Recipes/Recovery
Aaaaaaaahhhhhh.... It's the end of my first full week post-bar, and I'm almost back to my old self again, FINALLY. I'm back to work, and can now devote my full attention to my project there, which is very interesting and the antithesis of BarBri/studying. It has the potential to expand over a longer period of time, or it might not. Either way, I will be at Freeland & Freeland, working as the helm of the front of the office, and as a lawyer (once licensed). While I'm there, I can get high-quality experience and professional development while I work on getting some career traction. I'm not going to develop a complex about the fact that I didn't snag a fancier or higher-paying job. It's a horrible economy at the moment, everyone is applying for everything, and half my class is not employed at all right now. A lot of jobs now require "at least one year of post-bar exam legal experience," when they did not do so previously.
Jake and I are both a little anxious to get moving financially. I guess we're in that economic whirlpool of Oxford, where you make what a waiter makes and live a grad school-like existence unless you slowly and purposefully haul yourself out, bit by bit. (Frankly, it would help if the University paid people what they are worth--but no employer in this zip code is very inclined to do that.) I don't need a lot of things to be happy, and I JUST graduated into the worst economy in decades. I'm content to be patient about money and learn my profession under some very smart mentors. My goal is to have bolstered my income to my satisfaction within the next 5 years, which I think is absolutely reasonable. Especially since I don't have mega-bucks aspirations.
Cooking is one thing I really enjoy, and which we can afford to do. I saw "Julie & Julia" yesterday, and loved it. I've been on a roll recently, so I thought I'd post a few delicious success stories with Julia-inspired "fool-proof" details.
Shrimp Alfredo
My mom started making Krab Alfredo (she and my sister are allergic to crab) when I was younger, and she experimented with several methods of making the alfredo sauce. This is based on her method, with *tweaks* from me.
-1 stick butter
-2 cups whole milk
-1 cup cream
-juice of 2 lemons
-1/2 onion, diced
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-2-3 cups hard cheese such as parmesan
-salt/pepper
-4 or 5 sprigs fresh tarragon
-24 or so shrimp/about 1 lb., peeled and deveined
-big handful dry linguine
-In a large aluminum (or other not non-stick) skillet, melt the butter and sautee onions and garlic with a little salt and pepper until translucent
-Start the water boiling for the pasta at this point.
-Cook shrimp gently, until just barely pink. It's better to slightly undercook them at this point.
-When you remove the shrimp from the pan, put them in a container to keep warm, and add half the tarragon to the hot shrimp before you seal them up.
-When shrimp are done, add the lemon juice to the pan and whisk to de-glaze.
-Remove the pan from heat, and when it has cooled some, add the milk and cream. It might curdle a little, but just whisk and whisk and whisk over very low heat. That gooey ball stuck in your whisk will dissolve eventually.
-Add the pasta to the boiling water at this point, and it should be done just in time.
-Gradually whisk in the cheese, about 1/3 cup at a time. Don't add another handful until the previous one is melted. This helps keep the sauce from getting lumpy.
-Add the tarragon, and just whisk, whisk, whisk, whisk. After about five minutes of constant whisking over LOW heat, all the lovely fat and milk solids cease acting like a liquid mixture, and become a silky, too-thick sauce
-Put the shrimp back in and coat with sauce
-Add the pasta straight out of the pot, using tongs or a pasta spoon to get them out. The little bit of pasta water added to the cream sauce will thin it out slightly without disturbing it's perfect structure.
-Mix everything together so that noodles and shrimp are coated in sauce, and VOILA!
Quail in Gravy
I used a www.recipezaar.com recipe for "Georgia Quail in Gravy" and modified the seasoning. It was a basic butter/salt/pepper bird and gravy. I am of the school of thought that you are just not doing it right unless you are using onions, garlic and herbs. Right now, it's tarragon since I'm growing it and it is the most delicious thing in the world when it's fresh.
-4 quail
-1/2 stick butter
-1 onion
-2 cloves garlic
-salt/pepper
-1 cup dried cherries (or cranberries or whatever dried fruit you would like to soak in hot butter and then eat, because that's basically what makes this so good)
-1/2 cup white wine with partially dissolved bullion cube in it (yes, I cheated--the only chicken stock we had was in a giant container and I didn't need enough to justify opening it)
OR
-1/4 cup white wine + 1/4 cup chicken or beef stock
-3-4 sprigs of fresh tarragon, tied together in a bundle
-2 tbsp. flour
-2 tbsp. water
-In a large NOT non-stick skillet, melt the butter and sautee onions and garlic with some salt and pepper over medium-low heat until they start to go slightly golden brown
-During this process, dry off the quail, salt and pepper it, and stuff the cavity with dried cherries
-Add quail to the pan and brown on both sides--should take 4-5 minutes per side.
-Remove quail from pan
-Turn heat down to low and add the wine/stock combo
-Whisk to deglaze
-Add tarragon bundle
-Once the liquid comes up to a simmer (should take less than 1 minute), add the quail back to the pan, and cover the whole thing for 40 minutes.
-Remove quail from pan and turn off heat. You should have at least 1 cup of pan drippings. I eyeball it, but you can take it out of the pan and measure if you want--add water if there is too little.
-Whisk together 2 tbsp. water with 2 tbsp. flour
-Whisk in hot pan drippings a small spoonful at a time until most are combined with the flour/water
-Add the gravy to the pan and whisk with the rest of the drippings.
-Turn heat back on LOW, continue to whisk for a minute or so, and add the quail back again until hot. VOILA!
Blueberry Pancakes
-1/3 cup whole wheat flour
-1/3 cup white flour
-1/3 cup almond flour
-1/2 tsp. baking soda
-1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
-1 egg
-1 tbsp. oil
-water
-1 tsp. vanilla
-1 cup blueberries or as many as you can add to the pancakes and still flip them
-Combine dry ingredients
-Add egg and oil and mash up with the flour and levening
-Add enough water to form a loose batter. I just add a little at a time
-Using a non-stick skillet on medium-low heat, pour about 1/3 cup of batter into the pan.
-Add however many blueberries you like
-When the outside edge looks slightly crusted and there are bubbles all over the top (which should look a little dry), flip over and brown the other side.
-VOILA! Makes about 8 pancakes, but I always have to throw away the first one.
Jake and I are both a little anxious to get moving financially. I guess we're in that economic whirlpool of Oxford, where you make what a waiter makes and live a grad school-like existence unless you slowly and purposefully haul yourself out, bit by bit. (Frankly, it would help if the University paid people what they are worth--but no employer in this zip code is very inclined to do that.) I don't need a lot of things to be happy, and I JUST graduated into the worst economy in decades. I'm content to be patient about money and learn my profession under some very smart mentors. My goal is to have bolstered my income to my satisfaction within the next 5 years, which I think is absolutely reasonable. Especially since I don't have mega-bucks aspirations.
Cooking is one thing I really enjoy, and which we can afford to do. I saw "Julie & Julia" yesterday, and loved it. I've been on a roll recently, so I thought I'd post a few delicious success stories with Julia-inspired "fool-proof" details.
Shrimp Alfredo
My mom started making Krab Alfredo (she and my sister are allergic to crab) when I was younger, and she experimented with several methods of making the alfredo sauce. This is based on her method, with *tweaks* from me.
-1 stick butter
-2 cups whole milk
-1 cup cream
-juice of 2 lemons
-1/2 onion, diced
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-2-3 cups hard cheese such as parmesan
-salt/pepper
-4 or 5 sprigs fresh tarragon
-24 or so shrimp/about 1 lb., peeled and deveined
-big handful dry linguine
-In a large aluminum (or other not non-stick) skillet, melt the butter and sautee onions and garlic with a little salt and pepper until translucent
-Start the water boiling for the pasta at this point.
-Cook shrimp gently, until just barely pink. It's better to slightly undercook them at this point.
-When you remove the shrimp from the pan, put them in a container to keep warm, and add half the tarragon to the hot shrimp before you seal them up.
-When shrimp are done, add the lemon juice to the pan and whisk to de-glaze.
-Remove the pan from heat, and when it has cooled some, add the milk and cream. It might curdle a little, but just whisk and whisk and whisk over very low heat. That gooey ball stuck in your whisk will dissolve eventually.
-Add the pasta to the boiling water at this point, and it should be done just in time.
-Gradually whisk in the cheese, about 1/3 cup at a time. Don't add another handful until the previous one is melted. This helps keep the sauce from getting lumpy.
-Add the tarragon, and just whisk, whisk, whisk, whisk. After about five minutes of constant whisking over LOW heat, all the lovely fat and milk solids cease acting like a liquid mixture, and become a silky, too-thick sauce
-Put the shrimp back in and coat with sauce
-Add the pasta straight out of the pot, using tongs or a pasta spoon to get them out. The little bit of pasta water added to the cream sauce will thin it out slightly without disturbing it's perfect structure.
-Mix everything together so that noodles and shrimp are coated in sauce, and VOILA!
Quail in Gravy
I used a www.recipezaar.com recipe for "Georgia Quail in Gravy" and modified the seasoning. It was a basic butter/salt/pepper bird and gravy. I am of the school of thought that you are just not doing it right unless you are using onions, garlic and herbs. Right now, it's tarragon since I'm growing it and it is the most delicious thing in the world when it's fresh.
-4 quail
-1/2 stick butter
-1 onion
-2 cloves garlic
-salt/pepper
-1 cup dried cherries (or cranberries or whatever dried fruit you would like to soak in hot butter and then eat, because that's basically what makes this so good)
-1/2 cup white wine with partially dissolved bullion cube in it (yes, I cheated--the only chicken stock we had was in a giant container and I didn't need enough to justify opening it)
OR
-1/4 cup white wine + 1/4 cup chicken or beef stock
-3-4 sprigs of fresh tarragon, tied together in a bundle
-2 tbsp. flour
-2 tbsp. water
-In a large NOT non-stick skillet, melt the butter and sautee onions and garlic with some salt and pepper over medium-low heat until they start to go slightly golden brown
-During this process, dry off the quail, salt and pepper it, and stuff the cavity with dried cherries
-Add quail to the pan and brown on both sides--should take 4-5 minutes per side.
-Remove quail from pan
-Turn heat down to low and add the wine/stock combo
-Whisk to deglaze
-Add tarragon bundle
-Once the liquid comes up to a simmer (should take less than 1 minute), add the quail back to the pan, and cover the whole thing for 40 minutes.
-Remove quail from pan and turn off heat. You should have at least 1 cup of pan drippings. I eyeball it, but you can take it out of the pan and measure if you want--add water if there is too little.
-Whisk together 2 tbsp. water with 2 tbsp. flour
-Whisk in hot pan drippings a small spoonful at a time until most are combined with the flour/water
-Add the gravy to the pan and whisk with the rest of the drippings.
-Turn heat back on LOW, continue to whisk for a minute or so, and add the quail back again until hot. VOILA!
Blueberry Pancakes
-1/3 cup whole wheat flour
-1/3 cup white flour
-1/3 cup almond flour
-1/2 tsp. baking soda
-1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
-1 egg
-1 tbsp. oil
-water
-1 tsp. vanilla
-1 cup blueberries or as many as you can add to the pancakes and still flip them
-Combine dry ingredients
-Add egg and oil and mash up with the flour and levening
-Add enough water to form a loose batter. I just add a little at a time
-Using a non-stick skillet on medium-low heat, pour about 1/3 cup of batter into the pan.
-Add however many blueberries you like
-When the outside edge looks slightly crusted and there are bubbles all over the top (which should look a little dry), flip over and brown the other side.
-VOILA! Makes about 8 pancakes, but I always have to throw away the first one.