whirlwind

Hey guys,

So again, I apologize for the length of time it's been since I last posted. Life's been a little busy to say the least (not that I'm complaining). I've been cooking less often then usual and documenting what I cook even less than that. I finally took Monday night to myself and even went running to work up an appetite (it wasn't my only goal, believe it or not, but it definitely worked!).

I've been on a quest to cook tofu since I decided to try this whole vegetarian thing (speaking of which, I'll be at 7 weeks on Sunday and I can honestly say that 1) I haven't slipped once yet, and 2) I don't miss meat as much as I thought I would at all). Anyway, besides tofu moose I haven't made any epic tofu recipes, but this one is definitely places second.

So now I present to you: Honey Mustard Marinated Tofu

*I adjusted the recipe for 12.3 oz of tofu

Ingredients:

 I feel like this would have worked with 6 TBSP of honey musterd instead of 3 TBSP each of honey and Dijon. Did I hike to IGA to get honey because for the first time since moving into this apartment we were out? Of course. Next time.

My unconventional tofu press (the bullet was already out on the counter, I'm not that obsessed). And the marinade..

My 8 x 8 pan is mysteriously missing (it's a gift how easily I lose things...). So instead I used a pie plate. Covered in foil, of course (because really, scrapping marinate off any pan is just obnoxious).

Before the oven:

After the oven:

To round out my meal I decided another smitten kitten recipe was in order. Asparagus is by and far my favorite vegetable..and I think this might be my favorite way to eat it. Just shear, toss, and enjoy!

Eaten in front of That 70's Show reruns. it was a perfect way to end a stressful Monday. The salad was as spectacular as the first time I made it back in May. I'm still unsure how I like the consistency of tofu marinated and baked, but it was a huge improvement from the last time I made it. I'm addicted to the almost crispy edges that I only seem to get when I saute it in lots of oil. The flavor was fantastic, however.

Nick and I were supposed to cook Cajun black bean burgers...but the world has not been on our side lately. That post is coming soon, promise!

Anyone have any tofu cooking tips? Or recipes to try? 

Brownie Thursday

Ok, so I realize the average college student participates in thirsty Thursday... but this week I was totally craving brownies. And I've been meaning to make this recipe for a while. I first about the concept of black bean brownies in the fall- and I thought, ew, wtf, why would you add black beans to perfectly good brownies? But then I did some research, and found that apparently they just made the brownies super moist (and were also a gluten free alternative- which is cool even though I have no problems with gluten).

And if there's black beans in them, it totally justifies eating half the pan in one sitting, right?


After a full day of browsing black bean brownie recipes (I promise I do other work at my co-op.. occasionally), I settled on this recipe via foodgawker,

The ingredients were conveniently things I had on hand (well, except the eggs, but I needed eggs anyway, and it was an excuse to run to CVS).

The trick to making the beans unnoticeable is pulverizing them, Which of course, was another excuse to break out the magic bullet. 

The processed beans looked oddly like a cookies and cream milkshake..

Then I did that thing you usually do with brownies (added the rest of the ingredients + extra sugar and chocolate powder and poured it into a baking dish):

After thirty minutes or so (longer than the recipe had said, but I might have have used a different pan...or our oven is awful, whatever), they were done.

Anna (home from Kenya!), Alyssa, and I ate it immediately in its molten hot form...and it was kind of strange, but delicious. I thought it got better as it set though. I froze the rest of it so I'll have snacks for a while and it won't get stale (I hate wasted baked goods!).

I think I'd try a different recipe next time (maybe a gluten one). But overall, the recipe was real easy, and you couldn't taste the beans. And there's nothing wrong with a guiltless brownie.

Kale?

Hey guys!

Nick and I are still apart. We almost met up for the Pirates game on Saturday, but nothing about that game seemed to work out for me (I did get to see the fireworks though, so I can't really complain).

Back to the food....

I've been cooking all damn day for no particular reason. So far I've made:
zucchini pizza boats
     -They're absolutely delicious, and a perfect way to sneak in veggies when pizza is what you're really craving. I've even gotten my veggie-hating friends to eat them. Beth's whole blog is dedicated to cheap and easy (and tasty) recipes. If you've never heard of it, it's definitely worth checking out

curry hummus
     -I go through a container of hummus a week. It's definitely in my top five favorite foods (which is saying something). And it's pretty healthy. I try to switch up the kinds I make. I made average, garlic hummus last week, and was munching of Trader Joe's before that so I thought a change was in order. I'm not sure how I feel about this recipe- it's not bad, just real different.

and finally....
kale chips!
     -I've wanted to make these since I first saw them around the food/health blogs world a few months ago. A) they look delicious, and B) kale is on of those superfoods. I was a little skeptical though - how sense does it make, really, that you can make a bitter green taste GOOD with a little olive and salt, not to mean, cook it just so that it's not crispy and doesn't burn. But when the farmer's market just happened to have kale on Wednesday I figured it was worth a shot. I decided to use Deb's recipe since her blog has never failed me.

First thing first, I washed the kale thoroughly (I'll be honest, it still had dirt on it, but I figured that contributed to its freshness?). Then I chopped of the stems, and cut the leaves into more manageable pieces.

One of the best things about this recipe was that it only called for two ingredients. 

And not much of either at that. I drizzled a tablespoon of olive oil over the kale and guesstimated on the salt. Then just tossed it until all the kale was covered.

Then I spread the leaves onto two large baking sheets. I have a vendetta again cleaning baking sheets (seriously, is there a way to scrub the whole thing without spraying yourself with the faucet?), so I lined them with foil..

And after twenty minutes at 300 degrees...

They turned out beautifully. Not comparable to... well really anything. They're paper thin but absolutely filled and favor. And they don't fill you up at all (for better or for worse). Even Alyssa joined me in devouring half the batch:

We did manage to save enough for me to take to work Monday and Tuesday.

I was absolutely thrilled with how they turned out. I really hope the farmers market has kale again this week.

Hopefully nick and I will being making something fun later this week. Until then, have a good week everyone!!

Oats!

I know it's been a week and a day, but bear with us, Nick and I are still doing this miles and miles apart. Cooking has been happening- but my documentation has been lacking. Sorry!

I've been addicted to quick cooking oatmeal since the fall. I'm not sure how it really started, but somehow I started eating oatmeal on a daily basis (I guess it goes hand in hand with my obsession with breakfast). Anyhow, the more I read about oats, the more I learned about all the different types there were. In the spring I got some spiffy multigrain oats from the East End Co-op. And after reading about them for a few months, I finally picked up some steel cut oats.

The only downside to steel cut oats is that they take at least 35 minutes to cook. Besides that - they are incredible. The texture is way different. But kind of awesome? And the best part is you can make ahead of time and eat it all week (like I do.. I know, I know, no one else likes oatmeal THAT much).

Like regular oatmeal, all you need are oats and boiling water:

Then let it boil for another five minutes until the oatmeal begins to thicken. Then just let it simmer for 30 minutes - be careful it's not boiling! Or you're pot will be super hard to clean.

When it looks thick, and most of the liquid has been absorbed, you're probably done (like the picture directly above). I distribute it into containers equally. Then you can add whatever topping you want :) fresh fruit, raisins, chocolate, cinnamon, brown sugar...or, my personal favorite, honey!

And now I can go to bed super excited about breakfast tomorrow!

(I'm an old person) Goodnight!

Memorial Day Tarts!

So as Dana said I am typically not the one to make the sweets but for Memorial Day dinner we had nothing for dessert, so I went to my favorite cooking blog Picky Palate and found something that looked good and then experimented. I made 2 tarts and the pictures show the process of both. First I used her recipe to make a peanut butter chocolate chip. And then since my dad is not too fond of chocolate I decided to improvise a fruit tart using that recipe as a guide.

So here are the ingredients

Butter, cream cheese, graham crackers, sugar, brown sugar, heavy cream, peanut butter and semi sweet chocolate chips.

First I made a crust using 9 graham crackers(one sleeve) by mashing up the crackers very fine and then mixing it with 4 tbsp of butter and 3 tbsp of sugar. Then coat the bottom of your pan (I used a pie pan since we didnt have a tart pan) with this mixture. Then bake this at 350 for about 10 minutes. Put it on a cooling rack and let it sit while you do the next part.

 Then you mix the peanut butter, cream cheese, heavy cream, brown sugar together adding half of the chocolate chips.

At this point it tastes delicious already ahaha.

Then while waiting for the other crust to chill, I started the second. This one I used the exact recipe, removing the peanut butter and chocolate chips and replacing them with the same amount of vanilla yogurt and a fruit puree(Exactly I used 4 strawberries the whole thing of red raspberries and 2 handfuls of blueberries). I also used nilla waffers for the crust because I felt graham crackers might be odd.

 Nilla waffers, yogurt, sugar, brown sugar, cream cheese, strawberries, raspberries, heavy whipping cream, blueberries(not pictured), (and I did not use the preserves pictured)

Mix the crust the same with the nilla waffers and sugar and butter and bake it. Then mix the cream cheese yogurt, brown sugar heavy cream together. Then I made the puree using 4 strawberries the whole thing of red raspberries and 2 handfuls of blueberries. Mixing it with a blender until liquid. I then used a mixer to mix about half of what I created into the liquid mixture(To taste but be careful adding too much might make it not get too solid).

(My mother helping out)

By then the crust for the first tart had chilled and we added the mixture, the other half of the chocolate chips and put it into the freezer.

Then mixing the puree into the liquids for the fruit we have we poured it into the nilla waffer crust and put it in the freezer.

The peanut butter chocolate one set up really quickly, but the fruit one had to sit much longer (about an hour) then you can either top the fruit with fresh fruit (like I did ) or use the leftover puree. But the final product turned out to be this

 

Everyone agreed either peanutbutter chocolate or fruit, they loved it!

First Guest Post

It's been one of those super busy weeks, for better of for worse. Which unfortunately translated to way less cooking then we had intended. However, our buddy Devin was still on top of his game this week. I was around for the first half of this process, but then had to run pick up my friend downtown, so I left my camera with him and he continued documenting his efforts for the blog.

Presenting AnythingButRanch's 1st Guest Recipe Post: Tamarind Ice Cream

Last week, while we were in the strip district, Devin picked up a box a tamarinds from Lotus, our favorite Asian grocery store! 

 

I had personally never heard of them before. We had far too much fun cracking jokes about their appearance. But all kidding aside though, they're pretty tasty...the flavor's something's between a raisin and something citrus...though with the pit they kind of reminded me of a date. 

I'm not sure where the recipe came from, but the best part about it (and I'm sure all my college friends will agree with me), is that it didn't require an ice cream maker.

The first step was to shell them. Which is where the jokes got worse (I'll spare you the specifics).

Shelling them was actually a pretty easy, and kinda fun. We made a mess, but that's one of the best parts of cooking, right? Then Devin put them in a pot with some water and boiled them into tamarind goo (the jokes continued). Then the pits were strained. Then the ice cream making could really begin!

 

At this point I had to leave. But, like I said, Devin, continued documenting.

Ingredient Lineup! 

The Process! My mixer was happy to get some more use.

After some time hanging out in the freezer, tamarind ice cream was born! And served in the same fancy glasses as out tofu moose from last week.I totally thought there were sprinkles on top..but its actually a cayenne/salt/sugar combination that "made it perfect," according to Alyssa.

Unfortunately, I did not get to try any of it. But I heard it came out wonderfully. It was certainly a neat way to use a strange and tasty fruit. Homemade ice-maker-less ice cream is going to go on the summer cooking project list I think

Happy Memorial Day!

Strip Saturdays

Saturday was probably the nicest day Pittsburgh has had this year, which made it the perfect opportunity for our first summer trip to Pittsburgh's strip district. We browsed cooking supplies, Asian grocery stores, Greek grocery stores, and ate our weight in samples. Pretty much the best everything Pittsburgh has related to food and cooking can be found in the strip. Feeling inspired, we decided to make an international dinner.

Devin whipped up guac. and plantain chips, and bruschetta on fresh Italian bread. With some assistance from Alyssa, of course:

Beyond delicious. I was so excited about the bruschetta Devin had to remind me to take a picture. And I promise, it was even better then it looks.

While we were munching on our appetizers, Don had been working on his soup.

Chopping away with Devin's slice-printer-paper-in-half knife:

Making the broth:

Finished product!

Lastly for desert, I made a batch of my chocolate tofu moose. Yes, you read that right. And if you didn't know it had tofu in it, you would have know idea. Though I'll admit, initially it looks kind of gross:

I would include the recipe, but since I was making it at Devin's place, it turned into a mismatch of every version I'd ever tried (albeit still delicious).

The moose post-blender. My favorite thing about making the moose that I have an excuse to use the magic :bullet.

I had bought strawberries at the strip and figure they'd be the perfect topping. Alyssa came up with the brilliant idea to cut them all fancy:

She's such a good helper.

 And then our final product! (served in fancy glasses courtesy of Devin)

We spend the rest of the night nursing our food babies but it was well worth it. I couldn't have asked for a better Saturday. 

Hope you enjoyed! I'm sure there are typo's but I really wanted to get this up. We're totally open to suggestions so feel free to leave them! (Just be nice ;)  )