New Kitchen

I haven't posted on this thing for weeks now, but there's been a lot going on. The big thing was the move, followed by long episodes of spotty internet connections. Things are shaping up now though, so I can start burning through my backlog of recipes and photos.

First thing that must be discussed in any new apartment is the kitchen. Kitchens and bathrooms are deal breakers in New York, so if you can fit two people in one of those rooms, take it. I got lucky, I have space in my kitchen for a shelf unit and a TABLE! Not a big table, but big enough to fit two people who can blabber about the weather while I'm chopping onions.

There are two cons: lack of counter space, rectified by the table, and a leak when it rains, but it's over the sink. The leak's over the sink. Love a problem that fixes itself.

On the upside I've got tons of drawer and cabinet space and two windows that let in a lot of light:

There is a very simple but very kickass peg-board system for hanging pans:

Also, there was already a short knife block screwed into the wall when I got here, so replacing it with my long one was easy:


The stove has got to be twice my age, but it's gas so it functions the same. I don't know if there's an increased chance of it exploding or whatever, but it smells fine so I don't worry about it.

I've been cooking in this kitchen for a month now and I haven't had any problems. It doesn't look nearly as nice as the last place and it's painted colors that remind me of my old landlady Maria, to the kitchens faultless detriment. But those are problems that can be fixed. It's big, it's bright, there's a gas stove and room for all my crap. I'm happy.

Last thing to mention. It has nothing to do with the kitchen, but who you live with plays into what you cook, how often you cook, how many people are coming over to eat, etc. So it's important. And my new roommates are great, they eat anything:

Bentos 4 & 5

I made two bentos today, one for tomorrow's lunch and one for Tuesday dinner (both will be long days at school, as we are nearing exam time).

Lunch for tomorrow, in my Lock&Lock, is chicken, spelt and tomatoes on the left, fresh bell pepper strips on the upper right, and garlic pan-fried green beens on the lower right. Tomorrow I'll make up a little container of guacamole to eat with the spelt.


I cut the green beans to bento-size, boiled them in 1" of water for five minutes, then transferred them to a frying pan and sauteed with two cloves of minced garlic, a little sesame oil, some soy sauce, and a splash of rice wine vinegar.

For Tuesday dinner, I have leftovers from tonight's dinner: turkey burgers and asparagus. I repurposed the asparagus by cutting up the leftover spears to bento-size and sauteeing in olive oil with the other half of the yellow pepper I cut up for the bento above. This one is smaller so I'll probably supplement it with some applesauce or a piece of fruit.



The spelt and chicken dish always makes a huge pot. We ate it for lunch, then I dished some into tomorrow's bento and I still had enough leftover to put two servings in the freezer for later. These containers are actually the take-out containers from Rice to Riches in New York City. I keep mine whenever I go there because these things are TOUGH - these have each been microwaved, dishwashered and frozen numerous times and they still look like the day I got them. I threw a belly band around each for extra security, but other than that, no worries.

Easter Potluck

Yesterday I hosted my third annual Easter potluck dinner. We had about 20 people over in all. We provided wine and desserts and guests kindly obliged by bringing . . . everything else :)

A few of the main dishes - Indian rice and vegetables, curried beef in the white covered dish, delicious scalloped potatoes, zucchini bake, ham, and lasagna rolls.


Another picture of the entrees, this time with the chicken-and-apple sausage macaroni and cheese uncovered in the middle - and I believe that's baked ziti peeking in from the corner over there.

I tried out some new dishes for the dessert spread. I made the Olive Oil and Chocolate Mousse featured in the New York Times several days ago. It's a great choice for people with food intolerances, as it is both gluten and dairy free. The recipe is supposed to be kosher for Passover, but as I understand this depends on whether you can locate all kosher for Passover ingredients. I couldn't find the kosher for Passover brandy, and the chocolate I used was kosher, but not kosher for Passover. That said, this dish was a real hit and I will definitely be making it again for a variety of occasions.

Olive Oil and Chocolate Mousse

Adapted from "Dulce lo Vivas," by Ana Bensadón (Ediciones Martínez Roca) - adaptation published in the New York Times, 3/28/2007

Time: 30 minutes plus 24 hours’ refrigeration

11 ounces bittersweet (60 percent cacao) chocolate - I used 53% because it was all I could find, and it was plenty strong!

8 large eggs, separated - be very careful when separating these

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil - use the lightest flavor you can find

2 tablespoons kosher for Passover brandy

1. In a double boiler, melt chocolate over low heat. Cool slightly. Beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar until light. Whisk in olive oil, brandy and melted chocolate.
2. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form (I suggest using a glass bowl for this step). Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, whisking until stiff but not dry.
3. Fold whites into chocolate mixture so that no white streaks remain. Spoon into an 8- or 10-cup serving bowl or divide among 8 or 10 dessert cups or glasses. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours before serving. The mixture will be alarmingly thin when you spoon it out, but it is very thick after 24 hours of refrigeration.

I also adapted my most-requested Easter recipe - Cadbury Creme Egg Cake - into cupcake form. I don't actually like Cadbury Creme Eggs, or Cadbury Creme Egg Cake, but I don't quibble with my fans ;) This year was a bit of a challenge because I couldn't find any creme eggs to buy on Saturday, so I didn't get to freeze the eggs before slicing. My friend Tom saved the day by locating some creme eggs in the 'burbs and bringing them to the party, where I sliced/smashed them into a mess and divvied them up onto the cupcakes at the last minute.

Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes

Bake yellow box mix cupcakes according to the package directions. Using a sharp knife, cut a cone out of the top of a cupcake. Cut the bottom off of the cone and eat or discard. Pipe a small amount of chocolate frosting into the cupcake hole. Replace the top. Frost the entire top with vanilla frosting. Slice a Cadbury Creme Egg with a very sharp knife - be careful, it is easy for the knife to slip when you do this. Place a slice of creme egg on top. Repeat on the other 23 cupcakes :-) These come out much tidier when you freeze the creme eggs before slicing, but they are harder to slice. I know there must be the perfect tool out there somewhere to accomplish the task of slicing frozen creme eggs, but I haven't found it yet. Maybe a laser.

Since I'm not a big fan of these, I had to make some cupcakes for me, too, of course! I adapted Tasty Pedia's Lemoncello Ricotta cupcakes. I made adaptations because my grocery store was out of lemons and ricotta the day I went shopping (I'm serious, they were out of lemons). I loved the result so much that I'm going to leave the recipe as it is here when I make them again.

Rachel's Summer Citrus Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

2/3 cup sugar

3 tbsp softened butter

2 tsp lime zest

5 tsp thawed lemonade concentrate

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg white

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mix first five ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Add the egg and the egg white one at a time, making sure they are well blended.

4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.

5. Alternately add flour mixture and butter mixture to the sugar mixture.

6. Pour batter into cupcake papers or tins, filling each 2/3 full. Once filled, tap pan sharply once on the table or counter to knock out the air bubbles.

7. Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

Icing:

1 tbsp softened butter

1 tsp lime zest

8 oz. softened cream cheese

Limoncello, at least 1 tbsp.

Powdered sugar, at least 1 cup

1. Using an electric mixer or hand mixer, mix everything except the powdered sugar until well blended and fluffy.

2. Gradually add the powdered sugar. If the icing is not as thick as you would like, gradually add more powdered sugar until it achieves the desired thickness.

3. Taste the icing. If you would like a stronger lemon flavor, add more limoncello to taste (you may have to add more powdered sugar to compensate for the liquid). You can also add 1/4 or 1/2 tsp. of vanilla to this frosting if preferred.

4. Frost the cupcakes and garnish with lime zest or candied lime or lemon zest.

My friend Karen brought one of my favorite Easter/Passover treats - "My Trademark, Most Requested, Absolutely Magnificent Caramel Matzoh Crunch." This stuff is good - it's really, really, REALLY good. The caramel flavor and the slightly chewy matzoh is just an incredible mix. I probably ate more of this stuff yesterday than anything else on the table. I've never made it but I had to include the recipe here - the dessert lineup just wouldn't be complete without it!

My Trademark, Most Requested, Absolutely Magnificent Caramel Matzoh Crunch

Originally published in A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking by Marcy Goldman

4-6 unsalted matzohs

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter or unsalted Passover margarine

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup coarsely chopped chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2. Line a large (or two smaller) cookie sheet completely with foil.

3. Cover the bottom of the sheet with baking parchment — on top of the foil. This is very important since the mixture becomes sticky during baking.
4. Line the bottom of the cookie sheet evenly with the matzohs, cutting extra pieces, as required, to fit any spaces.
5. In a 3-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the butter or margarine and the brown sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil (about 2 to 4 minutes). Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and pour over the matzoh, covering completely.
6. Place the baking sheet in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350°. Bake for 15 minutes, checking every few minutes to make sure the mixture is not burning (if it seems to be browning too quickly, remove the pan from the oven, lower the heat to 325°, and replace the pan).
7. Remove from the oven and sprinkle immediately with the chopped chocolate or chips. Let stand for 5 minutes, then spread the melted chocolate over the matzoh. While still warm, break into squares or odd shapes. Chill, still in the pan, in the freezer until set.

The matzoh is in that tub right at the bottom of the picture (the rest of the table has been taken over by one last dessert option, a sundae bar).

Easter Leftovers Bento 3

I used my Lock&Lock box again to take a hearty Easter leftovers bento. I made this a big one since I knew I would be at school for 12+ hours. With breakfast before I left the house, these two boxes, and a latte in the afternoon I made it all day. The small clear box on top is raita. The Lock&Lock is just leftover ham in the top left, two hardboiled eggs in the bottom left, and grape tomatoes and carrot slices in right-side container. Yum!

Raita - not exactly a recipe :-)

Strain a large container of plain yogurt through cheesecloth. I used fat-free yogurt and let it strain overnight, but more fat and less straining time works too. Chop two cucumbers and layer in a bowl, sprinkling some salt on each layer of cucumber. Let the cukes sit for about half an hour while the salt draws some of the moisture out. Throw the cukes into the strained yogurt along with a handful or two each of chopped walnuts, golden raisins, and fresh mint. Add salt and pepper (white if you have it) to taste.

Bento Take 2

While I was in NYC last weekend visiting Soup's On, we visited Katagiri to check out bento supplies. It was a treasure trove - I picked up onigiri molds, small rice molds I use to shape hard-boiled eggs, two belly bands to secure boxes in transit, a small clear "snack bento" box with locking sides, and a set of four metal cutters for cutting vegetables and fruit. (I also plan to use the cutters for marzipan flower cupcake decorations.) My favorite purchase of the weekend was actually at an Asian convenience store in the Village - a Lock&Lock lunchbox with an airtight seal and removable dividers that allow you to section it off into one, two, or four sections (mine is the 800ml size).

I took dinner to school in it today: summer bean salad in the large section, grilled eggplant spread in small section #1, and a hardboiled egg in small section #2. I also tucked two pieces of sugarfree mint gum in next to the egg for post-dinner fresh breath :-)




Today's dinner turned out to be a learning experience:
1) It's true that bentos being tossed into a bag and carted around town for several hours need to be 100% filled, because space (see: the gum) lets the food move around too much.
2) The bean salad (although yummy) was too wet, and the airtight seal that keeps any liquid from escaping the box does not prevent liquid from escaping to other compartments. Bean salad liquid ran wild all over the other containers. The roasted eggplant spread was unharmed, because it has a strong flavor, but the egg was quite sad by the time I rescued it from its watery home. Next time I will drain off as much of the liquid as possible, and I might try wrapping the "wet" section in plastic wrap before popping it into the box.

Besides those lessons, I was pleased with the performance of the box, and with my healthy, tasty, homemade lunch.

Recipes:

Perfect Hardboiled Eggs
Cover eggs in cold water. Bring to a hard boil; boil for exactly three minutes. Remove from heat, put a lid on the pot, and allow to sit for exactly 18 minutes. Rinse with cold water. The result: Bright yellow yolks and easy-off shells.

Summer Bean Salad
Not a recipe so much as a throw-together. Rinse 1 can of black beans, 1 can of small white beans or Great Northern beans, and 1 can of petite diced tomatoes. Add lime or lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. I added fat-free feta to mine (see picture), but the cheese is strictly optional.

Roasted Eggplant Spread, from Barefoot Contessa:
2 medium eggplants, peeled
1 red bell pepper, seeded
1 red onion, peeled
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
3 tablespoons chopped parsley, plus extra for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the eggplant, bell pepper, and onion into 1-inch cubes. Toss them in a large bowl with the garlic, olive oil, cayenne and salt and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes, until the vegetables are lightly browned and soft, tossing once during cooking. Cool slightly. Place the vegetables in a food processor fitted with a steel blade, add the lemon juice and tahini, and pulse 3 or 4 times to blend. Taste for salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and add the chopped parsley. Garnish with extra parsley.

My modifications: I left out the tahini (didn't miss it), used lime juice (lemon would be better), and used dried parsley (fresh would be better, but dried is just fine). I will probably reduce the amount of cayenne to 1/3 or 1/4 teaspoon next time, since it's a little spicy. Overall very good flavor & also healthy, since it's all veggies and olive oil with the exception of the tahini.