School's In

I'm going to go ahead and let you know right now. The most complicated and interesting thing I cooked this week was a pork chop. Welcome to graduate school.

Last Saturday, I packed up all my stuff and moved three and a half hours away from my husband, home, and puppy to begin my masters in Speech Language Pathology at the University of Iowa. I have been VERY apprehensive of this move. My biggest concern? That I would struggle to make new friends! I haven't started at a new school in eight years! Certainly one forgets how to do these things! My fears were unfounded. Apparently I do still remember how to socialize like a reasonable human being. Thank goodness.

What I did not anticipate was the sheer, raw work load. My undergraduate institution was wonderful and I loved it there and I would not be where I am today without them. But it was not academically rigorous. At least my program wasn't. Again, I loved my undergraduate speech pathology program, but they were barely accredited. Now I am enrolled in the top program in the nation at the graduate level, so things are a bit different. My program started a week before the general term began, and they have definitely kept me busy. I already have 150 pages of assigned reading, 2 writing assignments, a clinical rotation, and classes don't even start until tomorrow.

As a result, I put cooking on hold for the week. It may be on hold next week also. Without a garden in my backyard, vegetarian cooking is more challenging. So, now begins the 'eating' and 'learning' portions of this blog. Iowa City is something of a lone culinary bright spot in a state better known for its corporate farming than for its farmer's markets. Paul and I will be operating on a shoestring budget for the next two years, but I have a plan. I will be using my "eating out" budget to explore a different restaurant or renowned eatery in Iowa City every two weeks. I will review my experiences here, so you'll know where to go the next time you visit Iowa City! ;-)

But to be honest, I get the feeling that most my time over the next two years will be spent learning. So here is where I will be living for the next two years:

And here is what I will be eating for many many meals every week:

Actually, I just have to say a few words about this salad, because it needs to be a part of everybody's life. This is a salad inspired by Andie Mitchell and her blog Can You Stay for Dinner.

There are only four ingredients: salad greens, cottage cheese, fruit, and bacon. For the fruit I usually use apples or pears, but you could get more creative and it would probably be delicious.

The cottage cheese MUST be 4% fat. Anything else is wrong and unacceptable. The cheese acts as the dressing for the salad. It is creamy, mild, and delicious, and pairs perfectly with the other elements. I know it sounds weird, but it really really works.

And bacon. Nuff said.

Mix the whole thing together in a large bowl. And by large, I mean think mixing bowl size. That's what I use. This salad can definitely be a meal, but you have to go large or go hungry or go home. Take your pick.

Soup into Bread

I turned soup into bread. It's not nearly as miraculous or impressive as water into wine, but considering the fact that I'm not the incarnate God of the universe, I'll take it.

You may have noticed that I went a week without posting anything, and these last few days I've been posting up a storm I have not been that ambitious in the kitchen, I can assure you. No, actually I am catching up with posts I meant to write earlier in the week. Sadly, Paul's grandfather died unexpectedly last Friday. This was the grandfather who raised Paul as his own kid, so they were pretty close.  It was a very nice funeral, and the whole family appreciated that Paul was there to help plan it. It was a blessing to be able to visit family, share stories about our beloved patriarch, look at old photos, and commend Grandpa Paul into the hands of Jesus. (And yes, my husband is named for his Grandpa Paul, because it was Grandpa Paul who helped save his life during his emergency birth.) We just got back from our surprise trip to North Dakota on Wednesday night.

The day before we left town, I made two variations of Deborah Madison's recipe for cucumber yogurt soup. I needed to use up some cucumbers, and the chilled, creamy soup looked like it would do the job. In addition to using plenty of cucumbers, the recipe also cleaned me out of yogurt and buttermilk.

With a double batch socked away in the fridge, we sat down to enjoy our refreshing summertime meal. It was awful. The soup was overpoweringly garlicky, and its texture did not recommend it. It was sour, and sharp, and we did't like it at all.

The next morning we got the call about Grandpa. As I had not originally planned to drive 9 hours to North Dakota that day, my fridge was filled with garden and CSA produce and the two batches of cucumber yogurt soup. I had to act fast. As my husband talked to the church elders and made travel arrangements, I worked like crazy to sock away all my beets, beans, tomatoes, corn, broccoli, peppers, squash, and of course, soup. I wasn't about to let an entire carton of yogurt and a jug of buttermilk go down the drain. As I pondered my options, I realized that the soup might bake up very nicely into a savory quick bread. Shoot, what did I have to loose, other than all my buttermilk, yogurt, flour, and farm fresh eggs?! Nothing! A quick Google search turned up the ratio of ingredients in quick bread, and I gave it a go. I also added in my Anaheim Peppers and some cheese, because cheese never hurt anything.

It worked! Not only did the bread turn out beautifully, but I also managed to preserve every last perishable item in the fridge. The only casualties were an ear of corn and two slices of a beet, because I miscalculated how much we would eat for lunch. Winning.

So now you know. Yogurt and Cucumber Soup (pg 209) is much better as a bread than as a soup.

As you can see, something had to be done...

Everything looked so creamy and promising at the start!

I made both the mint version, and the dill version. Neither was good as soup. Both were good as bread.

Our pretty but disappointing taste test

Yogurt soup, transformed, redeemed, hallelujah! My double batch of soup made two full sized loaves of bread.

Since the ratio I followed is not part of Madison's book, and is already public on the internet, I will share it with you in case you want to engage in renegade bread making.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour (any kind you prefer)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt (up to 1 tsp if making a savory bread)
• 2 eggs (or egg replacement)
• 1 cup buttermilk (or other milk or liquid)
• 1/4 cup oil or liquid fat
• additional flavorings (1/2-1 cup of sugar will make it sweet)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly oil a loaf pan or muffin tins and set aside.
2. In a large bowl stir together flour, salt, baking powder, and other dry herbs or spices if using.
3. In another bowl, lightly whisk together the eggs, oil, milk and sugar and other wet ingredients such as extracts if using.
4. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together just until combined.
5. Bake at 350 for about 30-35 minutes (Or an hour if using a regular size loaf pan.) until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle.

The original recipe can be found here

So go forth, and make revolutionary soup breads of your own!

***Disclaimer: All representations of Deborah Madison's recipes on this blog are intentionally incomplete. Do not attempt to copy a recipe from this blog. I have intentionally left out critical steps and ingredients to avoid copyright infringement. All such recipes should only be attempted when referencing the book in which they were originally published.***

Invasion of the Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi has always baffled me. Honestly, it's the one thing in my CSA box that both looks like it just flew in from an alien planet, and which I have never known how to prepare.

I mean really. Tell me that's not a little terrifying.

Anyway, thanks to Deborah Madison and the New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, I had a kohlrabi breakthrough tonight! The recipe in and of itself was delicious, and is probably the first time I have ever eaten and enjoyed kohlrabi. However, the real breakthrough was Madison's instruction on how to PEEL the kohlrabi. Every other kohlrabi recipe I have ever read has instructed the cook to peel the creature with a vegetable peeler. Maybe other cooks are far more skilled than myself, but this has never been practical for me. The skin is too think, the kohlrabi is too round, and usually I just end up peeling my fingers before giving up on my bulbous target and opting for broccoli instead. 

Nefarious little life forms these kohlrabi are.

Madison, however, showed me a better way. She instructed the cook to peel the kohlrabi with a paring knife, the way you would an apple. BRILLIANT! I had way more success with this method, and I can't believe I didn't think of it myself!

With my kohlrabi safely peeled and every one of my finger tips intact, I was set to prepare my Kohlrabi Gratin with Blue Cheese (pg 244).

Here it is! The genius way to peel kohlrabi. Life will never be the same.

As with any gratin, the veggie must be sliced very thinly. A mandolin will allow you to do this without hating your life. I did not buy my mandolin with this recipe in mind. Truth be told, I bought it back when Paul and I first started cutting processed foods from our diet. I had a hard time giving up potato chips, and I bought this for the express purpose of making my own. I don't make many potato chips anymore, but the mandolin has proved itself to be an indispensable kitchen tool in many ways since then.

The finished product! The sauce in this dish can be milk or cream based. A word of warning should you use milk: it is very likely that by following the recipe directions (which I'm certain were written with cream in mind) you will inadvertently turn your sauce into ricotta cheese. I did this. Ricotta cheese forms when the proteins in milk precipitate due to heat and acid. This recipe provides both those things. I considered throwing the whole thing out and starting over, but decided that ricotta cheese in my casserole would not be such a bad thing. It tasted wonderful, and I enjoyed the texture. However, if ricotta is off putting to you, you may want to use cream instead.

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Everything about this dish screams pear. From the mustard/cole emphasis to the blue cheese to the creamy sauce, pear would seem like the perfect accompaniment to this dish. And it is; you almost need it for the whole thing to work. If you don't like pear because of the texture or because you're a communist, at least try to pair it with a wine that tastes of pear. I would recommend a dry Chenin Blanc or Pinot Grigio. 

So there you have it. This funny little brassica is edible after all. And maybe, just maybe, my garden will be invaded by kohlrabi next year.

***Disclaimer: All representations of Deborah Madison's recipes on this blog are intentionally incomplete. Do not attempt to copy a recipe from this blog. I have intentionally left out critical steps and ingredients to avoid copyright infringement. All recipes should only be attempted when referencing the book in which they were originally published.***

Procrastinated Pasta

Paul and I celebrated our fourth marriage anniversary last November. (I can't believe we're coming up on five this year!!) Now, I'm rather persnickety about gifts. My philosophy is that if you are going to spend money on a gift for me, it would be best if you get me something I will like. It's not that I don't appreciate "gifts from the heart." In fact, some of my favorite gifts have been ones I wouldn't have thought of for myself. What I don't want is for someone to feel obligated to get me a gift, and to stab around in the dark until they land on some generic thing that I will probably never use or look at. I just feel like that is a waste of time, worry, and money. I try to simplify things for people. I have a running wish list of the things that I really, truly want. I keep the list on Amazon so it is easy for people to use and find. There is nothing on the list that I would not be THRILLED to receive. (Incidentally, all but one of the items on my list are kitchen books and tools. The one that isn't is a garden tool that I can use to grow food to cook in my kitchen. I'm predictable that way....)

While I think the wish list system works wonderfully, it is sometimes throwing to others. My husband is always worried that I will be disappointed if he doesn't come up with a "heartfelt" gift. After nearly five years of marriage, I think I've finally convinced him that I really truly want the things on my list, and that his safest bet is to order something from there.

So last year, Paul dutifully went to Amazon to get me what my heart desired for my anniversary present. He even paid attention to the items I had marked "highest priority." On our anniversary I unwrapped a beautiful hand cranked stainless steel pasta maker. It was a perfect gift.

That was nine months ago. I used my little pasta maker for the first time yesterday! Oops. This was not Paul's fault. I had very much intended to make all my own pasta as soon as I got the machine. However, upon opening it up I read that I had to make a special batch of dough to run through the machine to clean it before I could fulfill my pasta aspirations. Somehow, I was never able to find the time. There were many times that I wanted to make fresh pasta for dinner, but I was always stopped by the realization that I hadn't cleaned the machine yet.

Finally, yesterday I decided I would set aside the time to both clean and use my anniversary present. As it turns out, making the batch of dough for cleaning was not difficult, and it was good to get a little practice with the machine before I used my real dough in it. For the main event, I made swiss chard pasta. We have been absolutely over run with swiss chard from the garden, and I need ways to both use and preserve this large and flavorful green. (If anyone has fun and interesting ideas about chard preserve-age, please let me know in the comments!!)

Deborah Madison provides a recipe for spinach pasta dough in the New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (NVCE), and I just adapted it to chard. I have found that swiss chard and spinach are almost completely interchangeable once they are cooked. I don't know that I would like to eat chard raw though...

The pasta was a smashing success, and the machine was a blast to use! I will definitely be making more pasta this year than I did last year!

Madison's recipe for Spinach Pasta can be found on pages 400-401 of NVCE. I used chard this time, but I bet the recipe could also be adapted to kale, or any other green for that matter!

The first step was to blanch the chard. This involved submerging it in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then immediately plunging it in ice water to stop the cooking. The leaves turn a brilliant green!

Once it's been blanched, the greens need to be dried well. I ran them through my salad spinner, the squeezed out all the water I could by hand.

The chard and the eggs are pureed together

Then the whole shebang comes together in the mixer. (A shoutout to my cousin, who got me a gift that wasn't on my list! This Kitchen Aid scraper attachment is the bomb!)

Then the machine does all the hard work of rolling it out just so

And cutting it. (Isn't that just the coolest thing you've see today? It's the coolest thing I've seen today! Maybe I shouldn't admit that to people...)

The night I made it, I went ahead and cooked some for dinner. I roasted some garden cherry tomatoes (Sungold, my favorite), and added basil leaves. I gave the whole thing a generous grating of parmesan cheese, a dash of olive oil, and viola! It was so delicious that I will DEFINITELY be making it again soon. As in tomorrow. As in I'm not even kidding.

***Disclaimer: All representations of Deborah Madison's recipes on this blog are intentionally incomplete. Do not attempt to copy a recipe from this blog. I have intentionally left out critical steps and ingredients to avoid copyright infringement. All recipes should only be attempted when referencing the book in which they were originally published.***