Rabbit in the Kitchen

Green Enchiladas (boy, it's been awhile!)

2010-10-18T23:16:00.000-04:00

Well. Here I am after a year. It's been a long, strange trip indeed!
I just turned 32 on Sunday. I made green enchiladas today. A friend asked for the recipe, so here we go!

I wasn't planning to blog this. The image was done with my cell phone camera. We must all deal with it.

I didn't use a recipe!

But, I'll make one up for what I did!

Useful tools:
a saucepan that will hold at least four cups of liquid
a baking pan with high sides (I used a 9X13 Wilton baking pan. Glass casserole dishes are handy, too)
a sharp kitchen knife (you'll need to to cut your onion)
a stick blender (or a heat resistant blender/food processor)
tongs (for gently frying the tortillas and not your fingers)
a whisk if you don't have a stick blender
a sexy ladle (or a non-sexy ladle, if you prefer)
measuring cups, spoons
head-sized bowl
a couple forks (to shred the chicken)

Ingredients:
For the sauce
1 28 oz can of Tomatillos (or similar amount equaling 1lb, 12 oz)
4 cloves of garlic, mushed or whole. Whatever! No pesky, smelly dicing!
1 half a yellow or white onion (or go nuts and try a red onion!), roughly chopped
a handful of cilantro, which is approximately 1/4 cup of loosely packed leaves and stems (please rinse it!)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup sour cream
salt to taste (I sprinkled in maybe a half a teaspoon at most)
(optional) a tablespoon of starch mixed with about three tablespoons of water to thicken stuff up at the end
the water leftover from poaching the chicken (I guess there was about 2 cups of chickeny water in there)

For spicy heat:
I used one little bird chili pepper.

1 jalapeño would be good, instead (pickled would add more tang to the flavour of the recipe). Maybe a teaspoon of cayenne, if you'd really like some kicky heat. A single scotch bonnet/habanero would also provide a great deal of burn. To reduce the heat of a fresh chili, CAREFULLY remove the seeds.
I think a little experience with chili peppers would come in handy, here, but you can be ballsy and try something new!

For the rest:
about a pound of chicken breast, poached (check this out for how to do that!)
12 corn tortillas
about 1 cup of oil for frying the tortillas (a note on that video: PLEASE do not fry your tortillas with your FINGERS. :( Use tongs. Sheesh.)
about 2 cups of shredded cheddar, monterey jack cheese or similar textured cheese, separated into 1 cup each

HOW TO PUT THIS ALL TOGETHER

1. Poach your chicken. Save your water for the sauce.
2. While the chicken is cooking, get the skins off your garlic cloves and prep your onion.
3. Pop open your can of tomatillos.
4. Remove cooked chicken from the water and set it aside to shred.
5. Pour all contents of tomatillo can into the saucepan of chicken water. Add onion and garlic and any heat seasonings you wish to use.
6. Bring to a boil until onion is soft.
7. Reduce heat to a simmer. Season with cumin and salt. Add the cilantro.
8. Blend the heck out of it with your stick blender or in your heat-resistant blender/food processor. Blend 'til smooth.
9. Optional thickening: Return to heat and slowly add the starch and water mix. If you are using the stick blender, keep it running while you do this. If you do not have one, use a whisk during this stage.

You should have a pretty decent amount of enchilada sauce now!

10. Take two forks and use one to hold the chicken in place and the other to drag across the surface of the chicken. This action should produce shredded chicken!
11. In a head-sized bowl: mix chicken with sour cream, about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cups of your enchilada sauce, 1 cup of cheese. Set aside. This is your filling. Stuff is really coming together now!
12. Ladle a coating of enchilada sauce into the bottom of your baking pan. Make sure it's all covered or things might stick to the pan and then you have enchilada mush!
12. Fry your tortillas in hot oil. Just barely. If it's hard and crispy, you're set for tostadas... I usually fry 3-4 at a time and then...
13. Place about 2 tablespoons of filling in your fried tortilla and roll it up. Place it seam down in the pan. Lay them side by side.
14. Once you have all your rolls done, spoon more sauce over the top and then sprinkle with the other cup of cheese.
15. Cheat time and put your oven rack up high, turn on the broiler and brown the top of your enchiladas until they're bubbly and awesome. Be careful! Don't leave the stove for a second. It WILL burn when you turn away, out of spite.
If the broiler makes you uncomfy, try baking at about 450°F and see how that goes. I should try it so I can tell you if it works or not! Maybe one of you can! Assignments for everyone!

I served dinner with some shredded iceberg lettuce, partially smooshed black beans, a squooze of lime over it all and a dollop of sour cream.*

*Sour cream not included in photographic evidence.

(I stole the chili pepper photo from here: A blog! If this does not agree with you and you are responsible for the photo, please contact me and I will remove it with my apologies.)

Easy Banana "Ice Cream"

2009-09-02T16:12:00.001-04:00

It's not really ice cream because it has no actual cream in it. I suppose you could call it a frozen treat!

I froze some bananas that were going brown and spotty after peeling them and tossing them into a ziplock bag.
Upon retrieving them from ice-cold doom, I plopped them into my food processor, popped the lid on and turned it on full blast.
I pulsed the mix until it was somewhat chunky and then turned on the processor to a steady go around until it was smooth, creamy and wonderful!

It resembles ice cream and has a similar mouthfeel until it starts to get melty. Then you have a bowl of really cold banana pudding. This is not a bad deal!
I put a little honey in to up the sweet.

I'm thinking this would be WONDERFUL with chunks of dark chocolate tossed in at the end and hand mixed in. Peanuts too!

I realize I should have taken a photo, but we ate it too fast!

Recipe:

3-5 bananas going brown, peeled
a sealable container
a food processor or high powered blender
a spoon
your mouth

optional: nuts, chocolate chunks

Process frozen bananas until blended smooth and creamy
Add any extras
Eat!

Pretty Straightforward Slapdash Tasty Chili

2009-08-31T21:57:00.001-04:00

I did promise a chili recipe a few entries ago. I got around to it today on the heels of my husband feeling ill and whining a bit.
I told him I'd go to the store and get things for dinner and a few items he requested to help him feel better.

It's a simple recipe. It's cheap (I think I spent about $8 on supplies and that was mostly the ground beef). It's easy. It's tasty. What more could a person want?
Oh, it's healthy too!

This recipe was taken from http://www.cookingnook.com/chili-recipe.html and augmented slightly to suit my tastes.

Chili

Basic Ingredients:

1 lb of ground beef
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 28 fl oz. can of Kidney beans
1 28 fl oz. can of tomatoes
1-2 tablespoons of chili powder (I used a good 1/4 cup worth. I like chili powder!)

salt and pepper to taste

Optional Ingredients:
chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I used two of the peppers, see below for more instruction)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
cayenne pepper
bay leaf (it's an aromatic!)
a small can of corn
1 tablespoon of worchestershire sauce
substitute black beans or pinto for the red kidney beans

How to:

Sauté the onions in a little bit of oil or spoonfuls of water/beef stock. Add garlic and the ground beef and make sure to break it up as you cook it. Brown the beef.
Add in your chopped green pepper (if any), your tomatoes (I used diced!), and your beans. If you're planning to toss in any other optional ingredients, now is the time.
Add chili powder and your worchestershire sauce.
Stir, cover and simmer on a low heat for at least 30 minutes or until the green pepper is cooked through.
Mostly, the time spent simmering is to blend the flavours together.
Special note on the adobo and chipotles! I used only TWO of the peppers to rein in the heat level of this chili. I also used about two tablespoons of the adobo sauce.

Serve and enjoy!
This should feed 2-3 pigs comfortably and 4-5 regular servings with mebbe some bread and stuff on the side.

*As a small aside, I really did feel a little dirty taking pictures of my chili. Listen to that shutter click and the the camera whirr...

Ramen Suits Me Just Fine

2009-08-27T18:48:00.000-04:00

*I haven't forgotten my promise of chili. I just didn't have enough money to get the ingredients. I ended up making stuffed peppers, instead. I used rice and green lentils rather than ground beef or pork like I normally do. I can post the recipe later if you like!

My husband and I went to Ajisen last week. It's a little ramen shop on Yonge Street just north a little bit from North York Centre station on the subway.
I'd blatently steal BlogTO's image from the shop, but then I'd feel like a jerk. If you want to see the cute little Ajisen girl with a giant bowl (of Ramen? I hope!) click here.
I've been on a bit of a ramen kick since.
Today, I made my own broth and tossed in some Mr. Noodles noodles. They weren't so hot. I much prefer the Nissin noodles with the tasty oil flavouring packet. Yummy!
Suggestions to liven up ye olde boring ramen lay below! Read on!

Toss in some veggies. That's right. The Japanese have a penchant for corn. You may have noticed corn hiding in your ramen Cup o' Noodles. If you don't mind the corn, try adding some to your regular ramen! I also recommend some sliced up scallions (green onions) or chives. Other good veggies: bell pepper strips, red onion, peas, shredded cabbage, napa cabbage (or chinese cabbage). shredded carrots
Try out some fungus! Explore the world of fungus and throw them into your soup. There are some ramen recipes that involve shiitake mushrooms boiled for broth. Regular old button mushrooms sliced and tossed in just before serving are good too! Get yourself some vitamin c, selenium, or iron depending on the type of mushrooms you use! They also provide a good meaty texture. Yum!
Meats. Not all ramen has to be made with freshly pan-fried pork cutlets or fancy meats. Try a little leftover chicken or chop up a chop from the night before. I like to throw in ham and sometimes roast beef.
Spice! I like to toss in Tabasco, Sriracha Chili sauce and other peppery delights. If you're hip to Korean spices, gochujang 고추장 (fermented pepper paste much like miso but with peppers in it!) is a wonderful addition. I use about a tablespoon of it in a pot of ramen along with the flavour packet.

I hope those suggestions help you lift ramen from its lowly place as "Japanese Jail Food" or "starving college student" fodder to its rightful place as a filling, nutritious sort of occasion!
Feel free to post your own suggestions for livening up the ramen bowl in the comments!

Hey kids! I'm a Mrs. now!

2009-08-25T11:22:00.000-04:00

From Rabbit in the Kitchen

The wedding has come and gone! The hubby and I shared a lovely pair of days together here in Toronto. We got ourselves a room at The Gladstone Hotel and stayed two nights. Our first night was in Racine, Room 407. Our second night, we moved to a smaller room called Sugarbush, Room 401. Both rooms were lovely in their own way. Racine had a huge tub and shower with luxurious shower curtains and lots of space to move. Sugarbush had a funny smell in it reminiscent of cigarette smoke when we first walked in. We opened the window and aired it out. I suspect the room was out of use for a little while before we came to stay. We were appeased with some free tea in the cafe and the hotel desk lad took the bag of maple beer nuts off our bill. What a nice guy! I was satisfied. Oh yes, I was.
;)
I suppose you'd like to see the wedding cake? I didn't make it (though, I did make a few of the treats at the table).

From Rabbit in the Kitchen

Our roomie's mom made the cake, cupcakes and a few other assorted treats for the table! She was wonderful for it and he was wonderful for getting us the cake as a gift (and transporting it to the reception!!).
Everyone was so helpful and wonderful and I can't thank them enough for all their hard work and putting up with me when I started to fray at the edges.
I'm planning to make chili tonight. Hopefully, I can get some nice shots for your food porn pleasure. I'll post the recipe if it comes out well!
I missed you, blog. Time to get this Rabbit back in the Kitchen!

Busy bee!

2009-07-18T14:44:00.000-04:00

I apologise for getting you guys all riled up with promises of deliciousness and then flapping away to another castle for a little while.
I'm helping my partner put together a bridal shower for tomorrow and my world has been a touch hectic as the weeks wind down toward the wedding in August.
I will be back with more yummy goodness soon. In the meantime, I'll be making this cake tonight. I do hope I can do it sweet justice!

I'm not always in the Kitchen

2009-06-29T11:23:00.001-04:00

Sometimes, I'm in the living room. A friend of mine forced me (not at gunpoint, this is Canada) to take a picture of myself without any sort of preparation. This is my bedhead.

Plans in motion to do a little baking today or tomorrow. I promise food porn.

Also: I fixed comments. You should be able to comment now. I'm trying to make it work, embedded. For now, full page comments amok!

A Minor Departure

2009-06-27T13:17:00.009-04:00

I was lying in bed the other night. The late summer sun was still illuminating the blue sky and the room was relatively cool, for once. I was racing my mind backwards through my memories, trying to find that first clear moment.
It was a bright afternoon in Long Beach, California. I was about two or three years old. I could see the long, grey sidewalk stretching out before me and the tree along the front yarn park way was to my left. I was in its shade.
I remember where I ended up, though little about the actual trundle down the sidewalk. The old people who lived around the block from my family had a little visitor that day. I suspect they asked me where my mom was. We would take the route I followed on walks. I think I must've been on auto pilot like a dog wandering after getting out of the yard.
My mother tells me she was terrified that day. She couldn't find me anywhere. I had gone out the front door, down the steps and on my merry way. I don't think I had any idea how dangerous it was for me to be out, so small and alone, in 1980. Not in danger from the people (though, who knows). There was more of a concern for me walking in the street on my own or getting backed over by a car in a driveway.
I remember my Grecian neighbors. Sort of wrinkly and older folks. They always complained about the white butterflies in their garden. "They eat the lettuces!"

Their house was dark and cool in the summer. I know they were from Greece because the woman gave me a small pencil topper doll in traditional Grecian costuming. They told me it was from their home country.
As you can see from the lad in the image I borrowed from http://www.greekdancemonterey.org/chuck.htm, his outfit looks rather like a short dress.
The thing is, the little doll had a mustache and for years I recall wondering why Grecian women had mustaches.
Life is always a little peculiar when you're a kid and things just aren't very clear. Figuring out where you're headed and how to get there is part of the journey. All the weird people along the way are just part of the charm.
I was lucky countless times as a little girl. No one stole me and I always found my way home.

BTW: Anyone who has been reading since the beginning may have noticed I changed the template. I felt like all the hoopla was distracting from the words. You're not here for hoopla, are you? ;) Maybe you're here for OPA! *dishes crashing*

[Basics]Shepherd's Pie: Now with Meat

2009-06-23T14:59:00.007-04:00

The title may startle you.
Okay, it won't.
Your average Shepherd's Pie has some sort of meat in it. Mine is usually ground beef. I also like to mix in some pork for extra yum. I've even made it with Italian sausage. I bet it would fantastic with some lamb!
I'm always encouraging you to experiment, my dear reader. Experimentation leads to learning and growth! This applies to pretty much every facet of life.
Everyone ends up doing Shepherd's pie differently. I always do it differently. This recipe is but one incarnation. Make the recipe yours!

Shepherd's Pie

Tools
a 9X 13 casserole or larger (or smaller and use less stuff!)
a spatula for the frying pan
a frying pan for the spatula
a stove and oven
knife for chopping up vegetables
a can opener for those pesky cans of food

Ingredients
mashed potatoes (this has been done all over the internet. Here's a good recipe! For a super cheat, used narsty old boxed mash)
olive oil or vegetable oil (canola, sunflower, etc work too)
a diced up small-medium onion
a small can of corn (I like "peaches and cream". If you're feeling productive, feel free to use fresh corn!)
a small can of condensed cream of mushroom soup (this is a cheat! Use a rue-based cream gravy if you have the time and the knowhow! Rues will be covered one day in this here blog! Feel free to use cream of broccoli or cream of whatever, too!)
a pound of ground meat (beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey)
a cup of shredded cheddar cheese
garlic (fresh or powdered), about two cloves (finely chopped/smashed/equally obliterated) or a tablespoon of powdered
salt & pepper to taste
Optional: cayenne for some spiced kick
chili powder for fun (no profit, sorry)
other veg like chopped carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, etc.

Preparation

Toss a little oil in the pan and brown your onions. Sprinkle with a wee smidge of salt to help them brown. Go slow and this will add a lot of yummy flavour.
Add your garlic and toss it around with your onions until you can smell it.
Add your ground meat and brown it. Sprinkle on a wee bit of pepper and other spices if you're using any.
Dump the condensed can of mushroom soup over the meat and mix well, until heated.
Make sure your mashed potatoes are warm enough to smear around on top of everything!
Take your casserole dish or baking pan and line the bottom with the meat mix.
Layer on any veg you wish to use. This is where the corn goes on for me! My roomie likes to use mixed frozen veg. Also yum. (Mostly yum because I didn't have to cook it!)
Slather on delicious mashed potatoes! Make a nice heavy cap to top off all the other layers.
Sprinkle on cheese. Use more if you love the baked on cheese goodness.
Bake in a 400 degree F oven until it's all bubbly and brown and good (good = not burnt). This is about 30 minutes.
EAT!

[Advanced] Veganism Rant and Vegan Shepherd's Pie

2009-06-23T00:43:00.012-04:00

One of the reasons why I wanted to post up here is that I used to be vegan. Not vegan a little, vegan a lot and for a long time. I was working on year nine when we decided to stop, but that's for another post and for another discussion. Right now you want to do veganism and you're all gung-ho about it!

Good! Let's get you started with a couple of places to look for good recipes. A couple of general rules you want to follow and my personal favourite recipe that involves Vegany Goodness.

General Vegan Guidelines

Now that you've decided to go vegan you need to make sure more then ever that you're taking your supplements and eating a wide variety of foods. I'm not joking here, if it's a vegetable and you've never heard of it you might want to find a way to figure out how you're going to eat it. I can't really stress that enough, nothing made me more angry than French Fry Vegans.

For those who are new to the subculture, French Fry Vegans are the ones who try to be vegan and have no idea what they're doing and don't try to figure it out. They do nothing but go out and eat french fries because, "I know those are vegan, right?" and then get horribly sick and then blame the diet for being sick. I still think that if you do it right you can be vegan and not have health problems, you've just got to vary up your foods as much as possible.

What does that mean? Like I said previously, if it's a vegetable eat it. You can have the few that you don't like, but if you "I don't like those" list of vegetables is longer than the reading list for a typical English Poetry class then maybe you should think of doing something else. Same thing with beans, you've gotta learn to love legumes or you can kiss your sorry arse goodbye.

Enough soapboxing. Here's the recipe that you want.

The Goods (or in the cooking world, the Recipe)

This is my favourite Shepherd's Pie recipe. Some people like to call all meatless Shepherd's Pie Shepherdess Pie but that's sexist crap. Seriously, it's a profession. The English language moved away from the gendered job titles that they picked up from the French.

Let me give you the breakdown on what you're going to be putting into this tasty, tasty pie.

Potatoes - Enough to Mash so that you cover the top of your Casserole Dish (Desiree's Note: I recommend new potatoes for their lower impact on the blood sugar. They aren't always available, however.)
Carrots - About 2 or 3 depending on size and personal preference
Onions - A small 1 (Desiree's Note: Here's an ingredient you can play with. Red, vidalia, yellow and so on are available. Try mixing them, too!)
Celery - About 2 or 3 stalks depending on size and personal preference
Corn - We use frozen, you can use fresh but try to avoid GMOs when using your cup full
Peas - We use frozen, you can use fresh but try to avoid GMOs when using your cup full
Spinach - Bunches of the stuff. Seriously, you're going to want to have a lot of it. Like 2 cups when it's all chopped. (Desiree's Note: Spinach may seem like a giant veg., but when you cook it down it gets REALLY small. The reason for this is the water content of leaves. When you cook it, the water comes out and the cell walls of the plant matter break down. You end up with small piles of green, delicious, smush. Six cups of raw spinach will cook down to 1 cup!!)
Tomatoes - 1 Large one or 2 smaller ones. (Desiree's Note: Be creative with your tomatoes. There are UGLY tomatoes (which are also called HEIRLOOM), roma and more. Buy fresh and if you're going to go vegan, might as well go whole hog (haha) and buy organic when you can)
Beans (You can use Lentils, I actually like to use Chickpeas) - 2 cans of it or 4 cups of dried beans cooked.
Soy Milk - It's for Mashing the Potatoes, use liberally. (Desiree's Note: If you're allergic to soy, try almond milk or rice milk!)
Vegan Margarine (Earth Balance, etc). - Same with this.
Oil for frying in, like a Tablespoon's worth.
Spicing - we use Braggs (Liquid Aminos) and Basil

Step 1. Peal, and boil them potatoes.
Step 2. Chop up your Carrots, Onions and Celery and fry them up for about 5 minutes.
Step 3. Chop up your Spinach and Tomatoes and put them into the frying pan.
Step 4. Put the Corn and Peas into the Vegetable Concoction. They just need to warm up.
Step 5. Mash the Beans up with some Braggs and Basil. Do it to taste, but be gentle with the Braggs. It's pretty powerful.
Step 6. Mix the Beans with your Vegetable Concoction.
Step 7. Hope that the potatoes are done so you can mash them with the Margarine and Soy Milk.
Step 8. Assemble. Take the Bean and Vegetable Concoction and layer it on the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish. Then you put the potatoes on top. Now some people like to put it in a oven and broil it until the potatoes are all browned, but I like it straight. It's up to you how you do it.

Please note that this does make a lot of food. This is good if you want to make food for a couple of days or for a potluck.

More Vegan Recipes

If you want some good cookbooks here are some good ones:

How It All Vegan!: Irresistible Recipes for an Animal-Free Diet (Paperback)
La Dolce Vegan!: Vegan Livin' Made Easy
Vegan with a Vengeance : Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule

But don't take my word for it ...
(Desiree's Note: That's right. Take MY word for it. This stuff is tasty and it's great for a potluck! EVERYONE can have some. Well. Mostly everyone. Be on the lookout for my cheap and easy ground beef shephard's pie. Yes, I know my readers mostly eat the meaty meat. Msotly.)

Frugal: Hamburger Hash

2009-06-17T00:56:00.003-04:00

My partner, The Lad, suggested we make hamburger hash for dinner tonight. I was a jerk and I didn't take any pictures. I should do that so you can see what a mess I make in the kitchen!
I spent most of my day in a robe. That'll tell you what kind of time I have on my hands.
I did manage some shorts and a t-shirt to prepare dinner. Spectacular!

Okay, recipe time.

This one constitutes an entire meat dish. I suggest some greens on the side for added nutrient value. The Lad had some mixed greens salad with his. His mouth was a happy place and he managed to have a little too much of the hash. I do good things with food, yes?

Hamburger Hash: echobunny Style
Cooking time: approximately an hour unless you're not running away from the kitchen constantly like I was.
Tools

a knife
a high-sided frying pan or heavy bottomed cooking pot
a spoon or spatula to move things around while they're cooking
a cutting surface
stove

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef (about .454 kg)
3 golden potatoes, cubed (I used some sort of yellow/Yukon of a medium size. The Lad bought them.)
a "regular" can of corn (I used Peaches and Cream style)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup finely sliced onion (I used a 1/2 of a medium sweet onion)
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder (you can use a couple fresh cloves, if you fancy! I was being lazy)
pinch of salt (I used some kosher salt)
a few grinds on the peppermill (maybe about a teaspoon worth)

Order of Operations

Wash and cube your potatoes. Or, approximate cubing. I do this by slicing my taters in half, lengthwise. Then, I slice it lengthwise several times and then widthwise to make little cubey chunks. I'll try to add some pictures down the line.
Rinse the extra starch off your potato pieces.
I put those potatoes in a large measuring cup (use any fitting microwave safe bowl) and covered them with water.
Nuke potatoes on high for about 10 minutes. The idea is to soften the potatoes so they'll cook faster in the pan, later. This time may vary according to the power of your microwave.
While the taters are in the microwave, add your oil to the pan and heat it up.
Add onions. I kept the heat down to about 4 or 5 on my stove and SLOWLY browned the little onions. This process took the better part of a half hour. Maximum flavour, minimum stove-sitting. Come back on occasion to agitate your onion bits with the spoon to keep them from sticking and burning.
When your potatoes are done, rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking process. Set them aside until your onions are done.
When the onions are nice and brown, toss in your potatoes and give it a good stir. Then, leave them alone! They'll slowly brown. If you want to keep a close eye on them, turn up the heat and agitate on occasion.
Add garlic, chili powder, salt and pepper here.
Stir.
When the potatoes look cooked, shove them to the side and throw in your ground beef. Turn up your heat to about 6 or 7 (medium high) and let it brown.
Start to incorporate all the parts of your hash in the pan. It's not pretty but, goddamn it tastes so good.
Dump in your can of corn.
Stir and heat everything through. This should be about 2-5 minutes.
Serve with ketchup and some sort of green veggie for balance.

Hope you enjoy a little easy slow cookin'. Yum!

-echobunny

Sidelines: "Boiled rice is just blah!"

2009-06-16T20:40:00.007-04:00

The art of flavour is a learned experience. It really is a signpost for adventures in food. When you start to blend cuisines, you're getting the hang of it.

Persephone let me know she tried out the butter chicken. She also told me, "Boiled rice is just blah."
I agree! BOILED RICE IS JUST BLAH!

When you're serving tasty Indian cuisine or even the middle eastern flair, a little curried rice is easy and makes a bit of an exotic statement on your table.
Eh, enough exposition. Let's make some rice.
The following recipe is a nod to Indian pilau recipes. I've just made it my own.

A Curried Yellow Rice with Sultanas
(This recipe is scalable for servings. 1 cup rice + 2 cups fluid = a little over 2 cups of rice. This is technically 8 servings of rice! That is 1/4 cup per person. Take this into consideration when you prepare for dinner. Some people like to wolf the rice down. Make a little more if you've got company, that's for sure!)
(This recipe also has optional flourishes if you're feeling daring or trying to impress!)

Tools

saucepan with lid - make sure it's big enough for your fluids and rice!
a spoon
a stove or hotplate
a fine colander (to rinse your rice in)
a knife for smushing/mincing your garlic

Ingredients

1 cup of rice (long grain, basmati, jasmine, etc)
2 cups of water (optional: use a broth in place of the water or half water, half broth)
3 tablespoons of olive oil (Use veg. oil if it's all you have. optional: use 2 tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter. Keep the heat down on the pot so you don't burn your butter!)
3-4 cloves, whole
1 tablespoon cinnamon (use a little more if you like your cinnamon!)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoon coriander seed, ground
2 cloves garlic, well minced or otherwise beaten into oblivion.
1 teaspoon cumin
1 small onion, minced (optional: shallots. about 4-5 of them. Minced. You could also try leeks. Yummy subtle onion flavour)
1/4 cup of sultana raisins (use regular old whatever raisins if it's all you have)
1/4 cashews (you can also use pine nuts, almonds walnuts and so on. Experiement!)
salt to taste
If you wish for a bit of spiced kick, a 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne is your friend
Also optional: cilantro/coriander leaves for garnish and maybe some sliced onion. Sometimes I toss in some garam masala (you can even make THIS yourself, though it's a little time consuming. Here's a recipe: How To Make Garam Masala. That's an outside link and I can't guarantee the safety of the site.)

Cooking Steps

Rinse your rice off with cold water to wash away the starch. This allows your rice to cook as separate grains and keeps stuff from turning into mush! Set aside to drain as you do other steps!
Heat your oil in the pot. Use a medium to high heat. Use your judgment and keep an eye on it! Leave the lid off for now.
Add your onions and let them "caramelize" in the oil. Be sure to stir a little to avoid "burninizing". When your onions look a bit golden/brown you've got some caramelizing going on in the pot!
Add your nuts, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, cumin and coriander. Fry this for about 2 minutes, stirring as you go to keep things from burning. This process roasts your herbs and spices a bit, giving them more delicious flavour!
Add rice and fry it for a few more minutes. At this point you're toasting the rice. MORE FLAVOUR!
Add raisins and immediately do the next step.
Pour in your liquids. Be careful of steam billowing up from all your heated fryings at this point.
Bring your mess to a boil. Don't worry about mixing it. You can do it at the end of your rice cooking.
Once boiling, slap the lid on tight and turn the heat down really low. Barely on. Just above "I'm sorta keeping it warm". I know. It's an exact science!
Let this sit, cooking for about 15-20 minutes.
When it's done, fluff it with a fork and serve it with your dinner!

As always, leave me some comments. Make requests. I do this for you more than myself. Most of all, be adventurous in the kitchen! Food is wonderful!

Chicken Bother: We call it broth

2009-06-15T23:21:00.009-04:00

For those who like soups, but don't know much about cooking, there is an important feature to it. It's called broth. Broth is basically made up of some vegetables and assorted carcasses, depending on you want. If you use chicken then it's chicken broth. If you use beef then it's beef broth. If you use your imagination then it's vegetable broth. It's all about personal preference there.

I've been a vegan for 8 going on 9 years. This might make you think that I was going to talk about vegetable broth but as the title says that's a rather big lie. I'm going to talk about making chicken broth because I just got to make some and it was delicious. This makes me a bad vegan (actually it makes me not a vegan at all, but that's for another time) but I feel the need to share this with those who might not know how to do it.

Step 1. Get yourself a chicken
Preferably dead and mostly eaten. You can have roasted it yourself, of purchased it from the store. We aren't picky and you shouldn't be either. What you want to do is break apart the chicken and pull all the meat you can off of it. You can use it for the soup later, but right now what you really want are the bones, and some of the skin if you can pull it off.
When you've got it all taken apart, put the chicken bones in a pot and put the chicken meat in the fridge.

Step 2. Water, water everywhere
You can fill the pot with water, enough so that it covers the chicken bones completely. Don't do anything just yet, but it's good to have the water ready.

Step 3. Vegetables
Despite the fact that this is a chicken broth, vegetables are totally needed. You're going to want to use the troika of vegetables. The Onion, the Carrot and the Celery. These three vegetables will make your broth amazingly awesome.
This is reason 58187298722 why making a broth is a good idea. You know how you get those bags of vegetables that you never seem to fully use? This is where they're going to go. I know I have never, ever used a full bag of onions before they've gone completely and created their own zombie onion hoard on me. Putting them in broths is a great way to deal with that. Same thing with carrots and celery though I tend to have less carrots and celery that goes bad. They don't really go bad, they just kind of wilt and get all emo on me.
Thankfully when you use these three vegetables you want to use double the amount of onions over the other two vegetables. That means if you use a couple of carrots and a couple of stalks of celery then you want to use two to three whole onions. No need to be fancy, just chop 'em in half and throw them into the pot.

Step 4. Na-Cl

Salt is perhaps one of the most important things in cooking. It does wonderful miraculous things to your food, especially if you put it in while you're cooking instead of afterward. You're going to want to put some salt in now. At the very least you want a couple of teaspoons, you may even want a tablespoon or two of the stuff. Some people might be cringing but understand this is going in several cups of water. It's a lot less salt per unit then if you just sprinkle the damned stuff on your food directly.

Step 5. Boil-boil-boil-boil
Now, you're going to want to top up the water so that everything is covered up nicely, put the lid on the let that sucker sit on a slow, gentle boil for a while. You'll let all those flavours marry in the pot and then you're going to want to go play a video game, read a book, grab your loved one and spend several hours of bliss. Whatever you want to do to make that time pass easier, go for it.

Step 6. Strain!

You've finished your extra-culinary activities and you feel that the broth is ready to go. Excellent, now you want to take all the things you put in there to make the water taste good and take them out. A colander will go far in this, as well as a bowl.

For the love of god finish reading this first because if you empty the stock into the sink because I told you to use a colander and you went in pasta auto-pilot and dumped it into the sink do not blame me. Seriously.

Step 7. Use!

Now, you can use the broth, or not. You can put it in a container and freeze it. You can use it add some non-wilty carrots and celery, a cup of rice and some of the chicken you ripped off to make some nice chicken and rice soup.

That's how you get a pretty serviceable chicken broth in seven steps.

-Jonathan

Guest Authors: Now you have to pay better attention

2009-06-15T23:14:00.001-04:00

A friend of mine has requested to post to this blog. If it's got his name on it and it's awesome, I wrote it. No for reals!
If it sucks, that's his thing, yaknow?
Alright, I'll take off the jester's cap.
For now...

-echobunny

Grilling Without a Grill: I can do this?!

2009-06-15T16:50:00.006-04:00

You live in an apartment with no balcony. You've got no yard space. You don't own a countertop grill (like the one's Mr. Foreman makes or better!). Your recipe says, "GRILL ME!"
Whattaya gonna do?!
Okay, aside from just trying another recipe you do have an option many do not consider. Your oven. Unless you live in a hut with a hotplate, you probably have an oven.The trick is using your broiler like an upside down BBQ flame.
I recommend pre-cooking thick meats like whole chicken breasts and pork chops before using the broiler to add some grilled char-taste. Buy a meat thermometer and learn how to use it!

Stuff you need!

oven mitts
patience
an oven safe pan (to catch juices)
a rack to go into the pan (I use an oven-safe cooling rack*)
an oven with a broiler
Adult supervision if you're a minor or if you just enjoy having people watch you cook, rrowrr!

Optional

tongs
aluminum foil to line your catch pan/tray

Steps!

Raise the oven rack inside the oven as close to the broiler as you can. Allow for the space you need to put the food in the oven. Several inches of clearance between food and broiler is preferred.
If you have children or nosy pets, LOCK THEM OUT OF THE KITCHEN!
Turn on your broiler and leave the oven door open a notch.
Take the meat/veg/etc you wish to grill and place it on the rack.
Place the rack on your lined catch pan.
Place the rack with catchpan in the oven and monitor just like you would the BBQ in the yard. Keep a close eye on it and turn your food when it starts to get that nice char.
Turn off the oven
Remove food from oven
ENJOY!

This whole process is handy for indoor kebobs and other good BBQ stuffs.
Obviously, this process will not get you the exact same results as a BBQ or a "real" grill, but it's close and a yummy approximation!

If you have any topic requests, please send them to me! Feedback is always welcome, too!

*I don't endorse the company at the other end of the link. It is for reference only. :)

Shredded Chicken and Butter Chicken: Together, at last!

2009-06-15T15:18:00.003-04:00

I've been passing this recipe around for a while now. I think it's time to put it in writing. Butter chicken (Murgh makhani) is delicious Indian food and quite popular amongst western/British populations. Its origin (according to the ever-useful wiki page on butter chicken) lies in the Punjab region of India and is reputed to have been made by one of the kitchen staff at a restaurant called Moti Mahal.
Recipes vary greatly and I definitely can't claim the one I use as AUTHENTIC, but it sure is tasty. If your food isn't satisfying, why eat it?

So, after a lot of poking about I settled on this recipe for the meal. I'll embed it here for convenience!

Chicken: How To Make Butter Chicken

I tend to cut large chunks of onion. I like the rustic look and the texture it provides.

Instead of using the cut up chicken, I use shredded! Here's how I do it:
*as a note you can do this with any large chunk of chicken/turkey. Thighs and breasts are best!*

SHREDDED CHICKEN
Take your chicken pieces and place them in a pot with a lid. Barely cover the meat with water. I sprinkle a little salt and pepper. This is to your taste!
Bring the water to a boil. Cover the pot with a lid and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Leave it alone for a good 15-20 minutes.
Remove it from the heat and shred it on a plate or a cutting board with two forks.
In the case of the butter chicken, add it when the recipe calls for you to place the meat in the sauce at the end.

The shredded chicken will stretch the recipe a bit further than the small chunks of chicken.

Other uses for shredded poultry: chili, tacos, salads, burritos, samosa filling, spring roll filling

I serve butter chicken with rice, naan and sometimes some salad for greenery!
I hope this comes in handy!

Food Basics: Not Just a Grocery Store

2009-06-14T22:30:00.005-04:00

A good friend of mine is adjusting to a move from New Jersey to British Columbia. She's getting married on July 24. I say "congrats!" I've said a lot of other things, as well.
She's requested my first content entry be about the basic things I think should be in your cupboards and your fridge.
A lot of trial an error have gone into my choices. I also feel that a basic knowledge of cooking techniques play an important role in what you select. Keep in mind, I've been living on my own (see: not with parents) for awhile and with folks who tend not to cook much for the better part of it.
Here's my list and my reasoning! This is primarily geared toward novice cooks and kitchen newbies!

flour - This is a food building block. Learn the basics and then move on to whole wheat flour, soy flour, and so on. It will expand your food world! Also, bleached white flour should not be a building block for everything you eat. It's just a place to begin.
baking powder - It's baking powder! You're going to need this if you enjoy BAKING. :)
baking soda - This stuff is good for your recipes AND it soaks up smells. Try to keep the box sealed off with a plastic bag or some clingfilm and a rubber band. No one wants their Irish Soda Bread to taste like the entire pantry cabinet. Yeech.
A wide variety of spices and herbs - These do start to lose flavour after awhile. Knowing how long it's been on the shelf in the store before you got it is also a crapshoot. Unless you're a major-league foodie, though, it's not so big a deal. I recommend having: ginger powder, garlic powder, oregano, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cayenne pepper, black pepper, basil and bay leaves as your basics. Pick up new ones as your recipes call for them. I plan to do an entire entry on the spices of India. Yummy!
salt - The great demon, Sodium. Yes. You're going to need it. I recommend having some standard table salt and some large chunky kosher salt. It really does come in handy.
sugar - White is great for most of your average recipes. Sugar comes in many varieties, however. These include demerara, dark brown, light brown, and "natural". Buy as needed for recipes. Definitely have some white and brown on hand.
a few bags of pasta - I try to keep the whole wheat kind on hand. If you're super poor, just grab the dollar deal bags of pasta and hope for better days. This stuff is good for Italian dinners with spagehtti sauce, pasta salads and you can even whip it into dessert form with recipes like this!
rice - This stuff really does feed the world and you can do a lot with it. I recommend brown rice if you've got cooking time and if you can't make time, just get some tasty jasmine rice. It'll do you for most recipes. This stuff isn't a diet staple for nothing. If you don't move around a lot, though, I recommend passing on the rice. I'll wax poetic about Glycemic Index foods later.
beans - Pinto, kidney, lentils, legumes of all sorts. These babies are dry, last in your cabinets forever (almost!) and are VERY affordable food powerhouses of nutrition. Good protein sources, they're also packed with fiber. We so need more fiber!
cooking oils - For you impoverished novice cooks, vegetable oil and a nicer extra virgin olive oil are a must. The veg oils can withstand higher cooking temperatures and e.v. olive oil is a must have for salad dressings and roasting garlic
vinegar - White should get you by. Get some balsamic for high class salad dressing.
butter - Salted is just okay. Try to get the unsalted when you can afford it.
corn starch - It's a thickener. It's also handy when you have chaffed thighs. Don't ask.
corn meal - The basis for polenta, corn bread and used to sprinkle under some breads before baking. Corn meal is also handy for thickening certain things like chili!
Vanilla extract - The other extracts like almond and rum are just icing on the proverb cake. Make sure you have vanilla. Try to avoid "imitation".
peanut butter - This is good for sandwiches, cookies, Thai recipes and so on! Try to get all-natural. It tastes better and it doesn't have all the nasty preservatives.
Fruit jams and preserves - Good for that PB & J you're craving as well as tasty (and easy) jam tarts and thumbprint cookies.
Fresh garlic cloves - I found a huge bag of garlic at the Asian food store. The skins had already been removed and the garlic had been cleaned. If you go through a lot, this is the way to go! I only spent about three dollars on that bag. I love it. If you buy it in clove form, be sure to inspect it for black dusty stuff. That's mold and you don't want moldy garlic.
Fresh ginger - It's fantastic to steep for a tea when you're sick (anti-viral capabilities, anyone?) or nasueated. Ginger is a food staple when it comes to all kinds of worldwide cuisines. Have a good thumb of it in the fridge at all times! I insist.
a few fresh limes and lemons - These are great in a glass of water and recipes are ALWAYS yelling for a lime or some lemon zest. They're cheap and great for vitamin C.
a bag of potatoes - Fries, mashed, boiled, used to make stamps. Potatoes are a good friend in the kitchen. Store them in the dark and dry places or they'll grow roots out of their "eyes". Scrub your potatoes before cooking and cut off the green/dark spots.
a jar of yeast or a few packets of it - This is the stuff of leavened bread. Cinnemon rolls need yeast, your French bread needs yeast. Have some around.
Onions - stores will typically sell a bag of several yellow onions. This will do you for most recipes. Make sure the onions are firm (little to no give when you squeeze with your fingertips) and don't have black dusty stuff on them (mold!)
Milk - How much you purchase at a time will depend on your use. Do you eat a bowl of Frosted Flakes every day? Do you live with more than just yourself? Perhaps you could go as far as getting bagged milk! It's cost effective if you're able to use it up before it goes bad. The lactose-free milk is a bit more costly (well, about twice as much!) but it doesn't go bad as fast. At least, in my experience.
A few cans of diced, whole, pureed tomatoes and maybe some tomato paste, too. Indispensable!
cocoa powder - Emergency cake in a mug for those munchies or chocolate cravings requires cocoa powder!
eggs - You just need eggs.
cheese - I recommend a 6-7 dollar block of cheese from places like No Frills here in Canada. This will last you through about a week or so of snacks, mac and cheese and salad toppings. I like to have mozzarella or cheddar around.

I must've missed something but, I think you get the general idea. Aside from all that, you should also have green leafy veg. in abundance. This stuff is the reason old Japanese people are so long-lived! Cruciferous veggies are your lifelong pals. Eat them. You don't make friends with salad, after all.
I also think this is one of the most focused things I've done in awhile. I think this will be good for me. If ya'll have questions, feel free to write or post a comment. If you have topic ideas or stuff you want to know more about, let me know! I'll do my best!

Welcome Entry: Obligatory

2009-06-14T21:21:00.004-04:00

This is the first post in, probably, my third or fourth "focused" blog. That doesn't seem very promising to me, but I'm going to give this a whirl. I got the idea while discussing the act of shopping here in Canada and teaching a friend about general staples, how-to's on food prep and so on.
Why not another blog in this world?
Never know. I might go on about something important on occasion. Keep your eyes peeled!
SO!
What is this all supposed to be about? I'm an American in Canada. Doesn't seem too far off. Doesn't seem like it would be a culture shock. Oh, you could be wrong.
Good start. Tell the reader they're wrong. Right!
As I was saying, I'm an American in Canada. I arrived here in August 2007 to study at a nearby college and live with my boyfriend. I'd been here to visit a few times before that. I had fallen in love with a lovely man and a wonderful new country. Toronto is heavenly and there's nothing like transit that seems to function in comparison to previous home cities (Long Beach, CA and Philadelphia, PA).
This city is an international maze. It's a splendid mix of culture and life. It blows my mind and I absolutely adore it. I wouldn't trade it for much. I might trade it for a whole heck of a lot of money. Maybe.
I remember the little things that hit me about attitudes and prices and life in general. It really is different here in Canada.
So, that's the point of this bloggy blog. I'd like to ponder the things I've had to change. I'll muse (eloquently?) about how to stock your cabinets without spending every last cent you have. I might even let you in on some of the little things I do in the kitchen to make cooking smoother and most tasty!
Thanks for reading, folks! And, welcome. ;)