A Key Ingredient Lesson

Potato Casserole Supreme (Betty Crocker Cookbook)

My mother never made hash brown casserole. That’s not a fault. I learned late in life about it’s tasty cheesy, creamy, totally-easy-to-make-ness. That’s ok.

I still managed to mess it up. You’ll never guess how.

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 container sour cream 1/2 cup milk 1/4 tsp pepper 1 package frozen shredded hash brown potatoes 8 medium green onions, sliced 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Heat oven to 350F. Grease rectangular baking dish, 13x9x2 inches.

2. Mix soups, sour cream, milk and pepper in a very large bowl. Stir in potatoes and onions. Spoon into baking dish.

You can’ tell from this picture, but I had to substitute extra sour cream for the cream of chicken soup. Why? Because when I went to the grocery store after a long day of work, I grabbed a can of chicken broth instead of cream of chicken soup. Thank goodness I noticed before I poured.

3. Bake uncovered 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on top and bubbly around the edges.

In the end, this tasted kind of like cheating. I wasn’t really cooking so much as assembling and warming a series of ingredients already prepared for me. Call me a purist, but I don’t feel like this is cooking unless I cube the potato myself. So the overwhelming flavour here is the flavour of shirked responsibility. Bland shirked responsibility, since I couldn’t even be responsible for one of the most flavourful ingredients.

Smokers’ fingernails never tasted so good

Poppy Seed-Crusted Cauliflower (Oprah Magazine Cookbook)

I love a good side dish. And I love cauliflower, a most underrated vegetable. Most people think of it only as a vehicle for cheese sauce. It’s also a vehicle for turmeric, as you will soon see.

5 tbsp black or white poppy seeds 6 or 7 dried hot red chilies, like Japone or Thai 1/2 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 1 medium-size cauliflower (about 2 lbs), cut into 1/2” florets 3 tbsp vegetable oil 1/2 tsp nigella seeds 2 bay leaves

I couldn’t find dried hot red chilies, so I used the PC Fire Eater’s mix my boyfriend left in a spice grinder in my apartment one day. I also didn’t have nigella seeds. Meh.

1. Grind poppy seeds and chili pieces in a spice or coffee grinder until they form a fine powder; transfer to a small bowl and mix with 6 tbsp water to form a paste. Set aside.

The poppy seeds kept falling out of my spice grinder, so I just said “screw it” and made a slurry instead.

2. In a medium bowl, combine turmeric, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp sugar; add cauliflower and toss until evenly coated. Set aside. 3. In a large non-stick skillet, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add cauliflower and stir-fry 4 to 6 minutes until it begins to brown in spots; remove with slotted spoon to baking sheet lined with paper towels. 4. Add remaining 1 tbsp oil to skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add nigella seeds, bay leaves, and whole chilies. Stir-fry 15 seconds, hen add poppy seed paste. Stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant; stir in cauliflower and remaining 1/2 tsp each salt and sugar until cauliflower is coated. Obviously, not having nigella seeds or whole chilies, I skipped that part of the step. Not project-ending.

5. Add 2/3 cup water; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 4 to 6 minutes, stirring once or twice, until cauliflower is just tender and sauce is absorbed. Makes 6 servings.

These tasted super delicious, though mega spicy. The down side is that turmeric stains like a mo-fo, and I looked like a chain smoker for the next six days. Also, those poppy seeds gunked up my dishwasher something awful. Sacrifices.

If there’s vitamin C, it’s still healthy…right?

Madras (International Bartender’s Guide)

According to wikipedia, Madras is the former name of the city of Chennai in India. I’m not sure how its name ended up on this drink.

2 oz vodka 2 oz cranberry juice 2 oz orange juice orange slice

Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice and pour in ingredients.

Garnish with orange slice.

Tasty, refreshing…Indian? I don’t know.

Adventures in Breakfast

Fennel Fig & Almond Bread (The Modern Baker)

Breakfast, though the most important meal of the day, is always a challenge for me. Always. I am not a morning person. As a result, I need something with minimal prep time to stuff in my mouth as I’m checking my email and forgetting to take my vitamins.

I’d been coveting Nick Malgieri’s Modern Baker ever since I saw it at my local bookshop. Finally I just bit the bullet, spent the 40 bucks and bought it. After reading all the baking tips and tricks from cover to cover on a later summer afternoon, I didn’t actually get to baking anything from it until recently. A loaf containing protein (almonds), fruit (figs) and complex carbs (loaf) seemed like a perfect breakfast.

2 cups all-purpose flour (spoon flour into a dry-measure cup and level off) tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed 6 tbsp (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened 2/3 cup sugar 2 large eggs 3/4 cup milk 1 1/2 cups stemmed and diced white or black dried figs 1 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted

1. Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350F.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and fennel seeds in a medium bowl and stir well to mix.

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth, then beat in the sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

4. Beat 1/2 the flour mixture into the butter and egg mixture, then gently beat in the milk, about 1/3 at a time. Beat in he remaining flour mixture. Use a large rubber spatula to fold in the figs and almonds.

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the bread until it is well risen and a toothpick or a narrow-bladed knife inserted into the center of the bread emerges clean, about 1 hour.

6. Cool the bread in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold it and cool it completely on a rack. Transfer the bread to a platter or cutting board before serving.

Makes 12 to 16 slices.

Verdict: Weirdly tasty. The fennel and the figs together make this taste kind of savoury – which is a strange thing to wake up to when you’re biting into a fruit loaf. Huh.

The Small Slow Cooker Strikes Again!

Easy Cassoulet Soup (Better Homes and Gardens Slow Cooker Favorites Made Easy)

I think you’ve heard me complain about my slow cooker before. Just imagine cutting some of the ingredients in this recipe down to one quarter the called-for amount.

1 cup chopped carrots 1 cup chopped onion 3/4 cup chopped red or green sweet pepper 2 15-oz cans white kidney beans or great northern beans, rinsed and drained 8 oz skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1” pieces 8 oz cooked smoked turkey sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2” slices 1 bay leaf 1 tbsp snipped fresh parsley 1 tsp dried thyme, crushed 1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 14-oz can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained 1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth 1/2 cup dry white wine

And though it’s a pain to cut up only one quarter of a red pepper, I did it anyway!

1. In a 3 1/2 to 5-quart slow cooker place carrots, onion, and sweet pepper. Add drained beans, chicken, sausage, and bay leaf to cooker. Sprinkle with parsley, thyme, cayenne pepper, and garlic. Combine undrained tomatoes, broth and wine. Pour over all.

I absolutely did not use turkey sausage, though. Heaven forfend such things darken the door of a northern grocery store.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Remove and discard bay leaf.

And yes, I guarantee that this resulted in another case of the flatulent femme-culinaire.