Had an Oscar party. Made some baked dates stuffed with bits of brie. Had a bunch left over, so I decided to toss them into some rice. It was yummy.
Can't really give you the estimates, but it was about a dozen dates, and a couple servings of jasmine rice. Tossed it all in together to cook at once.
The dates kind of melted in to the rice, and the dates and the brie made things very, very sweet. It was very filling and tasty, but a little on the sweet side.
Showing posts with label improv recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label improv recipes. Show all posts
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Soup's off
Took a couple days off work to relax and renew. Of course, about halfway through the first day, I was itching to cook something.
I've got a lot of odds and ends, ingredients-wise, but I'm low on meat, and I don't have all my pantry staples. So, there's a plethora of black beans, squash, brown rice, but not too much chicken, stock, onions, or cheese.
Add that to the fact that I have a ton of hot peppers lying around that I don't know what to do with, and my soups have turned out...interesting, to say the least.
I've had some revelations about my cooking skills & technique during the process.
* I tend to use dairy and fat to cover a multitude of culinary shortcomings.
* There's only so far I can improv. After a certain point, it comes out strange.
* I use a LOT of onions. They are the glue of many of my dishes.
* I try to add too many flavors and textures to a dish, thinking complexity will equal tastiness. It doesn't (I've had this problem for years, actually).
* I have no skill using chilies. I constantly under- or over-estimate how much to add for the spice level.
* I'm not all that resourceful in the kitchen when I don't have my go-to ingredients.
Nothing's been inedible, and, miraculously, the soups have gotten better after they've sat a day or two. To tell the truth, a sprinkle of cardboard Parmesan has helped too (umami: I haz it!)
I'll keep at my vegetarian cooking; It's going to be a long, but necessary road, to do more meatless dishes. I'm bringing out my two best veggie cookbooks for further study. But, for now, if I'm faced with an abundance of veggies and lack of onions or fat, I'm gonna go ahead and make a pasta instead of a soup.
The cookbooks
These are old, and will be hard to find. But I highly recommend both of them.
Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites
Traditional flavors with a fresh twist. Easy recipes, and a fantastic lighter Mac & cheese.
The Vegetarian Hearth
Don't know what to do with your root veggies? You will after you read this. Lots of simple, tasty recipes which showcase winter's bounty. Bonus: A delightful section on hot alcoholic drinks, like mulled wine, and buttered rum, which are all wonderful and can be scaled up or down as needed.
I've got a lot of odds and ends, ingredients-wise, but I'm low on meat, and I don't have all my pantry staples. So, there's a plethora of black beans, squash, brown rice, but not too much chicken, stock, onions, or cheese.
Add that to the fact that I have a ton of hot peppers lying around that I don't know what to do with, and my soups have turned out...interesting, to say the least.
I've had some revelations about my cooking skills & technique during the process.
* I tend to use dairy and fat to cover a multitude of culinary shortcomings.
* There's only so far I can improv. After a certain point, it comes out strange.
* I use a LOT of onions. They are the glue of many of my dishes.
* I try to add too many flavors and textures to a dish, thinking complexity will equal tastiness. It doesn't (I've had this problem for years, actually).
* I have no skill using chilies. I constantly under- or over-estimate how much to add for the spice level.
* I'm not all that resourceful in the kitchen when I don't have my go-to ingredients.
Nothing's been inedible, and, miraculously, the soups have gotten better after they've sat a day or two. To tell the truth, a sprinkle of cardboard Parmesan has helped too (umami: I haz it!)
I'll keep at my vegetarian cooking; It's going to be a long, but necessary road, to do more meatless dishes. I'm bringing out my two best veggie cookbooks for further study. But, for now, if I'm faced with an abundance of veggies and lack of onions or fat, I'm gonna go ahead and make a pasta instead of a soup.
The cookbooks
These are old, and will be hard to find. But I highly recommend both of them.
Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites
Traditional flavors with a fresh twist. Easy recipes, and a fantastic lighter Mac & cheese.
The Vegetarian Hearth
Don't know what to do with your root veggies? You will after you read this. Lots of simple, tasty recipes which showcase winter's bounty. Bonus: A delightful section on hot alcoholic drinks, like mulled wine, and buttered rum, which are all wonderful and can be scaled up or down as needed.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Improv Recipe: Tangy, creamy, quickie custards
I’ve been having some bad luck with egg-based desserts lately. Well, not bad luck so much as laziness backfiring on me. I haven’t been measuring ingredients.
Yeah, cooking catastrophe waiting to happen, I know. Two pumpkin custards in a row never set on me, and when I tried to wing it and estimate the amounts of a chocolate mousse, which didn’t go well.
But I had some leftover eggs from a souffle I'd made, half a carton of heavy cream, and I wanted custard, and I didn't want to have to find a recipe for it or be bothered with "measuring."
So I knew I was tempting fate here. However, I had learned from my previous mistakes and discovered a few rules:
1. Use a water bath, and use hot water. Doesn’t have to be boiling, but microwaving a cup of water until it’s good and steamy will work.
2. The ratio of eggs to other stuff is important. More eggs is better if you want a custard to thicken properly. When unsure, err on the side of more eggs. You might get something closer to sweet quiche, but at least it will be solid.
3. Baking the custard in smaller containers will help even cooking and setting. One large container will take forever to come to temperature and will cook unevenly. Several smaller containers will prevent this from happening
4. Add less liuqidy ingredients when you can. I added a half a cup of strained greek yogurt (essentially sour cream) to the custard mix to help thicken it up before I put it in the oven.
5. Use a trusted recipe. Even if you’re not measuring your ingredients, it will give you a proper ratio of eggs to liquid.
With these precautions, I successfully made an improve custard, which was quite good. The greek yogurt gave it a denser body and a nice tang, a little like a cheesecake.
Improv custard for two
3-4eggs (at least 3 egg yolks and 3 egg whites)
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons maple syrup
pinch of salt
½ cup of greek strained yogurt (or sour cream is fine)
¼ t cinnamon
Beat eggs until uniform and lighter yellow. Add other ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into ramekins or custard cups. Put cups in a high-sided baking pan or baking dish that will fit both of them without touching.
Microwave 4 cups of water on high for 2 minutes or until steamy. Be careful not to boil. Pour water around cups, but don’t get any into the custard.
Bake at 300 degrees until just set in the center. Check after 40 minutes for doneness. You want the edges to be set but the center to be a little wobbly. Turn off oven, leave custards in oven for at least 30 minutes, up to an hour. Serve warm, or cover and refrigerate.
Yeah, cooking catastrophe waiting to happen, I know. Two pumpkin custards in a row never set on me, and when I tried to wing it and estimate the amounts of a chocolate mousse, which didn’t go well.
But I had some leftover eggs from a souffle I'd made, half a carton of heavy cream, and I wanted custard, and I didn't want to have to find a recipe for it or be bothered with "measuring."
So I knew I was tempting fate here. However, I had learned from my previous mistakes and discovered a few rules:
1. Use a water bath, and use hot water. Doesn’t have to be boiling, but microwaving a cup of water until it’s good and steamy will work.
2. The ratio of eggs to other stuff is important. More eggs is better if you want a custard to thicken properly. When unsure, err on the side of more eggs. You might get something closer to sweet quiche, but at least it will be solid.
3. Baking the custard in smaller containers will help even cooking and setting. One large container will take forever to come to temperature and will cook unevenly. Several smaller containers will prevent this from happening
4. Add less liuqidy ingredients when you can. I added a half a cup of strained greek yogurt (essentially sour cream) to the custard mix to help thicken it up before I put it in the oven.
5. Use a trusted recipe. Even if you’re not measuring your ingredients, it will give you a proper ratio of eggs to liquid.
With these precautions, I successfully made an improve custard, which was quite good. The greek yogurt gave it a denser body and a nice tang, a little like a cheesecake.
Improv custard for two
3-4eggs (at least 3 egg yolks and 3 egg whites)
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons maple syrup
pinch of salt
½ cup of greek strained yogurt (or sour cream is fine)
¼ t cinnamon
Beat eggs until uniform and lighter yellow. Add other ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into ramekins or custard cups. Put cups in a high-sided baking pan or baking dish that will fit both of them without touching.
Microwave 4 cups of water on high for 2 minutes or until steamy. Be careful not to boil. Pour water around cups, but don’t get any into the custard.
Bake at 300 degrees until just set in the center. Check after 40 minutes for doneness. You want the edges to be set but the center to be a little wobbly. Turn off oven, leave custards in oven for at least 30 minutes, up to an hour. Serve warm, or cover and refrigerate.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Improv recipe: Baked oatmeal
Today was the tailgating party for my office. We celebrate the yearly regional college football rivalry with a potluck. Actually, we celebrate pretty much everything with a potluck, but that's beside the point.
I'd gotten some steel-cut oats, so I decided to make some baked oatmeal. Steel cut oats are different then rolled oats. They are small little squares/cylinders instead of flakes, and they take longer to cook. But the texture is delightfully chewy, and the flavor is heartier. You can find them in most grocery stores, sometimes called Irish oats or pinhead oats.
Alton Brown's got a decent crock-pot oats recipe, but I wanted something i could transport easily on the bus, so I looked for recipes just for baking.
I found a couple good ones, but I didn't have all the ingredients, like raisins, on hand. So I took the basic requirements, 1 cup of oats to 4 cups of liquid, cook for 30 minutes at 325, and played around with it.
In the end, I came out with an extremely sweet, tasty and filling oats recipe, guaranteed to feed a crowd.
Spiced Baked Oatmeal
For the spice, I used a loose herbal chai tea mix that has actual pieces of chocolate beans, cinnamon sticks, or cardamom in it. If you can't find that, use mulling spices. The main thing is you want big pieces of stuff--nothing powdered, and you want flavors that will go well with sweet.
1 1/2 cups steel cut oats
2 1/2 cups milk
2 1/2cups water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 Tablespoons mulling spices or chunky chai tea mix
1/2 cup dried fruit, such as raisins or cherries (optional)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix liquids together in large saucepan. Add spice mix. Heat just under boiling. Turn off heat, let steep for 5 minutes. Strain into bowl. Using saucepan, heat up 2 tablespoons butter. Add oats to butter, stir for a couple minutes until they start to smell toasty. Don't let them burn. Add milk mixture back to the pan, add dried fruit. Stir until combined.
Spray 9 inch square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place pan on cookie sheet to catch spills or drips. Pour milk and oats into baking dish. Cook for 30 minutes. If it's not done, cook for 10minutes more until it starts to set up. Stir to make sure everything is evenly distributed. Put a few dried fruit pieces on the top to make it look pretty. Serve warm.
This is extremely sweet and rich and doesn't need any brown sugar or cream on the side.
I'd gotten some steel-cut oats, so I decided to make some baked oatmeal. Steel cut oats are different then rolled oats. They are small little squares/cylinders instead of flakes, and they take longer to cook. But the texture is delightfully chewy, and the flavor is heartier. You can find them in most grocery stores, sometimes called Irish oats or pinhead oats.
Alton Brown's got a decent crock-pot oats recipe, but I wanted something i could transport easily on the bus, so I looked for recipes just for baking.
I found a couple good ones, but I didn't have all the ingredients, like raisins, on hand. So I took the basic requirements, 1 cup of oats to 4 cups of liquid, cook for 30 minutes at 325, and played around with it.
In the end, I came out with an extremely sweet, tasty and filling oats recipe, guaranteed to feed a crowd.
Spiced Baked Oatmeal
For the spice, I used a loose herbal chai tea mix that has actual pieces of chocolate beans, cinnamon sticks, or cardamom in it. If you can't find that, use mulling spices. The main thing is you want big pieces of stuff--nothing powdered, and you want flavors that will go well with sweet.
1 1/2 cups steel cut oats
2 1/2 cups milk
2 1/2cups water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 Tablespoons mulling spices or chunky chai tea mix
1/2 cup dried fruit, such as raisins or cherries (optional)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix liquids together in large saucepan. Add spice mix. Heat just under boiling. Turn off heat, let steep for 5 minutes. Strain into bowl. Using saucepan, heat up 2 tablespoons butter. Add oats to butter, stir for a couple minutes until they start to smell toasty. Don't let them burn. Add milk mixture back to the pan, add dried fruit. Stir until combined.
Spray 9 inch square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place pan on cookie sheet to catch spills or drips. Pour milk and oats into baking dish. Cook for 30 minutes. If it's not done, cook for 10minutes more until it starts to set up. Stir to make sure everything is evenly distributed. Put a few dried fruit pieces on the top to make it look pretty. Serve warm.
This is extremely sweet and rich and doesn't need any brown sugar or cream on the side.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Recipe: Polish Wonton Soup
This started out as an improv recipe, but the results were so good that I've decided to write it up as a full recipe, and make it again. Thanks to The Mister for coming up with the recipe name.
Serves 4
1 pound pre-cooked Kielbasa polish sausage (refrigerator section)
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 mini pierogis, your favorite flavor
at least 2 cups of cabbage, or sturdy leafy green like kale, spinach, or collard greens
Splash of something alcoholic, like vodka (or the juice of one lemon)
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
sour cream and saurkraut for garnish (optional)
Heat chicken stock in fairly large pot. Meanwhile, dice Kielbasa into 1/2 to 1-inch cubes and roughly chop cabbage or greens. When stock reaches boil, add black pepper, kielbasa, vodka, and greens. Turn heat to low and simmer until greens are done, stirring occasionally. This may take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes depending on the green (Spinach cooks quickly, kale and cabbage take longer).
When greens are almost done, add mini pierogis to soup. Cook another 5 minutes. Add the sour cream (if using). Taste, and add a little more salt if needed.
Ladle into bowls. Try to get 2 mini pierogis in each bowl. Garnish with sour cream and saurkraut if desired.
If you can't get mini pierogis, use 4 regular sized pierogis. Cook them separately in water, then slice them in half before adding to the soup.
This isn't very Polish, or Chinese, but it's a filling, one-dish meal, and a great way to get your veggies. I made this in the heat of summer, but it's really more a winter recipe.
Serves 4
1 pound pre-cooked Kielbasa polish sausage (refrigerator section)
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 mini pierogis, your favorite flavor
at least 2 cups of cabbage, or sturdy leafy green like kale, spinach, or collard greens
Splash of something alcoholic, like vodka (or the juice of one lemon)
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
sour cream and saurkraut for garnish (optional)
Heat chicken stock in fairly large pot. Meanwhile, dice Kielbasa into 1/2 to 1-inch cubes and roughly chop cabbage or greens. When stock reaches boil, add black pepper, kielbasa, vodka, and greens. Turn heat to low and simmer until greens are done, stirring occasionally. This may take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes depending on the green (Spinach cooks quickly, kale and cabbage take longer).
When greens are almost done, add mini pierogis to soup. Cook another 5 minutes. Add the sour cream (if using). Taste, and add a little more salt if needed.
Ladle into bowls. Try to get 2 mini pierogis in each bowl. Garnish with sour cream and saurkraut if desired.
If you can't get mini pierogis, use 4 regular sized pierogis. Cook them separately in water, then slice them in half before adding to the soup.
This isn't very Polish, or Chinese, but it's a filling, one-dish meal, and a great way to get your veggies. I made this in the heat of summer, but it's really more a winter recipe.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Mad (food) Scientist, Part 2
It's alive, er, edible!!!!
The curried coconut-scented lentil-brown rice-black beans and tomatoes thing turned out really well! (I have got to get a better name for it...). The flavors all played well with others, and the result was a slightly sweet, slightly spicy, colorful pot of beans with good flavor and texture.
As I went to make the recipe, I realized one major error. I was going to use evaporated skimmed milk plus a little bit of coconut extract instead of coconut milk. I thought I had some in the pantry, but it turned out I had sweetened condensed milk. They are not interchangable. Not at all. However, it worked out pretty well. It gave a subtle sweetness to the rice, which would have been better had I used more curry powder.
And, I found another good use for the faux cream of coconut. It made a pretty good substitute for Coco Lopez, in the lovely drink called the Painkiller.
I still think that evaporated skimmed milk plus coconut extract would be a good, not-sweet, low-fat, substitute for cocunut milk, but I shall have to wait another day to actually do the experiment. Curses. Foiled again.
Tropical curried rice and beans
1 cup split lentils
1 cup instant brown rice
1 16 oz can black beans
3 cups chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 to 1 teaspoon coconut extract
2-4 Teaspoons curry powder, to taste
Put rice and lentils in a pot with a tight-fitting lid.
Mix together sweetened condensed milk and coconut extract. Stir to combine. Add coconut milk to rice and lentils. Add the black beans, including the liquid in the can. Add 2 cups of the stock to the pot. Heat to boiling, uncovered, sirring often. Once the mixture reaches a boil, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add a little bit of chicken stock if mixture starts to get too dry.
Uncover pot, add tomatoes and liquid. Cook for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add more salt or curry powder if needed.
Turn off heat and let rice and beans sit for 10 minutes. Uncover, stir and eat! Serve with Painkillers.
The curried coconut-scented lentil-brown rice-black beans and tomatoes thing turned out really well! (I have got to get a better name for it...). The flavors all played well with others, and the result was a slightly sweet, slightly spicy, colorful pot of beans with good flavor and texture.
As I went to make the recipe, I realized one major error. I was going to use evaporated skimmed milk plus a little bit of coconut extract instead of coconut milk. I thought I had some in the pantry, but it turned out I had sweetened condensed milk. They are not interchangable. Not at all. However, it worked out pretty well. It gave a subtle sweetness to the rice, which would have been better had I used more curry powder.
And, I found another good use for the faux cream of coconut. It made a pretty good substitute for Coco Lopez, in the lovely drink called the Painkiller.
I still think that evaporated skimmed milk plus coconut extract would be a good, not-sweet, low-fat, substitute for cocunut milk, but I shall have to wait another day to actually do the experiment. Curses. Foiled again.
Tropical curried rice and beans
1 cup split lentils
1 cup instant brown rice
1 16 oz can black beans
3 cups chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 to 1 teaspoon coconut extract
2-4 Teaspoons curry powder, to taste
Put rice and lentils in a pot with a tight-fitting lid.
Mix together sweetened condensed milk and coconut extract. Stir to combine. Add coconut milk to rice and lentils. Add the black beans, including the liquid in the can. Add 2 cups of the stock to the pot. Heat to boiling, uncovered, sirring often. Once the mixture reaches a boil, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add a little bit of chicken stock if mixture starts to get too dry.
Uncover pot, add tomatoes and liquid. Cook for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add more salt or curry powder if needed.
Turn off heat and let rice and beans sit for 10 minutes. Uncover, stir and eat! Serve with Painkillers.
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