Broccoli Mushroom Pie and Spicy Brown Rice - DAY THREE

So I failed yesterday. Messing with my mother will have you full of beefy pork juice. However, I managed to get away with fishy poultry. (Not together, but I'm sayin'.) So today, I was back on track. I'm noticing a theme, though. My food tends to be beige as hell, which means I'm still working on getting color (read: vegetables) into my diet. Anyway ...









mushroom and broccoli pie ("we're chopping bra-co-lieeee!!!")

1 bag frozen broccoli (thawed or use fresh) 1 scallion, chopped about 10 medium mushroom, sliced about 1 cup cheeses (i used trader joe's quattro formaggio, white cheddar, and sharp yellow cheddar) 4 tbsp olive oil 4 tbsp whole wheat flour (i use pastry, white is fine too) garlic some milk (about 1 1/2-2 cups) fresh ground pepper garlic salt

crust--if you have them, you can use canned biscuits instead
1 cup flour (i use half wheat, half white)
5 tbsp butter (chilled and cubed)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c boiling water

preheat oven to 425 degrees.


place thawed broccoli in 8x8 baking dish. saute mushrooms and scallions in olive oil. once they've softened, add garlic. add flour and stir until lumps disappear. add milk slowly, stopping when the sauce has thickened to your taste. (it'll take a minute for the sauce to thicken; take it slowly.) add cheeses and stir until melted. season to taste, and pour over broccoli.

meanwhile, mix flour, salt, garlic powder, and baking powder. cut chilled butter into flour mixture until mixture develops pretty uniform crumbs. pour in boiling water and stir just until everything in moist. scoop dough over broccoli slop.

bake in oven for about 30 minutes or until dough browns. (i find that i have to cover until the last ten minutes of cooking so that it doesn't get too brown. it's up to you.)

absolutely delicious. one of my favorites so far.

slightly caribbean rice (aka alton brown's recipe with some stuff added)

1 1/2 c short grain brown rice
1 14 oz can coconut milk ( i used light)
3/4 c broth
1 bay leaf red pepper flakes to taste
curry powder (i didn't measure, use your discretion)
you can use salt but, i'm trying this bragg stuff out (liquid amino acids)

preheat oven to 350 degrees. pour rice into baking dish. bring broth and coconut milk to simmer. add bay leaf, red pepper, and curry powder. pour milk mixture over rice, stir, cover with foil, and bake in oven until all liquid is absorbed (about 40 minutes).
















a few notes:
aldi's steamed veggies in a tray are phenomenal. low in sodium, easy to prepare, cheap, and tasty as sin. go thee to the nearest aldi and stock up. (get the spring blend.)

my old people's cake from yesterday was a big hit. i'll be making it again, as i really enjoyed it myself.

MUSHROOM RISOTTO - DAY TWO

This isn't so hard. Meat can be easily avoided. I've had an epiphany, though. So far, I'm more of a starchatarian than a vegetarian. Most of my meals are rice- or pasta-based. Working veggies in is really gonna be a problem.

Anyway, tonight I made my first risotto. I used a super short grain Spanish rice, and what a mistake. If you ever make a risotto, please use arborio or carnaroli. Your palette will thank you. It still turned out tasty; it just didn't have that signature creaminess.

Recipe (For one large portion or two small ones)
about 2 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c risotto rice
1 scallion, diced
1/2 clove garlic, diced
3 tbsp white wine
2-3 c stock (i used chicken. it was homemade. i rule.)
butter, unsalted
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan, fresh


bring stock up to simmer and keep it there. cook mushrooms in one tbsp olive oil until soft and remove from heat. sweat scallion in remaining olive oil until transparent and add garlic and rice. when rice is thoroughly coated in oil and slightly transparent (about two minutes), add wine and stir until absorbed. now, add chicken stock in small portions (about 1/4 cup), only adding more after previous portion is absorbed. keep stirring. in about 20 minutes or so, you should have a creamy, al dente rice dish. stir in mushrooms, remove from heat, stir in a bit of butter, and season with salt and pepper. garnish with freshly grated parmesan and voilà.

as i said, it was tasty, but next time i'll use Italian short grain. oh, and i must also commend myself on making my own chicken stock. it was mad easy and kills any other stock i've ever had. i just threw a whole chicken in a pot with a halved onion, celery stalks, fresh rosemay, bay leaf, tyme, and sage, covered them in cold water, and boiled for about three hours. after being strained, it was ready to go. people may tell you to get rid of the fat, but i have some very lofty plans for it once this vegetarianism is over.

in other news, tomorrow's my daddy's birthday. i'll be kicking it with the fam tomorrow, and was given the task of making the birthday cake. since my dad is kinda weird in his tastes and probably wouldn't have liked my signature chocolate fudge cake, i made him an applesauce spice cake with cream cheese frosting and walnuts. hopefully, it will get eaten. after all, this is totally an old people's cake.

until tomorrow

Vegetarianism - Day One (Kinda)

Quick explanation -- I eat way too much red meat and pork. Once upon a time, I had stopped, but when I moved back in with my mommy after college, she refused to remember my no red meat/pork rules; plus her boyfriend made THE most delicious rib tips ever, so I failed. Well here it is, years later, and I pop bacon cheeseburgers like tic tacs. The other day, I stepped on the scale and realized that I weigh more than I ever have in my life; additionally, I can comfortably fit into less than 20% of my clothes, so I figured a quick detour into vegetarianism would help. Two weeks of tasty (?) recipes, plenty of water, and back breaking Pilates, join me on my quest to ... FIT BACK INTO MY GEAR!!!!! What's in it for you? Well, recipes, of course, and the potential to share in my triumph or watch me fail miserably.


DAY ONE -
Okay, so I had tuna for lunch, but I made it on Sunday as a farewell-to-flesh meal and was too full to eat it, so I polished it off today. However, breakfast and dinner were both vegetarian as hell.

I had the most fabulous pasta at Enoteca Roma once, pear ravioli with walnut cream sauce and Gorgonzola cheese. Since then, I've been trying to replicate that taste at home. Tonight, I tried whole wheat spaghetti with walnut cream sauce and pears. (I find spaghetti and like pastas are pretty much the only palatable whole wheat varieties; the other ones are too big and interfere with the sauces.) Anyway, my experiment paid off. It was definitely good, but certainly not low-fat, just low-meat.

Recipe
cooked whole wheat spaghetti (enough for two portions)
handful of walnuts (toasted and chopped)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
1-2 cups milk or half and half ( I used both and didn't measure, just add until the consistency of the sauce suits your taste)
white wine
1 bosc pear (cored and cubed, you can use any sweet variety)
Nutmeg (again, I didn't measure, maybe 1/2 tsp)
garlic salt
Directions
This is pretty easy. Toast the walnuts either in a pan or in the oven and chop. I use a mini food chopper. Set aside.

Saute the pears over medium heat in one tablespoon of butter until they're slightly brown and add as much white wine as you like to taste. Let the alcohol cook off some and set the pears aside.

Make a Béchamel sauce by slowly melting the remaining butter and adding the flour to form a smooth paste. Make sure the lumps are gone. Add milk and stir until you reach your desired consistency and add your seasonings. Once the sauce is seasoned well, stir in the walnuts, pears and spaghetti.

Bon Appétit

(From now on, I'll try to take pictures of my meals before I gobble them down.)

Summer Wishes

Summer will be here in approximately five months. By then, hopefully I'll be 1) decently in shape, 2) en route to some relaxing locale, and 3) owner of this ridiculously adorable swimsuit.

Tagged - 16 Random Things

I was tagged by long-winded Nicholas. There's no use pretending I'm too good for putting my business in the streets; I love these things.

1.

I am obsessed with genitalia. HEAR ME OUT!!! Not in a sexual way, just in a scientific way. I have countless books on sex determination/behavior, ambiguous genitalia, and hermaphrodism and wonder with each person I meet if they were born with indeterminate sex organs. I mean, it's pretty common (one child in 100), so someone I know has to be on Jamie Lee Curtis status. I'd love to talk with them about it. I guess it's because I grew up the only girl and became acutely aware of how differently boys and girls are socialized. Plus, I've never bought that this random assignation of sex could really explain the huge gulf between men and women. I suppose I'm more of a nuturist. If I could redo my life, I'd change my major and travel the globe doing field research and writing about genitals. (Way to start with a bang, eh?)

2.

I love eating. It really has to be life's greatest pleasure. The variety of tastes and textures and flavor combinations available to the palette is mind boggling. I wish to taste as much stuff as I can before I die of diabetes and stroke and heart attack. (Bugs do not count, even if some of them do taste like Tutti-Frutti.) For this reason, I really want to try human meat. I don't know how this will happen, but if some shifty, clearly terrible human being dies or some willing participant donates his or her body to culinary science, I'll be there with fork and barbecue sauce in hand. Don't judge me.

3.

I've been told this a number of times, have mentioned it a number of times, and plan on executing it in tattoo form in a few months, but I really feel a kinship with robots. One of my favorite books is I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. Sometimes, I just don't feel the things I'm supposed to feel. If only therapy were cheap enough for me to afford it.

4.

I have shitloads of gray hair (and a filthy mouth to match)!

5.

I hate Oscar-bait and sad movies in general. My mom was reading through the Oscar (Golden Globe?) picks and asked why we hadn't seen any. I responded, “I hate crying.” Dude, I go to the movies to escape from sad-ass life through kung fu and car chases and shit-talking heroes. Screw that sappy, glaringly realistic, introspective shit.

6.

I once had an amazingly country accent. I discovered this while viewing a dusty VHS tape of myself at eight or six or something. I wonder what happened to it? Did other kids shame me into getting rid of it? It sucks because I spoke to some Alabama fam over Christmas and she said, “Querida, you sound like such a white girl.” Great.

7.

Up until the age of 25 or so, my dreams were exceedingly gory and disturbing. I mean, blood and dismembered body parts all over the place. I was constantly being chased by cult leaders and vampires and large monkeys and all manner of creepy personages. True, I watched a lot of horror as a kid, but wtf? I finally started “dreaming” like a real person in my late-twenties. It's so boring now.

8.

My memory is terrible, like scary, early-onset Alzheimer's terrible. I once walked past my aunt on the street, looked her dead in the face and kept walking, not because I wanted to avoid her but because she simply didn't register. I can't recall simple details like what I wore or ate yesterday or anything before the age of, say, eight. I honestly think I've suffered some brain damage somewhere.

9.

People who know me know this, but I really wasn't allowed to play outside when I was a kid. It was me and my Legos® and my silver portable radio and my brown plastic turntable. Sometimes I could sit on the porch and read, but that's about it. No wonder my social skills are horrible.

10.

People tend to think I'm bitchy and mean, and while it doesn't really bother me, it is inaccurate. I'm just really reserved and easily annoyed. Actually, I'm quite pleasant and dislike conflict.

11.

Consequently, I find it really hard to hate people. I can conjure up some dislike, but for the most part it always dissipates in a few weeks if not a few days. It's not that I don't find some people hateable, but I just don't have the time, attention span, or energy. Go over there ----> with that.

12.

I can be objective about great cinema, but really, what's messing with Killer Klowns From Outer Space?

13.

I get Aretha and all, but Patti LaBelle is way iller. Period.

14.

I've always wondered what it would be like to be a dominatrix. A less uptight me would've found out by now.

15.

There are exactly five varieties of empty beer and one half bottle of vodka in my bedroom as I type. I am not an alcoholic. Seriously. I've had that bottle of vodka since November of 2005.

16.

Finally, uhhh... let's see...yes! About two years ago I was bald, like dude bald, and I wanted so badly to rock the ill Bobby Brown side part, but I was too chicken. Oh well.

This goes out to a few folks:
Monica - Because she loves these things. Right? Plus, I wanna know something I don't know.
My Brother Jimmy - Cause he types fast, and I wanna learn something about him.
Daniel - Because he's ridiculously interesting.
The Bakers (this counts as three)- Cause we family.
Rachel - Because I we haven't really communicated since she went back to Italy.
Danny - Because we fam, but I I don't know this grown version of him with the tattoos and rhapsodizing on women.
Chanda - Because you're awesome.
Ben - Because he "rocks the sweet daddy long fox minks." Not really, but he would.
Natalie - Because it'll be good to hear what's behind the "camera face."
Joanna - Because I haven't seen her in years, but think she's fabulous.
Eugene - Because he has great taste in movies.
Quentin - Because I want to know what my brother's up to. (You don't check your page at all, do you?)
Lakeiya - Because I missed you at Christmas, but you're hella busy, aren't you.
Andrew - Because you're hilarious and would undoubtedly make my day.

Wuthering Heights - The Hate Sure Is Strong

So ... last night marked the end of the latest adaptation of Wuthering Heights, another ITV version. Though no one has yet been able to find a non-white dude to play Heathcliff, and the pace was a bit too brisk, I enjoyed it. As with anything else I enjoy, I found myself yelling at the screen, especially at Edgar and Isabella's dumb asses. So yeah, it was good; I'll watch it again.

Now I love the hell out of this book, which is why I keep hoping for the definitive adaptation, but it chaps my hide when people think of it as romantic. This is not a romantic story; it's a great Gothic tale, full of horrible, terrible, stupid people, with a bit of redemption at the end. I'm more amazed by than attracted to Heathcliff's character, as I am by all insanely passionate people. He was able to sustain dangerous amounts of hate for decades (DECADES!) and killed people with it. He's like a super, extra archvillain--Haterman or something. I supposed chicks think his unyielding love for Cathy is especially sentimental, but they kinda forget that he vowed to make her suffer for it. And Cathy (the elder), she had no problem fraternizing with another man while married and actively pursues vengeance on her husband for decisions she, herself, made. Edgar and Isabella are spineless dolts (good people, but dumb as rocks regardless). The whole thing is a mess, a wonderful, terrifying mess. The lesson is, kiddies, hate destroys. If you find yourself wanting to damn people to hell, go see a movie, have a delicious burger, or seek therapy. It just isn't worth it.

Random Comments
-Tom Hardy did a pretty good job. I bought his vengeance, and I see why chicks dig him.
- That scene with Heathcliff cradling Cathy's skeleton? Beautiful, just wonderfully sick and fantastic!
-Charlotte Riley looked fantastic as Cathy and was much less annoying than Juliette Binoche.
-Cathy (the elder) needed to be much more of an asshole. She came off as a somewhat decent person, which she wasn't.
-Love Actually (the one who was in love with Kiera Knightly)was in it; he played Edgar Linton.
-I seriously dislike the Ralph Fiennes/Juliette Binoche version.

A fantastic deconstruction of our protagonists' psyches.


And now another satisfyingly creepy interpretation of Wuthering Heights. Go Kate Bush!

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Oh yeah, I updated Knit Deez ... finally.

Welcome, Mr. President

Nothing to say. These tunes say it all.

"Watch Roger Do His Thing" - Main Source

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"Brother's Gonna Work It Out" - Willie Hutch

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"What a Difference a Day Makes" - Dinah Washington

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"Can You Feel It?" - Fat Boys

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Wreckonize - Smif N Wessun

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