Scriniary

Some months ago my husband decided he wanted chocolate cake, but had trouble finding a recipe that called for cocoa rather than chocolate. (He eventually found one. That was the night of the icing fire.) After that I asked my mom for her Wacky Cake recipe, which I finally made last night (not exactly the one linked to, but close enough). Turned out really well – moist and chocolaty. We skipped the icing, though, as I was short on time.

I think it turned out so well because of the secret ingredient. It calls for 2 cups of sugar, and after I measured about 1/3 cup of sugar I discovered that was all we had. We had some light brown sugar, but it was dried into a solid block. Tried stabbing it with a knife and barely made a dent. Luckily my faithful assistant came up with the bright idea of grating it. Even more luckily, he grated it while I ran off and did some work upstairs. Sounded like he was scrubbing pots.

Today, spurred by an article in the paper about farmer’s markets that still have local produce this time of year, we ventured to the Worthington farmer’s market, which is really hard to find. We didn’t see any of the greens that are supposedly available, perhaps because we got there too late, but did get some squash and shallots and sausage.

Filed by scriniary at 3:53 pm under Food
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Apparently I’m two or three months behind on cooking posts.

Stuff I can still remember making lately, for a generous definition of lately:

* Mexican tomato soup with cornmeal dumplings: Kind of interesting. If I make it again – and I may not – I would use a less strongly flavored oil for the dumplings than olive oil. (From Cooking Light, but I can’t find the recipe at their site yet.)

* Black bean cakes: beans, pepper jack cheese, onion, coated with cornmeal. They were really good (and also made a tasty breakfast). (Also from Cooking Light, also not on their site yet.)

* Corned beef, steamed cabbage, and soda bread. (No points for guessing what day this is from.) The bread, alas, did not bake all the way through, despite sounding deceptively hollow when thumped. A second attempt with an extra 10 minutes of baking time fared much better.

* Tuna noodle casserole. Not very exciting, but it’s easy to double and it freezes well.

* Tamale pie. Basically used the recipe from the Joy of Cooking, but replaced a third of the ground beef with either zuchinni (yummy) or broccoli (good but weird). And replaced much of the salsa with canned tomatoes + various herbs, spices + aromatic veggies. And left out the cheese the second time. I guess I pretty much used their dough recipe and made up my own filling. Also easy to double and freeze.

* Chicken soup with dumplings. I love dumplings.

* Black bean tortilla bake. From Skinny One-Pot Meals. With a lot less cheese than it calls for, because it wanted a lot of cheese. And the second time we didn’t have any nonfat ricotta anyway.

Filed by scriniary at 8:36 pm under Food
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I’m behind on food posts (again). Recent weeks have seen tuna/salmon noodle cassarole, chicken pot pie (twice), chicken cutlets with maple dill sauce (Cooking Light, Dec. 2006, too sweet, not going to make it again), and Beef Stew with Poblanos, Tomatillos, and Potatoes (also the most recent issue of CL), which I have now made twice and am going to be making again next weekend (in the crockpot next time).

Filed by scriniary at 3:06 pm under Food
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• sartorias on kids preferring fantasy to sf (specifically the YA versions).

Her theory sounds pretty reasonable to me (though there’s a difference between science fiction that focuses on the science and sf that focuses on the story, and I definitely prefer the latter), and also explains why I like fantasy better (though I always liked sf too): science was fascinating, sure, but it was also mundane and normal, the sort of thing that people did for a career – a large proportion of the adults I knew as I kid worked in the space industry, so the idea of people going up in spaceships was not very far-fetched. Magic, on the other hand, was completely exotic.

• The NYTimes reviews the 75th-anniversary edition of the Joy of Cooking, which came out last week (article dated Nov. 1 and hopefully still available):

The bad news is that this new version forces a decision. Which “Joy” do we want? Do we keep our mother’s vintage copy from the ’60s? The reliable and popular version from 1975? The smart, chef-driven 1997 book? Or do we clean house, get with the times and buy the new book, which has much more reference material along with a cloying coat of nostalgia?

[...]

All that being said, the new version is the most complete and current “Joy” you can buy. If I didn’t have my trusty 1975 version, I would shell out $30. But for the number of times I actually dip into “Joy,” the ’75 will suffice. After all, a meringue is a meringue and cuts of beef don’t really change.

Still, cooking is a highly personal thing, and the book that fits best depends on your demographic, your kitchen skill and your existing cookbook collection. Those who want a book that reminds them of their mothers and includes the pecan-laden angel slices they remember from childhood might prefer a vintage edition from the 1950s, or the 1963 revision.

My brother, the best cook in the family and someone who prefers not to mix sentimentality with information, is the kind of cook who would appreciate the smarter tone, multicultural depth and thorough exploration of technique in the 1997 book.

My household is a three-Joy household: My parents gave me the 1997 version (which I use for all my basic recipes) and a two-volume paperback from 1964, which I should investigate more thoroughly. My boyfriend has the 1975 version, which has a better pancake recipe than the 1997. I have annotated my 1997 pancake recipe with the 1975 ingredients.

I was amused that the writer mentioned the tuna casserole recipes in each edition, since I made the 1997 version last weekend. It calls for making a butter/flour/milk/cheese sauce, while the 1975 and 2006 versions use cream of mushroom soup. I’ll stick with my 1997 book, thanks.

Filed by scriniary at 8:26 am under Books, Food
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Roasted Chicken with Dried Plums and Shallots, Cooking Light, Sept. 2006.

Mmmmmmmm. I’ll be making this again.

It has prunes. And fennel. And shallots. Mmmmmmmm. I *love* fennel.

It calls for four chicken breasts; I had two packages of three, so the two extras got turned into cooked chicken + broth (needed some broth for tonight anyway). Need the cooked chicken for Wednesday’s dinner (stay tuned…).

Supposed to have brussels sprouts on the side; one of us refuses to eat them, so we had broccoli instead.

Aside 1: If they give away the recipes on their website, why do I subscribe?

Aside 2: One of my projects for my oodles of free time (ha) is to put together a web-based recipe database, so I can, say, look in the fridge and notice I have chicken and fennel and then do a search for recipes that include those ingredients. Also, so I can find recipes I like and make them again. It’s hard to track multiple cookbooks + magazines + clippings + printouts.

Filed by scriniary at 5:54 am under Food
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Ok, it’s really Pork Chops with Cherry Preserves Sauce (Cooking Light, Aug. 2006). But I should have read the recipe more closely before I decided to make it, as the sauce is just cherry preserves and a tiny bit of vinegar. Waaaaaaaaaay too sweet.

Next time I’ll stick with the pork-and-plums recipe I love so much from a previous issue. That fruit sauce is dried plums+wine+chicken broth. Much less sweet.

And I thought I was lucking out since cherry preserves were on sale.

Filed by scriniary at 4:46 pm under Food
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Filed by scriniary at 9:48 am under Food
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Last night’s dinner was choucroute, more or less, from (as usual) Cooking Light. Pork chops, (turkey) sausage, and an apple, cooked in sauerkraut and beer.

I hate sauerkraut, but for some reason every time I run across this recipe it sounds interesting, so when I found it while making a grocery list, I decided to try it. This was a quick version since it used pork chops instead of a big hunk of pork.

It was good. Not too sauerkrauty. I’ll have to revise my previous statement to “I hate sauerkraut when it’s all by itself”.

Filed by scriniary at 1:49 am under Food
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Added an actual recipe to my food page: Pseudo-Asian Chicken with Soba Noodles

Brown, on both sides, some boneless skinless breasts in olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, boil water and add soba noodles and green beans. Also meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix about 1 cup chicken stock, several tbsp soy sauce, minced garlic and ginger and black pepper to taste. When the chicken is browned, dump the sauce on it and partly cover the pan. Add some sliced bell peppers. Let it simmer until the chicken is done.

I’ve been totally neglecting that page since I got the first inspiration for it.

Well, Friday, I made the above recipe. Today, I made “Kamut Spirals with Chicken-Artichoke Wine Sauce” from the March 2006 Cooking Light (They should pay me for the free advertising. I love this magazine.). I used whole-wheat spirals, though, because I had those, and I don’t know where I’d find kamut. The recipe calls for a *lot* of artichoke, but it’s not too much, though it seemed like it at first. It was a little bland, but I forgot the salt. More basil would help, too.

Filed by scriniary at 4:30 am under Food
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Food: Beef stew/soup
Highly adapted from a recipe in this month’s Cooking Light. Forgot the 2 tbsp of dijon mustard. Made in the crockpot, so there was no browning of the beef or sauteeing of onion. Also no browned flour to thicken. Used less than a quarter of the liquid it called for and it was still soupy.

Tasted good though.

Filed by scriniary at 8:04 am under Food
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