So lately I've begun to think about what I'll need when I move out of my mother's (frankly well-stocked) house, considering all the baking I've been doing. I mean, I definitely don't cook the way I cooked when I was in college. So I decided to put together a little pantry list of essentials.

Dry Goods:

Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Coffee
Cornmeal
Cornstarch
Cream of Wheat
Dry Cereals
Dry Milk Powder
Flour (all-purpose, wheat, gluten-free)
Grits
Honey
Oatmeal/Rolled Oats
Pasta (spaghetti, fettuccini, elbows, penne, rigatoni, shells, twists, lasagna, wide egg noodles, etc...)
Pancake Mix
Peanut Butter
Peanuts, Other Nuts & Seeds (almonds, pecans, walnuts, soy nuts, sunflower seeds, etc...)
Popcorn
Pudding and Jello Mixes
Ramen Noodles
Rice (White and Brown)
Sugar (Baker's, Powdered, Brown)
Tea

Additional Baking Supplies:

Chocolate Chips
Condensed Milk
Evaporated Milk
Light Corn Syrup
Vanilla Extract
Yeast Packets (store in fridge)
Decorative Sugar and Sprinkles
Food Coloring

Spices:

Basil
Bay Leaves
Better Than Bouillon (chicken and beef)
Chili Powder
Cinnamon
Cloves
Cumin
Curry Powder
Garlic
Ginger
Nutmeg
Onion Powder
Oregano
Paprika
Parsley
Pepper (coarse ground)
Rosemary
Sage
Salt (Morton® iodized and sea salt)
Thyme

Extras:

Matcha (green tea) Powder
Poppy Seeds

Canned Goods:

Chicken Broth
Fruit (sliced peaches, pears, pineapple)
Soups (chicken noodle, tomato, cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, etc...)
Tomatoes (diced, crushed)
Tomato Paste
Tomato Sauce
Tuna (white albacore), or Chicken
Vegetables (baked beans, green beans, corn, peas, sliced mushrooms, etc...)

Extras:

Crab Meat
Spaghetti Sauce

Condiments & Misc.:

Applesauce
Barbecue Sauce
Canola Oil
Cooking Spray
Jelly (grape, raspberry, strawberry preserves, etc...)
Ketchup
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Olive Oil
Pancake Syrup
Pickles
Salad Dressing
Soy Sauce
Vegetable Shortening
Vinegar
Worcestershire Sauce

Extras:

Bottled Water (for emergencies)
Mini-marshmallows
Olives (black or green)
Teriyaki Sauce
Ponzu Sauce
Rice Vinegar

Bread: (as needed)

Bagels
English Muffins
Hotdog or Hamburger Buns
Graham Crackers
Multi-Grain Bread
Pretzels
Ritz® Crackers
Sourdough
Tortillas

Perishable Items: (as needed)

Dairy (milk, eggs, real butter, margarine, cheese, sour cream, Cool Whip®, ice cream, yogurt, craime fraiche etc...)
Fresh Fruit (apples, bananas, berries, oranges, grapes, melons, etc...)
Fresh Vegetables(asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, corn on the cob, green peppers, mushrooms, etc...)
Garlic
Meat, Fish & Poultry
Onions (yellow, sweet or red)
Potatoes (white, small red, yellow/gold or sweet)
Salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, etc...)


Can you think of anything I've forgotten?

COCONUT-GINGER SPICED CARROT SOUP

5 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 leek, chopped (dark green parts removed)
1 medium potato, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 inches ginger root, finely minced (about 2 tbsp)
1 can coconut milk (for a dairy version, substitute half and half or whipping cream)
4 cups stock or water
1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. sweet paprika
1 tsp. turmeric
salt and pepper, to taste

Vegan/non-dairy and dairy options are indicated in the following recipe.

Heat vegetable oil in a medium-sized pot. Add onions, sauté about 2 minutes. Add leeks and garlic; sauté in pot for about 4-5 minutes until softened, but not browned.

Add carrots; stir vegetable mixture until carrots begin to carmelize a bit, about 6 more minutes (watch to prevent over-cooking).

Add potato, ginger, stock, and coconut milk (note- if using dairy cream, wait until soup is fully cooked, then add cream and heat to serving temperature); allow mixture to come to a boil for about 5 minutes; reduce heat and add spices (turmeric, paprika, salt, pepper).

Cover and simmer on low until potatoes are tender, about 20-25 minutes. Puree soup in batches in the blender, or use a hand-held blending appliance to obtain a smooth, velvety textured soup.

In continuation of my carrot pulp recipes... Not my picture, unfortunately, but it looked just as picturesque.



Avocado Carrot Quiche

I used the following three ingredients in place of 1 cup of sour cream:
8 oz Mascarpone Cheese
Half a cup (or so) Reduced Fat Milk
Half a cup (or so) Alfredo Sauce

3 eggs, beaten
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup carrot pulp
Approx. 1/2 tsp Granulated (or fresh) Garlic
Approx. 1/2 tsp Granulated (or fresh) Onion
Dash of salt and black pepper to taste
2 ripe avocados, sliced about 1/4-inch thick
1 (9-inch) deep pie shell

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix mascarpone cheese, eggs, and cheddar. Stir in garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Lay avocados on bottom of pie shell. There should be just enough slices to cover the bottom. Pour cheese mixture over avocado slices and spread out evenly. Bake until set, golden, and puffy, about 40 to 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

You'll have some left over since the recipe I modified originally was for 2 quiche.


Original Recipe Here:

http://www.recipegoldmine.com/piequiche/avocado-quiche.html

After an evening making carrot juice in my brand spankin' new Jack LaLane Power Juicer I had a lot of pulp left over, so I looked up this recipe on AllRecipes.com and it was AMAZING. I added the cream cheese icing, but it honestly didn't need it. It was that good. And without the icing, it doesn't have any refined sugar or butter in it. Might also taste yummy with some nuts or raisins in it.



CARROT PULP BREAD

Ingredients:

2/3 cup of vegetable oil
3/4 cup of honey
2 eggs
1-1 /2 cups of carrot pulp
1-1 /2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of sea salt (optional)

Mix the oil and honey together as well as you can, then add the eggs and mix again. Stir in the carrot pulp. Now add the remaining ingredients and mix well ... pour the resulting concoction into a greased loaf pan (measuring approximately 8-1/2" X 4-1/2" X 2-5/8") ... and bake in a pre-heated 350°F oven for 60 to 65 minutes.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Hello all--I just posted a fun food meme on my other blog, here. I would love your take on the survey...

Many years ago (I believe I was just barely in junior high), my family decided to try a new-ish local restaurant called Pearl Alley Bistro. This restaurant is just generally awesome: Oysters Rockefeller and a variety of vegetable purees (much tastier than that wording suggests) for appetizers; your own Mongolian barbeque setup, comeplete with flavored oils and a hot rock to cook your own food. They also offer a variety of Italian soda flavors, and when we first went, we all had blackberry sodas, which were incredibly good; they had the perfumy aftertaste of real blackberries. My mom asked the bartender what kind of syrup he uses, and he said, "Monin". A little later, while we were on a family trip to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, we came across some bottles of Monin in a candy shop and quickly purchased them.

Anyway, I really enjoy blackberry Italian sodas as a special occasion drink, or hostess gift. I also really like steamed milk with Amaretto/Almond syrup as another coffee alternative, and Guava syrup (if you can find it) is pretty awesome as well. You can check out Monin flavored syrups here.

Neapolitan Pancakes





Add a teaspoon or two of vanilla extract and some chopped up hershey bars to your normal pancake batter, then cook and top with pureed strawberries and honey!!! MMmmmmyum.

Okay, so this isn't really a recipe, but it was SO tasty.



I used Annie's White cheddar Mac n' Cheese, and then stir-fried white mushrooms and some frozen edamame (just the pea, not the pod) in a little bit of olive oil and garlic. Mmmmm yummy.


[You can't really see the mushrooms, but trust me, they're there.]

My partner's mum sent me this recipe & was asking if I tried it yet, so this week we finally tried it out. Newly dubbed "Bisque & Biscuit" night....(Well, *I* thought it was funny--)

This isn't a good photo but everything was getting cold so ....



( Recipe underneath... )

I know that French Onion Soup is usually made with beef stock (tragic!) but the version in our vegetarian cookbook was actually quite yummy. Cooking time is long, but pretty low-key - I used the time to read a bit.



French Onion Soup

Prep time: 20 minutes
Total cooking time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Serves: 4-6 (It says this, but in reality it fed one me, one hungry boy, with enough for one lunch --)

( ... )

Thrifty tip - Instead of buying 'liquid' stock, I tend to buy the powder that you mix with hot water & then add - it ends up being a lot cheaper. & we make soup often enough that buying it in those cartons would really start to add up.

Enjoy!

Today at USC's on-campus fancy restaurant, I had a sandwich that consisted of heirloom tomatoes, avocado, herb aioli (what is aioli anyway?)... and that was about it. And it was good.

I'm planning on making this for myself by getting some sort of nice bread, probably focaccia, spreading either olive oil and basalmic vinegarette on it or olive oil mayonnaise and honey mustard, and adding sliced heirloom tomatoes and avocado with a sprinkling of basil and salt and pepper. I think this sandwich would be even more awesome with a little grill action.

More on aioli: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/eat/recipes/herb_aioli.html

***

[ Makes 25-30 cookies ]

14 ounce bag of sweetened, shredded coconut
2/3 cup sugar
6 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
4 egg whites
1 tsp pure almond extract (I used vanilla & they were still yummy)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, place coconut, sugar, flour, and salt. Mix by hand until well blended.

In a small bowl, combine egg whites and almond extract. Stir the egg-almond mixture into the coconut mixture until it becomes thick and sticky.

To form cookies, use a tablespoon (coated with cooking spray) to scoop up the cookie mixture and round it out with the palm of your hand. Slide the cookie off the spoon on to the parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake at 325 degrees F. for 20-25 minutes, until the tops become light golden brown. They should be crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. Remove from tray and let them cool on a rack for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate by placing 6 ounces of chocolate of your choice in a double boiler. If you don't have a double-boiler, like me, then fill a small, deep pan with water and bring to a low boil. Place a glass Pyrex bowl over the simmering water, but not touching the water. Add the chips to the bowl. As soon as the chocolate begins to melt, remove the pan from the heat and stir the chocolate with a spoon until it becomes smooth and silky.

Dip one half of the cookie in the melted chocolate, letting excess drip back into the bowl. Place on a rack and allow to cool completely before serving.

**

All right, well, here's the thing.

I have a ton of pictures. Two desserts and one dinner.

Unfortunately for you, I had waaaaay more. Until my new laptop's memory card reader, possibly with Vista as an accomplice, wiped (or borked) my SD card. SUCKS.

Luckily, my camera can hold 20 pictures all alone.

So you still get some food pr0n.

( Commence Food pr0n! )

The first is chocolate raspberry blondies. Fucking good, even if I fucked up the top layer. Didn't fuck up the taste!

The second is good, old fashioned, down-home dinner: EASTERN EUROPEAN STYYYYYLE. This is sauerkraut that is cooked with sauteed apples, caraway seeds and yummy ass veggie bratwurst. Also, roasted rosemary potatoes. HELLS YES, BITCHES!

Finally, my reward to myself for making it through the last two weeks: FUNFETTI cupcakes!
Honestly, you didn't think things could get better after the last two, but you were wrong!

Everything was delicious, awesome, goodtimes and 100% cruelty free.

THE END

I have discovered my new favorite food.

Handmade corn tortilla pocket filled with queso and beans. So simple, and yet SOOOO delicious and so much better than a quesadilla.

Also, in the process of looking up the picture to show you guys, I found this grammatically amusing entry on Wikipedia:

"In spite of its low cost in the market, pupusas represents an important element in the economy of El Salvador. It must consider that next to pupusas, exports their ingredients by individual; for the case, in 2005 it was only exported to the United States $604.4 in loroco."

I am now going to use 'for the case' in everyday speech and drive my grammar-stickler actors crazy. ;)

My stage manager on the last show had a tin of these cookies from her grandmother and WOW was I impressed. So much so that I asked her if she could send me the recipe. I then received this, which I can only assume was sent directly from gramma:

"Im sending you the the D"lia receipe for the struvels. Its very easy just time consuming. You need one and a half dz egg yolks one & 3/4 cup sugar 1 stick of margerine 1 tsp anise extract grindw of lemon peel cream all of the above. set aside 6 cups of flour make a well and slowly pour cream incred. and slowly knead dough until all the flour is mixed with cream incred. it will feel a little tacky refrig about 1 hr. then start to roll into long strips like spagetti and cut them the size of lg peas. deep fry into veg oil until golden brown. let cool and melt honey and pour over struevels/ after the frying place a brown paper bag into bowl or pot and let the cookies drain all the oil off before pouring the honey."

I've done my best to decipher it below, but any help you guys might have would be great.

Struvoli



1 1/2 dozen egg yolks
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 stick of margarine
1 teaspoon anise extract
lemon zest (?)
[cream all of the above]
6 cups of flour
vegetable oil
sprinkles!

Make a well in the flour and slowly pour in creamed mixture. Knead slowly until incorporated (it will feel a little tacky). Refrigerate about 1 hour. Roll into long strips like spaghetti and cut them the size of large peas. Deep fry in a pan of vegetable oil; let cool. Place brown paper bag in bowl or pot and drain oil off of cookies. Meanwhile, melt honey in a seperate bowl or pot, then take struvols out of bag and place in plastic baggie - pour honey over cookies. Add sprinkles!

My mum has been making this recipe since I was little. & we had some overly ripe bananas earlier this week, so I decided to make some banana bread.



BEST EVER BANANA BREAD (No, really - that's what the name is...)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease and flour a glass 9x5 loaf pan.
Combine all ingredients and bake about 1 ½ hours.
Check every 20 minutes or so as the top may brown and you need to cover it with foil.

2 eggs
1 ½ cups sugar I usually use about one cup
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup plus 1 Tblsp. buttermilk (you can put 2 tsp. vinegar in regular milk and let it sit for 4 minutes instead of using buttermilk) I've used soy milk + vinegar with success as well
1 tsp. vanilla
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 ¾ cup unsifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped

I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this, but I tried adding applesauce to my normal fried chicken recipe and it was A-MA-ZING. Don't have a picture, but basically it tasted like slightly sweet fried chicken.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts (with or without bone)
Individual lunch-type container Mott's Cinnamon applesauce
3 eggs (can be omitted, but it makes it tastier)
Fine breadcrumbs (enough to coat chicken twice)
Olive Oil
One tart red apple

Tools:
TONGS
Frying pan
Two medium mixing bowls (shallow one for breadcrumbs)

Prep: Get two medium sized bowls. In the first, combine beaten eggs and apple sauce until well mixed. In the second place breadcrumbs. Get medium sized baking pan and line with tinfoil, then thin apple slices.

Heat Olive oil in frying pan. Meanwhile, dip chicken first in eggs/applesauce mix, then breadcrumbs. Repeat, then place in pan and increase heat to high. Cook 5-10 minutes, flipping when necessary. Remove from heat and transfer chicken to baking pan. Cover with drippings from frying pan. Cover with tinfoil. Cook in oven for 20 minuters at 350 degrees. Serve!

We had ours with salad with tomatoes and scalloped potatos (store-bought... I'm so ashamed!)

I'm beginning to think applesauce is the best thing ever. Anybody else have any good applesauce-related recipes? I know at least one of you does...

I was craving biscuits this morning, so I made some. Vegan, of course.

( Delicioso )

A little flat. I may have rolled them out too thin. I ate them with strawberry jam. It was wonderful!

I haven't celebrated American Thanksgiving for several years now (aww...) & as a result, haven't had any of my favorite home-cooked Thanksgiving dishes for ages. I had a craving this year for one dish in particular: Sweet Potato Casserole. When I was little, I hated anything called a 'casserole'. Except for this dish. Mhm.



( Recipe under cut )

The delicious-ness came at a price though, I burnt myself on the oven (even though I was wearing oven mitts). Don't worry, no photos of that. I found myself with an overflow of sweet potatoes, so I just added the extra too & it turned out just fine. I want to try it with coconut milk (as not to hurt my tummy) & less sugar to see if it works out next time.

Oh, & don't get in an argument with your supermarket produce guy when he tries to tell you that yams & sweet potatoes are not only the same thing, but that yams are superior....psh. They're not the same thing!!