tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36874592007-06-19T19:54:22.768-04:00Poet's PantryA collection of recipes, cooking notes & technique tips....Celianoreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-90886666212206790402007-06-19T19:53:00.001-04:002007-06-19T19:54:22.797-04:00A Shift
This is to direct you to http://celiathepoet.blogspot.com/, where I shall continue food and recipe posts as I feel inclined.
"All-one, all-one, Dilute! Dilute!"Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1148265250373264522006-05-21T22:30:00.000-04:002006-05-21T22:34:10.383-04:00Peanut Sauce
It's an instinctive, improvisational recipe, and I probably make it differently every time.
Begin with peanut butter (almond butter is good, too). You probably want at least1/3 cup for each person/portion. Measure this into a bowl or plastic container (then you can store any leftover sauce in same). Add 4 Tbs tamari, 2 TBS roasted sesame oil, a dash of rice vinegar. Mix it up. Add Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1146887349813464192006-05-05T23:46:00.000-04:002006-05-05T23:49:09.816-04:00Spinach
I eat a lot of fresh spinach, but recently I've found some excellent uses for the frozen variety.
Laurie Colwin's Creamed Spinach with Jalapeno Peppers
Servings: 8 as a side. But I can eat at least half of it by myself.
This is an adaptation of a recipe from Home Cooking. Laurie Colwin said it was "so good it made me want to sit up and beg like a dog" and I can't help but think of Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1146887137366022212006-05-05T23:42:00.000-04:002006-05-05T23:45:38.326-04:00How Much Fennel Do You Use in Cooking? I mean, really?
These tips, however, are very useful, despite their semi-obsession with all things fennel. (via Rebecca Blood)
Here are two I'll use for sure:
Peeling Chestnuts The hard shell of a chestnut protects the tender meat. This technique removes in one piece both the shell and the thin membrane that covers the meat. 1. Score the shell Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1134492199448372862005-12-13T11:32:00.000-05:002005-12-13T11:43:19.456-05:00Vegetable Lo Mein (aka Crunchy Hippie Pasta with Veg and Spicy Peanut Sauce)
from Julie Jordan's Cabbagetown Cafe Cookbook
This very flavorful dish is made with pasta (regular or whole wheat) and vegetables tossed with a garlic sauce. Any vegetables you have on hand are good--these are just suggestions.
Sesame Garlic Sauce
8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or crushed
1-inch piece fresh gingerCelianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1134351564118583772005-12-11T20:37:00.000-05:002005-12-11T20:39:24.130-05:00Urban Legend Cookies (aka Neiman-Marcus Cookies)
(Recipe may be halved): 2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp. soda
2 cups sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal**
24 oz. chocolate chips
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
2 tsp. vanilla
Cream the butter and Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1132007806481442212005-11-14T17:31:00.000-05:002005-11-14T17:36:46.496-05:00Reward
I was wildly productive today (bought insulation for pipes, stopped at two Walgreens, got oil changed and car washed, plus stopped at Goodwill for a browse), and am rewarding myself with this marvelous dinner.
Tibetan curried potatoes (from Salon, Nov 2000)
A recipe with a history, to be eaten shamelessly. In preparing the dish, the single most important thing to remember is that Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1130797772487873482005-10-31T17:20:00.000-05:002005-10-31T17:29:32.496-05:00Stuffed Squash
This is a recipe that takes a lot of improvisation. What follows is simply tonight's version.
Bake a halved, scooped butternut squash, rubbed with a little oil and placed open-side down, in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until mostly soft. Meanwhile, cook a cup or more of rice--just about any kind will do, but I like a medium grain brown rice.
Chop a 1/4 cup of Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1130202756310278372005-10-24T21:05:00.000-04:002005-10-24T21:12:36.316-04:00Menu for a Rainy October Sunday
Vegetable Curry
This is a mild curry I made up. Serve with rice, and a side of sour cream or plain yogurt.
Cut into bite-sized pieces:
onion
green beens
carrot
red cabbage
red pepper
Start onion & pepper sauteeing in canola oil. When these are soft, add:
2 Tbs garam masala
1 Tbs cumin
1 Tbs coriander
1/2 tsp dry yellow mustard powder
1/2 tsp chile powder
salt
Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1106283880906164222005-01-21T01:03:00.000-05:002005-01-21T00:04:40.906-05:00Migas: bacon, egg, and heaven
I made this tonight, having read about it at Centrs' journal, and it was out of this world.
migas recipe (for two) 6 strips of bacon
6 eggs
1 small onion
4 corn tortillas
salt
pepper
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cook the bacon, saving the drippings. set the bacon aside on a paper towel to drain. slice the onion into rings. cut the corn tortillas into Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1100297289534659402004-11-12T17:06:00.000-05:002004-11-12T17:08:09.533-05:00 Ginger syrup
This is a syrup you can mix with soda to make fresh ginger ale (mint and maybe rum would be good in it, as well) or as a dressing for a fruit salad.
3 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 cups thinly sliced fresh ginger (1/2 lb; from a 10-inch piece), left unpeeled Bring water, sugar, and ginger to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan, then stir until sugar is dissolved. Simmer 10 Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1097464758493796952004-10-10T23:18:00.000-04:002004-10-10T23:19:18.493-04:00Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies
(from Laurie Colwin’s More Home Cooking)
1. Melt together 1 stick butter and 2 squares unsweetened chocolate and take the saucepan off the heat.
2. Sir in 1 cup sugar, add to eggs and ½ teaspoon vanilla, and beat the mixture well.
3. Stir in ¼ cup all-purpose flour and ½ teaspoon salt. (Add chopped nuts here if you like them.)
4. Bake the brownies in a butteredCelianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1092427361758526422004-08-13T15:54:00.000-04:002004-08-13T16:02:41.756-04:00Julia Child : Bon Appetit!
I adored her. Read about her life as well as use her cookbooks and you will understand why she said, "Life itself is the proper binge."
Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-108874549608807862004-07-02T01:14:00.000-04:002004-07-02T01:18:16.090-04:00A Note On Roasting Red Peppers
While you can do this on a gas burner, turning the pepper with tongs over and over in the flame until the skin blackens, I do mine in the broiler. When they're charred, I place them in a paper bag for a few minutes as they cool. This causes the skin to steam away from the flesh, making it easy to remove under some cool water.
If you're not going to use the Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1088392157079380562004-06-27T23:06:00.000-04:002004-06-27T23:09:17.080-04:00Cilantro Mayonaise
Ingredients:
3?4 cup reduced-fat (or fat free) mayo
3?4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lemon or lime juice
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 or 2 small cloves of garlic
Place the mayonnaise, cilantro, lemon/lime juice, soy sauce, and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.
***
I had this last week at a Solstice Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1085451008738820272004-05-24T22:04:00.000-04:002004-05-24T22:10:08.740-04:00Best Breakfasts
When I was a tiny poet, my grandmother used to make fresh squeezed orange juice for me in the morning. She'd slice a big orange in half and squeeze it with an old-fashioned glass juicer, which I now have. The juice was warm and sweet and very acidic; delicious. Then she'd make bacon and french toast (the best!) in the electric frypan on the kitchen table (which I also now have)Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1080064211687459102004-03-23T12:50:00.000-05:002004-03-23T12:53:36.483-05:00Spring and a Poet's Thoughts Turn to Salad....
I have Salad-Making Resistance. I like to eat the stuff, but the machinations of preparing it somehow bore me. But I do have salad mix, baby carrots and other things about, and when there is no Annie's Cowgirl Ranch Dressing to motivate me, there is:
Lemon-Sesame Dressing (from the Cabbagetown Cafe Cookbook)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 cup lightCelianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1077844355549200902004-02-26T20:12:00.000-05:002004-02-26T20:15:23.216-05:00This winter's best soup, hands down...
Red Lentil Soup with Curry and Coconut Milk
?? 3 Tbs. vegetable oil
?? 2 medium onions, chopped (2 cups)
?? 1 cup red lentils
?? 3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (1 cup)
?? 14-oz. can light coconut milk (you can use regular, but I'm always looking to cut out fat/calories)
?? 1 bay leaf
?? 3 cloves garlic, minced
?? 1-inch piece Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1064806610912048012003-09-28T23:36:00.000-04:002003-09-28T23:36:50.540-04:00Vitamin A Indulgences
Been cooking often; probably due to the recent purchase of a Cuisinart. Exquisite thing...
Carrots and Garlic
(a modified crockpot recipe)
A bunch of carrots, sliced thinly
A few cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
some olive oil
some orange juice
Throw all ingredients into a heavy bottomed pot. Heat briefly on moderate heat, till the mixture steams. Lower flame,Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1063330465414733692003-09-11T21:34:00.000-04:002003-09-11T21:34:25.353-04:00CUBAN SWEET POTATOES (WITH GARLIC & CILANTRO)
Put a heavy-duty baking sheet into the oven and preheat (oven and baking sheet) to 450º.
2 medium sweet potatoes
4 T. olive oil
4 cloves garlic - or more!
1/3 bunch cilantro
juice of 1 lime
Peel the sweet potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise, and then cut into half-circle shaped slices about 1/2-inch thick. Put them in a big bowl, add Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-1062374939854932662003-08-31T20:08:00.000-04:002003-08-31T20:09:10.526-04:00CHOCOLATE STOUT CAKE
I'd eat this for breakfast every day. It is so good with coffee, you might not need Prozac.
"I am a lifelong chocoholic and have eaten many a piece of chocolate cake," writes Elizabeth Means of Williamsburg, Massachusetts. "Never before, though, have I enjoyed anything as much as the chocolate stout cake at the Barrington Brewery in nearby Great Barrington. If I Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-936728212003-05-02T17:10:00.000-04:002003-05-02T17:10:53.610-04:00A great place to get a sandwich in Buffalo: Soul Lievito. Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-873247452003-01-12T18:56:00.000-05:002003-02-03T00:32:43.000-05:00Squash or Pumpkin Tian from Laurie Colwin's More Home Cooking
Using either pumpkin, butternut or delicata squash, peel and seed the squash and cut it into one-inch chunks. Shake the chunks into a bag with some white flour. Shake off excess flour and scatter squah into an oiled or buttered shallow baking dish. Atop this scatter 1/3 cup of good parmesan (parmigiano reggiano is the one and only Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-868319332003-01-02T11:06:00.000-05:002003-01-02T11:06:21.676-05:00I wowed the folks at the New Year's Day party with this recipe from one of Jeanne Lemlin's Quick Vegetarian Pleasures cookbooks.
Sweet Potatoes Anna
Thinly slice 3 or so large sweet potatoes or yams (yams, the orange ones, are prettier but both are tasty). You want little rounds. Using a vegetable peeler is not a bad idea. Submerge these in cold water if they start to go black on you too Celianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3687459.post-840383752002-11-04T22:08:00.000-05:002002-11-04T22:08:33.203-05:00It's a Mushroom-Barley casserole sort of day....
Actually, I've hardly been in the mood to cook or eat, even, and I don't know why. I did make a fairly experimental beef stew, my first ever, but I don't have anything useful to say about it except, I wish I'd done it in a crockpot. I've been eating gingersnaps, peanut butter, snowy owls, hot bacon-cheese dip, and a great deal of water with my Celianoreply@blogger.com