rice pudding -- comfort food!

last night after a perfect batch of curry . . . i should probably share that recipe here too . . . the dinner party ended and i was hungry and came up with the recipe for rice pudding:

1 egg
1 cup milk
1t vanilla
2T brown sugar
1/4t salt
handful of raisins (or other dried fruit. i used gogi berries.)
handful of pistachios or cashews
1.5C of cooked rice
(all of these measurements are approximations because i just put stuff in until it seemed right

whip egg, milk, vanilla, sugar, and salt together . . .
put rice in a pot and pour milk/egg mixture over it
throw in the nuts and fruit
cook over medium heat for about 7 mins (just until it turns kinda custardy)


SUPER YUMMY!

i should have taking a photo, but i didn't. still, it is so easy and so good. i had the leftovers for breakfast!

BTW, gogi berries are nightshades . . . WIERD

if anyone out there knows where i could get some cool illustrations like the study of the gogi berry to the right, i would LOVE to know. i love these!

my grandma's mayonnaise (adapted for a blendtec)

i confess, i like mayonnaise. i like it on sandwiches, in tuna, in certain salads (think macaroni or potato), deviled eggs etc. sometimes it even makes cakes better. there are a bunch of uses for mayo.

i'm pretty sure i acquired my taste for mayo at my grandma's house. i would spend much of my summers with her and she taught me to garden, make bread, make mayo, potato sausage, wine, you name it. my grandma really could make anything. we also sat around a played cards and drank coffee together. it was great fun.

i thought everyone made their own mayo for awhile, but then realized we bought ours. it was a totally different condiment. it didn't have much flavor. a few years ago i asked my grandma for her recipe and started making my own.

truth is, most the time i buy mayo, but when i run out and am in a crunch, or i just want it to be extra awesome, i make my own.

i made my own recently and thought i would share both the recipe and a short testimonial of how easy it is to make, and much cheaper . . . plus you never have that yucky feeling of wanting a sandwich but being out of mayo.

her recipe is a bit more complicated than what i'm posting. i don't know that it would work in my super intense blendtec home . . . so, if you have a vitamix or blendtec, don't fear . . . i've made the adjustments.

the recipe is basically:

1 raw egg (at room temp)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup oil (any type...corn, vegetable, canola)
helping of "salad herbs"
dash cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar (I like it with vinegar better)

Directions:
Place egg, mustard, salt, cayenne pepper and 1/4 c. oil in blender and blend on low.

While the machine is blending, SLOWLY pour in another 1/2 c. oil. This is KEY because if you just dump it in, it just turns into liquid.

You may have to stop and scrape down the mayo. Add the lemon juice/vinegar and the remaining 1/2 c. oil. Blend until well combined.

Store in refrigerator, tightly covered.

let me know if you do it and it works for you. i'd like to know if people like this better than regular store bought.

comfort food -- beans edition

so during the long snow-break, cheryl and i made lots of food. and cheryl CRACKED THE CODE to making beans.

i bought all these beans from rancho gordo, but had never really made them right . . . cheryl took the time to do her research and found these instructions

There is not one single method of cooking beans. At its most basic, you want to simmer the pot until the beans are soft. Soaking can speed up the process and vegetables or stock will make them more flavorful. It's really that simple.
	Normally on a bean cooking day (which frankly is everyday at Rancho Gordo), I put the beans to soak in the morning, after rinsing in lots of cool water and checking for small debris. I cover the beans by about an inch or so. If you haven't soaked, don't fret. Go ahead and cook them, knowing it will take a bit longer.
Heirloom and Heritage varieties don't need a lot of fussing if they are used fresh, which I'd define as within two years. You can use a ham bone, chicken stock or as I prefer, simply a few savory vegetables.
	A classic mirepoix is a mix of onion, celery and carrot diced fine and sautéed in some kind of fat, often olive oil. A crushed clove of garlic doesn't hurt. If I'm cooking Mexican or Southwestern, I will sauté just onion and garlic in mild bacon drippings or even freshly rendered lard.
Add the beans and their soaking water to a large pot. You have been told before to change the water and rinse the beans. The thinking now is that vitamins and flavor can leech out of the beans into the soaking water you are throwing down the sink. There is no scientific evidence that changing the water cuts down on the gas. The beans will have expanded, so make sure they are still covered by at least an inch, maybe a bit more. Add the sautéed vegetables and give a good stir. Raise your heat to medium high and bring to a hard boil.
	Keep the beans at a boil for about five minutes and then reduce them to a gentle simmer, then cover. I like to see how low I can go and still get the occasional simmering bubble. When the beans are almost ready, the aroma will be heady. They won't smell so much like the vegetables you've cooked but the beans themselves. At this point. I'd go ahead and salt them. Go easy as it takes awhile for the beans to absorb the salt. If you want to add tomatoes or acids like lime or vinegar, wait until the beans are cooked through.
If the bean water starts to get low, always add hot water from a tea kettle. The tap produces disgusting water for food. So you're done! Once you've mastered this method, go ahead and try some different techniques. Your bean friends will swear by this or that method and you should take their advice, keeping in mind there are few absolutes when it comes to cooking beans, only that is very hard work to mess up a pot of beans.

and this video also helped: victory will soon be yours!



then she made this out of the beans! YUMMY

Easy Meal-in-a-Bowl Pesto, Pasta and Bean Soup

The Washington Post, February 1, 2010

Comfort Food

• Course: Soup

Summary:

Fresh basil and chives aren't always on hand this time of year, but if you're lucky enough to have them, coarsely chop a handful and toss them in at the end of cooking. They'll lend a garden fresh flavor that's downright irresistible in the dead of winter. Of course, if you've got fresh basil you can also make your own pesto. Yes, the homemade is better than store-bought, but I find the commercial product a convenient and acceptable alternative.

For a slightly meatier soup, stir in about 1/2 cup diced ham or roasted chicken meat when you add the tomatoes and their juices.

MAKE AHEAD: Refrigerate the cooled soup in an airtight container for 3 or 4 days. Add broth or water as needed when you reheat the soup.

4 to 6 generous servings

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup peeled and chopped carrot, celery or onion (or a combination)
• 4 to 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth (may substitute vegetable broth)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme or dried marjoram
• 1/2 cup 1 1/2-inch-long pieces broken-up dried vermicelli or other similar thin pasta
• Half a 6-ounce bag fresh, ready-to-use baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1 14- to 15-ounce can white cannellini beans or great northern beans, rinsed and well drained
• 1/4 cup store-bought basil pesto, or more to taste
• 1 15-ounce can diced garlic- and basil-seasoned tomatoes or regular canned diced tomatoes, including their juices
• Generous handful basil leaves or chives, coarsely chopped (optional)
• Water, as needed
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Combine the oil and chopped vegetables in a 5- to 6-quart pot over medium heat; stir to coat. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then add 4 cups of the broth and the dried thyme or marjoram.

Increase the heat to high and bring to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until barely al dente.

Add the spinach, beans, pesto, tomatoes and their juices; mix well, then reduce the heat to medium (a gentle boil). Cook for 5 minutes to blend the flavors. If desired, add the basil or chives; cook for 1 minute, stirring. Use the remaining cup of broth or water to thin the soup to the desired consistency. Season with salt, pepper and additional basil pesto to taste.

Divide among individual bowls; serve hot.

i made southern french beans:

i cooked the beans for an hour with a slice of bacon.
while they were simmering, i put about 4 garlic cloves in a very small bowl with olive oil that hit the middle of the cloves. then i smashed the garlic. cut up 3 dried hot chili peppers into the oil and let the oil infuse for the entirety of the time the beans cooked.

then i drained the beans. poured the infused oil and stuff over the beans and cut up fresh oregano over the top and tossed. we ate it with freshly backed bread.

DELISH!

lighting to unite

a couple of weekends ago i read that this light show thing (i will post the article below if you are interested. was happening in the washington post and decided that we had to go. we had made plans for a girls night with sarah and kimber and mimo. mimo ditched us for other friends, sarah ditched us to babysit. but we got kimber and that was awesome.

dianna and i, having been to oyamel too many times for their guacamole took notes one time and started replicating it. one day i got the idea to roast poblano peppers and put refried beans and the guac in them. so we had that and limonada for dinner...

guac:
4 avocados
1 C queso fresco
cilantro to taste
1/2 of medium sized red onion chopped very thin and small
4 chopped green onions
serrano peppers to taste
1/2 a lime squeeze juiced
salt to taste
mix together like they do for guac. it is good!

limonada
juice of 4 limes
ice
to taste sugar
4 T sweetened condensed milk
water
put in blender
i like the ice kinda shaken not blended. but do what you want.

here we are enjoying the deliciousness

this tasted way better than this photo would make you believe


then we left for the cathedral.
this is what greeted us

i forgot my tripod. i was sore upset
(its like sore afraid only upset)

this is what the lights looked like hitting the trees on the way to the cathedral

kimber, lindsay, and dianna

me and kimber in the glow

Going With The Glow
By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 9, 2008

A Swiss "illumination artist" lit up the sides of Washington National Cathedral last night with giant multicolored images. There were projections of stars, human faces and an abstract thing that looked like an exploded tomato. At one point a 50-foot-tall woman in a kimono materialized.

Reactions ranged from awed to puzzled.

The lights were a test run for an art project called "Lighting to Unite," which the cathedral describes as "a call for national and global unity."

The lighting is the work of Gerry Hofstetter, a 45-year-old artist from Zurich who has been projecting images on large surfaces since 1999. Hofstetter doesn't do small: He's shone British-flag emblems on the white cliffs of Dover, hieroglyphics on the Great Pyramid, and a polar bear on an Antarctic iceberg. His next project will involve Mount Kilimanjaro. He is to lighting what Christo is to fabric.

Last night, Hofstetter ran a series of glass plates through a 6,000-volt projector and said artisty things like "Light is hope, fire is energy. These colors mean hope and energy."

The images projected on the cathedral "speak of unity and reconciliation . . . and human oneness," said the Rev. Sam Lloyd, the cathedral's dean.

In truth, the sight of the neo-Gothic cathedral swaddled in a phantasm of psychedelic lights was a little jarring, the way the Mona Lisa would look with a rainbow 'fro wig. The whole concept seemed vaguely overwhelming, like those midnight planetarium laser shows of yore, only without the Pink Floyd soundtrack and all the reefer.

Viewers and passersby generally applauded, though some were a little unclear on the underlying artistic theme.

Muriel Farley Dominguez of Arlington declared: "I love it. It's just lovely. It gives a different perspective on the cathedral." But Diane Pirkey of Rehoboth Beach, Del., was stumped by the unity message. "I don't get that out of this."

Jon Utley of Georgetown stopped his car on Wisconsin Avenue NW to view the show. A former marketing man, he wondered if the projection technology could be adapted for sales purposes. "It's really astounding," he said. On the other hand, he added, "it's not quite dignified to project colorful abstractions on the cathedral."

Hofstetter's work will be on display tonight through Sunday from sunset to midnight. The south-side projections are visible from various vantage points around town.

In the morning, the cathedral goes back to being lighted the old-fashioned way.

Almost Copeland's Eggplant pirogue

in light of that last post, and kiki's confession of stealing recipes from Copelands, i begged her for it (exaggeration) and she gratefully obliged. i can't wait to try this!

Almost Copeland's Eggplant pirogue

This is my version of a dish at my favorite Cajun Restaurant in New Orleans. Cajun Fried Eggplant smothered in a delicious Au Gratin Sauce with shrimp, crab and crawfish. Serve over angel hair pasta and make sure you have warm French bread because you wont want to leave any of this rich sauce behind.

Au Gratin Seafood Sauce
¼ Cup Butter
¼ Cup Flour (for roux)

½ tsp. Cajun seasonings (Emeril)

1 tsp. Granulated Onion

½ C crab stock or chicken stock

1 ½ Cup half and half
¼ Cup Butter Pieces
1 ½- 2 C Parmesan cheese
1 TBS butter

½ tsp crab boil mix

2 Cups Cooked Shrimp
1 Cups Crawfish Tails
1 Cup Lump Crab

½ C white whine

Salt and pepper to taste

Fried Eggplant
1 eggplant (cut ½ inch thick pieces)

1 egg

½ C half and half

2 C fish fry

1 C bread Crumbs

1 C flour½ tsp Cajun seasonings or to taste

1 C flour

Garnish With Lemon

Preparation:
In a heavy saucepot bring stock, Cajun seasonings and onion to a boil; thicken by whisking roux into stock. Boil 3 minutes, whisk in half and half and butter, bring to just a boil add cheese. Simmer on low heat.

In Separate pot sauté garlic in 1-tablespoon butter, add seafood and crab boil mix cook for 3 minutes. Add seafood to white sauce. Simmer on very low heat.

Fry Eggplant Pirogues: soak the eggplant in water and 1 tsp salt for 10 minutes. Beat egg and half and half in bowl. Mix fish fry, breadcrumbs and seasonings in separate bowl. Flour in bowl. Dip eggplant in egg mixture, in flour, in egg and in breadcrumb mixture. Fry at 350 for 3-5 minutes or until golden brown.

Ladle sauce over eggplant and serve with angle hair pasta.

delish homemade french bread that is easy

d referred to this in a recent comment on the le creuset post. i have now assisted in the making of this bread thrice and it is AMAZING (channel kelly kapur when you read that). i would like to invite all of you who read this blog to try to make this bread. you will feel like you are a marvelous panerista and that you should probably quit your day job and make this stuff for a living. it is that easy and THAT delish...so without further ado...

(thanks nyt! even though you are dumb and endorsed hillary and hired bill kristol. i am really glad you gave us this recipe and let caroline kennedy-- my soon-to-be in law -- to use your paper to endorse OBAMA!!!!)

November 8, 2006

Recipe: No-Knead Bread

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

le crueset and pancol cabbage

in my old blog i decided i was going to start endorsing products (because you know that will ensure a huge surge in interest). i think i like the tradition. so here goes: teabelly's first product endorsement....

LE CREUSET!!!! i got the flame one, as seen above.

i love this thing so much! i bought it to make pancol cabbage the most fabulous dish my former boyfriend (the frenchman) taught me to make. it goes something like this....

1 head of cabbage
4 slabs of bacon (don't talk about it)
2 chops onions
4 chopped carrots
butter
herbs d'provence
salt
pepper


blanch the cabbage for about 4-7 minutes (until it is bright)

meanwhile saute (in the le crueset on the stove) the bacon, onions, and carrots in herbs d'provence until the onions are a bit clear.

after the above mentioned is done, layer cabbage on top of the the other mix. sprinkle herbs d'provence, salt, and pepper between layers of cabbage.

then put the lid on crueset and stick it in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 90 minutes.

pull it out of the oven and serve.

this le crueset made the best pancol cabbage ever! que deliciouso!!!!!!!