Stomach Growls

Neel cooks!


Questions?   
ASPARAGUS!!! Spring is here. (Thanks to my advisor Beth DeStasio for the home-grown asparagus)
recipe-
saute in olive oil until they are done how you like them.
add balsamic
Eat and talk to yourself commenting on the simple delight you get from eating asparagus. 
Oh yeah- Also a roasted sweet potato, quinoa salad, and a carrot. Thanks greenfire for letting me eat left overs.

ASPARAGUS!!! Spring is here. (Thanks to my advisor Beth DeStasio for the home-grown asparagus)

recipe-

  • saute in olive oil until they are done how you like them.
  • add balsamic
  • Eat and talk to yourself commenting on the simple delight you get from eating asparagus.

Oh yeah- Also a roasted sweet potato, quinoa salad, and a carrot. Thanks greenfire for letting me eat left overs.

Grilled cheese, sauteed peppers, corn, and this great quinoa dish. Here’s the recipe (for the quinoa. The rest should be pretty self explanatory)
Ingredients-
Olive oil
2 cups quinoa
1 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
1/4 (+) cup finely chopped shallots (or onions if you’re like me and never have shallots)
4 cups veggie broth
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/4 (+…++++) fresh chopped cilantro
2 avocados, diced
2 lemons, juiced
salt and pepper
Recipe
Place quinoa in medium pot and add 4 cups of broth. Bring to boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes
remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes, covered. Fluff gently with a fork
Saute onions/toast and brown nuts over medium heat in olive oil (7 ish minutes)
Mix onion/nut mixture and quinoa with remaining ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.

Grilled cheese, sauteed peppers, corn, and this great quinoa dish. Here’s the recipe (for the quinoa. The rest should be pretty self explanatory)

Ingredients-

  • Olive oil
  • 2 cups quinoa
  • 1 cup pine nuts
  • 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
  • 1/4 (+) cup finely chopped shallots (or onions if you’re like me and never have shallots)
  • 4 cups veggie broth
  • 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
  • 1/4 (+…++++) fresh chopped cilantro
  • 2 avocados, diced
  • 2 lemons, juiced
  • salt and pepper

Recipe

  • Place quinoa in medium pot and add 4 cups of broth. Bring to boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes
  • remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes, covered. Fluff gently with a fork
  • Saute onions/toast and brown nuts over medium heat in olive oil (7 ish minutes)
  • Mix onion/nut mixture and quinoa with remaining ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.
And so it Continues! What better way to break the hiatus than with bread. If only I could post the sound of the crackling crust.

And so it Continues! What better way to break the hiatus than with bread. If only I could post the sound of the crackling crust.

Ha! I am a real Indian.
I’ve spent the past 2 weeks with my brown cousins (mom’s words) and now my grandma has taught me how to make Indian food. I’m not going to give recipes yet because I’m not quite sure of the measurements, but I will describe everything I made (stay tuned for recipes next time I make it myself).
First and foremost- Cockeyed Cooper: Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine Ale- Delicious
Indian food- going clockwise
Roti- (flat bread) chapati (whole wheat?) flour, oil, water, cooked on a cast iron skillet and puffed over flame
Cauliflower and Potato Shak (aka curry)- Cauliflower, Potato, popped cumin and rye, asafoetida (pronounced ass-ah-fe-tid-a), tumeric, oil.
Cauliflower and Pea Shak- see above, but replace potato with pea
Pea and Bean Shak- Don’t know exactly. It was left over from last night and I wasn’t a part of the cooking.
Rice- duh
 Sweet Sev (bottom picture)-SUPER SUPER SUPER GOOOOOOOD. Cardamom, Saffron, sugar, vermicelli. Get ready Greenfire, this is coming to Lawrence…

P.S. Happy new year

Ha! I am a real Indian.

I’ve spent the past 2 weeks with my brown cousins (mom’s words) and now my grandma has taught me how to make Indian food. I’m not going to give recipes yet because I’m not quite sure of the measurements, but I will describe everything I made (stay tuned for recipes next time I make it myself).

First and foremost- Cockeyed Cooper: Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine Ale- Delicious

Indian food- going clockwise

Roti- (flat bread) chapati (whole wheat?) flour, oil, water, cooked on a cast iron skillet and puffed over flame

Cauliflower and Potato Shak (aka curry)- Cauliflower, Potato, popped cumin and rye, asafoetida (pronounced ass-ah-fe-tid-a), tumeric, oil.

Cauliflower and Pea Shak- see above, but replace potato with pea

Pea and Bean Shak- Don’t know exactly. It was left over from last night and I wasn’t a part of the cooking.

Rice- duh

Sweet Sev (bottom picture)-SUPER SUPER SUPER GOOOOOOOD. Cardamom, Saffron, sugar, vermicelli. Get ready Greenfire, this is coming to Lawrence…

P.S. Happy new year

Well I spend the entire day in the kitchen cooking much slower than I needed. What better way to spend the day? 
I made my grandma’s chocolate cake:
Cake Recipe:
6 oz all purpose flour
2 TABLEspoons cocao
5 oz sugar (yes that is almost the weight of the sugar)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1teaspoon baking soda
5 fluid oz oil
5 fluid oz milk
2 eggs
2 TABLEspoons treacle (same thing as molasses)- stickiest, hardest thing to use ever, but absolutely necessary for the taste of the cake. 
Whizz all wet ingredients and fold into dry. Place into 9 X 13 pan (it’ll look really thin, but it puffs up) and bake for 25-30 minutes at 350°F.
Frosting-
2 oz unsalted butter (4 TABLEspoons)
1.5 TABLESPOONS milk
1/2 oz cocoa
5 ox powder sugar. 
Melt butter, cocoa, and milk. Cool 10 minutes, beat in sugar.
I also made BREAD!!!!
With some slight modifications from my new bread book- The Tassajara Bread Book (Thanks Hanna). Also pictured are all the books that have helped me bake bread.
as always- yum yum.

Well I spend the entire day in the kitchen cooking much slower than I needed. What better way to spend the day? 

I made my grandma’s chocolate cake:

Cake Recipe:

  • 6 oz all purpose flour
  • 2 TABLEspoons cocao
  • 5 oz sugar (yes that is almost the weight of the sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1teaspoon baking soda
  • 5 fluid oz oil
  • 5 fluid oz milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 TABLEspoons treacle (same thing as molasses)- stickiest, hardest thing to use ever, but absolutely necessary for the taste of the cake.

Whizz all wet ingredients and fold into dry. Place into 9 X 13 pan (it’ll look really thin, but it puffs up) and bake for 25-30 minutes at 350°F.

Frosting-

  • 2 oz unsalted butter (4 TABLEspoons)
  • 1.5 TABLESPOONS milk
  • 1/2 oz cocoa
  • 5 ox powder sugar.

Melt butter, cocoa, and milk. Cool 10 minutes, beat in sugar.

I also made BREAD!!!!

With some slight modifications from my new bread book- The Tassajara Bread Book (Thanks Hanna). Also pictured are all the books that have helped me bake bread.

as always- yum yum.

MORE ROAST VEG!
Roasted Veggies- chop up veggies (peppers,  onion, parsnips, potato, carrots, garlic), to about the same size and  place on an oiled baking tray, put in ~375° F oven for ~40 minutes until  fork tender. Serve with nice olive oil. I used Ybarra, a Spanish olive  oil, and a bit of balsamic vinegar.
Portobello Mushroom-  roast in over ~375° F with olive oil. About 30 minutes or until they are  fork soft (you could serve with goat cheese. That would be tasty)
Small Mushrooms- saute in butter until they are tasty
Lobio- see previous post, but this time I used loads of cilantro and green onions. Way better this way, if you can believe it.
Asparagus-  Heat Broiler. Wash and prep asparagus. Put on cold broiling pan and  drizzle with olive oil. Broil (3 minutes for small sticks, 5 for  larger). Just at the end, sprinkle Parmesan or other hard Italian cheese  and serve with a little bit of salt.
Also, my poor  cousin Nicky got her wisdom teeth removed then got a dry socket. Liquid  diet only! She wasn’t pleased that we were enjoying a yummy meal while  she had to slurp a pureed cream of mushroom soup.

MORE ROAST VEG!

Roasted Veggies- chop up veggies (peppers, onion, parsnips, potato, carrots, garlic), to about the same size and place on an oiled baking tray, put in ~375° F oven for ~40 minutes until fork tender. Serve with nice olive oil. I used Ybarra, a Spanish olive oil, and a bit of balsamic vinegar.

Portobello Mushroom- roast in over ~375° F with olive oil. About 30 minutes or until they are fork soft (you could serve with goat cheese. That would be tasty)

Small Mushrooms- saute in butter until they are tasty

Lobio- see previous post, but this time I used loads of cilantro and green onions. Way better this way, if you can believe it.

Asparagus- Heat Broiler. Wash and prep asparagus. Put on cold broiling pan and drizzle with olive oil. Broil (3 minutes for small sticks, 5 for larger). Just at the end, sprinkle Parmesan or other hard Italian cheese and serve with a little bit of salt.

Also, my poor cousin Nicky got her wisdom teeth removed then got a dry socket. Liquid diet only! She wasn’t pleased that we were enjoying a yummy meal while she had to slurp a pureed cream of mushroom soup.

I made everything on the plate, including the bread! Hooray winter break cooking.
Balsamic, beer, beets, and bread (and quinoa, and onions, and garlic, and goat cheese, and beet greens).
Recipe here, but with a few changes- it says to boil the beets, drain them, and boil the quinoa with 4 cups of water. Why waste all that wonderful color (from the water-soluble pigment/antioxidant betalain)? Instead, drain 4 cups of the beet water (or as much as you can, I had to use some water to get it up to 4 cups) into the saucepan with the onions/garlic and boil the quinoa in that. If you use the beet water, you don’t have to warm up 4 more cups of water, you get to keep the color, and your quinoa turns a lovely pink color.
As for your beet greens, don’t throw them away. They are basically chard- beets and chard are the same “species” -Beta vulgaris- so can pretty much be used equivalently. I just chopped them up, cooked them down in olive oil for ~7 minutes, added 2 cloves of chopped garlic, sauteed for ~2 minutes, put on toast with balsamic vinegar. DELIGHTFUL

I made everything on the plate, including the bread! Hooray winter break cooking.

Balsamic, beer, beets, and bread (and quinoa, and onions, and garlic, and goat cheese, and beet greens).

Recipe here, but with a few changes- it says to boil the beets, drain them, and boil the quinoa with 4 cups of water. Why waste all that wonderful color (from the water-soluble pigment/antioxidant betalain)? Instead, drain 4 cups of the beet water (or as much as you can, I had to use some water to get it up to 4 cups) into the saucepan with the onions/garlic and boil the quinoa in that. If you use the beet water, you don’t have to warm up 4 more cups of water, you get to keep the color, and your quinoa turns a lovely pink color.

As for your beet greens, don’t throw them away. They are basically chard- beets and chard are the same “species” -Beta vulgaris- so can pretty much be used equivalently. I just chopped them up, cooked them down in olive oil for ~7 minutes, added 2 cloves of chopped garlic, sauteed for ~2 minutes, put on toast with balsamic vinegar. DELIGHTFUL

Amaranth. Superhero food. Tasty, but I’m still experimenting with how best to use it. I put raisins, almonds, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, and almond milk. YUM YUM
Recipe here

Amaranth. Superhero food. Tasty, but I’m still experimenting with how best to use it. I put raisins, almonds, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, and almond milk. YUM YUM

Recipe here

Moosewood Curry Fried Rice. SUPER TASTY
Ingredients
vegetable oil
4 lg eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
2 minced garlic cloves
1 TABLEspoon curry powder
2 med tomatoes, diced (canned would also probs work)
1.5 cups peas
Handful of spinach or kale (mmmmm kale)
4 cups cooked rice
2 TABLEspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice
Recipe
Heat some oil and add in eggs and scramble (be a bully. Push it around), and transfer to a plate for later
heat some more oil (~2 TABLEspoons) and add garlic and curry powder. cook 1 min
stir in tomatoes and spinach/kale on high
add rice and peas until both are warm
stir in eggs, soy sauce, and lime/lemon juce
EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT.

Moosewood Curry Fried Rice. SUPER TASTY

Ingredients

  • vegetable oil
  • 4 lg eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
  • 2 minced garlic cloves
  • 1 TABLEspoon curry powder
  • 2 med tomatoes, diced (canned would also probs work)
  • 1.5 cups peas
  • Handful of spinach or kale (mmmmm kale)
  • 4 cups cooked rice
  • 2 TABLEspoons soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice

Recipe

  • Heat some oil and add in eggs and scramble (be a bully. Push it around), and transfer to a plate for later
  • heat some more oil (~2 TABLEspoons) and add garlic and curry powder. cook 1 min
  • stir in tomatoes and spinach/kale on high
  • add rice and peas until both are warm
  • stir in eggs, soy sauce, and lime/lemon juce
  • EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT.
Butternut squash soup (and it’s vegan!). It’s winter.
From hip pressure cooking- recipe here

Butternut squash soup (and it’s vegan!). It’s winter.

From hip pressure cooking- recipe here