scott's craving

last night; well, to be fair, it was closer to late, yesterday afternoon, i asked scott what he wanted for dinner. usually that question is asked as soon as our lunch is finished, but i decided to let some time pass. i wasn't really prepared to cook last night, as we were planning to eat dinner with friends. unfortunately, something occurred which prevented us from joining everyone for dinner, so i had to think quickly.
i was stumped. really stumped. i knew i didn't want to make anything that included several difficult steps, because the night was quickly getting away from us. at times like this, i go to scott so he can point me in some sort of direction. i depend on his cravings to clue me in on the night's meal. luckily, he had a craving. well, sort of.
i ventured upstairs to his studio and asked, "what should i make for dinner?" that question seemed simple enough, but his blank stare told me otherwise. so, i switched gears and asked, "okay, does any particular ethnic cuisine sound good?" the answer i got was surprising and kind of funny. he said, "spanish. no, maybe peruvian. nachos? how about mexican? yeah, mexican."
a decision was made. mexican it shall be.
i decided on tacos for the night's meal. tacos are easy and quick, the two things i was looking for in a recipe. i also knew i didn't want any meat in our evening meal, so i went with black beans instead. this is what i used:

• 1 can of black beans, drained
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• salt and pepper
• 1 onion, minced
  
• 2 cups coleslaw mix
• 2 tsp olive oil
• juice of one lime
• 1/2 c. cilantro
• feta cheese, crumbled
• taco-sized corn tortillas
• hot sauce or salsa
  

this is what i did:

in a small bowl, mix together the black beans, cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, juice from half of the lime and half of the minced onion. season with salt and pepper. mash partially. set aside.
in a medium bowl, toss together the coleslaw, olive oil, juice from the other half of the lime, cilantro, the rest of the onion. season with salt and pepper.
using an electric griddle or a large, non-stick skillet, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. place tortillas on skillet and spoon small amount of bean mixture over half of the tortilla; cook 1 minute. fold tortilla in half and cook until crispy; about 1 minute per side.
fill tacos with feta cheese and top with coleslaw mixture and hot sauce.

i'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but i served these tacos with "mexican rice" from a box. don't judge me.

needless to say, this dish was super easy and super fast. the only alteration i would've made would be to use green onions instead of white. the store didn't have green onions (i know, i was surprised, as well).

scott ate three of these tacos, so i'm guessing they satisfied his craving.

sentimental food

the other day i was at a loss for what to make scott and i for dinner. i knew i had chicken breasts thawed, so i figured i would do something with that. sometimes chicken breasts can be boring. i wasn't sure what to do when scott mentioned something about a recipe his mom used to make when he was a kid. he said, "why don't you try making chicken milanese?"

he's requested this dish before, but honestly, i was afraid to make it because it held sentimental value for him. he says his mother isn't known for her ability in the kitchen, but this dish was one she used to make all the time. i didn't want to screw it up and ruin his memory of one of his favorite meals. but that night i guess i was willing to take that risk.

oddly enough we had all the ingredients necessary for the recipe. i vaguely knew what chicken milanese was, but to the internet i went anyway. after searching around a little bit, i ended up on epicurious.com. it's such a great website! i found a recipe for lemon chicken milanese. i made just a few adjustments to the original, but it turned out anyway.

basically, all you have to do is flatten out your chicken breasts until they're about 1/2 an inch thick. they then get a bath in eggs (or eggs and milk, whichever you prefer). after that, coat them in a mixture of panko (or bread crumbs), parsley, oregano, salt and pepper. i had grated asiago cheese on hand, as well as crushed red pepper, so i added those to the panko mixture.

make sure to thoroughly coat both sides of the chicken. heat about 3 tbsp oil over medium-high heat in a skillet. saute the chicken until they're golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. keep an eye out so they don't burn.

after mine were done, i placed them on plates, squeezed a little lemon over them and they were done. i served them with a simple arugula and spinach salad with olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, grated asiago cheese and tomato wedges on the side.

after his first bite, scott said, "this tastes just like i remember. i haven't had this in probably 10 years." that was the perfect reaction - just what i was looking for. i didn't ruin his memory of his mom's chicken milanese...just added to it.

gimme lean chili

yesterday, as most sundays go, scott and i get up at 8am to watch "cbs sunday morning". for me, that didn't happen. the night before was spent at our good friends' house having dinner and wine. needless to say, i slept in a little yesterday morning. but when i finally awoke, it was time for coffee and our sort of sunday routine.

i cleaned the bathroom, the kitchen and the living room. did the dishes and vacuumed all the floors. scott was upstairs in his studio and he emerged in time to suggest breakfast. usually we'll go to the 11worth cafe on sundays, but lately we've been skipping it. not sure why. i love that place.

instead, we took the recycling in, stopped at lowe's and headed home with lunch. as usual, i was thinking about food and asked him what he wanted for dinner. he said, "casserole" which sounded odd coming from his mouth. especially since it's not the 1950's and i've never made a casserole for us before. i just kind of laughed. "okay", i thought. so, i said, "how about lasagna?" his response was typical, "have you ever made a lasagna before?" (i've made about 3 or 4 since we've been together)

okay, lasagna is out. hmmm....what to make for dinner. the car was silent as we made our way home. "well, how about chili? and cornbread?" that sounded like a good cold-weather meal to me. scott said yes, but with one exception. he wanted TVP; fake meat.

i'm fine with that, i told him. but i've just never cooked with ground TVP before. so i went to the store with a chili recipe in my head and picked up my list of ingredients. chili has to be one of the easiest dishes to make. basically all you have to do is put what you like in it and let it simmer.

i included:
-onion
-garlic
-jalapeno peppers
-2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
-kidney and black beans
-chicken broth
-tomato paste
-balsamic vinegar
-herbs and spices (oregano, red pepper flakes, chili powder, coriander, cumin, cayenne, bay leaves, salt and pepper)
-and of course, one package of TVP

i let it simmer for about an hour and it was outstanding. i've never really been a huge red meat eater, but i always did like ground beef in my chili. i believe i've been converted. scott loved it and went back for more, so i guess my first try at faux chili was a success.

the real question is, would my meat-eating father and brother be able to tell the difference...?

on the menu tonight

today i was at work and daydreaming. it happens a lot. i have a recurring daydream, as well. it's usually paris-related. this time, however, it was merely french-related. and of course it involved food.

when scott and i visited las vegas in april, i booked reservations at l'atelier de joel robuchon inside the mgm grand hotel. i had done serious restaurant research prior to this trip and i had wanted to eat at this fabulous place so badly. i booked us for the tasting menu. it was hands down the most decadent meal i've ever had in a restaurant. but one element of one dish stood out to me that particular night: the puree of cauliflower. it was outstanding.

oddly enough, we had it a second time during our stay in las vegas. this time it was at wolfgang puck's bar and grill where my wonderful friend, dustin lewandowski, is the executive chef.

i decided vegas was on to something besides gambling and extravagant shows. they love their cauliflower puree.

so, today, as i placed an IV catheter in a dog, my mind wandered....what was for dinner tonight?

and it hit me...cauliflower puree.

tonight's menu:
balsamic chicken breasts
cauliflower puree
sauteed green beans with bacon and onions

i hope it turns out as well as my memory.

how i got to homemade mulligatawny soup

let me start by saying indian food is my favorite food in the world. i worked at an indian restaurant as a server for about 2 years until i moved to paris. it's funny, because i used to eat there all the time and i always got the same server; a very nice girl called jenn. one afternoon as i was finishing my lunch, jenn brought my check to the table. i told her i was a little embarrassed to ask, but, were they hiring at the moment? she checked for me and brought me an application. soon after, i was waiting tables at my favorite restaurant.

it was hard work, but it was all worth it when my shift was over. we were allowed to graze from the food left in the kitchen and i looked forward to it all night. i tried every dish on the menu and never got tired of it. i wanted to learn how to cook it at home.

it wasn't easy. i usually cheated and just bought the bottled sauces from the market. it clearly wasn't the same. soon after, i moved to paris. and for almost a year, i craved the indian food i loved so much.

don't get me wrong, paris had it's fair share of indian restaurants. in fact, there was an entire area devoted to them. basically it was an alleyway called passage brady nestled in the 10th arrondissement. it's not to be mistaken for the larger, actual indian neighborhood in the 18th, but it held it's own.

this was as close as i could get to satisfying my craving for indian food. but the soup was missing. i loved nothing more at my old restaurant job than the mulligatawny soup. it was and is incredible. it was the first thing i ate when i returned to the united states.

so here i am, in omaha, sharing a house with scott. as i said before, i love to cook and he loves to eat, so our arrangement is ideal. i've always wanted to make mulligatawny soup from scratch but was terrified to do so. and besides, all the recipes i managed to find included chunks of chicken and that is not how i wanted my soup to be. i began my hunt for a vegetarian mulligatawny recipe and i found one!

i should give credit where credit is due: http://foodandspice.blogspot.com/2007/05/vegetable-mulligatawny-soup.html

i made a few alterations, but basically followed the recipe as written. i used my spices i already had in the cupboard (which were all of them). i used already-ground spices and toasted them as stated. i used 3 potatoes and omitted the turnips because they didn't look good at the store. i used a whole onion and 3 carrots. the beauty of this style of soup is the flexibility with the vegetables. you can pretty much include what you like.
i didn't have curry leaves, so i used the bay leaves i had on hand. i also didn't have chickpea flour, instead i used regular flour - not sure if it really mattered..seemed fine to me.
i think the biggest alteration i made with this soup was using chicken stock rather than vegetable stock. i know it's a vegetarian recipe, but i prefer the taste of chicken stock in soups over vegetable stock.
at the end of simmering, after the coconut milk and salt had been added, i threw in some chopped cilantro and squeezed some lemon juice into it.
i served it with rice in the soup and some cilantro and lemon wedges. it was perfect.

i conquered my fear of mulligatawny soup.

now there's nothing i can't cook.

we all have to eat, right?

so, scott thought i should include a new section in my blog (which i barely ever write in, anymore, but want to). i love to cook and he loves to eat, so our arrangement is working out well for both of us. he suggested i include what i've cooked for the two of us in my blog. we've been together now for a year and i've been cooking for us the entire time. i guess now is a good time to start documenting our culinary relationship.

i don't take cooking lightly. it's serious business. some people go to the gym. some people power clean their house. some people see a shrink.

cooking is my therapy.

i find it cathartic. it clears my mind. i feel a sense of freedom in the kitchen. i love the idea of spreading ingredients out on the counter and taking my knife to the usual suspects....garlic and onions...and watching it become just what i had in mind. just what i craved for that night.

i love nothing more than to prepare and cook a meal. i'll share it all here. it feels good to get it all out.

my series of infinite moments, part 1

in november of 2003, just weeks before i turned 24 years old, i moved to paris. well, i actually moved to sèvres, but who's counting? it took a 5 minute bus ride to be in paris, proper. but even now, writing that i lived in france seems somehow foreign to me. i can't really believe i went through with it.
i followed the advice of a friend who had moved to germany to be an au pair. so, i visited the agency's website and decided i wanted to move to france. i spent almost 6 months or more scanning families, posting my information, looking at photos, reading family bios, and the like. it was an odd process, to say the least. i mean, i was basically "shopping" for a family and they, on the other end, were doing the same. i came across a family with 3 girls, which is what i wanted. see, at the time i was interested in this, i was still on the fence about liking kids or not. i thought girls would be easier to deal with. this family wanted a native english speaker to help the girls with their english homework and to speak to the youngest, who was 4 at the time.
so, i placed a posting with the family and continued with my search. i would say it was about a week later when i received a phone call from a weird number. i answered it without thinking and on the other end was a man with the thickest french accent i'd ever heard. he explained to me who he was and said he was interested in hiring me as their au pair.
i didn't say a word. i actually hung up on him.
i thought it was a joke; one of my friends screwing with me, maybe. i didn't expect to be contacted that quickly and it took me totally off guard.
i stood in my living room shocked at what i just did! i was all sweaty and nervous and then the phone rang again, so i knew it wasn't a prank. i answered and it was the same voice again. i had to lie and tell him i lost the connection. see, once i acknowledged the voice was real, that meant what i was doing was real. it wasn't just looking anymore. it was really happening.
his name was phillipe. how perfect i thought. his wife was called valerie and his three daughters were fiona (age 9), amandine (age 7) and aurelie (age 4). i loved them instantly. i couldn't wait to see them. their story was an interesting one. the family had just returned to france from a 4-year stint living in england, where phillipe had a job. his employer was transferring him back to his home country and valerie also had to go back to work. this is the reason they needed an au pair. this is the reason they needed me.