red, white, and blue... and green.

It being the eve of the the birthday of our nation, I felt it appropriate to blog about something... American. Cuz, you know... 'Merica. And all that jazz.


I think it's funny, of course, to pigeonhole 'American' food. After all, we Americans come from all corners of the globe, and everyone has contributed to our amalgam of cuisine. When I think of standard 4th of July fare, hot dogs, burgers and watermelon come to mind. But is that what I'm enjoying this holiday? Psh. 


My family has a habit of doing things a little differently. Summer, for me, has always been a time to celebrate the bounty of the land... things like fresh produce hand-harvested from the garden, and a catch of the day that you, yourself, actually caught. Whether Iowa corn and bluegill fillets or Louisiana okra and catfish, I've always had my bases covered for the best cook-outs you can come by.


Seeing as it was about high time to cut our collards this week, and the tomato plants are already going crazy and producing seemingly hundreds of beautiful green globes, I decided to get back to my roots and do a little fish fry dinner. Stopping by Hy-Vee on my way home from work to pick up our protein made me wish I could have spent the day fishing instead of at the office... ah, well. That day will come soon enough.


Quick Collards
Roughly 1 lb collard greens
2 slices bacon
1/2 C chicken stock
1/2 tsp cider vinegar
1/4 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper
Hot sauce


Dice the bacon and fry in a medium-hot pan until just firm. Meanwhile, rinse and de-stem the collards, then stack them together and slice into strips about 1/2 inch wide. Add the collard strips to the pan a handful at a time, stirring with each addition so the greens wilt. (Make sure they don't get too dark; at this stage they should still be a vibrant green.) Add the chicken stock, turn the heat to low, and cover the pan. Let the greens cook until tender, 10-20 minutes, or to your liking. Stir in the vinegar and sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Let cook another 2-3 minutes, and serve hot.

As for those tomatoes... I love them fried up just like this. It reminds me of a story my parents like to tell. When I was young, about four years old, my grandparents stopped by our house to see if I'd like to join them for ice cream at the best little ice cream shop in the whole wide world. Instead of clamoring out the door instantly like a normal child, I refused to go anywhere. Why? Mom was making fried zucchini. Mom and Dad had to swear on their lives that there'd be some waiting for me when I got back from Four Queens before I would agree to being treated to ice cream. Yeah. My mom's fried zucchini is that good.


   

Our collards and fried green tomatoes were excellent accompaniments to some fried catfish and frog legs. (You think I was a weird kid for loving fried zucchini that much? As a child I made myself sick eating too many frog legs on more than one occasion. What is it with me and food??) I totally failed at getting pictures of the fish, but let me show you how we do it proper in the South...

 So good. By the way, this is what I was eating exactly one year ago at our family's 4th of July fish fry. My uncle and cousin spent the early hours of the day (I mean early) checking traps and cleaning the fish just before throwing them in the fryer. They managed to feed all 30-something of us. Not bad. (Actually, quite good.) 


That's about all for now... gotta clean up the kitchen before we walk down to the pops concert at the capitol. I love holidays!


To life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...


Cheers!

asparagus you can't not love

          

I've never really been a picky eater. For one thing, I was not really allowed to be too picky... growing up, I was required to try anything I thought I didn't like at least once a year. 'Your tastes change as you grow up,' my mom would say, and even though five-year-old me definitely didn't believe her, guess what? She turned out to be right. (Moms are apparently really smart. Who knew.) 

to market, to market - 5 june

I'm sad to say I've missed the downtown farmers market the past two Saturdays. However, my weekend indolence led to a delightful weekday discovery - the Tuesday evening Beaverdale Farmers Market! We just so happened to catch opening night, and plan to go again this week. With plenty of food vendors to give us dinner options and everything from bacon to spinach for sale, it's the perfect mid-week excursion.

brothas baked penne

The good news is... I am no longer unemployed!


The bad news is... I haven't posted lately!


Well, that's something I can fix pretty easily. I'm here to share an extremely easy, economical and enticing dinner idea... all qualities that fit perfectly in my new [much busier] schedule! 4 ingredients and 40 minutes - tops - and enough to serve a hearty dinner for three with plenty leftover for lunch the next day.

awwww yeah

when in ireland - part three

It's not yet been a year since my adventures 'round the Emerald Isle, but I find myself becoming nostalgic about that journey lately. The other night some friends and I enjoyed a warm evening (something I can't say I had the pleasure of experiencing in Ireland, I must admit...) over a few drinks outside the pub, swapping memories of our voyages across the pond. The conversation's catalyst? A quite-close-to-authentic snake bite - authentic, that is, to the Irish snake bites I love. 


I discovered this drink one night at Stoney's Bar, a hole-in-the-wall on Hill Street in the north side of Dublin (check out the street view; you'll see what I mean). Definitely one of those local venues, Stoney's was small, laid-back and not crowded with tourists. The perfect sort of place to actually talk to the bartender. Not quite sure what I wanted, I indecisively asked for a Bulmers - no - a beer perhaps - well, but cider did sound tasty...

to market, to market - 26 may

This past weekend, for the first time since moving here, I finally made it to the famous Downtown Farmers Market!

yet another reason to cook [healthy] at home...

courtesy of makinghealtheasier.org

i hate fluffy dumplings.

this is what chicken & dumplings should look like!!

I'll never forget the first time I tried to make homemade chicken and dumplings. I was maybe 12 years old, just starting to peruse cookbooks on my own and imagining myself the budding chef de cuisine of our household. Looking back on those days, I'm sure I was a disaster and a half in the kitchen, but I had an awesome mom who was willing to take a step back and let me exercise my independent nature, and even compliment my efforts - which were surely dubious sometimes. (Thanks, Mom!)


Anyway, I decided one day that I wanted chicken and dumplings. It was my favourite thing to get at Cracker Barrel whenever we were on a road trip. Alas, there were no Cracker Barrels anywhere near Waterloo, so I hit the books in search of a recipe. I think I picked the first one I came to, in a church cookbook from Frederika or Sumner, and carefully followed every step. Though slightly confused as to why one would spoon the dumpling mixture into the boiling broth almost like drop biscuits, I faithfully adhered to the directions and covered the simmering pot.

pain perdu

french toast, bacon, and cabbage...
a rather international breakfast

I'm writing this about a week later than intended thanks to a complete failure of internet at the new apartment. Ah, well... several hours spent on the phone with the internet people and one new modem later, we're back in business! 

Last Monday, after a long weekend of moving and unpacking, breakfast for dinner was in order. Because let's be honest - breakfast, in the proper sense of the word (i.e. bacon must be included) doesn't happen all that often during, well, breakfast hours. But who doesn't love bacon and french toast? 

Funny story about this dinner, too...

tgif

Well, I can't say the past week has been particularly great. A steadfast cold, an emergency room visit, ongoing problems of home-ownership, a missing cat, and hurry-up-and-wait-to-NOT-be-selected job interviews have started to coalesce into a feeling of general dismay. But you know what? It's Friday. We got the keys to our new apartment. A care package is on its way. I'm dressed up to go out for dinner. And there's a bottle of wine waiting for me to finish it when we get back. Life sucks sometimes. But it's not all bad.


So... to Fridays.

Cheers!

some days...

Some days I kind of miss being a kid. Especially when I've been trying to kick a cold for a solid week and I'm still going through a box of Kleenex about every three hours and have to take aspirin constantly so that my throat doesn't swell completely shut. I miss lying in bed, reading Calvin & Hobbes and having lovely nourishing and comforting things brought to me by my mother. 

Hot honey lemonade was one of those things. Not only is it delicious, but it's actually a good cold remedy. The lemon juice is full of vitamin C, and honey is both antibacterial and an expectorant. Local honey is the best, containing the pollen you're regularly exposed to and helping build your resistance to allergic reactions. 

hawaiian poke

The first time I had poke (pronounced poh-kee) was seven years ago in Pueblo, Colorado. My mom, brother, grandparents and I were visiting my grandma's brother and his family. Uncle Bob and Aunt Rickii live in Colorado Springs, but one night we all took a short road trip to visit their daughter Roni in Pueblo and go out for sushi with her family. They ordered Hawaiian poke, a sashimi dish of marinated tuna. First thing we did when we got back home was tell our local sushi chef, Le, that he had to make us poke (even though it wasn't on the menu). 

shrimp and spice and jasmine rice

(...that's what a lovely dinner is made of.)

pepper duo

Well, it was definitely a cold that had me feeling under the weather on Monday. A really nasty bug that had me feverish, achy, congested and otherwise miserable for a good three days. I tried to maintain a somewhat normal schedule and at least put dinner on the table, but I was too wiped out for anything too fancy. So I turned to an old standby - easy étouffée. Thanks to canned soup, frozen shrimp and my ever-handy rice cooker, this dinner was something even a sniffling, shivering me could muster.

toddy

Chocolate, men, coffee - some things are better rich.


I have a major case of the Mondays. I'm not sure if I'm coming down with a cold or if yesterday's hangover just won't give it up, but I woke up feeling like garbage today. Thankfully, the cure was only a few steps away in my refrigerator: a pitcher of toddy.


Sometimes a regular cup of coffee just doesn't cut it. Today I wanted something deeper, darker... richer. Toddy is just the thing. Basically it's nothing more than cold-brewed coffee. I think it has a similar flavour to coffee made using a French press, but is much stronger. You can drink it hot or cold. I like mine poured over a glass of ice and topped with milk and just a touch of simple syrup for sweetness - essentially an iced latte! (Similarly, with steamed milk you have a hot latte.)


The best part about making toddy is you need zero fancy equipment. No special pots, presses, stirrers, or any other contraption. Just a bag of good coffee, two containers that will hold a quart of water, a strainer and some coffee filters. As one of my friends who worked at a coffee shop in Cedar Falls used to say - easy peasy Japoneasy!

that's some mighty fine bbq

I know I say this about things all the time, but... I. Love. Barbecue. It's funny because once upon a time, I was one of those angsty teenage vegetarians. Then bacon brought me back into the meat-eating world (never heard that one before, eh?) and from there I kind of went whole-hog (pun intended). Don't get me wrong - I definitely respect vegetarians, and I probably eat a vegetarian meal at least a couple times per week. I do think it's important to pay attention to farming practises, especially where livestock is concerned. That being said, I have no problem chowing down on some pig.

Another all-too-prevalent theme I've noticed is how often I write things like, 'I love _____, but I've never attempted to make it.' I bet you can guess where this is going. Craving barbecue + looking through cookbooks + needing dinner ideas that can double as a great cold lunch for Parker = rolling up my sleeves and delving into the world of homemade bbq.

gỏi cuốn

...that is to say, Vietnamese spring rolls! I love, love, love fresh spring rolls - cold, crisp, and succulent, with rich peanut sauce for dipping (recipe here). They make an excellent dinner, especially on a warm day, and keep perfectly as leftovers, especially quick and easy to throw in a lunch box with an ice pack.

I started making mine at home to save money, but I have to say that I enjoy it for other reasons, too. This is one of those recipes that lends itself to a crowded kitchen, with everyone wanting (and able) to get in on the action. While they're not that difficult to make, all the prep work can be a little time consuming - but not with an extra pair or two of hands to make the work go more quickly! I find that sometimes the process of cooking is just as rewarding as the outcome, especially when it's shared with friends, family, good conversation, and perhaps a good drink.

method: julienned herbs

1) Prepare your herbs by de-stemming them
(here, I'm using basil)

2) Stack several leaves on top of each other

3) Roll the leaves up

4) slice width-wise across the roll
ta-da!

short and sweet

Well, I've once again been temporarily M.I.A., this time thanks to the process of lining up a post-grad, career-building job and moving to the big city (well, as big as you can get in this state, anyway). After a nerve-wracking interview today, I decided to relax a little by unpacking my kitchen things and making a pitcher of sweet tea. The perfect way to unwind and refresh myself.


Sweet tea 
8 C fresh water
8 bags Lipton tea

1/2 C sugar 


Bring the water to a boil, then let it rest for about two minutes. Add the tea bags and let steep for 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags. Stir in the sugar until it is dissolved. Refrigerate the tea until cool, and serve in a large tumbler full of ice. Ahhh...


Sweet tea is one of those Southern things that's hard to find here in the Midwest, but super easy to make! And it's easy to experiment with... I like peppermint sweetened with honey for a change of pace. Try your own combinations - tea and sweetener varieties abound! Feel free to share whatever you discover sweetens your day. :)

Cheers! 

à votre santé

It never fails that when anyone close to me gets sick, my mother hen instincts kick into overdrive. Case in point: when Parker came down with strep throat last week, I instantly made sure he got on the right antibiotics and stayed on the couch, and supplied him with plenty of Gatorade and chicken soup.

Depending on how much time I have, I either buy a rotisserie chicken for meat and use bouillon cubes for broth, or I buy a whole chicken and make homemade stock.

monday tradition: hot wings

Funny story... I used to kind of hate wings. I felt like they were too fiddly and messy to eat - generally not worth the hassle. And the whole meat-on-the-bone thing? Believe it or not, I was once really squeamish about such things. (Had you told high school me that I'd one day prefer cooking raw, whole chicken for soups and stocks rather than using boneless, skinless chicken breasts and carton chicken broth, I would have laughed. And laughed. And maybe given you a dirty look.) Then a little rumour started circulating in Cedar Falls. It changed everything.

The summer of 2010, over our weekly cup of Cold Stone (why is it that my friends and I always seem to form food habits?), one of the guys mentioned that he heard a Buffalo Wild Wings was going to open just across the street.

comfort food, southwest style

I like cooking. I really do. But sometimes I just run out of fresh ideas, or feel too wiped out to try anything new and complicated. Thankfully, my guy is good at coming to dinner's rescue. He suggested enchilada casserole the other night - something I'd never made, but he assured me it was quick, easy and inexpensive... not to mention it would be an ample amount of food for all the boys. Perfect!

on a roll

'Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.'            
                                                  - James Beard

You know how a while back I confessed I'd never really made a pie crust? Bread is sort of the same story. I've made a few attempts, but since I moved out of my parents' home - hence away from the bread machine - the one or two loaves of bread I tried making just seemed to fall flat (literally). Maybe it was old yeast, maybe impatience in kneading... whatever the case, I kind of let bread-making fall away from my skill set. 


Of course, there's nothing better than a freshly baked loaf of bread or batch of rolls just out of the oven.

pig on pig

'If you want a subject, look to pork!' 

                        - Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

Digging through my fridge yesterday morning hoping to find some inspiration for dinner, I hit the jackpot with the discovery of a thawed pork loin (thank you, past self!) and a few slices of bacon. Combined with the makings for green bean casserole, which I found in my pantry, and some homemade rolls and apple sauce, we'd have a nice dinner - enough to share with friends, even.

car bomb cupcakes

There are only two kinds of people in the world: the Irish,
and those who wish they were. 


I have two traditions on St. Patrick's Day: drinking from dawn to well past dusk, and supplying friends and bar staff with car bomb cupcakes. The latter is thanks to one of my friends who a few years ago, on his way to work at 5 a.m., woke me up with a text demanding that I bake him Guinness cupcakes with Bailey's frosting. Two of my favourite drinks in a delicious portable dessert? Yes, please!

improvisations in a hostel kitchen: mini naan pizzas

For lack of time and (recently) internet access, I've had to take a break from the blog.


Now I find myself once again in a foreign country, cup of tea in hand, and with plenty of free time in my dorm room as I try to not spend money (ha!). If I had interesting experiences during my three weeks in Ireland, Poland has had more to offer in just a week.

vacation/novation

Bienvenue en Louisiane!


Has it really been over a week since my last post?! I swear vacation is a time warp. Between the most epic New Years Eve ever and a 17-hour road trip to Louisiana, life has gone by much too quickly. Of course, there's been a plethora of food experiences along the way... here are a few.