RIP food processor

FYI, after my last lemongrass attempt, my food processor bit the dust. ...And by bit-the-dust i mean broke in the middle of making lemongrass tofu. If you use not all the way chopped up lemongrass, it doesn't work very well and yo uhave very... er.... woody food.

I am looking for recommendations for not-humongous food processors so that I can continue to make hummus and lemongrass things. Budget limited.
*SIGH*

mmmm, jew cookies

fresh bakes goodness.
Hamentashen
Yes, I know I'm late. I bought all the goodies to make these, but ran out of time. It was a busy couple of weeks! These are some of my absolute favorite cookies on the planet that do not necessarily involve chocolate. I don't know mom's recipe, but this is based off of a couple I've found over the years. Favorite fillings are: poppyseed (pie filling), almond (pie filling), chocolate chips (the mini ones work best), and all-fruit jams (my sister loves the raspberry one the best).

Since I have a tile countertop, i just unrolled a big big sheet of aluminum foil, floured it, and it worked fine. easy clean up too!

5 oz unsalted butter or margarine (a stick and a 1/4)
1 3/4 c flour (i use unbleached)
1 egg yolk
2 tsp almond milk
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp sugar
whatever canned filling

combine dry ingredients in a bowl. warm butter in the microwave (not TOTALLY melted, just nice and soft). combine by form with dry ingredients. add egg, milk, and vanilla, and mix with fork. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat oven to 375. Roll out sections of dough on a floured surface. Cut round shaped out with a coffee tin or something (my pint glasses worked nicely). arrange on cookie sheet and drop a tsp of filling into each. Pinch of sections of 3rds to form the circles into funny pyramids, to make them kinda look like little jelly filled hats. BAKE at 375 for 15-20 min, until golden.

tips

• you can also be lazy and cut out squares and fold those over, but they aren't as neat.
• don't overfill! There is nothing grosser than burned jelly on the bottom of your cookies! Jellies tend to leak through any tiny cookie hole and bubble up.
  
• If you want the "I spent entirely too much time on these" look, brush each cookie while baking with a smear of beaten egg. it makes them golden and pretty.

ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
cookie rounds
1 small blop

fold up 2 corners, pinching the ends
pinch up the 3rd, and voila! a semi-cool looking little cookie.

leftover veggies sandwich

Earlier in the week, D, the sis, and I went to Star Pizza. The place is good for pizza, and the rest of the food is pretty good too. I got a veggie sandwich that was tasty, although a bit on the skimpy side. I ate half of the sandwich (which was onion, avocado, pesto, sprouts, tomato) and accompanied (underseasoned) potatoes, and doggie bagged the rest.

Today I was hungry (obviously), and decided to revisit my sandwich. The sprouts, tomato, and avocado were a little gross looking so i scraped the sandwich down to the pesto. I had cut veggies and avocado in the fridge from yesterday's bbq, so i decided to restart this sandwich. I put the bread and potatoes coated with a lil "Slap Ya Mama" seasoning in the broiler for 4 min. In the meantime, i sauteed some sliced red onion, garlic, mushrooms, and diced dried onion for alittle flavor variation until the onions were soft. I tossed in an egg white to give it a little more substance (as I was baking and just happened to have one laying around) and some italian seasoning. Pulled out my potatoes and crusty bread, layered the sandwich with my sauteed mix, mayo, and topped with a layer of chopped avocado.

MMMMMM

quite tasty, and quite nice to look at.

sunday dinners

On sunday nights, i try to cook lunches for both me and D for a few days. That way, if i come home late late, he will still have dinner. Here are the recipes for the food i made for the week.

stir fried tofu and green beans

1/2 block firm tofu, squeezed and cubed
1 c frozen green beans
1/2 can shredded bamboo shoots
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
memmi
a big handful of shittake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 tsp chopped garlic
olive oil
crushed red pepper

put cubes of tofu in a pan with garlic and a swirl of olive oil. Fry for about 5 min on medium high, until one side is beginning to turn golden. Add memmi (2 or 3 good swirls), bamboo, shittakes, and onion, and stir, cook for another 4 minutes. Add green beans, another swirl of memmi, and red pepper. Cook for another 5 min, stir frying until green beans are tender.




Tofu Green Curry (not so traditional)

1/2 block firm tofu, squeezed, cubed
1 can coconut milk
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 handful snow peas
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 can shredded bamboo shoots
1 tsp fish sauce
green curry paste
turbinado sugar

stir fry onion in a swirl of olive oil in a wok for about 4 minutes. add garlic, and stir fry for another 3. add tofu, coconut milk, bamboo, fish sauce, about 3 tbsp of curry paste, and 3 tbsp sugar. Reduce to simmer, cover for about 5 minutes. taste for heat and sweetness balance, add more as needed. add everything else and simmer for another 5 min. serve hot with jasmine rice. MMMMMM



toasty tempeh
Ok, so i've never made tempeh before. mom has, and it's been good, but i never really had the urge to buy it. well, i bought it, and attempted to cook it this way. Other than the onions getting a little more charred than carmelized, it's really very tasty, nutty, and totally snackable.

4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1/8 c chopped onion
1/8 tsp cardamon
3 tbsp shoyu (or whatever soy sauce you got)
1 pack original tempeh

cube up tempeh, add to a pan with oil. fry for about 5 minutes, tossing occasionally. Add garlic, cardamon, and onion, and fry for another 5 minutes. Add soy sauce and fry until the tempeh is toasty. Drain on napkins.




^^mustard greens ^kale

seasoned asian greens
Now, i LOVE the kind I get from Frenchy's in the ward, but a) that is the TINIEST cup ever of greens for $3, and b) that stuff is horrible for you. This kinds are still tasty, but cheap, filling, and really good for you.

1 bunch greens, washed, washed again, and chopped
memmi
1/4 sweet yellow onion, chopped
a clove of garlic, crushed
ginger powder

boil 4 c water in a saucepan. add stems and simmer for 5 minutes, add onion and garlic, and simmer for another 5. The water should be mostly gone by now. add everything else (about 3 tbsp memmi), and cook for another 5 min, stirring constantly. Once all the greens are steamed, add a swirl more of memmi and serve hot.


OH, and I did make some meat for the week for my carnivore.

poor gurl lunches

I see folks all the time eat the cup-o-soup lunches. Now I LOVE ramens (or any instant pho noodles either for that matter), but eating them with freeze dried peas and corn is no way to go.

Invest in some better noodles! Instant pho or rice stick noodles are 30-50 cents a piece (instead of 20), about 20% less sodium, and usually under 200 calories for the entire pack (under half of normal ramens), and come will all sorts of goodies to adjust the flavor... some get HOT. Or, get some exotic ramens or udons with many flavoring packets!

Toss in some sliced and destemmed shittakes (about 4 will do ya), 1 sliced green onion, some sprouts (if you have em), some shredded carrot, a couple pieces of surimi/tofu/or krabstick, and some snow or snap peas (i prefer snap, they keep better), and VOILA! In 5 minutes, you have a lunch your coworkers are truly envious of! Not to mention, it all costs about $1.

+ ++ +

= ENVY

pictures

ALRIGHT already!
At your suggestion, I'm going to put pics of what i've got from now on. I will try try to get things up soon, so there will be a backlog of pictures. Might as well put those lenses to use, yea?

lemongrass whatever

Ok, so tonight i had company over. I keep buying lemongrass and letting it go bad in my fridge, basically because i have no clue how to use it, nor do i really ever remember that it is IN my fridge. I used my one-meat-a-month card and made this recipe up. It's a combination of 4 different recipes sort of as i really just looked at them to see what was in them and didn't even use their proportions, and it turned out FANTASTIC. I'm assuming this will work with pork, chicken, shrimp, or tofu, but I just happened to use beef. So, here goes...

Lemongrass Beef

1 lb boneless ribeye steak

2 red bell peppers, quartered, and sliced

3 stalks lemongrass

fish sauce

5 cloves garlic, then 8 more

2 tbsp sugar

4 red chiles (the dried ones in like Kung pao whatever)

1 med yellow onion, halved then sliced thin

3 med to thick green onions

soy sauce

2 handfulls of snow peas

about 10 stalks of asparagus, cut into thumb sized pieces

olive oil

Cut up lemongrass into thumb sized pieces. Combine with chilies, 5 cloves garlic, sugar, and 2 tbsp fish sauce in a small food processor, until the mix is more mush than woodiness. Coat steak with about 2/3 of this mix. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 30 min. During this time, prep your veggies if you havent already. Put on a pot of rice if you like. After 30 min, put steak in a pan and brown (till lemongrass starts to singe a little). Scrape pan, flip, and cook for another 5 min in the pan. Turn off heat, set aside, scrape pan onto cutting board too. Put onion, the rest of the garlic, and a little olive oil in a nonstick pot or wok. Stir fry until the garlic starts to soften and the onions carmelize. You will probably have to add a little water here and there. Add asparagus, peppers, and the rest of the lemongrass sauce. Stir fry for about 4 min. Slice the beef up into thumbsized chunks and add to pan (along with pan scrapings), along with the snow peas. Add a couple tbsp soy sauce and fish sauce and stir fry until the snow peas are mildly cooked. Serve over hot rice. MMMM

GRANOLA!

Mom used to make granola when i was a kiddo. I remember the smell of our house as the oats and honey were toasting. nothing in a bag can match it, EVER. Since mom couldn't really tell me how she made granola, I winged it. This is the best version.

GRANOLA

1 tub rolled oats
honey (to taste - usually about 1/2 c)
1 c floured dates
1 c sliced almonds
1/2 c coconut flakes
1/8 c flax seeds
1/2 (or more) c veggie oil
2 tbsp vientnamese hot cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c cashews, broken
1 c sunflower seeds

preheat oven to 400. mix oil, 1/4 c honey, cinnamon, and vanilla in a small bowl. mix oats and oil mix and put in a big pan to toast. bake about 30 min, stir every 10 min, or until oats start to toast more thoroughly. taste for sweetness, add more honey if needed.add all the fruit, coconut, and nuts, and toast for about another 20 min, stirring every 5. When done, cool for 1 hour so that it will clump nicely. You can swap out fruits and nuts if you want too.

ratio goes like this
4 oats
1 fruit
1 nut a
1 nut b
1 coconut
1/2 flax
1/2 seeds

this particular time it was

oats

coconut

almonds

1/2 c chopped raw cashews

sunflower seeds

8 dates, chopped

1/4 c dried blueberries (they were freaking expensive though, not sure if i will do that again)
vanilla

cinnamon

flaxseeds

some more backlog.

I'm going to attempt to get this blog current.
some more easy dinners!

Chicken soup

1 chicken, with guts removed (or 4 chicken quarters), but skin on (keep the neck for the soup)

4 stalks celery

3 peeled carrots, peeled and cut into thumb thick pieces

1 small yellow onion, chopped

a few shakes of dill

4 or more garlic cloves

chicken bullion (just in case)

kosher salt

pepper

spaghetti

Cheesecloth, fruit bags, or pantyhose (washed)

Place chicken in a stockpot. Add carrots, celery (whole) and onion. Cover the chicken in water, about ½” above the chicken. Make a pouch out of cheesecloth, those funky bags oranges or onions come in, or a CLEAN pair of pantyhose. Add about 2 tsp coarse pepper, 1 tsp dill, and sliced garlic cloves to the cloth. Tie off the end and trim down to a small packet. Bring all to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low/simmer. Simmer for an hour. Salt to taste, and add more garlic if you wish. Add a tsp of chicken bullion if not strong enough. Stir and then simmer for another 30 minutes or so. Turn off heat and remove chicken from pot. Transfer to a cutting board and cool for about 10-20 minutes. Peel off skin and cut up chicken. It should easily come off bones if done enough. Fish in soup and remove seasoning packet and toss. Remove celery and chop up and add back to soup. Take a quarter’s diameter of noodles and break in half and toss in soup. Add cut up chicken. Add about 1c water and bring back to a simmer. Turn off in about 6 minutes or when noodles are done. Eat. For leftovers, refrigerate overnight in same stockpot and skim the fat off of the top before reheating.

Eggplant and Garlic Sauce

This is a way lightened version. The real thing is fried, drained, and then tossed with sauce. I created this one when i was stuck in weight watchers....

1 large eggplant cubed (1/2” cubies)

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp- tbsp soy sauce

4 or so cloves of garlic, sliced

1 small or medium yellow onion, halved, then sliced downwards (peeled, of course)

1 cup water

2 tbsp (or a little more to taste) of hosien

put olive oil in a nonstick pan, heat to medium high. Add sugar and STIR in till sugar dissolves

add eggplant and garlic and stir till no more oil is visible. Add about ¼ cup of water and sauté over medium till almost all water is gone. Add onion and stir for about a minute. Add about ¼ cup of water and sauté till water is gone. Add about ¼ cup of water and cover, stirring occasionally. Eggplant should be somewhat translucent by now… Add soy and hosien, sautee with another ¼ water, sauté for another minute or 2 (till everything is coated well), and serve

Heat oil in nonstick pan to medium high and stir in sugar till dissolved. Add eggplant and garlic and stir until oil is absorbed. Add ¼ cup of water and sauté over medium till water is absorbed. Add onion and stir for about a minute. Add about ¼ cup of water and sauté till water is gone, cover, and repeat (Eggplant should be translucent). Add soy, chili, and hosien, sauté with remainder of water for another 2 minutes (till well coated). Serve hot over rice. Makes about 4 generous servings.

****************************************************************

Salmon prepared with olive oil.

For salmon, I just take fish (defrosted if frozen)
rub with garlic and coarse black pepper. Sprinkle olive oil on it and spread it all over both sides of the fish. slice a lemon thinly and tile on top. Squeeze a bit of juice on there too. Cook (usually I broil it) until the middle part flakes easily with fork.

also works well with trout (esp. steelhead) or any other sort of fatty fish.

Asparagus (for a side)

I trim asparagus of woody part. Lay out on broiling pan. Spray with olive oil (or toss in a bag with 2 tsp of olive oil if you don’t have a sprayer) and sprinkle garlic powder, and a hint of seasoned salt. Broil until tops are a bit goldened and skin is wrinkled. make a bunch because people will come in your kitchen and steal it before all food is done.

lazy dinners

veg pita sammiches and hummus stuffed black olives

1 pita
smear with hummus, a bit of goat cheese, roasted red peppers, sprouts, cucumbers, tomatoes, salt, pepper

OMG HEAVEN.
I made d's with chicken and stuffed it with black olives with fresh hummus from T'afia's farmer's market booth..

veggie yum

My vegetarian chili
I like mine hot. I think I toned it down for this recipe, I don't remember. Either way, it's awesome.

* 2 tablespoons (2 turns around the pan) olive or vegetable oil
* 1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
* 1/2 red bell pepper, 1/2 yellow bell pepper (for color, you can use all red), seeded and chopped
* 1 large green pepper, seeded and chopped
* 2 chipotle peppers, smashed in pestle or with a spoon or chopped and 2 tsp adobo sauce (or more)
* 5 cloves garlic, pressed
* 1 1/2 c dos equis beer
* 1 cube vegetable bullion, crushed
* 2-12 oz cans diced tomatoes
* 1-12 oz can crushed tomatoes
* 1 (14-ounce) can black beans
* 1 (14-ounce) can kidney beans
* 1 tablespoon smoked hot paprika (if you can find it. it's sold at central market, CHEAP, and GOOD)
* 1 tablespoon ground cumin
* 2 tablespoons chili powder
* 1 few grinds fresh ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon coarse salt
* 1 can vegetarian refried beans

Over medium-high heat, add oil to a deep pot and combine onion, peppers, and garlic. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes to soften vegetables. Add bullion to the beer, and add to pan. Add tomatoes, black beans, red kidney beans, and stirring to combine. Add the refried beans, but smash them in, you want them to break up nicely. Cook for like 3 minutes, Add chilis, adobo stuff, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Simmer medium for 10 more minutes, COVERED, but with a cracked lid (to reduce, but this stuff SPLASHES), stirring like ever 2-3 min or the bottom will burn. Serve over rice or with chips.
OM NOM NOM NOM...


Tofu Scramble pockets
I had some made my Amy's and they were AWESOME. I tried to recreate it and theyTOO turned out good. I promise, this is way less work than it looks like. These freeze really well. Heat them up in the office and ahve everyone's nose stuck in your cubicle (until you tell them it's tofu, and then they scatter!)..

1 block light firm tofu
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soysauce or tamari
black pepper
red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
olive oil
1/2 green pepper, diced
2 green onions, diced
1 handfull shittake mushrooms, de-stemmed, and chopped
1/2 red pepper, diced
pinch golden tumeric
pinch smoked or sweet paprika

for the dough
2 c unbleached all purpose flour, plus some
pinch salt
pinch smoked or sweet paprika
1/2 c warm water
1/2 c olive or sunflower oil

Make the dough.
You want it to have "just enough" flour, and it will have the consistency of an earlobe. Mix all dry ingredients together, add liquid ingredients, then gauge if you need more flour once it is all mixed. This is an oily dough, easy to manipulate with hands, and very elastic. if you add too much flour it won't stick together! If you aren't going to use it right away, keep it at room temp, putting it in the fridge makes it way less maliable.

Make the filling.
Drain tofu, and squeeze any extra moisture out by squeezing it between paper towels. Heat 1 tbsp or 2 of olive oil in a NONstick skillet to med/med-high. Crumble the tofu really well into the pan, and break it up a little more with a wooden spoon or spatula. Cook for about 5 min (this is to remove extra moisture from the tofu), then stir. Add a pinch of tumeric and paprika for color, and stir really well. Cook for another 4 or so min, so that you brown the tofu a little, stirring every min. Add onion, mushrooms, garlic, pepper, and peppers. Stir well and cook for another 4 or so min, turning occasionally, till onions begin to soften. Add red pepper flakes, honey, and soy sauce, and cook for another min or two (so that all liquid is absorbed), stirring constantly. Taste, and adjust seasoning if needed, but it should be a smidge salty because the dough should absorb some of the salt.

Assemble
Heat oven to 350 while you assemble this stuff.Get a greased cookie sheet or pan lined with nonstick aluminum foil. Divide the dough up into about 5 or 6 pieces (they should be slightly smaller than your fist). Either flatten by hand or roll each out and arrange on sheet. Fill with dough and fold over, kind of like an empenada. Brush with egg or butter or oil or something, and bake till golden... which i will find out how long that is in a bit.

some oldies.

Tomorrow is Purim. However, I looked in my archives for Purim recipes and got Chanukka ones.
Whatever.
Enjoy.

latkes (potato pancakes)
1 lb potatoes, peeled
1 apple, peeled and cored
1 egg, beaten, i guess
1/4 cup flour
salt and peppa

grate potatoes and apple and drain the shit out of it. add flour and egg, salt and pepper, and mix really good.Heat oil in a shallow pan (for frying, about 1" deep). take a handfull of potato moosh, and pat it into a thin patty (usually i roll it in a ball and then smoosh it). Fry until golden, flip, and fry for a few more minutes. you can fry like 6 at a time. drain. eat with applesauce or sour cream on top.YUMMEH. kicks the butt of any hash brown out there. We usually make these in triple batches. However, no matter how good these are, if you grind up a 10 lb bag of potatoes, you will be frying for about 2 or so hours...

My Noodle Kugel
I had to adapt this recipe cause my sister hates rasins in her kugel, and i LOVE to cook for my sister.
I use soy substitues for all the milk stuff and it turns out really well.

1 cup milk (or soy)
1 lb egg noodles (like manichevitz brand)
cinnamon
3 eggs
1 lb cottage cheese (or silken tofu)
a couple tablespoons of good gold rum
3 oz cream cheese (or soy), about 1/2 c
1/2-3/4 c sugar
1 half apple, peeled and diced
1/2 c sliced almonds. break em up a little
1 capfull vanilla

preheat oven to 350. boil noodles till done, drain. grease casserole pan, add noodles. Mix milk, eggs, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sugar, apple, rum, vanilla, and almonds in a bowl till everything is mixed (cept the cottage cheese, of course). add to noodles, and stir really well till its like yellowy noodle soup. bake for an hour. serve warm. this is kinda a side dish, kinda a dessert.

some party food

Yes, so today I went to a party. I had to bring food. Therefore, I make this post.


Hummus
unless i'm really, REALLY lazy, I make hummus. 4 min to make, about 5 min prep. This costs about $2 to make enough to fill 2 of those store bought tubs if you already have tahini and lemon juice lying around.

1 med can of chick peas/garbanzo beans
2 cloves raw garlic
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
lime juice (about 2 tsp, may adjust later)
1 tbsp sesame tahini
olive oil (probably about 1/2 cup)
1/4 tsp parsley flakes
a food processor

Drain and wash the chickpeas. in the food processor, blend all the spices, tahini, and garlic, till the garlic is pulverized. add 1/4 of the can of chick peas, and a couple tbsp olive oil. blend. do this until everything is used up. If it is too thick, stir, and add a little more olive oil. If you want to watch calories, you can alternate water and oil. Taste for seasoning, and add more lemon juice, black pepper, salt, or paprika.


Hot BBQ wangs

I love hot wings. Although I am not eating meat too often these days, I will sneak one or two of these if I make them.

1 broiler pan
tongs
1 c of your favorite sweet based bbq sauce (i usually use a variety with a name including the works "honey" and "hickory")
salt and pepper
about 4 lbs of wings, thirded with that little end bit thrown away
cayenne

preheat oven to 450 (or as high as your oven goes without broiling). Combine (in a big mixing bowl) the BBQ sauce and about 1 tsp of cayenne. Cook wings 30 min until done and kinda crispy on top. Flip all the wings and put in broiler for about 5 min till everything is way crispy. Pull off the pan and put in mixing bowl and toss everything together. mmm.