We have bean leftovers aplenty in the fridge. (And outside the back door, and in the barbecue.) But I couldn’t bring myself to reheat and eat any of them. Instead I hacked up a half cabbage that needed to be used, and added some sliced pepper and green onions and cilantro. The dressing, I decided, would be peanut – and so when W pulled out a baggie of leftover spaghetti (unsauced) from the fridge, it seemed like a natural addition. The texture of spaghetti takes well to long, thinly sliced cabbage, actually – it was like the noodles themselves were cut with noodles made of crunchy cabbage. You could add anything to this, of course – pea pods, carrots, cucumber, jicama, broccoli.
W was distraught when he came back to the kitchen and witnessed what I had done to his precious spaghetti. One of these days I’m going to let him bring a baggie of spaghetti to school in his snack, just to break the mold. Who says a to-go snack must be carrot sticks or an apple or granola bar? Spaghetti is perfectly portable. Life would be more interesting, I think, if more grown ups sat down on park benches and dug into their bags of spaghetti. And then made Valentines for everyone in their class. (Couldn’t that be a metaphor for so many things?)
Peanut Noodle Slaw
Dressing:
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar or lime juice
1-2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1-2 garlic cloves, finely crushed
pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
Slaw:
leftover cooked spaghetti
thinly sliced green cabbage
thinly sliced peppers
coarsely grated carrots
chopped green onions
chopped fresh cilantro
toasted sesame seeds
Shake all the dressing ingredients together in a jar. (You could do this anytime, and keep it in the fridge.) Toss the spaghetti, cabbage and veggies of your choice together, toss with the dressing, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve.
February 09 2011 | salads and vegetarian | 10 Comments »
Lindsay – here’s the Nutella ice cream. (Because swimsuit isn’t a season for me, anyway.)
The recipe is over at the Family Kitchen.
February 09 2011 | leftovers | 10 Comments »
Beanland oh oh oh
Beanland oh oh oh
Beanland oh oh oh
Beanland now
(Sing it like the Northern Pikes.)
Still in beanland. Here, have a cookie. They don’t even have beans in them.
There’s something about cookies that require a bit of a production to make – the kind with lots of steps required and an end result that get oohed and ahhed over, and are almost (ALMOST) too pretty to eat. Linzer cookies – a fancy name for jam sandwiches – fall into this category. There is no better time of year to make sunroof-topped sandwich cookies than Valentine’s Day. If you’re proclaiming your undying adoration for someone via a batch of cookies, you had best put some effort into them, don’t you think? or some really good, expensive chocolate.
The recipe is over at the Family Kitchen.
February 07 2011 | Family Kitchen | 5 Comments »
Still can’t get enough of the eggs and toast. Sue and I are in the midst of beanapalooza 2011 – a sleepaway camp-style three (four?) days of intensive cooking and shooting (with a camera, not lining them up on a farm gate and pegging them off with our BB gun) beans.
17 photos down (but not yet edited) and how many yet to go will be determined over the next two days. As of now we’ve ditched photographing, cooking and editing in favour of an hour long ab and cheek workout courtesy of Cake Wrecks. Reminder to self: grey icing is never a good idea.
Sautéed chickpeas and kale are easy: hot skillet, oil, chickpeas (well drained), torn kale, lots of garlic. Salt. This time I added a pinch of dried red chiles. Push everything over and fry an egg (well seasoned cast iron is nonstick – honest) and serve on toast.
February 06 2011 | leftovers | 11 Comments »
David Lebovitz, I adore you. You have made this house a happier place.
I know – minus 20 temperatures shouldn’t inspire ice cream making. But think about it: during a deep freeze, your ice cream machine insert won’t take up precious freezer space if you just stick it outside. And if you’re making the real, custard-base stuff, you won’t need to fiddle with a bowl of ice to cool it down – you can just stick it outside in the snow and it will chill in no time. My motivation to eat ice cream is rarely to cool off, anyway.
Besides, I had to get rid of the cream before going on a bit of a veggie bender in an attempt to wean myself off of all things buttery/sugary/creamy, at least for a little while. I signed up for a gym membership. I dug my gym bag out of the basement and dusted it off. I found my earphones and running shoes and went and bought a good supply of cheap Tshirts to sweat in. This has all taken far longer than it should have. I think it’s called procrastinating.
I’ll tell you all about that soon. Sue is arriving first thing in the morning for a 3 day Beanapalooza, in which we will attempt to make and photograph the recipes in the second half of the book, and I will do my best to not want to change everything. If you live within a 5km radius, you will likely receive leftovers on your doorstep. They will surely contain beans, even if they look like they couldn’t possibly. (Think chocolate cupcakes and gingersnaps.)
Meanwhile, have some ice cream. I read it in the book that currently occupies the space beside my bed – the Sweet Life in Paris. (If I can’t go, I can at least live vicariously through David.) D calls it caramel espresso ice cream, and though I cringe to second guess his infinite dessert wisdom, I do think burnt sugar better describes both method and taste – more bite, more character than straight-up caramel. Espresso makes a perfect pairing, without making it taste like coffee ice cream. (And I say that as one who loves coffee ice cream.) This is ice cream for grown-ups.
Burnt Sugar & Espresso Ice Cream
adapted for Canadian midwinter from the Sweet Life in Paris, by David Lebovitz
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk (2% would probably work fine)
pinch of good salt
6 large egg yolks
1/4 cup strong brewed espresso (what David says), or a heaping teaspoon of instant espresso dissolved in 2 Tbsp. water (what I did)
Put the sugar into a heavy duty pot (I used my round Le Creuset) and set it over medium-high heat. Let it sit until it starts to melt and liquefy in spots. (This will depend on your stovetop.) Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with something heatproof, until it melts completely, turns deep golden and just barely begins to smoke. If you get nervous, don’t even wait for the smoking part.
Carefully (it will steam) pour in the cream and stir – the melted sugar will seize up and harden – don’t worry about it. Stir to dissolve the sugar caramel. Stir in the milk and salt.
Beat the egg yolks with a fork in a small bowl. Slowly pour some of the hot caramel into the yolks, stirring briskly, then whisk the egg yolk mixture back into the caramel in the pot. Cook over medium heat until it bubbles and thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon – if you draw your finger through, it should leave a trail.
Pour the custard through a sieve into a bowl. (I tend to skip this step, but it takes about 20 seconds and is well worth getting any rogue bits of cooked egg out of your custard.) Put the bowl out into a snowdrift, or set it on a bowl of ice, or slide it into the fridge (put a piece of parchment or plastic wrap on the surface to prevent a skin forming), and cool until well chilled.
Stir in the espresso and freeze in your ice cream machine. Call me and I’ll come share it with you.
February 04 2011 | dessert | 14 Comments »
