roasted sweet potato fries

With school and the financial limitations it imposes, I am looking for even more ways to enjoy my favorite treats without spending a lot of unnecessary moolah. Obviously, this involves going out to eat less. Now, I don’t think I eat out that often, but in reality I do, mostly for convenience. Every taco, hot dog, or basket of cheese curds adds up to quite a pretty penny, financially AND nutritionally. I usually want pizza. At first, I think about about going out, but I end up staying in and improvising. Sometimes, I want Chinese. I think about going out, but once I look at my stockpile of food, I realize I can also improvise a vaguely Chinese meal. So, let’s say I really want a burger. Unfortunately, I only have tuna, not a half pound of grass-fed ground beef. When I want a burger, normally what I really want is a serving of french fries. Small Bar is a local pub about 2 blocks from my house. They have amazing sweet potato fries and I happen to have sweet potatoes! Presto! Sweet Potato Fries!

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato,
Salt, to taste
Olive Oil, enough to coat sweet potatoes
1 tsp dried spice (I used smoked paprika, but curry or adobo or anything you like would probably work equally well)
1 cookie sheet
Parchment paper to cover cookie sheet
Oven, preheated to 450

1. Cut sweet potato into strips.

2. Sprinkle with olive oil, follow with salt and spice. Flip over so each side of each slice is lightly coated in the oil.

3. Place in pre heated oven.

4. After 15 minutes, turn each slice over, cook for 15 more minutes. After a half hour, they should be finished.

5. Let the fries cool a bit and then eat them before they get too cold!

budget margarita/ gringo tacos

If your like most people, the the current recession has really taken the wind out of your sails. This blog entry is a siren call! While a lack of funds certainly takes a toll, remember that money doesn’t equal happiness and you can usually have a large amount of fun for a small amount of money. Since I love going to the grocery store, I find I usually have quality staples around my house for a decent meal. Since I also love spending time at my house rather than a bar, I keep an eye out for deals on alcohol that my nearests and dearests enjoy. Hence, budget margaritas and gringo tacos, a phenomenon of Winter ‘09.

Corn tortillas pretty much go with anything, and if you have a gluten allergy, they can quickly become your BFFs. So, you have tortillas?

Get some goat cheese.

Make a tuna salad (my house recipe currently includes Genova Tuna, this crazy Turkish spice my friend Sean brought home for me, a healthy dose of natural mayo, and a healthy dose of Dijon mustard. Yes, Genova is made by Chicken of the Sea, but it’s really good and packed in olive oil, and I like it.) Put the goat cheese in a taco, when it’s cooked add the tuna, eat and enjoy.
(this is a kind of gross picture of tuna salad in the making)

Now, on to the fun part. The guys I work with always mix really good tequila with Squirt. I decided to follow their lead after talking it over with GB.

Get some good tequila. Put a shot in a glass, top with Squirt. Cut up whatever citrus you have, squeeze into the glass, and enjoy.

Delicious, and cheaper than buying all those limes. Just try not to think about the corn syrup.

Mexican Potato Chowder

Huh. It appears that the only thing I have been eating for the past month is soup. That statement is mostly true. Soups are easy to invent, delicious, and time friendly. Today, we’re taking a departure from the Indian food, and taking advantage of the Mexican grocery stores that are abundant in Chicago. It should be noted that this recipe is not vegetarian, kosher, or particularly healthy, but it is delicious and perfect for evening when your plans include watching Gossip Girl and complaining about your period. This recipe is also nearly impossible without an immersion blender, but use your brain and improvise something! It doesn’t need to be blended, I just like building my base that way. I’m serving it with some tortillas.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup ground Chorizo (preferably fresh)
3 carrots, grated (about 1.5 cups)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 large onion chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 large can of peeled whole tomatoes and their juices. (28oz size)
28 oz. water (use the can from the tomatoes)
1.5 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 jalapeno, chopped and seeded
4 pickled serrano peppers, chopped (EXNAY!!! After further thought and taste, this makes the recipe nearly too spicy to enjoy, without the aid of A TON of sour cream. If the dish isn’t spicy enough, each taster can add her own hot sauce. )
2 peppers, chopped (I used red and orange, don’t use green)
5 large potatoes, chopped
1.5 cup cream cup cream
1 lime
Sour cream
Tortilla Strips
Large pot for cooking

Recipe:
*Please read all the ingredients first. Chop them up accordingly. It’s very important to do this because it will make your life much easier.

1. Simmer olive oil in pot until it is shimmering.
2. Add chorizo and cook until it is no longer raw.
3. Add carrots, onion, celery and garlic to the cooked chorizo. Its ok that it is still red- chorizo is prespiced with red spices.
4. Cook this for about 5 minutes, or until the onions get soft. Adjust the heat as needed so that nothing burns.
5. Add your tomatoes and water.
6. Take your immersion blender and blend everything in the pot until it is smooth.
7. Add your cumin and oregano, stir.
8. Add your jalapenos and serranos
9. Add your potatoes, cook until tender.
10. Add cream, cook until it it’s to the temperature you desire.

Serve this with a dollop of sour cream, a squeeze of fresh lime, and tortilla strips on top. It pairs well with quesadillas, but then you’ll have to work out tomorrow.

brunch

All systems were a go for brunch on Sunday. I got out of work early on Saturday and had enough time to peruse the most recent New Yorker, which has a worthwhile fiction story, The Great Experiment, by Jeffery Eugenides, who probably doesn’t need another plug from a 25 year old with a literary bent, but for real, this story is amazing. Go out an buy the magazine immediately.

Once my afternoon sojurn finished, I bussed my way over to Dominick’s at Elston and Fullerton. I know just an entry ago I was singing the praises of local groceries, but unfortunately, this time convenience trumped morals. Plus, I got 56 eggs for $15. That’s like $.25 an egg, which I can’t decide is good or bad. Is that good or bad? Normally a dozen costs like $3.00, which is like $.40 and egg. So at least it seems like I’m saving scratch for buying my grandparents dinner in 3 weeks. Input is appreciated. Amanda picked me up from the grocery, so I was saved from all kinds of embarassment on the bus ridbe back to my house.

I prepared 3 kinds of strada:
1. cheddar, gimme lean sausage, onions, & salsa
2. mozzarella, tomato, artichoke, and garlic
3. goat cheese, asparagus, dill, and mustard

and 2 kinds of french toast
1. strawberry and lavendar
2. orange marmalade and vanilla

There they are in the fridge, marinating. Like Outkast would say. Strada and Baked French Toast are super simple to make.

Ingredients:
12 eggs
Spices
1/2 cup cream
1 loaf french bread
Cheese
Veggie
Meat/Faux Meat of you feel the need for extra protein.

Here’s what you do:
1. Get a 9″x13″ pan, butter the sides and bottom, tear up the bread and put it in the pan
2. Beat the eggs so the yolks are broken
3. Add the spices
4. Add the cream
5. Grate the cheese and mix it with the bread
6. Prepare your veggies as you like and mix the veggies/ and or meat with the bread and cheese
7. Pour the egg, cream, spice mixture over the bread, cheese, veggie/and or meat mixture.
8. Cover pan and let it sit over night.
9. Preheat oven to 350.
10. Pop the pans in the oven and pull them out in an hour. Serve and enjoy! Delicious!

(For the French Toast variation: Prepare bread the same way, prepare the eggs the same way except with 1 cup cream instead, your spices should be vanilla, nutmeg, sugar and yummy sweet things like that (I like using marmalade), add fruit if you like, let it sit overnight, and follow the same baking instructions. A little sweet for your savory.)

I made them on Saturday night before Gerard, Frank, and Kent’s band, Woolen, made its debut at the most lovely smelling bar. The band was good, atmospheric, and moody. It will be interesting to see what happens when the sun is out and we’re not all in grey moods 60% of the time. As a side note, why don’t bands do like a modern Vivaldi type thing? I’d be into that.

Unfortunately, brunch was too fun for me to waste time taking pictures, but I will take ones at the next one. Everyone brought delicious treats that complimented the main dishes well and we went through a serious amount of champagne.

Next up, sticky date pudding and tofu scramble.

persimmon murder

The other day, Gerard and I did all of our grocery shopping in our general neighborhood. My friend Sarah has written well about the glories of small, local non-corporate groceries, so I won’t expand too much, but I will second and applaud paying a fraction of what one pays at Whole Foods or (gasp) Trader Joe’s to get better, cheaper, and more authentic ingredients; while at the same time participating in a worthwhile local economy.

The plan was to go to Kurowski’s Sausage Shop at Milwaukee and Kimball and the Chicago Food Corp at Kimball and Belmont. On the walk up there, we discovered an awesome Hispanic market, whose name I can’t recall. It was on Milwaukee between Kimball and Central Park and had amazing produce (normal sized, not huge) organic greens (!!!) and a wide selection of other goods. We picked up some pipian, a couple of delicious lemons, and some sardines which we’ll eventually use for savory fritters.
When we got to Kurowski’s, Gerard was impressed (or grossed out) by the vast selection of goods including sausages and many root vegetables. Among other things we got beets, sauerkraut, horseradish, my favorite Amish Butter, and a pound of Polish rye bread. I also bought two sausages which I am eager to try. Our bag was starting to get heavy, but at this point we had only spent about twenty dollars. This is fantastic seeing as when I go to Whole Foods, it’s depressing to find both my pocketbook and grocery bag lighter than I’d like.

After our adventure in Poland we walked over to Kimball and Belmont. On our way we discovered a mystical sandwich shop/ bar that apparently stays open until 4am. Some hot night in the summer, it might warrant a date post midnight, provided that said sandwich shop has air conditioning. We arrived at the Chicago Food mart with a mission- we were making curried squid over coconut rice for a late lunch (unfortunately, I did not have my camera that day). We got all the necessities for that culinary adventure (who knew that the butchers at the Chicago Food Mart spoke Spanish? Not me!) While there, I spotted two things I knew I needed to have: Kewpie Mayonnaise (which we will find our more about later- I know it’s been featured in a lot of popular food press for the past few months, but my curiosity has been piqued and I’m jumping on the bandwagon) and Persimmons.

Persimmons are that weird looking orange tomato-ish thing that you’ve probably seen a few times and wondered or worried about.

I get a lot of flack for growing up in the “land that time forgot,” ahem. But the food in Indiana is good. Persimmons became popular in Indiana for some reason. I do believe one of Indiana’s founding fathers had a penchant for all things Asian, specifically Japanese, because the state tree is a ginkgo and the state flower is a peony, go figure. Persimmons are also Japanese. I imagine his wife making persimmon pudding for the first time back in 1818, when Indiana was a young state. This is probably entirely false, but it sounds cool. Anyway, my friend’s mothers were not pioneer women, but they could make food that stuck to your ribs. My parents are not native Hoosiers. Seeing as my parents were foreigners in a strange land and their only daughter was really skinny, I was always fed by people who take skinniness as a personal affront, which most people in Indiana seem to.

Persimmons might be an acquired taste, but it is one worth getting. The fruit is sweet and when ripe the taste is not unlike that of a plum with a more drippy texture. On the package, persimmons are called “Nature’s Candy”. On another rocking Friday night with the most happening young woman in all of Chicagoland, I decided to make some persimmmon pudding in honor of my Hoosier roots, thorugh truth be told I was born a southern bell in Charlottesville, Virginia. Whatevs, Indiana is a state of mind.

I based my recipe on one I found in the “Joy of Cooking” except that I halved it and tweaked the ingredients.

I used:

1 cup persimmons, skin removed

2 eggs

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup cream

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and took the persimmons out of their skins

Then I mixed the ingredients

Then I put it in a casserole dish

Next I placed it in the oven

In 45 minutes I had a a delicious persimmon pudding!

It was pretty tasty, and everyone who had a piece confirmed it.

Next up, party, which I am getting ready for momentarily!

brunch

Ideas for the upcoming brunch include: 3 kinds of strada of course with spring ingredients, 2 kinds of baked french toast, a snap pea and radish salad, mimosas, bloody mary bar, massive amounts of coffee, secret ingredients, delicious treats from friends.

this afternoon i was reminded of a promise i made on tuesday evening to update my blog daily. no excuses. blog challenge 2008. (once a nerd, always a nerd)

brunch

i am having a massive brunch gathering this sunday. details to follow. watch the menu planning.

also

not going to divulge too much at the moment but i just have to let the world know that
this + http://logansquarefarmersmarket.org/+ this + this =

one hell of a happy ellen.

eating at home is cheaper

than eating at restaurants, and usually more tasty, if you play your cards right.

we started by making the dough on thursday night, using this recipe.

we took the dough out on saturday night. and formed it into flat pies.

i made the sauce using tomato paste, garlic, basil, olive oil, sugar, salt, and lots of hot peppers.

we sauteed frozen artichokes in balsamic vinegar and garlic.

then we sauteed the mushrooms in olive oil

gerard put some sauce on a pizza

i got a pizza stone, because i am serious about making pizza.

it turned out pretty great.

one of my more successful culinary experiments.

i asked mary if she would pay money for it, and she said… yes!

then we played cards after a brief field trip to a home gallery where i watched a cat version of star wars.

it was fun.

we are really competitive.

mary learned how to play rummy

gerard is a cardshark… during sharkweek.

i am pleased it is sweater season, btw.

you say you like snacks

yesterday, after an extended conversation with sarah about the menu of our upcoming french inspired dinner party/ dinner making party, we went to trader joes and bought snacks to eat in lieu of an actual dinner. this idea wasn’t wholly original as sarah had mentioned doing the same thing that very day, yesterday. nonetheless, the pictures look tasty.

gerard taped 30 Rock and The Office, so we ate savory treats and laughed.

i wish every night was snack night.