EGGGGGS

SO BECAUSE ON THIS THURSDAY I AM GOING TO MISSISSIPPI TO VISIT MEGHAN AND I CAN'T EVEN BREATHE AND I AM DYING EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

anywho i have a dozen eggs & and i needed to get rid of them while at the same time make something i can eat for the rest of the week.

i used the portobello mushrooms, my pickled red pepper (from like ages ago), scallions, parmesean, 11 eggs, AND A TON OF CHEDDAR, ROLL TIDE.

look at how cute my little ramekins are

then i poured the rest of it into muffin tins. that's about three per day for lunch. idk what ima do for dinner.

can't deal. can't bear.

if i was anyone other than me, i might think that there is WAAAAAY TOO MUCH CHEESE in these. except that isn't a real thing in my life. they are epic.

SRIRACHA IS GOD.

brownie cookies

okay so last tuesday night, my sister's best high school friend and THREE OF HER 21 YEAR OLD FRIENDS WERE coming to stay in my living room for four days. i was dying and completely racked with anxiety.

i decided it would be cute if i made brownies. and it was cute.

except i don't like brownies and they had the option to turn the batter into cookies. it was really intense and really really thick. (the cookie recipe just had less liquid)

the girls got there and it wasn't a problem at all and i barely had to do anything and my anxiety was for naught. THEY WERE AWESOME.

look at these bitches. so dark. so awesome. making the cookies instead of brownies gave them this all around crunchy brownie-crust. but gd these are awesome.

omg and they gifted me these! WHOMP!

humungous fungus among-us

so i went to the green city market and in the half off bin were MUSHROOMS! STFU! mushrooms are so expensive y'all!! i had a left over pouff pastry so i made a fancy mushroom tart.

i got four kinds!! above are my cremini & portobellos. (aren't creminis just baby portobellos?)(the portobellos were reserved until tonight, that post will be later)

OYSTER MUSHROOMS which made me feel super fancy.

so this is the creminis, the osyters, white wine, mustard, onions, garlic, and cream cheese (because i didn't have any milk or cream)

while it isn't as visually stimulating as my tomato tart, this one tasted better. not that the other one didn't taste amazing, but it was rad.

these are my shiitakes!!! so the minimum on credit card charges is five dollars. before i grabbed the mushrooms i was at like $2.00 so then i also bought some thyme. BUT I STILL WASNT AT FIVE DOLLARS. the dude was like you should buy all these shiitakes and dry/dehydrate them.

this is them layed out.

this is them chopped. i was supposed to put them in the oven at 150 for an hour, press them with a paper towel to get all the water out and do it for another hour. of course, i was crunk'd and ended up leaving them in there from about 6:00 pm to 4:38am (IN A COMPLETE PANIC). they were completely fine, none of them were burnt. AND I DID RESEARCH. apparently when you do this they can last FOR SEVERAL YEARS. WHAT. yesssss. risotto? soup? WHAT SHALL I DO WITH THESE?

BEETS

so this meal / post was entirely serendipitous. i came to work and my manager had brought a bag with two beets, a green pepper, and four hot peppers.

the first recipe that came up on www.tastespotting.com was this roasted beets & poblano thing

so i dove in head first, and the result was pretty humorous...

this was the produce before roasting.

this is the worcestershire / lemon juice vinaigrette (i didn't have live but only that disgusting bottle of like 'real lemon') whatever it was fine

the problem was that the beets didn't cook quickly enough, the onions were cooking too fast, the green pepper was a plain green pepper (not poblano), and the red peppers became SO HOT after roasting.

so while it didn't turn out like the recipe it was good & it made a good dinner for two nights.

stuffed tomatoes, redux

YAY STUFFED TOMATOES.

i forgot when i did these. but it must have been around the time from the jalapeno peppers. because this is the same cheddar and the same bread crumbs.

duh. pre-baked:

post-baked:

completely amazing.

MORE BEANS Y'ALL

so i have a ton of chickpeas so i have been making this olive oil & balsamic chickpea & tomato salad. like every week.

this is what it looks like! its best refrigerated.

then i made more rice and beans. this time i used pancetta, the rest of my ornamental peppers, basmati rice & a bag of 17 beans that you are supposed to make soup out of. this rice & beans is just fancier than the last one i made.

oh i also threw some peas in there. also garlic, onions, cumin, chili powder, cayenne. it was very pretty.

taste buds

this is an amazing infographic on "taste buds: complementary flavours"

absolutely stunning

i found it via notcot.org which is another amazing site.

pear tart

tarts are wonderful, and so is puff pastry. elegant and delicious, yet also requiring little effort. if you can remember to thaw it overnight this recipe takes about thirty minutes, prep and bake.

1/3 onion

1 tbsp butter

1tbsp olive oil

2 red pears

1/2 cup shredded parmesan

1 sheet puff pastry

salt/pepper to taste

i ALMOST put a little dijon mustard in with the onions as they sauteed, but didn't. i'm going to when i make this again.

saute the onions in butter/olive oil while you prebake the pastry a bit at 400 degrees (maybe 5-10 minutes). slice the pears horizontally (leave them unpeeled). after removing the puff pastry from the oven, layer the onions, followed by the pears, followed by the cheese. return to the oven for about twenty minutes.

strawberry/feta salad

it's true, i have returned.

i have started grad school. it is a time consuming thing, but i love it. i say say this only to provide explanation as to my lack of posting. anyway, blake's posts are just as good/better. i cooked twice over the past two days, however, and i even remembered to take photos. so, i must post.

i was invited to a greek potluck last night with only a couple hours notice, and i had no idea what to bring. somehow, watermelon feta salad sprung into my mind, but as the store had no watermelon, and my friend's home contained no balsamic, i opted for a strawberry feta salad with lemon as an acidic element. we tossed in some chopped basil from his front porch, and there you have it.


love the reflection of the strawberries and basil on the sides of the bowl.

and there was tabouli, and all was right with the world.

first day of october

i am bored as hell but i am scared to leave the house because i don't want to spend any $$$

the stuffing of the tomatoes was so successful that i am going to do it every time i get a tomato big enough to stuff

a coworker had given me this on friday because i am OBSESSED with chickpeas

using the leftover breadcrumbs from the jalapeno poppers

this was amazing. and i have enough to make another one tomorrow!

i also made more vegetable stock (even though i haven't used all of the last batch)

but tomorrow i am planning to make rice and beans using stock so i am now prepared.

ferran adria

so ferran adria came to the harold washington library for a book signing & lecture.

i am so glad that i got to listen to this visionary speak.

he was the head chef of el Bulli, in roses, spain.

do some research (wiki) but this place was sick. 2 million requests per year, and they only served 8,000 meals. they didn't have a a la carte menu, only tasting. most years it actually lost money, the general operating fund coming from book sales & lecture fees. absolutely amazing.

chef adria was introduced by grant achatz, of alinea in chicago, another super important, famous, and respected haute cuisine restaurant in the nation / world.

he was hilarious. brilliant. had a translator. i am obsessed.

quit moving!

ah! anyways it was voted the number one restaurant by restaurant magazine a record 5 times. had three michelin stars. the restaurant closed earlier this summer, but it is going to reopen as a creative center. so amazing.

this is the book i bought & got signed. incredible!

the back cover!

his signature:

the cookbook he was promoting (and the only el Bulli cookbook)

the concept of the cookbook is that they showed what they made at the restaurant, but instead of a 70 - 80 serving size, they reduced it to two servings.

back cover. my friend got this one signed

'food for thought - thought for food' a book i bought at my museum years ago about the concept of el Bulli & everything chef adria does.

sample menu from 2008. changes daily.

a chronological chart of what adria & el bulli have been doing since 1983. split into the following categories: organization & philosophy, products, technology, and preparations.

this dude is seriously talented.