Beef Suqaar

Welcome to the polar vortex. If you somehow weren't aware, the Midwest is basically shut down right now. There's ice inside my room (again). To go outside, which I have been avoiding as much as possible, I first have to suit up with wool socks, boots, hat, gloves, zip up hoodie, double layered jacket, and scarf obscuring every part of my face but my eyes. And my eyes froze. Should've worn goggles. 

Sous chef sister. Choppin' veggies, watchin' her 100th episode of Law & Order SVU

You can understand my desire to cook something from a warmer climate. I recently stumbled across the Global Table Adventure and fell instantly in love with the concept of cooking to promote peace and understanding.

I had never really given a thought to Somali food, though Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the US. Now, I can't wait to explore the culture more. Beef Suqaar is an easy and incredibly flavorful dish to make, despite its lack of spices. My family was skeptical at first, expecting it to be bland, but ended up loving it. I look forward to experimenting with more global cuisine. 

Beef Suqaar
from Global Table Adventure

1 small onion, sliced in half moons
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 green bell pepper, chopped
vegetable oil
1 1/2 lbs cubed beef
1 cup beef broth, more as needed
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 yellow potatoes, cubed
chili pepper, for heat (optional)
handful cilantro, chopped or torn (I hate cilantro, so I just didn't use any)

Fry the onion, garlic, and bell pepper in vegetable oil until soft and the house smells like glory (you'll know it). Then (and only then!) add the beef, broth, carrots, and potatoes. Finally, splash in the broth. Simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. The mixture will start out thin and soupy, but gradually thicken into more of a gravy.
If the meat is tough, add some more liquid and keep cooking until it’s completely tender.
Garnish with a handful of chopped cilantro and serve with rice.

Clementine Beef

I haven't eaten or made anything especially interesting up until now, which is going to be my excuse for the lack of posting. I feel that I've been doing more impromptu socializing lately, which leaves less time for cooking elaborate things. And sleeping. But it's worth it to have those late night conversations, to visit somewhere new, do some wandering. 

I bought a bag of clementines recently. Clementines are my winter/spring fruit that I eat obsessively (apples being the fall fruit and my true love, peaches, being the summer fruit). I usually have no issues eating all of them almost immediately, but this batch, for some reason, ended up being incredibly difficult to peel. So they sat in my room for a while, me glaring at them occasionally, willing their peels off. Hasn't worked out so far. 

 Since I've eaten all my lemon curd (don't judge), I decided to try my hand at a batch of clementine curd, which turned out very nice, but I still had too many clementines on hand. Unless someone felt like peeling them for me, I was not going to eat them. So I browsed and brainstormed. How else can I use these? And I came across a recipe for clementine beef! The juice and zest is combined with honey and soy sauce, the sweetness balanced out by the kick of chili flakes. You'll definitely enjoy this if you're a fan of orange beef. 

Clementine Beef
adapted slightly from daisy's world 

3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 pounds tri-tip, skirt or flank steak, cut in thin strips on the bias
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce (I ended up using YR Sauce, which is quite similar to Worcester Sauce)
 2 tablespoons honey
1/2 tsp crushed chili flakes
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1/3 cup freshly squeezed clementine juice 2 clementines, for zest
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, as needed
3-5 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely minced
1 6-ounce bag baby spinach
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the lite soy sauce and cornstarch. Add beef strips and mix well. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

To make the sauce, whisk the  hoisin, honey,  red pepper flakes, soy sauce, clementine juice, and the zest of one clementine until completely combined. Set aside.
In large pan or wok, heat oil on high and brown beef in small batches, making sure not to crowd the pan. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beef to a platter. Set aside.
Add more oil in the pan, if necessary. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the sauce mixture and cook until reduced and thickened, about 5-7 minutes. Add all the beef back into the pan and cook for about 1 minute. Add spinach (or other vegetables) and cook just until spinach is incorporated and beef is heated through. Season with freshly cracked black pepper.
Garnish with more clementine zest. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Spaghetti Carbonara

I'm not really sure why I rarely blog the "real" things I eat. I swear, I do eat things beside cake. Sometimes. I think part of it is that when I'm cooking, I'm feeling more "I'm hungry and I don't want to take pictures, I want to eat my dinner" rather than "Oh, what a fun break this is from doing homework". You dig?

 And it's not even that I make really boring things for dinner. Some of the more notable meals have been pasta e fagioli, chicken tikka masala, pad thai, and pandan chicken. Oftentimes I even take pictures of my ingredients or process but I just forget to take a picture of the final dish. Or I just don't feel like it. Basically, I just suck, haha. 

I've also made spaghetti carbonara before and not posted it, but this time I've made a concerted effort to bring it to you! It's an incredibly easy and tasty meal, and a good way to use up random bits of food from the fridge. Perfect for a college student. 

Oh, by the way, today is the start of my spring break, woo! Or, as the Irish kids call it, reading week. I guess this is a period of study for them. For me, it's a period of almost interrupted travel! So I won't be able to post much/at all for the next week or two. But I promise you that when I come back, I'll have all sorts of stories to share. Wish me safe journeys!

 

Spaghetti Carbonara 
adapted slightly from BBC Good Food
serves 2ish

50 grams chopped back bacon (what I used), ham, pancetta, Canadian bacon...not American bacon
50g grated Parmesan
1 large egg
175 grams spaghetti
1 crushed garlic clove
a bit of butter or olive oil for the pan

Cook your spaghetti according to directions on the package. Add a little salt to the water. 
While the spaghetti is cooking, fry the meat with the garlic. Drop the butter into a large wide frying pan or wok and, as soon as the butter has melted, tip in the meat and garlic. Leave these to cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the meat is golden and crisp.
Keep the heat under the meat on low.When the pasta is ready, drain it, but leave a bit of pasta water to thin the sauce. I only needed a few tablespoons. In your now empty spaghetti pot, throw the spaghetti back in, plus the bacon/garlic mixture, and the cheese.
Take the pan of spaghetti and meat off the heat. Now quickly crack the egg in, and using the tongs or a long fork, lift up the spaghetti so it mixes easily with the egg mixture, which thickens but doesn't scramble, and everything is coated. Add extra pasta cooking water to keep it saucy (several tablespoons should do it). You don't want it wet, just moist. Season with a little salt, if needed.
Use a long-pronged fork to twist the pasta on to the serving plate or bowl. Serve immediately with a little sprinkling of the remaining cheese and a grating of black pepper. If the dish does get a little dry before serving, splash in some more hot pasta water and the glossy sauciness will be revived.

Thai Chicken

I'm moving back to school in five days, and I'm beyond excited. Going back to college as a sophomore is so different from moving in as a freshman. That fear of the unknown (which drives me crazy. I like to be in control) is pretty much gone. I have friends and familiarity to return to. And by this time you kinda realize who you are and what you need. Example: I did not iron my clothes for the first 18 years of my life, and I did not suddenly start ironing in college. Stupid example, haha. 

 Before I leave I have to have my favorite foods that I won't get for months. I did try and create this chicken at school once, but it required a lot of advance planning. It's just one of those things probably better made in the comfort of your own home. Over the years I've adapted this recipe until reaching what I believe to be coconutty curry perfection. Nom. 

 

Oh, and if you're a college freshman, or nearing that time in your life, no worries. It may be tough at first, but you'll find your place. I mean, I did, and I'm kind of a "socially retarded misanthrope",  to quote Gesine Bullock-Prado. So you'll be fine.

So tasty I forgot to take a picture, haha

Thai Curry Chicken

adapted from the Usborne Children's World Cookbook

Ingredients

2 medium onions

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp chili powder

a dash curry powder

pinch of salt a pepper

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

6 skinless chicken breasts

1 lime 

1 can coconut milk

1/4-1/2 c cream of coconut (the stuff to make, pina coladas, y'know?) 

1-2 tsp red curry paste

Peel and chop the onions into small pieces. Mix the ginger, curry powder, chili powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the chicken breasts and cook them for 5 minutes on each side. Lift the chicken breasts onto paper towels. Pat them dry with another paper towel to remove excess oil. Cut the lime and squeeze the juice over the chicken, then sprinkle each piece evenly with the spice mixture. In a bowl or measuring cup, combine the coconut milk, cream of coconut and curry paste until combined. I like my sauce a little on the sweeter side, so I tend to add more cream of coconut and less curry paste. Up to you. Heat the oil in the frying pan again. Cook onions and garlic over low heat until soft. Put the chicken back in the pan and pour the coconut sauce over it. Stir everything together well. Cook the chicken for twenty minutes, until it is cooked all the way through. Serve with sticky, short grain rice.

Shhhhhh....(Butternut Squash + Bacon Pasta)

I've been feeling kind of quiet lately. I dunno how many of you blog, but do you ever feel blogged out? Like, I've definitely been making food, no doubt, like The Pastry Affair's Chocolate Banana Cake, tomato basil bisque, and monster zucchini bread. I mean, look at this sucker! 

Also look at my fancy nails. 

But sometimes I don't have a story to go along with my food. Or, I could create one, but it would feel forced and distract me from simply enjoying the process. I'm not the kind of person who talks because they like to hear their own voice (I'm not sure anyone would willingly admit to being that person, but you can ask my close friends and family, it's definitely not true for me). I'm okay with long silences. I frequently revel in them. 

Hi! I'm a cute and annoying butternut squash who is far too difficult to cut!

So here's a many stepped but uncomplicated recipe, perfect for getting lost in the quiet of your thoughts. I made it for my family while they were out of the house, and it was a lovely treat to get to cook with the only sounds being a knife hitting a cutting board and the sizzle of oil in a pan. 

Butternut Squash + Bacon Pasta

adapted from Cooking Light magazine 

Ingredients

• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
• 6 sweet hickory-smoked bacon slices (raw)
• 1 cup thinly sliced onions
• 8 ounces uncooked penne
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups skim milk
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 425°.
• Combine 1/4 teaspoon salt, rosemary, and pepper. Place squash on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray (don't forget the cooking spray like me, haha); sprinkle with salt mixture. Bake at 425° for 45 minutes or until tender and lightly browned. Increase oven temperature to 450°.
• Cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 1/2 teaspoons drippings in pan; crumble bacon. Increase heat to medium-high. Add onions to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Combine squash mixture, bacon, and onions; set aside.
• Cook pasta according to the package directions, drain well.
• Combine flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add mozzarella, stirring until cheese melts. Add pasta to cheese mixture, tossing well to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray; top with squash mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown.

Comfort Food

I hate this kind of question, but have you ever been asked what you would eat if you could only have one thing for the rest of your life? For me, there's no hesitation at all. I would totally choose spaghetti and meatballs. Wait, let me add to that - my mom's spaghetti and meatballs. No contest.

I'm a meatball snob. I don't like not knowing how they were prepared, so I rarely eat meatballs outside of my own home. Except, y'know, spaghettios with meatballs. Somehow, those are okay. But they're kind more like cat food than anything else, so they don't really go in the meatball category. Anyway...

I will reveal the family recipe here. It's powerful, so use it wisely. Like, to woo a date. Maybe with some focaccia too. No, wait, save the focaccia. Make straight up italian bread. The following recipe (yes, two recipes!) makes the most beautiful loaf of bread I have ever seen. Not kidding, it looked plastic it was so perfect. I don't care that it's August, make these now. And then report back to me and tell me how it went over.

Amazing Meatballs

(I'm going to assume you have a pot of sauce that's been cooking for a while. If you just want to eat sauce-less meatballs, that's okay too. Oh, also, this recipe makes like, 30 meatballs. So if you don't want that many, feel free to fiddle with the measurements.)

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 lbs ground beef

8 oz. box panko (or bread crumbs. Panko has less salt.)

2 or 3 cloves crushed garlic

2 tsp black pepper

1 cup milk

1/4 fresh, chopped parsley or 2 Tbsp dried

1/4 - 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment or a silpat, set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs well. Add the ground beef, panko, garlic, pepper, parsley, salt, and cheese and mush together with your hands (yep. Best way to do it.). Add milk until desired consistency is reached, you need to be able to roll a golf ball sized piece without it falling apart. Roll into balls (mine were somewhere in between a golf ball and a tennis ball). It doesn't matter how close together they are. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping them halfway through. Okay. If you are adding these directly to a premade sauce and eating immediately, you need to cook these longer, until the internal temp reaches 160 F, probably around 45 minutes. If you are letting these cook with your sauce for at least an hour, you should be fine taking them out at 20 minutes. I prefer this way, it makes the sauce more flavorful and your meat very tender.

Serve with spaghetti and fresh parmesan cheese.

Italian Bread

from Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:

2 cups lukewarm water (~100°F)
1 package active dry yeast
5 to 5¾ cups bread flour
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2½ teaspoons salt
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Stir the yeast into ½ cup of the warm water. Let proof as you measure out the dry ingredients.

Combine 5 cups flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the yeast mixture, remaining water and olive oil. Using a dough hook attachment, mix on lowest speed of electric mixer (stir setting on a KitchenAid) until a dough starts to form, adding more flour as needed. Knead on low speed (2 on a KitchenAid) for 7 minutes. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and need by hand for 1 to 2 minutes, or until a smooth, firm, elastic dough is formed.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and spray the dough with a thin coating of cooking spray. Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to proof in a warm, draft-free place for 1½ hours or until doubled in size.

Remove the plastic wrap, punch down and flatten the rounded dough with the heel of your hand. Roll the dough up tightly, sealing the seam well after each roll. The dough should be elongated and oval-shaped, with tapered and rounded (not pointed) ends.

Preheat the oven lined with a baking stone or unglazed quarry tiles to 425°F.

Place the dough on a baker’s peel heavily dusted with flour, or alternately on an inverted baking sheet. Allow the dough to proof, loosely covered with a floured canvas cloth, for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Brush the dough with the egg white and sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top. Using a razor blade or sharp knife, slash the dough lengthwise about 1/4-inch deep, keeping the blade at a 45 degree angle.

Spray the dough generously with water from a water bottle and place in the oven on the baking stone. Immediately close the oven and bake for 3 minutes. Open the oven door and spray the dough again with the water bottle. Close the oven door and bake for an additional 3 minutes before spraying the dough for a third time (the spraying of the dough will ensure a crisp golden brown crust).

Bake the dough for a total of 45 minutes, or until a hollow thud is heard when tapping the bottom of the bread. Allow the bread to cool before slicing.

Roast Chicken

You're going to want to take off your jewelry for this one. 

It's a recent development that I've found I enjoy getting my hands dirty. Building, digging, painting...there's a meditative quality to it. And you don't really appreciate the work put into a wooden park sign until you've made one yourself, or the careful eye and patience required to cultivate a superb vegetable garden. 

Naturally, I apply this to cooking as well. I feel this deep appreciation for meals I know has been  laboriously crafted with loving hands. It creates this special connection. I think oftentimes it's a simpler recipe where this quality shines through the most, but that's really just a personal thing. So....if you feel like getting your hands dirty, stick with me.

I've been making roast chicken with my mom since I was little, but I always made her do the gross parts. But I'm an adult in the kitchen now, and I sort of consider this a rite of passage.

Carefully unwrapping the bird in the sink, I note that it's kinda...juicy. And slimy. I stare at the chicken, somehow feeling like it's staring back. Sigh. Gotta get that bag of creepy bits out of the inside somehow. I tug at the plastic insistently, but it just won't budge. My mom made this look so easy! Why...won't....it...move? Oh...hehe. Wrong side. There we go!

If you're feeling brave, which by this point you should be, go ahead and reach under the skin and rub some herbs down there. Being one who does not eat chicken skin, it's a must for me to get that flavor infused into the meat.

Now, sit back, and admire your handiwork. Beautiful, no? Best chicken you ever tasted? Pretty much.

I was so hungry at this point I forgot to take an end picture. It was good chicken. 

Roast Chicken

from the ever reliable Magic Spoon Cookbook

Ingredients

1 large roasting chicken (the size is up to you really. It depends how many people are eating.

3 carrots, cut into discs

3 stalks celery, cut into pieces

1 large onion, cut into eighths

1/2 to 1 lemon

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 Tbsp dried sage

1 Tbsp dried oregano

1 Tbsp dried thyme

1 Tbsp dried parsley

Preheat the oven to 425 F and prepare a large roasting pan.

Rinse out your chicken and remove the inside bag thing. Do with it what you will (I threw it away). Mix all the herbs and spices in a small bowl. Place the chicken in the roasting pan, and squeeze lemon juice over the bird. Take at least a tablespoon of the herb mixture and sprinkle it over the skin of the chicken. If you have a big bird, feel free to use it all, otherwise just save the extra for another time. If you'd like, gently lift the skin and rub herbs into it. Scatter the vegetables around it, and pop it into the oven for at least an hour, or until a thermometer in the thigh reads about 180 F. Halfway through, baste the chicken with its juices (or add some water to the pan if it's looking dry). Enjoy! 

Spaghetti + Clams

I went on another visit this past week. It tasted like burritos the size of your face, bread in a can, and sweat. Man it's hot out. Probably not the best weather for my first ever camping experience. 

Bread in a can tastes good with cream cheese.

I don't think I've fully understood true heat until now. I'm not very tolerant of it. My house stays at a balmy 66 degrees all year round. Sleeping in a tent in 100 degree weather makes me appreciate a cool lake, a ceiling fan, A/C set at 78 degrees. 

So, naturally, I also didn't understand people complaining that it was too hot to cook dinner in the summer. I get it now. Boy do I ever. The goal is to make something fast, so you can get out of the sweltering kitchen as quickly as possible. Spaghetti and clams is a natural choice for me. The sauce just needs to cook for a few minutes so the flavors can meld together, and if you use angel hair pasta (yay, cooks for 3 minutes!) then you can theoretically have dinner on the table in like, 15-20 minutes. Stay cool everyone!

Spaghetti with Clam Sauce

(I don't really measure when I make this, so bear with me)

Ingredients

Angel hair, spaghetti, linguine, some sort of long noodly pasta (probably about half a box)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 6.5 oz cans of minced clams with juice

1/3 - 1/2 cup white wine

fresh parsley

Prepare boiling water for pasta while you make the sauce. Add olive oil to a medium skillet, when hot, add garlic and saute for a minute. Add clams and juice, and let it simmer for a few minutes, then add wine, and let it cook down a bit. When you're ready to eat, add parsley, and toss the drained pasta and sauce together in the pot you made the pasta in. Serve immediately, with parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper.

Lamb Stew

I'm in this weird place where I haven't quite figured out what I'm supposed to be doing or where I am. My siblings are still in school for another week, while I'm prone to stumbling around the house in a sleep deprived stupor as I wait to hear back from potential employers.

Least I can do is make dinner, right? Stew conjures up images of chilly nights, huddled by a fire (possibly wearing a cape made of a blanket held around the shoulders with a binder clip. Cutting edge fashion right there) looking for something warm to eat.

Welp, as you can see by the pictures and title of this post, that's what I made. Maybe the college crazy hasn't worn off yet. This stew is lovely and simple. Tender chunks of lamb, cooked with melt in your mouth onions and potatoes. I first made this when I was like...11 or 12. So you can do it. While you're at it, find some nice, warm bread to serve with it. Maybe these?

Lamb Stew

from the Usborne Children's World Cookbook 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 lbs stewing lamb, or neck and shoulder joints

1 1/2 lbs potatoes

2 large onions

dried thyme or mixed herbs

salt and pepper

1 meat bouillon cube

2 cups boiling water

2 Tb butter

1. Preheat oven to 325. Trim any fat off the meat and cut into 1 inch cubes. Peel the potatoes and cut them into thin slices. Chop onions into small pieces. 

2. Put a layer of meat into a casserole dish. Sprinkle with herbs, salt and pepper. Add a layer of onions, and then potatoes, sprinkling each layer with the herb mix. You should end up with potatoes on top.

3. Make the bouillon and pour it into the dish. Brush butter over the top layer of potatoes.

4. Put the lid on the dish and cook it for 2 hours. For the last half hour, remove the lid.