yes that’s what you think it is

This is pan fried macaroni and cheese “toast” (in seasoned canned breadcrumbs rather than panko because we ran out).

That means I took slabs of leftover macaroni and cheese, breaded them, and fried them in oil until the outside was crispy and the inside was gooey and hot.

But it’s okay. Because we ate it with apples.

The macaroni and cheese recipe is the one I always make and the one I grew up eating. It’s on the back of the Mueller’s box. I tend to add about twice as much cheese as it calls for because I like my macaroni and cheese to be extra cheesy.

Also I didn’t deep fry it like Alton Brown and Paula Deen do. I just pan fried it in about an inch of oil in the cast iron skillet. I figured if the oil came halfway up the slab of mac and cheese then it would get crispy enough without being fully submerged. That makes it good for me, too, right?

That was one of the tastiest things I have ever consumed. Ever. Seriously. And while it has to be a gazillion calories I’m thinking it’s a safe bet that it’s better for you than a big mac.

p.s.

So I can’t find my camera, but I am so excited about this that I have to at least write it down here. In my last post I mentioned that I had this fantasy that all my seeds would be sprouted by the time I got back and guess what- they sprouted! The beans are the most dramatic, but there are also carrot, beet, and cucumber sprouts as well. The broccoli we started indoors also sprouted while I was away. The only thing that hasn’t sprouted are the lettuces I started inside.  I’m hoping they’ll appear soon, but with this heat I won’t be able to set them outdoors any time soon anyway.

So, my fantasy came true.

Our new place

Alright. You caught me. I haven’t posted in about forever. But I have been busy- I moved south and am preparing to start life as a grad student. The new place is really fabulous. Mostly thanks to Matt’s parents, who came to visit and worked tirelessly to help unpack and decorate our home. Matt and his dad even turned our little plot of crabgrass out the back door into a bona fide garden. There is space on one side for our many pots of herbs and the grill and space on the other side for 18 + square foot plots inside a raised bed. I’ve filled every inch of that raised bed with vegetable plants or seeds.

I’m at the beach for a few days with my parents and have this fantasy that when I get back tomorrow all of the seeds I put in the ground (or started indoors to put in the ground later) will have sprouted and they’ll look lush and happy. We’ll see.  It’s been close to 100 degrees every day while I’ve been gone so if I were one of those seeds, I’d stay underground where it’s cooler.

I can’t wait until I harvest the first cucumbers, beans, carrots, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, and most of all- the beets. There is absolutely nothing like a fresh beet. They’re wonderful just wrapped up in tinfoil and roasted. (They’re also a lot easier and neater to peel post-roasting than they are raw.) My favorite is a salad with roasted beets, sherry vinegrette, blue cheese, and pistachios. I had a salad like this at Jaleo in DC and have been making it at home ever since. But with fresh beets straight from my own garden?! This thing is gonna be at a whole other level.  I can’t wait!

So I baked bread today

Don’t tell Matt, but I have a minor obsession with Mark Bittman at the moment. I just finished watching the entire series Spain- On the Road Again on DVD and while Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow kind of got on my nerves just the tiniest bit at times, Mark Bittman and Claudia Bassols were always charming- even over multiple episodes at one sitting. So having watched the whole thing (including the bonus features at the end) I was left wanting more. That’s when I discovered Mark Bittman’s blog for the New York Times entitled Bitten.

Now I realize that most of the world already knows about the endearing-yet-curmudgeonly Bittman, either because of his wildly popular How to Cook Everything cookbooks or because of his most-emailed-ever (or something like that) no-knead bread recipe, but this is all a new discovery for me and I plan on reveling in it. I mean- he’s a cookbook / newspaper writer who, although he has been on TV a fair bit, isn’t a celebrity chef. He manages to come across like a regular guy. That’s pretty rare in itself- but apparently this man also holds the key to easily making bread at home? Where have you been all my life, Mark Bittman?!

Hang on, I’m reveling . . .

Okay. So reading his recipe for no-knead bread led me to read a ton of blogs and forums about baking it. Breadtopia, in particular, was a great  resource. It was on that site that I discovered that  Cook’s Illustrated had tweaked the recipe to fix a couple of flaws that they’d noticed in the original: 1) the bread didn’t rise enough 2) it didn’t taste like much. I’m a big Cook’s Illustrated fan and I figure whatever way they say is the best way- they’ve tested it a bazillion times. So at this point I’d decided to try the Cook’s version.

But at this point in the evening what I really needed to do was get my lazy self off of the couch and make dinner before So You Think You Can Dance came on, which I did, but when SYTYCD did come on I discovered (much to my chagrin) that Toni Basil was the guest judge. Now if you’re a fan of the show you know just what I’m talking about: that woman talks. A lot. So the only way Matt and I could make it through the show was to turn on the mute button each time it was her turn to speak. That allowed me to watch the super-helpful videos on Breadtopia demonstrating the technique for the revised Cook’s Illustrated bread. The recipe calls for the dough to be mixed and left to rise overnight, so I decided that I’d go ahead and do that first step.

I started as soon as Ms. Basil started talking about Brandon and Jeanette’s awesome hip hop routine and was done in time to see Kupono and Kayla dance on the other end of the commercial break. It couldn’t have been easier or faster. Then today, I dumped out the dough, kneaded it ten times (the Cook’s Illustrated recipe is Almost No-Knead Bread so there is a small amount of kneading), and placed it on oiled parchment to rise a second time. An hour and a half later I started preheating my dutch oven. Then thirty minutes later my little round ball of dough was placed, parchment and all, into the preheated dutch oven. The whole thing went off without a hitch, just like the nice man in the breadtopia video.

It looked and smelled amazing and it tastes . . . like homemade bread, which is a beautiful thing.

So, if anyone is reading this- go watch the little instructional video and make some bread!

You say it’s your birthday . . . pt. 2

As promised, I will now share Matt’s fabulous coconut cake. I was thinking I’d stumped him when I asked for coconut. I don’t think I was consciously trying to get him back for the best-ever chocolate cake (see last post for the gory details) but perhaps I was on some level trying to get back at him. Maybe. Just a little.

I was also craving my  friend Dana’s mom’s coconut cake. This cake lives in legend in her family- recipients have been known to hide the cake in a closet to avoid having to share it. I’m not joking. I was fortunate enough to be around Dana’s mom when she was baking one of these blessed things and I remembered that it involved cracking open a real coconut and pouring the liquid into the layers of cake before assembling and frosting it. I also thought I remembered that whipped topping was a component in the frosting. Of course I very clearly remembered that it was really really good. At first I thought Matt could just call Dana and get her mom’s recipe. It would not be so easy, however- apparently this cake is so legendary partly because the recipe is top secret.

Sorry, Matt.

Being the resourceful fellow he is, Matt simply did what any other good cook would do. He googled it. And when he did, he found Paula Deen’s coconut cake recipe. As far as sources for a good old fashioned Southern anything goes, Paula Deen is generally a good bet. And her recipe couldn’t be simpler. The cake is what is called a 1-2-3-4 cake.  (so named, I assume, for the amount of the ingredients- 1 c butter, 1 c milk, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 c sugar, 3 c self rising flour, and 4 eggs.) This version simply replaces the cup of milk with a cup of canned coconut milk. It also features a sour cream based filling and the classic egg white based 7 minute frosting. What could go wrong?

Nothing did go wrong, really- except that Matt didn’t even begin the process of finding a recipe, gathering ingredients, and baking the cake unil Sunday afternoon (Sunday as in my birthday).  I don’t think he realized that coconut cakes need to sit a bit in the fridge to get really good. Anyway, he did a really great job with it. The only time I butted in on the process was with the frosting. He was going to do the egg white frosting in Paula’s recipe; but by that time it was really hot in the kitchen (and outside for that matter) and between the humidity and his having never made meringue before, I went ahead and volunteered to mix up a batch of vanilla buttercream. We dumped an entire container of whipped topping into the frosting and folded that in as well.  It was heavenly!

Here are some pictures of the process:

Check out how unevenly our oven cooks things. Neato! 

And on goes the sour cream filling . . . did I mention poking the holes so the filling soaks in? Matt did that. And it soaked in beautifully.  Matt was also afraid the top layer (which was a bit lopsided) would slide off the bottom layer so the toothpicks served a structural purpose as well.

Then on went the second layer, more filling (because there was some leftover), and the buttercream-whipped topping mixture was glopped on. I helped with that part.

More glopping and smushing . . . 

But once you cover the whole thing in shredded coconut, nobody can tell if the icing is smooth or not. 

And now for the artsy shot!  (Thanks, Erica.)

You say it’s your birthday . . . pt. 1

Matt and I have a deal going that when one of us has a birthday the other of us has to bake the cake of the birthday boy/girl’s choice. This goes back to when we were dating and Matt asked me to make “The Best-Ever Chocolate Cake” from The Great Big Baking Book, a gift I’d recieved from his mom at Christmas. I was at his place and he was cooking steaks on the stovetop while I was trying to tackle this cake. We were both also trying to be charming for the guests we’d invited over for dinner to celebrate Matt’s birthday.

The picture of the chocolate cake looked amazing. Three layers of moist, fluffy cake with decadent chocolate frosting. Perfect for a birthday cake. Matt was gonna love this.

Then I read the recipe. There was triple sifting of dry ingredients, separating of eggs, things that involve double boilers . . . this recipe even complicated the greasing and flouring of cake pans! “Line 3 8 x 1 1/2 inch round cake pans with wax paper and grease. Dust evenly with flour and spread with a brush. Set aside.” Seriously?! My mom always just smears butter on the inside, spoons in some flour, and turns the pan over the sink whilst whacking the side with her hand. There is no brush and no waxed paper involved in this process. I began to inwardly panic.

To make a long story short, when the cake came out of the oven  it did not look like three fluffy, moist layers of chocolate cake. It looked like three dark brown frisbees. I’d already made the frosting so I went ahead and frosted them.

Matt smiled and ate it and told me it was delicious. I cried and felt like a failure and was exceedingly grateful that this sweet man was dating me.

Just for the record, that was three years ago and since then I have managed to bake two very nice chocolate birthday cakes for Matt, thankyouverymuch. Never mind that the last one came from a book called The Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor. Here’s a picture . . .

Okay, so it’s still not very pretty; but at least it’s the right shape.

Stop snickering.

Here’s the recipe:

Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour two cake pans. (no brush required)
3. Mix a package of chocolate cake mix, 3/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup vegetable oil, 3 large eggs, and 2 tsp cinnamon with an electric mixer on low, scraping down the sides of the bowl halfway through the mixing process.
4. Pour batter into cake pans and bake for 28-32 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and let cool for half an hour before frosting.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Mix 1 package of room temperature cream cheese with 1 stick of room temperature butter with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds.
2. Add 1/2 cup Dutched, unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla, and 3 3/4 cups confectioner’s sugar. Blend on low for another 30 seconds.
3. Add more sugar if the frosting looks thin and then increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, until fluffy.
4. Frost a cold cake so it doesn’t look all melty and funky like mine did.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this post in which my husband completely outclasses me with the coconut cake he made for my birthday.

Roast chicken, etc.

Matt (the husband) and I recently hosted a fantabulous Derby Party and served a ton of food. Seriously. People were literally groaning for us to stop bringing out the food by the end of the evening. I do plan to post that menu with lots of pictures, etc. but I feel I should do this chronologically. And before there was Derby Party, there was Matt being gone on a business trip for 4 days.

What you need to know about Matt and business trips is that when Matt leaves I suddenly lose all will to cook. I, Meg, the one who lived alone for a year and knows exactly how to cook for one person, suddenly feels that thawing a frozen chicken breast is just too much trouble.

So for several days I survived on a combination of Trader Joe’s organic mac and cheese in a box, ramen noodles from the Asian grocery that don’t have any English writing on them whatsoever, and peanut butter. Not that there’s anything wrong with any of these food items. But really. It’s not exactly big girl food.

Every day when I searched the fridge for leftovers I could pack for lunch I scolded myself for not cooking real food the night before. Each morning I’d vow that tonight would be different.

Tonight was never different.

Until Thursday. Thursday Matt was due home from his trip and suddenly, I wanted to cook dinner. Really cook dinner. So I went to TJ’s to refill the now empty fridge and while I was there I picked up a chicken. Not just any chicken; an Empire Kosher Certified Magic Chicken. Apparently the foodies love them and say they’re the best tasting chickens ever in the whole world. We’ve gotten them a few times, but they’re more expensive than other chickens so we don’t get them all the time.

I came home, unloaded the groceries, and cooked Matt a chicken. I roasted some potatoes, onions, and green beans while I was at it so there’d be a side dish. So easy. So tasty.

When we get the expensive chicken, I like to cook it the way Thomas Keller calls his favorite simple roast chicken in the Bouchon cookbook. If you don’t have that cookbook you should go buy it. Right now. It’s wonderful and beautiful and Thomas Keller waxes poetic about things like quiche and roasted beets. It’s wonderful.

Anyway, here’s what you do:

1. Wash and dry the chicken thoroughly.

2. Salt and pepper the cavity.

3. Truss (or pathetically attempt to truss, if you’re me- it’s okay. Just tuck the wings under and tie up the drumsticks and no one will be the wiser.)

4. Salt the chicken with Kosher salt.

5. Place into a 450 degree oven for 50 minutes to an hour.

When it comes out, just test it with a thermometer to make sure it’s okay and then you can baste it in its own juices and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. I know it’s counterintuitive to make the bird that dry and not add any liquid to it at all, but it makes an amazing chicken. Trust me. Better yet, trust Thomas Keller.

While that cooked, I used a variation on a Barefoot Contessa recipe (from the Back to Basics cookbook) for oven-roasted vegetables. She called for a 425 degree oven, so I figured 450 was close enough.

Here’s what I did:

1. Quarter some baby red potatoes.

2. Cut a red onion or two into big chunks

3. Have my pre-washed TJ’s green beans at the ready

I tossed the onions and potatoes in olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread on a cookie sheet. I put them in about 20 minutes after the chicken went in. I peeken in and tossed them after about 10 minutes, then 5 or 10 minutes later I threw in the green beans (which I had tossed in oil as well.) They were ready about when the chicken was.

So, as Matt was walking in the door with his bags, I was shaving parmesan over the veggies and letting the bird rest before carving. Do I deserve the wife of the year award, or what?

Here’s the chicken “resting.” Note the trussing job.

And here are the veggies. The onion got a bit too crispy. Next time I’ll use bigger chunks.

And here’s the chicken on the table.

The first post

So, seriously. Another food blog? Yes, another food blog. Why? Because it looks like fun. And because I have this bad habit of forgetting how I made a particular recipe last time- or even what I made last time, for that matter. So hopefully this blog will soon be filled with interesting and tasty recipes. But not today. Because I’m going to Kentucky for the week.