Follow Your Nose

By chance Thursday evening EMT-Dad asked about my Great-Grandma. I think we got on the subject because we were talking about lard. Yes, lard. My Great-Grandma always had a box of Morrell Lard on her table. I hadn't talked about my Great-Grandma in years. She died when I was 16 and I haven't been in her house since then. But for whatever reason talking about lard reminded me of her.

Her kitchen was simple; white cabinets, over-sized sink wells, vintage refrigerator and a wood stove. At 90 years old, she still cooked on a wood stove. I remember her table, white and red, a white sugar bowl was always in the middle (when she began taking daily pills, she would hide the pills in the bowl) and a turquoise box of Morrell Lard.

I don't remember much about my Great-Grandma's cooking. She didn't cook often when we went to visit because my Grandma would cook. My Grandma loved that stove. She said she could make 8 tortillas at a time on that stove. What I do remember about her cooking was when she came to visit us. A very rare visit. She hated leaving home. The only time she left her house was for a trip to Lottaburger, for a cheeseburger with no tomato, seasoned french fries and a Coke.

My mom asked my Great-Grandma to make Sweet Rice. My dad had an aunt who used to make it and we loved it. We would eat it straight out of a huge Tupperware bowl, leaving only the raisins. My Great-Grandma didn't use raisins. She didn't see the point of eating a raisin when you could have a grape. The only thing I remember was a can of condensed milk...or maybe it was evaporated. My mom never wrote the recipe down.

I had never tried to make Sweet Rice until this week. At first I was so confused! I looked at the Arborio rice and wondered how only half a cup of this was going to absorb a cup of water and then two cups of the sweetened milk mixture. I was asking a lot of this little fat rice. I had no idea if I was making it right. I followed the recipe, so according to Dave Lieberman I was doing it right. After I added the rice to the milk mixture, I stuck my nose in it. And you know what? It smelled right.

I know it's not even close to the recipe my Great-Grandma used, but what it represents is fantastic.

Oh and it doesn't taste half-bad either.

Arborio Rice Pudding by Dave Lieberman

1 cup water
Pinch salt
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup Arborio rice
2 cups whole milk
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Few dashes ground cinnamon
Whipped cream, for serving

Bring water, salt, and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the rice, return to a boil, and then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Shake the pan occasionally and cook until rice has absorbed the water but it still al dente, about 15 minutes.
Bring milk, sugar, vanilla, and a few dashes of cinnamon to a simmer in a separate saucepan. Add the cooked rice and cook at a simmer over medium-low heat until rice absorbs most of the milk and mixture starts to get thick and silky, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Transfer pudding to a large bowl and cool to room temperature. Place in refrigerator until cool and set. Serve with whipped cream and a dash more cinnamon.

Photo Credit: Claire L. Evans

Menu Plan It 9.21-9.27

Sunday-Flank Steak Tacos w/ Arborio Sweet Rice

Monday-Meat Loaf w/ Mac n Cheese

Tuesday-Pizzas

Wednesday-Shrimp Pad Thai

Thursday-Grilled Steaks w/ Calabasas

Friday-Philly Cheesesteak Eggrolls/Shrimp Eggrolls

Saturday-Cuban Chinese Roast Loin of Pork w/ Carmelized Brussel Sprouts



Menu Planning is something I've gotten away from since being pregnant. I haven't planned a single meal in 30 weeks. Not one. It's a mad scramble when I get home to see whats in the freezer, get it defrosted and on the table before bath time/bedtime. Not so fantastic. It's hectic and madness that can be avoided. I don't know why I put myself through this every day. Plus it leaves me short for something...chicken tacos with no tortillas...

I also plan based on who's going to be around for dinner. EMT-Dad works 12 or 24 hour shifts. We don't have left over nights because things get packed in lunches for the next day...plus if you've seen EMT-Dad eat, there really aren't any leftovers. I will pack lunches while I'm serving dinner to make sure that there will be a lunch. I have eaters in my house. My mom freaks out at my grocery bill. I have to remind her that there is ALWAYS someone eating in my house. This kitchen doesn't close.

One night this week I have planned for re-invented leftovers. On Thursday night I will make an extra steak to put into my eggrolls and some of the shrimp leftover from Wednesday will find a new use in eggrolls too. Pray that my extra steak makes it to Friday night.

A lot of my grocery list is basic pantry staples that need to be replenished, most of my dinners are planned by what I've got on hand.

My grocery list for the week looks like this:

Flank Steak
Corn Tortillas
Cilantro
Tomatoes
Ground Beef
Elbow Noodles
Cheese
Pizza Sauce
Pepperoni
Mini Loaves
Garlic Ginger
Soy Sauce
Veggie Oil
Onion
Orange Juice
Honey
Hoisin Sauce
5Spice Powder
Eggroll Wrappers



Some Light Housekeeping:
~With resuming/restarting this blog, I want to include what each meal is going to cost me to make. I will post my grocery bill total, plus with each recipe I will post a meal total. It will make EMT-Dad nuts to keep that receipt around, but for the sake of this blog, it's a risk I'm willing to take. :)

~My camera broke, so the photo quality that I was hoping to improve upon from last year's posts, are not going to be great. I'm going back to my old point and shoot that I'm out of practice with, so we (the Fuji and I) will be getting reacquainted. Food quality should not be compromised because of this. LOL!

Holy Bananas Batman!

Oh little blog, how I've neglected you. I can't believe I skipped a whole winter season of Green Chile Stew, Roasts and Crock-pot recipes. You have to understand, I was so busy moving us out of the last kitchen and getting set up over in this new one. For eight months? Okay not quite. Please forgive.

Truth be known, I was pretty unmotivated to handle this blog and Toasted. I've been busy with a bun in the oven and I've had a food aversion for the last month. So tomorrow I will get this ship back up and running; there's new cookbooks and websites to add to the reference page and even a couple of recipes to share. I can honestly say that I've mastered ribs and I'm ready to spread the knowledge. Like buttah.

I've got my motivation back, thanks to Kristen at Dine and Dish. Really, her blog has kicked me in the pants and reminded me to not hog the whole plate and pass it around.

It's You, Not Me...

Listen Kitchen,

It's just not working out. I'd like to say it isn't you, it's me; but let's be honest here. I'm an adult and you're..well..a Kitchen. You have very little to offer me; minuscule counter space, very little cabinet real estate and no prep area by the stove. While, yes, we have had good times, working with you is a chore. You require so much "outside" intervention, I'm not even sure where to start. Do I have bring in more baker's racks and microwave carts (at my expense) to make this work? I want to use you, really I do. Fridge, help me out here: Is there not fresh summer squash, mozzarella, mascarpone & other quality ingredients for a fabulous week of dinners just waiting to be used? Hmmmm? Is there or isn't there?? Exactly. Look, Autumn and Winter are coming and that means Green Chile Stew...you better not mess this up for me.

1. Prep Space. Non-existent. Honestly, my cutting board doesn't even fit on either side of the sink. Heaven forbid I need to use the cutting board and the food processor at the same time. You really have limited my use of kitchen gadgets (let's not even talk about the Ice Cream Maker I wanted to bring home, we're not even going to go there!)

2. Your Stove...or particularly, your Oven. Why on this green Earth do you still smell even after I've cleaned you?? Why must you spew smoke before I've even put in lasagna to be burnt? I've loved you, pre-heated you, eco-friendly scrubbed you, yet you billow out smoke at me when I open you to put in a pie. Well screw you, too!

3. Cabinet Space. How am I supposed to store dishes, pots, pats, Tupperware and food in your lack of shelves? Don't be fooled by the photos, those bottom cabinets are just open space, lots of wasted open space that could have shelves, but don't. I had to bring in reinforcements in the way of a wire bakers stand to hold the cereal boxes that don't fit in the upper cabinets because the shelves you do have, are too short. And how am I supposed to reach your very top shelves? You are soooo not Keebler Elf friendly.

4. Alley Kitchen Design. Your feng shui is shui off, buddy. I just don't feel this alley-way thing you have going on. Your sink on the opposite wall of the stove is just leaving too much floor space for spills. And white tile and grout?? Eesh!! First it's over to the fridge on that side, prep on this side, cook on that side, clean on this side. You don't offer a streamlined way of cooking. No chopping and dropping over at LTK. It's more like, chop, carry, drop, pick up spill.

5. Blue counters. Not your best look. Can we please more on to something more aesthetically pleasing??

Perhaps we can reconnect over hot chai when the weather changes and it's not so humid. I just don't know what you want from me...chrissakes, I created a blog just for you.

**Photos to be added later when my 'puter isn't being so touchy. (and now you too, puter?! Oy Vey!)

PTI

Pardon the Interruption. My computer at home decided to take some time off and I'm trying to jump start it. CPR and Caffeine have been inefficient. Looks like I get to go do some shopping this weekend. I have lots to share, including my first attempt at ravioli (not so successful). I'll be back soon.

Roasted Tomato & Chickpea Curry

I thought I was done cooking/posting for the day until EMT-Dad came home exhausted and hungry from a long day of mountain bike riding.

Hmmm...I roasted tomatoes from my grandma's garden a couple of nights ago...chickpeas...spices....ground turkey. I've seen this ingredient list before. EDRR June/July 2006 issue.

I've never had curry and I'm not used to the flavor, but it's really really good. Yes, it deserves 2 "reallys". Within 20 minutes I had dinner. My good friend "Uncle Ben" provided a nice bed to serve.

Roasted Tomato & Chickpea Curry

• Medium Onion-chopped
• 1 Clove of Garlic
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 lb Ground Turkey
• 2 Tablespoons Curry power
• 2 teaspoons Ground Coriander
• 1 Tablespoon Ground Cumin
• 2 15-ounce cans Garbanzo/Chickpeas
• 21/2 cups Roasted Tomatoes
• Salt & Pepper
• Lemon Zest of about 1/2 a lemon

1. In 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil, cook onion and garlic until tender, about 4 minutes or translucent.

2. Move onion and garlic to one side of pan and add turkey, curry, coriander and cumin. Cook until turkey is cooked though, careful to not over work the meat; you want crumbly meat, not mush.

3. Mix in onions/garlic, add chickpeas, tomatoes, salt & pepper to taste and lemon zest. Cook on medium low until heated through.

**I added about 1/2 Tablespoon of Smoked Paprika. You can also add plain yogurt after the last step. Heat through, I imagine the yogurt cuts through the spice of the curry. I skipped this.

Baba Ghanoush

I must let you know, before I delve into a new recipe it takes me about a week of researching, gathering and ultimate preparing. I will talk about it incessantly until I have made it and even then, upon success I will still incessantly talk about it. Baba Ghanoush was no exception.


This was actually a good 2 weeks in the making for several reasons.
1. Tahini is not readily available at my regular grocery store. It required a trip to Toucan Market, which may not be a big deal, until you throw in a 3 year old and 4 year old. Trust me, this was an excursion similar to prepping to scale Everest.

And 2. I don't own a proper food processor. That was solved with a simple trip to Tar-jay.

All-in-all, the first go at this recipe was expensive due to the fact that I had to purchase an acceptable processor (honestly, I cannot walk into Target without forking over $75!)


I began with a recipe out of Everyday with Rachael Ray (June/July 2007) issue. It's where I got the craving for it. I've never had (or, I'm ashamed to say, heard of it) Martha Stewart's Everyday Food July 2007 ran a recipe for Baba Ghanoush as well, but it didn't look as appetizing as EDRR. I modified it a little, but stayed close to the recipe printed. I omitted the Olive Oil (is that sacrilege?) and didn't have any parsley on hand so that stayed out as well. I used Smoked Paprika to roast the eggplant.





Next time, I think I'll definitely roast the garlic for extra depth. My final result was tasty, but a little bland for my taste, even after mixed in more smoked paprika.

Baba Ghanoush (adapted from EDRR 07/07)

• 3 Eggplants
• 1/4 cup Tahini
• 1/4 cup Lemon Juice
• 2 to 3 Cloves of Garlic, chopped
• Smoked Paprika
• Salt & Pepper
• Pitas, warmed and cut into wedges.

1. Preheat oven to 400*. Cut eggplants into quarters (in the mag, it suggests to leave them whole, but I cut mine and next time I would skin them prior to roasting for more roasted surface). Season with Salt, Pepper and Smoked Paprika. Bake, flipping once until the flesh is softened, about 35-40 minutes. If you didn't skin your eggplants prior to roasted, let the eggplant cool, then skin them. Drain any excess liquid in a colander.

2. In a processor, puree the eggplant, tahini, lemon juice & garlic. I used the pulse button and didn't get too carried away with it. I left my baba a little chunky. You can add EVOO at this point (about 2 tablespoons) but I left it out completely. Season with more Smoked Paprika and Salt and Pepper.

3. Transfer to a bowl, garnish with smoked paprika, lemon juice and EVOO if you like. Serve with pita wedges.