For the Northwestern tailgate earlier this month, I attempted to contribute to the festivities and failed miserably. The cornbread tasted great, there just wasn’t enough of it. I placed my puny loaf pan next to the enormous aluminum banquet trays, and I have a feeling it was greeted with deep suspicion. “What the hell is this tiny pan of cornbread doing in our ridiculously giant tailgate buffet? Is this some sort of trick? Is it poisoned??” I have to say I don’t blame them. It was a slightly confusing sight. By the end of the tailgate there was just a paper-thin slice missing from the pan. I should mention that…
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Squash Soup
If one is good, three is great. Case in point: Butternut, acorn and zucchini squash soup. Next time you consider whipping up a batch of that old fall go-to, butternut squash soup, consider this delightful remix. Roasted three-squash soup You’ll need: 1 acorn squash 1 large butternut squash 1 zucchini 1/2 of yellow or white onion 4 cloves garlic, roasted 1/2 teaspoon curry 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1 teaspoon white pepper salt to taste olive oil and butter for roasting 1-2 cups chicken or vegetable stock Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut up your squash in slices and scoop out the seeds, but don’t peel them. Drizzle…
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The iceberg sunk this Titanic
“Kate and Leo Tomatilllo (salsa)” Whaaaaa??? I know. I said the same thing when Dave suggested the name for my … errr … “his” tomatillo salsa for the Cars.com salsa competition. We were trying to think of something that rhymes with tomatillo (there isn’t much), when Dave blurted out “Kate and Leo” … as in Kate Winslett and Leo DiCaprio. *awkward silence* “Yeah, c’mon … cause, y’know … this salsa is TITAAAANIIIIC!!!” “Ummm, the Titanic sunk and hundreds of people perished.” “Well … yeah … but how funny would it be to put a still shot of that ‘I’m flying Jack … I’m flying!’ scene on the blog???” So there…
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My plan was foiled …
A few weeks ago I went into a cleaning frenzy, and before I knew it, I had doused my entire oven in CLR. CLR is not exactly non-toxic, as you may know. I realized what I’d done almost immediately and began furiously wiping down the oven with cold water. An hour of scrubbing, several frantic Google searches, one call to my mother and one email to Jelmar (the makers of CLR) later, the oven still smelled of CLR and I wasn’t sure if it would ever be safe to cook in again. In the end I may have overreacted a bit—Googled turned up several forums with people who’ve cleaned cast-iron…
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Cookies for Cars.comers
Dear Cars.comers, I wasn’t holding out on you by not posting this recipe. It was just a simple case of procrastination. I swear. I know you really like the oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies I send to work with Dave every so often, so now you can make them for yourselves. But don’t worry, I’ll still send some oatmeal love your way now and then. Bon appetit. love, J.C. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe adapted from Gale Gand’s Sweet Dreams (Food Network) You’ll need: 3 tablespoons butter, room temp 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup honey 1 egg 1 tablespoon water 1/2 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1…
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Redemption and bear-shaped tostadas
Last week, I made some delicious game-day food for the return of Sunday Football at Jim’s place. Unfortunately, as a result of Cutler’s awful debut performance, I was too dejected to actually post about it. Since I went to great lengths to make bear-shaped food, and the Bears redeemed themselves tonight in an exhilarating win, I think I’ll get around to posting about that meal now. Plus, this tortilla soup is way too good not to share. Black Bean Bear Tostadas and Tortilla Soup For the Tortilla Soup you’ll need: 3 chicken breasts 1 cup chicken stock 1 zucchini finely chopped 1 onion finely chopped 1-2 jalapenos (depending on how spicy…
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Mango Mojitos
I am clinging on to summer for dear life. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the fall, I just hate that season whose name we won’t speak that follows it. I figure if I keep posting summer recipes I can hang on a little longer. And we can thank our friend Mike’s mom, Mrs. Truckenmiller, for this one. I forget the exact measurements, but this is the gist of it: Mango Mojito (Makes four small drinks. If you’re my kind of people you’ll double this. Or triple it. No judgement.) You’ll need: several fresh mint leaves 6 oz rum 2 cups club soda 4 oz simple syrup (2 parts…
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Last day of bread week: French baguette
Well my friends, today is officially the last day of bread week, and as I type, I still have dough underneath my fingernails and a fine dusting of flour covering every square inch of my kitchen. I’m not going to lie: This was a lot harder and more time consuming then I thought it would be. My mixer is on the verge of suicide (it was literally walking itself off the table with a loud thumping noise on that last large batch of dough), and I am in a carb-induced coma. But I’ve learned a lot and gained some serious patience along the way. And I can’t tell you how rewarding…
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Bread week, day 6: Pita
It seemed so easy. All was going according to plan. Day 6 of bread week was sure to be a piece of cake … er … bread. Until my pitas failed to puff. They were as deflated as my ego after a thus-far-successful bread week was foiled. I’ll give you all the recipe, because I think the inability to puff isn’t the recipe so much as the execution. Bake at your own risk. Pita Bread Adapted from The Bread Bible You’ll need: 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons active yeast 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water Mix the water and yeast until the yeast…
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Bread week, day 5: No need to knead
I stumbled upon a recipe for no-knead bread on The Vegetarian Foodie blog. Not that I was excited to find a no-knead recipe. What are you saying? I love kneading. Are you accusing me of getting burnt out on all this bread baking, proofing and kneading? Nonsense. I was just … ummm … curious. Riiiiight. Anyway, I was slightly skeptical. Why would anyone ever knead dough if they could skip this step and still get a great bread (besides those of us who are brimming with passion for perfecting the art and science of kneading, of course)? Well, my friends, I was utterly amazed at the ease of this recipe and the…