Made lasagne for the first time today. Here's notes. It was a mix of different influences including the issue of "what's actually in the fridge", and also "I hate ricotta". (Went for "garlicky like tzatziki" for the paste therefore. Also it's more interesting that way.) Sauce

• Soffrito with 1 carrot, 2 celery, 1 small onion [roughly equal ( Read more... )

I have an apartment! Yay! Since my stuff is all still in California, my mom and I packed me a few things to borrow in the meantime. Since we had a bunch of other things to carry, this meant we tried to find the minimal amount of stuff to have a functional kitchen. Here's what we packed: Equipment

• 1 chef's knife
• 1 paring knife
• 1 cutting ( Read more... )

So, I took a quinoa dish to a potluck, and people were like "This is amazing, what did you put in it?". I put salt, garlic, and olive oil. Not really that amazing. But people thought it was amazing, which brings me to my point: the proper use of salt is under-appreciated by the masses.
IMO, there's really only two things you need to know to cook ( Read more... )

A trick I learned from my mom that's apparently magic: buy sliced bread, or slice some bread you like, and put it in the freezer. There it will keep for months without going moldy. To use, pop a few slices off the stack, using a knife to separate if necessary, and put them in the toaster on the Very Toasted setting. They'll come out nice and hot ( Read more... )

This is awesome: Chemistry of Cast Iron Seasoning: A Science-Based How-To. (If you're going to do this, read the comments, too.)

In my dream last night, we were at a restaurant, and one of the items on the dessert menu was a Pound Cake Tasting Platter, featuring pound cakes using recipes from around the world (well, mostly Europe). My friend ordered one, and I was sad, because I could not eat any of it. :(
Here is the recipe that was, to me and my sister growing up, "cake ( Read more... )

So when the doctor put me on a no-sugar minimal-dairy diet, I was like, but what do I eat for breakfast!? Because except for eggs (which I don't want to eat every day.. or most days) pretty much all the breakfast foods seem to involve either sugar or cheese. But hot cereal with fruit doesn't, so here's notes on my best hot cereal attempt, which ( Read more... )

It's not as good as the real thing, but it's made with stuff that's in my kitchen. It has the advantage of being a) fast b) vegan. ( Easy, peasy! )

Ingredients:

• Shredded red cabbage
• Cubed boiled potatoes (preferably still hot)
• Chopped green onions

Dressing:

• 1 spoonful mayonnaise
• 1 spoonful Dijon mustard
• 1 spoonful vinegar

Blend dressing with spoon. Toss with other ingredients. Serve.

Variant: Toss in sliced cooked sausage at the end.

Notes: You could make this a potato salad by ( Read more... )

By request from Caitlin :) ( Basic Chinese Stir-Fry )