Naan bread mission complete

Delicious!

Recipe here:

I subbed 1/4 whole wheat flour (1/2 out of 2 cups), and let the individual balls rise about 30 mins after dividing.

On hobbies and addiction

After my promise last time, I've spent the past couple weeks thinking about what to post on. Sure, I've cooked. I've continued with my clean eating habits, meaning that my meals (especially those I pack for work) have consisted of grains. Wheatberries with greek salad toppings. Quinoa - topped with julienned root vegetables and herbs, with a bright lemony dressing (a la My New Roots again)

which became this:

Someday perhaps I will really commit to this and get a real camera.

I also made a few soba noodle salads, again with julienne vegetables. For some reason I love the look of these types of noodle/grain dishes, with the different coloured vegetables all organized into neat little sections (perhaps I'm just showing off my knife skills to our chef, hoping to get a back of house job - She did ask me "did you cut that by hand" "yes" "do you want a job?" !!!!). I used Heidi (as usual) for inspiration, but my dressing was recipe-free: some miso, lime juice, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and homemade roasted chili oil. Last week I was craving dumplings so I thought "dumplings from scratch! So much better" - and I made this dumpling filling...then never got around to the dough, so I just ate it straight up the other day. Topped with scallions, garlic chili sauce, sesame oil and a touch of soy. Delicious!

So, I cooked. And I spent a lot of my free time discovering new food blogs (shocking!) A particular favourite right now is Damaris @
Kitchen Corners

I swear this is all bringing me to a point. Hopefully. The other day I read this post from Food blogga and had to laugh, while also feeling better that there are others out there like me! People who buy way too much produce and then spend their free hours trying to "deal with it". I was reminded of this today when my friend Stephen invited me over for dinner, and I had to say - "sorry I have to eat the leftover Indian food I slaved over last night." Oh! And "I have to actually make homemade naan to go with it this time! Also, I should probably make some kind of wrap with that naan to use some of the black beans I cooked the other day...maybe with some carmelized onions and sauteed kale???
And how about I make some quinoa so I can try this salad for lunch on my Friday double??" (Yes I read through all 31 salads). "I did buy too many avocadoes and too many grape tomatoes for one person yesterday!"

And thus a post topic was born.

Ok. My name is Sarah and I'm an addict. A food addict.

That sounds a little wrong. Sure I have my issues with food. But I don't have a food addiction necessarily, where I use food for the wrong reasons and have a compulsion to eat. My hobby has just become all consuming. Well, really it has been this way for awhile - perhaps since studying Food Politics for my Masters. But back then, I loved cooking, yet I saw food more as a forum and a universal theme for social change. I certainly still believe that to be the case, yet my daily life revolves around what new recipes I want to research and try, what ingredients and techniques have I not yet explored, and what is in my fridge that needs to be used. In some ways I have lost touch with the change I used to want to create. In some ways, perhaps, my hands are in it deeper than ever. I am inspired by something I recently read from Umami Girl

"I love the way it feels to live a daily life full of small, edible victories"

[I could expound on this greatly, to make this post even more lengthy - I'll keep it at this: the basic point of my thesis was that in order to create true lasting
changes, it is important to build viable alternatives, while also opposing the dominant systems. To me, this alternative building is the essence of Umami girl's quote. As Gandhi said "we must build the shell of the new inside of the shell of the old."]

One thing all this food blog reading does is inspire and motivate me. How much would I love to be one of these women, who have made their food obsessions into income-generating careers. However, it also reminds me of my graduate thesis, and the doubts I had about continuing to a phd - what is the point, of writing MORE articles to sit in a library (or an online database now) that .00001% of the population will ever read, and may or most likely will not have any impact on the world. Navel gazing? What is the point of me writing this blog?? For now, I'll say the point is for myself, to keep a record of things I have cooked, in one place, instead of multiple recipe journals scattered around.

At the same time, I admire these women who have turned their food "obsessions" (passions???) into viable careers. I mentioned this to my friend Dan the other day:

"Hey Dan, I've been reading a lot (read - perhaps even more than usual) of food blogs lately. I wonder if there's any way I can turn my hobby/love (read - obsession) for food into something financially rewarding""
Dan: "Oh REALLY?!?! I've only been telling you this for HOW LONG?!!!! Make a business plan for fucks sake already!!!"

Oh ya, this is what I made last night:

Bhindi Masala with Paneer and Gobi Mutter. With mint, cucumber, cilantro raita.
And the naan bread balls are on their second proof.

Valentines Day: aka single appreciation day

So, its been over a month and no new posts from me. Still haven't posted the blood orange marmalade recipe! I rock ;) Oddly, that brings me to the topic of this post - how much I am happy and at peace with myself lately.

I had a mini-staycation last week (for me that means two days off in a row - weekdays so I'm not necessarily out and about the whole time), and I discovered this awesome food blog My New Roots. Sarah (B!) is from Ontario, went to a holistic nutrition school in Toronto (a school I myself have looked into), and now is a cook at some vegetarian restaurants in Copenhagen. Her blog is filled with nutritional information, delicious vegetarian recipes, and beautiful photography. I found a link there from Heidi at 101 cookbooks, another of my favourites. Prompted by my 48+ hours of uninterrupted ME time, and my readings on My New Roots, I cooked up a storm of healthy things! I also started doing yoga on a MUCH more regular basis again.

I made roasted spicy chickpeas (to eat when my salty/crunchy cravings hit), cooked some lentils and quinoa to turn into salads to bring to work, started some broccoli sprouts and got my juicer out of its 6 year cupboard hibernation. For dinner I had garlicky roasted mushrooms, sauteed red chard (also with garlic!), and french lentils. From the basic lentils I also made this curried lentil salad.

After these lovely few days, I had to go back to work every night this past weekend. But I had so much positive energy! I've also been reading another amazing blog lately - Waiter Rant - and I'm working my way through the archives. Slowly. It is beautifully written. Steve now has a couple of books, and is obviously an accomplished writer. He also went to seminary school for theology earlier in life, and while he (thankfully) doesn't ooze religious views into his writing, there is certainly a philosophical slant to things. And despite the title (I'd heard of his book, and was skeptical at first) he illuminates both the funny/cynical side of serving, while integrating many heartwarming and also sad stories. It has made me even more conscious and passionate about what I do. Steve has a post at one point about serving being an outlet for shy people - something we can do that allows us to connect (for short periods of determined time) with others. On a related note, I was talking with some friends (during our post-work drinks-decompression) about how our society is so isolated - how awkward it is on the subway sometimes with everyone trying to stay within their own cell phone/book/newspaper/ipod bubble and avoid eye contact. I remarked that one thing that makes serving so wonderful is the fact that each and every day I have the opportunity to connect and impact dozens of people. Dozens of strangers.

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty blissed out. All of which is a very long and drawn out explanation for the topic at hand (gee, maybe I should update more often!) Today is Valentines Day. Some of my friends (and I'm sure many, many people) are moping about, sad and/or bitter to be single. Me: I'm at peace. More than at peace, I'm thankful, and happy. I love my life, my job, my friends, my family. I'm excited for my future. I'm enjoying living each day, giving to myself, expending my energy on ME (along with all those guests!) I'm genuinely happy for all those people who are in truly loving relationships, but I know that is not what I want right now. Or, at least, it is not something I feel lacking of. That said, I'm happy I had the night off (class in the morning!) to give back to myself. I made a nice meal:

No recipe. Its just roasted golden and regular beets, VERY thinly sliced chioggia (or candy cane) beets, some baby greens, tarragon and mint. With blood orange, buffalo mozzarella and some olive oil, ramp pickling liquid and fleur de sel. Very pretty, very tasty. Now some wine, a salt bath, and a wine book.

I hope everyone out there had a wonderful day as well.

In praise of cottage cheese, or, why this blog will continue to be unpopular

Lots and lots to catch up on, including pictures (yay!)
So the other night, in a fit of sketchy, hungover laziness, I was browsing chowhound and ended up reading a thread with about 450 replies (yes, i read them all) about what to eat with cottage cheese. Now, I've always loved the stuff, and often bring cottage cheese with herbs and diced up vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions) mixed in for lunch at work (much to the chagrin of my colleagues - who usually snoop through and steal bites of my lunches when I'm busy). Needless to say, this chowhound perusing created quite a craving in me, not having had the gloppy white stuff (lol) since before the holidays.

Part two of this story begins last Friday, when I worked a split with a three hour break. Enough time to come home and make lunch, which in my case equaled homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese. I've never made tomato soup, but decided to use my trusty source Deb @ smittenkitchen (surprise!)

Now, I wasn't such a fan of the soup on Friday, unfortunately. Coming home and spending about an hour cooking in between shifts for a somewhat disappointing lunch is, well...somewhat disappointing. However, I didn't add in the booze (which obviously would detract from the original recipe), and I realized after that I forgot to sprinkle the tomatoes with brown sugar before roasting. Of course a tomato dish sans requisite pinch of sugar might end up being somewhat bitter!

Well, tonight I was thinking of making something with the plethora of ingredients withering in the fridge - perhaps some creamy, pureed white beans with sauteed herby zucchini and...roasted leeks? Sounds good, but I needed something to tide me over, and to add a bit more vegetable goodness and colour to my menu. Something, more importantly, that I could eat with cottage cheese. As I was sitting here, reading food blogs and more chowhound, working up the energy and appetite for dinner, I remembered something about tomato soup, with cottage cheese mixed in?! Sounds...interesting...but I'll tell you, along with the pinch of sugar I stirred into the soup while reheating, it made the leftovers quite delicious!

Now to tackle the rest of dinner! (Don't worry I don't have to cook the beans from scratch, just thought that jar was "more" photogenic than a container of liquidy beans)

Here I am, back again

Well, well, well, its January, and I'm back! Apparently its resolution time, or my re-determination to cook as much as possible (and more importantly, keep track of it all). Perhaps its being housebound instead of out frolicking enjoying summer and fall, or busy with holiday preparation and traveling. Perhaps its a lighter, less busy schedule in my industry (yes, still THAT industry) around this time. In any case, I'm re-(re?) dedicating myself to writing here (instead of spending the majority of my internet time reading other food blogs). Maybe (hopefully?) no one else will ever read it, and this will be a way for me to keep track of what I cook, recipes I use, adjustments I make, and what I would change next time. I already have a hand-written kitchen journal, but (surprise!) I don't always mark things down there either.

Anyway, I finally have a "camera" (iphone4s), and have done a substantial amount of cooking lately. There is a blood orange marmalade (with gorgeous pictures) that I will post about asap. I also wanted to write about what I made last night (mostly for my own reference, sorry).

Deborah Madison's Basic French Lentils
I omitted the Cognac, used half/half water/chicken stock, and no additional shallots at the end.

served on creamy garlic mashed potatoes, with green beans, and

Garlic butter roasted mushrooms
I tried to half this, but perhaps should have used a bit more butter/oil, as there wasn't really any delicious garlickyness to mop up. The garlic itself was quite darkly "browned" - but still soooooo good in my opinion.

Well, here's crossing my fingers that I actually follow through on this somewhat regularly. Those blood orange marmalade pics are screaming to be adored.

snack addicted and falling apart - or...homemade corn tortillas

So, I am addicted to snacks. Hard for me to admit, but i realize it's true. I often get home from work around 1am, having started sometime in the afternoon (or perhaps at 11am). I usually manage to eat one (or two, on days i'm just working nights, not a double) healthy meals before work - but they often look like breakfast. Smoothies, omelettes, egg (mc)muffins, scrambled tofu. Then after working 8 hours on my feet, running around bringing other people food and drinks, I am starving. Sometimes I manage to eat a little something at work, but it's usually not the healthiest option, I on-and-off hate my employers and don't want to give them money for food, or I simply don't have time. Then I come home and want the quickest, most satisfying option. And I also happen to be someone who prefers cooking from scratch, eating healthy (as much as its possible with this in-between life).

Last time I posted about homemade wheat tortillas, and I've been wanting to make corn tortillas since then, I was just house-bound with a flu and didn't have masa farina in my pantry. BUT today I made the trek to the REAL, value grocery store (thanks Mom for the Christmas gift certificate) and managed to lug home about 30 pounds of groceries. See, I live in what one might call a "food-desert" - in an area full of high-rise apartments mostly full of business-men commuters and young families- of which I am neither. Within walking distance yhere is a vegetable/fruit market downstairs where I do most of my shopping, and a sobeys express which is not a reliable, economical option for those of us who are struggling to make ends meet in this over-expensive city.

The point here, un-obvious as it may be, is that I like snacks :) Also, I bought 10 avocados (supposedly 2 bags of 5 for 5$) at Metro a week ago. The online flyer advertised 10 for 5$, I went (after midnight on my way home from a dinner party) and bought them and was told more than that, argued with the teller (which I NEVER EVER do) about the price - then realized the next day that flyer started the NEXT day (or perhaps after midnight the day I was there?!?!)

So - angry guacamole - check. Attempting to make corn tortillas by hand, discovering they are much more difficult to roll out than flour tortillas - and thus falling apart - check. Soon to be (crunchy, salty) snack food, made from scratch by my own hands - check!

Guacamole:
4 small avocados (thought they would be overripe, but apparently not heating my kitchen kept them nice and green)
2 LARGE cloves of garlic, minced (seriously, I had almost 1/4 cup of minced garlic from 2 cloves)
juice of 1 1/2 limes (not very juicy limes)
**I like it garlicky, and acidic!
generous pinch or two of salt
1/3 of a jalapeno, chopped (I might be tempted to add more if not perhaps serving to those less heat-a-philic)

Tortillas:
1 cup of masa harina
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup of warm/hot tap water

Mix together salt and flour, slowly add water while mixing with hands, in a circular motion, to bring the mixture together into a dough. Alternately add more flour and/or water to make the dough a workable consistency. I still haven't quite found this consistency, but did manage to roll out a few, a bit more thick that I would have liked. Then cook in a large skillet, over medium-high heat, ~45 seconds per side. These are VERY tasty, so much better than store bought, and its hard to even find store bought corn tortillas in Toronto (unless you venture into Kensington, which I do often, but its far enough from my house to not be a 1am, on the way home from work, option).
I then brushed one side with canola oil, sprinkled on more salt, and baked at 375 degrees farenheit for 8 minutes.

Stay at home vacation - or, an evolving soup and evolving me

I started this blog a little less than a year ago, posted just a few times, then abandoned it. There were a lot of (not so good) things going on in my life at that time, and I wasn't in the best space personally. I've changed some over this past year; my past two days of "stay-at-home-vacation" have shown me just how much. I've had a lot of time of lately, the restaurant industry is not exactly booming post-holiday madness, and I've found myself bored, apathetic, and unmotivated. Sure I still cook lots, spend time with friends, do a bit of yoga (not nearly enough) - but I didn't take pleasure in any of that. It felt a bit like just going through the motions, doing the things I thought I enjoyed, without gaining any actual joy from the process.

Yesterday I planned to catch up on some things at home, not having been here for most of this year so far. I cleaned, exercised, and made dough for homemade tortillas, did some research on holistic nutrition, then in the afternoon I started coming down with a cold. Having done all this reading on nourishing and healing foods, I knew I wanted to fight my oncoming illness naturally. I made a Mexican garlic soup with chipotle, drank tea with lemon and honey, and about a million glasses of water. I find it a bit funny that one of the few posts I made a year ago was also about making soup to combat a cold. There's just something about soup that is so comforting.

I generally lead a fairly unroutine lifestyle, with day shifts, night shifts and splits, and I find it hard to really be consistent with all the things necessary for true health. Having this time off lately has given me the chance to recommit myself, and to reconsider working in an industry that can be so detrimental physically and mentally. To end a long ramble - a year ago I wouldn't have been feeling so peaceful, refreshed and remotivated having so much ME time, but maybe I'm finally ready to start practicing more of the things I believe in. Not because I'm going through the motions, but because I recognize the positive impacts they can have on me, and I believe that I deserve it.

Hopefully this can be something I follow through on when I start working a crazy schedule again, or perhaps I'll finally take the steps to figure out what I want to do professionally that will make me more fulfilled. One thing is for sure, if I DO maintain this blog I need to get a working (non-cell phone) camera!


Mexican Garlic Soup with Chipotle and Lime

As usual I didn't exactly follow a recipe when I made this, or write one down after but the basic idea was to make a spicy, garlicky, broth to sooth my sore throat and cough. I found the lime kind of strange, as I was hoping for Mexican flavours, but it reminded me of Thai Tom Yum, so I tried to play it down by adding more chipotle, tomato, cumin and stock. I also thought the broth could use something else to add a focal point - chicken, tofu, beans - so today I added more stock, chickpeas, spinach and a bit of paprika.

The basic structure:

Saute in olive oil:
1/2 medium onion, diced
10 cloves of garlic, diced
1/2 jalapeno, diced

Add:
3 canned roma tomatoes, chopped, along with their liquid (I ended up adding more like half the can in the end)
2 cups chicken stock
1.5 cups water
juice of half a lime
1 small chipotle in adobo sauce, minced, along with some of their sauce

Simmer 20-30 minutes, taste, season, and adjust seasonings. For me this meant adding more chipotle and adobo, more tomatoes, some chopped fresh parsley, and some ground roasted cumin seeds.

Today I added another 2 cups chicken stock, the remaining 3 tomatoes and juices that I had leftover, about a teaspoon of paprika, 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas, a bit more adobo sauce, and cooked that for 20 mins, then added half a bundle of spinach, cut into bite sized pieces. And I served it with a homemade tortilla that I brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with kosher salt and minced garlic, then toasted in the oven on 450 until slightly crispy.

Homemade wheat tortillas
recipe from Kitchenstewardship.com

I only had a bit of whole wheat flour so I used that and the rest was organic all purpose.

Mix:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt

Blend in (with pastry cutter, until it looks like fine meal/pea-sized butter chunks):
1/4 cup room temperature butter, cut into pieces

Slowly mix in (with a fork until it comes together):
1/2 cup of room temperature water

Knead with your hands a few minutes until a dough forms. It will be fairly soft and sticky. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 4-24 hours. In my case after I started feeling sick yesterday I left it until this morning and then made fresh tortillas for a black bean and egg fajita for breakfast. Just let the dough warm up again, divide it into 8-11 balls, and roll each one out as thin as possible, then cook in a frying pan or skillet over high heat, about 2 minutes on each side.