Nicole Is Cooking

Hi all. Thanks for checking in. If you are in a reader, take a hop over to the site- I did a big theme change a month or so ago.

No, I don’t have any new posts of substance. I would just rather be eating and cooking than stopping to take pictures and then writing about it. I am not sure how to get the motivation back, especially in the summer since there is so much to do! Here is an example… this is what I was doing last Saturday instead of taking pictures or writing here:

I have pickled and frozen a bunch of stuff so far this summer. I also had surgery that kept me out of work for 6 weeks and I started a new job that is going to be higher profile.

There is also a lifestyle change that probably won’t impact the blog- I am no longer a vegetarian. Just after 4 years of vegetarianism (this time) I went back to eating meat. Over the past few years I have been moving to much more of a locavore way of life. I don’t have the numbers worked out (I really could not do all the measuring and tracking required), but I feel confident in saying at least 65% of my food is from local sources. I rarely set foot in a grocery store these days and when I do go to the store I am supporting my local businesses instead of the larger chains. My conviction in vegetarianism always came from my dislike of factory farming and the environmental implications. I do not consider myself a religious person, but this article in the NY Times Of Church and Steak: Farming for the Soul has stuck with me since I read it last year. No, it is not justification for my decision. I like meat. I always have. Now I know where I can find people that will raise it in a way I feel I can live with. I have me a lot of them at the farmers markets.

I still eat a lot of vegetarian meals but I have cut out the mass produced vegetarian convenience foods. When I eat meat, I want it to be something I can live with. Have I made exceptions to my locally raised policy? Yes- for some small local places that are owned by people in the community. At one place I was even around for the owner talking about issues with a meat supplier and I gave him some the names I buy meat from. I would be surprised if he changed anything, but we had a good discussion.

So, that is what has been going on here. And since I did not plan to post tonight I don’t have any pictures ready. Sorry about that.

Via a friend, I found an easy way to do the food meme that has been open in my browser all week.

So, without further ado….

The Omnivore’s Hundred

1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you.ve eaten.
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating (or eating again)
4. Optional extra: Post a comment http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

To make the filling out of this form and generating the HTML for it a bit easier, reddywhp has played around with some PHP. Go to http://reddywhip.org/lj/foods/ and fill it out there. After filling it out, you will be given the code to copy and paste into your blog.

1. Venison- I grew up in a hunting area.
   
2. Nettle tea- I love stinging nettle (soup, pesto, nom, nom, nom….)
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle- One thing that should be on this list instead of something more common like Huevos rancheros is Mexican truffle, aka huitlacoche, aka corn smut. I had some Tuesday night for the first time and it was good. Now that I know I like it and have some cooking ideas for it, I won’t be afraid to take it if it shows up at the farm again this year. Back to black truffle, I also got to sniff Alain Ducasse’s newly purchased truffle once (see #84).
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes- Plum
    
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes- nearly every day in the summer.
    
22. Fresh wild berries- I grew up in blueberry country, aka NJ.
    
23. Foie gras- I am really not sure I could from an ethical stand point. Not even if Eric Zeibold, Alain Ducase and Thomas Keller all mad them for me (also see #62).
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper - Yeah, no one really needs to do this.
    
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters- not really a huge fan. Have had them raw and smoked.
    
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl- I don’t get how this is a good idea. I have had both New England and Manhattan clam chowders fresh in their native environments. I have had sourdough in San Fran as you should. They are really far apart. Why would you put two regional specialties created 3000 miles apart together like this?
33. Salted lassi- mmmm. Sounds tasty. Will keep an eye out for that.
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar- I cannot even stand next to someone drinking cognac, let alone drink it myself. I know, I have character flaws mostly involving brown alcohol that is not beer.
37. Clotted cream tea- nom, nom, nom
    
38. Vodka jelly- or Jello if you are in the US
    
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail- I have had buffalo tail. Fantôme Chocolat was disappointed and said it was not the same at all. Oxtail stew is on the agenda at some point this winter.
41. Curried goat- I had a Jamaican co-worker in college that let me try his once. Too much curry to actually taste the goat. I don’t think that was supposed to be the point.
    
42. Whole insects- I would rather not know what it was first.
43. Phaal- think this will probably be like the Scotch Bonnet.
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more- This will probably be wasted on me (see #36).
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear- the first time I had it was in Peru and it was divine. They put fresh slice on top of my fruit salad every morning at breakfast at this small hotel I was staying at.
    
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV- Yum.. Belgium.
    
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads- I am really not sure I could from an ethical stand point. Not even if Eric Zeibold, Alain Ducase and Thomas Keller all mad them for me (also see #23).
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frog’s Legs- my favorite BBQ joint in Miami always had them. My ex occasionally got them because he used to jig for frogs a lot growing up. Taste like chicken.
    
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake- mmmmm… fried dough.
    
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette- I have had tripe. Is the swine version supposed to be disgusting?
71. Gazpacho- Made a huge batch this weekend and just had some for dinner tonight. One of these times I really need to stop skipping the bread.
    
72. Caviar and blini- I have had caivar. And blini. Just never together.
73. Louche absinthe- I think I found a place for Fantôme Chocolat and I to go sip some locally one afternoon.
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill- I may have (see #1). I would prefer not to know before I tried it.
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant- I had a made-for-me vegetarian tasting menu at Plaza Athénée for free!! And Ducasse is not just any chef with 3 Michelin stars… he was the first chef with 3 restaurants with 3 Michelin stars in 3 cities. And Plaza Athénée is usually ranked as one of the top 20 restaurants in Europe.
85. Kobe beef- they feed them beer to stimulate their appetite. Otherwise they get depressed and stop eating
86. Hare- the kitties eat rabbit on a regular basis. I have never tried it myself.
87. Goulash- Hungarian. In Hungary.
    
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab- One of my favorites, nom, nom, nom.
    
93. Rose harissa- I am intrigued.
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano- I used to travel to Mexico a lot and tried to make it a point to have some each time I went.
    
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta- I usually always have some in the house. In fact, I have red and blue cornmeal at the moment because Vince and I are going to try to make purple polenta at some point.
    
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

It has been so long! I have so many pictures and things to add, I just can’t seem to get caught up. I will be back with more posts soon!

One of the things I like about How to Cook Everything Vegetarian is that many of the recipes include multiple variations. So instead of one recipe it is 3 recipes or in the case of Boulangerie Beans with Potatoes you are given 6 recipes. But it is such a simple formula, there are so many variations you can easily come up with. Fantôme Chocolat and I enjoyed this so much the first time I made it that I ended up making another variation the second week.

According to Mark Bittman, the author, Boulangerie Potatoes is a classic French dish. Potatoes were left in the local baker’s oven with stock for a long time. The long cooking period causes the stock to form a glaze over the potatoes as it reduces. From some digging around I did, Chef Tom Colicchio relays a variation on this history in one of his books.

As I mentioned, the formula is simple- 3 cups of beans, 3 medium potatoes, and 1 cup of stock. You also use some herbs, spices and butter. The beans should be drained but still moist. I suspect if you use canned ones, they will turn very mushy here due to the long cook time.

For the first attempt at this recipe, we used pinto beans (the ones from the slow cooker in the bean post) and sweet potatoes (for those of you with the book reading along at home, we did not use all the suggested spices or sugar… I do not like adding sweet to my sweet potatoes, I prefer them on the savory side).

We started off with three cups of pinto beans seasoned with salt, pepper, homemade anchovy free Worcestershire sauce and…

… a tablespoon of fresh thyme (yum).

While I got the beans ready, Fantôme Chocolat thinly sliced some sweet potatoes.

The sweet potatoes were then layered on top of the beans and a cup of vegetable stock was added. More salt, pepper, and fresh thyme was added as well as some butter. (That is the recipe called for 3 tablespoons. It looks like a lot now and it tasted like a lot too… Fantôme Chocolat and I don’t use butter all that often and we could certainly taste it!)

Cover with foil and cook at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for another 45 minutes so the potatoes can brown and glaze. The dish can be served hot or at room temperature.

We made a salad to go along with this with some fresh carrot and cabbage I had around.

I had cut these in a shred and prepared them for a cold salad…

…but Fantôme Chocolat was in the mood for something warm so I sauteed the salad with some sesame oil and gave it a dash of rice wine vinegar.

In the end, this was a simple yet satisfying Sunday meal.

The following Sunday, I decided to make this again while doing some things around the house. Fantôme Chocolat never got to try this one because I ate it and all the leftovers during the week (and I am a reluctant leftover eater). This time, I used white beans, red potatoes, and leeks.

The leeks need to be trimmed, chopped and rinsed well. I opted to slice mine thinly in rings. Cook them in butter until they are very soft (20 minutes or so).

The potatoes also need to be thinly sliced. Cut them in half lengthwise then into half circles. The recipe says to peel them, but I did not.

The recipe here suggests white beans so I used great northerns. I mixed them with fresh thyme, salt and pepper.

Once the leeks were cooked, I layered them on top of the beans.

Then I layered on the potatoes, added a cup of stock, and seasoned with more salt, pepper, and fresh thyme. I put a little butter on top.

The same cooking instructions as above apply, 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes covered by foil the 45 minutes without.

I ate this one with a salad of greens and fava beans that I did not take a picture of unfortunately.

I have not decided what the next variation will be yet. Maybe I will skip the book ones and do my own… I see black bean and sweet potato coming!

They’re good. (We will just leave it there.) They are low in fat and a fabulous source of complex carbohydrates, fiber, and protein. And they are cheap too, especially if you buy dried ones in bulk. And, by buying dried ones can also reduce the amount of sodium in them and they will taste a lot better overall. Trust me, it is worth cooking your own beans.

Which is just what I did one Saturday afternoon.

There are many methods out there for cooking dried beans- quick soak, long soak, slow cooker, pressure cooker. I am sure there are more. I used two different methods, a quick soak method and the slower cooker method Fantôme Chocolat filled me in on.

The quick cook method I used was from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I used this for some black beans and great northern beans. First, you need to rinse and pick through your beans to make sure there are no pebbles, miscellaneous items, or otherwise discolored beans in the batch.

Place the beans in a large pot and cover them with cold water so the water rises 2 to 3 inches above the beans.

Bring them to a boil and let them boil for 2 minutes. Cover the pot with a lid and turn off the heat. Allow the beans to soak for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, check the beans for tenderness. They should be tender, but not completely done. If they are tender, season the water with salt and pepper and make sure the water level is about 1 inch above the beans. If the beans are not tender and still seem a bit raw, do not add any salt and bring the water level to 2 inches above the beans.

Bring the beans to a boil again then reduce the heat so the beans bubble at a gentle simmer.

Partially cover the beans with the lid. Stir occasionally and check the beans for the desired consistency every 10-15 minutes. Add water if necessary and if you have not previously added salt, add it when the beans start to turn tender. When the beans reach the desired tenderness, turn off the heat and season to taste.

I also cooked a batch of pinto beans in the slow cooker. I started with the water level about 1 inch above the beans per Fantôme Chocolat’s instructions.

I turned the slow cooker on low and let them go. At about the same time the quick cook beans were at the end of their 2 hour rest, I checked the slow cooker beans. They were about the same tenderness but running low on water so I added a little more. In the end, they took about the same time as the stove top beans (just over 3 hours). However, you end up with less cooking liquid in the end so if you are going to freeze your beans you may need to add some water.

One 16 ounce bag of dried beans will yield 5-6 cups of cooked beans (the pintos were closer to 5 cups, while the black and great northerns were closer to the 6 cup yield). You can use them right away, keep them in the refrigerator for up to five days, or freeze them into portions to use later. When freezing, a small splash of white vinegar or lemon juice is supposed to help keep them intact. I find the great northerns still like to slip their skins no matter what though.

As much as I like black beans and love having black bean tacos or burritos for a quick meal when I am hungry, it is great to always have fresh cooked beans in the freezer. They really do taste better than the canned ones and for some longer cook recipes they really hold up a lot better. Enjoy!