we both love soup.

the glorious glorious sun hung out for a few days. i thought, at LAST! and then it ran away. boo.

however, the disappearance of the sun did not deter me from making my favourite sunshine salad: broccoli, orange tofu, and coconut milk quinoa. served with or without greens, and with or without other fruits and veggies, it's a delightful and crunchy salad.

gather:
250 ml coconut milk (roughly a cup)
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
broccoli
tofu

orange juice, maple syrup, soy sauce, ginger

it's best to let the tofu hang out in the marinade for at least 30 minutes if not overnight.  make sure to press out the water first otherwise it wont soak up any of the orangey flavour.  my method is to slice the tofu and then lay it on a tea towel.  fold the towel over once, and twice and then press firmly with your hands.

i use about a half cup of orange juice and a few tbsps of syrup plus a generous splash of soy sauce (and sliced ginger goodness, if we have some).

the tofu is stacked in a plastic box--one with a tight seal so i can flip it after a time to make sure the tofu sops up as much as it can.

once the tofu is swimming, i prep the quinoa and lightly steam the broccoli. when both the quinoa and broccoli are cool, i bake the tofu (or pan fry if im feeling frisky) at 175/350 for about 20 minutes.


broccoli is chopped and mixed with the quinoa, cooled tofu is sliced and added, and whatever fruits or veggies are floatin around. for this round, i used grapes. i was going to add a plum but i ate it.



for lunch the next day i made soup. we had a mountain of leeks from my mother-in-law, so i roasted them all with some greek oregano, save a few, and made some stock with the leeks, onion, bayleaf, and astragalus root.

i added the stock to the roasted leeks, threw in some potatoes, and let that simmer for a while. then i used the immersion blender and that was that.

then i made chocolate chip cookies. because... chocolate chip cookies. i used the same recipe ive used before save the yogurt. i used bourbon instead.

bourbon.

birthday brown butter almond cake

it was our friend michel's birthday yesterday, and well, i mean, a birthday does require cake, no?

inspired by the always fabulous smittenkitchen, i dreamt of cake the night before last. yesterday morning, i decided, most resolutely, that i must make a brown butter cake. hers is with hazelnuts. but you know what i had in the cupboard? almonds. an lo a substitution was made. plus i didnt have to remove any hazelnut skins. i also changed the sugar--she used powdered sugar in her cake batter and i didnt. i used regular sugar. well, ok, i used some powdered sugar but i didnt have enough for the whole lot. note to self: we are out of powdered sugar.

ingredients include:
150 g almonds
225 g butter
4 tbsp powdered sugar
5 tbsp flour
3/4 cup sugar
3 egg whites






first, the almonds were pan roasted and the butter was browned. once the almonds were cool, i combined the almonds with 4 tbsp of powdered sugar that i did have on hand, and gave them a whirl in the ol' food processor. once ground, i added the flour and combined.

the eggs whites and sugar went for a spin in the kitchen aid until soft peaks formed. then the butter and almond mixture took turns combining with the fluffy eggs until i had myself an amazing smelling batter.

i oiled and papered my springform pan, poured in the batter, and baked at 175 for about a half an hour. all the while, i was making carrot soup. and prepping raspberries for curd.



i decided to use my food mill to prep the raspberries. you'll forgive me for not knowing the quantity. i used 2 boxes of frozen berries, and the mister has already dutifully taken out the recycling so i cant look. im going to guess 600 g because it sounds like a nice number. once defrosted, the berries were mashed and deseeded, leaving me with a gorgeous red puree. i did not get all the seeds out, and you know what? it's fine by me.  i looked up a number of curd recipes and no one tempered their eggs. i found this to be strange. my recipe was cobbled together based on what others have done, ingredient-wise, and what i thought i should do for creation.

85 g butter
raspberries
4 egg yolks (i saved the yolks when i separated the eggs for the cake)
1/2 cup sugar
cornstarch

butter and sugar were creamed together, and then i added the puree. everything was placed in a saucepan and warmed up, slowly, until the butter melted. i let it get a bit warmer, but still not boiling, and tempered the eggs. then i put the mixture back into the saucepan and returned it to the stove. cook, cook, cook... cook, cook, cool. i kept stirring and stirring all the while. once it was cooled significantly, i realised it was not thick enough, so i made a cornstarch slurry and threw that in.

lastly, i prepped the ganache. this time i used cream.

1 container whole cream (just a little over a cup)
1 bar bakers chocolate
1 small blob of butter

i broke the chocolate into bits, warmed the cream, and then poured the cream over the chocolate. i let it sit for a moment then stirred until it was shiny. i let it cool for a bit, on its own, and then it was shoved into the fridge to help it along. then it was whipped.


and then, assembly time! i cut the cake into two layers and piped a round of ganache on the outer edge. i spread the curd on the inner circle and plunked the cake back together together. i did a crumb coat and then, using a turntable (my mother is not lazy, thankyouverymuch), i frosted the cake.




and then it was party time!

here's to george. he didn't die. (a nearly vegetarian gluten free thanksgiving with a swiss fella and an australian couple)

grandpa

fall is always about family. starting in september, we have family birthdays all the way to november. and then there's thanksgiving.

home sweet home

it might not sound too terribly unlike anyone else's family. after all, thanksgiving is a time of reflection and celebration. but in my family, it's also a time to be thankful that george didn't die.

george was a teacher who came over on the mayflower. tracing the menfolk, my line goes thusly: George, George, William, George, Benjamin, Ebenezer, Stephen, Justus, Melville, Earle, John. john was my mom's dad.

when i was little, i thought it was the Coolest Thing Ever. as i got older, and learned about genocide (and other fun atrocities), i realised just how distorted the story was. it's not like the pilgrims showed up and everyone got together with the natives and they held hands and were BFFs. That's the vision we're taught in kindergarten. at least that's how my generation was taught. pre-Howard Zinn. (to be fair, my parents were always honest with me; we were not strangers to Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park, and my mother introduced me to Ishi at a fairly young age). from a very early age, indeed as far back as i can remember, ive been a part of this history. history is real. history gave me life.

my, arent we hot stuff? 

and this is why i love thanksgiving.

well, that and it's a chance to make glorious food. after all, the origins of thanksgiving stem from a 3 day fête of merrymaking and feasting.

no matter where in the world i'm living, i make sure i have a thanksgiving.

in my family, just like in most USAian families, there are certain staples that are Just Necessary. we are a green bean casserole free household, but we always have dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry, and pumpkin pie. oh, and turkey.

thanksgiving in China, 2008 

i have very fond memories of my chinese thanksgivings wherein i made stuffing and mashed potatoes to share with my students. one year the chef from the teacher's cafeteria wanted to make us a turkey and pie. i have no idea where he found a turkey, and they had to split it in half for it to fit in the oven, but he was quite pleased with himself. the pie wasnt half bad either. a student translated our family recipe and he took some creative license with it.


but all the USAians appreciated the pie. a can of cranberry was shipped to china and we shared a special moment with just us and the red glop.

this year, the mister and i shared thanksgiving with two aussies. nicola made the pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes (and a roast chicken for them), and i took on the rest.



we nearly had a cranberry crisis. apparently, and much to the surprise of the shopkeeps who were not understanding why people with a crazed look in their eye kept surfacing and asking for the berry, the cranberries were sold out and the latest shipment had not arrived. but cranberries were eventually found, quite at the last moment, and there was much rejoicing. and kisses. lots of thank you kisses were given. to the mister. not the berries.

this year i used alton brown's recipe as my muse. i altered it thusly:
1/2ish cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4ish cup honey
4ish cups cranberries

i also made a roasted mushroom stock for our gravy and for the dressing.


 this year the dressing was altered once again. i do keep the basic frame of the treasured family recipe, but i am a trouble-maker. because nicola is a celiac, and i dont make it a habit to poison my friends, i decided to use half GF bread, and half cornbread. i made the cornbread much differently than my usual because i wanted it to be more corny.

1 1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup GF all purpose flour
2 teaspoons GF baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon honey
2 tbsp olive oil

then, because i cant just change one thing, i steamed and peeled chestnuts, browned some butter with fresh sage, and added celery.


then i stuffed it into onion shells.

that's what im talkin about right there.

i roasted some butternut squash and made an apple compote with dried cranberries and fennel to glop on top.



dried cranberries
1 apple
1 fennel bulb
1 cup apple juice
splash of Calvados
throw all ingredients into a pot and cook until it seems right.



i then prepped the salmon dish.

i made a glaze with balsamic vinegar and rosemary honey, and dredged some carrots and fennel in that. i cut a pocket into the salmon and stuffed it full of sauteed leeks and garlic, and some chopped pear.

by that time, my sweet potaters were cooked through, so i smashed 'em, threw in some pecan chunks, and squeezed in some orange juice and zest.  once we got to nicola's house, we covered the potatoes with greek yogurt and goat cheese.  we also had a cranberry cocktail (gin cosmo!).  and bananananana cake.

almost ready! missing the sweet potatos (still in oven!) and chicken 

and then! things were shoved in the oven, potatoes were mashed with garlic and sour cream, gravy was made with cornstarch, and we laughed a lot.

we had wine.  we ate. we had more wine.  we ate.  we had some wine.  we ate.

and then.
aaaaaaand then.
aaaaaaaaaaaand theeeeeen.

there was pie.

nicola did a gorgeous job.

plus we got to take some home. pie for breakfast? damn right. the mister says this is a tradition he can embrace. he also asked if we could have pumpkin pie for breakfast every day.

Qapla'! How star trek led me to corndogs

the trees are turning, the air is crisp, and it's almost my birthday. that means it's nearly fall! that also means that the summertime foods are soon to be a memory.

i found myself at the thinkgeek website oogling the kitchen goodies (it is almost my birthday, after all)--more specifically, the star trek cookie cutters--and i stumbled upon the corndog factory. the mister happened to walk into the room right when i said, "ooooOOOooocoooorrrrrndoooooog" ... and he had no idea what i was talking about. lo! I had to show him the video.

this is the face he made


shock! horror! disbelief! "you EAT those?!" well, yes. i mean, i have not in a long time, but yes, i enjoyed corndogs in my youth. i explained how they were fried and didnt involve bacon. i got mine at the local A&W. (true fact: A&W rootbeer came from lodi, where i went to high school. true fact: i made the swiss mister try a root beer float when we were visiting california but it was waaaay tooooo rich for him. the swiss guy. who has chocolate and cheese pumping through his veins.)

still in shock, he skulked away, probably to cleanse his palate with fancy cheese. he was not going to be home for dinner, so i decided to give myself a little treat: corndogs! and what goes with corndogs? beans!! and what else? coleslaw! i decided to give myself one last summertime cookout dinner. except for i cooked in. and baked the corndogs.

i plundered the local market and got some veggie dogs. then i gathered the following and mixed them together:
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

i also amassed the liquid ingredients:
3/4 cup/180 ml milk
1 egg
1 tbsp greek yogurt

the two were combined, and the batter was born!

they were to be baked at 400°/205° for around 15 minutes-ish.  sadly, the first batch was way runny.  fear not! i simply added more flour and tried again.  Qapla'!

these turned out tastily delicious! but what made dinner super awesome was not the corndogs alone, but the combination of corndogs and side dishes.

and cookies. but we'll get to that.

first! the beans.  i used my trusty bbq bean recipe


next up? slaw!
i used:
1/2 head cabbage (chou)
a few carrots
1 apple
a little lemon juice
2 healthy splashes of white vinegar
1.5 containers honey greek yogurt

i gingerly coaxed the cabbage into the slicing and dicing machine. then i shredded the carrot and apple, dropped in some raisins, and mixed the whole lot together.

the dressing was a combination of the juice, vinegar, and yogurt. the bonus honey was just perfect.

i mixed the dressing together and drizzled it over the veggies and gave it a stir. then i stuck it in the fridge to chill while the corndogs were corndogging.

the corndogs might look a little wonky, but boy howdy, did they hit the spot.

and then i thought, you know what? it's been a long time since i made cookies. i should make cookies. i used to make chocolate chip cookies in china sometimes, to share. see, it's cultural.

inspired by a post i read, i went ahead and made some holycannoli delicious cookies.

i used:

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup browned butter
a little less than 1 cup raw sugar
2 large eggs
1 heaping tablespoon honey greek yogurt
chopped up chocolate (the chocolate "chips" here are square. and weird.)

these tasty treats were baked at 175°/350° for 10 minutes and then sprinkled with alp salt, the swiss version of sea salt.


the mister came home late from work to a divine smelling house.

it had been way too long since i made chocolate chip cookies.  way too long.  i do not think i'll wait so long again.