(no subject)
i'm going to go work out for the first time in like a month and a half. how depressing, kind of! i'd like to make it a habit... i do feel rather sluggish lately.
last night, i made pancakes; i added baking powder into the mix, and brown sugar... so they were very good blueberry pancakes. i think the best thing about them was their size though-- i kept fucking up the flipping, so i wound up making them tiny. and then i made two tinier pancakes for levi, stacked them, and put them in her dog dish. it was very adorable looking. i think i would make the midget pancakes and just fill a plate with them-- truly bitesized. they'd be great with some kind of warm dipping sauce-- not so much syrup, but... well, i'm not sure. for some reason i'm thinking apple cinnamony. though i could see doing plain pancakes dusted with powdered sugar with a warmed chocolate sauce maybe...
i think if i didn't become an illustrator i may've gone to culinary school, although my skills aren't that exceptional anyway... but i do like cooking. i want some new recipes though, new things to try. one thing on my list is this recipe my sister tipped me off on. i'd really like to try and make some indian dishes, and some other ethnic dishes-- for example, i noticed this iranian jewish recipe for a soup that's kind of like matzoh ball soup, except with chickpea flour. mmm...
if you cook at all, even the most hamhanded way of cooking, do you have any favorite recipes that you'd be willing to share? i'm up for anything in theory, just so long as they don't involve mayonnaise, or if they do use cheese or butter it's melted. and if they're fish (nonshellfish variety), not salmon, and preferably mixed into something else (i'm not a fan of tuna or swordfish steaks, but I had a good tomato based fish stew once) but i'm up for veggie/vegan options as well. baking, grilling, stirfrying-- doesn't really matter; the weather's getting nice again so i could grill if i want.
in return, i offer to you my edits on my mom's classic red clam sauce recipe, which i made on monday--
first, saute a chopped onion (i use a frozen bag of onions for this-- about one cup) and some chopped/minced garlic in olive oil-- depending on how much you like to taste. i am kind of lazy about chopping garlic so i just buy the jar of minced garlic from the supermarket and it does fine for me.
i also mixed in some herbs with the oil-- i ran out of the fresh oregano i had, but i have a good blend of dried italian seasoning i got from the store, has rosemary, oregano, parsley, basil etc. in addition i chopped up a pretty thick sprig of rosemary i had and sauted half of that. in addition, i took two vine tomatoes i had and 'mashed' them in the pot. i imagine you could dice them. i was lazy, and so i made them into pancake-like things and cut them into pieces in the pot.
after everything's all nice and golden, you want to put in 2 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, and then two small cans of tomato paste. (my mom put in one, but there's a reason i did two-- you'll see). if you really like clams you will want to get two tall cans of whole baby clams (i forget the ounces, sorry) and two short cans (think tuna fish can size) of chopped clams (i did one can minced and one chopped, but the bigger pieces are better, i think). when you're adding the tomatoes, you also want to add in the juice from the tall cans-- just drain it in and reserve the meat. you can add in some of the juice from the short cans too, but also consider the consistency-- my mom usually has it a bit thinner, but i liked the consistency i came up with with using only half of the juice from one short can. toss in the rest of the sprig of rosemary and about 1 1/2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper (you can add more if you like, i threw some extra in and it made it pleasingly spicy, and a little bit of salt and pepper to taste. you shouldn't need much, i just crushed a bit of sea salt but the juice should be fairly salty anyway... simmer that for about twenty five minutes (and actually, if you cook it longer it tastes better), stirring occasionally, and then add the clams and heat through-- try to keep it under 5 minutes or so, so they don't get tough!
i really need to go to the asian market my friend ben told me about-- i want to get some fun ingredients.
last night, i made pancakes; i added baking powder into the mix, and brown sugar... so they were very good blueberry pancakes. i think the best thing about them was their size though-- i kept fucking up the flipping, so i wound up making them tiny. and then i made two tinier pancakes for levi, stacked them, and put them in her dog dish. it was very adorable looking. i think i would make the midget pancakes and just fill a plate with them-- truly bitesized. they'd be great with some kind of warm dipping sauce-- not so much syrup, but... well, i'm not sure. for some reason i'm thinking apple cinnamony. though i could see doing plain pancakes dusted with powdered sugar with a warmed chocolate sauce maybe...
i think if i didn't become an illustrator i may've gone to culinary school, although my skills aren't that exceptional anyway... but i do like cooking. i want some new recipes though, new things to try. one thing on my list is this recipe my sister tipped me off on. i'd really like to try and make some indian dishes, and some other ethnic dishes-- for example, i noticed this iranian jewish recipe for a soup that's kind of like matzoh ball soup, except with chickpea flour. mmm...
if you cook at all, even the most hamhanded way of cooking, do you have any favorite recipes that you'd be willing to share? i'm up for anything in theory, just so long as they don't involve mayonnaise, or if they do use cheese or butter it's melted. and if they're fish (nonshellfish variety), not salmon, and preferably mixed into something else (i'm not a fan of tuna or swordfish steaks, but I had a good tomato based fish stew once) but i'm up for veggie/vegan options as well. baking, grilling, stirfrying-- doesn't really matter; the weather's getting nice again so i could grill if i want.
in return, i offer to you my edits on my mom's classic red clam sauce recipe, which i made on monday--
first, saute a chopped onion (i use a frozen bag of onions for this-- about one cup) and some chopped/minced garlic in olive oil-- depending on how much you like to taste. i am kind of lazy about chopping garlic so i just buy the jar of minced garlic from the supermarket and it does fine for me.
i also mixed in some herbs with the oil-- i ran out of the fresh oregano i had, but i have a good blend of dried italian seasoning i got from the store, has rosemary, oregano, parsley, basil etc. in addition i chopped up a pretty thick sprig of rosemary i had and sauted half of that. in addition, i took two vine tomatoes i had and 'mashed' them in the pot. i imagine you could dice them. i was lazy, and so i made them into pancake-like things and cut them into pieces in the pot.
after everything's all nice and golden, you want to put in 2 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, and then two small cans of tomato paste. (my mom put in one, but there's a reason i did two-- you'll see). if you really like clams you will want to get two tall cans of whole baby clams (i forget the ounces, sorry) and two short cans (think tuna fish can size) of chopped clams (i did one can minced and one chopped, but the bigger pieces are better, i think). when you're adding the tomatoes, you also want to add in the juice from the tall cans-- just drain it in and reserve the meat. you can add in some of the juice from the short cans too, but also consider the consistency-- my mom usually has it a bit thinner, but i liked the consistency i came up with with using only half of the juice from one short can. toss in the rest of the sprig of rosemary and about 1 1/2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper (you can add more if you like, i threw some extra in and it made it pleasingly spicy, and a little bit of salt and pepper to taste. you shouldn't need much, i just crushed a bit of sea salt but the juice should be fairly salty anyway... simmer that for about twenty five minutes (and actually, if you cook it longer it tastes better), stirring occasionally, and then add the clams and heat through-- try to keep it under 5 minutes or so, so they don't get tough!
i really need to go to the asian market my friend ben told me about-- i want to get some fun ingredients.