Granola Pucks/Manhattan Recyclist

Yes. Pucks. Because bars are square! (rimshot)... ahhh...

I made a pot of millet last night and then didn't know what to do with it, so I figured I would wait until I had some time today to mill it over.

I had roughly 1.5 c of cooked millet leftover, so I decided to dry it out and make energy bites with it.

Spread ye cooked millet out on a baking sheet and place in a 350 degree oven, check every 5 minutes or so and mix it so it toasts nice and even-like. You want it a golden brown and a little crunchy, so that it will add texture.

Once your millet it ready, let it cool down a bit and gather the other ingredients:

• 3/4-1c of a nut butter, I chose smooth peanut butter because well.. it's all I have
• whole flax seeds
• flegg (1T ground flax + 3T hot water, let sit)
• 1/2c quick oats
• cinnamon, ginger
• 2T-1/4c honey
• any seeds, berries, or other bird food you may fancy

literally throw everything in a bowl, mix, and do lick the spoon like a heathen

Then you can mix and adjust til it is moldable. Form into little patties or pucks and place back onto that cookie sheet you dried out your millet on. The oven should still have a bit of residual heat that can help dehydrate the cakes a little further. Use that noggin!

 

I totally ate three of these today...

 ------------------------------------------

Later on in the night, when that pizza craving hits...PIZZA VEGGIE BURGERS!!! Take leftover chickpeas and pulse in blender with tofu, mix with oats, breadcrumbs, and dehydrated veggies, and leftover risotto, form into patties, roll in breadcrumbs, and fry til golden on both sides. Add cheese of choice (Daiya mozz for me, cow mozz for Andy) and serve with some sort of Italian-ish sauce. Reduce, reuse, recycle!

never use flash for food. but sometimes if you eat it all before you realize the flash had been on....

Cook something every day and feed it to someone you love. Or just yourself. You should love yourself. Or write about it because the people you love are far away. xoxo

The First Supper

There are great positives and great negatives to being unemployed.

The first is that you have many hours to devote to a sculpting a meal, taking your time to make reductions and construct regional flavor profiles... but the cons inevitably are "damn... I spent $70 on groceries today at Whole Foods because of lack of self control in the gluten free aisle and produce section". However, in light of attempting to be a Manhattan Minimalist, I did score some frozen veggies for $1.70 a bag that were a tasty component of the first meal I've cooked as a resident here. The technical first meal, really, was Thanksgiving... which was not a minimalist meal at all, complete with duckfat gravy for the boys, mushroom tahini gravy and Field Roast for me, potatoes, green bean casserole, several bottles of wine.. you get the point.

Tonight was kind of special though. I had been fortunate and gracious to have a few bottles of wine I brought with me from PA, and most of my spices as well. Since I literally threw a bunch of stuff in a pan and tasted as I went along, with a moderate Moroccan/Sri Lankan bassline as my guide... indulge me a moment to write this like I would a menu, it's much easier...

Chenin Blanc Nederburg 2012

Crispy Fried Chickpeas | smoked paprika + coconut oil

Mediterranean vegetables | Marrakesh + almond milk + tomato + Hunan dried chili

Jasmine Risotto | toasted mustard seed + fried onions + cardamom

toast mustard seeds and ground cardamom in coconut oil, proceed per usual for pilaf, finish like risotto

savoryspiceshop.com's free gift from my last shipment

blurred out simmering veg

toast chilis in coconut oil, add almond milk and spices, reduce and add veg

mega chickpeamoneyshot. fry those puppies in coconut oil and smoked paprika to make your boyfriend say "these taste like..." your response, "bacon?" yes. vegan bacon tasting chickpeas.

serve on your classy plastic tote like the heathen you are.

mix everything together as you go, or eat separate!

So total cost of the meal, sans wine... like a few bucks. It was Andy's jasmine rice, maybe a half a cup of chickpeas, half a bag of those vegetables, and spices, coconut oil, and almond milk I already had on hand. Twas one incredibly filling totally vegan, glutard friendly feast. We are currently sipping coffee to take the edge off of the fullness, plus there are leftovers for tomorrow, and leftover plain chickpeas for making hummus.

Thanks Tamasin Noyes, I remember those potato skins she made at Singing Bowl I that had coconut flake bacon bits and recalled the wonderful combination of smoke + coconut = baconish flav. Check out her blog, she makes amazing things.

Cook strong chai wallahs. xoxoxo.

Manhattan Minimilalist Meal Número Uno

After an hour being stuck on the George Washington Bridge in the most epic of traffic jams (with such features as several semis cutting across four lanes of traffic) we finally got into the city, said screw it and parked the car in a garage for the night carrying what we could on our backs like slightly lighter skinned and lighter dressed sherpas, threw the carryings in our bedroom, hopped on the subway and had dinner at Carmine's with some family of Andy's that happened to be in town. Apparently they are known there for their massive portions for eating family style. We were an hour late for dinner, but there was still tons of scrumptious chow left, such as antipasto salad that was full of fat green and kalamata olives with little peperoncinis that burst in your mouth like flavor crystals, embarassingly squirting soppy juice on you. So technically first meal here was covered, with some leftovers to spare.

peanut butter + flax + sunflower seed + honey

Today we got the car from the garage, drove around in circles, watched a USPS truck almost get stuck, and unloaded all the rest of my crap. I had little to no desire to start cooking anything just yet, the knives, and my hand joints both need a rest. I made quick and dirty energy bite.

the supplies, sans that bottle of peach schnapps... not mine.

So most of what the pantry consists of is a massive tub of peanut butter, a box of Element Bars, many rices, beans, spices, and dehydrated things. I unfortunately forgot my smoothie additions in my mom's fridge, but those can easily be replaces... I do really want some Japanese green tea right now, dang.

Well, though lunch consisted of a bowl of bird seed and nut butter, dinner will be much more rich since we are going to Epicerie Boulud for dinner to kill 3 birds with one stone: eating, researching/spying on my possible new job, and hitting up Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get some bed lifts, because organizing a Manhattan apartment is like a large game of tetris.

Huzzah!

Smooth criminal

Broke? Busy? Need to eat healthier and tired of paying five bucks a bottle for Bolthouse or Naked juices? Invest In a blender.

We have one of those Nutribullets at the house, and I've been on a smoothie kick as they are much easier to digest and very healing for those prone to gastrointestinal flare ups. They are also delicious. It is also much cheaper to buy brown spotty bananas (found some for under a dollar at Tops Market) and freeze them, as well as other fruits, than to buy name brand juices or smoothies. They're also much healthier for you because you're ingesting them as soon as, or shortly after, they are blended so the nutrients aren't broken down or oxidized. I like to chuck a bunch of additions in to make em even more nutritious, which you can find at places such as The Whole Foods Co-Op. They have little bags in their bulk department and refrigerated section like:

• Maca powder
• Hemp seeds/hemp protein powder
• Green spirit mix
• Bee pollen 
• Cacao nibs
• Goji berries

Then choose frozen or ideally fresh fruits and veggies such as:

• Strawberries
• Banana
• Mango
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Spinach, kale, or herbs like cilantro, mint, or basil

You will need a liquid to help everything blend nicely, so if you'd prefer not to use water, fruit juices, milks (I dig almond milk and pineapple juice), or you know... maybe wine... can be used.

If you can afford it, and will actually use it more than once, I highly HIGHLY recommend a Vitamix blender. These things are like the MAC trucks if the blender world, and not only can you make smoothies in em, but also they are great for blending soups, dressings, dips, or purées. The cheaper the blender you get though, remember it will just be that much cheaplier built and will not last as long. 

So, in lieu of moving in T-4.5 hours to NYC, I salute you, Mom's-Nutri-bullet-blender-with-handy-cup, thanks for all the smoothies. I will miss you.

Broke Beans

Beans + Rice + Wine

Highly recommend a cast iron skillet.

For Emily, mah Sistah Bear.

Gather some:
Onion
Garlic
Red bell pepper
Cilantro- finely chopped or chiffonade if you want to be fancy
Lime or Lime juice
Vegetable broth
Olive or canola oil.

Optional additions:
Canned tomato
Tofu cubes
If using dried beans, soak them over night in 3:1 water to bean ratio.

Place drained beans in a pot, cover with water. Bring to a boil, simmer for several hours until tender. This is great to do ahead in large batches and then freeze the remaining beans in ziplock bags for future use.

Cook rice in another pot, 2:1 rice to water ratio, or 3:1 if using brown or wild rice. Place rice in pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, cover, lower heat to a simmer.

Meanwhile, julienne onion, mince garlic, as much of each as you like.

Roast bell pepper over a burner with a fork or tongs until blackened and peel off skin (when cooled!). Julienne or dice.

Heat a large pot (2-4 quarts depending how much rice and beans you are making). Add small amount of oil, then add onions, stirring often. Salt the onions well to draw out excess moisture and caramelize them. When they are translucent, add garlic stirring often to prevent burning.

Deglaze pot with some of your red wine (about 1/2-1c). Deglazing is, essentially, using a liquid to remove all the caramelized sugars from the bottom of a pot/pan and incorporate them into a sauce. Scrape all the lovely brown bits from the bottom and stir. Add your bell pepper, drained tomatoes (if using) and simmer roughly 10 minutes to cook off that raw alcohol flavor. Keep an eye on it so as not to over reduce.

Even if you're poor, you can still be punk.

Add your cooked rice and beans, cilantro, and some vegetable stock to this mess. Cook 8-10 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed, season with salt and pepper. Pour another (I assume you've had several by now) glass of wine, scoop some mess in a bowl, or coffee mug, and enjoy. Post-punk-poverty cuisine at its finest!

xoxo

I highly recommend, for anyone who is just getting into their cooking-jammies, to find/borrow/purchase/don't steal the book The Tassajara Cookbook. This will really help with knife skills and grain/legume cookery.

Happy rainy Tuesday!

Glutarded French Baguette

I didn't really intend on writing a blog about this, but I may as well, and since its 12:25AM and I have five minutes or so until these ghetto-ass looking loaves are risen, may as well narrate the scenario.

take your watch off before you schlup it up, schlupp.

So here's the back story. Having a sort of "Adios" Fete on Sunday (that's T-2 days technically now), and my mom wanted me to make this cauliflower cashew spread and olive tapenade on toasted baguette slices. Yes, I could have just bought some Wegman's ones, oh yes, but oh nay, I was like "Oh screw that mom, I'll just make the f-ing bread. why not?" Okay, so I didn't say "f-ing" (can you see how I'm trying to clean up my language Andy?), but since I can't eat regular bread, I wanted some for me and my mom too. So at 11:30PM after I got home from work at 10:30 or something, I don't even remember when I decided to start all this, I was like "oh! well golly jeepers why don't I start baking some bread?"

Hence. I found this gem (French Baguettes, Gluten Free) and decided to start making this. And gravlax. And baked tofu. And a cup of tea. And text my boyfriend. And FB chat with my best dude-friend about his upcoming car purchase.

my boyfriend got me this mixer. <3

gravlax.

(It is now 12:40AM and the loaves reside happily in the oven).

(12:57, just ate the little bread-nugget of extra dough. Eyes rolling in back of head)



(1:05AM) Pulled loaves out on hunch. Devoured corner. Trying to restrain self from consuming remainder of bread.

Good night. xoxo 

Like Nonna's Pomodoro, but Not at All

Bourdain was right. You ask anyone what their death row meal is and they all have one of three words in it: hoof, cheek, and mom in it (part 2, after hours with daniel boulud, my new chef I go ga-ga for).

I started making my own pasta sauce back when I had hours and hours to kill on my hands, no cable, and just a few downloaded episodes of Bourdain from iTunes on my laptop when I lived in the backwater town of Edinboro, PA. One of the most influential ones, which I still consult to this day, is the techniques special. It was there that I was first introduced to some of the gents whose work J'adore these days- like Thomas Keller, Scott Conant, and especially ESPECIALLY Jacques Pepin (he is my new David Attenborough). It was from this I was inspired to make my own pasta sauce, just a humble, "rustic" one.

POMODORO
 This recipe is in two parts, you can skip part A if you'd rather used canned tomatoes... which I guess is okay if you absolutely don't have time... I suppose... ;)

A: 1lb. ROMA tomatoes (or more if you are planning to freeze some sauce so you can impress the ladies or your manslice later, and I don't recommend beefsteak or slicing tomatoes, they have too much water in them and not as much oomphy tomato flavour)

Bring a large (4+ quarts, large enough that the tomatoes will be submerged) pot of water to a rolling boil. Salt it so that it is as salty as the sea- this is a general rule for blanching (except green things, but that's for another time). Right next to your work area, get a large bowl of ice water ready to put the tomatoes in after blanching. Slice X's in the bottom of your tomatoes so that they peel easier, and plop them in the pot for about 30 seconds. Remove them with a slotted spoon or pour into a strainer, transfer to the ice water bath for a few minutes so until they are cool enough to handle.

mash mash mash mash

Remove your toms from their frigid bath. Peel the skins off and cut out their belly button (stem). Cut them in half across their equator and squeeze out their guts. Jose Andres likes to eat them, but I'm not so down with that... Add some olive oil to the pot, dice up the toms and drop 'em back in. Pour a glass of wine, mash them down with a potato masher.

B: You will need:

• fresh basil (a big 'ol handful)
• one head of garlic cloves (omit if allergic, but you knew that) 
• 1-2 cup olive oil 

This is also something delicious you can make a large batch of and use for multiple purposes. Keeps refrigerated for a good long while, at least a week.

let your cat help you...

Place all ingredients in a small pot and simmer for about 10-15 min, like making a tea with oil. Strain when sufficiently tasty. You'll have to keep tasting along the way. To infuse more flavor, when cool enough place in a glass jar, cover, and refrigerate over night.

C: Combine A + B:

udon noodles and sauce with purple basil garnish

     Your tomatoes should be relatively smooth, some chunks can be nice though. Stir in some of your basil/garlic oil.

When you go to combine your pasta of choice with the sauce, I like to finish in a sautee pan. Heat the sauce and let it reduce a bit, then add a knob (as Julia would call it) of butter if you are so inclined to dairy products. At this point, I like to also add some chiffonade basil and truffle oil, but use sparingly because it is pretty intense. Add your pasta and give it a few flips. This packs air into your finished product and is what helps your palate appreciate the flavors more evenly. The whole air/oxygen molecule concept is also what helps make sushi, especially nigiri style, so flavorful despite the few ingredients because there is air packed into the little pillows of rice as the chef squeezes them. Season out with salt and pepper.

try atop some gnocchi, that you of course made yourself...

To plate, you can be fancy schmancy and use a ring mold like Scott Conant or just dump in a bowl and top with a nice little basil sprig, maybe some grated pecorino romano or

or your home-made hand cut pasta

Or, eat it out of the pan like a sub-human toddler, its okay as long as its tasty, and no one sees you.

Enjoy, ciao bella xoxo

Society 6.. a site for (this soon to be) starving artist

Hey,

Maybe you might take four seconds and look at my photo-arts? I admit, I'm no pro, but these are images that make my brain all serotoniny when I look at them. Maybe they'll do the same for you.

http://society6.com/Sakura

Shoot me some feedback. I swear, the day I get a comment is the day I'll believe its not just a league of robots reading my blog in secret.

xo

Budget Bachelor Chow II

For when it's 3a.m. and you come home smelling of spilt whiskey and subway... 

This mess, I made at 5a.m. once. Debauchery doesn't have to mean crappy fast food, pizza, or junk food!

SPICY THAI PEANUT NOODLES 

You know you're better than this, right?

1/4c smooth peanut butter
1T soy sauce (or to taste)
2t sambal (chunky chili paste) or sriracha or a chopped chili
Frozen mixed stir fry veggies (thawed)
Udon, soba, ramen, rice noodles, or left over rice (not not that fried rice in the back...)

Optional ingredients that will only make it more tasty:

• stir in to the sauce some rice vinegar, lime juice, or tamarind juice for some tang
• chopped cilantro, crushed peanut or cashew, lime wedge for garnish
• pineapple chunks
• gold leaf (joke!)

Put on a large pot of water, add salt and bring to a rolling boil.

Meanwhile, mix peanut butter, soy, and sambal in a bowl, thin with water and adjust soy and sambal to taste.

When water is boiling, add pasta and cook according to package directions. In a large skillet, add a little bit of oil and saute veggies til cooked; when seared nicely, add sauce and either toss noodles/rice with the veggies or serve atop. You can also add to this grilled chicken, shrimp, tofu or most other proteins.


Alsoooooooo,
If you happen to like what you're reading, let me know! I know people are reading this, blogger don't lie to me! Leave a comment, what do you like? What do you want to see? Are you a robot? ...no really, are you? xoxoxo 

Budget Bachelor Chow

Budget meals for bachelors, or my favorite Ent :3

Potage Parmentier ~ Potato Leek Soup
1 small onion- diced or 1 pound leeks cut in rings
3-4 cloves of garlic- minced
3 stalks of celery- diced
4 carrots- diced
1 pound of potatoes (red, yukon gold)
olive oil
salt
pepper
2 quarts of water or vegetable stock

Some optional combinations of ingredients you may add to mix it up:

• chorizo, corn (grilled and cut off the cob or canned), black beans, cilantro, bell pepper, jalapeno
• miso paste, soy sauce, sesame oil
• rosemary, parsley, thyme, chervil
• shrimp, canned or fresh clams, mussels, oysters, canned crab (please never use fake ew!)
• chicken stock, milk, or heavy cream in place of water/veg stock

If using leeks, soak them in a bowl of water for a few minutes to rinse them of the dirt. Get yourself a 4 quart heavy bottomed pot and on medium heat, saute carrot, add onion/leek after a few minutes, then celery, and when they are all looking a bit tender add the garlic. Saute til almost golden and aromatic. Season each layer with salt and pepper as you add a new ingredient.

Add dice potatoes and water/stock. Turn heat up to high to bring the ingredients to a boil. Turn heat down to medium-low so that everything is simmering nicely. Using a lid partially covering the pot to help speed up heating processes.

Brew yourself a nice cup of fresh ground coffee or a spot of tea while you wait.

Drink your tea, text your girlfriend/boyfriend/mom, wait 40-50 minutes. Once potatoes are fork tender, you can adjust seasonings and eat it chunky like a chowder, or if you'd like a smoother soup use an immersion blender to blend your soup up, or process through a food mill or potato ricer.

If you're more than just scarfing this out of the pot stove-side, you can plate it like a human and add some garnishments that will make it look like you're sort of a professional. Try some:

• olive oil drizzle
• chopped chives or scallion
• bacon bits
• dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche
• minced herbs like parsley, cilantro, rosemary, tarragon

Enjoy xoxo