Bowl Foods

The biggest rewards of living outdoors for a month plus is by far the simplicity.  Food is no exception, as all meals were served and eaten in one vessel: the bowl.  We each had our bowls, which quickly became dirty with remnants of crusty oatmeal or the oil from the following night's pasta sauce.  Cooking for the first time became instinctual and unlabored, not hindered by a quest to find the "perfect" recipe for chili.  Here is a series of photos to give homage to the beloved bowl food.

A random Tuesday in Janurary 2015

The soup of the week.  I've found a good rhythm on my days off, a little bit of rest, a little bit of productivity.  A touch of creativity is the cherry on top.  In the morning I spend a few hours reading, finding new blogs, perhaps blogging myself.  In the afternoons, I wash my laundry, cook dinner, bake, run to the library, go for a walk, do my (kidney) yoga, and tidy up my room.  As I've gotten older I've learned a little bit everyday is the rhythm that I work best at.

With winter, comes my desire to jump back into projects.  Last year I bought the book "Shooting with Soul" which is filled with simple photography exercises to capture the ordinary existence with a new eye.  One of the exercises is "Good mail" which is simply to photography mail that makes your heart leap with excitement.  Pictured above, is a postcard from a good friend and Taproot magazine (bread edition!!). 

P.S. This is the first soup that I successfully used a Parmesan rind to help develop the flavor!

The Baking continues

Things I continue to learn:

1) Pies aren't as hard as I thought- when you use store bought crust ;)

2) I prefer banana bread to all the vegetable/fruit breads especially when chocolate chips are thrown in

State of the Union: Cooking

(Tuna salad I made the other night)

+ Every year I believe that I will only make my summer dinners from beautiful farmer's market vegetables but more often than not I'm still eating take-out Indian food or tuna salad. 

+ Just finished reading Shauna Niequist's Bread and Wine and LOVED IT.  She brought me some food enlightenment when she noted that her style of food is also a combination of comfort + fancy.  This is why I am making a pear, arugula, and goat cheese flat bread for dinner tonight. 

+I was also so inspired by her book that my new cooking goal for the rest of the year is to have more dinner parties, to feed more people.  

+ Breakfast cookies might just revolutionize weekday breakfast for me.

+One of my favorite things is when I get to eat a meal in another person's home.  I love noting how the food they've created connects with the spirit of their person, their home, and way of being.  I always treasure meals at my cousin Katelyn's house because they are always a combination of this plus authenticity/un-fussiness.  

+ Wanting the universe to send me a babushka type woman to take me under her wing and teach me how to make challah, hummus, and mejadra the real way. 

+ I am a grazer in the summer and a baker in the winter.

+ I like to read my cookbooks like novels.

+ I have a problem with adding too much oil and cheese.  Probably always will....

January's Cookbook Challenge: Smitten Kitchen

January’s Cookbook Challenge: Smitten Kitchen

Well, I’m officially done with this year’s first month of my cookbook challenge resolution.  This month’s cookbook was Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman of the famous Smitten Kitchen blog.  Overall, I enjoyed the variety and the categories of the recipes—I liked being able to pick out some breakfast options, some meal options, etc. 

Of the 24 planned, 13 were made.  None of the 2 desserts picked were made (a cooking weakness of mine- why make dessert when you can buy a chocolate bar).  A few meals required fresher vegetables more apt to be made in the summer months.  I tended to more of the root vegetable, heartier meals to match this epically cold month we’ve had.

The following are my “keepers”.  With this yearlong challenge, I hope to respectably build my “keepers list” or recipes I define as “so good, they get eaten right away or the leftover never stay in the fridge over 24 hours”

Emily’s keepers:

Tomato- Glazed Meatloaves with Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes (Mike’s too) 

Ultimate comfort food.  You will be licking the mashed potatoes straight out of the pan.  The tomato glaze elevates the meatloaf to the next level.  

Sesame- Spiced Turkey Meatballs and Smashed Chickpea Salad 

Probably my favorite meal of the month.  I’ve been craving the chickpea salad ever since I’ve made—it’s definitely worth making on it’s own.  The salad and the meatballs pair perfectly with light and hearty.  Warning: this meal requires two Middle Eastern spices (Sumac and Aleppo Pepper).  If you can’t find them, let me know and I will mail you some. 

Mustard Milanese with an Arugula Fennel Salad (Mike’s too)

The first meal of the month I made.  You can’t go wrong with a thin, breaded chicken breast topped with some tangy greens. 

Leek Fritters with Garlic and Lemon 

Roasted Baby Roots with Sherry- Shallot Vinaigrette 

A great recipe to make use of all of those root vegetables we are left with in the winter.

Others:

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Gallette (picture features a non-baked one)

Cheddar Swirl Breakfast Buns 

Would be a keeper, but cooking skill wasn’t there:

-Chocolate Chip Brioche Pretzels (Let them rise longer? Don’t use the egg glaze next time?)

-Shaved Asparagus Pizza with homemade pizza dough (Asparagus is a spring vegetable)

-Cinnamon Toast French Toast (couldn’t quite get the layering in the pan down right)

-Big Breakfast Latkes (shredded the potatoes too far)

Good, but not a keeper:

-Slow- Cooker Black Bean Ragout (would be better as a chili)

-Baked Ranchero Eggs with Blistered Jack Cheese and Lime Crema (would scramble the eggs next time)

Skills Gained:

Before this month, I wouldn’t bake anything.  I was convinced that I wasn’t born with the “baking gene”, that it was hopelessly beyond my skill set.  Baking became praxis for last year’s word “engagement” and this year’s word “self-love”.  We all have our own little worlds of self- disapproval, a little voice that criticizes our abilities, our words, our worth.  That little voice always told me baking wasn’t my “thing”.    With engagement, comes facing our fears and challenging our comfort zones – how big or small they might be.  I soon came to enjoy my quiet weekends and snow days filled with peaceful kneading.  It brought me back to an element of womanhood where dough was mixed and kneaded by hand in preparation for that night’s meal- perhaps inspired by my rural country setting.  Kneading dough is also meditative, earthy and full of simplicity.  A meal of our ancestors.  While I won’t be opening a boulangerie anytime soon, I am more apt to the spirit of a fresh lump of dough. 

I’m also not used to cooking with meat.  Ironically all 3 meat dishes were in my keepers list.  I am still a bit scared to venture beyond my chicken breast/pre-ground meat comfort zone.

Food photography

I found out what I knew to be true in my artistic heart- I’m just not that great for it.  Some dimension of its essence escapes me every time.  BUT! I’ve recently purchased two fancy napkins to up my game, so keep a look out for a little pizzazz next month ;).

A Second Life:

Cook some pasta or quinoa to go with leftover ingredients.  I made too much squash for the galette so I tossed it with some quinoa.  Leftover turkey meatballs went into scrambled egg burritos for breakfast, extra meatloaf was paired with toasted bread for a meatloaf sandwich.  I made a tomato and cream shell pasta because I couldn’t help but let the beautiful fat droppings from my turkey meatballs go to waste.  The beauty of a first meal, is that with a little creativity it often becomes a second. 

By the end of this month, I started to feel the combination of meat and baking dishes.  And when I say feel, I really mean feeling the extra padding in my stomach.  Good thing next month is a vegetarian cookbook.  Thanks for joining along, and please come visit so I can feed you (I’m looking at you mom)!

P.S. I tried to include links to the recipes but for some reason they don't show up.  However, if you google the recipe titles exactly as they appear, they should come up. 

New Years Resolutions: Cooking

I like to think that I take New Year’s Resolutions fairly seriously. 

My last year of college it was to learn how to cook.  

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That Christmas, I got my first two cookbooks, both of the famous Barefoot Contessa series.  It was there that I started to learn how to cook.  For the past 2.5 years I can confidently say that I have mastered the “fundamentals” of cooking.  I’ve gone from thinking the cooking world was overwhelming with all of these entirely different recipes to realizing that any dish starts with one basic (pizza dough, pasta, rice/quinoa/grain, soup broth, bed of lettuce, chunk of meat etc) and then you add the various vegetables/fruits and spices.  The latter is where that overwhelming difference comes from: black beans, roasted tomatoes, onions and cilantro added to a rice base is different from adding soy sauce, fish oil, sprouts, broccoli and water chestnuts.  I’ve also learned that smoothies in the summer and soups in the winter are a great way of getting rid of veggies and fruits that are going bad.  That homemade salad dressings and pestos always trump store bought. 

But after 2.5 years, I am feeling ready to move on in my cooking endeavors.  I’m finding myself wanting to dig into the nuances of cooking—the depth of flavors—the shades of roasting—the distinctions of regional dishes—essentially the “je ne sais quoi” of cooking.  I want to cook meals that challenge me but also make me savor every last bite. 

Harissa Barley Chicken from "What Katie Ate"

So in order to accomplish this, I have picked one of my cookbooks to work solely from each month.  To fully read all of the text at the beginning, to not “tweak” with my own alternatives, to go to Farmer’s Markets to get the freshest ingredients, to put full heart and soul into the dish.  Also, to really dig deep into my cookbooks—to go beyond their general prettiness and my go-to dishes. 

Here is my proposed order:

 

There is not much planning beyond that.  I don't want to pick a certain number of recipes to cook each month only to feel stressed when I haven't come anywhere close.  However, I will be cooking a few breakfasts, meals and several baking items.  My hopes is to gain that fine detail and finesse as well as explore styles and eat well.  

Favorite Cookbooks & Cooking

I first must apologize for using all iPhone pictures.  It's only been four months and I've already succumbed to the ease of the iPhone camera.  Sigh.

Anyways, I have a few friends over the past year ask about my cooking process since I do both tend to enjoy cooking and do it a lot.  So here friends, is a run down.

 

My kitchen.

 

 

Literal view from the kitchen window.

1) I create a meal plan and grocery list each week.  I go through all of my cookbooks and pinterest for inspiration.  Then I write it all down on my grocery pad.  I buy a magnetic one that always remains on my fridge, that way if if we run out of something midway during the week I quickly jot it down.
I then take said list and go to my usual 3 grocery stores, which I admit is a little obnoxious.  I go to Trader Joe's for the bulk of the food because I can get most of it organic and for cheap.  I go to Kroger to fill in more of the commercial food holes like Pillsbury brownie mix that stores like TJ wont carry.  I then top it off with a trip to our local grocery store- Arbor Farms Market where I can find some really fresh local produce and my more foodie items.

 

My stove topped with all my spices. I was making my favorite vegan chili when this picture was taken.

2) I keep a set of "basics" in the pantry at all times.  I like to be able to make meals "off the hip", plus these things include things I use over and over again.  I think each person will have their own version of this based on what they like to eat.  But also, I only like to buy food for the upcoming week to cut down on waste so our fridge and cupboards are usually bare besides these things.  I also try to follow the French philosophy of making food our second spending priority besides rent.  That means I will spend a few dollars more to buy better tasting, fresher cheese rather than the pre-shredded/sliced kind.  You can definitely taste the difference and feel it too. 

My list of basics--
Oils: olive, canola, sesame, coconut, and grapeseed
Sweeteners: honey, agave
Vinegars: basic, balsamic, white wine, red wine, and rice
Grains: barley, basmati brown rice, bulgur, quinoa, red lentils and pasta

Others: Dijon mustard, pesto, shallots, beans, ginger, onions, a lemon, potatoes, tortillas, naan, hummus, Persian cucumbers, a leafy green (arugula, spinach, etc) carrots, a hard cheese (Parmesan), a soft cheese (mozzarella or Havarti) sea salt grinder, pepper, and a bunch of spices.

 

A shout out to my father who taught me the foundation of creative cooking.  This is a picture of him hand making pesto with a knife from this summer.

With all that being said, I am NOT a baker at all.  I am more into the art of cooking rather than the science.  I give major props to those who are.  These brownies are about the extent of my baking prowess but there are really crazy good and have already been made a few times. 

In terms of inspiration, I get it from three different main forms: my cookbooks, my recipe binder, and pinterest.

For the most part, I've always had a lot of luck with pinterest meals.  I think its an easy way to "organize" your recipes digitally.  Also, if I see a recipe that I like from a food blogger that I follow, I will make sure to pin it there.  I also keep it up to date to my tastes.  So if I made the recipe and it wasn't very good or its not something I will actually eat, I will delete it.  Here is a link to my pinterest recipe board.

Mike made this from my pinterest board the other night and it was ahh-mazing!

So second is my recipe binder.  My recipe binder is a combination of recipes from friends, pull outs from magazines and if a recipe I find online is really good, I will print it off and put it in there too.  All of my recipes go into page protectors so I can pull them out and keep them by me when I am cooking-- plus I don't have to worry about them getting dirty either!  I am a subscriber to Vegetarian Times (which has ehh recipes) and Cooking Light (my favorite cooking magazine).  I tend to cook a lot from this book since it has a lot of my tried and true favorites, plus it is organized all by categories relevant to my tastes (ie "non bean vegetarian mains").  I even made one for my sister this past Christmas.

 

Lastly is my beloved cookbooks.

The cookbook I would recommend to everyone is "Keys to the Kitchen".  It does a great job of breaking down the nuances and basics of cooking.  I've learned a lot from this book and often refer to it when cooking creatively.

 

Here are some examples:

 

 

Basics of spices & cooking poultry.

 Go to vegetarian cookbooks:

 Super Natural Everyday by Heidi Swanson.  Favorite Recipe.

 

The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen by Peter Berley.

 

The Sprouted Kitchen by Sara Forte.  Favorite Recipe. 

 

A vegan cookbook: Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  Favorite recipe.

Now on to novelty cookbooks.  I buy these cookbooks based off inspiration food experiences I've had in the past year.  First, my trip to Paris was a big food inspiration to me.  To me, Parisian food was a mix of quirky with simplicity.  I still am dreaming about certain meals that I had there.  Secondly, I got a cookbook on middle eastern food.  All the grad school, middle eastern food was my go to comfort food in between classes.  I got both of these books to engage more- to push my comfort zone in terms of cooking, and to be inspired by a world outside of my own.

 

The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo.

Check out her blog and my favorite recipe. 

 

Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi (a Jew and a Muslim from Jerusalem co-wrote this book-- talk about cool).  Favorite recipe. 

Some other favorites:

 

The good ol' Barefoot Contessa cookbooks.  Still some of my favorites for soups.

 Cooking from the Farmers' Market.  This was a great cookbook for when I had an overabundance of vegetables from the garden this summer.

Lastly, the most important thing about cooking is to enjoy the process.  Whether its picking out vegetables that glow or growing them in your own garden.  From gaining inspiration from a beautiful photograph in a cookbook or from an exquisite meal at a restaurant.  To the chopping off the onions or the leftover stems arranged in the sink.   The wonderment is truly what makes the magic.

Sewing.

I'm really starting to enjoy sewing.

My in laws got me my first sewing machine for Christmas this past year.  And after a few lessons and sewing sessions with my mother in law and my friend Rachel, I think I am finally getting over the learning curve.  I was uncertain of how sewing would go for me.  I've always considered my "creative" style to have an edge of messiness.  My paint strokes are always bold and textured.  My charcoal drawings are gestured to capture the "spirit" of the subject or smudged from my fingers.  Therefore, I wasn't sure if I would like sewing-- a creativity that is so scientific and exact.  A creative outlet where I can "go with the spirit" or cut corners.  Because who really wants an zig zagged hem on their dress?  

But for me, sewing has been combating the technology/media induced attention deficits I've noticed in myself as of late.  Sewing requires me to get into my "flow" state of mind, the ultimate mindset of concentration.  My phone goes untouched for hours and I notice myself feeling rejuvenated and filled.  Not distracted and empty.  My time is meaningful and fruitful.

The other perks of learning to sew is its usefulness and simplicity.  Instead of getting rid of clothes that don't fit, I can alter them to my liking.  Instead of spending $30 on a new pillow for our couch, I can by fabric from the remnants section of the fabric store for $3 and make one instead. 

Pinning the new hem of a dress.

Helper #1

Helper #2- Luckey keeping the stuffing for my pillow warm.

Sewing the pillow together.

My friend Rachel and I got together for a sewing night and made these reusable sandwich bags.

Food.

So as the semester winds down...I'm looking forward to some upcoming changes.  I'm staying in Ann Arbor for the summer to work, volunteer and intern.  I'm pretty excited because I've just gotten my first apartment (even if it's a summer sublet).  One of the things I'm most excited for about being all independent is....I get to cook for myself!! No more dorm food!  

I'm sick of things like ramen and easy mac.  I want to spend some time cooking and preparing my food...and plus it will probably be more healthy that way too.  Frankly though the idea of cooking for a myself (let alone a family someday!) is kind of daunting.  Where do I start?  Is it okay if I only cook chicken?  How do I keep motivated and not slip into the college student diet? All of these are the types of questions going through my head.  

 I really would like to spend sometime and develop my recipe collection for the summer and the future (does anyone else get a feeling of accomplishment for having their own "collection"?).  Here's a list of some of my favorites:

1) Chicken Pesto Cavatappi

2) Cream of Tomato Soup + Grilled Cheese

3) Ham, Tortellini, and Red Peppers in Brown Butter

4) Black Bean Soup

5) Homemade Mac and Cheese

6) BLTs

7) Wet Burritos

8) Black Bean Burgers

9) Italian Sausage Penne

10) Chicken Caesar Salad

11) Pesto Pizza with Mozzarella, Basil and Sun dried Tomatoes 

Does anyone else have any good recipes they recommend?  

*Pictures from google images