Eggplant Mozzarella

I have now cooked 100 recipes from The New Moosewood Cookbook!!! It’s kind of hard to believe that I’ve made it this far, and I am so proud of myself for sticking with the project for this long. I initially thought I would be at the 100-recipe mark several months sooner, but this is not the time to dwell on “should of”s. The important part is that I’m here now!

Fancy...

            To celebrate my accomplishment, I decided to make eggplant mozzarella, which is what you get when you forget to buy Parmesan cheese at the grocery store. Turns out it’s just as good. I also whipped up some spaghetti to eat alongside the eggplant. 

Basically, eggplant parm (mozz) is lasagna but instead of layering noodles you layer giant pieces of eggplant. Technically Moosewood’s recipe called for using one of their recipes for the marinara sauce, but I was too lazy and just bought a jar of Classico at Kroger. But I did splurge and get the fancy “Italian Style” breadcrumbs, whatever that means.

            The dish was absolutely wonderful! Since eggplant is basically flavorless, the dish really just tasted like cheesy pasta sauce, which I am totally fine with. And it’s quite filling because of the eggplant. My only wish was that I had some crusty garlic bread to mop up the excess sauce. I might have to make a grocery store run before eating the leftovers as my lunch this week!

            A couple days ago, I decided to repurpose the blueberry pie fiasco I made for Memorial Day. I made it into blueberry crisp using Moosewood’s topping recipe from its apple crisp recipe. It is perfect this way; much better than the pie. With vanilla bean ice cream on the top, it’s pretty much the quintessential summer dessert.

            I have one more week of summer classes remaining and then about 2 weeks back with my family. I have already sketched out a plan that involves me cooking a LOT because I really really want to finish this project. And after those two weeks at home, I’ll be spending the next 7 weeks without a kitchen! So the cooking will be on a major hiatus and I’ll be setting myself back quite a bit. The pressure of the deadline is really there!

           

 If you want to read a bit more about my last 100 recipes, be sure to check out my new “Greatest Hits” tab on the top of the blog. I’ve included my 10 favorite recipes there along with links to the posts. Thanks for the encouragement! 141 recipes to go!

Color Wonderful!

It's graduation weekend!! Really, for me it's my fake graduation, since I'm not actually getting a diploma. But all of my undergraduate requirements are done and I passed all my classes. I'm now officially a graduate student. So it's graduation weekend!

The town is positively FLOODED with people, so I decided that it was a good night to cook for myself. I'm also desperately trying to eat up whatever food I have remaining in my apartment since I need to pack up and get out in just a few days. So pasta it was!

I decided to make Moosewood's broccoli pasta sauce since it doesn't require a lot of extra ingredients. But I had some orange bell pepper and red onion already, so I just needed to grab a crown of broccoli and some grape tomatoes and I was good to go. I also got a ball of mozzarella cheese to cut up and include in the sauce instead of parmesan because it's more hearty. The result was a beautiful sauce on some yummy spaghetti that was both filling and really delicious. My only complaint was that the sauce isn't really seasoned at all. Other than salt and optional black pepper to sprinkle on the top, there are no spices called for. It's not bland by any means because there are so many vegetables and garlic/onion. But I still think I should've sprinkled in some dried basil or something, just to jazz it up even more.

My apartment is basically completely packed up so my kitchen stuff is kind of limited right now and in different places around the apartment. My cooking rhythm was totally off, but I managed somehow. I'm convinced that they did something to the stove because it heated up in no time when it usually takes 10 minutes just to boil water. It's going to be kind of a weird couple of weeks as I transition out of this apartment, spend some time crashing at a friend's while I take summer classes, and then go back to my parents'.

Carrot Cake, the Noblest Birthday Cake of All.

It's my sister's 18th birthday!! Well, technically, it's her birthday tomorrow, but I'm home tonight to celebrate/bring the first round of my apartment things home. She's a big fan of carrot cake, so I decided to make her Moosewood's version as a birthday present.

The biggest issue with this cake is that I already packed up my salad shooter so I had to grate the carrots by hand. Definitely buy already shredded carrots whenever possible. Other than that, it's a pretty basic cake recipe, with lots of butter and eggs and deliciousness. Moosewood has some optional additions that you can include in your carrot cake, like poppy seeds on the outside, raisins, walnuts, and coconut. I am a purist, so I chose none of these things. But they probably would be pretty good (except maybe the coconut). Cream cheese frosting is a non-negotiable however. Moosewood has zero frosting recipes, but that's fine with me because the stuff from the can is the best anyway.

I should really be a professional food
photographer...

For some reason, Moosewood says to cook the cake in loaf pans or a 9x13 pan. I chose to use round cake pans because it's, you know, cake. This also meant that I could put a layer of cream cheese frosting between them, for maximum delicacy. One of the cake circles broke in half as I was putting it on top of the other, but I tried to use the frosting as a kind of glue to keep the whole thing together. Although, clearly one can of the stuff was not enough...

The batter for this cake is very thick; almost more like a dough than a batter. I really wish cookbooks would include information about how the recipe is supposed to look at certain stages because often times I feel a bit lost. My internal monologue gets all, "Okay, I followed your directions, but could you tell me if this is actually right...I don't think it is..."

Maybe some cookbooks have this, I don't know. Moosewood has these hints sprinkled throughout, but with no consistency or detail. I guess nothing I've made has failed too epically, but still I would appreciate the guidance.

Anyway, the cake turned out great and was SOOOOO good! Great way to celebrate a day of packing and unpacking and my wonderful sister's birthday!

Fruitylicious

Last week, I made Moosewood's Blueberry Cornbread (and forgot to blog about it). I was a bit wary, because blueberry and corn does not sound like an appetizing flavor combo. BUT IT WAS SO DELICIOUS. Seriously, it was one of my favorite things that I've made. You follow the basic corn bread recipe  and add just slightly more sugar, as well as fresh (or frozen) blueberries. And man oh man, it was soooooooooo good.

I apologize for the plethora of REALLY
unattractive photos that have been gracing the blog lately....

Tonight, I made another yummy fruit treat by mixing blackberries, plain yogurt, and honey to make Moosewood's oh so creatively named, "Fruited Yogurt Desserts". This was also very good and very simple. I don't really agree that it should exclusively be a dessert though. I also ate this for breakfast this morning, just with less honey. It was pretty delicious. If you stirred in a little granola, it'd be perfect.

Just a quick update tonight. Exams are underway and I am slowly packing up my apartment as I'll have to move out in a few weeks. I also need to go through my pantry and use up the remaining random crap that's been in there for awhile....thrilling days coming up in the life of Miranda.

Getting in the (Cal) Zone

Me too, Ben. Me too. 

One of my most favorite flavor combos in the entire world is Caprese: mozzarella, basil, and tomato. I was having a massive craving, so I flipped through Moosewood and found the calzone recipe. Originally, this recipe calls for a spinach ricotta filling (which is also delicious) but it included a list of additional filling options, one of which was a caprese. I literally could not stop thinking about it, so I ran out to the grocery store after class and picked up all the ingredients necessary. I'm also making Moosewood's pesto.

Deconstructed

The calzone dough is incredibly simple, and just requires time to rise. It did take kind of a weirdly long time to rise. I might've made it a bit too wet because I was trying to half the recipe, so my calculations were probably a bit off. But I got there eventually. Similarly, the pesto is basically just a couple spurts with the blender. Then, all I had to do was assemble and bake. I spread some of the pesto along the dough, then topped it off with mozzarella and tomato slices and crush red pepper flakes. 

I decided to add spinach to my calzone filling because I had some leftover from the green salad dressing. I knew it would only add some substance and deliciousness to the calzone. I just quickly wilted it with some garlic and olive oil.

Maybe I should've called them
"baked sandwiches"??

The assembly process was very similar to the samosas. And I was equally bad at it. There must be an art to determining how much you need to fill the dough. An art at which I fail epically. But as I've said so many times before, aesthetics are not my strong suit. Taste however, usually is. 

I ate the calzone with a salad, which was very yummy. Great way to end a busy Wednesday! 

Soup, Samosas, and Snow!

Yes, two posts in one day! It's crazy! And yes, there is more snow. At this point it's mostly all melted, but we got about 4 inches yesterday and it was enough to delay the public schools this morning so I didn't have to go in to teach at all. All this free time meant I got to go to the grocery store and do SO MUCH cooking.

I have been wanting to try these recipes for a long time because I really love Indian food. Samosas are kind of like empanada's but with Indian spices, potatoes, and peas. Moosewood recommends serving them with a cucumber yogurt dipping sauce called Raita and Gingered Carrot Soup. I will say that this is a dinner that requires a lot of work and investment. I started early but it took a long time.

The soup was more of a carrot puree than soup; it was very thick. Many of the spices were similar to what's in the samosa filling so it paired really well. It also did not take very long once the carrots were cooked and soft.

Similarly, the raita was a snap. Plain yogurt, with some spices and chopped up cucumber, was all it took. It's cooling quality and fresh flavor paired it to perfection with the hot and spicy samosas.

The samosas were the real time suck. First of all, the potatoes took forever to boil and soften. I actually had to put them back on for another 10 mins. I didn't totally mash them, but I did enough to make a good filling mix. I also sprinkled in some thawed peas and an onion sauté. I also had a tough time when assembling the pastries because i didn't really have enough dough for all the filling. I rolled each circle very thin, but still ran out. Because the filling is so heavy, the crust isn't really that flaky because it needs to be sturdy.

I also very deliberately halved all of these recipes so that I wouldn't overcook for just myself, which was smart because I still have a lot of leftovers anyway. But I think these will be easier to go through because this meal was SO GOOD. Seriously, this is one of my new favorites. I think if I made it again, I would make the samosas ahead of time, unbaked, and then just pop them in the oven before serving. It's also incredibly filling so it would be good to make for a dinner for non-vegetarians who are skeptical about vegetarianism. It also isn't too aggressive, as Indian food goes, which I know is a turn off for some people. It was definitely work all the prep work and will be worth scouring the massive pile of dishes that is currently taking over my sink.

And as the snow is melting and spring is finally finally arriving, I'm continuing to work my way through Moosewood. I'll get there!

Tabouli--Redux

For dinner tonight (and lunches for the upcoming week) I made Lentil-Bulgur Salad, which Moosewood describes as basically a fancier version of tabouli. The base of the salad is obviously lentils and bulgur with onions, red peppers, parsley, garlic, seasonings, feta cheese, lemon juice, and olive oil. You can also chop up tomatoes to put on the salad right before serving. It takes a while to chill, but when it does, it's absolutely delicious. I may have added a bit too much red onion because it was kinda overpowering. But i still really enjoyed it. I think, like the regular tabouli, it will only get better as a leftover.

I didn't make anything else to go with the salad, but it was still pretty filling. Moosewood recommends warm pita wedges, which would've been delicious. Just another little something to change up the flavor, especially when you've used as much onion as I have. Moosewood also suggests   bringing this dish to a potluck type event, which I think would be great. Even though it definitely works as a main dish, it would be better as a complement to something else. But it's light and yummy, so I know I will enjoy eating it up for lunch for the rest of the week! One more week until Spring Break!

Bam! Pow! Squash! Puree!

My squash cutting skills
need a bit of brushing up...

There’s a blizzard on the way, which means impending doom (not really, but the South is never really prepared for snow). I hit the grocery store early this morning to get the essentials (alcohol) and the final ingredients I needed for stuffed squash and red pepper puree. It’s a good wintery, comfort food, hearty meal that’s perfect to eat while watching the snow come down.

            I picked acorn squash for no particular reason, but it is significantly smaller than butternut, which ups the likelihood that I’d be able to finish it all myself. The stuffing is mostly sautéed vegetables; breadcrumbs give it the substantiality that rice or quinoa normally would. I also melted cheddar cheese into the stuffing, which really held the whole thing together. Weirdly, it included both chopped walnuts and sunflower seeds—I guess to pack the protein? You’re also meant to throw in a couple dried apricots. Surprisingly, the apricots were pretty good with the stuffing, but I was definitely apprehensive at first.

I had some leftover stuffing, since my squash was particularly small, so I snacked on that while it cooked. It was absolute perfection. The squash from the final product only improved upon the whole thing. I’m not actually a big fan of the stringy texture that winter squash tends to have. I love the flavor, but the texture can be kinda off putting. I would rather scrape out the insides of the squash and mix it up with the stuffing. That way I get the taste of the squash, but the stringiness is disguised within the stuffing.

             I topped the squash with Moosewood’s red pepper puree, which is remarkably simple and very flavorful. You’re supposed to steam the pepper chunks and then blend them up. I think I may have added too much water to the pot when steaming, because the peppers turned very orange and the final sauce didn’t really have much of a peppery “kick” to it. It was still good, and complemented the squash very well. But I need some “steaming practice”, for sure.

Yummus

      I would count myself as one of those people who is more than a little bit obsessed with hummus. It’s the absolute best. And, as a vegetarian, it is a godsend.

#mylife 

So in addition to Moosewood’s hummus, I made tabouli, a bulgur cold salad that is exceptionally simple but completely delicious. I also made white bean salad topped with pickled red onions. All together, this comprised of a meal called Mezza, which Moosewood describes as a Greek meal made up of a combination of smaller dishes (of which you can pick and choose).

            Now, the great part about all of these dishes is that they require zero actual cooking—except boiling water for the bulgur. But unfortunately, they all require chilling time, which is not great when you’re hungry and want to eat ASAP.

            Another major difficulty is not being able to open your jar of garlic (which is required in every single recipe). Seriously, it was impossible. After trying for literally 20 minutes to open this jar—hot water, rubber band, and duct tape were all to no avail—I went in search of some men in my building to help me out. It took three of them, and the one who finally got it open had to use his football gloves. All I can say is, I need to get me some football gloves.

            The hummus was really good; I added a couple sprinkles of cayenne to give it a little kick. My only critique is that it should be creamier. According to the Internet you have to peel the chickpeas, which is absolutely never gonna happen. It’s still really delicious anyway, and I wouldn’t describe it as gritty or coarse. It’s just not purely smooth. I’m wondering if boiling the chickpeas a bit before blending them would help. I did use canned peas, which were already cooked, but maybe blending them while tender would help accentuate the creaminess. I also added in some olive oil against Moosewood’s recipe because I thought it would help, which I think it did. It definitely helped the texture become smoother, but I didn’t want to add too much oil.

            Tabouli is quickly becoming one of my favorite things. It’s amazing how basic it is: bulgur, lemon juice, a few spices, chopped tomatoes, and green onions. But it’s so yummy!! And another vegetarian dream food. It also keeps well, which means I can keep on eating it all week!

            Obviously, I have been a bit neglectful of this project in the past couple weeks. I’m not too far behind schedule, but I have not been cooking nearly as much as I would like to; I’m sick of eating from the dining hall. But it’s just so comforting and easy to eat there instead of cook. I’ve done so many fewer dishes than usual this week! I am trying to get back to cooking more regularly as January turns to February. Tonight’s meal was a great way to knock out a bunch of recipes! Also, because of my schedule, I have a few days a week where I have to eat away from my apartment, which means brown bag meals or buying food. So I’m trying to find some things that I can transport easily and eat cold; another positive from tonight’s meal.

            The white bean salad and pickled onions is very similar to the recipe my sister made when we all had Spanakopita. It might actually be adapted from Moosewood but I’m not sure. It’s another simple recipe, which like revenge, is best served cold. The pickled onions make a really yummy topping on the salad, and the cider vinegar used gives a nice little tang to the whole dish.

            And addition to all these dishes, I complemented the Mezza with carrot sticks, slices of cucumber, and pita chips. It was a great dinner that I can’t wait to eat as leftovers for the rest of the week! 

Night Cheese

God I love cheese. It’s one of the many things I have in common with Liz Lemon (brunette, socially awkward feminists, ftw!) 

Homegirl just gets me. 

Seriously, cheese is actually the best. One time my sister told me that it takes all of her willpower not to eat cream cheese straight out of the tub. And the other one said sometimes she just wants to take a bite directly out of a block of cheddar. So clearly, this is a deep-seated and genetically based love.

I have been waiting for a long time to try out Moosewood’s ricotta gnocchi AKA “balls of cheese”. I also made a pasta sauce called “Mondo Bizzaro” which is kinda like a pesto on crack (if crack is spinach and tomato). The sauce probably would’ve benefitted from more garlic, but I ran out and forgot to get some at the store yesterday. But it also includes Parmesan, which upped the cheese ratio even more. Another plus was that I got to use my new handheld blender I got for Christmas (Thanks Grandma!) Although, blended spinach and basil looks kind of gross. It’s like a bright green paste. It smells pretty good though.

High five for cooking skills! 

            I don’t have a whole ton else to say other than this was a totally delicious and simple dinner that was much needed. My last semester as an undergraduate has been absolutely crazy so far. And it’s only been two weeks. I’m taking quite a heavy class load in order to be able to finish my program on time and I have to do 4.5 hours a week of in-class student teaching—up from last semester which was about 2 hours a week. Those placements haven’t actually started yet; Monday is day one. In addition to all that time in the classroom, I have to drive out a ways to get to the schools, and there’s no time to go back and forth. Which means I basically will have to chill out at coffee house in between placements. And, I mean, I love coffee, but it means I have to massively schedule my time even more to make sure I can get everything done. So stress levels are a bit high.

            To console myself, I will just keep eating cheese. Cheese and pasta: God’s gift to the world.

We do Saturday nights right. 

The Sorbet and Meringue Merengue

            It’s dessert time on the blog again, and the theme of today’s dessert is waiting. Firstly for the meringues to dry out and secondly for the sorbet to freeze. But believe me, it’s entirely worth it.

            Meringues are sort of truffle, bite-size, delicacies that Moosewood presents as either chocolate or lemon flavored. They’re incredibly light (no butter, oil, or flour) made mostly from egg whites. You bake them at a low temperature for about three hours. The consolation prize is the unreal and completely decadent smell that permeates your entire apartment. I wanted to make both the lemon and chocolate at the same time, but there wasn’t enough room on my one pan. I probably couldn’t fit two pans in my oven anyway. But this meant I got a round one and round two of meringues!

            The berry sorbet was another light and simple dessert that took awhile to make. Basically you make Moosewood’s berry sauce and then stick it in the freezer. Hilariously, Moosewood’s first recommendation was to make berry sauce and put it in an ice cream maker and follow the instructions there. Though I’m kind of offended that the author would immediately assume I own an ice cream maker, she does indicate that she herself doesn’t even have one. Though apparently this recipe is technically called “berry ice” rather than sorbet. And ironically, you have to defrost the berries before freezing them again.

            The meringues have the confusing quality of being both fluffy and crispy at the same time. To be honest, they’re very similar to Styrofoam. But tastier. They’re kind of porous on the inside, but packed with flavor and decadence. I wish I had a pastry bag so that mine weren’t just amorphous blobs of dessert, but for now, the deliciousness will suffice.

Easy as Pumpkin Pie?

Moosewood has a recipe called “No Fault Pumpkin Pie” which of course sounded like passive aggressive condescension to me. The book was challenging me.

“Can you infinitely mess this up? Probably.”

Desserts have been the main things I’ve struggled with since starting this project, which is kinda sad since desserts are my favorite. But I am not one to be deterred easily!

            Struggle number one is best explained through the photo below. So, yeah.

            Struggle number two is PIE CRUST. UGHHHHHHHHHHHH. Seriously, pie crust is the worst. It should not be as frustrating as it is. And there’s a distinct possibility that it’s my fault and I have a block in my brain when it comes to pie crust. But mine would not mix well and was poorly rolled out. I have a feeling it’s just going to fall apart. But the whole thing was not a total disaster.

Struggle #2.5= not owning a rolling pin so
using your molasses bottle instead. 

            Victory number one was the abundance of adorable jars you get to use! Ground ginger was kinda hard to find, but luckily Target had like four kinds to choose from and this cute little one was the cheapest. Also, generic molasses apparently doesn’t exist so I bought this (left) super cool brand. 

       



 Victory number two: Moosewood requires you to use “evaporated” milk for the pie filling. I assumed this was the same as “condensed” milk, but I made sure the can I bought said evaporated. After looking it up on the Internet, I discovered they’re actually completely different. Condensed milk usually has sugar added to it, whereas evaporated milk doesn’t.

            Victory number three: the pie was delicious!! It was less of a pie than an assembly of crust and filling that falls apart as soon as you cut into it. You also have to eat half of it with a spoon because it’s soupy and the other half with your hands because it’s too hard to cut into with a spoon.  

            So I would say that Moosewood is probably not a liar by calling it “No Fault Pumpkin Pie” and even with my many struggles, I still had more victories!