The Pig and I

I wanted to make pumpkin empanadas for P on our anniversary (the 28th), but I wanted to minimise the amount of calories in each pie. I was basically successful (each pie works out to ~250 calories). Additionally, this is my entry for October's In The Bag . This recipe has a lot of "parts" but is actually quite simple to make. I made one part here, and one part there, between classes, and just tossed them all together and baked them once we were both home from school. Anise tea: 1-2 tablespoons anise seeds 1 cup water Bring to a boil. Boil down to 2/3 cup. Strain. Chill well (it needs to be COLD!) Dough: 1 stick butter (1/2 cup) 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/3 cup, give or take, anise tea Cut butter into small bits, and freeze. Freeze bowl of food processor (or your mixing bowl and whatever you intend to cut the butter into the flour with). Toss the flour in the freezer too, if you feel like it. I felt like it. Pulse the flour, sa...

I'm still paying attention to the diet, but likewise, I have a serious craving for tuna casserole. To me, the brunt of what makes tuna casserole not-diet-friendly is the can of soup that's tossed in. Also, I am still using up all the eggplant I got at the farmer's market (plus I was proving to my cast iron pan I didn't forget it lives here). So I decided to try to make my own version that was a little fresher and less soupy. Here it is. I hope you like it. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 carrot, diced 1 celery stalk, diced 1/4 onion, diced salt to taste 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar 5 cloves garlic (use less if you're not a garlic freak like I am) 4 ounces button mushrooms, cut into eighths 2 teaspoons lemon juice, divided 2 tablespoons butter 6 ounces grape tomatoes, cut in half 3 tablespoons fresh tarragon, minced 1 tablespoon fresh mint, minced 2 6-ounce (or 5-ounce, if you're buying those now) cans tuna in water 2 ears corn, kernels cut off ...

As I mentioned before, I made some pickled okra. I can't tell you if it's good, since it'll be a couple weeks before I get to crack open a jar and eat it. It looks yummy, though, and I'm ready to eat it. 1 pound okra 1 cup water 1 cup white vinegar 1/8 cup kosher salt 2 pint jars In each jar: (this is PER jar, not total) 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon dill weed 1/4 teaspoon dill seed pinch dried chile flakes 1 clove garlic 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns Sterilize your jars. In each jar, put the spice combo listed above (and feel free to add anything to your own tastes too, such as coriander seed, allspice, what-have-you). Pack the okra tightly into each jar, alternating right-side-up and upside-down. Smoosh them on in there, seriously. About a half pound per jar. Bring the salt, vinegar and water to a boil, then pour into the jars, leaving about a half inch of headspace. Process in a water bath for 10-15 minutes (at sea level to 1000 ft). Make...

Today I voted. So that's good, and I'm happy to live in a state where I can vote early. In addition to voting, today I will be canning. It occurred to me that I actually had more stuff to can than just the remainder of that stew I made last night (which we are actually eating again for dinner, and I'll can the rest). I have the leftover pumpkin soup, which is ideal as an appetiser-soup more than it is as a full-meal-soup, so I'm canning the remaining quart in two pint jars (I made the very unpleasant discovery that my canner is not actually large enough to do quart jars. This is mostly disappointing because I just bought quart jars, but it's also sad because I can't spend the money on a 16-quart canner right now). I also have all that okra remaining to can (P actually did like the okra in the stew I made though he typically will only eat it fried or pickled). I intended to cook and can some beans, also, for days I don't feel like cooking them, but I think ...

Or at least, this would be a stew from my garden if I had a garden that grew more than just chives and parsley. From my dream garden, I'd make this. Instead, I bought this stuff from the farmer's market, where it came from someone else's "garden." Mostly, anyway. I've also resigned myself to the inability to make a small pot of soup or stew so I've just gone with it and intent to can the remainder tomorrow or the next day. Enjoy! Oh, by the way, this is awesome with freshly made bread. 1/3 cup wild rice, presoaked in 2 cups of water (or not presoaked, with 2 cups extra water added to the pot) 8 ounces fresh button mushrooms (or 1/3 cup dried of your choice) 3 carrots 2 red potatoes 5 sliced cloves of garlic 2 small turnips 2 cups celery chunks 2 ichiban eggplants 2 yellow squash 3 cups rough chopped turnip greens (or greens of your choice) 1 yellow onion large handful okra 1 bay leaf 2 cups water 1 15-ounce can each: stewed tomatoes, dice...

Do you guys ever just roast a bunch of veggies and pig out for dinner? That's the plan we had today after a lovely soujourn to the farmer's market. I wound up getting 10 eggplants and 7 yellow squash for 8 dollars from one vendor, a huge mess of turnips and greens, plus daikon, for 3 dollars, a massive bag of okra for 5 dollars. Etc. So this seemed a good time to just revel in the freshness of the food which was available, and also to clean out a couple other items from the fridge. P wanted this on rice, because he felt rice would fit better in the diet he's made me put him on (he claims to have gained 30 pounds since he met me, which is probably true but which I consider to be a sign of good eating rather than of weighing too much. This is not how he views it) than the simmered spelt, couscous or other type of pasta I'd originally planned to serve it with. I haven't had rice in a while, so really, it's a win. My mother sent me a big 2.5-3 quart ceramic casserol...

This is another recipe I'm using to illustrate the kind of really good food you can feed your family for a tiny amount of money. For this one, I was trying to optimise my usage of the ever-so-lovely beet. Also I am stalling on studying for my biology midterm, and this is a lot more fun. One nice thing about the quiche is that you can eat it cold, so it's perfect for P and I to munch on all day. One meal that makes many. Also, I was craving quiche. For like, the last couple months. I just didn't feel like making it despite the craving until today. Which is, naturally, when I discovered I was out of milk, so I had to use evaporated. If you have real milk, use 1 1/2 cups. I used to only buy bulk beets, but it occurred to me I should stop doing that. So this last time, I bought a bunch of beets with the greens still attached. The peels of the beetroot go in my bag of vegetable leavings for stock. The greens I wilted down with lemon and some other veggies and used them in a ...

I got this recipe from my good friend and "nephew" Y, who lives in Haifa. This is, hands down, my favourite dolma recipe, and the one that ruins most other dolma for me. They take a couple hours to make if you're doing it solo, so just be sure to reserve enough time for them. Or even better, get a friend to help with the rolling and it'll go more quickly! Enjoy! I use pickled grape leaves, and I've found this recipe makes closer to 100 units than 50, so I just buy the larger jar of leaves. Around 80 young and fresh (pickled is also an option) 5-6 tablespoons of olive/corn/sunflower oil, divided 2 chopped onions 100gr of pine nuts or sunflower seeds 1.5 cups of washed and then dried rice 1 teaspoon of salt 3 tablespoons of chopped mint leaves 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon of sweet or spicy paprika 1-2 lemons 1.5 cups of water The recipe is for 50 units. If you have used pickled vine leaves, then the leaves should be soak...

So here's that soup I mentioned the other day. It's very, very simple. This soup is based off of Dalva's soup (Dalva was the housekeeper where P lived in Brazil), which appears to have used a different variety of pumpkin. Additionally, this is my October entry for No Croutons Required . 2 1/2 cups pumpkin puree 4 cups water 1-2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger pinch salt 1 tablespoon pumpkin skin puree (optional) couple teaspoons olive oil (optional) Mix the above, except oil, in a saucepan. Bring to a slow boil, reducing until it's the thickness of tomato soup. Remove from heat and puree using a blender or immersion blender. Ladle into bowls and drizzle with oil. Serves 2-4.

One of the things I wanted to illustrate with this dish is how cheaply we can make gourmet-type meals at home. I put the prices for each ingredient in there, as well as the per-meal-breakdown. I feel like it's important to make note of ways we can still feel decadent with our food without increasing the worries our troubling economy has brought. This recipe is one of those, as well as a continuation of my exploration of the joys of pumpkin. I hope you enjoy it. Sauce: 1/4 cup dried mushrooms (I keep several pounds of assorted dried mushrooms, because they're an excellent value in terms of long-term viability and versatility - in this instance I used black trumpets, so this part cost about 30 cents, as I buy dry mushrooms in bulk) 1/8 cup dried shallot (buy a big bag at any Middle Eastern store for a couple bucks; this cost about 10 cents for this recipe's worth) 1 1/2 cup hot water (penny) 1 teaspoon each: oregano, thyme, basil (free since I grew and dried them) 1/4...

I think that after pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread is probably the second most thought of pumpkin recipe. I developed this recipe to be able to send a wider variety of breads to a friend of mine and SJ's after Katrina. I actually hadn't made it since then, until today. But P asked if I could make pumpkin bread, so I threw some together while I'm working on the pumpkin shells you'll see tomorrow. I figure before I toss a savoury pumpkin dish at you, I should give this one too. Enjoy! In blender or food processor (or whatever you use), mix: 2 large eggs scant 2/3 cup granulated sugar brown sugar to make the granulated a full 2/3 cup (I just like a bit for flavour) 1/3 cup shortening 1 teaspoon vanilla (alright... in reality, I use closer to a tablespoon, but if you're a normal, non-vanilla-freak, go w/ a teaspoon) 1/4 teaspoon each: cinnamon and ginger 1/8 teaspoon each: clove and nutmeg Then mix in: 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon pumpkin mash (yum! I measure a lit...

Today is pumpkin day. This means the next couple days will probably be pumpkin days for you all, in terms of reading my blog. Today I will just tell you all about what I did to process the pumpkin. Tomorrow I will make something with the pumpkin. And so on. I have a lot of pumpkin. I think you all probably know how to make the pumpkin mash, but if you don't I'll tell you. Most people buy those little pie pumpkins. I like to just buy one huge pumpkin and be done with it. Some people say there's a significant difference in the quality of the mash but I think they're smoking a little something extra. Or maybe that's just because I just like to do the big pumpkin, and saying they smoke a little something extra is one way of justifying it. Either way, you get what you like. I spent $4 on my huge pumpkin. The little ones cost so much more. The Beginning: So I cut my big pumpkin in half, from top to bottom. Then I scoop out all the seeds and the stringy bits. Most pe...

Our fridge was delivered yesterday. It was missing a part. And it ... doesn't fit. I am happy to have it sitting in the middle of my kitchen. If it continues to live in the middle of the kitchen, fine by me. If it is somehow made able to fit, even better. But either way? I HAVE A FRIDGE!!!!!!!! While I was at school, P went down to Phoenicia without telling me and got some things I have missed. It was a great surprise when I got home (even better than the laundry being done, which I also got!)! Olives! Salami! Cheese! Brussels sprouts! All sorts of fun things! Then we went to the regular store and we got some other foods. I feel much better having food in the fridge. Today we came home and made sandwiches and are now happily snacking on olives (ok, and some lupini beans). Tomorrow I will be making dinner. I'm excited!

Kevin from Closet Cooking made some granola recently (as an aside, if you have never seen his blog, please go there - it's absolutely lovely), and then SJ made it too. And now, in the aftermath of the hurricane, P and I have discovered our bellies are... not as small as we want them to be. So we agreed that when we get our new refrigerator delivered (Tuesday), we will start a diet together. I am in charge of the food. P is in charge of getting both of us on the Bowflex; I won't adjust it, so he has to ready it for me, for each exercise. We lost our maple syrup in the flood, amongst a gazillion other foods. So I decided to make a cereal P would really like but which wouldn't bust his waistline further - this means cherries. I wanted to make something he could have with milk for breakfast, or something that he could take to school as a sort of trail mix. I think a larger quantity would be better to make normally, but I want to be sure P likes it before I stick him with 80...

Originally, this wasn't intended to be porridge-like. I mainly planned to serve this not-too-long after the rice was done, but sometimes life gets in the way. I didn't take a picture of it, because it looks really gross. It was delicious, though. Anyway, it was tasty as breakfast, but is probably more appropriate for lunch or dinner. 1/2 cup cargamanto beans (pintos are a fine substitute) 1/2 teaspoon italian spices 1 tablespoon dried onion 1/8 teaspoon: dill weed, garlic powder, dried minced garlic 1/4 teaspoon oregano 1 teaspoon salt 1 cube chicken bouillon (or vegetarian) 1 can stewed tomatoes 1/2 cup brown rice salt and pepper to taste 1/2-1 cup water Soak the beans overnight. Add to them the remainder of the first group of ingredients, and cook until the beans are at their desired level of softness. Then add the salt and bouillon. Cook over medium heat 10 more minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook 2 hours more. Serves 2-4.