Returning to My Roots

    

     Sometimes, you have to work with what you have. That sometimes is pretty much all the time regarding cooking and me lately. I need to start shopping based on things I want to make. Instead I shop like this: I need a fruit (bananas), I need a cheese (this takes the longest), I need 2 vegetables (mushrooms!...and something random), I need 2 frozen foods because I know I will not cook once I get home from Trader Joe's after starving all day today, bread, sandwich meat...and there we have the constants of my ten things I buy every week (I leave room for a little miscellaneous..eggs? pasta? what don't I have at home? Toothpaste. You know, that kind of thing).

     The issue with this grand new shopping system is that while I have the ingredients needed to throw together my everyday meals (there's been a lot of omelettes lately), I never seem to have the right things for a Recipe. But then I had a revelation. Isn't that what I used to blog about when I blogged everyday oh so long ago? I just used to write about my everyday meals because isn't that The Point. That everyday meals can be made in college, that they can be super simple and not require a Recipe? No more capitals in the middle of sentences from now on, promise.

 

 

     Here's another revelation. I totally missed my one year anniversary of blogging. I feel like I don't deserve it anyway due to my winter break hiatus... But this is my 100th post. Wow. You know, I constantly contemplated my 100th post, and how I would make something super fancy and super special. But in a way, this is much more fitting. Here am I, college student with fridge full of my 10 weekly items, telling you that a little thinking out of the box and scrounging around your apartment is all you really need to make a special meal just for any old weeknight.

     So, here's what I actually made: mushrooms (obviously) and pasta. Simple. But no jars of tomato sauce because just because we are in college doesn't mean we can't make sauce! It doesn't take that long, I promise. Here's what it took me: I chopped up mushrooms, I cooked the mushrooms, I took them out and used the same pan to cook down some red wine, chicken broth, and spices. I added my pre-cooked pasta (which I cooked to just al-dente) and my mushrooms, and simmered everything together. Grand total: 20 mins. Use what you have on hand! Google recipes and find new ideas! But keep cooking, and your everyday meals won't seem everyday anymore, they will be 100th post worthy.

Red Wine and Mushroom Pasta

Note: Feel free to use any seasonings you like. Thyme, oregano all go well with basil, or as substitutes. Red chili flakes are of course optional, but they don't add a lot of heat to this just a little flavor. Also, I used the honey because my wine was Super acidic and I really didn't like its taste that much, so honey is a good...rounder-outer of the flavor. Use your taste buds to guide you! Also, use spaghetti or any other long/strand pasta you like, I just do think the long-strand types would work better than other kinds.

1 tsp Crushed Garlic (or 1 Garlic Clove, minced) 
2 tbsp Olive Oil 
10 oz Baby Bella Cremini Mushrooms (or really, any kind of mushrooms you like)
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Italian Seasonings
1/2 tsp Red Chili Flakes
1/2 cup Red Wine
1/2 cup Chicken OR Vegetable Broth (Or 1/2 cup Water and 1/2 bouillon cube) 
1/2 tsp Honey
2 servings Linguine, Just-Cooked (i.e. take them out when they are still rather al-dente)

     Roughly chop your mushrooms, including the stems. In a very large frying pan, heat 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil at medium high heat. Once it is hot, and 1/2 tsp of the crushed garlic, and allow it to sizzle for a minute. Then, add in the mushrooms and salt. Stir them around well, and then let them sit evenly on the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, only stirring occasionally. Once they are darker and tender, and releasing some juices, transfer the mushrooms into a separate bowl. Try to the get the juices to stay in the pan.

     Add the remaining 1/2 tbsp of olive oil, and the remaining 1/2 tsp of the garlic to the same pan at medium-high heat. Allow them to sizzle for a minute, then stir in the basil, Italian seasoning, and red chili flakes if using. Stir in the pan for a minute or two, then add the wine and broth (or water and cube). Mix everything together well, adding the honey if needed, and then leave for 5 minutes. Allow the alcohol to evaporate off and the sauce to become thicker. Once it looks slightly (not A lot, just slightly) more viscous, add in the just-cooked pasta. Stir the pasta into the sauce, it will absorb the color and should start absorbing the flavors. Leave at a simmer for a few minutes, until the sauce has reduced further and most of it seems absorbed into the pasta, and then add the mushrooms. Simmer everything together for a few minutes until the mushrooms are hot again, and serve!

Browning Butter

 

     Dear people, I wrote this post a long time ago....and then....I never posted it. But, it still holds true! More posts soon!

 

      Have you ever browned butter? Placed a tablespoon or two of butter in a pan and cooked it lightly until it turns a light brown color and then cooked things in said butter or put it in your baked goods? If you have, you are a very smart person. I wish I had been like you earlier. If you haven't, you should - sometime soon. Because it is very very very worth it.

     I don't actually think I've ever smelled anything as delicious as the fragrance that floated up when I dumped a box-worth of sliced brown mushrooms into two tablespoons of browned butter. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water. Like actually.

     And delicious smells are important. Linguine covered in a fall-inspired pumpkin brown butter sauce and mushrooms is important. Full stomachs are important. Because people, it is cold outside. It snowed...what is with that? Why did it snow????? But moving past that, life can get tiring. One can get so worn down by school that one (i.e. me..ahem ahem) can stop caring about anything but the stress of work work work essay essay essay exam exam exam. And that is not good.

     So, one needs to stop and smell the roses...or butter...you know what I mean. Its worth it to take a little bit of your day to chop up those mushrooms and make some delicious (note: hearty, slightly pumpkin-y, a little rich, with that depth of brown butterness) sauce and just let everything go. Or make anything you want! Just stand by the stove or over a mixing bowl and stir stir....and relax a little. Then maybe go out...or see some friends! And forget work for a bit. Because after tonight I get a real life BREAK from work for a few days....and I want you to get one too.

Browned Butter Mushroom Pumpkin Sauce

2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 box Brown Mushrooms, Sliced
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
1/8 tsp Nutmeg (maybe a little heavy 1/8th of a teaspoon, but to your own taste - I like nutmeg)
1/4 tsp Ginger
3/4 cup Canned Pumpkin
1/3 cup Chicken Broth (or vegetable broth, so this can be veggie-friendly)

In a large frying pan at medium-low heat, cook the butter. Stir it so it melts, then allow it to cook for 2 minutes until it is a light brown color. Once that is done, dump in all the sliced mushrooms. Make sure they get coated in the butter, and cook them for two minutes. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and ginger, stirring into the mushrooms. Then, add the canned pumpkin, stirring it in, and lastly the chicken broth. Once everything is mixed together, allow it to simmer for 3-4 minutes, so that it thickens. Once the sauce is nice and thick, serve with your pasta of choice. I used linguine that I cooked as the sauce was cooking.

Tomato Soup

    

     Grilled cheese and tomato soup. What could be a better dinner? Sometimes, I just don't know. And so, I give in - and that is exactly what I made for dinner last night.

     Pause: This was quite a long pause. Um, a couple of weeks to be exact? I made this dinner sometime in August for my family. But you know how it goes, it was summer's end, I moved back to school, started settling in, and the poor blog got left behind. But now I'm back! Hi world!

     This recipe is, after all, just too good not to blog about. I had never made tomato soup from scratch before, and I always assumed it would use something bad for you - like cream. Instead, all I used was veggies! Tomatoes, celery, potato, oh my! The potato is what gives this vegan soup its creaminess you see, we didn't need real cream after all. This soup still had the thickness and richness of tomato soup, but also felt hearty and wholesome. What more could one want?

     There's something about tomato soup that is so comforting. As I was standing stirring at the stove, on one of those inexplicably gloomy summer evenings, I just felt so content. The smells of rosemary and well...tomato soup, wafting up were as good as a massage. For the soul at least, my body would still like a massage. And after whipping up a few grilled cheese in the oven (good Italian bread, butter, and chunks of cheddar placed under the broiler for a few minutes do wonders for one's mood) and dunking them into the soup, I wished I could feel that way always and you could too.

Tomato Soup
Loosely adapted from The Innocent Primate Vegan Blog

2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Small Red Onion, Finely Chopped
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Celery Stalk, Chopped
1 Large Russet Potato, Diced (the bigger the dice, the longer you will have to cook it...)
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Rosemary
2 tsp Sweet Paprika
8 Medium Sized Tomatoes, Diced
2 cups Vegetable Broth

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil at medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, sauteeing them for a few minutes. Then, add the celery and potato. Stir everything together, and lower the heat to medium-low. Once the potatoes are softened, add the salt, oregano, rosemary, and sweet paprika. Stir in the tomatoes, and then the vegetable broth. Allow the soup to come to a boil, stirring occasionally, and then reduce the heat to low. Let it simmer for ten minutes, still stirring once in a while, until it has thickened. Then turn off the heat and pour it into the blender (feel free to do this in two or more steps if your blender is small - you do not want flying tomato soup!). If you want a chunkier soup, blend just a little, otherwise continue blending till you get your desired consistency. Pour the soup back into the pan or a prettier serving vessel, and ladle it out!

Note: This served five people for dinner, but if you were serving it as an appetizer it could probably serve at least eight.

A Quick Fix

     

     Sometimes, you do not have the time. It is not a Saturday to leisurely watch Challah dough rise. It is not a Wednesday night without work to bake cookies. No, it is a Sunday. The Sunday before the first chemistry exam of the semester no less. And on such a Sunday, there is no time. So, breakfast and lunch got by on Challah bread and Veggie Curry respectively. They were delicious and comforting to the less-than-happy Chemistry studier. But, now its dinner time. What's a dinner I can make in ridiculously little time and yet still feel happy blogging about? It was an easy question to answer: Soy Sauce Chicken.

     This is not my recipe. It comes to me from my friend SZ who got it from her mom. Arriving at SZ's apartment in NYC late one night after the two hour bus-ride from Philly, I was starving. She put this dish together in no time flat, and it was amazing. Filling, warming, healthy, and with all the necessary ingredients for a good meal: chicken, veggies, Flavor. I have been wanting to replicate it ever since I got home. 

     Of course, I'm probably going to be committing blasphemy when I put this dish together. Unlike SZ, I do not have fresh ginger root on hand. I also don't remember the exact proportions, or even ingredients she used. I do remember: 1 part soy sauce to 2 parts water (and I didn't even stick with that...) But that was as good a starting point as any. I hope she and her mom forgive my changes, they are done with an eye to what is in my fridge and pantry, not because I didn't love the original. Now, to wing it!

     I started with the basics: soy sauce, water, ginger, garlic, onions, and the piece of chicken. Then, I realized I had a lot of soy sauce and water, and a very small piece of chicken. I was already bemoaning the lack of mushrooms, which SZ had put in the dish, to soak up some liquids. Then I remembered! Udon noodles in the fridge. And, that is how my dinner came to be. It was filling, the chicken was moist and delicious, and the udon noodles had soaked up the gingery-soy saucy flavor. I did miss those mushrooms though, add them if you make this dish! They take it above and beyond. Still, I now feel full and prepared to tackle thermodynamics in all its varied forms.

Soy Sauce Chicken

Serves 1 (To multiply simply add more chicken thighs and the other ingredients in proportion to how much chicken you have. If you are not using an entire packet of udon, you could probably fit another chicken thigh in the amount of liquid I have given and be absolutely fine; I had a lot of sauce left over after my dinner.)  

1 Chicken Thigh

1/4 cup Soy Sauce 

3/4 cup Water 
1 tbsp Sugar 
1/2 tsp Lemon Juice

1/2 Onion, Finely Chopped

1/4 tsp Ginger Powder

1 clove Garlic, Minced    

1/2 cup Baby Spinach 

1 packet Udon Noodles (optional) 
1 cup Mushrooms, sliced (optional; recommended) 

In a small saucepan set to medium heat, add and mix the the soy sauce, water, sugar, lemon juice, onion, ginger powder, and garlic. Trim the excess fat off of the chicken thigh, and place it in the mixture. (You do not have to cut the thigh into pieces.) Simmer the mixture and chicken for fifteen minutes, turning the chicken once in a while if it is not fully covered in liquid. Then, add the udon noodles and/or mushrooms (if using). Stir in, and simmer mixture for another fifteen minutes. Serve!