Rainy days make me domestic, it seems.
sandrylene has joined another band, and is in the process of learning their songs. Since this is the Boston contingent of Sassafrass, which specializes in close harmony and songs about Norse mythology, she's in the spare room right now, singing things like "Icy sons and icy brothers, icy father, fuck fuck fuuuuuuuck!" IT'S KIND OF HILARIOUS. I spent a while in there working on a cosplay prop and totally not laughing at her in any way. Totally not.
Meanwhile, today has been a day of cooking. I feel all accomplished and stuff! (Even though I haven't done half the things I meant to today. Um.)
It started off with pancakes, which due to enabling housemates became Cinnamon Roll Pancakes. We added some extra cinnamon, and I never bothered to put the cream cheese frosting on mine (since I dislike cream cheese frosting), but otherwise did it straight to recipe. Unusual for me! I believe in slapdash experimental cooking, and in only measuring when I'm baking.
Anyway, my verdict on the cinnamon roll pancakes was that they were pretty good, but too desserty for me really. Others may disagree, because I get tired of sugary things way before most of my friends.
Also, those tidy cinnamon filling spirals you see in the recipe? ALL LIES. Well, no, if you have a pastry bag it'd probably work fine -- and we do, in theory, but we put it some very clever place where none of us could find it. So we tried the ziplock bag tactic, and the bag split almost immediately, and then I tried a funnel and it was too thick to usefully force through the spout, so I had to just kind of glop on tiny bits of cinnamon goop with a spoon. Still tasty! Much more Rorschach-looking.
And then I made improvisational soup that was so tasty I have to share the recipe. Uh. "Recipe." See above about slapdash experimental cooking. This was vaguely based on a semi-recipe rabswom posted a year or two ago, but then I changed most of it. It's very easy; it's also the kind of recipe that involves maybe 15-20 minutes of chopping and stirring, and then wandering away for two hours while the soup finishes cooking, and coming back for a little more at the end.
Easy Tomato-Garlic-Chickpea Soup
Vegetarian -- vegan without the feta garnish I added -- and gluten-free, and a filling one-pot meal. Serves 4-5 people, or gives you leftovers.
- garlic (a fair amount, minced -- I probably used 5-6 cloves? I cheated and used the pre-minced in-a-jar sort, so I used probably 3-4 small spoonfuls of that.)
- half a medium onion, chopped smallish
- vegetable oil
- optional: a splash of red wine
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 can chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
- 1 quart broth (I used vegetable, but you could use chicken)
- rice (...a few handfuls? I guess I added maybe half a cup of basmati.)
- a couple handfuls of fresh spinach, chopped (you could also use frozen)
- pepper, to taste (and salt, if you want, but I didn't think it needed any)
- optional garnishes: chopped cilantro, crumbled feta cheese, lemony olive oil
Cover the bottom of a heavy-bottomed saucepan with vegetable oil -- I used a mixture of canola and olive oil, but whatever you like. (Ideally, this should be a pot you have a tight-fitting lid for.) Turn the heat to medium. Dump in the minced garlic, and stir it for a few minutes, till it's smelling nicely aromatic. Add in the onion, and keep stirring it occasionally, until it's starting to soften.
Splash in the red wine, if you have any on hand. (Quality doesn't matter, and in fact quality is pretty much wasted on this.) Stir it around some, give it a minute or so, and then dump in your can of tomatoes. Stir everything up well, and then let it simmer for maybe 5-10 minutes, so all the flavors cook into each other. Give it a stir every few minutes.
While that's cooking, dump your can of garbanzo beans into a strainer and rinse well. Add them to the pot, stir everything up, and add some pepper if you feel like it. Pour in the broth. When it's starting to bubble, turn the heat down to low and put a lid on the saucepan.
At this point, you can wander away for a couple of hours! Seriously, I left it simmering to itself probably two hours, and it was totally fine. I came back to stir a few times to make sure nothing stuck to the bottom of the pan, but I didn't really need to, since the heat was so low. You need this cooking time for the flavors to simmer into the chickpeas. Otherwise, they'll be little chunks of mushiness, instead of little chunks of tasty proteiny joy.
Come back and toss in the rice. Put the lid back on, and let it cook for, oh, maybe half an hour, until the rice is soft. When the rice is soft (or almost soft), toss in the chopped spinach and stir it in. The spinach doesn't need to cook long -- you just want it to wilt in the liquid, basically.
Put in a bowl. ENJOY.
Garnishes: I added chopped cilantro, crumbled feta, and a drizzle of lemon-infused olive oil we happened to have in the cupboard. I thought all of these were excellent additions, but you could easily skip them. You could also add a different kind of cheese, a different herb (thyme? rosemary? fresh basil?) or anything else that strikes your fancy. I bet this would also work well as an egg drop soup, but I didn't try that.
Now: time to work on Japanese homework I've been ignoring in favor of internet-surfing and writing up recipes! And maybe go outside to peer at the snow on the porch. Oh, Boston.
This entry is also posted at http://genarti.dreamwidth.org/6963.html. You can comment on LJ or DW, whichever you like.
comments at DW.
Meanwhile, today has been a day of cooking. I feel all accomplished and stuff! (Even though I haven't done half the things I meant to today. Um.)
It started off with pancakes, which due to enabling housemates became Cinnamon Roll Pancakes. We added some extra cinnamon, and I never bothered to put the cream cheese frosting on mine (since I dislike cream cheese frosting), but otherwise did it straight to recipe. Unusual for me! I believe in slapdash experimental cooking, and in only measuring when I'm baking.
Anyway, my verdict on the cinnamon roll pancakes was that they were pretty good, but too desserty for me really. Others may disagree, because I get tired of sugary things way before most of my friends.
Also, those tidy cinnamon filling spirals you see in the recipe? ALL LIES. Well, no, if you have a pastry bag it'd probably work fine -- and we do, in theory, but we put it some very clever place where none of us could find it. So we tried the ziplock bag tactic, and the bag split almost immediately, and then I tried a funnel and it was too thick to usefully force through the spout, so I had to just kind of glop on tiny bits of cinnamon goop with a spoon. Still tasty! Much more Rorschach-looking.
And then I made improvisational soup that was so tasty I have to share the recipe. Uh. "Recipe." See above about slapdash experimental cooking. This was vaguely based on a semi-recipe rabswom posted a year or two ago, but then I changed most of it. It's very easy; it's also the kind of recipe that involves maybe 15-20 minutes of chopping and stirring, and then wandering away for two hours while the soup finishes cooking, and coming back for a little more at the end.
Easy Tomato-Garlic-Chickpea Soup
Vegetarian -- vegan without the feta garnish I added -- and gluten-free, and a filling one-pot meal. Serves 4-5 people, or gives you leftovers.
- garlic (a fair amount, minced -- I probably used 5-6 cloves? I cheated and used the pre-minced in-a-jar sort, so I used probably 3-4 small spoonfuls of that.)
- half a medium onion, chopped smallish
- vegetable oil
- optional: a splash of red wine
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 can chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
- 1 quart broth (I used vegetable, but you could use chicken)
- rice (...a few handfuls? I guess I added maybe half a cup of basmati.)
- a couple handfuls of fresh spinach, chopped (you could also use frozen)
- pepper, to taste (and salt, if you want, but I didn't think it needed any)
- optional garnishes: chopped cilantro, crumbled feta cheese, lemony olive oil
Cover the bottom of a heavy-bottomed saucepan with vegetable oil -- I used a mixture of canola and olive oil, but whatever you like. (Ideally, this should be a pot you have a tight-fitting lid for.) Turn the heat to medium. Dump in the minced garlic, and stir it for a few minutes, till it's smelling nicely aromatic. Add in the onion, and keep stirring it occasionally, until it's starting to soften.
Splash in the red wine, if you have any on hand. (Quality doesn't matter, and in fact quality is pretty much wasted on this.) Stir it around some, give it a minute or so, and then dump in your can of tomatoes. Stir everything up well, and then let it simmer for maybe 5-10 minutes, so all the flavors cook into each other. Give it a stir every few minutes.
While that's cooking, dump your can of garbanzo beans into a strainer and rinse well. Add them to the pot, stir everything up, and add some pepper if you feel like it. Pour in the broth. When it's starting to bubble, turn the heat down to low and put a lid on the saucepan.
At this point, you can wander away for a couple of hours! Seriously, I left it simmering to itself probably two hours, and it was totally fine. I came back to stir a few times to make sure nothing stuck to the bottom of the pan, but I didn't really need to, since the heat was so low. You need this cooking time for the flavors to simmer into the chickpeas. Otherwise, they'll be little chunks of mushiness, instead of little chunks of tasty proteiny joy.
Come back and toss in the rice. Put the lid back on, and let it cook for, oh, maybe half an hour, until the rice is soft. When the rice is soft (or almost soft), toss in the chopped spinach and stir it in. The spinach doesn't need to cook long -- you just want it to wilt in the liquid, basically.
Put in a bowl. ENJOY.
Garnishes: I added chopped cilantro, crumbled feta, and a drizzle of lemon-infused olive oil we happened to have in the cupboard. I thought all of these were excellent additions, but you could easily skip them. You could also add a different kind of cheese, a different herb (thyme? rosemary? fresh basil?) or anything else that strikes your fancy. I bet this would also work well as an egg drop soup, but I didn't try that.
Now: time to work on Japanese homework I've been ignoring in favor of internet-surfing and writing up recipes! And maybe go outside to peer at the snow on the porch. Oh, Boston.
This entry is also posted at http://genarti.dreamwidth.org/6963.html. You can comment on LJ or DW, whichever you like.
comments at DW.