The Home Cook

Since adopting Samantha, I’ve been too wiped to pick up a cookbook or pot. Not only is taking care of a three-month-old puppy a lot of work, but just look at that face—who can resist? I want to spend all my time with her!

But the other day, a friend of mine came into my office to eat lunch and in the spirit of New Year’s Resolutions yet to be broken, she had brought leftovers from what she cooked the night before. As she opened up her snap-n-lock, I couldn’t help but notice how much more appetizing her lunch looked than my soup from the deli downstairs that had cost me far more than it was worth. She said she got the recipe for her lunch—Pasta with Chard and Chickpeas—from a blog called FatFree Vegan Kitchen.

Now because Mr. Man (that’s my boyfriend) is totally obsessed with eating healthy and as many plants as possible (which I see the merit in), I immediately started browsing through pages of recipes on FFVK and immediately found several recipes I wanted to try just on the first page. Pot Pie? Creamy Eggplant Casserole? Um, yum.

I decided to start with the same recipe my friend had successfully attempted, Pasta with Chard and Chickpeas. I won’t list all the directions — for that, you should go to the original source, but here are some pics from my first FatFree Vegan Kitchen experience (thx for the great recipe, SusanV)!

Sam kept me company in the kitchen of course : )

I started out with rinsing the chickpeas and getting rid of the skin (which you can do by rinsing them under cold water, grabbing a few at a time and rubbing them gently in your hands until the skin comes off). A little time-consuming, but if you have the time, I think they taste a little better sans skin.

Then I minced up about 10 cloves of garlic (a lot, I know, but it’s good)!

Thinly sliced up some onions …

Rinsed and chopped up some red swiss chard (which I would’ve added more of, I just grabbed a bad bunch at the grocery store)

Cleaning mushrooms is on my list of all-time least favorite things to do in the kitchen (second to washing dishes), but I cleaned some baby portabello mushrooms a la a wet paper towel (advice on how to clean mushrooms more efficiently would be appreciated!) and sliced them up.

Cooked up some whole-wheat fusilli

Sauteed up the onions, garlic and tomato paste

Added chickpeas to the mixture

Added some baby portabellos

Added the whole-wheat pasta and chard to the mixture

The requisite close-up

Plated it and devoured (tip: my bud who intro’d me to the recipe suggested grating some Parm or Pecorino on top — which of course, is not vegan, but delish).

Eager to try more FFVK recipes soon!

Tumblrs, meet Samantha, the newest member of my family. Have to find the best puppy food for her. Suggestions, anyone? E-mail me at thehcook at gmail dot com.

thedeadline:

Peeking inside the downstairs dining room at Marea.

have been dying to try marea …

Since yesterday went so well, my boyfriend and I decided to go on an even smaller food tour today—a quick trip to Murray’s Bagels, my favorite bagel shop in NYC. That’s right, H&H, I said it (I’m not saying H&H isn’t great, my boyfriend just gave me shit for giving H&H shit, just saying Murray’s is my fave, but many consider H&H the best in the city).

HE decided to get a LEO (that’s Lox, Eggs & Onions for you non-New Yorkers) on a whole wheat bagel, untoasted (Murray’s doesn’t believe in toasting bagels).

I got lox, cream cheese and red onions on my favorite bagel, a whole wheat everything scooped out.

My favorite all-time combo (until I find a better one) is whole wheat everything scooped out with sun-dried tomato cream cheese.

Got some hot peppermint tea to go with it …

After the trip to Murray’s and a quick stop by the Humane Society of NY (we’re considering adopting a dog), we hit up Whole Foods to buy ingredients for dinner tonight.  I decided to make Guacamole, Black Bean soup and Carnitas (basically, pulled pork).

Since I had never made Carnitas or Black Bean Soup before, I e-mailed myself the ingredients from the Williams Sonoma recipe the night before (the Carnitas are from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Slow Cooking). I got the Black Bean soup recipe from Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen. Armed with the list of ingredients in an e-mail on my iPhone, I headed to Whole Foods.  As I walked downstairs to where all the produce is located, my boyfriend decides to suddenly walk ahead of me as I’m calling out to him to grab a few cans of black beans (he doesn’t hear me, keeps on walking).  In the process, I apparently, accidentally left my finger on my e-mail list too long (or something) and deleted the e-mail with my list of ingredients for dinner. But wait—I can still access it via the deleted e-mails or sent e-mails folders, right? WRONG. My boyfriend and I took turns heading upstairs where there was a cell phone signal and both of us couldn’t find this seemingly mythical e-mail with THE list.

Long story short, I ended up winging it at Whole Foods and thus—my pork adventure began. I walked up to the meat counter and scanned the pork choices. I vaguely remember the Williams Sonoma cookbook calling for some kind of pork roast, but couldn’t remember which cut. I look up at the guy at the counter and the following was our conversation (a word of caution before proceeding: this is long and painful):

Nice WF Meat Guy:  How can I help you?

Me:  I need 3 lbs of the pork boneless center cut roast.

Nice WF Meat Guy:  Sure.

Me:  Actually, I’m making pulled pork, is that the best cut of meat to use?

Nice WF Meat Guy:  Mm, we usually suggest the pork shoulder roast, it has more fat and will be more tender.

Me:  Oh, ok. I’ll take that then, I guess. 3 lbs, boneless?

Nice WF Meat Guy:  (Checks with fellow Nice WF Meat Guy to see if they have boneless pork shoulder roast in the back).  Sure, just have to get it and cut it, be right back.

Me:  Ok. (Turns to the boyfriend and starts first round of second guessing). I don’t know, maybe I should get the center roast? I don’t remember the recipe saying anything about a shoulder roast. I wish I had my damn list.

Boyfriend:  (Shrugs)

Me:  Ugh, I can’t remember. (Turns back to meat counter where a different Nice WF Meat Guy is staring at my confused face). Sir, can you tell that other guy not to get the shoulder roast? I think I’m going to go with the center roast.

Other Nice WF Meat Guy:  (Yells at a colleague who gets first Nice WF Meat Guy to come back). Sure, I’ll get you the center roast. How many pounds?

Me:  3.

Original Nice WF Meat Guy:  Are you sure you don’t want the shoulder?

Me:  Yeah, I think I’m going with the center. Why, is it going to be dry?

Nice WF Meat Guy:  I don’t know, I’ve never seen anyone cook pulled pork with the center cut though. Let me know how it goes.

Me:  Well, if I cook it a long time, it shouldn’t make too big a difference, right? (Obviously seeking affirmation).

Nice WF Meat Guy:  (Shrugs) I don’t know. Let me know how it goes.

Me:  (Now super unsure of self). Um, ok.

Other Nice WF Meat Guy:  (Hands 3 lbs of center cut to me).

Me:  Thanks. (Turns to boyfriend with worried look). Do you think I got the wrong cut?

Boyfriend:  (Checks price tag of 3 lbs of center cut). That’s a lot of meat, we’re never going to finish it. You should tell him to cut it down to 2 lbs.

Me:  Really? I feel bad, don’t want to trouble them again.

Boyfriend:  Just do it.

Me:  (Feeling a little wary of the price tag as well). Ok. (Turns back to Original Nice WF Meat Guy).  Excuse me, so sorry, do you mind cutting this down to 2 lbs.? I think 3 is too much after all.

Nice WF Meat Guy:  Sure. (Cuts it, hands it back). Anything else?

Me:  Nope, thank you.

Me & Boyfriend:  (Walks over to ground meats section and starts to debate about whether the center cut was the right choice).

Me:  I’m worried, I don’t want to spend the money and then have the meat turn out all tough. That’s just money down the drain, plus I hate messing up any kind of slow cooking. It’s time wasted, too.

Boyfriend:  Well, I think it’s okay. (Spews some logic about the amount of fat in center roast vs. shoulder roast and how since we’re cooking it 2 1/2 hours, it should be fine). I don’t think it will make a difference.

Me:  I do. I know for sure the recipe called for cooking the meat for 2 1/2 hours and searing it beforehand. Maybe I should go back and ask how long it takes to cook the center roast vs. the shoulder roast. I don’t want to bother those guys again though. Will you do it, please?!!

Boyfriend:  I’m not going back there. YOU do it.

Me & Boyfriend:  (More back and forth. More debating.)

Me:  Fine, I’ll go and ask about the cooking times, that’ll help me make my decision. They’re going to hate me. (Walks back to meat counter).

Me:  (Sees Original Nice WF Meat Guy). Hey, I’m so sorry to do this, but do you know how long it takes to cook down the shoulder roast?

Nice WF Meat Guy:  Not sure, let me ask and find out for you.

Me:  Thanks. (Waits less than a minute, Guy returns with yet another Nice WF Meat Guy).

Nice WF Meat Guy #3:  It takes about 3 hours to cook the shoulder roast for pulled pork.

Me:  Yeah?  What about the center roast?

Nice WF Meat Guy #3:  A lot longer.

Original Nice WF Meat Guy:  Yeah, it doesn’t have as much fat so will take longer to break down.

Me:  Okay, then, I hate to do this, but can I switch my center roast for 2 lbs. of the shoulder roast?

Original Nice WF Meat Guy.  HELL NO. GO AWAY. (Okay, not really).

Original Nice WF Meat Guy (in reality):  Sure thing, no problem. (Takes back my center roast).

I have to give props to my Boyfriend and all the Nice Whole Foods Meat Guys for not seriously throwing raw meat at my face after all that. At least I learned a little something about pork today, I guess. My little pork lesson also reaffirmed my love for Whole Foods.  As for that mythical e-mail with the list of ingredients, I still never found it on my iPhone—massive failure, Apple!

Anyway, I’m tired and can’t possibly write more about pork or my stupid iPhone e-mail mystery tonight so just enjoy the photos below from our dinner (and I apologize if the Black Bean soup looks like you-know-what).

Orange and lime zest that went into the Creuset w/my pork SHOULDER roast.

All sliced up …

Yum

When it was all said and done, totally worth it.

The Black Bean Soup (with cumin and cilantro). Looks kind of gross, I know, but it was actually quite delicious. Almost like a bean dip after I pureed it in my Vita-Mix.

Took a mini food tour w/my boo today and I have to say it was a pretty great way to spend our Sunday! First stop:  Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches, which our friends have raved about for at least 3 or 4 years now and we had still yet to try.

We ordered the Classic Vietnamese Sandwich which consists of pate made out of Vietnamese ham and roasted ground pork and garnished with a ton of cilantro (which I LOVE)—BEST Vietnamese sandwich ever, seriously.

Also tried the Tofu sandwich, which was delicious, but just not the same as the Classic! Great vegetarian option though.

Then we walked over to Broome St. to check out BabyCakes, an uber-popular vegan bakery that supposedly makes some of the best cupcakes in the city—period, not just vegan.

I consider myself (along with every other girl in NYC) a little bit of a cupcake aficionado (my faves: Sugar Sweet Sunshine (for the variety and the perfect size), Magnolia Bakery (but only the one by Radio City, I SWEAR theirs is different than the original one in the Village, whose cupcakes always seem dry to me) and Billy’s Bakery (used to be my all-time fave for perfect frosting and a moist cake, but lately, theirs have been disappointing and dry).

We ended up ordering three things at BabyCakes:  a Vanilla cupcake made from spelt, a slice of Banana Chocolate Chip bread and a dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, agave-sweetened Cinnamon Bun (or Skinny Bun as they called it), also made from spelt.

Good frosting-to-cake ratio

The verdict?  It’s a vegan bakery so you really can’t expect the same buttery moistness you get from other bakeries.  But ….the cupcake was still pretty yummy.

I wouldn’t call it my fave though. The texture is a little drier, but understandably so, minus the normal flour-sugar-egg mixture.

Same thing with the Cinnamon Bun, which we were craving b/c we had seen an absurdly mouth-watering ginormous Cinnamon Bun on Man vs. Food the night before. The Cinnamon Bun flavor was pretty great though and according to my man, got better and better as you ate it (I only had a couple of bites). But is it worth $5?  Not sure. The Banana Chocolate Chip bread was surprisingly moist and also had great flavor.  I think we’ll definitely visit BabyCakes again and give a few other things at the bakery a taste. I love that it’s vegan yet still manages to produce such great eats.

And because we hadn’t consumed enough in the last hour or so, we made a quick pit stop at Vanessa’s Dumplings on Eldridge St. because my man had never been before! Even though I told him to order dumplings and one of their fantastic sesame bun sandwiches (AMAZING), he decided to go for an order of 3 pork buns for $1. He thought the dough was good and the filling was delicious but that they hadn’t fried it long enough as the bottoms weren’t that crisp (even though our picture suggests otherwise).

But seriously, if you’re ever in the neighborhood, do yourself a favor and get some dumplings and the pork sandwich—to die for.  Side note:  My man’s personal fave for fried dumplings in the city is a place most aptly named Fried Dumpling (which I have to say, is mighty delicious and insanely cheap).

And thus concluded our mini food tour, hoping we do another one soon, I want another Nicky’s sandwich ASAP.

cupcakelovers:

Red Velvet Christmas Cupcake (via Cupdates)

LOVE!!!

I think “snowstorm” is putting it a little strong for where I live in Jersey, but that said, it’s probably the most snow I’ve seen in a few years (six years according to some reports).

Looks like The White House has it worse than me (but it’s so pretty).

And looks like an awesome impromptu snow fight broke out in Times Square today.

So what did I do during the “storm”? Why, make some delicious, fattening (actually, not super fattening) food of course!

First came the Pumpkin Enchiladas that I made last night (the recipe is from Martha Stewart’s Great Food Fast cookbook, I substituted serrano peppers for jalapenos):

I always have a hard time keeping the corn tortillas from tearing apart before sticking them in the oven — tips, anyone?

After fulfilling my Tex-Mex kick for the weekend, I decided to make one of my man’s favorites and what my friends often request I make — my bastard version of spanish rice and paella! I originally came up with this recipe while researching how to make authentic spanish rice. I eventually ended up combining several recipes (can’t even remember from where to be honest) on spanish rice and paella and came up with this Paella with Chicken & Chorizo:

I have to say, it’s pretty tasty if you’re a spanish rice/paella fan and one day, when I finally jot down all the steps to the recipe (I have pieces of it in like five separate e-mails to myself right now), I’ll post it here!

Also, I think I’ve been a little hard on my poor wooden spoon. Gonna need a new one in 2010.

In the meantime, eat well and stay warm—Happy Holidays, everyone!

Was missing Austin and had the day off so I made Migas courtesy of The Pioneer Woman’s recipe. Yum.

thedeadline:

Dinner at Do Hwa.

Have to try this place sometime, that looks so good.

One more thing to add to my xmas wish list! Glee makes me smile (and miss my singing days).