Guinness/milk chocolate ice cream
No tag for this post.i am so making this.
April 1st, 2008 — recipes, snacks and sweets
simple but not mush.
March 31st, 2008 — recipes, what i'm eating
I sing the praises of chickpeas. How I love them.
Tonight was a simple dinner that doesn’t qualify as a mush, but feels much the same. It goes together easily in one pot, feels comforting to eat out of a bowl, and makes lots of servings.
I pre-soak beans of all sorts, drain them, and then freeze them in bags. Then I can pop them out of the freezer, bring them to a boil on the stovetop, and them pop them into the over @ 250°F for 40 minutes or so. This isn’t actually quick, but it requires next to no effort. And I’m now spoiled on home cooked beans and canned ones don’t seem as good.
Drain the chickpeas.
Into the now empty chickpea pot, put olive oil.
Heat oil and then add chopped onion and garlic, sauteeing until softened and starting to become translucent.
Dump in .5 lb of frozen okra. Cook until it mostly thaws out.
Add the chickpeas and a big can of diced tomatoes.
Bring to a simmer.
Crumble in a generous amount of feta.
Eat.
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sad.
March 28th, 2008 — research
Rozin, Paul. 1999. “Food is fundamental, fun, frightening, and far reaching.” Social Research 66: 9-30. :
So, in modern life in the food world, we have many more opportunities for pleasure, and many more perceived opportunities for harm. Food is both a pleasure and a poison. In the balance of these beliefs lies much of the quality of life, and something of the quality of health, as well. It is my perception that the American upper and upper-middle classes have gone too far toward the poison end of the dimension, in their excessive worries about body weight, calories, the presence of toxins in foods, and the proper diet to maximize health. Every bite, for some people, is fraught with conflict. Many Americans, especially women, would seem to be willing to give up eating, one of our greatest pleasures. rather than face the battle between pleasure and poison with every bite. This is less illustrated by the explosion of anorexia and bulimia among American women, than by their “normative discontent” (Rodin, Silberstein, and Striegel-Moore, 1985) about weight, body image, eating, and food. Thus, for example, in a recent survey of college students on six campuses across the United States, over 10% of women claim that they would be embarrassed to buy a chocolate bar in the store, and about 30% say they would be willing to opt for a nutrient pill, safe, nutritionally complete, and cheap, as a substitute for eating (Rozin, Catanese, and Bauer, 1999). These American phenomena are primarily expressed in individuals of upper-middle and upper classes, and serve to further increase class differences among Americans; we are creating a health as well as wealth aristocracy (Leichter 1997).
And in the Just Part of Why I Love the French Dept., the same paper reports some preliminary results of a survey on food attitudes conducted in four countries: U.S., France, Flemish Belgium, and Japan. While the Americans led the pack in concern about food and health and modifying their diets, the French reported themselves as healthier eaters. They are. And their food is better. Oh, yes their food is better… Also interesting:
Another interesting difference between French and Americans emerges from an analysis of medical practice (Payer, 1988). French medicine conceives of disease as some kind of internal imbalance, as a weakness in what is called the “terrain.” American medicine is more inclined to think of disease as caused by harmful external influences, such as germs or toxins. As a result of this distinction, American medicine prescribes more antibiotics, while the French are much more inclined to suggest rest, vacations, or a stay at a spa.
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Leichter, H. M.,”Lifestyle Correctness and the New Secular Morality,” In Morality and Health, Brandt, A. and Rozin, P., eds. (New York: Routledge, 1997), pp. 359-378.
Payer, L., Medicine and Culture (New York: Henry Holt, 1988).
Rozin, P., Catanese, D., Bauer, R., “Food as Pleasure and Food as Poison: Food Attitudes and Beliefs in Both Genders of College Students in Four Regions of the United States,” manuscript (1999).
Rodin, J. Silberstein, L. R., and Striegel-Moore, R. H., “Women and weight: A Normative Discontent,” In Nebraska Symposium on Motiva- tion: Vol. 32. Psychology and Gender, Sonderegger, T. B., ed. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1985).
Oh hi. I’m still here and have some things to post, but on Monday my advisor and I set tentative dates for my comprehensive exams and dissertation proposal. This has me a bit nervous, so I’ve been in workworkwork mode.
A new thing I’m doing, however, is skimming/reading a “fun” article while eating breakfast. This issue of Social Research is all about food.
No tag for this post.Related posts
joyful.
March 18th, 2008 — cooking, what i'm eating
Today is a day full of Joy of Cooking.
Upon waking, I started the “Fast White Bread” recipe which appears to have turned out wonderfully. It’s not completely cooled yet, so I haven’t tasted it. *taps foot impatiently*
Tonight I’ll use the red beans and rice recipe for dinner. The kidney beans are soaking and Weaver Street Market had andouille sausage.
If I’m very productive today, I might then use the lemon sorbet recipe. But that’s iffy. And I’d have to zest lemons–something I’ve not yet gotten the hang of. I have a zester but either it is of negligible quality, or I don’t have a clue what I’m doing because it is always just an exercise in frustration.
Anyway. As I recently Twittered: “the english muffin is a challenge to those of us who like to spread our butter and jam precisely and evenly.”
But it still tastes good. A lesson? Perhaps.
No tag for this post.Related posts
back to black.
March 15th, 2008 — equipment, what i'm eating
So a couple of years ago I started taking a medication. Soon after starting to take the drug, I lost my appetite for coffee. At the time I was drinking at least four cups in the morning and two in the afternoon. And suddenly I didn’t want it. Since then, I’ve been happy with my tea except for the occasional craving for a cappuccino.
But recently, my medication dosage was halved and Warner started making coffee at my house occasionally. Strange, coffee smelled and sounded almost good again.
I tried some Warner made using my Mr. Coffee. Blech. Mr. Coffee just can’t make the kind of coffee I actually like, even when set to Brew Strength: Strong. Nope. Mr. Coffee won’t do.
I’ve wanted a Bialetti Moka Express since Will and I went to Paris and there was one in the apartment we rented. Here’s me using it for the first time in the tiny kitchen:
A Southern Season sells them for some ridiculous price (as per usual), but every time I saw them there I was reminded that I wanted one.
Then, I recently saw a 6-cup model for sale at Target for $25. I almost impulse-purchased it, but came home and did comparative shopping online instead. That seemed to be the going price, so I ordered one at CutleryAndMore.com because I also needed a decent springform pan, which Target didn’t have and A Southern Season would over-charge me for. I was pleased with CutleryAndMore as far as shopping and shipping go.
Somehow I avoided spending more money than I have on a nice knife on sale to replace my Chef’s knife with the cracking handle. (Henckels Professional S 8-inch Chef Knife on sale for $89.95 from $129.95 — drool) I reasoned that I needed to handle a knife before I bought one (logical, true), so I should go to A Southern Season or elsewhere and spend a while fondling and taking notes on knives to shop for them online later.
Anyway, yes, coffee.
My Moka Express arrived yesterday and I made coffee in it. The only coffee we had in the house was some Decaf Espresso Roast that Warner got on Ocracoke (and then asked “Why did I get this decaf?”) and the coffee was still satisfyingly thick and good.
So I am happy. Tea in the morning, coffee in the afternoon.
Tags: coffeeRelated posts
comfort.
February 29th, 2008 — Restaurants, main dishes, recipes, what i'm eating
I went to college in Gainesville, GA. At the time, Gainesville was the poultry processing capital of the world. I once attended the Annual Poultry Festival. I stopped eating chicken when I lived there because of gut trucks. I still don’t eat chicken. My motto became: Fowl is foul. (I confess that I accidentally ate the turkey gravy at Thanksgiving, though, and it was pretty tasty…)
No more chicken noodle soup for me.
Gainesville is a 45 minute - 1 hour drive from Athens, GA. For various reasons I ended up spending a fair amount of time in Athens, though I never did learn to find my way around the town.
One of my favorite things in Athens was The Grit. The “indie-rock Moosewood.” One of my favorite things at The Grit was The Golden Bowl: browned tofu cubes sauteed with soy sauce and nutritional yeast served over brown rice. Now, you can get vegetables and in your Golden Bowl, but I always preferred them on the side, leaving a perfectly beige, perfectly delicious mix of the best tofu you have ever eaten, brown rice, and cheese. Umami and yet just bland enough without being boring. A perfect comfort food.
After I moved outside of easy driving distance to Athens, I was compelled to figure out how to make a Golden Bowl at home because the meal is an addiction. I succeeded. My home-made Golden Bowl hit the spot.
A couple of years later, The Grit published their cookbook. Sure enough, I had nailed the recipe and technique except for that second frying of the tofu that creates a little extra crispiness.
I make mine with tamari instead of soy sauce, and with mozzarella cheese. It is what I’ve been eating for the past couple of days. With veggies on the side, of course.
Here is the recipe: Continue reading →
Tags: brown rice, butter, mozzarella cheese, nutritional yeast, tamari, tofuRelated posts
between breakfast and brunch
February 27th, 2008 — what i'm eating
A wonderful time for strawberry/balsamic vinegar sorbet.
Next time, I’ll use a little less sugar, but overall it is amazingly yummy. And pretty.
Tags: sorbet, strawberriesRelated posts
not quite finished.
February 27th, 2008 — cooking
This is as far as I got on the sorbet today.
As you can see, one is made with orange bitters (instead of the Kirsch called for in the recipe) and the other is made with balsamic vinegar.
As they are now, they are both far too sweet, but I’ve read that freezing takes the edge off of the sweetness. I hope so.
I’ll probably freeze the balsamic one first.
Tags: balsamic vinegar, orange bitters, sorbetRelated posts
cold things.
February 26th, 2008 — recipes, snacks and sweets
Weaver Street Market had strawberries on sale today so I got a bunch.
I think tonight I will make Strawberry Sorbet.
But then, the next attempt simply must be Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream.
David Lebovitz really is brilliant, and I could use a copy of his book Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments
Tags: sorbet, strawberriesRelated posts
the best dinner.
February 18th, 2008 — main dishes, recipes, what i'm eating
Oh wow, Warner and I whipped up the best dinner I’ve had at home in a very long time.
He made tomato pudding. I made sweet potato curry and lemon-roasted asparagus. It was all so good and pretty on the plate–red and orange and green and yellow.
I made up the sweet potato curry as I went along, so I’ll jot it down before I forget…
- Peel 4 small-to-medium sweet potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
- Cut one onion and one green pepper into approximately 1 x .25 inch strips.
- Heat up a generous pour of vegetable oil in a large-ish heavy bottomed pan.
- Fry onion and green pepper over medium-high heat until getting a bit soft.
- Add a tablespoon or two of jarred curry paste (I had vindaloo on hand, but others I have tried would have worked just as well.)* Stir to mix well until the fragrance seems to peak.
- Lower heat a bit and dump in a can of coconut milk. Stir to mix well.
- Add sweet potatoes and bring to simmer.
- Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are cooked through.
- Serve with rice.
I’ll write up the lemon-roasted asparagus later. It is one of my mottoes that roasting is the best way to cook nearly anything…
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* I get these on the cheap at the Indian grocery and they are very handy.