Making an efficiency 'home'
First of all, I'll let you in on a little secret: there will be no pictures of my efficiency in this post.
I can't help it! I've got too many boxes lying around waiting to get shipped off to Kalamazoo. When those are gone, I'll go ahead and post some pics.
What WILL be in this post is a little kitchen-centric discussion of what I've been doing here, so far. In my family, sharing a meal is an essential part of getting together. In fact, I think that this place will feel like 'home' as soon as I get to share some food with friends in the area. (Again, maybe once the boxes are gone in a few weeks).
But the feeling of home does involve some good food. Especially for me, since much of my roommates and I here in Madison have made a bonding-experience out of cooking & eating together.
Now that I don't have a roommate, I was afraid I may just slip back into hamburger helper-land. I tried that for one meal, and yes it's good in a pinch. However, if I have some time, I'll make this place feel like home with some good food!
My first meal, I wanted to run the gamut of the kitchen. I made Curry Beef, Lentil & Fresh Veggie Samosas. If I made that sound official or grand then kudos to me! Cuz I made it up.
Sauteed strips of beef in curry spices started off this preparation, followed by heating up some Kitchen of India Curry Lentils (I don't think it's the Black Gram one, but could have been). I added a few of my own fast-cooking Lentils & spices.
I used store-bought croissant dough to form the shell of the Samosa (for lack of a better word). I put a few pieces of curried beef, bean sprouts, fresh chopped tomato & topped with a spoonful of the curried lentils.
They were folded over to create the little baked-dumpling-samosa-like things. Tossing them in the oven for just about 10 minutes crusted the dough and let the lentils & tomatoes meld just a bit. The taste was quite fresh afterward! They were good enough that they really only lasted until the next day... I nommed them.
I did, however, have a little left-over tomato. Efficiency-living demands that you use these things quickly (your fridge is SO small!). So the next day, I dug out some of my frozen chicken and cut it into bite-size pieces. Italian seasoning, olive oil & plenty of garlic made for an aromatic cooking-time! However, this meal usually has a little butter with the chicken & pasta - but I found out I hadn't stocked my kitchen with butter, yet! I made some whole wheat spaghetti and tossed it with rosemary, garlic & basil. Typically, I'd have doused this with some parmesan cheese - but this time I had some colby-jack cheese. I thought it would be strange, but with the fresh tomato, it worked pretty well! And yes, instead of Tuna-Helper, I've made this with high-quality Albacore. For that, toss the albacore chunks in garlic salt, rosemary and plenty of parmesan cheese. Fry it quick and then add the cooked spaghetti. Delicious & really easy.
Tonight I did something I've always wanted to do: bake my own bread. Now, I have baked a few loaves in the past (typically with delicious success!) - but they were usually so complicated that it took some concentration. If they weren't too complicated, they were sometimes too 'earthy' for everyday sandwich bread (I will commence guarding my ears from the onslaught of people telling me to enjoy the grit of whole grains!). I found a really easy wheat bread recipe at http://www.tammysrecipes.com/homemade_wheat_bread along with her comments here http://www.tammysrecipes.com/node/2856. A few pictures of this loaf are below. This was amazingly easy to knead and throw in my loaf pan. In fact, it's a small loaf (perfect for a 7" x 3" pan like mine!). It made a nice looking loaf which was delicious with some Black Raspberry Jam!
Those are some complex, simple & delicious meals that I'm making in my efficiency. My only efficiency-related tip is that I find it amazingly beneficial to only have ONE left-over container. Whether I want to or not... I can't make another meal which feeds more than one person until I finish my leftovers!
Well, enjoy the pics of the food and if it makes your mouth water and you live in Madison... Hit me up! At least the bread will be a staple in my cuisine.
Posted to LJ from my new posterous: Shorblog at http://shorblog.posterous.com