Congratulations are in order for Teh Joelster, who landed a sweet office gig at Syracuse University this week! Not only will he be making more money with much better benefits, but he'll be able to take classes for free and start working towards his degree! The actual job isn't anything real special -- mainly office work and looking after all the AV equipment, but he does get to play with expensive electronics AND work inside for people who are less likely to shout all the time. Plus, he doesn't have to drive the scary death-trap-mobile! So all in all, things are looking up.
Many thanks are also due to Jason, who alerted Joel to the job in the first place, plus talked him up to the person doing the hiring. Go on over there and tell him how cool he is!
Friday, November 09, 2007
Monday, November 05, 2007
Wintertime Recipe Lovin
Ok, I've got 2 recipes in my head I'd like to share with you. One of them is much more precise, since I modified it from an already-existing one. One of them is more... touchy-feely, without such a concise list of ingredients. Let's do the easy one first.
Pinto Bean Chili
Adapted from this month's Gourmet. The original recipe included zucchini, which I hate, and not enough spices.
You'll need:
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 dried ancho chiles
1 dried chipotle chile
2 tsp cumin, toasted in a dry skillet and cooled
1 tsp dried oregano
generous 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
salt
grated zest of 1 orange (~1 tsp)
1 oz semisweet or unsweetened chocolate, chopped finely
~1 lb kale, stems trimmed off, rinsed, and chopped coarsely
1/8 to 1/4 tsp brown sugar (to taste)
1 14-oz can of tomatoes in juice, chopped, juice reserved
~2 cups water
1 14-oz can of yellow hominy, drained and rinsed
3 15-oz cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
Special stuff: spice grinder
How to make it:
Put toasted cumin seeds into grinder. Heat a skillet over high heat. Slice open the dried chiles, de-seed, and wipe down (dried chiles can be dusty). Toast them in the dry skillet for a minute or so on each side, or until softened and toasty smelling. Cool off, tear into pieces, and grind up in the grinder with the cumin and some salt. Stir the oregano and cinnamon into the mixture.
Sautee up the onions in some oil in a big pot. When soft and starting to brown, add the garlic, and sautee a minute more. Add the chile mixture and sautee 30 seconds. Add the kale and mix everything around a bit, then put the lid on the pot for a minute or two until the kale is wilted.
Stir in the tomatoes, juice, water, orange zest, and chocolate, 1/8 tsp of sugar (reserve rest to adjust seasoning later). Bring to a boil, then simmer around 15 minutes until kale is tender and flavors have married.
Add pinto beans and hominy and simmer another 5-10 minutues. Turn the heat off and let stand 5-10 minutes. Top with whatever you want -- cheese, sour cream, toasted punkin seed oil, etc.
Denise's Special Vegetarian Posole
You'll need:
2 boxes of regular seitan
1 onion, chopped
2 cans yellow hominy
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes
Spice mixture:
1 guajillo chile
1-2 chipotles in adobo plus extra adobo to taste
3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp or so cumin seeds
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp cinnamon
dash curry powder (trust me!)
couple dashes paprika, cayenne, and ancho powder (or a dried ancho chile)
1/4 cup toasted pepitas (hulled punkin seeds), cooled
Mole secret ingredients:
2 cups hot water, into which you dissolve 1/2 bullion cube, tbsp or two of cocoa powder, and a tsp or so of lapsang souchong tea
Toast up the chiles and spices in a dry skillet, and transfer to spice grinder. Grind up all the spices (you'll probably need to do two batches, just make sure everything is nice and combined) and set aside.
Sautee up the seitan in a mixture of butter and olive oil in a soup pot. When browned on a side or two, set aside. Sautee onions in additional oil in the same pot. Add spice mixture and fry 30 seconds until fragrant. Add super secret mole mixture, straining out the tea as you pour it in. Reduce by about half at a brisk simmer, then add the tomatoes and some water. The posole should be medium thick. Simmer on low, partially covered, for about an hour or so until the spices no longer taste raw, and the flavors have married nicely.
Add in the seitan and simmer another 15 minutes so that the seitan is nice and flavored as well. Add the hominy last and simmer another 5 minutes or so. I like to let the posole stand for a bit once it's done. Taste for seasonings -- you can adjust the balance with additional adobo sauce, sugar, or soy sauce (I don't usually use salt at the end of cooking -- soy sauce adds saltiness plus umami and rounds everything out nicely).
Enjoy and let me know how my special posole works out for you if you try it. The recipe has sort of developed over the months, but I'm not sure that I've got the proportions exactly right...
Pinto Bean Chili
Adapted from this month's Gourmet. The original recipe included zucchini, which I hate, and not enough spices.
You'll need:
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 dried ancho chiles
1 dried chipotle chile
2 tsp cumin, toasted in a dry skillet and cooled
1 tsp dried oregano
generous 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
salt
grated zest of 1 orange (~1 tsp)
1 oz semisweet or unsweetened chocolate, chopped finely
~1 lb kale, stems trimmed off, rinsed, and chopped coarsely
1/8 to 1/4 tsp brown sugar (to taste)
1 14-oz can of tomatoes in juice, chopped, juice reserved
~2 cups water
1 14-oz can of yellow hominy, drained and rinsed
3 15-oz cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
Special stuff: spice grinder
How to make it:
Put toasted cumin seeds into grinder. Heat a skillet over high heat. Slice open the dried chiles, de-seed, and wipe down (dried chiles can be dusty). Toast them in the dry skillet for a minute or so on each side, or until softened and toasty smelling. Cool off, tear into pieces, and grind up in the grinder with the cumin and some salt. Stir the oregano and cinnamon into the mixture.
Sautee up the onions in some oil in a big pot. When soft and starting to brown, add the garlic, and sautee a minute more. Add the chile mixture and sautee 30 seconds. Add the kale and mix everything around a bit, then put the lid on the pot for a minute or two until the kale is wilted.
Stir in the tomatoes, juice, water, orange zest, and chocolate, 1/8 tsp of sugar (reserve rest to adjust seasoning later). Bring to a boil, then simmer around 15 minutes until kale is tender and flavors have married.
Add pinto beans and hominy and simmer another 5-10 minutues. Turn the heat off and let stand 5-10 minutes. Top with whatever you want -- cheese, sour cream, toasted punkin seed oil, etc.
Denise's Special Vegetarian Posole
You'll need:
2 boxes of regular seitan
1 onion, chopped
2 cans yellow hominy
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes
Spice mixture:
1 guajillo chile
1-2 chipotles in adobo plus extra adobo to taste
3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp or so cumin seeds
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp cinnamon
dash curry powder (trust me!)
couple dashes paprika, cayenne, and ancho powder (or a dried ancho chile)
1/4 cup toasted pepitas (hulled punkin seeds), cooled
Mole secret ingredients:
2 cups hot water, into which you dissolve 1/2 bullion cube, tbsp or two of cocoa powder, and a tsp or so of lapsang souchong tea
Toast up the chiles and spices in a dry skillet, and transfer to spice grinder. Grind up all the spices (you'll probably need to do two batches, just make sure everything is nice and combined) and set aside.
Sautee up the seitan in a mixture of butter and olive oil in a soup pot. When browned on a side or two, set aside. Sautee onions in additional oil in the same pot. Add spice mixture and fry 30 seconds until fragrant. Add super secret mole mixture, straining out the tea as you pour it in. Reduce by about half at a brisk simmer, then add the tomatoes and some water. The posole should be medium thick. Simmer on low, partially covered, for about an hour or so until the spices no longer taste raw, and the flavors have married nicely.
Add in the seitan and simmer another 15 minutes so that the seitan is nice and flavored as well. Add the hominy last and simmer another 5 minutes or so. I like to let the posole stand for a bit once it's done. Taste for seasonings -- you can adjust the balance with additional adobo sauce, sugar, or soy sauce (I don't usually use salt at the end of cooking -- soy sauce adds saltiness plus umami and rounds everything out nicely).
Enjoy and let me know how my special posole works out for you if you try it. The recipe has sort of developed over the months, but I'm not sure that I've got the proportions exactly right...
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