Hot 'n' Cold

Yes, today is the first day of fall. And if I the weather of both today and the last three weeks were to have a theme song, the royalties would have to go to our very own Katy Perry because yes, this weather is PMS-ing like a bitch, I would know! It rains…a lot…and drops down to 45 degrees…and then rains again…and then goes up to 85 degrees, turning the universe into a giant sauna. And this is all in the matter of a day! I’ve been waiting and waiting but those typical crisp cool days where the sky is blue and the air fresh and dry, yeah, they haven’t made a single appearance.

So you know what I did. I decided that maybe the only fix is to be a little mocking. Maybe, I thought, if I brought a little Hot 'n' Cold, a little contrast, I might just get this weather to whip itself back into shape. So of course I used food to implement my plan.

The Hot: Beef Meatball Curry. 

Oh man. This stuff is pretty insane. I loooove curry but don’t get to eat it a lot because my dad isn’t too crazy about spicy stuff and there are no Indian restaurants in my hometown. So now, living on my own, I took full advantage of the fact that I can make a big pot of curry and eat it for four days straight. I just ate the last bit of it a few hours ago and it was still as delicious as it was on day one.

Organic grass fed beef is mixed with hot red chili and ginger and shaped into little meatballs. And then they are slowly simmered in a vat of tomato and coconut sauce flavored with shallots, ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, and cayenne. The aromas in my kitchen wafted around me in en exotic dance. My tastebuds did the same with each spoonful of sauce and beef-soaked brown basmati rice and naan. The recipe came from Aarti Sequeira. You can find it here. I made it almost verbatim but excluded the cilantro (yuck), used only half of a milder red chili, only 3 cloves of garlic, used a can of diced tomatoes instead of fresh, and reduced the added water to ¼ cup. I really like her by the way and her approach at making Indian food accessible to everyone. I hope she comes out with a cookbook soon.

The Cold: Mint Ice Cream

I actually made this a while ago but one can only go through so much ice cream. The dessert plays up the coldness in two ways. First, obviously, it’s physically cold in the mouth with microscopic ice crystals melting into creaminess on the tongue. But second, a refreshing coolness comes from the fresh peppermint that I got at the farmer’s market. When making it, the mint hangs out with the milk for about 2 hours, permeating it with its tingling qualities. I got the recipe from David Lebovitz and just left out the chocolate because I wanted the pure mint flavor to shine. I loved it although if I try mint ice cream again I may go for a Philadelphia style because the custardiness of the eggs overpowered the mint somewhat.

So will my culinary weather mocking work…I guess we’ll see. If not, I got an amazing meal out of the situation. I guess that’s one way to brighten up the day.

The Orange Season

Today was the first day of this year where I woke up and I could finally sense fall. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the weather went from being 85 degrees on Tuesday, to rainy and 70 degrees on Thursday, to dry, crisp, and 55 degrees today. I honestly had a little extra spring in my step. I had a fleeting urge to listen to Christmas music (it went away fast though) and while standing outside, I closed my eyes and felt like I was back in London.

While I was there last fall, I was disappointed that I would miss out on the entire fall season here in Virginia. No pumpkin patches, Halloween, scarecrows, and harvest festivals. No drives through the mountains for the sake of looking at leaves. But as it turned out, fall in England was quite wonderful. Fresh apples were still everywhere as well as a gorgeous fall fashions that only a true Londoner can pull off. By lucky chance, our tour of a traditional English village in the countryside fell on an absolutely quintessential fall day and it was honestly the one of the most perfect days I think I will ever have. Coloring leaves, Sunday church bells, thatch-roofed cottages, and a big bowl of hot, pumpkin soup. Which brings me back to my main point. England’s fall season still provided a plentiful bounty of orange root and squash vegetables. And if there is one thing you should know about me and my food obsessions, orange root vegetables and squashes are my ultimate weakness. I crave them incessantly during all seasons and all weathers. Carrots, pumpkins, butternut squashes, golden beets, sweet potatoes. England was all about them…and that made me happy.

Though, on second thought, this does not explain why UK Starbucks neglected to offer the Pumpkin Spice Latte. But that’s okay; I actually had my first one of the season today and it was most definitely worth the wait. But regardless of that, I was lucky to not have to give up my favorite food for a year for the sake of a study abroad trip. Because I don’t think I could have waited.

I also noticed that with the strong influence of Indian cuisine in London, many orange vegetables were prepared with a Middle Eastern style. Butternut squashes popped up in many vegetarian curries and carrot salads spiced with raisins and coriander were ever popular. But my favorite was the sweet potato falafel. I would get this amazing sweet potato falafel sandwich from Pret with spinach, yogurt dressing, red onion, parsley, and hummus on whole wheat bread.. And though I regretfully didn’t try it there, the food chain Leon also offered a sweet potato falafel wrap. Luckily, however, they have a cookbook with the recipe and with the help of a blog post from Heidi Swanson, I retrieved the recipe and tried it out on my own.

They were delicious too and I love that they are baked rather than fried so that the sweet potato flavor shines through rather than being clogged by oil. The sesame seeds add a nutty crunch that gives way to a warm and creamy interior. The spices give an aromatic warmth but I dipped the falafel in some plain greek yogurt which provided a cooling contrast. These little morsels were really easy to make too, which makes London and fall memories a quick meal away.

Sweet Potato Falafel
Adapted from Leon and 101 Cookbooks
Makes 18 falafel

Note: When I say easy I don’t necessarily mean quick. Though they dirty hardly any dishes and require little labor-intensive work, they do take some time. My suggestion is to bake and mash the sweet potatoes the night before and refrigerate them overnight. Then, the next morning, mix with the rest of the ingredients and let it hang out in the refrigerator all day. That way, when it’s time to make dinner, all you have to do is shape and bake the falafel. You’ll notice that they are actually vegan and gluten-free too so it’s a great way to treat people with any dietary restrictions.

Ingredients
2 medium sweet potatoes
2 cloves minced garlic
1½ tsp. ground cumin
1½ tsp. ground coriander
handful of chopped parsley
1 cup garbanzo bean flour
½ lemon
salt and pepper
sesame seeds (about 1-2 Tbs)

In a 425-degree oven place the whole sweet potatoes directly on the rack for 45 minutes to 1 hour until they are tender in the center. Remove from the oven and let them cool. Once cool, remove the flesh from the skins and either refrigerate until ready to use or move to the next step.

Mix the cooled sweet potato flesh with the garlic, cumin, coriander, parsley, garbanzo bean flour, and lemon juice in a bowl. Mash with the back of a fork until quite creamy and smooth. Season with the salt and pepper. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for at least an hour to firm up.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and oil a baking sheet. Using two large spoons, scoop up a mound of the mixture and pass it back and forth between the concave sides of the spoons to form a football-like shape, but with three curved sides. Sprinkle the outside with the sesame seeds and place on the tray. Bake for about 15-17 minutes until the sides are golden and slightly crispy. Serve immediately while warm with toasted pita and a good dipping sauce like tsatziki or, if you want to keep it vegan, and lemon tahini sauce. 

End of Summer Salad

So this is it, the “end of summer” post. The chance to bid farewell to hot days, long nights, and amazing food. It really hit me last weekend. I was browsing around the farmer’s market and everywhere I looked there were hints of fall. Squashes of all shapes and sizes were mounded at every stand from quintessential round, orange pumpkins to my favorite bell-shaped butternuts, to the oddest assortments of lumpy, crooked, and cankered looking things that I’m not even sure how to cook. I even spotted some emerald heads of broccoli that I sorely regret passing up. But the buzz of the market came when one long-awaited truck pulled up late, harboring the very last supply of the summer’s sweet corn. I swear I’ve never seen such a rush of market-goers in my life elbowing to the front of the line for their cherished two-dozen ears. It was sheer mania. And yes I did get some, three plump ears for a mere dollar. They made for an outstanding lunch. I boiled them up, cut he kernels of the cob and tossed them with a simple mix of butter, parsley, cherry tomatoes, feta, and salt and pepper. I used the knife to scrape ever bit of warm, milky sweetness from the cob into my bowl which melted and mixed with the cheese to make a salty and tangysauce. It was a great way to end the harvest.

But now its fall, which is actually my favorite season for both the food and the weather. I love the root vegetables. I absolutely love the apples and pears. I love hot coffee on crisp mornings and warm pies on cool evenings. I love the hues of rust red, ochre, and goldenrod. I love corn mazes and pumpkin patches and apple cider and mulled wine. Fall is my elixir. And though the transition into the season in compliance with tropical storms galore made this past week miserable cold and drizzly, I sit here with my just purchased fall issue of Food Network magazine patiently waiting for the typical Autumn days. School has begun, stress has settled in, Senioritis is nagging at me, but fall will get me through. It always has.

But I’ll leave you with one last hurrah for summer. A semi-recipe that makes use of the leftover bits and bobs of summer produce. It’s a meatless nicoise salad of sorts made from leftovers and essentially made to suit your tastes and whatever is in the house. The dressing is just an estimate in terms of amounts but use your own judgment to make it how you think you would like it. So here it is.

Last of Summer Salad for One

Salad Ingredients
A handful of leftover potatoes, chopped roughly
A handful of leftover green beans, chopped roughly
1 boiled egg, chopped (reserve half the yolk for the dressing)
Toasted almonds, chopped
Real Parmesan cheese shavings

Dressing Ingredients
2 parts olive oil
2 parts white wine vinegar
1 part plain yogurt or sour cream
½ part Dijon mustard
The reserve half of the egg yolk
Salt and pepper

Mix the salad ingredients expect the Parmesan together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until the egg yolk broken up and well incorporated. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Top with the Parmesan and extra salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy outside, in the sun, with a cool glass of wine or sparkling fruit juice.

Banana Bread

I’ve been thinking a lot about bananas lately.

And by lately I mean since two Saturdays ago when I began one of the most rewarding and enlightening experiences in my life. This past week and a half, I volunteered myself as an orientation guide for the incoming freshman of my University. It was not an easy job to obtain; the application process began last February and essays, group, and individual interviews ensued before 900 applicants were whittled down to 250 FROGS (First yeaR Orientation Guides). And so the moment finally arrived. The three days of training and six days of orientation that followed were, though exhausting (we got about four hours of sleep each night), some of the best of my life. The 18 fellow orientation guides that were in my training group are now my best friends and I make excuses to walk by the dormitory of the 28 first years that I was responsible for introducing to this amazing school, just in the hopes of running into them.

And though the support system of enthusiastic and optimistic people there kept me pushing through the hard week, I may not have made it without bananas either. Our days started with a mandatory 7:00 AM breakfast at the dining hall where I, on autopilot, instantly reached for two or three bananas before any coffee or bagels found their way into my hands. One was eaten immediately, slowly providing the energy to carry on with the remaining 16 hours of my work day. The others went into the backpack; they would have their uses later. The days would continue as my schedule told me. I let my group of first years to amazing presentations on alcohol safety and respecting diversity on campus and other wonderful performances and events. I directed students to correct classrooms where meetings were held. I busted out in song, dance, and mega-icebreaker games for about hours on the quad. But that was the easy part. The hardest two days were move-in where we FROGS spent literally eight hours each day hauling the freshmen’s unending supply or dorm supplies from their cars into their rooms. I lifted case after case of water bottles and Gatorade (anyone ever heard of a Brita pitcher) flimsy plastic under-the-bed drawers, neon pink shower caddies, and sacks of smelly shoes. If I saw a mini-fridge, I referred the parents to one of the guys with much stronger arms than I. The day was like and eight hour session of simultaneous stair climber and weight-lifting. But thank goodness a banana was always tucked away in my bag. And though warmer, mushier, and a little blacker than I had last left it, the sweet sticky fruit was an almost instant cure-all for hunger shakes and aching muscles.

When it all ended on Sunday, it was a bittersweet moment. School would begin the next day and though the other FROGS, the freshmen, and I had only just met, I felt like I had known them much longer. And the thought that we would not be meeting for breakfast the next day was disturbing and odd. But I was free to relax, to get my crap in order, and to finally cook for the first time in ten days. I arrived home, and after unloading my backpack realized that between my roommate and me, we had acquired a collection of 6 bananas over the week, all reaching an alarming state of ripeness. And there was not a moment of doubt in my mind. Banana bread. I found a recipe that was easy as anything and within a few minutes, I had a full bread tin of batter slowly cooking away in the oven. The air filled with the super-saturated sweetness of ripe bananas combined with that comforting heartiness of freshly baked bread and warming cinnamon. It came out of the oven at 10:00 but regardless of my sleep deprivation, I withstood waiting yet another 30 minutes for the bread to cool so I could indulge in a small slice. It was incredibly moist and definitely more on the bread/muffin side of baked good because of its subtle and gentle sweetness. The outer edges became slightly crispy while the center transformed into a mass of billowing, tender crumb. The next morning I ate a huge slice, toasted and slathered with peanut butter and banana slices. A heavenly breakfast after 10 straight days of dining hall food.

Now excuse me if I try to make a slightly far-fetched analogy, but in my state of deliriousness that Sunday night and intoxicated by the smell of baking bread, I came to realize something more about bananas. They are such an odd fruit, not juicy and crisp like most others but dense and mealy and sometimes unappetizingly slimy. Within three days they can go from neon green, to vibrant yellow, to murky brown and black. And with a little practice they can then be transformed from an inedible state to something delicious like bread or ice cream. Funnily enough I saw these evolution patterns paralleled in the people I was with during orientation and realized that bananas are a lot like humans.

My group of freshmen are those green bananas. They aren’t totally prepared for everything yet. In terms of maturation, yes, they’re a little green. But give them time and they’ll soften up. They will learn the ins and outs and slowly come to terms with their new position as an adult. They’ll embrace their place as a college student and the unending opportunities that come with that. In time, they’ll be at the ripeness of their life, like many of the sophomore and junior FROGS that accompanied me in this adventure. They’ll be learning, experimenting, soaking in information. And then they start to be like me, a brown-speckled banana. College is coming to an end and it’s almost time to release myself from the safety net of it all. But after this week, I’ve discovered a lot about myself and have grown tremendously and I now feel good about being in the position of an old banana, at the point where it is time to move on, time to no longer be a college student. In a sense, it’s time to become banana bread. In a year, I’ll go from familiarity into something brand new and hopefully, much better and more complex. Hopefully in a year I’ll come out of this metaphorical oven of a school ready to take on the world.

Banana Bread

I was not in a frame of mind to be innovation at the time that I made this bread so I followed the recipe verbatim. You can see it here. It comes from the Flour Bakery Cookbook and like everything else I’ve made from there was delicious. It is not by any means a difficult recipe and most ingredients are already available. Next time I may try pecan or peanuts and who knows, a chocolate chip or two may sneak in there!

 It should keep for three days at room temperature or can be well wrapped and frozen for up to 3 weeks. Like I said it’s also amazing with peanut butter for a protein rich morning meal but also good for just picking at throughout the day.

Ingredients
1 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup plus 2 Tbs. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
3 1/2 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 Tbs. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cup chopped, toasted walnuts (optional)
1 tsp. cinnamon mixed with 11/2 Tbs. granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a standard loaf pan. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

in a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment to mix the sugar and eggs on medium speed for 5-7 minutes. Then, on low speed, very slowly drizzle in the oil until well combined. Add the mashed bananas, vanilla, and sour cream and mix until incorporated. 

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet until the dry is just moistened. Do not overmix. Fold in the walnuts, if using. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar overtop the surface of the batter. Pour into the loaf pan and bake in the center of the oven for 45 minutes to an hour until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 30 minutes then remove from the pan and continue to cool until room temperature. Store as directed in paragraph before recipe.

The Return of the College Diet

I must admit, that there was a plus side to not finding a job this summer. I had a lot of time to think about food, experiment with food, and cook some pretty sweet meals and treats for my family. Every night we sat down at the dinner table my dad would always exclaim, “Man! What are we gonna eat when Katie’s gone.”

Sadly, being gone doesn’t mean they’ll be the only ones missing out on gourmet meals every night. I know as a fact that once the classes and the internship start up, the college diet will return and I plan to stick to quick-fix meals, during the weekdays at least. There will be sandwiches (thought now I have my experiences with Pret for inspiration), there will be LOTs of omelets, enough carrots and hummus to turn my skin orange, and above all, there will be yogurt and granola.

I think I eat this wonderful combo about 4 times a week for lunch and usually have some seasonal fruit to mix in. But up until just 3 weeks ago I never knew how good it could be. I used to stick to the simple store-bought granola, something like Bear Naked or Udi’s. Then one day, when there was absolutely nothing in the house but a lonely yogurt and no topping options, I realized that although our premade granola was gone, the comprising ingredients were all together in our house. So I made a teeny tiny batch, out of about ¼ cup of oats. I tossed in the few strands of coconut from the cupboard, a few mutilated almond slivers, a couple Craisins. I mixed it with a little oil and brown sugar and toasted it up. After taking it out of the oven and letting it cool to crispness, I took a bite and was blown away.

This granola was just so…fresh. It was crispy, fragrant, and chewy. It had none of that staleness and cardboard-like flavor I always kind of hated about the store-bought varieties. It first gave this awesome crunch, coated with caramelized sweetness, before turning chewy and releasing the intense nutty flavors from the roasted oats. I used to think granola must always be this bland, whole-mealy sort of snack that you only get because it seems like the “in” and trendy thing to do. Most times it was a sea of these semi-toasted oats and every now and then, if I was lucky, I’d be the recipient of half an almond. Yippee!! Now I know the truth.

And then I suddenly felt so stupid that I had never made my own before. It was so easy, one of those wing-it recipes that you can’t really ever screw up. And it can be made from just about anything lying around. And so the granola continued. I experimented and tested with different ingredients and ratios and finally found one I really love. It’s an even balance of fruit and nuts and oats that makes it so great. It makes for a granola that is really chunky and full of texture. For nuts, I like a combination of walnuts and pecans because they’re so soft and chewy. The fruits I chose were coconut, dried cherries, and banana chips for a little tropical flair. I’d imagine that dried papaya or pineapple would be an even more exciting replacement for the cherries. And finally, I used a combination of brown sugar and brown rice syrup for the nutty flavor that the syrup imparts. Just yesterday, I made a huge batch of it and took bagfuls to school with me to toss in my backpack, lunchbox, whatever. A filling snack and SO EASY snack with a flavor that can’t ever be matched by the grocery store stuff.

My Granola

The trick to the best granola is to toast is at a low temperature for a really long time. This really lets the flavors deepen and makes the toasting nice and even. The second secret is to let it cool in the pan completely before breaking it up. This will ensure that you get those big oat chunks. Feel free to experiment and replace the ingredients with any that you have around or like better. Just try and make sure to keep the nut-fruit-oat ration the same.

Ingredients
3 cups of rolled oats (I used a 5-grain blend of oatmeal that included oats, rye, barley, tricticale, and golden flax but plain oats are fine)
¾ cup chopped pecans
¾ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup unsalted sunflower seeds
¾ cup shredded sweetened coconut
¾ cup chopped banana chips
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ cup plus 2 Tbs. brown rice syrup
¼ cup plus 2 Tbs. sunflower or other vegetable oil
¾ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¾ cup dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, pecans, walnuts, seeds, coconut, banana chips, brown sugar, and cinnamon until well combined. In another bowl mix together the brown rice syrup, oil, salt, and vanilla. Microwave for 15 seconds, give it a stir to mix the syrup and oil, a pour into the granola mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon until the syrup coats everything evenly.

Spread the mixture evenly onto a sheet pan and bake in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Evey 15 minutes, stir the granola so it cooks evenly. Add in the cherries for the last 15 minute cooking interval. When time is up, remove from the oven and let sit until cool. Once cool, use your wooden spoon to break the granola into chunks. Store in an airtight container.