Happy Thanksgiving!

As much as we may like to think this holiday is about giving thanks and being with family—which it is—it is mostly about food! As I said before, I have decided to contribute to our Thanksgiving dinner by making the aforementioned cheesecake and a salad (plus accessories). I’ll be coming back to this post throughout the day to edit and update. But as of now, we’re a few hours off from the dinner. I made croutons yesterday and just finished the two salad dressings. I’ll toss together the actual salad closer to dinner. I initially was going to make five recipes from Moosewood, but that didn’t happen. Details below.

            So the croutons were pretty simple. There are two possible ways to make them, according to Moosewood. I chose to do the sautéing and baking method. Basically, you fry some cubed pieces of bread in butter and garlic salt, and then bake them to make them crispy and crunchy. I would recommend pouring the garlic butter over the bread while it's already in the pan. I tried melting the butter first, in the pan, and then adding the bread. It worked pretty well, but some of the pieces were more saturated than others. I also didn’t bake them for very long (Moosewood doesn’t give a time, just until they’re crisp). But I tried one after I took them out of the oven, and it was pretty good! I mean, as good as garlicky, buttery, hard bread can be. We’ll see how they turn out on the salad later.

            I also made two salad dressings: ranch and balsamic vinaigrette. The ranch had the option of including mayonnaise, another Moosewood recipe, which I was planning to do. However, the fates were against me. The recipe calls for cider vinegar and ours was a little past it’s prime. You’d think vinegar couldn’t go bad, but apparently, it can. So I tried just using plain. Also, you’re supposed to mix it all up with a blender/food processor, but I’m lazy and figured I could just do it by hand. Not so much. Nothing really happened and it never turned into a mayonnaise like substance. The vinegar smell was quite over powering and very unappetizing. Again, my laziness shone through and I decided not to include it in the ranch. It’s optional anyway.

            The ranch without the mayonnaise seems fine. I haven’t tried it yet, obviously, so it’s kind of hard to judge. It doesn’t look quite like the correct consistency for ranch dressing, but maybe it’ll thicken up in the fridge. The vinaigrette was very easy! It’s basically just oil and balsamic vinegar, shaken together: hard to screw up. Though I shouldn’t speak so soon…

            I can tell my family is skeptical about my contributions to this dinner as they looked on warily at my mayonnaise making attempts. It’ll be a couple hours before I can either prove them wrong or hang my head in ashamed dismay.

            Okay so dinner and dishes have all been done now. And it was all a great success! Even the cheesecake went over well!

            The salad I made came from Moosewood’s guidelines—I wouldn’t really call it a recipe, but it’s listed as one—on constructing a green salad. According to that method, you’re supposed to start with a large bowl that will become “your special salad bowl”. We have one of these, but I did end up kind of having a hard time tossing everything together. I guess I need to get my own bowl so that it can “acquire more depth and soul with each use” and “enhance something nameless” in me. Step two is the leafy greens. I have never been a fan of lettuce, so I chose to use spinach. Next, you add the extras; I chose feta cheese, pomegranate seeds, cherry tomatoes, and walnuts. I kept the croutons I made earlier on the side. Though the pomegranate juice got EVERYWHERE, it was a quick and simple process to through all of that together. I only got yelled at once, because I forgot to wash the tomatoes (um, did the pilgrims wash their tomatoes? Yeah, didn’t think so.) but everyone shut up once the food was served. My croutons even got several compliments!

The vinaigrette dressing was great on the salad, and the ranch was sub par but still okay. We didn’t have onion flakes, which Moosewood called for, so I used minced pieces of real onion. It gave it a kind of interesting texture.

So my plan for five Moosewood Thanksgiving recipes almost worked! I made four successfully, three of which were actually pretty good! There are a ton of leftovers, so I’ve got my next several meals covered. And I get to cross off a few more recipes from my list! 22/241!

Non-Moosewood Cooking Adventures: Pumpkin Cheesecake

So I am back at my parents’ house for Thanksgiving Break. And for some reason, I decided to volunteer my cooking services to help prepare the big dinner tomorrow. I thought I would keep it safe and make a salad as well as some embellishments from Moosewood as a way to ease into the whole deal, but also cross off some recipes. And, don’t worry, that’s all coming. But my Mom also decided to pass off the pumpkin cheesecake to me. It’s currently baking in the oven (making it early to prevent kitchen traffic jams tomorrow), and we won’t actually eat it until tomorrow night, so I’ll have to update later.

            It was a bit of an adjustment cooking in my parents’ kitchen. We moved into this house exactly one week before I left for college, so sometimes I flat out don’t know where things are. The kitchen is also about the size of my apartment’s kitchen/dining room/living room combo. The counter space is phenomenal. Obviously, I’ve used this kitchen before (I live here most summers, after all) and most of the equipment is stuff we’ve had for awhile (like the fancy upright mixer! So much jealousy), but I still felt a bit out of place. It’s strange how quickly I’ve developed my own rhythms when I cook in my apartment. So I had to kind of alter all of that in this new, very large, space.

Massive can of pumpkin filling! 

            The pumpkin cheesecake is my Mom’s recipe and it’s always one of my favorite parts of our Thanksgiving meal. It was pretty simple to make, especially with the power of the mixer on my side. One rather unfortunate side effect of cooking is that you realize how unhealthy a lot of dishes are. This recipe requires a whole stick of butter just for the crust! Also, canned pumpkin is kind of gross. It’s got that artificial sweet smell and looks like brownish-orange goop (yum). The label assured me that it was 100% pumpkin, though.

            I’m slightly worried about how this recipe will turn out, as I always am when I cook. I’ve never made cheesecake and I was using some ingredients that I’d never worked with before. I’ve also never really cooked for anyone else before. I’ve made things that other people have eaten, sure. But this is the first time that my dish is intended for the consumption of others.

The filling seemed a little lumpy, but I did my best to smooth it out. The crust is made primarily out of graham cracker crumbs (and butter), with a little brown sugar and “finely crushed pecans”. Which means that you are expected to crush the pecans yourself, which is a HUGE pain in the ass. I don’t really think mine were crushed that well, but I did my best. I even got my sister to help out a big, but she got bored as quickly as I did. So perhaps someone will get a lump of pecan in his or her pie slice. Consider it an honor, like finding the baby Jesus in a Mardi Gras King Cake.

I also spilled (yes spilled, leave me alone) cinnamon into the mixture. Potential gross flavor explosion there. It didn’t have a strong cinnamon smell though, but that might’ve been because the pumpkin was kind of overwhelming. Thankfully, this won’t be posted to the Internet in time for my family members to read it, so I can feign surprise at the cinnamon maelstrom that is possibly awaiting us all.

**UPDATE: a piece of the cheesecake got stuck to the side of the pan when I was taking it out. I tried it and it’s totally delicious and not at all cinnamon happy!**

Cooling off...

            Since this isn’t a Moosewood recipe, the counter remains unchanged. But 18 recipes in one month is a pretty good pace. I’ll have to pick it up slightly in order to finish all 241 in time. A big post is coming tomorrow though, as I attempt to conquer 5 Moosewood recipes (and other people attempt to eat them).

Jammie Dodgers

Okay so technically these beauties are Moosewood’s “Custardy Popovers”. But since today marks the 50^th anniversary of Doctor Who (if you don't understand that reference, educate yourself), and since I’m killing time until the special episode airs, and since Moosewood recommends serving these with jam, I decided to exercise my creative expression rights. I didn’t have raspberry jam (and I’m quickly realizing how un-Jammie Dodger-y this recipe is becoming), but they were delicious with blackberry and a sprinkle of sugar.

The popovers are incredibly simple treats—only 4 ingredients—and are quite flexible in terms of how to make them and with what to serve them. The amount of actual custard varies on how many eggs you choose to use; I had three left in my fridge, so I used three. I would imagine these would be a great addition to a brunch spread or a simple soup dinner. They’re kind of eggy and delicate, with a crispy outer shell; and incredibly versatile.

            For aesthetic purposes, I recommend dousing your muffin tin in nonstick spray or butter to ensure that the popovers slide right out. I did not use enough and so mine were kind of decimated as I scraped them out of the pan. In addition to destroying most the outer crust, I squished most of them so they didn’t retain their lovely original puffiness. They kind of just looked like lumps, covered in jam; I should’ve taken a picture right when they came out of the oven.

            With the holiday coming up, I’ll be back home for a bit, which means less cooking. I am making a few Moosewood recipes for my family on Thanksgiving (internal monologue: “AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”) so another longer blog post is coming soon. Then, I’ve only got a week left of classes, a few finals and exams, and then Christmas break. I’m not quite sure how much cooking I’ll be doing for the next couple weeks because I’ll be crazy busy, but also trying to keep my fridge relatively empty before I have to leave again. Though I anticipate exams will require some degree of chocolate therapy. But so far, I’m at 18 recipes done!

Comfort Food

Q: Is there anything more perfect than tomato soup and grilled cheese?

A: Nope.

           

            Moosewood has a fantastic recipe for Spicy Tomato Soup that I whipped together quickly after class and ate up just as fast. It was so good! I paired the soup with a basic cheddar grilled cheese from my own repertoire. It was a delicious winter recipe that I will definitely make again and again.

            Now, the soup is called Spicy Tomato, but I wouldn’t really call it spicy. I did not use the recommended “lots of freshly ground black pepper” but rather just a few sprinkles. So I’m sure that had a lot to do with it. I’m not really a fan of making things spicy by just adding a lot of pepper though. The canned tomatoes I used for the base also already had some heat in them, so I was hoping that would compensate. I think the soup would be good either way. My milder version is definitely delicious.

            The other slightly off thing was the soup’s thickness. Moosewood does not indicate that you should puree the mixture at any point. Rather, the few ingredients are meant to by diced and minced into submission. I absolutely detest mincing by hand. I find it incredibly tedious and frustrating. Now, I fully realize that this is mostly due to my inefficiency. I am a slow chopper; despite attempts to learn better strategies. I did my best with this recipe to get the pieces as small as I could, but I got discouraged quickly. The fresh tomatoes were particularly chunky in the final mix. Even if I were a better mincer though, I still would recommend taking an immersion blender to this soup. I think it would only help. The chunkiness was not off-putting or unappetizing, just not what I’m used to with tomato soup.

            The sour cream, stirred in at the very end, adds a delightful creamy thickness to the soup. You only need a tablespoon; it’s enough to do the trick.

            If and when I make this again, I will be sure to experiment with more black pepper or maybe a little cayenne. I will also attempt to mince the tomatoes and onions as much as humanly possible to make a smooth, creamy bowl of heaven. I’ve got 224 recipes to go and 340 days to make them!

Asparagus-Mushroom Quinoa

This is technically in the pasta sauce section of Moosewood but it is also recommended to serve in a crêpe, omelet, over fish, or on rice. I decided that quinoa was basically rice and also what I already had in my pantry.

            Speaking of me being incredibly lazy, this recipe also called for tarragon, which I couldn’t find at Trader Joe’s, so I just skipped it. P.S. every time I see the word tarragon I think of this (go to 16:50). Literally never gets old…

Additionally, the sauce required a “dry white wine”. Moosewood makes a special note that the alcohol burns off in the cooking, so I guess I should too. I know literally zero things about wine, but the Internet said that the best dry white wine for cooking was an American Sauvignon Blanc. This time, Trader Joe’s was able to step up and provide me with exactly what I needed (and for cheap as well!). The wine was also delicious to sip on while cooking and stirring and went nicely with the final dish.

            But even without the tarragon and with the cheap wine, this dish was pretty delicious. The sauce is thick and creamy and I mixed the quinoa right in, as well as a bit of grated parmesan. It was absolutely delectable and incredibly filling (thanks quinoa!). I made the sauce with the highest recommended amount of flour for maximum thickness, but I’m sure it would be good either way. I cooked the quinoa in vegetable broth instead of just water, so there was some extra flavor there as well.

            One thing I will say about this dish is that it is not pretty. The sauce is very brown, even with the asparagus. I tried to make mine more interesting with red quinoa, but it didn’t really work. It’s basically just a pile of stuff, hence no picture. Though I guess if you served the pasta and sauce separately it might look a little nicer.  I also typically don’t make a full meal with like sides, bread, and salad. I just put everything in the same bowl and eat it that way. So I get zero presentation points, always. I’m sure there are ways to pretty it up, but I am less than interested in that.

            I like this dish though because even though it takes a while to cook, it’s really delicious and simple. The taste is what truly matters! With the protein in quinoa, it makes a complete and hearty dish. That’s 16 out of 241!