Sunday, October 19, 2008

It Ends With a Fall

I am up to my ears in soup. Seriously. Friday was a very tough day - I had a chunk of change in car repairs, I got hit by a high school kid on my way to get the car fixed, I stood in the rain for an hour to deal with a rude police officer with height issues (aka - a short man). After my gut wrenching estimate on my car was made, Evan then asked what I wanted to do for dinner: I suggested ramen noodles.

Let me just take a moment to say how wonderful he is - Evan not only planned to pick me up from the shop, he came immediately once I said "Uh, I got in a car accident" and stood in the 60 degree rain in flip flops. We came back to my house and made vegetarian chili. I don't really think you should have a recipe for something like chili, but there are definitely some things that make Evan's chili exceptional. He uses taco seasoning, chili beans, beer, other various beans, and a lot of hot sauce. I added some chopped red pepper at the perfect moment, and we had a wonderful bowl of chili. I then fell asleep on the couch at 8:45 PM.

Like I said, it was a rough day.

Anyway, so I have that. I have this winter squash that I MUST use today in a Jane Brody recipe for Creamed Squash Soup. I have all this rosemary that can ONLY be used in Molly Wizenberg's Chickpea -Tomato soup. And I just found an opened quart of Trader Joe's Roasted Pepper and Tomato soup. Ugh.

So I made some bread. Banana bread, specifically. My new Trader Joe's (about 1 mile away, oh glory day) had all of these ripe bananas. I felt guilty not buying some, like they'd be tossed to the curb by the end of the day. But they are so ripe, I couldn't eat them in time if I tried. Then I realized that all of this soup will need something aside from, well, more soup. It's in the oven right now, and the whole house smells like fall.

Again, thank you Bon Apetite for making my life just a bit more better.

Banana Bread with Cinnamon Crumble Topping


1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup water

1 cup mashed banana

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease and flour a bread pan.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, water, honey, and banana. Add to the dry ingredients. Mix well. Pour the batter into the bread pan, and sprinkle 2 tsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon on top of the batter. Bake for 1 hour, or so. Eat and enjoy the fall.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Girls In White Dresses With Blue Satin Sashes

I know this is a recipe blog. Yes, I do love a good recipe. I do love spending time in my orange kitchen, with my robin's egg blue table, and my dog at my feet, making something spectacular (Morgan's tortillas are planned for Wednesday night's dinner...).

But one thing we do not discuss, dear friends, are restaurants and their signature meals. Maybe it's because my boyfriend is a bit of a foodie, but in the past year I've been to some amazing places. Also, perhaps Matthew will post (being that he is in the land of ordered meals). Who knows. But here are my top five restaurants of 2007/2008:

1. The Red Drum: Mount Pleasant, SC

The Red Drum is probably the best place on earth. It's a 'gastropub' - loosely defined as a pub that puts as much thought into their food as they do their beer. When we go, we go all out. Our reservations are 2 months in advance, and our minds are made up 15 minutes after getting the menu.

Favorites: the corn pudding, green beans with pecans, lemon asparagus, and steamed greens on the vegetarian plate; ginger mojito; Evan loves their "cowboy beans."

2. Las Ramblas: Charlotte, NC

If I was on death row, my last meal would be from Las Ramblas. I don't know if the penitentiary would provide me with tapas and wine, but by golly, I'd hope so. It has a really nice atmosphere, as well (especially for a restaurant in a strip mall).

Favorites: fried goat cheese croquettes with honey, garlic, and almonds; manchego tortilla; patatas bravas; baguette toasts with melted chocolate, sea salt, and olive oil.

3. Riddles: U. City, MO

Does this need a reason? What about that time I bought Andrew Bird a drink? What about those awesome shows from Dave Stone? What about those potatoes?

Favorites: magical potatoes; electric pink beets; spinach lasagna; derby pie; any of their wines.

4. The Laughing Seed: Asheville, NC

Really, I'd like to put in this place the cupcake place that is on the corner of Biltmore and College St. But guess what - I don't know it's name. Anyway, the Laughing Seed is all vegetarian. I don't even remember what I ate - I just know I was overwhelmed with the selection.

5. Foskoskies : Charlotte, NC

I just discovered this place with Evan. I've only had one meal from there (two times), an artichoke spread sub with sprouts, tomato, and provelone. Now, the title "Artichoke Spread Sub" sounds disgusting, kinda like something from Applebee's. But I was SO WRONG and it is SO GOOD. Evan gets the fish and chips, and has a thing for their tartar sauce, even though he hates mayo. Like, detests it. He uses yogurt in it's place at all times. But he would probably eat that tartar sauce on anything.

Favorites: everything I've had (artichoke sub, black eye pea salad, potato salad, key lime pie, strawberry shortcake, one of Evan's 'chips' with his tartar sauce). Also, the servers are probably the nicest people I've ever met.

Runner's Up, but recently fallen out of favor: The Penguin (Charlotte, NC), Zada Jane's (Charlotte, NC), Al-Tarboush (St Louis - only out of distance, Sam. I still love your falafel.), and Taco Bell (no joke).

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Tortillas! (take 2)

Shanna commented recently on how to make tortillas successfully.  I'm a big fan of tortillas, as many of you know I love making them and I love eating them. I, likewise, refuse to buy tortillas, since the homemade variety are so increĆ­ble.


However, when travelling in Spain, you'll find something altogether different if you ask for a tortilla.  Here, you'll encounter a Spanish omelette rather than a rolled, unleavened clump of dough.
These pictures are of a simple concoction I made at home with a small potato, part of an onion, and part of a red pepper, all chopped.  Sautee the potato, then add the onion, add some garlic, salt, black pepper, and whatever else you like.  Whip about 4 eggs with a small splash of milk.  Now, this is controversial; many tell me that I must not whip the eggs, and I must not disturb their purity with milk.  But the purpose of a Spanish tortilla, as I see it, is an infrastructure of firm-but-fluffy egg.  And for this, I whip air into the eggs and add a touch of milk to get the texture I like.


In a small pan with a bit of heated butter and olive oil, add the egg mixture (again, controversial; people only use olive oil to cook here) and cover with a lid without stirring.  After a few seconds (to firm up the bottom layer of egg), add the sauteed vegetables and re-cover.  Cook over medium-low heat for a bit until the bottom is firm.  The top will be uncooked, but hopefully isn't too liquid if you have the heat and the cover set right.

Now comes the tricky part: flip the omelette.

Yes, flip it!

The easiest way to accomplish this is to ready a second, larger frying pan with a bit of heated oil and flip the omelette directly into this pan.  Another approach is to slide the omelette onto a plate, then flip it back into the pan (though try this over the sink, please!).  If you're successful, you have something that looks really nice.  Now you've just to cook the bottom and serve up.  As you see, it's often served as a pie, and you serve wedge portions from it.

In Spain, this is a staple at restaurants and in homes.  Often it's served pretty bland, I regret to say, with plain potatoes, egg substitutes, and no spice to it at all.  At home it's much better.  You can accompany with a salsa, sour cream, or fresh fruits and vegetables as you like.