Cooking Marathon Mondays

So this semester I have Mondays off (yay!), so I try to plan my menu in such a way that I can do my more labor intensive cooking on Monday, before my school week starts. I'm at the beginning of a new menu cycle, and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen today, absorbed in preparing broccoli-potato soup and sausage cassoulet. I had to hang around the apartment anyway, because the annual termite inspection guy was going to show up. He surveyed my (luckily clean and tidy) apartment for all of two minutes with a flashlight. No termites. That's heartening news of course, but as I am going to be moving soon, I wasn't overly concerned with the termite population. As to the moving soon, more about that in a future post.

First I need to rate the recipes from my last menu.

Miso Shrimp and Rice:

This was something I threw together with things I had on hand, and it was OK, but doesn't merit a recipe.

Convenience: 5

Deliciousness: 3

Value: 4

Left-over worthiness: 4

Good for you-ness: 4

Roasted Potatoes in Romesco Sauce:

I adapted this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, and I must admit I was a bit in over my head here. The Romesco sauce was complicated but ultimately amazing; the potatoes a hot mess. Prepared properly, the deliciousness quotient would certainly be more on this one.

Convenience: 2

Deliciousness: 3.5

Value: 3

Left-over worthiness: 3

Good for you-ness: 2

Pork Carnitas Tacos:

Convenience: 2

Deliciousness: 5

Value: 3

Left-over worthiness: 4

Good for you-ness: 2

Spinach and Mushroom Frittata:

Convenience: 5

Deliciousness: 4

Value: 4

Left-over worthiness: 4

Good for you-ness: 3

Baked Polenta with Mushrooms:

Convenience: 4

Deliciousness: 4

Value: 5

Left-over worthiness: 5

Good for you-ness: 3

Skillet Black Beans and Potatoes:

Now, I will probably post the recipe for this eventually, because the first time I made it I was so pleased with the results. It was one of those meals that I was sad about when there wasn't any left. This time around I made it with presoaked as opposed to canned black beans, and I really didn't prepare the beans that well. The result was disappointing. However, I know the potential is there.

Convenience: 3.5

Deliciousness: 4

Value: 5

Left-over worthiness: 4

Good for you-ness: 5

Patchwork Pasta (Penne with Chicken and Spinach):

This reheats pretty well; the only negative is the spinach--pleasantly wilted on the first go--is listless and sad on subsequent re-heatings. I added a little bit of fresh spinach to my leftovers to brighten it a bit.

Convenience: 4

Deliciousness: 5

Value: 4

Left-over worthiness: 4

Good for you-ness: 4

Here's my menu for the next two weeks. I am incorporating made-from-scratch recipes with frozen leftovers, in an effort to clean out my freezer as much as possible pre-moving day:

Broccoli-Potato Soup x 4

Sausage Cassoulet x 4

Achiote Chicken and Rice (made with frozen achiote paste from Puerco Pibil) x 4

Ethiopian-style Yellow Split Peas (repurposing frozen Yellow Split Pea and Sweet Potato Soup) x 2

Broccoli and Sausage Strata x 4

Onion Galette x 4

Cheesy Polenta with Roasted Root Vegetables x 4

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas (premade, frozen) x 2

As I mentioned above, my day was mostly taken up in the preparation of two rather labor intensive but satisfying culinary endeavors: Broccoli-Potato Soup and Sausage Cassoulet. Here are recipes for both.

This soup is at once light and healthy as well as pleasingly rich and creamy, thanks to pureeing, without the addition of any milk or cream. It's also quite easy to prepare, provided you have a food processor or immersion blender. It can be made vegetarian or vegan by subbing vegetable broth for the chicken broth, olive oil for the butter, and omitting the Parmesan cheese. A tasty vegan alternative to the cheese might be a topping of crushed toasted almonds or some kind of nut cheese.

Broccoli-Potato Soup

2 cups broccoli stems, peeled and diced into ½ inch chunks

2 cups red potato, peeled and diced into ½ inch chunks

2 Tbsps butter

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups chicken broth

3 cups water

¼ cup almonds, toasted and ground in a food processor or spice grinder

2 cups broccoli florets, finely chopped

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided in half

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot and sauté the garlic and onion about five minutes. Add the potatoes, broccoli stems, chicken broth, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat; simmer about ten minutes, or until the broccoli and potatoes are “crisp tender”; that is, tender but not mushy. Using an immersion blender, or in batches in a food processor, puree the soup to your preferred thickness. Stir in the broccoli florets, almonds, and half of the Parmesan cheese and simmer for five more minutes. Serve garnished with remaining Parmesan. Four servings.

If you're unfamiliar with cassoulet, it's kind of a cross between a stew and a casserole. It's a hearty French peasant dish made with white beans and some kind of fatty meat (often a combination of duck and sausage). I adapted this recipe from Real Simple. This humble version, which takes advantage of inexpensive winter root vegetables, carrot and parsnips, is an easier take on the more complicated all-day-long version. Still, it's quite satisfying. It's very flavorful, perfect for a cold winter's day, and preparing it will make you feel like Julia Child.

Sausage Cassoulet

2 large sausage links, casings removed (I used Polish, but Italian would be fine, too)

3 cups prepared white beans, drained (about 1 and 1/2 cans)

2 medium carrots, peeled and diced

2 medium parsnips, peeled and diced

1 red onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup crushed tomato

1 tsp dried thyme

Dash of Cayenne pepper

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 cup buttered breadcrumbs (I used sourdough, which I recommend)

In a Dutch oven or lidded, range-top safe casserole dish, brown the sausage over medium heat, breaking it up with a spoon. When the sausage is browned, drain off excess fat. Add all remaining ingredients except breadcrumbs to the pot. Stir well to combine. If needed, add more chicken stock and/or tomato to the pot to keep the vegetables moist. Simmer covered until the carrots and parsnips are tender, at least 30 minutes. While the pot is simmering, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. When the vegetables are tender, top with the butter breadcrumbs and bake uncovered for 10-15 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are toasted. 4 servings.

As Julia Child would say, bon appetit!

Culinary Adventures: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

This is a long post, since I haven't done this for a while, but just so you know there is a recipe at the end of it.

Well, I am now into another two-week recipe rotation. I have to say that since I've been getting back into the swing of the two-week menu planning, I've had some hiccups. I've had some quantity problems, and tried some recipes that really just didn't turn out that well, and perhaps most frustratingly I've been struggling with coming up with new things to try.

I've been reading Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, the very basic thesis of which is "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Mostly this book is about the disturbing rise of "nutritionism" in America. In a nutshell, nutritionism is what Pollan calls the gradual cultural shift from an emphasis on whole foods to foods as collections of nutrients (some healthful, some harmful) that has led to the mass marketing and production of "imitation foods," or foods that have been heavily processed or in other ways altered or modified to fit the nutritional science claims of the moment. These "foods" are promoted as being healthier than the thing in its stripped down, natural state, but often turn out to be worse for you. Margarine vs. butter is a classic example. All this has created a generation of Americans that is unhealthier than the previous one and confused about food, as well as a food industry that is environmentally harmful and economically nonviable.

I didn't really need to be told any of this (although it is interesting), since I have been in the habit of ignoring the dubious claims on food packaging and avoiding processed foods altogether for, well, ever. But what Pollan's book has made me think more about is not processed foods, but produce. I'm out of touch with what produce is in season when. I guess I know that there is summer squash and winter squash and the seasonal correlations there are obvious. I know that asparagus is an early spring thing. The best tomatoes are available in summer. Yet, we can get these things year round...or at least we can get a version of these things year round that has been tweaked and manipulated to meet our unrealistic demands. I don't mean to sound paranoid or project that I am skeptical of science. Science is neutral. It's our unnatural demand that drives bad science. I mean, it bothers me that because we crave and expect access to fresh tomatoes year round, this is how industry meets that need. I mean, that ain't right.

So I've been trying to think seasonally about the vegetables I consume, and planning menus accordingly, but I'm food ignorant in this area and I don't know what's in season. I mean, sometimes you know because there's a shitload of something or other at the store, and it's on sale. But I want to use seasonal food creatively, while still managing to inject variety into my diet. Anyway, all of this is just a really long way of saying that I'm having a hard time meeting that criteria in satisfying ways. I'm sweet-potatoed out for a good long while. I'm approaching my limit with regular potatoes, and winter squash just isn't sounding appealing to me. I can only take so much cabbage/carrots/cauliflower. Look's like I'll be eating a lot of canned and frozen veggies for the next few months.

My last rotation came to an end Friday-ish, and I have yet to rate those recipes, so I'll just go ahead and do that now. As the title of this post suggests, there were some successes, and some relative failures as well.

1. Cauliflower-chickpea ragout (win!)

This recipe will become a standard of mine. Success in all categories.

Convenience: 4

Deliciousness: 4.5

Value: 4

Left-over worthiness: 5

Good for you-ness: 5

2. Pork with braised cabbage and onions (eh...)

After my success with slow-cooked pork back in September, I was really hoping for more here. This meal was good, like something mom used to make, but it didn't blow my mind.

Convenience: 3

Deliciousness: 3

Value: 4

Left-over worthiness: 3

Good for you-ness: 3

3. Miso soup with tofu and soba noodles (mistake)

I bought some yellow miso a while back, thinking we used to do such great things with it at Avanti. I figured I ought, at the very least, to make some miso soup with it, but I wanted it to be substantial enough to work as a full meal. The result was both bland and ridiculously high in sodium. Also, I managed to make way more of it than I wanted or needed. I really try to not throw things out, but I threw a lot of this out.

Convenience: 3

Deliciousness: 2

Value: 3

Left-over worthiness: 2 (the soba noodles get bloated, the veggies ever blander and soggier)

Good for you-ness: 3 (on account of the high salt content)

4. Tuscan white beans and shrimp (win!)

As I noted in my post about this meal, I was skeptical about this combination of elements. This recipe exceeded all my expectations and is going to be in regular rotation for me.

Convenience: 4

Deliciousness: 5

Value: 4 (shrimp are pricey, but only if you eat more than you should. Dry beans are dirt cheap)

Left-over worthiness: 4 (surprisingly durable for a shrimp dish)

Good for you-ness: 4

5. Potato gnocchi with spinach walnut pesto (not a full-scale disaster)

I was a bit in over my head with this one. I love gnocchi, but they are a bitch to make, as it turns out. I had never tried it before, and I couldn't find any recipes that seemed consistent. I did find a lot of warnings about all the things that could go wrong. For a first effort, I think these weren't horrible. It just didn't turn out at all like I had hoped.

Convenience: 2

Deliciousness: 2.5 (OK, so these didn't taste bad. It's just that it was not as expected.)

Value: 3

Left-over worthiness: 3 (these actually held up better than I thought, and were better leftover)

Good for you-ness: 2.5

6. Spiced carrot and lentil soup (the ugly)

This seemed like a winning winter combo to me: lovely vitamin-packed carrots, earthy protein-rich lentils. I found this vaguely Indian inspired recipe that seemed to fit the bill. If you look at the picture, you can see how pretty and appetizing it looks. Not so with mine. Mine was not such a pleasing, smooth yellow-orange...the color and texture of my soup could only be described as "baby vomit." It did taste OK, but in this instance having an immersion blender, instead of pureeing in messy batches in the food processor would have made all the difference.

Convenience: 3 (would have been a 4 with immersion blender)

Deliciousness: 3.5

Value: 5

Left-over worthiness: 4 (would probably freeze well)

Good for you-ness: 5

7. Cornmeal breaded oven fried chicken with mayo-less slaw (win!)

Given my above failures, I wasn't sure how this would go. It turned out great, and has the added benefit of being both tastier and healthier than the fast food version.

Convenience: 4

Deliciousness: 5

Value: 3.5

Left-over worthiness: 4 (I was afraid the breading would get soggy on the leftovers, but another benefit of the cornmeal breading is that this didn't seem to happen. I packed it carefully, however.)

Good for you-ness: 3

I will leave you with the recipes for my most recent success. I am very proud of the slaw, by the way, because I came up with it all on my own. I really want to try this with some Japanese noodles as a light meal on its own sometime. I think the sweet and sour flavors would combine really well with cold noodles.

Cornmeal Breaded Oven Fried Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 2-inch chunks

1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt

1/2 cup milk

(or, you could sub 1 cup low fat buttermilk. I often use this half-and-half mix of plain yogurt and regular milk as a sub for buttermilk in recipes that call for it)

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 1/2 Tbsps vegetable oil

In a sturdy ziplock, marinate the chicken in the yogurt and milk for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a pie pan (or whatever works for you) combine the cornmeal and spices. Remove the chicken from the bag, shaking off excess liquid, and toss one piece at a time in the cornmeal mixture until evenly coated. Place the chicken pieces on a baking sheet brushed with half the oil. Brush the remaining oil over the chicken pieces so they brown well. Bake for about twenty minutes, or until they are golden brown (if you feel like they aren't browning the way you'd like, you might want to flip the pieces over midway through the baking time). Serve with a little dijon mustard mixed with honey for dipping. 4 servings

Mayo-less cabbage and jicama slaw

1/2 head of green cabbage, sliced into very thin strips

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 apple ( I used Gala), cut into matchsticks

1 small jicama root (about the size of the onion), peeled and cut into matchsticks

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2-1 tsp powdered ginger

2 Tbsps white vinegar

1 Tbsp white sugar

Place all the ingredients in a large tupperware and shake well to combine. Let stand for at least 1/2 hour to let the sugar dissolve and the onion marinate a bit. Serve sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and green onions.

Grocery Day? Already??

I tell you what. The month of October is not shaping up to be super for the Sexy Divorcee. My reading load has gotten ridiculous, my students are taking up all of my energy, my house is a mess, and there are so many damn birthdays and parties and things going on! I haven't had a break since the month started, and I'm not likely to get one any time soon. It's getting to be a "clean all the things?" kind of situation over here.

So I was chagrined to realize that, oh my god, two weeks have gone by and I'm running out of food. I have to go to the grocery store today; I don't have time to do it tomorrow, and anyway I am out of coffee, and what is the point of living if there is no coffee? So I made up my plan for the next two weeks, and headed off to the store. I don't know how this happened, but the bill was a little pricey this week, almost $90. Luckily I just got paid, but yikes. I did buy some staples that I was running out of that are a little more expensive--olive oil and stuff--but jeez. An 8 oz bag of frozen peas was like, $3 or something. That seems like a lot. I found myself wandering through the store going, "wow, that seems like a lot," well, a lot, this morning. But anyway, my shopping is done, so I can get back to all the other things I need to do.

Before I get into my list and plan for the next two weeks, let's rank and review my last plan. Take a look at this post to learn more about my ranking and review criteria. I am adding a new one: good-for-you-ness. This criterion (like the rest of them, honestly) is kind of sketchy, since I'm not a nutrition expert or anything. It's mostly based on my sense of things.

1. Sweet and Sour Pork

Convenience: 3

Deliciousness: 5

Value: 3

Leftover-worthiness: 4

Good-for-you-ness: 4 (good balance of protein and vegetables, and the sauce isn't fatty or anything. It might be a bit on the salty side to be considered truly healthy)

2. Tony Rigatoni

Convenience: 4

Deliciousness: 4

Value: 4 (the sausage is really the only thing here that is a bit more expensive)

Leftover-worthiness: 3

Good-for-you-ness: 3 (the sweet potato and arugula are full of vitamins; the sausage, unfortunately, is full of fat)

3. Chicken mole enchiladas

Convenience: 2

Deliciousness: 4

Value: 3

Leftover-worthiness: 3-4 (I would say this is a solid 4 if you have a microwave; I don't, and reheating them well is a bit tricky for me)

Good-for-you-ness: 3 (I'm going to go ahead and call this moderately healthy, even though the chocolate, nuts, cheese, and cooking oil add fat. The sauce is vegetable and vitamin rich, chicken is lean, and the corn tortillas are whole-grain.)

4. Chana Masala

Convenience: 5

Deliciousness: 4

Value: 4

Leftover-worthiness: 5

Good-for-you-ness: 5

5. Chicken with Roasted Vegetable Pilaf

I realize have not posted a recipe for this one. I simply didn't have time. I'll get around to it eventually.

Convenience: 3

Deliciousness: 3

Value: 4

Leftover-worthiness: 3

Good-for-you-ness: 5

6. Yellow Split Pea and Sweet Potato Soup

I also haven't posted a recipe for this, but I pretty much used this recipe from Fat Free Vegan, substituting arugula for kale.

Convenience: 4

Deliciousness: 2-3 (My version of this didn't taste bad, it was just kind of boring and disappointing. It would have been better if I had used the whole spices instead of substituting ground, and if I had an immersion blender than I could have used to smooth it out a bit. On the upside, it is totally vegan, and fat free.)

Value: 5

Leftover-worthiness: 4

Good-for-you-ness: 4

I also made tuna melts and tomato soup, but because they were not part of my original plan, I won't rank them.

So here's my plan for the next two weeks. New recipes are in italics:

Dal nirvana x 3 (once again, this was on my last plan, but I haven't made it yet)

Butter chicken and rice x 4

Rigatoni with sausage, peppers and onions x 4

Fried rice x 2

White bean and chicken chili x 4

Shrimp tacos x 2

Pasta carbonara x 3

Cuban black beans and shrimp x 2

And here's my shopping list:

Frozen peas

Unsalted butter, 1 lb

Skim milk, 1 quart

Black beans, 2 cans

Great northern beans, 1 lb dry

Crushed tomatoes, 28-oz can

Diced green chiles, 1 can

Low sodium chicken stock, 1 quart

Extra virgin olive oil

Vegetable oil

Corn tortillas, 1 dozen

Coffee beans, 1 lb

Parmesan, bulk wedge

Bacon, 1/2 lb

Chicken breasts, package of 3

Frozen Baja shrimp, 1 lb bag

Red onions, 3 lb bag

Garlic

Napa cabbage

Roma tomatoes, 1 lb

Cilantro, 1 bunch

Bell peppers, 2 green, 1 red

1 avocado

2 mangos

2 grapefruit

4 bananas

I don't think any of the recipes I've chosen for the next two weeks are particularly complicated, and I've thrown a couple in there that are really fast and and easy; fried rice and shrimp tacos. I wanted to make things relatively easy, knowing that my work load isn't going to let up any time soon. I'll let you know how it goes.

Grocery Day!

Happy two-week anniversary to me. The beginning of the Sexy Divorcee's third week of existence happens to coincide with shopping day, and a new two-week plan.

First, maybe I should review last week's cycle. For the detailed menu, see this post. I'll list what I made from my favorite to least favorite, and rank on a scale of 1-5 for convenience, deliciousness, value, and leftover-worthiness, with 1 being least and 5 being most:

1. Puerco pibil

• convenience: 3 (easy, but time-consuming)
• deliciousness: Off the charts
• value: 3 (expensive spices, but good investment; dirt-cheap meat)
• leftover-worthiness: 4 (reheats well, but is best straight out of the oven. Would probably freeze well? I didn't have enough left over to find out.)

2. Louisiana red beans and rice

• convenience: 3 (simple but time consuming)
• deliciousness: 4
• value: 4 (pretty darn inexpensive per serving)
• left-over worthiness: 4 (keeps fairly well; can be frozen)

3. Ratatouille with chicken and rice

• convenience: 3 (simple but time consuming)
• deliciousness: 4
• value: 4
• left-over worthiness: 5 (just as good if not better reheated; also freezes well)

4. Summer succotash with bacon

• convenience: 3 (simple to make, but multi-tasking and different cooking techniques involved)
• deliciousness: 4
• value: 3 (combo of inexpensive and more specialized ingredients)
• left-over worthiness: 4 (good cold, but loses some crispness)

5. Kofta sandwiches

• convenience: 4 (pretty quick and easy)
• deliciousness: 3 (not bad)
• value: 3
• left-over worthiness: 3

6. Angel hair pasta with pesto and chicken

• convenience: 4 (as easy as measuring and boiling water)
• deliciousness: 3
• value: 2 (basil and nuts are a bit pricey)
• leftover-worthiness: 2 (it was great the first night; leftovers, not so much. I think if I were to do it over, I would definitely store the pesto and the pasta separately--not only did it seem to make the pasta soggy, but also, it didn't taste like much after a few days in the fridge except oily garlic. The fresh basil flavor disappeared.)

So here's my new menu (new recipes are italicized, transitional recipes are in green):

Chana masala (chick pea curry) with rice x 4 --this was the last thing on last week's plan, but I never got around to making it.

Sweet and sour pork x 4

Rigatoni with sweet Italian sausage, arugula and sweet potato x 4

Chicken molé enchiladas x 4

Yellow split pea and sweet potato soup x 4

Chicken with roasted vegetable pilaf x 2

Dal nirvana (curried lentils) with rice and homemade naan (Indian flatbread) x 2

And here's my shopping list, with changes and substitutions in green:

Canned pineapple

Tomato paste

Rigatoni

Dried yeast

Dried pasillo peppers

Dry roasted pumpkin seeds

Sesame seeds

unsweetened Mexican chocolate (They do not carry this. Odd, and sad. :( Now I must go to WF for it)

Almonds (bulk)

couscous Bulgar wheat (bulk)

Green lentils (bulk)

Chicken breasts

Sweet Italian sausage (3 links, just over a pound)

queso fresco Monterey Jack--their fresco was muy exspensivo

Wheat bread

Corn tortillas

Plain yogurt

Eggs

Sweet potatoes (technically, jewel yams) x 3

Arugula (5 oz package)

Green onion x 2

Onions x 2

Italian parsley x 1

Zucchini x 1

Lemons x 2

Fresh fruit (bunch of 4 bananas, 2 6-oz cartons of raspberries)

All for just over $70, which was about what I was guessing it would be. I continue to be in love with Sunflower. The employees are so nice there, and not in the creepy forced way that they are at Safeway. I'm just sad they didn't have my chocolate. So, there's at least one unscheduled shopping detour in my future.