Leftovers - - Page 5

by gansie

Finding a Happy Home for Hash Browns

It’s one of my favorite times of year—there are a shit ton of tomatoes everywhere. The tomato soup I made last week left an awesome taste in my mouth and I couldn’t wait to create that on a bigger scale. More tomatoes. More garlic. More wine.

This time around I again roasted the tomatoes, but I also sauteed an onion while the tomatoes were in the oven. Oh, and before I roasted the tomatoes I strained the juice and reserved that for later in the process. So onion, roasted tomato, garlic, juice of tomatoes, red wine vinegar (no wine opened) and then some fresh sage.

Ah. Fresh sage. I was at my uncle’s house this past weekend and holy lord he has a serious garden. I lugged back 3 or 4 bags worth of rosemary, sage, basil and this herb that smells so strongly of lemon (lemon balm?).

Actually, here’s my uncle with a tomato. He also grows raspberries, blueberries, hot peppers, mustard greens, purple beans, okra and lots of other goodies. One day I’ll have a backyard… (or maybe I can stay in the city and take advantage of a rooftop!)

Anyway, the soup was crazy chunky and I just wasn’t perfectly pleased. Then my sister grabbed leftovers from lunch: hash browns from the diner. She conducted a search for a snack while I thought up dinner, but concluded cold, old hash browns were not the snacking answer. They were however, the answer to dinner.

by gansie

Americanized Injera

I hate sharing. I hate bartering. I hate compromising.

I want goat cheese, spinach, olives and sun-dried tomatoes on my pizza. I do not care that you hate olives. I do not want to split a plate of anchovies and roasted red peppers. Anchovies make me convulse. I want all of my garlic shrimp. You order your own. I think you know where I’m going with this.

When did these “small plates” become so fucking popular. I don’t want a bite of this or a bite of that. I want an entire fucking steak and I want to eat it all myself. Screw tapas and mezze or any other dish where you have to invoke cloture to place an order. Enough of this sharing shit.

But then there’s Ethiopian.

in Featured / Recipe / Veggie 6 comments

by gansie

Hoping My Grandmother Won’t Turn Over In Her Grave

We all know I’m crazy and at times will make two completely different meals for my boyfriend and myself; I just love cooking that much. But sometimes—even I—cave to the heat of summer and just make a sandwich. Although you know it’s just not some deli meat thrown on white bread.

When I was younger my oma used to eat this very odd sandwich for lunch. Rye bread, butter, cucumber slices, served open-faced. However I expressed this in my 8-year-old brain, I thought the combination lacked flavor and was just, well, weird. Not that I didn’t adore butter, for even at a young age I piled on the creamy spread an inch deep. But just cucumbers—who wants a cucumber sandwich when you can eat pizza bagels?!?!

I’d forgotten about that lunch staple until I recently watched someone else, an English woman, eat butter and cucumbers together. I honestly that my oma made that up. So I investigated the origin a bit.

in Cheese / Personal / Recipe / Sandwich / Veggie 4 comments

by gansie

Who Isn’t a Little Soft in the Middle?

I went to my first crab feast of the season two weeks ago. While I like softshell crabs and crab cakes, my favorite way to eat this crustacean is to break the shit open with my hands. As lazy as I am in life, I love the hard work it requires to eat a boiled crab. I love the newspaper thrown over a backyard table. I love how Old Bay coats everything from my finger tips to my elbow. I love the taste of determination when I pull out a leg and all of the meat comes with it. And of course I love the beer and drunkenness that always attaches itself to the crab feast.

The sides are pretty great too. There’s usually a boiled potato dish in the mix. But I wanted to bring something a bit different. And something I could whip up quick. I turned to my old friend, Jiffy corn bread mix.

in Cheese / Recipe / Veggie 2 comments

by gansie

SOS Zucchini Boats to the Rescue

I hope everyone has read Westcoast‘s fantastic okra-starring dish, Bhindi Masala with Whole Wheat Dill and Garlic Parathas. And I’m sorry you all could only *read* about it. The day after he made it we met for lunch. He brought his Indian okra leftovers and I brought my Kefir Parsley Pesto with Zucchini, Peas and Udon Noodles leftovers.

He totally fucking won. Especially because the udon noodles sucked up all of the moisture from the veggies and the sauce and, well, it was really bland compared to his spice-heavy mixture.

As we were packing up lunch, he flippantly said he’d be tossing what we hadn’t finished. I clearly was having none of that! I took home some of the masala, one of the parathas and the dill-ed yogurt mixture. But there wasn’t enough for a full meal, which to me is a perfect excuse for some kitchen creativity.

Luckily, it was Monday and I caught Kim O’Donnel’s Meatless Monday post on her new blog, Licking Your Chops, on the site True/Slant. Okay, enough with the plugging for the great KOD.

in Featured / Recipe / Veggie 4 comments

by tvff

Friday Freezer Frugality

Maybe I’m on a kick after my cash-saving advice a few weeks back, or maybe I’m just smarting from having to lay out big bucks for a new water heater, but a trip to the freezer today reminded me of another thing I do around the kitchen that saves time and prevents waste.

Since I lack the patience or energy to sit down and make my own chicken or beef stock like a good home cook, I’m constantly cracking open a can of the low-sodium broth for dishes. Of course, the cans never give me exactly the amount that I need for a dish, so there is invariably some remaining. When this happens, I’m off to the silicone ice tray (yes, it does put a goofy dice design in them) and create perfect one-ounce packages that I can use to augment when I don’t have enough or for when I only need a quarter cup or so.

You’ll notice that they’re kept in the Reynolds Handi-Vac freezer bags. Gimmick? Maybe. But I got the vacuum for free from someone handing them out on the street corner after the product launched and I do find that my meat has less of that grey funkiness when I use the bags. I like to think that, in this case, it prevents sublimation. (And you thought you’d never use that stuff you learned in chemistry!)

Obviously, you can tell I love having these quick-cubes lying around in the freezer, but I need to make sure I don’t accidentally slip them into a drink! Speaking of which, what better way to be frugal than to save the ten bills it would cost you for a martini at the bar and make one at home like I do most Fridays? Find out how after the jump.

in Drinks 0 comments

by gansie

And The Bible Told Me So

I’m just a tiny bit competitive. If BS is making asparagus soup, gansie must make some asparagus soup. Plus, it was my idea (see comments) in the first place.

So please, I welcome you on my asparagus soup making journey. It was a shit show.

Okay, so blah, blah, blah I don’t follow recipes. I made my own asparagus stock, according to Martha, and then sorta followed the BS endorsed recipe. Well, except for a few KEY ingredients.

The soup called for heavy cream and lemon. Like an ass, I thought I could sub yogurt for that combo: the yogurt could add a creaminess (heavy cream) and tartness (lemon.) Well, I made a boatload of soup and I guess the amount of yogurt I added in no way enhanced the flavor, nor the texture.

So then I added curry powder. And then ginger. And no luck. Still was fairly unflavorful. I think I used too much onion in comparison to the asparagus. I was PISTED. I mean, what asshole fucks up soup.

I checked out my fridge – longing to add depth to this vat of green liquid. I spotted red wine. An acid was desperately needed. But when I called out this almost revelation, the couch-dwelling 80P negged the idea. But then he suggested I consult the bible. The Flavor Bible, that is. It recommended red wine vinegar. I added a scant tablespoon and it automatically perked up the soup. I served it, but still lamented about its unsuccess.

Cue day two.

in Breakfast / Eggs / Fish / Recipe / Veggie 6 comments

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