Another [picture-less] Recipe

Is winter squash soup an original idea? Hell no. Is it delicious? Why yes, yes it is. And perfect for winter. What I made was butternut squash Thai red curry soup, which was so, so, so delicious. But the fantasmic thing about this recipe is that it's versatile beyond belief:

It can be made from any winter squash (butternut, acorn, many other varietals, even pumpkin)
It can be made with any type of curry (Indian varietys, Thai red, green, etc.)
The root vegetables options are endless and, well, totally optional!

Emily's Incredibly Flexible Winter Squash Curry Soup

Ingredients:
1-1.5 lbs winter squash (it was a butternut squash for me)
Root vegetables: carrots, parsnips, turnips, radishes, rutabagas, potatoes - maybe about 1/4-1/2 lb?
1 onion, diced
As much garlic as you want! (I'm sure I did no less than 4 cloves), minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups vegetable/chicken stock
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp - 2 tbsp curry powder or paste
Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Cut squash in half, scoop out seeds. Rub cut sides with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place on cookie sheet cut-side down. Cube up whatever root vegetables of your choice into equal sized pieces. Place on a second cookie sheet and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, until fully coated. Place both pans in the oven and roast for anywhere from 30-45 minutes, until fork tender. The root vegetables should be stirred maybe every 15 minutes, but the squash are fine as is.

While they're roasting, saute the onion in a heavy 3qt pot with, yet again, olive oil salt and pepper. Keep the heat low-medium. Once nicely softened, even a bit caramelized, add the garlic and saute for a minute or two. Add the tomato paste and curry powder/paste and cook another minute or so. In regards to the amount of curry, if you're not afraid of heat and flavor, I would start with 1 tbsp. If you're fearful, you can use less and add more at the end to taste.

Add the stock and half of the coconut milk to the pot. The roasting should be done - scoop the flesh out from the peeling and into the pot, along with the root vegetables. Bring to a boil and then let everything simmer together for 20 minutes. Once simmered, puree in a blender/food processor or in the pot with an immersion blender. Taste after it's blended - adjust as desired curry, red pepper, salt, etc. When serving, add more coconut milk to the top of each bowl as desired for one more final, creamy touch. Feel free to top with roasted squash/pumpkin seeds, bacon, the options are endless. Enjoy!
 

Crrrazy for Casseroles!

So, I'm sort of back... [My brother] Omar has a computer now, so I'm now bumming off of his computer, which makes for generally shitty times all around, really. But, I have a little quiet time around here and a special request from a cooking competition and Twitter buddy. Another awesome Emily asked me if a recipe of mine was available online. So here I am.

What of casseroles, say you? Well, in mid-October, right before my lovely computer went kaput, I cooked for two different competitions, the Food Obstructions and the Casserole Crazy Party. Both were equally fun and interesting, with different vibes at both. [I do plan on posting my FO creation, but I think one recipe for tonight.] But, they ended up being three days apart from each other! Casseroles are a stretch for me, actually, but I signed up on a whim. So, after I recovered from Food Obstructions, it was time to put on my casserole thinking cap.

Casseroles are a tricky animal... I'm not really a cream of blahblahblah soup person, but I felt like going a bit trashy, unhealthy, and fun are necessary for this kind of shindig. So, my brain came up with this hybrid frito pie-chili cornbread casserole thing. Because it was a cheesy, fun, heart and stomach warming guilty pleasure type of casserole, I deemed it The Full House. Also known as 1990s' cheesiest sitcom.

The Full House
***So this casserole was a creation in progress, and after getting feedback from a judge I ended up hanging out with afterwards (and trying it myself), I have put my original ingredients in italics after what I think is the proper, yummiest amounts.***

Chili - 1 large (crock)pot full, or I guess 4-6 cans canned chili
2 bags Frito chips left whole 1 bag Frito chips crumbled
2 bags shredded cheddar cheese 1 bag shredded cheddar cheese
1.5-2 batches cornbread 1 batch cornbread

Chili:
***This chili was a work in progress... I went with vegetarian chili for the sake of feeding more mouths, but I love a good meaty, beany chili. Your classic slow cooker (or fast cooking) chili recipes will work just fine for this casserole.***

1 large onion, diced fine
1-2 red bell peppers, diced fine
4-6 cloves garlic (really, the more the better), minced
Tomato paste - 1-2 tbsp?
1 can vegetarian chili
1 can refried beans
Spices to taste - salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, cumin
Water or broth
1 can petite diced tomatoes
3 cans of beans - I used black, pinto and kidney

In a large dutch oven or generally solid pot, saute the onions for 1-2 minutes on medium heat. Add in the red peppers, and saute until softened. Throw in the garlic for 30 seconds to a minute. At this time, add in a hearty pinch of salt, some fresh cracked pepper, a pinch of red pepper flakes, some cumin, and the tomato paste. Let this combine and then either transfer this to a crockpot or keep in current pot. Add the chili, refried beans, and 1-2 cans full of water or broth. Let this slow cook for, well, as long as you'd like, or just cook in the pot on very low heat for, same thing, as long as you can. Preferably an hour at least

Ok, so mine cooked in the slow cooker for 12 hours, and at this point I was shocked. Somehow I expected a thick chili (yeah, way too much water, not enough ingredients). BUT, it was a tasty sauce, so that's when I ran out and got the beans and tomatoes. Throw those in (all drained) and let cook at least another 15 minutes to combine. (Taste when you first add the beans to judge spices, salt, etc.)

I realize that's a lot of words for chili. Trust me, it's easy. Or, buy your favorite canned crap chili and use it.

Green Chili-Cheddar Cornbread:
***Pretty much stolen directly from Cooks Illustrated. Simple recipe kicked up with the cheese and peppers and just delicious. Original casserole had one batch on top for a thin crispy layer, but feel free to double this recipe for more carby goodness.***

1.5 cups all-purpose flour (7.5 oz)
1 cup yellow cornmeal (5.5 oz)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2-3 tbsp chopped green chiles (or 1 seeded, fine chopped jalapeno)
1/2 tsp salt
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese (1 1/3 cups)
3 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 cup corn kernels (frozen or fresh - mine happened to be fresh. Also, don't be afraid to use more corn)
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + lemon juice to get buttermilk)
2 eggs
8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled (at least not piping hot)

Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, cayenne, green chiles, salt, and half of shredded cheddar in medium bowl until combined; set aside. In another bowl, combine sugar, corn and milk; then add beaten eggs. Fold wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just barely. Add melted butter and continue folding it together until everything is just moistened.

Casserole directions:
Preheat oven to 350 (maybe, I think?). Grease a traditional Pyrex pan, or possibly a deeper dish if you have one (especially if you double the cornbread amount). Throw a healthy handful of Fritos to cover the bottom of the dish. Spoon 1/3 of chili on top of the fritos. Add a healthy handful of cheese (don't be shy). Continue layering fritos, chili, cheese, until the chili is gone. The top layer, I put a little bit of cheese, and then dolloped on the cornbread batter until it was fully covering the casserole. Top with a bit more cheese and bake for 20-30 minutes. Right before it's done, feel free (actually, please do!) throw on more cheese. Once out of the oven, you can put more Fritos on top.

Serve with classic chili sides: sour cream, chopped red (or green) onions, cheese, Fritos, hot sauce, etc. I particularly recommend serving Fritos on the side because the ones in the casserole actually sort of dissipate with the moisture of the chili while baking.

So, lots of words for really a simple casserole. Trust me on this - it's a simple creation.

Worst Timing Ever.

My computer bit the dust on Sunday. And I am le sad. To make it worse, not only am I job-hunting (or failing at doing so), but Omar is too. He left Centro, and went home for a bit last week. He's back here as is my older brother Easa and two cousins, Maher and (another) Isa. Once they leave, today, it's going to be sort of tough. Not only do we need the computer, but I'm not really looking forward to being home with my brother 24/7. While I am keeping busy, and still helping with that small part-time job, still... It's all sort of fail...

I've also been cooking a lot - I cooked for an event called the Food Obstructions for Sunday, and last night was the Casserole Crazy party. I hope, some point in the future, to be able to blog about the recipes, but I'll just give a quick rundown.

For Food Obstructions, I made "Cheese Plate Bread Pudding". Savory bread pudding with herbed goat, parmesan and homemade ricotta cheeses, reduced leeks and onions and sourdough bread. Served with fig 'salami' and pickled grapes. The bread pudding needed more custard, as it fell apart and felt a bit more like stuffing, but I was happy with the toppers. Pickled red grapes are crazy delicious.

For Casserole Crazy, I embraced my trashy southern roots and made the "Full House" - cheesy, corny, heart and stomach warming guilty pleasure (think 1990's sitcom). Layers of vegetarian, slow cooked chil, cheddar cheese and crushed fritos and topped with green chili-cheddar cornbread. It also wasn't perfect - needed MORE CHEESE and no crushing of fritos (they just sogged up) but pretty yummy.

I failed at getting pictures of any of these, but I have to say it's been a pretty fun few days. A few people I met through Katie cooked and attended the Casserole Party, which was nice. Also, not surprisingly, you end up running into the same circle of people at these events.

Obviously, I've got to get back to trying to find a job, but right now, that's on hold as I don't have a computer. I have a few possibilities of getting one, but I have to make sure it's a smart purchase. For now, I'm signing off, and hope to write again sooner rather than later.

[This was written on my cousin's laptop, before I say buhbye to it. :{]

You know I'm bad,

I'm bad, you know it.

So what do Michael Jackson lyrics have to do with Blog Action Day? Eh, I can't say there is any connection, but today is Blog Action Day, and the first time I saw anything about it was a tweet from Shelly with the BAD acronym used and it stuck.

What the hell is this post all about, you ask? Well, BAD is basically just a day of bloggers starting a discussion. This year, it's all about climate change. And the main reason I chose to participate when I heard about this is, well, today! I woke up to a rainy, 40 day in the middle of October. In addition, this summer gave New York a new nickname - NYCeattle. June 2009 had maybe four rainless days. The summer of 2009 in New York was pretty much nonexistant, and this stark entrance to winter is not pleasant to my mild weather loving self.

Here's the thing about a mildly intelligent person blogging about a serious and growing problem - I'm only mildly intelligent. Articulating more serious topic regarding the change in climate and in the world is not my strong point. I do think that what we're doing right now is leading the planet away from a healthy place. I personally think the massive amount of chemicals and petrochemicals we produce and use in everything from the food we eat to the packaging of everything sold, etc, is hurting the planet and changing natural, healthy climate patterns.

Well, then what is a strength of mine? Ogling over pretty things! And if those pretty things just happen to be made of glass and metal instead of plastic? Even better.

I have always had a strong affection towards glass bottles. If they're colored, it's even better. I've been helping out a woman with some menial tasks in relation to her web shop (a really cool organic cosmetics website) and she has these bottles that I just adore. The stopper, the glass, and, surprise surprise, they're from Ikea.

I use a Brita pitcher at home, but here's the thing... Maybe I'm weird, but I don't mind the tap water here in Brooklyn. My biggest issue is that with water, especially, it HAS to be icy cold for me. So, the idea of buying a few of these bottles and keeping them filled in the fridge seems very appealing. They're also just simply pretty and a very clean, old school feeling.

Another thing that I'm sort of in love with are bento lunches. While I really don't have the patience to do all the awesome, adorable things a lot of mothers do for their kids or people do for themselves, fun, reusable lunch containers are always something I look for. This newest discovery, the Planetbox, has a quirky, 1950s lunchroom vibe that is sort of awesome.

They're metal instead of plastic and even better, they seem to be designed to reduce the chance of compartments intermingling. For someone who doesn't have the patience to keep a Laptop Lunchbox (also a cute lunch option) horizontal at all times, this seems really awesome. Plus, I personally find metal much easier to clean; plastic never quite seems clean enough, especially if you put anything oily in it.

And I don't think I even need to explain why lunch boxes like this are so awesome and so much better for reducing waste and all that jazz. Not only do you reduce the chances of eating out when you bring your lunch, but with single compartment items like this, you're reducing your use of plastic bags along with the purchase of single serve snacks. Hey, I think these are awesome for portion control, but SUCH a waste of packaging and more often outrageously expensive.

So take your lunch to work if you're lucky enough to be working, unlike some of us (le sigh). Brew tea at home using the bottles. Reduce your plastic consumption and hopefully help the planet clean up it's act. Reversing the damage we've done and the changes we've started may not be possible (who knows) but we can at least stop these changes from occuring even more rapidly.

And hey, join the conversation with Blog Action Day. I don't think they would mind the talk continue past October 15th.

Pet Peeve

[This post recevies a special co-title of Epic Fail]

So, for anyone (anyone? anyone?) reading this thing with some regularity, you probably remember my mention of a StyleCareers career fair coming up, yeah? Yeaaah, about that. While I should probably not automatically label it as #epicfail, to say it was frustrating and exhausting is an understatement. Over the course of five hours, I spoke with four (yes, four) companies, and spent 97% of that time standing in line. It was the ultimate clusterfuck, and while there were over a dozen, closer to two dozen, companies there, the lines were insane. You could not figure out what line was for which company, where a line ended, how long the line truly was.

The downfall of my career fair choice was one particular company. This company's career website has never ever worked on my computer. Even with reliable, awesome Firefox, when I would go to submit my resume, well, epic fail! This company had four or five associate or assistant jobs listed among which they were looking for, and considering many companies had maybe one, if any, entry-ish level opportunuties, it became a must for this career fair. When I got in line, I had an idea that the line itself was long; unfortunately, it was also oddly split by one of the student volunteers working the event. So, for an hour or two, the split part of the line was simply screwed over. While I understand why she [supposedly] split it, to keep the stairway clear for entry and exit, the volunteers were generally incompetent.

Every hour, I would think "Dammit, I really should give up on this line, but I've already been here x hours. I don't want to waste the time spent in line already." But, the result of the wait in line was horribly, horribly depressing and annoying. The guy I finally spoke with glanced at the portfolio for a minute or two, returned my resume (they weren't taking any, I discovered) and then told me to apply for job xyz online.

Really? REALLY?! I just waited in line for four hours to be told to go apply online? Is this the motherfucking NCSU College of Textiles Career Fair? [Aside: that's pretty much what every company that visits the CoT fair tells you to do when they visit. Go to the company's career website.] Ok, seriously, I understand online applications, and they make life easier usually. But if this is how you run your damned business, maybe it's a good thing your website always fails for me. And when I, quite politely, told him one reason I waited in line this entire time is because the website never works for me, he basically told me to go use a PC. Oh, thanks. I appreciate that.

Two of the other three companies I talked with weren't hiring right away, but there are some possibilities. The last wasn't hiring lower level positions - I saw the textile designer position, got excited, waited in their long line and got three quarters of the way through it before realizing that I probably wasn't what they were looking for.

So, I went into this career fair naive and excited and left feeling more jaded and tired than I have in a while. Aaaaand, the search continues...