d Constitutional Cooking: February 2007

Friday, February 16, 2007

Easy Sweetness

When I left my home state, my mama put all of her usual recipes into a recipe book and this is one she included. My mother got it from our neighbor's mama. So, when some girls came over for Grey's last night*, I decided instead of the usual red wine+ salty snack, I'd mix it up a bit. As the queen of easy, I made the delicious, unhealthy, and extremely wonderful Easy Sugar Cake with some decaf coffee. It takes all of 5 minutes to put together, plus 30 minutes to bake.

Homemade (and more complex) sugar cake is a Moravian tradition that folks at home just adore from Dewey's bakery.

Ingredients for the easy version:

2 containers of crescent rolls (I used reduced fat)
8 oz container of Neufchatel (or cream cheese)
1 c powdered sugar or so
1 T vanilla
brown sugar
butter
cinnamon

How to:
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease cookie sheet.
Unroll one container of crescent rolls, pinching together the perforations to make a flat sheet.
Mix together cream cheese, powdered sugar, & vanilla.
Spread onto top of crescent rolls.
Unroll second container of crescent rolls on top of filling.
Use a fork to poke holes in this second part.
Sprinkle w/ brown sugar, however much you'd want. 1/2 cup should be about right but whatever looks good. Sprinkle cinnamon over this.
Melt some butter (original recipe calls for a whole stick but my ma and I use MUCH less) and pour over the brown sugar.
Pop into the oven for 25-30 minutes.
Cut into tiny pieces.
Eat.
MMMM.
______
* Um, does everyone agree that it was mostly awful except for the Alex story? I believe that if you eat a whole tub of butter, you're a weirdo.

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posted by mg at 9:56 AM 3 comments

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

A Carrot Special

Here is a soup and a chili featuring our winter vegetable friend, the carrot. I'm hooked on both.
Carrot, Chickpea, and Barley Soup
  • 3 C reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 C carrot juice
  • 1/4 C barley, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 2 C carrots, diced
  • 1 t balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 t ground pepper
  • 3 T chopped parsley
  • 2 T grated parmesean
  • optional: whole grain rolls or 2 C cooked pasta

In a medium saucepan, combine broth, carrot juice, barley and chickpeas. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 mins.
Add carrots and return to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and continue to simmer for 15 mins. Remove from heat.
Break out your immersion blender and pulse it in the soup for three seconds. Alternatively, scoop out about 1 1/2 C of the solids and mash them with a fork. Return mashed stuff to the pan. Stir in vinegar, pepper and parsley. If you're using pasta, put 1/2 C into four bowls. Divide the soup into the bowls. Top with parmesean.
One bowl of this goodness gives you your entire daily requirement of Vitamin A!

Firehouse Turkey Chili

  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 large clove of garlic, smashed
  • 1/2 C chopped scallions, divided
  • 1/2 pound ground turkey
  • 2 T chili powder
  • 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
  • 1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 med. red pepper, diced
  • 1 C carrot, diced
  • 1/2 t brown sugar (I inadvertently left this out and the chili was still phenomenal)
  • salt to taste

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium high heat until hot but not smoking. Toss in garlic and all but 2 T of the scallions. Cook, stirring frequently, for 1 min.
Add turkey and continue to cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon until browned, about 2 to 3 mins. Stir in chili powder and cook for 1 more min. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 mins. Divide into four bowls, garnish with remaining scallions. Add a dollop of sour cream, if desired.

Also: dear friend BJL turned me on to this site: www.sparkpeople.com. It's an online community where you can track your eating and exercise habits for healthy living. I'm not looking to lose any weight, but I'm very interested in the nutritional content of what I put in my body, so I'm on the site! It's pretty comprehensive, so if you're interested, check it out.

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posted by ek at 8:48 AM 0 comments

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Death Traps, revisited

MG, I have more sympathy (now empathy) for you regarding this post than ever before. I was baking an Amy's Organic Pizza (three-cheese with cornbread crust) while getting laundry done and otherwise tidying up for the upcoming visit of my fella. I was on the phone with said fella (JMG for future reference), when I bent down to pick something up off of the floor next to my kitchen table. Down there, I noticed a gray lump of something. It was a mouse. A dead mouse, to be precise.

I started shrieking. Like I was being stabbed. And I ran into my living room (not far), leapt upon a couch and tucked my feet up beneath me. Still shrieking.

Thus safe from the threat of physical attack from the dead mouse, I was able to punctuate my freakout with a description of what had happened. Upon learning that I was not, in fact, being bludgeoned, JMG tried to suggest ways to deal with it while laughing at me (good-naturedly, I was not offended). But I promptly hung up to page maintenance to get someone up here to deal. MG, I considered your cereal box idea, but nixed it when I realized I'd have to do some scooping. And that I could not abide.

For moral support after calling maintenance, I called my dear friend BJL. Her response: screaming on my behalf, then emphatic instructions to leave RIGHT NOW and come over to her house (she lives two and a half hours away). That made me laugh. I kept her on the phone while waiting for and during the visit from Maintenance Randy, my hero.

MR came in amidst my babbled apologies for not being an adult about this and pointings toward the dead invader. His weapon of choice: a napkin. He did the scooping that I did not have the capacity to do. Once that thing was off the floor and out of my sight in its papery shroud, I felt hella better. Then MR checked the other mousetraps in my kitchen (the city was doing some sort of digging in the sewers in front of the building a couple of weeks ago which led to a full-scale invasion it seems), to be sure that I wouldn't call him, incoherent, again. Seeing nothing, he accepted my profuse, prattling thanks with grace and left with the carcass.

My heart-rate returned to normal. My breathing slowed. I was able to eat the pizza that I was afraid would burn, because NO WAY was I walking past that thing to turn off the oven. I sat down to blog it out. And now I feel almost normal again.

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posted by ek at 6:43 PM 1 comments

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

A Little Something Fishy

Weekend before last, I was in Memphis with my manfriend and we decided to take the plunge and cook something new to us for our Saturday night at-home dinner date. So, we braved the cold weather on his roof deck, fired up his grill, and cooked up these absolutely delicious Grilled Fish Tacos, courtesy of my favorite source, Joy of Cooking. They couldn't have been more fresh-tasting and were easy enough for this girl - who was boozing it up while cooking - to make. This recipe makes four servings...or two servings for two hungry law nerds.


Place in a shallow baking dish just large enough to hold them in a single layer:

  • 2 pounds swordfish, halibut, monkfish or other firm fish, cut into 1-inch cubes (22 to 26 pieces) (NOTE: We used tilapia, grilled it in uncut fillet form, and flaked it once it was cooked, which worked out nicely)

Mix well:

  • 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
  • 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons minced jalapenos or other fresh chili peppers
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Pour the marinade over the fish, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours.

Prepare a medium-hot grill. Have ready 12 fresh corn tortillas. Meanwhile, remove the fish from the marinade and thread it onto skewers (if you are using them). Grill over the hot fire, turning it once, until the fish is opaque in the center, 4 to 5 minutes each side. Remove from the heat and slide the fish off the skewers onto a platter. Place on the table along with:

  • 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
  • Corn, Cherry Tomato and Avocado Salsa

Corn, Cherry Tomato and Avocado Salsa - makes about 2 cups

Cook 2 ears of sweet corn (NOTE: we grilled them - delicious and easy). Remove the corn kernels and place in a medium bowl along with:

  • 8 small cherry tomatoes, seeded if desired, and halved
  • 1 small ripe avocado, peeled and coarsely chopped
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, maybe
  • 1/2 small red onion, finely diced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 to 3 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
  • Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Stir together well and serve immediately.

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posted by ATP at 2:30 PM 1 comments

CSA - time to sign up!

No, not the Confederate States of America (great movie, though). Community-supported agriculture. All over the country, there are local farms that grow a TON of veggies during the summer. These farms sell shares of their produce to people living in cities or towns nearby. Typically, you can buy a whole share or a half share. A whole share usually provides veggies, fruit, and sometimes herbs, for a family of four non-vegetarians or two vegetarians. A half share is, yes, half of that amount (though it's hard to split watermelons and such, so often a half share is slightly more than half of a whole). The time of production can be from May to October or even November.


To find a farm offering CSA near you, go to http://www.localharvest.org/. I'm getting a share, so look for lots of fruit and veggie blogging this summer!

posted by ek at 1:54 PM 1 comments

Kiwi Quesadilla

This is perfect for a quick snack when you get home from work but don't want to make a full dinner (my sentiments last night).

1 8-in tortilla (I recommend whole wheat)
1/4 C monterey jack, shredded, halved
1/4 C black beans
appx. 3 oz cooked chicken
1 kiwi, sliced thin

Heat tortilla in a large skillet. Place half the cheese on one half of the tortilla. Top with beans, chicken, and kiwi. Add the other half of the cheese. Fold the tortilla over and heat through. Flip it if necessary to melt the cheese on top. Quarter your quesadilla and serve.

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posted by ek at 10:15 AM 0 comments

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Hummus with Jalapeno and Cilantro

Intern AB here in chambers brought in a delish hummus he'd made for an international cooking competition being held at his law school tonight. I ask you, fellow bloggeristas, why did we not have this sort of thing at our law school?

Intern AB, way to go. Here's the recipe:

Humus with Jalapeno and Cilantro


  • 30 oz. chick peas, drained but with some liquid reserved
  • ½ C olive oil
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 3 T. lime juice
  • bit of cumin
  • 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
  • ¾ C chopped cilantro

Blend together chickpeas, olive oil, salt, garlic, lime juice and cumin. If you don’t want to use all of the olive oil called for, use some of the chickpea liquid to thin the mixture instead. Add the peppers and cilantro and blend again.

Try not to eat the whole thing with a spoon. It’s a spread, people!

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posted by ek at 4:42 PM 2 comments