Meal Plan 10/11-10/16

I have a feeling this week is going to be crazy…but I am really looking forward to this meal plan. It’s not quite fall weather, but all the fall foods are in the stores and that has me kind of excited. I love squash! I tried something a little different tonight and created a monthly meal plan; mostly because I was going through the various canned goods and other food that I have stored and realized that there were quite a few things that needed to be used. I’m hoping that this will keep me thinking about what I’ve got rather than focusing on what’s on sale or sounds good at the store (which is not to say I won’t bite at times, but only planning four meals gives me some leeway there).

• Stir-Fried Tofu & Carrots, Brown Rice, Asparagus
• Curried Squash Soup , Homemade Bread
• Dreamy White Beans (scroll down), Glazed Salmon, Broccoli
• Stuffed Acorn Squash w/Sweet & Savory Pilaf

In addition to the evening meals, I have a few other things I want or need to make this week:

• Cinnamon & Honey Granola (for breakfast & snacking)
• Banana Cake Any Way (to take to a meeting)
• Pumpkin/Squash Cookies via Cookbook (they sound good and I have pumpkin in the freezer that I need to use)

You can find a million more recipes here!

Ugh…

• I am crawling out from under a multi-day headache that culminated yesterday in nastiness and overall fatigue. My migraines follow cycles and it’s interesting to me to look back on those cycles, although I would be happier still if I just didn’t get them. Doubtful that will ever happen; they are hereditary–my mom has suffered from severe headaches all her life and I look to be the same. My youngest sister also inherited the fun. My middle sister, Abby, had her first bad headache last year. She called to tell me she now understood what I used to carry on about (I was not a good patient in middle and high school). Michael also doesn’t get headaches very often. On the other hand, both he and my sister are more prone to head colds, sinus infections and allergies. I’m not sorry to have missed out on those (I rarely get sick sick).
• The weather has gone back to being horrid and summer-ish (actually, probably contributed to my headache). Temps in the 90s and off the charts humidity. I HATE the humidity. It’s been awful all summer and I was so happy the other week when it looked like things were finally settling into autumn (such as it is in FL).
• School is back in session and so that means that we are back on truancy patrol. It’s so hard for me to tell if a kid is 16 or 18 or 21. I can spot the middle-school kids pretty easily, but once they get to be about 16 all bets are off. Truancy is a huge problem in our school district. Our policy, basically, is that school age kids need to be with a parent or guardian if they are in the library during school hours. I support this, more or less, but I do wonder what happens to the kids we have to kick out — where do they go? There are so many abandoned buildings in my work neighborhood and just generally not good things happening. Their parents tend to lock the kids out of the house, too; I think this is to encourage them to go to school, but it often results in kids just wandering the neighborhood.
• I have seen so many abandoned dogs wandering the streets lately. I know people are having a hard time feeding pets, but it just kills me to see the animals wandering about like that. Their chances aren’t good–either they are killed in traffic, or they are picked up by animal control.
• Blogger is having a hard time authenticating my WP ID and so I am unable to leave comments or have to do so anonymously. But it’s sporadic and so I keep thinking it’s going to work today and then, poof, no such luck. And if I have to try to post a third time to be anonymous, I’ve kind of reached my limit. Annoying…
• The other day one of my customers came up to me very excitedly and said, “Ooh, Mrs. Laura you are making a baby? You look like you are making a baby.” (Accompanied by hand motions.) Since I am not, in fact, making a baby, I was not quite as excited. This is the same guy who tells me that I look better in a skirt. The better to bake muffins and make babies, apparently.

Let the tiny violins commence…

CT Closing Questionaire

Well, we all wandered a bit too far off track and Wende gave up on gathering us back together. It was fun while it lasted! I really appreciated the conversations that grew out of some participants’ posts and I was especially grateful for a project that spurred me to blog somewhat  more regularly. As a final closing exercise, Wende posted a few questions. Here are my answers:

1. Is there anything that makes the act of cooking (not thinking about cooking) appealing to you?

Having the right tools and a clean kitchen are huge for me in this respect. Also having a decently stocked fridge and pantry. Planning is important but not crucial. Cooking is appealing to me, in a Platonic sense, but it’s when my schedule butts in that things get a little hairy. Delegating some of the responsibility is a good thing. So is not focusing on making crazy “gourmet” meals that are unrealistic and sometimes unappetizing because they are just too much. But mostly, it’s the clean kitchen! I also like cooking for others and I’m looking forward to living in a place where we can actually entertain.

2. What would you rather be doing than cooking?

• Eating! No one said eating!
• Reading
• Sleeping
• Losing myself in the abyss of the interweb
  

3. What prevents you from cooking and/or posting about the cooking you do?

Well, I usually don’t post about the cooking I do if I don’t have a decent photo. Sometimes it’s just a little hard to believe that anyone might be interested in my rather pedestrian cooking. Also, I do make quite a few things over and over again. Not the same thing twice, exactly, but how many times do people want to hear about fish in a packet (good as it is)?

Time and tiredness are what prevents me from cooking. Just a basic lack of time management, I suppose.

4. What, if anything, have you gained from CT?

I have definitely thought more realistically and concretely about what needs to be happening for my household, which is just two people. It’s been really great to see how others manage food; most of us are smaller households and its a nice change from some other blogs that I read, where the families are much larger. Also, no one on those other cooking blogs seems very concerned about leftovers. Plus I’ve just enjoyed reading what everyone has had to say and taking part in the discussions.

I’ve also learned that having some concrete task is helpful for motivating me to act (even if not in a timely manner). So I might pick one of the cookbooks I really enjoyed from earlier in CT and try to cook my way through it.

Messy house and a simple meal plan

Our apartment is messy. Really messy. It was pretty clean before we left last Friday, but we brought back a bunch of stuff from Alabama. It’s amazing to me how stuff grows to fill the space you have. All the crap we brought back with us fit into the back of the car. Now it’s littered all over our rather large apartment and it looks like so much more. Same thing happened while we were there, actually. We cleaned out the second bedroom, which was really just acting as a disorganized storage space. Four bedrooms in that house, and only one being used as such! Anyway, the room wasn’t that big, but once everything was pulled out into the living room, it grew into a beastly mound. We packed up 5 boxes for ourselves. The rest will go to Salvation Army, or, more likely, be squirreled away at Grandmother’s where we will have to go through it once again when she passes away. We would prefer the items be donated, but Grandmother is not ready to let go of Alana’s things. It’s not an issue we want to develop into a prolonged source of irritation, so…

I hope we don’t sound cold-hearted for only taking 5 boxes; keep in mind this is just from one room and doesn’t include the furniture and mementos from the rest of the house. Such odd business this is; for Grandmother, holding on to Alana’s possessions means holding on to her daugther for that much longer. We don’t have that same attachment.

My whole point for even mentioning the state of our apartment is to justify my rather simple, bare-bones meal plan for this week. I’d like to focus on cleaning up and organizing, rather than going crazy in the kitchen. Still working on all that stuff in food-storage, too.

The weather is FINALLY turning from 90 + degrees and super humidity to something more reasonable: temperatures in the mid-eighties and hardly any humidity at all. Plus the autumn light is just beautiful. It’s not the same as fall in Pennsylvania, but lovely all the same. And much more bearable to be in the kitchen baking or to deep-clean the apartment without turning into a disgusting dirt-ball. Simple pleasures.

Dinners 9/29-10/4

• Crepes Mornay (I froze half the recipe last time; we’ll see how that goes.)
• Hot & Sour Soup
• Coconut Shrimp Soup
• Thai Spring Rolls (this is going to my CT Week 5 dish)

And now: an actual recipe! Both the Coconut Shrimp Soup and the Hot & Sour Soup are from Great Food Fast. We really enjoyed the Coconut Shrimp Soup before, plus I have a photo. I can also use a couple of things from food storage, which is a bonus.

Coconut Shrimp Soup: There is too much pasta, but I didn't measure last time I made this dish. It's actually rather pretty in real life.

Coconut Shrimp Soup

–Everyday Food, Great Food Fast

• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp. grated peeled fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 pound carrots (6-8), peeled, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch
• 4 oz. angel hair pasta
• 1 1/2 lbs. large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed
• 1/4 c. fresh lime juice
• Coarse salt
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the ginger, garlic, and the pepper flakes; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about  minute. Add the carrots, coconut milk, and 3 cups water. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and 2 tbsp water until smooth; add to the pot. Bring to a boil.

2. Beak the pasta in half; add to the pot. Return to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer until the pasta is al dente and the carrots are just tender, 3-4 minutes.

3. Add the shrimp; stir until opaque, about 1 minute. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the lime juice; season with salt. Ladle into serving bowls, and garnish with the scallions. Serve immediately.

***I use frozen cooked shrimp to good effect here; they just need to be thawed first and then heated in the coconut broth.

***You can find more meal plans here.

There was food, there was cooking

Except not this weekend, because we were out of town.

Cocoa-Nana Bread

This morning’s breakfast. Recipe from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. I’m seriously considering the purchase of this cookbook. If only to justify having rich, moist chocolate cake for breakfast (the recipe is in the Breakfast Sweets chapter). This bread/cake is pretty incredible. There is a whole cup of cocoa powder in the batter, plus a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips are stirred in at the end. Yum, yum, yum. The photo is from my iPhone, so sorry.

Broccoli Cheese Potato

Dinner Sunday night after the drive back from Birmingham. Baked potatoes with steamed broccoli and cheese sauce. Not too exciting, but tasty enough. The broccoli was in the crisper drawer with the lemons which turned out to be not such a great idea, but, oh well. We ate the best parts.

Black Bean Soup over Rice

Dinner Thursday evening was this very simple black bean soup (following my meal plan!). I made it in the crockpot because I had a hair appointment and didn’t know when I’d be home. Not ’til 8:30 it turned out, so I wasn’t too inspired to make the planned cornbread. We ate it over leftover brown rice instead. Still pretty yummy.

Cream of Wheat and bananas

Because breakfast is the most important meal, right? Thursday morning. I like my cream of wheat with butter and cinnamon sugar. Not a terribly exciting meal, but Wende’s post has me documenting what I cook, so I might as well share.

I always seem to get the coffee mug with the weird little stain.

Black Beans and Rice

Last weekend. We like black beans around here. I don’t know if this qualifies as cooking, though. I pretty much opened up a can of beans and let them simmer with a little bit of salsa, onion, garlic and a drop of liquid smoke.

Zucchini and Pea Risotto

Made some time ago, but since I posted the recipe (using mushrooms, but pretty much any veg can be subbed), felt I should perhaps post a photo. Soooo good. Soooo easy. The recipe makes a lot, too, so you have some for lunch the next day.

And so ends the brief tour of food I cooked and remembered to photograph.

Just another meal plan

But where is my food?

I realized last week that my food storage is getting a bit out of control and we haven’t been eating it down as fast as we should. This is my first attempt at a semi-serious food supply, so no one should be surprised by the beginners mistakes I’ve made. Namely, buying a lot of canned vegetables that I don’t really like and now being faced with eating them. I’m not terribly picky, but French Cut green beans are not my idea of happiness. So…this meal plan may be a mite unusual/boring.

Why do I have food storage? Last year we had several electrical outages, a couple that lasted for more than two days in parts of the city. These were mostly a result of the crappy hurricane season. The two things made my inner emergency planner kick into full gear and put together an emergency kit and food supply. I think these are good things for any person to have, but I do feel a little odd when I tell people I have about a three month supply of food in my guest bedroom closet.

Dinners

• Pasta w/sauteed mushrooms and marinara sauce
• Black Bean Soup, Corn Bread
• Vegetable Soup, Cheese Biscuits
• Stuffed Baked Sweet Potatoes

Foraging will be the name of the game for lunches and breakfasts.

More menu plans at OrgJunkie.

I need all the help I can get

So sign me up for CT Extra Credit: Assume garden space, determine what grows in area, what you need to grow to provide nutrients, what’s missing?

I feel a little like a cheater here in that I’ve been planning a Florida garden for the last three years. Around the time I realized that my apartment balcony was more prone to frying plants than nurturing them. My current balcony has the opposite problem–too much shade. I’m  on the list for a plot in a community garden, but it’s more likely we’ll buy a house before a spot opens. This has given me lots of time to plot and plan, and also to recognize some of the more unrealistic aspects of my early plans (in which I grew everything, all the time).

I live in North Florida and my city straddles zones 8b and 9a. This means that I can grow vegetables year round. At first, this news was like garden crack for my brain and I went crazy with the seed catalogs. I probably had marked off about a hundred different plants/seeds before reason kicked in and I thought about the other aspect of gardening–time. I’m willing to expend a decent amount of time on a garden because I do enjoy it, but I don’t really want to be a full-time farmer in addition to a full-time librarian. Plus, there’s no way the two of us could ever eat everything I had planned to grow. Also, it gets damn hot down here and I don’t want to spend an entire day outside.

As far as method of gardening is concerned, I’d probably go with raised beds and some version of square foot gardening. Largely organic, although I’m not opposed to amending the soil as needed to bring it up to snuff. I would also use approved organic pesticides, like Neem or something. I hate throwing food away, so I’m definitely looking forward to a compost bin. My thought is that even a pretty small property would have room for 2 raised beds. I made a little plan in Open Office:

Year Round Garden Plan

What is pictured is when vegetables would optimally be planted, although some overlap is visible due to certain plants needing a longer time to germinate/bear fruit. Also, the strawberries would be planted as a perennial. Probably makes sense to have one long bed and two square beds, with the strawberries by themselves, but this was mostly done when I had that realization. After a little study, I don’t know that the onions would be perennial (there are some varieties that are, not sure if those are what grows down here).  Here is the key and other stuff I’d like to include, if there is room:

Garden Key

I also want to grow some fruits/nuts, if we have enough room. Ideally we’d luck into a property with a mature pecan tree–that would rock. I don’t think I’d plant a pecan tree unless we really had a lot of space, though. They take up a lot of room and provide a lot of shade–nice, but vegetables need sun. They also take a long time to reach maturity and I’m not sure I’m that invested in the whole process. Plus, pecans are grown everywhere right across the state border in Georgia. That makes it an easy local food to find.

For citrus fruits I’d like a Meyer lemon tree and a kumquat tree. Oranges and most other citrus are readily available year round and not worth my time to grow. Figs and dates do really well in this climate. My mother in law had a fig tree and it was really nice to just pluck them straight from the tree. Those I would have to grow myself if I were trying for a totally local diet–most of the figs available for purchase are grown in California.

I love berries and will go overboard with these I know. In addition to the strawberry bed, I’d like blackberry and raspberry bushes for sure. Blueberries if there is room. And muscadine grapes can grow over an arbor or pergola and provide shade as well as fruit. Although that can be messy when the fruit drop to the ground.

Most stone fruit won’t grow in this warm a climate, but peaches are readily available in Georgia. If there is room, I could grow nectarines and plums–both fruits have varities that do well in warm climates. No apples, pears or cherries. I could probably plant them and nurture them, but the fruit just isn’t as good as those that are grown further north. My parents grow apples and pears on their Pa property and that is one thing I really, really miss about the North Atlantic region. Also the maple syrup (but I get that through them anyway).

What would I need to barter/buy to complete my diet?

• Starches: I’m not interested in growing my own grains/starches (they would be some of the more esoteric anyway), except for potatoes or sweet potatoes. I can find local corn for corn meal but would have to buy wheat flour. Relying only on corn would be more regional, but I really like wheat bread. I’m willing to make that compromise. Rice also is grown in Georgia and the Carolinas; we do eat a lot of rice.
• Dairy (not strictly necessary, but again, I like it a lot). There are a couple of reasonable close goat farmers making cheese. I’ve never tasted straight goat milk, but it’s available should I want to go that route. Can’t really make butter from goat’s milk (easily, anyway, the fat globules are much smaller than in cow’s milk and the cream doesn’t separate). Could make good yogurt or kefir. I could probably search out a source of raw milk, but I’m really not interested–I grew up drinking raw milk and don’t like it. I’m also a fan of pasteurization.
• Meat/poultry. There are several grass-fed beef farms a couple hours southwest. The farm that has the goats also has chickens. We could get eggs from them, too. This isn’t a huge area of interest for me, but it is available.
• Seafood–shrimp is caught locally, as are other ocean fish. I’m more interested, though, in making sure that the fish I’m eating is sustainable as opposed to local.
• Other protein sources: shell beans (black, navy, kidney, etc) grow pretty well in this climate. Not sure if I’d produce enough for a year. I’m fine with buying these, too. Peanuts are another relatively local food that I could find if I were so inclined.
• Fats: Butter would probably be most local–I use a lot. I use more olive oil, though, and don’t intend to give it up.
• Sweetners: Honey is readily available here and in Georgia. I’d like to plant trees that attract polinators but I am not interested in my own hive. Stevia is something I’m interested in growing, but I don’t think I listed that on my plan…hmm. I can also buy Florida grown and processed cane sugar, so I’m good on the sweet stuff. My parents bring my maple syrup when they visit and I always pick some up when we are up North. We use a lot of it.
• Seasonings: Can grow a variety of herbs. People have always traded for spices, and I don’t see the point to ending that tradition. I would also buy vinegar, etc.
• Coffee/Tea: I try to buy fair trade coffee, but I’m less strict about the tea (because I don’t buy a lot or frequently).

So, where does this leave me? I guess if I were to pursue life as a devoted locavore I’d have to change some of my rules, but generally my diet would be varied and overall I’d be better off than someone attempting this farther north–particularly during the winter months. I like to can and preserve and I would probably refine my gardening so as to grow stuff only once during the year and preserve extra to eat throughout the year. My actual perspective is that is is smart to pay attention to the distance our food travels and look for more local options, but I don’t feel the need to be a slave to 100 miles or 200 miles or whatever.  I also think that there are some areas where food will always need to be shipped, particlarly to acheive the variety in our diets that we now expect. That brings up the question of what kind of population a given region can reasonable support, but I am definitely not interested in that debate today. And I also think that a global market makes sense (but I also believe in regulation, and fair wages, and a global envirnmental outlook, too).

Gardening Resources:

• This garden wheel was published in an Alabama newspaper, but applies pretty much to my region.
• Florida Extension Office
• Paricularly this document: Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide
• And this one about fruits and nuts for Florida gardening zones: Dooryard Fruit Varieties

Tool Round-Up

I’m finally getting around to the bones part of week five: organizing cooking tools and small appliances. I’m going to ignore the small appliances bit because, aside from the yogurt maker, I use what I have and know where they are located. The yogurt maker is staying for now, in the hopes that I will get back to pursuing the kitchen dairy idea. I’m not ignoring the tool drawer, but I do have to say that, although I have a lot of stuff, I use these tools pretty regularly and keep the drawer moderately organized (which to me means can be opened).

In addition to the drawer beside the stove, I keep spoons, whisks, spatulas, turners and potato masher in crockery by the sink. Also, my knives live in a knife block. Cookie sheets and muffin tins live in the drawer below the oven, cake & loaf pans are in the narrow cupboard by the stove, pots & pans in the double cupboard under the tool drawer, casserole dishes and colanders in the bottom cupboard under the counter by the sink. Spices, snacks, and tupperware live in the range of cupboards over the stove (I realize that spices shouldn’t be stored near a heat source, but it isn’t very convenient to keep them far away from the main cooking site, either). There is about a 16″ head space between the upper cupboards and the ceiling and that is where most small appliances live, except for the KitchenAid, which sits on the counter (I love my KitchenAid!). Dishes for eating and drinking live in the cupboards above the sink. I have a small pantry where I keep grains, beans, baking stuff, potatoes and onions–that kind of thing. My kitchen overall isn’t very large, but I’m super grateful for the pantry. And I’ve pretty well crammed everything into the space available so that appliances & tools can be accessed with a minimum of fuss–it isn’t terribly pretty (no pictures), but it works.

Two sets of measuring cups, three sets of measuring spoons, candy thermometer, instant read thermometer

I like to have more than one set of measuring tools because it makes life much easier when baking, particularly if you are like me and try to optimize oven use by making recipes in succession.  I don’t use the candy thermometer that often, but it is good for jam making (didn’t get any done this year, but last year I made and canned a couple of different jams/jellies). I use the instant read thermometer for yogurt, the rare occasions I cook meat, and also to check our refrigerator temp–I think we need a new fridge.

Tongs, cookie scoop, ice cream scoop, very thin spreader/spatula

I use tongs for everything, it seems. I prefer the non-locking kind–my experience with locking tongs has been that they lock back up on themselves easily and I can’t always unlock them one-handed. They do store more easily, though. The spreader is kind of out of place here, but I love this little guy. The blade is super thin and it is perfect for sliding around a batch of brownies or a cake layer to loosen from the pan without damaging the sides of taking a lot of the baked good with it.

Pizza wheel, silicone basting brush, vegetable peeler, two can openers, zester

Pretty self-explanatory. We have two can openers because I prefer the white one and Michael prefers the other. The silicone basting brush is one of my favorite tools.

Sushi mat and spatula, microplane grater, pastry blender

This random little group is what was left (plus some corkscrews/bottle openers that didn’t make the cut). We don’t make sushi too often, but the little mat is nice for when we do. The microplane changed my life (that sounds stupid, I know), and the pastry blender is easier than two knives.

Microplane grater, silicone spatula,silicone basting brush, santoku knife, flat whisk, wooden stirrer

My favorite tools–I probably use at least three of these in any meal prep. The grater is easy to use and grates Parmesan sooo fast. Also convenient for zest or fresh grated nutmeg. I really couldn’t believe how quickly I could grate hard cheeses when I first brought this tool home–it’s really such a pain to do on a box grater. I love, love, love the silicone basting brush. I have always hated the kind with bristles (real or synthetic) because they would leave a hair or two in the pan or on whatever I was basting. Plus those were always really porous and held so much oil that they never seemed totally clean–while at the same time never seeming to spread all that well. I use the silicone brush to prepare baking pans, brush oil onto a non-stick skillet if I onlly want to use a little (for pancakes or something like that), and to baste food. These cost like $4 for a set of two. The silicone spatula is just handy, and it doesn’t melt easily. I’m going to disagree with Wende here and sing the praises of a good knife–it’s true that you can cook well with a cheap, old, flimsy, whatever knife; however, the difference when you upgrade to something nicer is pretty incredible. They’re sharp, so I don’t have to expend extra effort trying to cut through and onion or a squash or whatever (I still cut myself because I am a doofus, but much more rarely now). The blade is well-balanced and the handle is really comfortable. The set that we have is not the most expensive out there, but we chose it because the handles fit really well in our hands, making using the knife more comfortable and easier overall. I like the flat whisk for vinaigrettes or whisking sauces. And I just like wooden stirrers and spoons better than plastic or metal.

Meal Plan 9/14-9/18

I think three meals is about the right number of dinners to plan. I’ve been able to make them, use up the left overs, and allow for nights when we don’t want to cook or aren’t that hungry. This is a major improvement for me! Also, I’m motivated to cook more often; I think this is due a lot to Culinary Therapy. Although I’m pretty behind in some ways, I’m thinking about food and cooking and my own habits in a more focused and constructive manner. So, yay CT! For more meal plans, go here.

Breakfasts:

• Oatmeal with fruit (I have lots of random fruit that needs to be used up)
• Granola with yogurt (I keep putting this on plan, to motivate me to make the granola. Hasn’t worked yet.)
• Waffles with PB, fruit
• Cereal/milk

Lunch:

• Leftover bhindi masala & naan (YUM!)
• Spinach salad w/fruit and cheese
• Egg salad sandwich
• leftovers

Dinners:

• Fish in a packet, rice, black beans
• “Chicken-fried” baked tofu*, whipped sweet potatoes, green beans
• Cous-cous with mushrooms, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, Parmesan cheese

*Maybe. If not, something else involving tofu.

Good Stuff

White Chili with Eggplant and Posole

In an effort to do more with the cookbooks I borrowed from the library than use them as a doorstop, I’ve set a goal of cooking at least two recipes from each one before I return them. I weeded them first for the ones I knew I’d really use versus the ones I checked out for inspiration or amusement. This leaves two Chez Panisse cookbooks, Passionate Vegetarian, Baking from My Home to Yours, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (which I bought), and two Jacques Pepin books.

I started with Passionate Vegetarian, by Crescent Dragonwagon.  I have checked this cookbook out several times now, although I mostly have read for inspiration and used some of her ideas in my own food prep rather than strictly following any of the recipes. I really like the book–even before cooking from it, I appreciate the enthusiasm with which the author approaches food and eating. There are amusing anecdotes with pretty much every recipe and amazing variety–both in the kinds of recipes presented and the foods included in the recipes–but not the kind of variety that makes the cooking inaccessible for the average home cook (I think). It’s also a HUGE book–definitely the kind of cookbook that was weighing down SCB earlier in CT. Given the number of times I’ve checked the book out, I should probably just buy a copy for my own. And I really might, because both recipes that I made were very, very good.

Last week I made White Chili with Eggplant and Posole. I had some eggplants that needed to be used and I LOVE posole (hominy). I was a little curious about a chili with eggplant, but the hominy definitely won me over. Also the poblanos. The recipe is a little time consuming, but it’s largely the chopping that takes time; there are no complicated cooking techniques involved. I used canned beans, too, so that was a major time saver. Once the vegetables were chopped, the chili came together in about 25 minutes. Mine was a little thin because I was trying to guesstimate the amount of liquid (the recipe doesn’t give an alternative for dried beans), but that was pretty easily taken care of with a cornstarch/water slurry. There are three types of chili peppers used in this recipe, but the chili itself isn’t that hot–just pleasantly warm. And there is a richness from pureeing half of the beans and also stirring in half a cup of Monterey Jack. All in all…very good!

Broccoli and Mushroom Crepes Mornay

Last night we had Broccoli and Mushroom Crepes Mornay. Also very good! Although I don’t know that you can go wrong when a cheese sauce is involved. This recipe had a lot of parts, but none were difficult. I had never made crepes before, but both the sautéed vegetables and the sauce Mornay are part of my regular repertoire. Although I do not call it sauce Mornay or go to the trouble of adding aromatics to my milk, generally. The gist of the recipe is: make crepes, sauté vegetables, make sauce, roll up vegetables and a bit of the sauce in a crepe, line up in casserole, top with remaining sauce, sprinkle with cheese, bake, eat. It is tasty and you can vary the vegetables to your hearts content. Although I think it is probably better to focus on one or two vegetables for unity, etc. My photo is not so exciting because I used 2% cheese and it doesn’t bubble when it melts, just kind of turns to a puddle with a plastic-y sheen. It melts just fine in the sauce, though. And, actually, the Cabot 2% that I used melted very well on top, too, compared with some other low-fat cheeses–I’ve used some that get soft but don’t actually melt or change shape. Weird.

I thought I’d include a quick recipe/technique for the cheese sauce/Mornay. White sauces/bechamel have a reputation as being difficult, and really they’re not. I suppose that the sauce could separate, but I’ve never had that happen and I am not what you might call an attentive cook.

Basic Cheese Sauce

Heat and keep warm: 1 1/4 c. milk. I cheat and do this in the microwave, although if you are adding aromatics, you want to do this on the stove.

Melt 1 tbsp. butter in a saucepan and add 1 tbsp. flour. Whisk together for 1-2 minutes, until flour is cooked and golden. If the flour isn’t cooked, you will be able to taste the raw flour in the sauce (it’s still edible and good, just not wonderful). You can tell the flour is cooked because it will smell kind of nutty and also the color changes–when you first dump it in, the flour darkens to the color of the melted butter that saturates it, then as it cooks it kind of magically lightens right about the time it’s ready.

When the flour is cooked, slowly pour in the milk, whisking to combine. At this point I like to add some nutmeg, dry mustard powder, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce (just a little bit). For this amount of sauce I used 1/2 tsp. mustard, but obviously this is to taste. Continue to stir while sauce thickens (won’t take long).

Stir in 1/4-1/2 c. grated cheddar (you can use pretty much any cheese you want/have). Whisk until cheese is completely melted.

If your sauce is too thin, you can thicken it with a cornstarch/milk slurry–1 tsp. cornstarch to 2 tbsp. milk. I made a larger roux than I should have, so my sauce was quite thick and didn’t need the cornstarch. You can thin a sauce by adding more milk.

There are a myriad of uses for this sauce; I particularly like to make stove top mac and cheese by roughly doubling the recipe and adding more cheese, then stirring in cooked elbow noodles.

If you are making a Bechamel for any reason, you would probably want to add some aromatics (onion, bay leaf, cloves) to the milk, since there won’t be any cheese to add flavor or richness. In this case I would definitely simmer the milk on the stove because I don’t think the microwave could properly infuse the flavor of the aromatics into the milk.