Someone Who Returns Books And Makes You A Delicious Dinner Is A Damn Good Friend AND Why Buy In Bulk?

About three and a half weeks ago I moved to Santa Clarita, CA with my boyfriend Aaron to study Critical Studies (Writing) and earn my MFA at CalArts. Other than Aaron, I knew two people living in the LA area. It turns out one of them moved to Detroit, so the number dwindled down to one. This one person is fucking awesome.

Emily Kiernan and her boyfriend Ryan came over to my house for dinner about two weeks ago and Aaron and I made an Indian flavored dish with Paneer, Chicken, Eggplant, and a spicy red sauce over rice. At this gathering, I did what I always mistakenly do... I gave Emily four of my books.

Over the course of about seven years, I've seen many things happen to my books. Mostly, their just plain stolen. Not picked off the shelf and never to be seen again, but rather I give them to someone, and that person decides it looks better on their bookshelf than mine. Or there is my mother, who always gives them back... with a shattered spine. Knowing all of this, I still dared to find one friend who would give me back some of my most cherished possessions.

Turns out - Emily's my gal!

Last night Emily and Ryan had Aaron and I over for dinner at their place in Silver Lake, LA. It was posh and the building gave access to the roof where we saw many unusual and beautiful sights of LA. ("There's this store across the street called Circus of Books and we thought, 'Wow! We live next to a book store!' But no. Turns out it's a porn store.")

Not only did Emily return Anne Waldeman, Dodie Bellamy, Brother JT, and Harryette Mullen, but she made the most delicious dinner. She found the recipes on Epicurious, a site I highly suggest. She made Chicken stuffed with Fontina, Artichokes, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, a mix of white and brown rice, a delicious salad, and blueberry cobbler with ice cream. I brought two $2 bottles of wine from Wal-Mart that were actually quite delicious, and a small, light red velvet cake (also purchased from Wal-Mart.)

It should be noted that when she made the chicken, she only baked it for a half an hour, rather than doing the whole frying/baking thing.

Here's the recipe for the salad, which was fresh and wonderfully inviting:

The Dressing:
4 teaspoons tarragon vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

The Salad:
1 head red-leaf lettuce
One carrot, grated
1 beet, grated
1 tsp ginger, finely grated
cherry tomatoes

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On another note, I'm all about buying in bulk, and using things for more than one recipe. Recently, Aaron and I bought some avocados. We're going to make a cold avocado soup, and guacamole. Bulk is cheaper than buying individually, and if you can come up with creative ways to use it, you don't feel like you're eating the same thing all the time.

For example: Aaron bought a $10 tube of ground beef (85/15.) We made delicious burgers once with it. We're going to make chili out of another third of it. Lastly, we're going to add it to pasta sauce. Three different meals, all involving the same ingredient, but prepared differently, so you aren't throwing out the extra.

Over the course of my recipes, you'll see food repeat itself. Sometimes it's because I bought bulk, sometimes it's because I bought a lot because I love that food. (Yellow squash and I have a secret love affair.)

So tonight, we are going to eat the rest of the Tilapia, and use some of the prosciutto and sage leaves we're also going to use for a salmon recipe later in the week. We had extra zucchini rice from the other night at Zoe's house, so we're eating that as a side, and I found this recipe on the wonderful Epicurious. I modified it, and present the modified version below.

Tilapia wrapped in Prosciutto

Serves: 2

2 pieces skinless, boneless tilapia fillet
4 thin slices prosciutto
2-4 fresh sage leaves, stems discarded
2 teaspoons olive oil

1. Wrap each piece of fillet crosswise in a slice of prosciutto, leaving ends of fillet exposed if necessary and tucking 1 or 2 sage leaves between prosciutto and fillet (use 1 leaf for smaller pieces of fish).

2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then saute the 2 pieces of fish 4 minutes. Turn over and saute until just cooked through, about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a platter and keep warm.

Of Course I'll Bring Dinner To Your Pool

First off I want to make everyone aware that there could be a dangerous outbreak of e.coli in some northeastern states. Please read this article to learn more.

Also, more information on the egg recall.

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Lately, I've been getting a little antsy staying at home. This blog and cooking are two things that are really helping, but I miss seeing people, and it was time to branch out. On Facebook someone started a group for the MFA Writing 2012 at CalArts, and I befriended a few of the fellow students. One, Zoe, mentioned living in Valencia. I live in a neighboring suburb, Saugus, of the same city, Santa Clarita. Combining my lack of money, love for food, and excitement to meet people, I went on a whim and e-mailed her to see if she'd like to come over for dinner. She mentioned she had a pool, so Aaron and I went over to her house with dinner and a bottle of wine.

Before watching Julie & Julia for the second time, a movie that will be discussed in much detail at another time, I decided to unwind via prep. Chopping is extremely relaxing for me. Focusing on each individual slice of the pickle/onion and swirling the mayo/mustard allows my mind to leave stress and lets me do something with purpose.

The dinner was wonderful. Zoe, Aaron, and I talked about all the wonderful things we had in common and her adorable dog Betsy was more than welcome. Also, the hot tub was just perfect.

The Salmon Salad was made by me, and the Zucchini Garlic Rice is a spin off of a recipe I found online.



Salmon Salad Stuffed in Pita w/ Zucchini Garlic Rice

Serves 3

Food & Pantry
2 salmon fillets
1/2 salad onion (green and white)
1/2 salad onion (green)
3 pickle wedges
1/2 a small bottle of mayo
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 leaves of Romaine lettuce
3 pitas
3 tablespoons garlic powder
1 zucchini
2 cups of rice
1-2 tablespoons of butter
lemon juice to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
olive oil

Prep
1. Dice salad onion (all of it.)
2. Dice pickle wedges.
3. Mix mayo and mustard with white onion and 1/2 of green onion and pickles. Save half of green onion for later.
4. Add lemon juice and cayenne pepper to taste.
5. Refrigerate overnight.
(Next day)
6. Dice zucchini thumbnail.

Cook
1. Brown rice in pan by placing butter in the pan on medium high heat for ten to fifteen minutes before adding to boiling water. Once brown, add to boiling water for about 20 minutes on low heat, or until all the water is out. Place zucchini and other half of green onion in a large mixing bowl. Add garlic powder and lemon juice. Mix mix mix.
2. Cook salmon fillet in pan for five minutes on one side and five minutes on the other. Dice and chunk salmon. Mix salmon and mayo/mustard/salad onion/pickle mixture together.
3. Once the rice is finished add to zucchini/green onion/garlic powder/lemon juice mixture and stir it up.
4. Serve salmon salad in a pita with romaine lettuce for crunch.

Food, Inc.: And Now All I Can Eat Is Fish

Netflix suggested that a "Movie I'd Love" was Food, Inc.. About a half an hour into the movie, we needed to pause it, and did not return to it for about two days. This is not to say that the movie was boring, or anything similar to boring. It was extremely enlightening even in the first few minutes. It just became a straight up smack you in the face with the reality of where food comes from. Which at the time... was a little hard to handle. Well, it's actually still hard to handle. It reminds me of the kind of things PETA show, and everyone's too horrified to believe it or want to admit to it.

The film focuses on cattle, chickens, and pigs when it comes to protein. They also checked out soybeans and corn. My lesson learned?

I'm reading labels.
I'm attempting to purchase more organic foods.
I'm buying all my produce from a farmer's market. Something local.
I'm getting my meat from a meat market.

And by the time I realized these things, I decided on fish for dinner. I received this recipe from my boyfriend's mother, who got it somewhere online. I did not come up with this recipe, it's just delicious, and I feel the need to share.

Pecan Crusted Tilapia

Food & Pantry
1/2 lb. Tilapia (deboned, deskinned, just straight up fishy meat)
2 parts mayonnaise*
1 part Dijon mustard*
a handful of pecans

*Depends on exactly how much sauce you want on the fish. If you'd prefer more spread, do 4 tablespoons mayo, 2 mustard. If you'd prefer less spread, use 2 tablespoons mayo, 1 spread.

Prep
1. Chop the pecans.
2. Mix the mayo and mustard.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook
1. Place aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Place Tilapia on aluminum foil.
Spread mayo/mustard mixture across the fish. Crumble pecans over mustard. Place in oven.

2. Allow the fish to cook for 20 minutes. For those who prefer drier fish, allow to cook another 5-10 minutes. Enjoy.

And check out http://www.foodincmovie.com/ for more information on Food, Inc. It's a really great movie. I highly suggest it.

There's Good Hummus And There's Bad Hummus

Thursday, at around 6p.m., Aaron and I drove to the Newhall Farmer's Market. It's located on Market Street and hosts about 10 or so different vendors. We've been here once before, so we already knew what we were planning on purchasing. Right on the corner, there was a man selling hummus and pita. He had about eight different flavors of hummus, and we picked out roasted red pepper, lime and cilantro, and spinach and artichoke.

Here's the problem: It's crap.

I have to say that there are similar properties of hummus that I like in goat cheese. Tecture and taste are two very important towers on which I base liking or disliking hummus and goat cheese. In texture, I look for creaminess and smoothness. In texture, pronounced flavors. I want food to be elevated when I add it, not bland.

His texture was off and his flavor was off.

It was chunky, not blended properly, and it was bland to say the least. But we had already invested money in this storm of flavorless chickpea gravel, so it was necessary to figure out a way to cover it up and use it. Here's a recipe for covering up, and using bad hummus, as well as good hummus.

Recipe: Chicken Wrap with Steamed Veggies

Serves: 2
Prep time: <10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes.

1 chicken breast
6 tablespoons of lime and cilantro hummus
2 large pieces of Romaine lettuce
1/2 salad onion (white part)
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
2 tablespoons of ginger, spreadable goat cheese
2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of of garlic powder

Prep
1. Chop zucchini and yellow squash in pinky thick slices and then in half once more.
2. Spread hummus evenly across each slice of Romaine lettuce.
3. Dice onion.
4. Spread onion evenly across each slice of Romaine lettuce.

Cook
1. Place zucchini and yellow squash in a steamer in a pot. Sprinkle cayenne pepper and garlic powder over the vegetables and place on high. Slide chicken breast into a small skillet on medium heat.

2. Cook the chicken for about five minutes. Flip, and allow to cook for another five minutes. Zucchini and yellow squash should be finished, but allow to steam if you prefer more tender vegetables. Spoon onto plates.

3. Pull the chicken out, dice, and recook for another 5 minutes and increase heat to medium high. Sprinkle a light layer of cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Spoon the chicken onto each piece of romaine lettuce, and roll. Fork the goat cheese off of the spoonfuls overtop the zucchini and yellow squash.