowls to put everything in. I had bowls everywhere, and I still had more to chop. And when I dumped in the first wave of food, I had to continue chopping. By the time I had everything in and cleaned up, it was close to done. And, my dears, it smelled AMAZING. Fruit soup = very large win. I think this and Apple soup may be my two favorites. Just.. get used to chopping.

Price: 9/10. Melons and plantains and so on and so forth do add up and I get that. Some of these you may have already (e.g. bananas, carrots and squash; everyone has squash when it's in season). Some may not, but that's okay. It's very filling and it's not a sinful food; you can have seconds and be okay with it.

Estimated healthiness: 9.5/10. If you're diabetic, this isn't for you due to the glycemic index of the fruits, plus the potassium in things like the bananas/plantains that are included in the recipe. But for the average person, I highly recommend eating more fruits and veggies -- like any future RD should -- but that doesn't mean in the conventional sense. You can team this up with other things like bread, meats and cheeses if you're creative, and save it for later for when you're too lazy to cook up some smoothies or head out to the store for more fresh fruit. It freezes well but takes freaking forever to microwave. The butternut squash soup, 5 ladel-fulls, took about 5 minutes; this one, same amount, could take 8-10, so keep in mind that warming it back up may be a challenge but it's worth it.

Creativity: 10/10. I don't know whether people in the Caribbean would agree -- if this is really something they'd eat in the first place -- but over here it's freaking brilliant. I would have never put those things together, or replaced that one thing with the melon and the squash like Magz the Food Scientist suggested, but it came out extremely well. It's colorful, bright, happy, and busy, and it's filling. It's just plain the best soup ever.

Completeness: 10/10. What the heck else could you PUT in this thing? It's not a gumbo. You don't necessarily need things like okra or sausage, but you could, I guess. The okra would be bland when eaten with the rest of the very sweet fruits and things, but the sausage would hold it's own. However, the fattiness from the animal meat would make the texture change, and I can't predict how that'd work out. I'm not sure I'd be okay with making this soup greasy. It works so well all on it's own. The only thing I could say, really, is to add some leafy greens, perhaps. But that's pushing it, and that's all I can really think of.

Grade: 66.5/70 = a strong A. And I agree, whole-heartedly. I recommend getting what you can at local markets to enhance the flavor, but I know some of that (e.g. bananas) won't be available here in the States like that. Do remember it's supposed to be chunky, with bite-sized things floating around. There's not enough room for floating juices; there should be enough so you can freeze it and not ruin the solids.

As always, enjoy cooking!

Grade: Roasted Red Pepper Soup

• Flavor
• Texture
• Cooking ease
• Price
• Estimated healthiness
• Creativity of the recipe
• Completeness 

Out of 70 points.

I know, I know, this is late. Somehow it escaped me. I have plenty of time (75 minutes) to do analysis', so why not?

Flavor: 8/10. I had qualms with the abrasiveness/bitter flavor of the soup, but that likely could have been due to my own addition of peppers and not the ones I'd bought from TJ's. I think it was a bit one-sided, though, and needed something else. I would highly suggest this with a sandwich -- perhaps grilled cheese, or ham -- to let the flavors mix. I'm not usually big into adding meats to soups (I will, and I have no qualms with it, but I try to find healthy alternatives and then have my meat on the side), but I feel like a protein would be a fantastic addition. Even tofu.

Texture: 10/10 Brilliant! It's thick, it's creamy, it's smooth, and it feels like substance all at the same time. You feel like you can spoon that into your mouth all day no matter what.

Cooking ease: 6/10. Roasting peppers is a royal pain in the ass when you likely have other things going on in the kitchen, especially when there are so many to roast. Try to find very large bell peppers to negate the need to have so many if you need a large pot. If not, and if you have the time, then this isn't so bad -- but if you're like me and you also want to do cupcakes, icing and perhaps even a little cleaning up before eating the soup, then you're locked onto the stove (in my case, toaster oven) until it's done. And it's hot. I did burn myself. Stupid stove.

Price: 8.5/10 Fantastic, actually. Peppers, when they're the main course and not much else is needed, aren't so bad to pay for. Granted, TJ's ones aren't so cheap, but they're brilliantly flavored, so I was willing to pay the price for them (I have in the past). I don't want to be babied from my other, cheaper soups, though. In the long run, it's worth the price and it still makes the price-per-bowl very, very reasonable. (The way I see it, if I can be cheaper than Panera I've done something. I'm better than them anyway.)

Estimated healthiness: 9.5/10. The cream throws it off, but peppers are a great source of vitamin C and (I think) A. The different colors mean there are different phenols -- that basically means they're, as a whole, healthier. I'd recommend looking up the whole color-in-veggie thing; carotene is in carrots, for instance, and I've seen some good things from it.

Creativity: 9/10. I never considered roasting peppers and cooking them in a soup -- I always consider peppers for things like garnish, addition for flavor, or, if roasting, stuffing peppers. Hispanic dishes have stuffed poblanos all the time, and I think a lot of people think of them when they think of roasted pepper meals -- that, or putting roasted pepper on chicken. But as a main staple of the food? I don't think that comes up nearly as much.

Completeness: 8.5/10. I still say it needs a protein of some sort, to offset some of the negative flavors. That may just be me, but.. again, this is my grade, so what I say goes. And I say bring on the cheese! (Actually, some sharp cheese with some nuts of one's choosing would be fantastic. I shall do that next time! :D )

Total: 8.5/10, so a B. Not bad. Like I said, it needs work, and I'm very interested in doing this again for round two. We all know about round two, right?

Recipe: Thai Chicken and Noodle

I loosely followed a recipe Kevin wanted -- he doesn't like coconut though, and to those that like coconut it's that which makes the soup.

My ingredients were as follows:

• 5 chicken thighs
• 4 garlic cloves (we love garlic)
• About a tablespoon and a half of cayenne powder
• About a tablespoon of powdered tumeric
• A couple/few chile-type peppers of choice (to keep up with your preference of heat; I used garden ones, myself)
• 8 cups of chicken broth (hot)
• About 3 cups of water
• Roughly 2 tablespoons olive oil
• A bunch of fresh cilantro
• A box of noodles (I used a whole box of spaghetti noodles)
• About a quarter cup, or more, of coconut 
• A cup of green onion or scallions
• A huge squirt of lemon juice, to taste (or lime if you want)
• Thyme leaves
• 4 big fork fulls of crunchy peanut butter (I'm NOT measuring peanut butter.. it's not worth it)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup of shredded carrot
• 1-1and1/4 cup cream coconut (I didn't have this available today.)

1. Heat half your oil in a frying pan, if you're like me and you have all your chicken frozen. Put the frying pan on medium or so, add the chicken and let it simmer with the lid. Chop things up in the process.
2. When the chicken is about cooked, add as much thyme as you'd like. I was liberal; I have a lot of thyme left over. Dump some salt and/or pepper onto it, keeping in mind that it's going to compete with about 10 cups of fluid as well as other things..
3. Heat the rest of the oil in your soup pan. Golden up the garlic. Then, add the chicken, with spices, and let it fry for a couple minutes.
4. Sprinkle the creamed coconut into the hot chicken stock and stir until it dissolves. Or, just add both in with the chicken, I doubt it matters and it saves a pan. Up to you. Add the lemon/lime juice, peanut butter and noodles (it says thread egg noodles. I obviously used spaghetti. PF Changs uses spaghetti type noodles, too, so don't judge me.)
5. Add the shredded carrot, and just about everything else other than scallions/green onion, and the cilantro. Cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. In a dry pan, heat the shredded coconut and the cut up peppers until the coconut browns lightly. Make up some bowls, add this coconut mixture, and eat it -- immediately. It's FANTASTIC with the coconut!

Caribbean Vegetable Soup Recipe

Oh. My. Gosh.
Everyone loved this. I'm not even kidding. I'm having a hard time keeping my freezer-full-of-soups anywhere near capacity. My husband, especially, just finds himself wanting to eat it by the pound.

This would be me. I always wear my butterfly apron =)

Recipe:


2 tablespoons butter
1 chopped onion - to preference
1 crushed garlic clove
2 sliced carrots
1 1/2 quarts vegetable stock
2 bay leaves (see? Always with the bay leaves)
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (almost always goes with the bay leaves..)

This is usually what my counter looks like. It's my only one, and it's limited, but it works

1 minced celery stalk
1 1/4 cups peeled and cubed white yams (po-ta-toes!)
2 green bananas, peeled and cut into 4 chunks
2 tablespoons red lentils
1 chayote, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons of optional macaroni (go whole wheat with it!)
salt and fresh black pepper
chopped scallions, to garnish

1: Melt the butter or margarine. Add the onion, garlic and carrots to fry for a few minutes. Stir occasionally until they begin to soften. Add the stock, bay leaves and thyme and let it boil.
2: Add everything else. Season it as you see fit and let it simmer for 25 minutes, or until things are at the cooked consistency you like. Serve with the garnish.

You could do that. Or you could lead my relatively hectic lifestyle and have no idea where to find chayote -- unless it's at a stupid Whole Foods store; they're stupid 'cause I don't feel like driving for 25 minutes to get to it.
Instead, you could call a fellow food science major and ask them what the heck chayote is. She, we'll call Magz the Scientist, will do what we do best: Google it. Upon doing this, we discover it's a gourd similar to other light-flavored gourds. Can't find one? It's somewhere between a cucumber squash (or something close to it; I keep wanting to say spaghetti squash but it's a lie) and, oh, honeydew melon. Sure. So we went with that.

I've mentioned the 8-people-feeding-frenzy we have weekly. It really is a bit insane. I cook. I yell at people who get in my kitchen. The longer the night goes on, the more I have to yell. The smell of nearly-done food seems to make them respond like shark do to bloody waters; eventually, every single one of them will just continually walk in circles through my kitchen, into the hall and back again.



This soup satiated the men-sharks.

These are man sharks. Don't be fooled by their present lack of movement; they eventually become troubled when hungered.
See the redheaded one? He's going to be the first to fall victim to his own stomach. I had to watch him carefully, to be sure I could complete my meal.

Thanks to Magz the Scientist, I ended up doing just what it says. Except I tripled everything. And I couldn't find green bananas, so instead I used plantains. Red lentils? What about a can of red kidney beans instead? Whole can. Why not? Chayote turned into 2 zucchini squashes and a whole honeydew melon. 2 carrots turned into half a bag of baby carrots I'd found on sale. 3 celery stalks, 4 red potatoes and a stray sweet potato later, and what was an attempt to fix a missing ingredient turned into Frankenstein-Caribbean Vegetable soup.

Frankenstein Soup

Contrast is off, but I wanted everyone to see how chunky it was =)

I also added some Caribbean spices I found at Bi-Lo some time back. Everything was put into chunks. I didn't garnish. You don't garnish DND nerds -- there's no point. It went over EXTREMELY well, and I must say it was probably the biggest hit of the semester. Is it anything like the original recipe? I'm disappointed in myself for straying, and it probably isn't like the original, but no one cares.

This is my best shot of it. The colors and everything are right; it was hard not just to eat it right then, too.

Indian Beef and Berry

Okay, for one, I've noted a lack of my (preferred) spices. That is, this soup book lacks generally any spices at all except the occasional thyme sprig or bay leaf. That being said, I found this soup to be pretty mild but widely acceptable.
Also, I didn't go by the recipe as much as I should have. It's my man's fault! So don't blame me. I asked for stew-beef and he gave me ground beef, but, then again, at the price of meat I was okay with it.

If using ground beef, and it's anything like the one I used, be sure to let it cook for a while with some extra water to soften it all up. The recipe really does lend to tender meat, and ground beef is a bit chewy and resistant to be the texture it should. Keep in mind, too, that this generally makes your house smell like sausage and you may find yourself feeling like eating breakfast for lunch.

The recipe is as follows:

2 tablespoons veggie oil (I use olive for things like this)
1 pound TENDER BEEF STEAK. Or, if you're me, then ground beef.
2 onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1 quart good beef stock or bouillon
1/2 teaspoon salt, if desired (that's your choice)
1 cup fresh huckleberries, blueberries or blackberries, smashed up some (I attacked mine in a small bowl with a shot glass. It works well.)
1 tablespoon honey (Go local!)

1: Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan (the one you've been using for any of these other recipes) until almost smoking. Add the steak and brown on both sides over medium-high heat. Remove the steak and set it aside.
2: Lower the heat to low and add the sliced onions and butter to the pan. This will smell fantastic with the beef still looming in the air. Stir well, scraping up all the meat juices. Cook over low heat for 8-10 minutes or until the onions are soft. (This made everyone in the house melt. I swear it was this step that made them almost run me down to get to the finished product.)
3: Add the beef stock or bouillon, and salt, and bring to a boil while stirring often. Stir in the mashed berries and the honey and let simmer for 20 minutes.
4: Meanwhile, cut the steal into bite-sized slivers. Taste the soup and add more salt or honey as you see fit. Add the steak to the pan and let simmer for 30 seconds, stirring the whole time. Serve when desired.

Orange cupcakes.

Homemade icing :D

If you're like me and you have ground beef, don't take it out of the pan. Let it cook for a few hours and then just add the butter and onions to it like you normally would; this would turn out slightly different, I'm sure, than the original recipe, but not by much. Also, it saves you from having another pan to clean, which is amazingly useful after one serves 8-people like I do.
Also, I added a few trace things -- some rosemary, curry powder. Not a lot, but it seemed to help. The berries definitely make it and you don't want to overpower them, so be careful with strong herbs and spices like that. Be sure to taste the soup FIRST, and add things gradually.

Also, I made more cupcakes. They were delish. I never had the chance to take a photo of them with icing because they all got eaten pretty fast. =)

Berries

Poll: in my Indian Beef and Berry stew, it calls for beef with stock and onions; and, a choice of blackberries, blueberries or huckleberries. I'm not sure I can find the latter without unwanted effort.

So, blueberries or blackberries? Leave a comment below! :D

Hope this works

I'm on an old computer in the school's kitchen, so I'm not sure how well this will publish, if at all.

I ran through the estimated serving sizes / proportions of potato-to-squash from the soup I made last week. It means I also found the location of the 'low sodium vegetable broth' option, which was eluding me in the program I've been using. Hello, improvement!

Basically what this means is I have an idea of what went where. I think I have my amounts about as close as I can get - four potatoes and about 4 pounds of squash equal a lot. 

This is what I found, as a general idea:

• Serving size: 414 grams or about 14-15 ounces (a filling amount)
• Calories per serving: 2.5g
• Saturated fat: 1.5g
• Trans fatty acids: 0
• Cholesterol: 5mg
• Sodium: 150mg
• Carbs: 32g
• Fiber: 5g
• Sugars: 9g
• Protein: 3g
• Vitamin A: about 500%
• C: 70%
• Calcium: 10%
• Iron: 10%

I think, for a craving food, this is pretty good. I would grade this soup, but it needed something to offset a tangy, almost bitter flavor I was receiving. More potatoes? No pepper? I love the pepper flavor, though. So I'm not ready for that just yet.
It's obvious significance lies in the Vitamin A, in my opinion. It has a perk of having very few calories, saturated fats (an obsession now with people due to Clinton's weight loss), low sodium, healthy carbs, decent amount of healthy fiber, a small amount of protein, and some calcium and iron.

According to a site from Harvard, Vitamin A is related in not just eye sight, but in bone remodelling, white blood cell activity and the ability to grow and regenerate new cells. There are definitely downsides to having a deficiency in A, but according to the site there are a couple things related with overdose, as well, so if you take a supplement, this soup may be something you'd want in moderation (much like any other food high in X-nutrient). The things related with overdose are hip-fractures and pregnancy problems, but they weren't specified exactly as to why. Too much of a good thing is bad, which is all I know right this minute (which can also apply to Vitamin C, which people uselessly consume the living heck out of. It doesn't make your colds go away. Sorry, dears!)


Anyway, this Sunday is Indian Beef and Berry soup, a thing of which I don't have the recipe for right this minute. That's what my trip to the store tomorrow evening will entail. I'm looking forward to it -- it's leaning in a cultural direction I don't head to very often, and the only reason I ever really do is if I pull out some curry just to mix things up once in a while. An India-inspired soup sounds exciting, so I'll be sure to have photos up again this week (and they won't be phone photos this time, which apparently make my red pepper soup look like it's infested with ghosts. It's not, but I still wouldn't eat too much of it. Habaneros. Yikes.)

For anyone who reads, feel free to comment. I'm not trying to push people into it, but I think I may come across as a bit judgemental or overly Type-A personality. Typing gives me time to breath and actually decide what to say, so I'm generally nicer through here than in real life (I think). I'm just excitable -- I promise, I'm still approachable! =)

On a note of commenting, I will be needing a project for sometime next year (roughly 2-3 weeks into the month of January). I'm thinking of something that primarily utilizes baking; for the summer, I want something that primarily utilizes the crock-pot or the grill outside, hence why I'm saying to continue to use my stove. It helps warm my house up through the winter, but that's not welcome come May or so. If anyone ever comes up with any ideas, or has a recipe suggestion for me to look over and work on, I definitely welcome it. If you want me to test taste your favorite meal, then lower the salt or fat content in some way, I'm willing to give it my best shot. It's great for preparing for my career, so we'd both be winning out in that situation. Just a thought!! This Monday and Tuesday are also days I have break, and I may be willing to do a mini-experiment at home.. Hint hint.

Happy cooking!

Spontaneous Soup

I know this might not be specific enough for some people, but I'm going to give this a shot anyway for those that can break away from the standard recipe chain.

I had an urge to cook soup. The last one, due to my urge to use up my hot peppers, turned out to be hot enough that I didn't want to use it for school left overs. I typically take a frozen serving, for lunch, and eat it between labs, but there's no way in Earth I'd be eating that before statistics legwork.
So, I didn't make soup yesterday because I couldn't find time, but that left me with the soup-making bug. Between that and the fact I'm attending a study session Sunday night, I wanted to do this. I also wanted to do another, but I got carried away, so I think I'm set for soup for a while. I'm running out of freezer-ready containers...

I went to the store. I know, I know, that's what happens when one makes soup. Bear with me. My original thought? Get a medium butternut squash, maybe a couple of sweet potatoes, an onion, some celery, some cream, and head out. What actually happened was similar: celery, an onion, some squash and potatoes. Except it turned out to be four large potatoes, one very large butternut squash (maybe 8 cups worth? 6?) along with another small-medium-ish squash (3 cups? 4?) And half-and-half, which I didn't even end up using, but I'll find a use for it regardless.

The process for making soups couldn't ever really be much easier, and I find that a recipe is just a good guideline to give you an idea for how long things should be cooking. Squashes and potatoes take a little longer than, say, celery and onions to be considered 'cooked'. Carrots fall a little closer to potatoes due to their size, but, again, it depends on how you cut them.

I have a pot that fits perhaps a gallon, maybe a few cups more. I filled it with squash, to give you an idea of how much I had bought. And then I had more, and filled it almost 3/4's with potatoes. All of that, plus an onion, about 4 celery stalks and a red bell pepper (snatched it on the way out), filled my large pot. I'd say I got about 40-50 ladel-fulls; I can say that because I ladled them all out into the Gladware containers. It came out to about 17-20 servings, depending on how one would define a serving.

Now, this was tasty. Tasty. How did I do it? I cut up everything into cubes, and added everything but the pepper, onion and celery. I put in about 75 ounces of stock (cooked some chicken in the process for a later meal), and about a stick of butter. Why butter? It goes with squash. And, someone had left it out. I didn't want it to go rancid, but I don't think it was worth putting back into my fridge.

I didn't add any cream mostly because I didn't have any space. After I let it cook on medium-high for an hour (needed to be that due to the amount of things cooking; otherwise it never came close to simmering), I added the onion, celery and pepper for about 10-15 minutes. Then, I went back to my trusty stick-blender and annihilated the heck out of everything. It was a lot, so it still had a few chunks, but I like it that way. Has the occasional bout of color and texture that a soft soup doesn't usually present.

This whole thing cost me maybe 25 bucks. Could have been cheaper if I decided to find things on sale; this was pretty spontaneous, considering my lack of planning. I was also really hungry, so there went my financial worries for a minute or two. But, if you consider I have at least 15 servings out of all of it, that's about $1.67 a thing -- and I filled them up to be enough to fill the average stomach, or at least be quite satiable. So, I don't think I did too shabbily.

Why am I posting such a post? I mean, it's not nearly as well thought out, prepared or otherwise clearly written as the others. Well, for starters, I was hungry. For another, and more to the point, I think people are losing their cooking touch. I mean, this isn't that hard, and people seem to be horribly afraid of trying stuff like this out. Potatoes and squash go together in soups; tons and tons of soups have onions, pepper and some salt; most of the vegetable based ones have celery. It takes about 30-45 minutes to really soften cubed potatoes and squash; if you cook it more, then, well, it's even easier to soften with a stick blender.

My point here, people, is to go out and make some soup. You like apples? Make the one I posted about a couple-few weeks ago. Tomatoes? Go for it. Mushrooms? Probably cooks like tomatoes, except you replace tomatoes with 'shrooms. And a lot of those have cream. Gosh, so far, everything is better with cream (in most opinions I've heard so far) and you can't usually go wrong with adding it. You can add noodles, corn, broccoli, spinach, you name it. Bacon. Peas and bacon go great, and people love bacon. Heck, I've been asked to do some crazy concoctions, and I think to myself every time: why don't you try it? Why does it have to be me?

I might compile some stranger ideas and give them a shot next year. But, for now (and hopefully for a while, if not ever) just make some soup. Have something you like. It doesn't need a guideline, really. And if it stinks, well, so what? Don't do that one again. Try something else. I threw things together I was craving, and, may I say, it turned out amazingly.

Side-side project

People seem to look at me like I'm silly when I tell them I'm doing this soup blog thing. I suppose they wonder who would care so much about soup. I do. I like soup. I think it's comforting, easy to cook, store, reheat, mix and match. On Friday, I take it to school with me. I let a frozen container of it sit in my car, and after my first class (at about 11.30) I grab it, microwave it and happily wait for my second lab class. It waits for me, knowing how tasty it is.

Okay, so, I'm not so obsessed to go that far, but I don't think Americans consume enough soup. They've done studies: people are a little healthier, on average, if they eat a wet food like soup, melons and fruits, etc. And it ends up meaning we don't need as much to drink.

I primarily chose it because of the shear number of attendants for the gaming night at my house on Sundays. It's a set number (including my husband and myself, it ends up being eight. Sometimes, we tempt a ninth.) Sure, spaghetti and chili work, but why? Because it's large, it's easy, it's reheatable.. Sound familiar? And, I don't know about you, but a room full of seven young college-aged men do not need a stomach full of beefy-beans.

This soup deal is not my first ideal project idea. I've had a few. This one is just the easiest and most convenient. Next year, after I alter my top chosen 'unhealthiest' soups (no idea how many I'll choose to do, it depends), I'll start a new project, or two. I have no idea how I actually want to approach either of them, though. Do I make a grid? Do I make one of those books that identifies 30,000 types of different things (like those plant books)? Do I do a large survey? 

Surely, you have no idea what I'm talking about.

Have you ever thought, "Man, such-and-such is not working optimally; my doctor said an increase in blah-blah-blah would help. That means, I know I can eat such-and-such!'

Do you regularly think about this sort of thing? No? 

Who knows anything but staples? I mean things like how potassium is found in bananas; arsenic in apples (I hate you, Dr. Oz, but that's a different, much much uncalled for discussion). Proteins in meats; Omega-3 in salmon. Calcium in milk (or orange juice, as of the last few years.) Ascorbic acid (Vit. C) in many fruity things. The potential to become fat as the side of the barn in [insert appetizing food here].

Much more than that and we start to think perhaps there should be a place to go for that sort of thing. Which is where? Your doctor? Please, I'll hurt myself laughing at that one. Your dietitian? You know how busy those people really are? It's incredible.

I decided I wanted to fix that. However, poster board generally organizes one concept. Food + vitamins + minerals + healthy fats + carbs information does not equal one simple concept. 

What if you wanted diabetic-healthy foods? Or perhaps something else that's rising quickly in national interest/ (as a dietary problem): food more healthy for the elderly; for Crohn's disease patients; cancer patients; celiac's disease or related intolerances; vegetarians or vegans (they think they know everything, but really, I don't know if I agree.) 

I'm just throwing concepts out there. I can't see why, in the long run, they aren't legitimate things we can research.

They all have a need to alter their diet accordingly. Some are easier to apply to nutrition than others, and I would obviously want to wait before approaching the problems of Crohn's or cancer. Someone needs to at least put together current information on them, at some point, as a suggestion to those who are lost without a lot of complicated, wordy jargon, so that people without degrees can understand.

The first step in this field is to admit we know very little, hence why we need to get the ball rolling on this sort of thing. I mean all food scientists, nutritionists, dietitians. Those people in hospitals, the grocery stores, labs, all of us. 

For the record, it drives me insane when you look something up and you get information on anything BUT what you were looking for. Perhaps this is just me. 

How would I organize something like this? 

I'm thinking I need multiple things. But not everyone is so great with knowing which chart (or whatever) to use. Is what they look for a vitamin or a mineral? But, I suppose if you're that far into looking after your health, maybe you should be able to know the difference, or at least be a little more diligent in your search (either one). 

Would people use something like this, if it were credible? 

One has to realize I'd be accessing a lot of books, websites, and information from Ph.D's, doctors, nurses, and others who may be dealing with certain disorders or diseases. I'd be compiling a huge amount of information together that may change, which means by the time I get done I may need to just go back and redo it. Sometimes, the rate we discover things is great, and sometimes it makes staying current extremely difficult.