Gourmandettes’ Foodlog

Obviously, the best cookbooks are ones with lots of great pictures. I’ll pretty much only make a recipe if I can see what it looks like as a final product. My reason is that I’m inexperienced, so I like the added confidence that I really can make the dish if it just ends up looking like that. Easy peasy.

But what I can never quite get a handle on is that MY final product never looks like the picture. Maybe it’s my greenness, or maybe it’s false advertising.

Exhibit A: Pad Thai from Cookinglight Magazine

Tofu Pad Thai

Now, this looks easy enough. Just a conglomerate of veggies and tofu –for which I fully-planned on substituting chicken. No prob.

Original Recipe:

4 oz uncooked wide rice sticks (rice-flour noodles)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon red curry paste
3 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 cups chopped reduced-fat firm tofu (about 8 oz.)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Place noodles in a large bowl. Add boiling water to cover; let stand 10 minutes or until tender. Drain.

Combine vinegar and next 5 ingredients (vinegar through garlic) in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Sprinkle tofu with salt, red pepper, and black pepper. Add tofu to pan; saute 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan. Add onion, broccoli, and carrot to pan; saute 4 minutes or until tender. Remove from pan. Add egg to pan; stir-fry 20 seconds or until soft-scrambled, stirring constantly.

Return tofu and onion mixture to pan. Stir in noodles and vinegar mixture; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in juice, sprinkle with peanuts.

But then, I discovered I didn’t have rice noodles at home. Just whole wheat angel hair or spaghetti. Angel hair’s smaller, more like rice noodles, so in the pot they went.

I didn’t have cider vinegar to make the sauce, so I used rice vinegar instead.

I neither had tofu nor chicken. Vegetarian night it is!

I didn’t have broccoli or carrots, so I used the leftover veggies from a frozen bag medley of peas, lima beans, carrot squares, and broccoli. I also added a stalk or two of leftover bok choy, ‘cuz if I could put bok choy in everything, I would.

I had an egg, but since we’re going veggie, might as well be entirely healthy. I used a serving of egg beaters that equated 2 large eggs.

I neither used lime juice or peanuts; the first because I forgot, the latter because I don’t have any.

Instead of regular brown sugar, I used Splenda brown sugar because I have a bunch leftover from when I was on the South Beach Diet. You’re supposed to use less of the Splenda per tablespoon of brown sugar, but I used the full amount — because it worked really well in some brownies I’d once made, so why the hell not?

So, in the end, this is what MY version of the recipe looked like:

My Recipe:

4 oz. whole wheat angel hair pasta
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons Splenda brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon red curry paste
3 garlic cloves, minced
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup frozen veggie medley
1 cup bok choy
4 oz. egg beaters

Place noodles in a large pot of water. Bring to a boil until tender.

Combine vinegar and next 5 ingredients (vinegar through garlic) in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk, or in my case, a chopstick. [Use 2 tablespoons of Splenda brown sugar here, instead of the 3 mentioned above. Otherwise, it's too sweet. My bad.]

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onions, veggie medley, and bok choy to the pan. Saute 4 minutes or until tender. Make a hole in the center of the veggies, and pour in the egg beaters. Let sit until it stiffens slightly, then scramble with the stir-fry.

Stir in noodles and vinegar mixture. Cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and serve.

My version turned out two sweet, and a little watery. This could be because I used frozen veggies, but it was probably also due to the fact that whole wheat pasta does not soak up sauce as well as rice noodles. But it still tasted pretty darn good, and much better than the recipes I’ve tried before.

So the moral of the story?

I always improvise, so I should stop whining that my meals never look as pretty as the picture. On the other hand, improvising is the only way I learn things in the kitchen, and for that reason I’ll probably never get a picture-perfect meal at home.

One of my favorite memories from college is going to Rockridge and hanging out with Gourmandette T at a place called the Crepevine. There, they served some of the best salads I’ve ever eaten and a orange concoction made from a blend of carrot, orange, and other juices. They didn’t skimp on portions either- salads could easily feed two, or just one of me. The crepes weren’t bad either. This is my tribute to fun times at the Crepevine. I love Nutella on crepes and sometimes I spread Nutella and raspberry preserves all over them. It becomes more like a dessert with the Nutella and preserves, but sometimes I need some motivation to get me out of bed in the mornings and a sweet breakfast perks me right up. That and some coffee. This recipe comes from the Food Network’s Alton Brown. Sometimes I halve the recipe, but you can also layer prepared crepes between pieces of wax paper and store them in the freezer.

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

1 c. all-purpose flour

3 T. melted butter, cooled

3/4 c. milk

1/2 c. water (or you could use all milk)

Possible additions: 2-1/2 T. sugar (definitely do this if you want sweet crepes), 1 tsp. vanilla, 2 T. liquer to the batter (or to taste)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender, pulse 10 seconds (or whisk everything in a bowl). Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat a small non-stick pan on medium heat. Add butter to coat. Pour half of a 1/4 c. measuring cup with the batter in the pan, swirl. Cook about 30 seconds and flip. Cook another 10 seconds, remove from pan. Continue with rest. Enjoy!

The thing I remember most about going to Red Lobster is not the seafood, oddly enough, but the biscuits that the waitress put on the table as soon as we sat down. Normally, I would inhale two of them minimum before my meal arrived. Even though I don’t eat there anymore, I enjoy this biscuits. If this isn’t the same recipe that the restaurant uses, it’s pretty darn close. They come out nice and flaky and buttery.

Ingredients:

2-1/2 c. Bisquick baking mix

4 T. (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter

1 heaping c. grated cheddar cheese

3/4 c. cold whole milk

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Topping for biscuits:

2 T. butter, melted

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. dried parsley flakes (optional)

pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter or a large fork. You don’t want to mix too thoroughly. There should be small chunks of butter in there that are about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk and 1/4 tsp. garlic powder. Mix by hand until combined, but don’t over mix.

Drop approximately 1/4 c. portions of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet using an ice cream scoop or measuring cup. Bake 15 to 17 minutes, or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

When you take the biscuits out of the oven, melt the 2 T. of butter (for topping) in a small bowl in the microwave. Stir in 1/2 tsp. garlic powder and the dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits.

This recipe comes from Sara Moulton’s cookbook Sara Moulton Cooks at Home.  It’s actually the topping for a turkey burger recipes, but I loved the salsa so much on it’s own that I usually just make the salsa.  Serve with chips.  You don’t have to strain the cherry tomatoes- my mom doesn’t and objects when I do whenever I make it for her.

Ingredients:

12 cherry tomatoes, finely chopped

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 c. corn kernels (cooked fresh, thawed frozen, or, my preference, raw kernels)

1 T. lime juice

1 garlic clove, minced

1 T. chopped fresh cilantro (still good if you don’t have any)

2 tsp. olive oil

Additional salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:

Toss tomatoes with salt and drain in a colander for 15 minutes.

Combine tomatoes, corn, lime juice, garlic, cilantro, and olive oil in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Toss well and enjoy!

This recipe came from Ruth Reichl’s book Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise.  It’s a good read with moments of sadness and humor.  If I don’t have shrimp, I still make it and really like it.  When you pour the fish sauce mixture in the pan, it looks like a lot of liquid, but the noodles quickly absorb it.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. very thin rice noodles (but I usually use thicker ones because that’s what I like for some reason)

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. fish sauce

1/4 c. white vinegar or unseasoned rice vinegar

2 T. peanut oil (I use canola if I don’t have peanut, which can be expensive)

1/2 lb. medium shrimp, shelled (optional)

2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed

1/2 lb. ground pork

4 scallions, sliced into 1/2-inch lengths

2 eggs

1 tsp. dried, crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 c. lime juice (about two limes)

1/2 c. peanuts, chopped finely or ground

Sriracha chili sauce and lime slices for serving

Directions:

Soak noodles in hot water to cover for 20 minutes, until soft; then drain and set aside.

Mix the sugar, fish sauce, and vinegar together; set aside.

Heat oil in a wok or skillet until very hot, and saute shrimp until they change color, about 1 minute. Remove and set aside.

Add garlic to wok, and as soon as it starts to color and get fragrant, add pork and half of scallions. Saute until the pork just loses its redness; then add noodles and mix quickly. Add the fish sauce mixture, reduce heat to medium, and cook until noodles have absorbed all the liquid, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Move noodles to one side of the pan and break 1 egg into wok, breaking the yolk. Tilt wok so you get the thinnest sheet of egg possible, and scramble until just set. Mix into noodles. Repeat process with second egg. Add the shrimp, remaining scallions, and the red pepper flakes, and mix to combine. Add the lime juice and cook about 1 minute.

Pour into dish, sprinkle with peanuts, and add chili sauce to taste. Serve with lime wedges for drizzling.

I got this recipe out of Cooking Light Magazine.  I think it makes a really good side to grilled chicken, but it would probably go well with tacos or burritos (what I’m going to try next).  While the rice is cooking, you can prep the rest of the ingredients and cook the rest of the meal.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 c. chopped, peeled mango

1 c. thinly sliced green onions

1/2 c. cooked wild or brown rice (or more)

3 T. finely chopped cilantro

2 T. salsa (fresh, regular, or roasted tomatillo)

2 T. lime juice

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 tsp. salt (or less)

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 - 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss. Enjoy!

I got this recipe from Gourmet magazine, with a couple changes to make it, if not healthy, at least not PURE fat. Of course you can use the fatty version too for extra deliciousness, but either way my boyfriend –who hates sweets– finds them irresistible.

INGREDIENTS:

12 tablespoons of Smart Balance margarine (or 1.5 sticks unsalted butter)
1/2 cup reduced-fat peanut butter (try Smart Balance. It’s all natural, so it’s not great to eat on a sandwich or out of the jar, but it’s good in baking because it gets the flavor right and because there’s so much sugar in the other ingredients, you don’t notice it’s all natural)
4 oz. chocolate chips
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 cup whole-wheat flour (of course, all-purpose is fine)
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F with rack in the middle.

Spray olive oil cooking spray (or butter) on a 13×9″ baking dish. Sprinkle flour over the baking dish (this makes it extra nonsticky and gives it a cakey feel).

Melt margarine, peanut butter and chocolate in a heavy 3qt saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth.

Remove from heat and cool.

Whisk in brown sugar and vanilla.

Whisk in eggs one at a time.

Whisk together flour and salt then whisk this into the chocolate mixture.

Spread all of this into the pan. Bake 30 minutes or until pick inserted comes out with crumbs. Cool completely before eating.

My good friend got me Kyllie Kwong’s “Simple Chinese Cooking” cookbook for my birthday and I was so (almost) inordinately excited to see that one of my favorite recipes from when I was a kid is in it — Lemon Chicken. (Food memories are so wonderful!) Fond memories litter my childhood of going with my dad to the Golden Wok where everyone knew my dad could speak Chinese and I, little introverted Americanized daughter, could barely speak English to strangers. I would always always order the lemon chicken, which was so moist and just slightly crispy in its thin breading, with an excellent rich lemon sauce; not bitter, but almost BBQy (and of course extra almond cookies were thrown in the box, mm).

Anyway, I made this dish for my birthday and it was a huge success. And if I was able to make it, it’s proof enough that it’s easy.

(SERVES 4)

INGREDIENTS:

For Breading:
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
1 lb. chicken, cut into 1″ pieces
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons shao hsing wine (or dry sherry)
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
Vegetable oil for deep-frying

For Sauce:
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1/3 cup shao hsing wine (or dry sherry)
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
7 strips fresh lemon zest
1 small lemon, finely sliced
2 tablespoons lemon juice

1) Blend 2 tablespoons cornstarch with water in a medium-sized bowl until dissolved. Add chicken, egg yolks, wine/sherry and salt and mix well. Cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

2) Place stock, 1/3 cup wine/sherry, oyster sauce (tamari soy sauce is an okay substitute), hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt and lemon zest in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently for about 10 minutes or until slightly reduced. Stir in sliced lemon and simmer for another 5 minutes — if you cook longer it could turn bitter.

3) Combine plain flour and 1/3 cup cornstarch, add to the marinated chicken and mix well. Heat oil in a hot wok until surface seems to shimmer slightly. (There should be enough oil to just cover the chicken pieces.) Deep-fry half the chicken over high heat for 1 minute, then reduce heat to medium and fry for 1 minute, or until chicken is almost cooked through.

4) Remove chicken with slotted spoon and drain on plated paper towels. Repeat with remaining chicken.

5) Finally, return all the chicken to the hot oil and deep-fry for 1 minute or until lightly browned, crispy and just cooked through. Be careful not to overcook the chicken as they will become dry. But also don’t be afraid to go over the 1 minute increments here if the chicken looks undone. Drain well on paper towels before serving.

6) Gently reheat lemon sauce, stir in lemon juice and remove from heat.

Now, I made steamed white rice to go with this. Obviously, steamed brown rice is more healthy and highly recommended for this dish. Unfortunately, perhaps because I was forced to use tamari soy sauce instead of oyster sauce, which I ran out of, the sauce was a bit too watery for my taste. So, when you eat this together and if you’d like a bit more flavor, try adding some hoisin sauce to your rice and/or some soy sauce. This will liven up the rice and, in my estimation, add to the flavor of the dish as a whole. But, the chicken has a wonderful flavor and texture of its own, so don’t try to mask it with sauce. In fact, try it first without any extra flavoring, it may just be enough. (I’m just weird and saucy.)

There’s this place in Cambridge, too far away for me to get to when I crave Chinese, but they make the best dumplings I have ever tasted in my life. Instead of the thin noodle wrappers, they’re made of a plump thick dough and steamed –not fried– to perfection.

Anyway, dumplings might be in my top ten favorite foods. Handheld, they come in perfect portions, and always with a tastilicious sauce for dipping. So, I thought I’d try and make some myself instead of waiting an hour for the delivery guy to remember where my house is.

Now, I have an irrational fear of dough. While there are some recipes out there for making fairly easy dumpling dough. Ming Tsai has a good one for those of you unafraid of dough-failure (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_4997,00.html). But I turned to Nasoya.

These guys are already coated lightly in cornstarch, so they don’t stick together or dry up while you’re prepping. Make sure to keep them in the bag while you make your other dumplings.

Now, I used the following ingredients, but you can feel free to replace some of the veggies with your own favorites, so long as you keep them in the same quantity, you should be fine.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 pound lean ground turkey — *You can use any ground meet you like, even shrimp if you finely chop it or pulse it in the food processor. I used lean turkey, but the more fat in the meat the juicier they’ll be, so if you’re skinny, take advantage of it by getting fatter meat. Also, traditionally, dumplings are made with either ground pork or chicken. I just had turkey on hand.
3/4 cup finely chopped bok choy (or green cabbage)
1/3 cup finely chopped green onion — *This adds a nice bite and Chinese flavor to the dumplings, so I probably wouldn’t replace this with another veggie
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper — *A good replacement here would be carrots or water chestnuts
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce — *Again, for more, richer flavor, try tamari soy sauce or full sodium
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of Tabasco
24 Nasoya wonton wrappers (or equivalent in homemade dough)
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon sesame or peanut oil
A small bowl of water

TO PREPARE:

Combine all the ingredients through Tabasco sauce in a bowl until well mixed.

Using one wonton wrapper at a time (keep the rest in the package as you make the others), plop about a teaspoon and a half of the turkey mixture in the middle of the wrapper. Too much more than this will break the wrapper.

Dip your finger into the small bowl of water and wet all 4 edges of the wrapper. Bring up two opposite corners of the wrapper and pinch together. The water serves as glue, so if it’s wet enough, it will stick and stay. Now, bring the other two opposite corners together so that all four corners meet in the middle. Pinch them together forming a point. Now, pinch the corners to seal.

Set the finished dumplings aside on a plate or baking sheet. If you notice them sticking to the plate or baking sheet, sprinkle it with cornstarch. The Nasoya wrappers are already dusted with cornstarch, so they should be fine.

Once you’re finished, heat the sesame or peanut oil, whichever you’re using, in a large skillet on medium-high heat until hot. Place the dumplings in the skillet. You’ll probably fit about 12. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. Slowly add 1/2 cup of chicken broth and cover and cook for 4 minutes. Uncover and cook 3 minutes or until the broth evaporates. Repeat with remaining dumplings.

SERVING SAUCE:

5 tablespoons mirin

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce (it might be too salty if you use anything else)

1/4 cup rice vinegar

3 tablespoons chopped green onions

1 teaspoon chili paste with garlic (find this in the Chinese food section of the market)

Mix all ingredients together.

For some reason, every time I go to the Kendall Square theater near MIT, it’s in bad weather. Either there’s a blizzard and my friend’s eyebrows freeze like some evil Jack Frost sprite, or a water main breaks and we’re drenched by the time we trudge courageously to the theater just to find it closed, or in the case of last Wednesday, it’s raining in the middle of a week that’s book-ended by beautiful summer weather.

So, once again, after the movie I was looking for some kind of happy ending. Luckily, we found Emma’s, a pizza parlor (I’ll respectfully refrain from calling it a “pizza joint” as I usually would), small and nondescript, as most good places are.

The small dining room is all wood and fresh and clean with light pastel colors making it a very pleasant place to be, especially when it’s spitting outside. The menu is simple, few thrills and words that are hard to understand, but full of flavors and mouthwatering combinations.

My boyfriend had the Chicken Panchelle sandwich. Simple, it came with roasted tomatoes and bacon and mayo. The basics. It arrived on a small appetizer-sized plate with a pile of gherkins. Cute, but not as satisfying, probably, as chips or fries. Still, he said he tasted something that reminded him of curry. Basil perhaps? In any case, it packed a surprising punch of flavor for such an ordinary-looking sandwich.

Because the wall’s littered with awards for their pizza, I decided to jump in in spite of the price: $9.00 for the crust and the sauce (of which they have 3 varieties, Regular, Rosemary or Garlic-Olive Oil), and then $1.25 for each additional topping. Still, the pizza’s large enough for two meals, so it was worth the price in the end. (Side note: While pizza “joints” make great leftovers, Emma’s pizza wasn’t terribly delicious on second reheating.)

I ended up with a grilled chicken, sauteed mushroom, sundried tomato, and smoked mozzarella pizza. Their array of base cheeses are what really make them special, offering everything from goat cheese to Gorgonzola. Unlike traditional pizzas, the cheese is layered on top of all the goodies, and since I ordered smoked mozzarella it really allowed for the flavor of the cheese to come through rather than be hidden or overwhelmed by the toppings.

I couldn’t help but say a few times how good the pizza was as I was eating it, even better when I washed it down with their homemade Arnold Palmers with unlimited refills.

Undoubtedly, Emma’s was the among the top three pizzas I have ever had. Even if you have to do the foul-weather trudging, make it there. It’s worth the suffering.

THE PLACE: ****
THE FOOD: *****
THE PEOPLE: ***
OVERALL: ****

TO GET THERE: Take the Red Line to Alewife. Get off at Kendall. It takes some walking from here, and every time I prepare myself to get lost, but as long as you pass the Railroad tracks, you’re fine. There are tour guides hanging around right outside the subways, ask them for street names. Seriously, it’s always a crap shoot whether I’ll find One Kendall Square or get lost.