Chocolate truffle cakes

I had some major highs and major lows this year.


I met my new best friends cauliflower and Swiss chard. I started making beans from scratch. I made kimchi! Well, kaktugi.

I had some pretty spectacular failures as well though, which, by not creating posts about them, I can pretend they never happened.

Single Lady Pot Pie

All the single ladies (all the single ladies)...
All the single ladies (all the single ladies)...


I just love savory pies. This goes back to my childhood - in an attempt to escape Korean food, I sought out the most American of foods: the TV dinner. How awesome were those compartments that separated the turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy from the beans and the little fruit cobbler dessert?

Really, when I look back, it's rather appalling.

Nobody puts cauliflower in the corner

I had a series of failed meal attempts recently. There was this corn chowder using 2% milk - good, but not great.


There was an attempt at a basic version of mac and cheese involving, yet again, 2% milk (sensing a trend?). (This, oddly enough, was better as leftovers, nuked in the microwave.)


Oh yes, and a chicken tikka masala also using - you guessed it - 2% milk.

There is a reason why these recipes call for whole milk or cream, calories and all.

Chicken chili/stew

What I love about this chicken chili/stew is that I was able to use four - four! - things that I'd made previously to assemble this meal:

• chicken (from my first roast chicken)
• cannellini beans
• tomatillo salsa verde
• chicken broth (also from my first roast chicken)

Because I had all of these things stocked up (some in the freezer) and ready to go, this was a fairly easy meal to prepare on a weeknight.

The Bean Chronicles: Black Beans III

The bean: Black beans
Amount: 1-pound bag
Method: No soak in the oven. I used a Dutch oven, covered the rinsed beans with water, added a little salt, put the lid on, then popped into a 325 degree oven.
Cooking time: About 2 hours. I opened the lid after an hour to stir the beans, and the beans were actually boiling so next time, I'll probably turn the heat down to 300. After another half hour I salted the beans and turned the oven off, then let cool in oven for about 15 more minutes.
Storing? In the fridge
Result: These were so good. I could have eaten a bowlful right away. In fact, I probably ate the equivalent of a bowlful straight out of the pot. The beans were incredibly soft and so tasty.


However, I think I'm still having issues with the beans getting too hard after being refrigerated. I made a vegetarian batch of this chipotle espresso chili and it was fantastic, but I didn't think the beans held up their original melt-in-your-mouth softness.


I guess beans really should be used as soon as you finish cooking them. Or, maybe if I just way over-cook them, it will compensate for the refrigeration. I do like the oven method - it's easy and seems to allow for an even cooking temperature.

Double oatmeal chocolate chip walnut cookies

There are some foods that need to rest before eaten (steak), or that get better the next day, as the spices and flavors truly blend together (chili, Indian food).


But there are some foods, like these oatmeal cookies on steroids, that must be eaten right out of the oven.


I've made these before, in April 2009, but back then, I didn't get a chance to try them - and I had no idea what I was missing. I can't believe I waited so long to experience such enlightenment.

My first roast chicken

A whole roast chicken seems to be the quintessential feat of a true cook. I've been a bit averse to the idea because I am a bit squeamish when it comes to cooking with meat, especially a whole bird. I remember one Thanksgiving years ago when I said I would make the turkey, but my mom had to actually prepare the turkey itself, like removing the stuff inside, rinsing it off, etc. All I did was stick it in the oven.

I made so many excuses not to make a roast chicken. "I don't have roasting pan," "I don't want to put my hand inside a chicken to remove the gizzards," "No matter how many videos I watch of trussing a chicken, it's still confusing to me."


It really seemed time though, in my culinary journey, that I tackle the whole chicken.

Pasta with Swiss chard and breadcrumbs

I promise this will be the last post with Swiss chard.*


I admit my standards are high - I do like to be amazed with my meals, even an ordinary weeknight dinner, and I can get disappointed when it satiates just my hunger, not my appetite. But when I was preparing this meal, I had fairly low expectations - I just wanted a way to use up some of the Swiss chard that I keep buying.

I could have gone with the red pepper, sausage, chard saute that I made a few weeks ago which did amaze me, but I wanted to try something a little different.

Actually, I just didn't want to go to the store and buy any sausage. There, I said it.

The Bean Chronicles: Cannellini

The bean: Cannellini
Amount: 1-pound bag
Method: Soaked for about 12 hours (on counter), drained and rinsed, then on stove with maybe too much water, salted towards the end
Cooking time: About 2 hours
Storing? Half in the freezer; the other half in fridge

Swiss chard gratin

"Did you ever think of the number of things that had to happen for me to get to know you?"


Don Draper says this in Mad Men. That is how I feel about this Swiss chard gratin.

FreshDirect had to have a free delivery promotion
Every once in a while, FreshDirect has a free delivery promotion and those are the only times I order from them. [Shh, don't tell. I don't want them to stop these promos! Otherwise I may never use them. Ok, that's not true - whenever I need cases of water, bags of flour, sugar, or rice, or cans of tomatoes, I will order from them. Sorry in advance to the delivery guys. But I tip well!]

Technically speaking...

Despite the fact that I've managed to put up a blog, I am rather technologically-challenged when it comes to doing anything fancy with it. Or even basic - like putting up a recipe index (which I know plenty of cooking blogs have).

But ladies and gentlemen, I've finally figured it out. I never noticed a little "Edit Pages" link on Blogger until today! I mean seriously, Blogger makes it stupid easy to have a blog - it's like what happened when Microsoft introduced PowerPoint and suddenly everyone thought they were a designer.

Well now I have a recipe index! I can't really call it "recipes" because really it's just everything I've made and posted here, and there are some, I've just realized, where I didn't even add the actual recipe. Baby steps, my friends, baby steps.

I'll be messing with the categories for a while I think, and I haven't posted everything yet but hope to soon, before another work tornado hits.

Yesterday's lunch

This title is a bit of a misnomer since I had intended to post this two weeks ago. Then suddenly the wheels fell off the wagon and I experienced work stress like I've never felt before. I always thought I was one of those emotional eaters but apparently when I really feel stress, I lose my appetite.

I got through the most stressful part and am hungry again, but lately, because of the nature of my job, the bulk of my work will be in the evenings and on the weekends, which totally sucks for me as it gets into my farmer's market and cooking time - bah!

[I mean honestly, if I really only have work at night and on the weekends for the next month, can't I just stay at home during the day? Instead I have to sit here with too much time on my hands to think about all the cooking I could be doing - I think I bookmarked about five more recipes I want to try that I probably never will. Getting depressed...]

Anyways, back to the food...

The Bean Chronicles: Black Beans II

The bean: Black beans
Amount: Half a 1-pound bag
Method: Soaked for about 10 hours (put in fridge in the morning before work), drained and rinsed, then on stove with water to cover, salted towards the end
Cooking time: About 2 hours
Storing? Half in the freezer (eventually used for black bean salads); the other half in fridge, used within a few days, also for black bean salads (more?? yes more, I like eating the same thing for weeks on end, so sue me)


Result: I honestly did not notice a difference between soaking and not soaking. The cooking time was virtually equal. The results were the same, mostly good but a little uneven. Cooking liquid was nice and dark too, I didn't notice much of a loss of color. The aroma while cooking was not as strong as the no-soak method though.

So, my thought is perhaps the cooking vessel does make a difference and I do need to use a wider pot for more even cooking. (Time to go shopping!) Or the oven is the way to go. Clearly I have more experiments left to do with black beans.

Salmon and Swiss chard

I am really loving the Swiss... chard.

Here, some steamed (in foil) salmon on top of some sauteed Swiss chard with onions, garlic, dried oregano and paprika.

Banana chocolate chip walnut muffins

Um, I do make dishes other than soups and beans. Really.

I'm very far behind on posting some things I've made recently. Most of the time I don't care - I'll post when I post! But I wanted to get this one up right now because I don't want it to seem like all I've been making lately are soups and beans. Even though that is pretty much all I've been making.

Spinach miso soup

This is my kind of comfort food.


I based this on a soup that my aunt makes, with assistance from this recipe I found online, since I was just going by memory.

Black bean soup

The first time I saw black bean soup was in college. I had never heard of it before, and all I saw in the big soup tureen in the cafeteria was this steaming, black, well, sludge. I'd never seen anything like it and I saw my peers eagerly scooping it into takeout containers, dunking crackers right into the dark mess as if it were dip.

In order to disguise my hickville roots, I never admitted (until now) that I had no idea what it was (thank goodness for the little label) or that I'd never had it before. Everyone seemed to love it so I took a leap... and it was amazing. Who would have guessed I would be exposed to such a diverse culinary experience at Vassar?? (Well, they did also have amazing pickles.)

The Bean Chronicles: Black Beans

Continuing on with my bean experiments...

The aroma from these beans as they were cooking was just divine. I'd heard rumors such a thing would happen and didn't believe it until now.


The bean: Black beans
Amount: Half a 1-pound bag
Method: No soak, on stove with water to cover, salted part way through; some difficulty simmering, water added occasionally
Cooking time: About 2 hours
Storing? Half used for black bean soup; the other half in fridge, used within a few days for black bean salads
Result: Pretty good, although I found the beans uneven (some softer than others, none were disintegrating though, so that's a plus). Gorgeous, inky black cooking liquid.

Yet another variable in the bean cooking arena, I think, is your own stove. You have to know how your stove works - how big of a flame do you need for barely a simmer, or a rolling simmer? I'm still getting used to my stove in my new place, and I struggled with getting the right simmer. When I put it all the way to low, it didn't look like anything was happening so I would raise it a little... and suddenly it was boiling. The water absorbed too quickly and I had to add more. In the end, I just left it at the lowest possible.


Because I didn't soak the beans, I thought they would take at least 3 hours, but to my surprise, they were done in 2 (although, as I later discovered while eating the black bean salad I made with these beans, some were less done than others - ouch).

So, I need to work on getting the beans to cook more evenly. Let's see if a pre-soak will help...

Korean-style broth

Growing up, one chore that I sometimes helped my mom with was beheading dried anchovies - a common ingredient in many things Korean. (Among my other tasks, I also helped de-tail kongnamul - worst chore ever. I'm pretty sure that is the reason that kongnamul soup is my least favorite.)

Growing up, I ate tons of Korean soups and stews. But it wasn't until I was researching Korean cooking online that I put two and two together to realize that these little anchovies were being used for broth for these soups and stews. The way chicken stock is a staple in Western pantries, this basic fish/seafood broth is a staple in Korean pantries.

Red pepper, sausage, and chard risotto

I made a variation of this red pepper, sausage, and chard risotto. I used red swiss chard. This was my first time cooking with it and I did not realize that it "bleeds." I don't know if you can tell from the photo but the risotto turned pink after added the chopped chard.

Tomatillo salsa verde

This absolutely blew me away. I am positively addicted.

Using pesto: Basic bruschetta

I don't know about you but when I get home from work in the evening, I am positively famished. I'm talking faint with hunger. The only thing I can think about as I'm walking up the stairs (up the stairs! this is sometimes still a little new and exciting to me, even though I've been above ground for five months) to my apartment is what I am going to eat for dinner.

This is why I spend time pre-making stuff that I can re-heat for dinner, or find small shortcuts to make a faster dinner. Even so, a small and quick snack just as I get home is ideal.

The Bean Chronicles: Garbanzos, and roasted tomato soup

It is clearly no secret that I enjoy cooking. I enjoy the process, the time, and the results (mostly - I've had my share of failures). I make a lot of stuff from scratch: salad dressing, cupcakes, tomato sauce, pesto, pickles, granola, chana masala, chicken broth (hey! that's an impressive list, if I do say so myself). Nonetheless, despite the encouragements out there in the cooking world, there are certain things I still refuse to make from scratch: bread, pasta, beans, yogurt, jam, frosting that involves raw eggs. At one time, kimchi was on that list, and seeing as I've broken that barrier (sort of, albeit with kaktugui)... I've tackled the mighty bean.

Kaktugui

My first attempt at making kimchi! I never thought I'd see the day. I believe I am officially an ajuma now.

Roasted eggplant spread

You guys, I think someone needs to stage an intervention... for me. I'm addicted to the farmer's market.

Oi vey!

I'm venturing into cooking Korean more (gotta be true to my roots). Despite having grown up eating Korean food that my mom made from scratch, I really have no clue as to how to cook it. In fact, I believe there was one point where I swore I would not bother (this was years ago, after making a batch of kongjaban (black bean banchan) that stunk up my kitchen to high heaven). It seemed to me such a labor-intensive process, when I could easily just buy various banchan at the market - the only downside being that there is only one Korean market in all of Manhattan.

Still learning

I think it is fairly clear from this blog that I'm not a professional and I cook for fun (and to eat, of course). I like trying new dishes but I also like making things again and again - and when I do, I sometimes make small variations depending on my mood or what ingredients I have on hand. I also apply things I've learned from talking to others or from information I find online - and there is a lot to learn.

Random veggies and lunch for work

I think I should apologize for the slight lameness of this post. I like having this blog because I like having a reminder of what I've made so that when I'm wondering what I should eat, I have a nice long list to refer to. This is such a simple and obvious meal that it is embarrassing that I have to post about it - but I do, because inevitably there will come a time when I will wonder what I should make for lunch and I won't come up with anything. With this post, that should never happen again.

Toaster oven granola

Perusing the interwebs a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon this posting for granola. I've attempted homemade granola before and frankly was not impressed; however, this recipe was very simple, and I had all of the ingredients (mostly) and I thought, what the heck.

But, there was no way I was going to turn on my oven, so I modified the proportions and made it in my toaster oven. Eureka! It's very simple, and easy to personalize according to taste.

Ranch dressing

Hello to my two readers - I have been neglecting you quite a bit this summer, sorry! I have good reasons, I think: a) it has not been easy to find time to cook, much less blog; b) I've been making a lot of "repeats" - stuff I've made and posted about already, or slight variations of them, e.g. chana masala, chicken cacciatore, enchiladas, pancakes, noodle salad, etc.; c) some of the things I've been making are not blog-worthy (do you really need to see another sandwich I've made?); and d) it's just been too hot this summer to really get into cooking.

That said, one of my big experiments this summer has been making ranch dressing from scratch.

Krazy for Korean tacos

Korean tacos are all the rage these days.


These are from an LIC Food Truck roof deck grill. Two choices of meat: marinated beef or chicken. Yum.

It's super exclusive though. They change their menu and hours all the time - never the same meal twice!

Panzanella

Bread pudding and bread salads were never really my thing--I mean, why in the world would you chop up bread to put into another dish when you could just enjoy it toasted with a little butter and blueberry jam?

Well, panzanella (bread salad) comes in really handy when a) you have stale bread on hand, and 2) it's 90+ degrees out. The only cooking it requires is your toaster oven, to toast the bread.