Red Wine Stew with Leek Dumplings

Not to sound complainy or anything, but I have never lived anywhere with such gleefully bad weather as Berlin. (And I've lived in Brussels, where it rains approximately 363 days a year.) Wintertime is really a struggle- no one wants to leave the house, everyone is getting sick or getting over being sick, and the few hours of daylight are dominated by bone-chilling temps and gloomy gray skies. Plus your bike freezes all the time, and all the stores close early because they think you ought to be inside anyways. (They are correct.)

HOWEVER. I am in an oddly upbeat mood and it annoys me deeply that the weather won't bother to even try matching me. (The Secret is bullshit people. You do not manifest your own reality.) Luckily, bitching about the weather only takes up, like, 50% of my mental energy. The rest is dedicated to devouring new books about alchemy, Yugoslavia, Victorian female authors, or whatever else peaks my promiscuous curiosity, and thinking about what to eat for dinner.

Yesterday I decided to create a thick, wintry stew containing three things that cheer me up in these dark times: lots of red wine, crispy leeks, and plenty of herbs. And why not some easy dumplings? It was excellent, and I'll give you the "recipe" but its gonna be pretty fast and loose and should be more of a idea-sparker because a) it was quite improvisational and b) might have drank a bit of the wine myself....


Red Wine Stew with Leek Dumplings
Stew:
Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, white and white-ish parts, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, diced
circa 2 c. mushrooms of any sort, sliced
4 medium potatoes, loosely chopped (about 2 cups)
4 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds 
3-4 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/2 or 1 teaspoon each of the following (that you have handy):
      -smoked paprika
      -thyme
      -sage
      -rosemary
2 cups drinkable red wine
2 cups veg broth (or water and a veg bouillon cube) 
1 T. white miso
 1 14oz. can white beans
3 T. flour

Dumplings:
1 leek, white and inner green parts, chopped
1 c. flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
pinch salt
3/4 c. soymilk

1.) Set up your stove with one frying pan and one large pot or Dutch oven. Set the frying pan to medium-low and drizzle with olive oil. When hot, add in leeks and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are wilted and some are browning a bit. Season with salt and remove from heat.

2.) While leeks are cooking you can already get going on the stew. Set large pot to medium heat and drizzle with olive oil. When hot, add in onions and the other leek, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add in garlic and cook for a few minutes more before adding in mushrooms. Let the mushrooms brown for a bit (5-7 min.) and then add in the carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and herbs. Season with salt and pepper, and stir to coat vegetables with spices. Add in wine, broth, and miso paste. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and let cook, stirring ocassionally for about 30 minutes.

3.) After stew has reduced, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. In a small bowl, spoon out a bit of the broth and mix together with flour until no lumps remain. Add back into stew, and cook for 5-10 minutes while you prepare dumplings.

4.) For dumplings, mix flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl. Add in about a cups worth of leeks (eyeball it- you can reserve the rest of the leeks for garnish) and stir to coat with flour. Add in soymilk and stir together until "just mixed." Dough should not be too wet- add in more flour if necessary to make it sticky but not liquidy.

5.) Drop tablespoons-full of leek dough into simmering stew. (No need to be too precise, they won't turn out pretty anyways.) Cover, and cook for another 15 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through.

Serve a bowl of stew with a few leek dumplings and some extra crispy leeks as garnish. Oh yeah, and wine. Lotsa wine.

Song of the Day: Passion pit- Take a Walk

Cold Comfort

Winter time, and the living is easy.

The weather is extremely mild (for Berlin), I've got a little money for once, and I have lots of fun parties and meet-ups to attend before heading back to the USA for the holidays. With all of this good luck, I've been cooking up a storm of comfort food.

Above are potato and spinach enchiladas with a side of avocado. Enchiladas are really just the greatest. Once you've got a standard recipe, you can substitute whatever you have on hand to make a simple dinner. I used my normal recipe for Chipotle Plantain enchiladas, but subbed the filling out for a simple mash of boiled potatoes and spinach (with a bit of salt and pepper and soymilk) With frozen spinach anbd potatoes it doesn't get much cheaper than this recipe. I also subbed out the chipotle in the sauce, getting the heat instead from a tablespoon of cayenne pepper. Spicy and delicious.

Next I made the Mac and Cheeze from the archives of the mysteriously disappeared Veganyumyum. Its a great recipe because if you have a decently stocked vegan cupboard, you likely have most of the ingredients on hand. (Tahini, miso, soy sauce, nooch, lemon juice, ect.) The dish itself is extremely satisfying and even somewhat cheeselike. Hmmm, maybe I should whip up another batch today...

Last but not least, we have a boring (read: easy and delicious) curry with potatoes, carrots, zucchini, tofu, and tons of garlic and ginger. The curry is coconut based with tomatoes thrown in too. Topped with a little sriracha, its the kind of thing I like to make a big batch of then eat all week for lunch.

Ah, winter... if you keep behaving, you can stay a little longer.

Song of the day: Spandau Ballet- True

Fighting the Winter Blues

After a freakishly warm autumn, Berlin is once again the cold, grey, stony-faced city that I dread all year. Its the time of year where I am constantly freezing, constantly sick, and totally bummed out from the uniformly short and "blah" days.

However, having spent last winter here, now I know what I am facing and have decided not to take things lying down. (Literally. I am vowing not to hide under the covers all winter.) Yes, I am taking a 3 pronged approach to combating winter blues!

Tactic 1: Stay Well
The best way to be in a good mood is to not be sick! I am doing my part by eating tons of "Russian antibiotic" ie, GARLIC!! Above is one of my favorite ways to eat a ton of anti-oxidant packed garlic: roasted in the oven. Bake the whole bulb with a bit of olive oil for 45 minutes, then squeeze out the mushy insides and use as a paste for bread, pizza, or blend it into a soup for added flavor. I used mine for this awesome and simple potato soup, topped with sriracha and chopped leftover herbs that I've been storing in the freezer.

Another part of this tactic is to take advantage of the plentiful winter citrus offerings (for me its clementines and grapefruit, yum!) and get tons of vitamin C. Finally, I'm upping my vitamin intake and making sure I get the Vitamin B that vegans need to stay healthy.

Tactic 2: Coziness
The Scandinavian countries have a secret for staying cheerful in the long grey winter: candles. Yes, lighting tons of candles and twinkly lights combats the depressing darkness everywhere, and makes you feel like an evening at home is a special occasion. I am taking this advice to heart this year: fuzzy socks, cute candles, soft music and nice teas will be found in my household. We are going to pretend to be totally Danish (stopping short of consuming massive quantities of Herring) and I'll let you know if it works.

Tactic 3: Get outside
Finally, even though it is completely gross outside it is important to leave the house and get the tiny little bit of Vitamin D available. I have decided that, so long as I can afford it, I will be going to the local coffee house to do my legal research rather than burrowing in at home. This way, I have to get dressed and get outside, and get a minimal amount of social contact (which is also important.) The walk to and fro, along with detours in the park of nearby, mean I get to enjoy at least a little weather and fresh air- which always ends up putting me in a good mood somehow.


What are your tips for beating the Winter Blahs?



Song of the Day: Future Islands- Balance

Good News/ Bad News

Why is it, lately, that every bit of good stuff has to come with equally proportionate bad stuff? (I know, that was really eloquent, let's just go with it.) For example, this weekend I went to Copenhagen to visit my friend Ted. (Good!) But now I'm sick. (Bad.) I found a free English language novel on the side of the road the other night, and it was getting pretty interesting! (Good!) But I left it on the airplane. (Bad.) I found a nearby store that sells Masa Harina so I can make tamales! (Good!) But its imported and costs 8 f*cking euros a bag. (Doh!)

And perhaps the most important piece of news straddling the good/ line is my new job. On the one hand, its a job! That's super good, because I'm beyond broke and I really want to go intern in Budapest this summer, so I need to find some income, and fast. Onnnnn the downside... its a job as a "putzfrau" for a pre-school. So I'm basically walking around with a mop, broom and vacuum cleaner and trying to clean surfaces faster than babies can expel bodily fluids onto them. It is, so far, a losing battle. So yeah, that's bad.

But at least, when I come home sore and smelling of baby powder (or worse) there's still the old, and almost free standby of Hutspot- mashed potatoes with add-ins (in this case sauerkraut and apples.) It's always so comforting, and makes me feel a little better about my terrible low-wage torture job (even if it does remind me of baby food, a little.)


So what if things aren't perfect? Good/ bad is way better than bad/ bad, and maybe I'm even on the way to good/good...

Brussels Sprouts Hash

I know that people are entitled to different opinions on brussels sprouts, but I love them so much I have confused them in my mind with junk food, and gobble them up like I'm going to get caught. If you haven't had them since you were a kid, now's a good time to give them a chance.

Today I made a simple "hash"- I fried some potato cubes in oil until browned, then tossed in messily sliced brussels sprouts, diced apple cubes, some chopped almonds, and salt and pepper. When everything was cooked and kind of burnt, I squeezed half a lemon on top. It was so heavenly- nutty and fresh and slightly sweet. I recommend you try it at home with whatever random ingredients you have at home. I myself might eat the same tomorrow.

It was definitely a nice lunch to prepare for an evening consisted of the sisyphean task of standing around holding up a large heavy board, and occasionally turning in time with some 30 other folks, all while remaining perfectly silent and still for 2 hours. (Part of an art project I mentioned yesterday, that I am getting paid for.) But tonight was the actual "performance" and actually, people really seemed to dig it! You see, we made like a maze with these boards, that changed in tune with the music to lock some people in and some people out. Since I was directed to stare only at the board, I didn't see people's reactions, but they seemed enthusiastic afterwards. And who can complain at getting paid to participate in real live art? I think I'm going to add to my cv... T: lawyer, performance artist, admirer of brussels sprouts.

Song of the day: The Clash- London Calling

Cabbage Rolls and Potato Latkes

When you are low on cash, condiments are your friends. The simplest (and cheapest) things become special when there is some sauce or dip to accompany them. And if you're anything like me, than even when your fridge is completely devoid of veggies or fruits, you still have a boatload of random barbeque sauces, mustards, and curries.

So, being short on funds this week, we've been trying to eat as cheaply as possible and rely more on condiments to spice things up. Thursday night I made cabbage rolls: the leftover (non-moldy) inner pieces of a cabbage that had seen better days became a wrapper for mushrooms, onions, and almonds simply spiced. On the side was the real action: tahini-miso dressing, spicy soy+ chili sauce, and a simple mix of sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, and garlic. It was cheap and reminded me of the fancy days when I used to do things like "go to restaurants" and "order appetizers."

Friday evening was equally inexpensive and fabulous with S. whipping up a batch of latkes that we gobbled up with some apple sauce and washed down with a lot of beer. Potatoes+ onions+ a little bit of cornstarch and flour, and you are there. I've seen a lot of fancier recipes for vegan latkes, but if you are patient I think the flour and cornstarch method (outlined in more detail here) works wonders and takes less time. And who couldn't use some greasy, filling latkes once in a while?


song of the day: ELO- Mr Blue Sky

Improvisation, European Style

I've realized since I've been in Belgium and Germany that I have an unusually high reliance on recipes and cookbooks. Most of my friends here, when making lunch or dinner, just glance around the kitchen and throw something together step by step. In contrast, even if I am making one of my own recipes I'll look back at the blog or my jotted notes to find out how exactly I did it. When my friends and I are cooking, this leads to some funny situations, where I am begging them to let me look quickly at a cookbook to find out what the cooking time, quantities, or temperature is, and they are heavily rolling their eyes saying "ahhh, you can just tell when its right, just taste it!!!"
Pumpkin+ Pumpkin oil+ bread + margarine
I have a whole cultural theory behind this: Europeans did not experience the same boom in reliance on prepared foods that Americans did in the fifties and sixties. (Ie, European recipes do not usually look like: "empty a can of mushroom soup onto chicken, toss, and bake for 30 minutes...") As a result of the fact that Europeans, either because of stronger traditional adherence, relative poverty in the post-war era, or the Common Agricultural Policy, retained a reliance on elemental ingredients, and thus passed down to their children techniques for cooking that became second nature. American kids, on the other hand, found themselves at a loss for making things from scratch, having grown up with canned beans, cake mix, and Hamburger Helper. (Not everyone, mind you, but I think its more typical in the US than here.)

Roasted carrots+ Avocado+ olive oil+ salt and pepper

This might be why European cookbooks are so sparse in explanation (as opposed to the novels in American cookbooks), and why my generation had to teach ourselves to cook relatively simple things: we grew up with so many prepared foods at our disposal that we forgot improvisational cooking techniques, and feel more attached, (even, fervently attached) to cookbooks that teach us how to get those skills back.

Now, this is all a theory and I may be totally full of it, please let me know if you have an alternate explanation in the comments.
Mashed potatoes mashed w/ brussels sprouts+roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, and pears

At any rate, this is all to say that here are a few meals that were bravely improvised, with nary a recipe in sight. You may notice that they have very few ingredients, but still, I'm making progress here! However, I don't care if I live in Europe till I die, you will still have to pry my Veganomicon from my cold, dead American hands.

Dissertation Days and CSA Food

I've been absent not just from the blogosphere but also from real life the last weeks because I've been working on my Master's Thesis, an exciting exploration of public international law and its impact on....on.....*BANG* Oh sorry, just dozed off on the keyboard. Well let's forget about all that awfulness and focus on the food.

Interestingly, my S. really stepped up to plate as I languished in front of the keyboard for interminable hours, plying me with Club Mate and the occasional beer as well as breaks to watch True Blood and Mad Men. But most importantly, he cooked! Like this nice peanut butter curry with TVP that we found at a local Asian market.

He also fixed up the rice with the remaining nuts and dried fruits in the cupboard, plus some cumin. It was the perfect meal to shovel in my mouth as I worked on the Geneva Convention Chapter.

In addition, we recently signed up for a CSA basket to be delivered weekly, which has so far offered such delights as mirabellen (tiny little yellow plums), rainbow chard, and organic sauerkraut. Who knew this last would be such a delight?


We made a souped-up version of the Dutch hutspot I featured last year (you know, the carrot and potato mash that is cheap and crowd-pleasing). This time, we used potatoes, Sauerkraut, apples and garlic. It may not look like much above, but it was so good- sour, sweet, salty and creamy, and perfect with a crisp salad. Since the winter weather is already kicking into Berlin, this one is a keeper for a filling cold-weather meal.

Best of all, between the sauerkraut, potatoes, and apple, its hard to spend more than 1€ on this meal.

Hutspot Revisited
-5-6 peeled medium potatoes, quarted
-About 1 and 1/2 cups sauerkraut (more or less won't hurt) drained
-1 medium onion, diced
-4 cloves garlic, diced
-1 apple, peeled and diced into small cubes
-soy creamer and vegan margarine to taste

1.) Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add in potatoes and drain excess water until just barely covered. Add in sauerkraut on top so it is spread out and covering potatoes. Cover and simmer for 23-30 minutes or until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.
2.) Meanwhile, in a saute pan dollop some olive oil and margarine and put on medium low. Saute garlic and onions until soft and translucent, then raise heat to medium and add in apple. Cook 3-5 more minutes until apples and onions start to brown then remove from heat.
3.) When potato mixture is done, drain excess water then salt and pepper to taste. Mash with small amounts of cream and margarine until fairly creamy. Then add in onion-garlic-apple mixture and stir until just mixed. Serve with a big salad and some crusty German bread. Lekker!

Now if I could just figure out what to do with all of this kohlrabi, then the CSA would really be a thrill...

Song of the day: Beach House- Walk in the Park

Salad Days and Latkes

Finally, its actually hot enough to be called summer in Berlin! Along with the rising temperature comes late nights and lazy days in the park, and that feeling of not wanting to eat anything too hot or substantial. My latest solution is to make big salads filled with the delicious cherries appearing in Kaiser's. My first try was to combine them with field greens and chopped kohlrabi. (If you don't know what it is, don't be worried: I thought it was fennel and got a strange surprise when it tasted more like a broccoli stalk mixed with jicama.) Yesterday I made an awesome huge salad for S. and I to eat in the park, this one featured cherries, avocado, carrots, field greens, and thin sliced onions tossed in a apple-cider vinegar based dressing. Who knew avocados and cherries went so naturally together? (Oder, "togesser" if you want to sound like a German.)

And even though hot food is a bit of annoyance in this weather, dinner requires something a bit more substantial. And although latkes (or "potato pancakes") are kind of associated with Hannukah season, I figured they are cheap to make and could be at home alongside a salad in the summertime as a light dinner. Not only that, but when you are on a budget its always handy to have a lot of recipes involving potatoes and carrots. Latkes are a little extra effort but scrumptious any time of year.



Here is my basic "recipe," without strict measurements. I want to point out that I omit any real binder here other than flour, but if you've never made them before you might find this a bit tricky. (The traditional recipe uses a few eggs.) I've seen other recipes using cornstarch or egg replacer and I imagine this might be easier for beginners, but if you don't have those ingredients on hand this always works for me!

Potato Carrot Latkes*
1.) Peel 2 carrots and a few potatoes (3-4). Grate them into a bowl using a hand-held grater. Now here comes my innovation: use a potato ricer to squeeze all of the excess liquid out of the grated veggies. This works because they aren't cooked and won't go totally through the ricer, but the pressure is perfect for squeezing out all the juice without using 50 paper towels to do it by hand.
2.) Add to the squeezed and grated veggies a small onion, diced tiny, and an equally tiny diced garlic clove. Toss with liberal salt and pepper.
3.) Sprinkle a good bit of flour and a few dashes cornstarch over the veggies, and mix with your hands. Add in more flour as necessary to coat the entire bowl, not so much that you can see the flour, but enough that you can form a small handful of the mixture into a ball that stays pretty well together.
4.) In a skillet, heat equal parts oil and margarine over medium heat, enough that margarine sizzles but not until oil is smoking. (You can also test a small clump to see if its ready, like you might with pancakes.)
5.) Drop in smallish balls of the veggie mix (about 3 at a time is good) and flatten into a thick disk using a spatula. Cook on first side for about 4 minutes, then flip to cook on other side another 2-3. Each pancake should be crispy and browned, and the time varies from batch to batch so keep an eye on them.
6.) After each set, the oil and margarine should be used up, so clean out any loose browned bits and replace oil and margarine for each new batch. Keep finished latkes in the oven on low heat until ready to serve.
7.) Serve with soy sour cream and applesauce, if ya got it!

*Potatoes and carrots are just the beginning- you can also use sweet potatoes, apples, beets, zuchinni... yum!

Song of the day: Cursive- Hymns for the Heathen

Moroccan Dinner Party, Potato Soup

Oh winter, when will it end? The other day we were blessed with rare sunshine and warm weather and it was such a terrible teaser for Spring. Along my street, where all the luxury goods and luxury people usually taunt me, the pale peach and taupe cashmere sweaters seemed as harmless as sugar pills, and the rich bitches in fur coats, sunglasses and high heeled boots lowered their noses a bit and smiled at the peasant passersby. But the next day, it was gone, and I went back to glaring at the well-dressed mannequins and people on Avenue Louise. (But really, why wear bare legs and a fur coat when its freezing out? How about sparing an animal and just looking into pants?)

At any rate, to cheer ourselves up from the never-ending winter, a few friends and I have been having Friday night dinner parties lately. In general, our only requirements for a good menu is that it be inexpensive, vegetarian, and easy enough to cook for a group. So far we've had risottos, pasta, etc, but this week we went a little crazy with a theme and had everything Moroccan. We even decorated the table with batik prints and little lanterns.
The menu consisted of the following:
Appetizers: hummus, flatbread, olives, spiced olive oil and cheese cubes
Entree: Eggplant and Mushroom Tagine, Couscous with mint and almonds, red wine
Dessert: Baklava, fresh mint tea

The tagine, sort of a mix between my minimalist one and the more complex version was fantastic, and even though I make it all the time a couple people at the party had never had one before and were surprised at how good it was. The mint tea was also really simple and festive: just put some mint sprigs into glasses and pour green tea over it. It looks so nice too.

I have a weakness for themed dinner parties, and this one turned out so well that I'm already plotting the next one: maybe Russian, with buckwheat blini and mushroom caviar, and a beet salad? (And vodka!) That would go along with my recent Tolstoy obsession, although everyone in his books seem to eat "melt-in-your-mouth-pasties" all the time and I have no idea what they are. (Anybody know?)

At any rate, the dinner party set the tone for the rest of the amazing weekend: I went to Antwerp (above) for the day on Saturday, and spent Sunday roaming around the St. Gilles farmers market (but not buying anything, since Antwerp put me over the weekly budget.) Considering what to eat for dinner, instead of surrendering to the allure of pancakes, I decided to make a soup out of some sprouted potatoes, past-their-prime leeks, and a little leftover soy creamer. Happily, even with sub-par ingredients it turned out fabulously, and with some stale bread to complete the picture, it was fit for a queen.


Song of the Day: Belle and Sebastian- Fought in a War

Dutch Hutspot!

*The Baltic Sea*
This desolate, romantic landscape is where I spent the first few days of 2010, in a little cottage near Kiehl with a group of friends. If you can believe it, one of the more spartan members of the group actually took a swim in the sea. Crazy, right? Germans.

Anyways, I'm already back in swing of things in fabulous Brussels now. Why "fabulous" you say? Well after flying all over the northern hemisphere for the break I came to realize how much I like this little town. Yes, Brussels, with all of its duo-linguistic issues, inferiority-to-Paris-complexes, and bureaucratic nightmares, is a great place to come back to. Its calm, the public transport covers every inch of the city (once you figure it out), and in terms of food, its way easier then I make it seem to eat well on budget. (It just takes getting used to... and speaking the language doesn't hurt, I'm sure.) And I finally figured out how to operate my kitchen with a minimum of fire hazards. (But then, I've only been back a week.)

One of my new budget dishes is actually a Dutch treat I learned from S. in Berlin. Its called "hutspot" and its essentially mashed potatoes and carrots-- baby food, but good baby food! I guess its usually made with speck (bacon) but among the group I ate it with I didn't notice anyone hesitating to get seconds from the vegetarian portion. The great thing about this is you can obviously get huge portions, making it good for a get together when everyone is broke, or just in the mood for some baby comfort food.

Dutch Hutspot
-3-4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1" slices
-8-10 boiling potatoes, peeled and quartered
-1 large onion, diced
-3-4 cloves garlic, diced
-nutmeg
-soymilk
-earth balance

1. Place all the carrots and potatoes into a stockpot filled with salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until fork-tender, about 15 minutes depending on how many you made.
2. In the meantime, drizzle a good knob of olive oil in a pan and bring to medium heat. Add in your garlic and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent and garlic is starting to brown.
3. When potatoes and carrots are done, drain in a colander then return to hot pot. Add in onions and garlic, a good couple knobs of earth balance, a drizzle of soymilk, a few pinches of nutmeg, and of course salt and pepper. Mash together with a masher until fairly blended. Taste, and adjust seasoning to taste. (I usually end up using more soymilk and butter after the initial mashing.)
Serve with a salad, or just eat straight out of the pot. :)

song of the day: Wir Sind Helden- Denk Mal

Soy una perdedor

I've never considered myself an especially unlucky person, but there is one area of my life in which I consistently demonstrate terrible juju: losing valuables. I've lost a passport, 3 ipods, my birth certificate, class rings, cameras and countless headphones and pieces of jewelry. And this week I lost MY WALLET. In a FOREIGN COUNTRY. It was probably stolen, but I don't think that ruins the unbroken chain of bad luck that follows me around when I need to not misplace something. This is especially bad because it had a lot of the identity papers I need to prove myself to the endless stream of beaurocrats making me jump through hoops. So, needless to say, I was not pleased.

However, I'm starting to wonder if God has chosen me to lose everything for a reason. Maybe a certain amount of items have to be lost everyday on earth, and God figures I'm kind of used to it and can handle it without freaking out. Or maybe I do it to myself to add drama and excitement to otherwise perfectly wonderful weeks... and what's more exciting then being money and i.d.-less in a foreign country? On this occasion though, luck was on my side (kind of) because I had just done the grocery shopping for the week, so at least I was covered as far as food. (And don't tell anyone, but they aren't especially harsh about making people buy bus tickets here.) So I actually had a marvelous dinner, seitan steak with red-wine mushroom sauce, fingerling potatoes and sugar snap peas.

My parents often wonder how I get over these terrible losses so quickly... and while, yes, I'm frustrated at the weeks of paperwork ahead, I figure: 1) these things have to happen to somebody, 2) I could be prone to a much worse habit, say, breaking bones or drug addiction, and 3) if I spent more than 5 minutes mourning my lost possessions, I wouldn't have time for anything else.

Song of the Day: Whiskeytown- Mirror, Mirror

Potatoes Faux Gratin, Take 2, and BBQ Tofu

Well its a few days after the inauguration and the whole nation seems to be in a state of post-inaugural bliss, turning to one another, taking a drag of their cigarette, and asking, "how was it for you?" I'm still having fun hearing my friend's anecdotes from the day, checking out everyone's pictures and chatting with people on the metro. Today, a man bedecked in blinking Obama buttons was standing outside the metro doors when I got off besides a mother and her adorable toddler son. The little boy pointed and shouted "Obaaaaa-maaaaa!" It was so cute I almost fainted.

At any rate, my energy is still pretty high and I decided to make myself a complete dinner, with different parts, as opposed to the one-pot meals I've been living off lately. (Yes, the prospect of dirty dishes cannot stop me now!) I made the BBQ tofu from V'Con, some broiled asparagus topped with a little balsamic reduction, and another take on my potato dish. This time, however, I layered sweet and regular potatoes, cut the milk, added more salt and a pinch of garlic powder, and topped the whole thing with japanese bread crumbs (panko.) This was somewhat better than my last try, and went great with the tangy BBQ sauce. Here's my recipe, keeping in mind that a) its a small, single girl portion, and b) that I will probably keep tinkering with it.

Two Potato Faux Gratin Serves 1, with leftovers

-1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into thin rounds
-1 med boiling potato, peeled and cut into thin rounds
-unsweetened soymilk
-soy creamer
-pinch nutmeg and garlic powder
-Salt and pepper
-A handful of panko mixed with nooch

1. Butter a tiny casserole dish with some earth balance and preheat the oven to 350. Add both kinds of potatoes to a small pot, and fill almost to covering with equal part soymilk and soy creamer.
2. Add in a nutmeg, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and simmer for another 5 minutes, or until sauce has thickened.
3. Remove from heat and spoon out potatoes into dish, arranging if desired. Pour remaining sauce in to cover, then sprinkle nooch and panko over top. Cook until bubbly and browned on top, about 25 minutes.

Song of the Day: Ton Steine Scherben- Rauchhaus Song

Hungry and Poor

Holy Frying Pan, I have been SOOOO HUNGRY lately! Seemingly since the second I got back from Budapest I've been eating non-stop... and every second I'm not eating I'm plotting my next meal. Its like that scene in Rosemary's Baby where she's possessed by the urge to eat raw meat... except it would be, like, raw beets. (And also, I'm not carrying the child of Satan.)

Usually this surge in appetite would be a minor inconvenience, but at the moment I have exactly $.88 in my account since I'm still waiting for my loan check to come in, so its becoming sort of an issue... After the yummy tortilla stacks and vegan hot dogs I've been living on ran out, I started fantasizing about all sorts of concoctions with the remaining groceries and canned goods I have around. Which, truthfully, should be what I always do, not just when I'm broke.


Part of this, I submit, is related to my newly intensified work-out schedule. After a few weeks of practically nothing (unless you count walking up the Buda hill, pictured at right, which, come to think of it, was quite strenuous) I came back to a whole new schedule of classes, not to mention weather that permits (and compels!) bike riding. My (gorgeous and perfect) roomie M and I take Step class a few times a week, which is sort of a dancey cardio workout, plus a weight-training class and whatever we do on our own. This week we're also going to take a couple Bhangra dance classes, which I'm beyond stoked about. But it should make me even hungrier...

Anyways, one dish I dreamed about the other day was the Tamarind Chickpeas from The Healthy Hedonist by Myra Kornfeld. Its such a cheap and delicious dinner, and I decided my friend Karen and I should make it for a girls cooking night we had. Basically, its canned chickpeas, canned diced tomatoes, ground toasted cumin and a ton of ginger and garlic. On a given night I usually have all those ingredients! (I sub ginger for the tamarind, since its easier to find and I like it better.) And OH MAN. SO good with mango chutney and rice. Karen thought so too, and she is mega-picky so its saying sumthin. :) But alas, no pictures. However, if we start to cook weekly, like Karen says, then hopefully there will be pics to come.

Later, in a fit of hunger with very little actual food remaining save for some old potatoes, I also felt compelled to recreate a childhood classic, potatoes aux gratin. My Mom used to make this to accompany some meaty dinner, and its basically an ultra creamy potato dish that can be as fancy or homey as you like it. It has a ton of milk and usually a ton of cheese, but I think it actually can be quite marvelously veganized! I adopted the Joy of Cooking Recipe, but I think it needs some work to make it truly delectable so I'll wait until I've improved upon it a bit.

Not that this wasn't fabulous, but I felt it was a little too sweet (too much nutmeg?) and needed something other than nooch on top to get brown and crispy. Next time I'll try it with a mixture of teese and breadcrumbs I think. And did I mention this dish reheats really well? That works for one of my resolutions.

So until the loan check comes in I think I'm reduced to more hot dogs and oatmeal, which, to be fair, is not a fate worse than death. Let's just hope I go back to my normal, non-crazed appetite sometime soon.

Song of the Day: Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts- Wolf Parade

Ah! Ich habe deinem mund gekusst....

I know I shouldn't be fixating on fin de siecle romantic Operas. I should be focusing on fin de semester papers and exams. But the lovely/ creepy refrain from the final number of Strauss' "Salome" simply will not leave my head! In it, the precocious teenage dancer-of-seven-veils kisses the severed head of John the Baptist, and finding it bitter with the taste of blood realizes (so I think) that one-sided, unrequited love can be a tragic (and morbid) waste of time. "SO whats the point? Whats the point?!!"

Well, I don't really have an answer... but I would say that dear Salome would probably have been a lot more satisfied in the end if she had sated her creepy blood-lust with a nice bowl of Jennifer's potato-leek soup instead. (Yeah, I know, BIG jump.) Creamy, warm and filling, and no one had to be beheaded. So there.


And if she still felt a little violent she might enjoy breaking out the immersion blender. :)

Here's the recipe!

Law-school fright-fest

Can I offer you a vegan brownie, darling?

Halloween is my all-time favorite holiday. Its all about sugar, kids in funny and/or stupid costumes, and watching the Shining on repeat on TBS until you're no longer scared of it. (I'll get there some day.) But I can't fully appreciate the creepy/ mysterious feeling in the air this year because I am completely swamped!

This is seriously the week from HELL! A midterm, a 26-page paper, a presentation, oh my.... and two out of three are on seriously yawn inducing subjects (like the GATT... aside from being sort of sinister, who wants to read about tarriff reduction? Not I.) This really seems like mission impossible. But nonetheless, I fully intend to hunker down at an independent Columbia Heights coffee shop (that is, if I can find one) and spend countless hours toiling away until Halloween, when it will all be over. (With a wing and a prayer...)

The problem is, I'm also totally broke, so I can't get away with what I might like to do in this situation and eat out every day, unless I want to live on empanadas. But all the same, taking a few moments to cook something can be very soothing. (As can reading everyone else's blogs for inspiration!) Today, for example, I took the leftover veggies curdling in my fridge from my stir-fry and transformed them into quick and luscious life-affirming balsamic roasted veggies. I just tossed them with some s&p, EVOO and balsamic and served them over the quick grains I usually eat for breakfast.



I was cackling with glee at how good this turned out, let me tell you. And I didn't spend any extra money. (More for coffee!)

Another cheap and healthful food product? Dad, if you're reading this from the campaign trail (which I suspect is also quite frightening at the moment), get ready for the "I told you so"- potatoes! Just ask the Times, they are packed with vitamins and nutrients (B, C, potassium, fiber) and are low in calories and fat. And they are tremendously delicious with soy sour cream, tempeh bacon and chives. So even though my father thinks potatoes are the king of evil and fattening carbs, he is wrong, wrong, wrong and I will be eating them daily while my personal economic and scholastic crises plays out. (Looks the rest of the world is on top of that too, according to the recently potato-obsessed Times.)



And comfort food aside, I am very much looking forward to the end of the week when I can bake some Halloween treats and head to a party featuring a Misfits cover band in Brookland. (We walk the streets at night, we go where eagles dare!) I'm thinking Marlene Dietrich for the costume, pumpkin-chocolate-cream cheese brownies for the treat. But I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it, because there's a lot of bluebooking between me and friday...