Week 4: Casseroles and Crepes - A Snow Day Double-Feature

Thanks to the Snow Day this week and the fact that my lesson plans from last week will suffice for next week, thus leaving me ONE day's worth of work to do this weekend, I had plenty of time to experiment in the kitchen. The treacherous conditions outside meant that I had to be resourceful and work with what was left at the back of the fridge, since there was no way I was going outside for materials.

Cheesy Chicken Casserole with Spicy Ranch-Honey Sauce

This was a product of pure desperation with a fridge so bare, a cost-benefit analysis may have resulted in just unplugging it. Alas, I scavenged and found the following:

- Deli meat chicken slices

- Frozen peas

- Milk

- Spicy Ranch dressing and

- Honey Mustard

- Shredded mozzarella

- A Cheddar Cheese stick

Around the pantry, I also found some honey, spices, and a can of cream of mushroom soup. With these basics, and the back of the can of cream of mushroom soup providing recipe inspirations as a start, I began constructing a basic casserole.

1. Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees and defrosting the peas under running water in a colander.

2. Taste test create a delicious sauce. I combined Spicy Ranch, Honey Mustard, and then when that wasn't enough of a sweet/spicy kick, I just launched into honey. I added a little of this and a little of that until what I was tasting was the right proportion of sweet and spicy. I also mixed in some dried thyme, and some powdered cayenne pepper to the mix, tasting again to achieve the right flavors. This will take some basic trial-and-error. If I hadn't been cooking to save myself from starvation, I would've recorded my trials for a replicable result. Lo siento.

3. Mix together a can of cream of mushroom soup, about 1/2 cup of milk, torn up chicken deli meat pieces, a healthy handful (or 2) of peas, and about 1/2 a cup of the dressing/honey mixture. I added about 1/2 a cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese / shredded and some pepper and mixed the whole thing together and popped it in the oven for about 25 - 30 minutes.

4. While I was cleaning up, I found some bread crumbs. So in the last five minutes, I popped out the casserole, topped it with bread crumbs and more cheese, and popped it back in to finish up browning. And that's the story of how I saved myself from starving during the snow day.

...

Two days later, after using my second snow day (pansy move on the part of my school since the roads were clear by that point) to stop at the grocery store for some basics, I decided to make a decidedly more advanced breakfast of crepes. Because I had accidentally skipped dinner the night before, I was doubly hungry and decided to go with a duo of savory and sweet crepes.

I constructed the base out of the crepe recipe I found here. I discovered that the most important part of the cooking process was to keep the pan at med-high heat -- I choose level 6 out of 8 on my burner. I then went about the task of assembling the fillings.

For the savory crepe, I used:

- 6-8 Roma tomatoes, halved

- very thinly sliced onion (1/4 of an onion)

- 4-5 very thinly sliced Baby Bella mushrooms

- about two spoonfuls of sun-dried tomatoes

- two fistfuls of spinach

sauce:

- 1 teaspoon of flour

- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

- 3 tablespoons butter

- 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

- 1/4 cup swiss cheese, shredded

- 6 healthy dashes/shakes of the dried thyme seasoning container

- salt and pepper to taste

1. Start by caramelizing the onions. When they start to brown, throw in the tomatoes and mushrooms to start roasting and the sun-dried tomatoes. Mix well to mix flavors. Watch and stir for about 6 minutes on low-medium heat. Add in the spinach and continue mixing for about another minute. Then put it on simmer.

2. Meanwhile, construct the cheese sauce by starting by melting butter, then adding heavy whipping cream and flour and mixing well. I added in the cheese and waited for the cheese to melt, then added the spices. While this sauce worked out well, I think I'm going to try to make a slightly (or much) healthier version to alleviate some of my guilt. This seemed a little like overkill.

3. Mix the cheesy sauces with the vegetables and fill the crepe with it.

For the sweet crepe:

- 1 tablespoon Nutella

- 1/3 banana, sliced

- handful of blueberries

- powdered / confectioner's sugar

Once the crepe is constructed, lay it flat and artfully swirl some hazelnutty-chocolatey goodness down the center, layering blueberries and bananas on top. I folded up the crepe into third, putting a little more Nutella on the folded side after the first fold, then sprinkled some powdered sugar on top. While delicious, I think I want to try honey on these next time instead of Nutella. Or maybe on top of it. Disgusting or enticing? Who can tell really?

Week 3: Adventures in Soyland

To truly understand the meaning of this recipe/adventure, it's necessary to take a step (or 6) back in time.

New Year's Eve, 2005:

Scene: My mom's living room in California.

Time frame: Early Evening

Home from college for the holidays, I lay sprawled out on my stomach on my mom's plush ruby rug (carpets were a luxury item barred in my dorm) catching up on the tv shows I'd missed my first semester in college while simultaneous IMing 15 people on my laptop when a link from a friend popped up -- an infomercial for PETA. I don't know if it was the particularly influential friend who sent it (if only I could remember who it was...) or the lush carpeting suspending my judgement, but I proceeded to watch the 10 minute video documenting the harsh treatment of chickens, eggs, cows, and more with the curiosity of prepubescent teenager watching the "Miracle of Birth" sex ed video documenting the birthing process in the most graphic and unappealing way possible -- that is to say, I couldn't keep my horrified eyes off of it.

That day, I decided my new year's resolution was to take a stand against caged meat. And so I came to eat nothing but fish for the next year, since a) I figured fish were always free until they're caught and all and b) I couldn't afford to be buying / exclusively ordering cage-free products and it was just too confusing. Although that resolution only lasted a year (one in which I ate too much cereal and Indian food), I do still try to eat more vegetables and try non-meat substitutes when possible. Which leads me to:

Sausage and Peppers, Rice and Beans: Basic Delicious Flavors

This meal was like an episode of "Semi-Homemade" -- I bought a couple great basics at the store pretty much pre-prepared, then made something to go along with them.

1. Slice up some onions, red peppers, yellow peppers, and green peppers. Grill it up with some olive oil and get a color going on all of it. I threw in mushrooms, 'cause they're delicious. I added in some soy sausage product (Product Placement available here, always at Trader Joe's) and then seasoned the mixture with some basic Indian spices in my cabinet (curry powder was prominent). However, a basic mix of red pepper spice would have been great too.

To accompany Mexican Rice (I bought a delicious 4-min rice packet) and some Cuban Style Black Beans (Trader Joe's).

Week 2: Strawberry Fields Forever

Besides keeping my New Year's resolution to cook something new weekly and record it for future cooking conundrums, my other food-lution was to replace at least one dinner a week with salad, so I can start getting more nutrients in my diet.

With that said, let me now introduce the completely unhealthy salad that was among the top 10 things ever eaten on a bed of greens. It uses one of my only acceptable forms of greens: spinach, which came in a bag claiming its status as a certified SuperFood. And well -- if that's not reason enough for you to try this salad, I don't know what is.

Caramelized Onions, Strawberries and Spinach with a Honey Balsamic Reduction

1. Caramelize some onions. I learned how to do this last year and it changed my life. Look here for inspiration. I used one onion. Once the onions got lightly brown, I threw in some sliced mushrooms (about the same size slice as the onions, for consistency when cooking).

2. While the onions are caramelizing (which seems to take a while), get started on the dressing. I used honey and balsamic vinegar, in a pot on low/medium. Throw in the honey first to start it melting, then put in a little bit of vinegar at a time, tasting as you go to figure out what ratio of works for you. One you have your magic mix, let it simmer but do not let it stay on the heat for too long, or your deliciousity will evaporate and leave you with something tart and unrecognizable. The consistency should be of a glaze to signal it's done.

3. Use your fanschy smanchy Ikea salad spinner to wash/dry your spinach.

4. Cut up some strawberry into slices that show off the curvaceousness of the strawberry's figure (lengthwise / don't dice them). I did something at this point that Joe thought was delicious while I later regretted because it was too sweet for my taste. I dusted powdered sugar on my strawberries, which turned into a strawberry-sugar syrup. Again, some like it and others don't.

5. Assemble: Throw down the spinach leaves. Artfully set some caramelized onions and mushrooms across the bed of green beauty, top with some strawberries. Throw on some gorgonzola cheese, and then throw on the honey-balsamic reduction.

As for the food-lution re: nutrient filled dinners, this is about equivalent to stuffing your crap in your closet when your mom tells you to clean your room. Sure, it's not exactly what she wanted you to do, but it hits the basic requirements and is a hell of a lot more fun.

Week 1: Deep-Dish Darling

For my first cooking adventure of the year, I challenged myself in a few different ways: 1) I made a bread based food, making the dough from scratch for the first time. 2) I was trying to replicate something I've never tried before. 3) I was cooking for someone else, and on a schedule.

With the stress in order, I attacked the recipe:

1 cup of warm water
1 package yeast
1/2 cup cornmeal or corn flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 T corn oil
2 ½ to 3 cups of cheap generic flour
Yellow food coloring – the real secret to why its yellow.

Take the water and put it in your mixer. add yeast and a touch of sugar. Let the yeast foam up to be sure that it is active. Then add the rest of the ingredients including 2 1/2 cups flour. I usually end up adding between 1/4 and 1/2 teaspoons of yellow food coloring. Using a dough hook, kneed the dough until it is well combined. If the dough is sticky add a little more flour. The dough should be moist but not sticky. Let the mixer kneed the dough for 10 minutes. Put it in the oven to rise. If you desire a late in the day pizza taste (beer like), then let it rise all day.

Assembling the pizza -
Preheat oven to 350. After the dough has risen take your deep dish pizza pan (or a round cake pan with straight sides) and coat the inside of it with a very healthy coating of melted butter. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick and up it in the pan. Then pinch the dough up along the sides of the pan. Now put your cheese, and I mean a lot, into the crust. Then add your pepperoni, and finally your sauce. Bake in the oven until the crust is starting to brown and cheese is starting to bubble up through the sauce. The little edges of the pepperoni should also be starting to crisp.

I made it w/o the pepperoni, as the memory I was trying to emulate was of a Deep Dish Cheese Pizza that Joe complains can never be found in DC. Personally, I'd prefer my thin crust with lots of delicious sun dried tomatoes, gorgonzola and mozzarella, and prosciutto. But that's probably because I'm a Commie.