Japanese carrot-ginger salad dressing

Don't let the idea of an orange dressing hold you back! This is a delicious ginger-y, carrot-y, vinegar-y, sesame-y salad dressing balanced out by the sweetness from the apple. Excellent on a kale salad with sesame seeds.

Dressing:

• 125 grams carrots
• 30 grams shallot
• 15 grams ginger
  
• 40 grams apple
• 60 ml rice vinegar 
• 60 ml neutral oil (avocado is good)
  
• 1 tbs soy sauce
  
• 2 tbs cold water
• 1 tbs toasted sesame oil 

Peel and roughly chop the carrots, ginger, shallot, and apple. Add these and the rest of the ingredients to a blender or magic bullet and blitz into delicious-ness. If you prefer your dressing slightly sweeter, add a bit of sugar/honey/maple syrup to taste.

Desperately seeking mochi

I had a mochi donut 6 weeks ago and I cannot stop thinking about it. Actual donuts felt a bit ambitious, but try this delicious black sesame mochi cake (Eric Kim's recipe) to get your texture kicks. If you need something to bring to an event that is fast and easy to whip up, but will just absolutely floor everyone in attendance, THIS IS YOUR CAKE. Not too sweet either.

 

Black Sesame Mochi Cake

What you need:

2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp salt
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tbs vanilla extract
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil (crucial)
4 tbs black sesame seeds
8 oz sweet/glutinous rice flour aka mochiko (I used the brand Koda Farms)
1tsp baking powder

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Then line a 11x8 inch rectangular pan with parchment paper, leaving a bit of overhang on the sides to help you lift the cake out later. Grease the parchment. This is awkward but also fine. Alternately, consider making the mochi cake as little mOffins because cute.

2) Toast the sesame seeds until they become aromatic. This is harder because they are dark and you can't tell when they're ready, but give it a good guess. Some toasting is better than no toasting. Then crush half of them (2 tbs) into a rough powder - mortar and pestle? spice grinder? your call.

3) In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, honey, and salt until fluffy and pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Add milk, melted butter, vanilla, and sesame oil and continue whisking. 

4) Add all black sesame seeds (crushed and whole) and mix. Then sift in rice flour and baking powder. Whisk.

5) Pour the batter into the greased pan(s). Top with white sesame seeds for an extra pretty lewk. Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is browned and cracked slightly and/or a skewer inserted into the center comes out nearly clean. Moffin makers should probably check much earlier.

6) Cool the cake for 1 hour before slicing it. Theoretically the cake will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days (but will lose its lovely top crackle - alas). Share widely to cultivate love and admiration, or keep secret to devour alone. 

 *** Don't be tempted to make this more statuesque and put it in a deeper container... I tried this and it's too chewy! Stick with around 1 inch in height. ***

Winter is coming

At least it's soup/stew season?

Here's an easy and satisfying option courtesy of Melissa Clark. Even for leftovers the orzo never felt too mushy. Hot, light and full of vegetables! Plus cheese obviously. 

 

Chickpea Stew with Orzo and Greens

Ingreeds:

-2 tbs evoo

-2 medium carrots, chopped

-1 fennel bulb (or celery stalks if you don't love yourself), chopped

-1 medium onion, chopped

-2 garlic cloves, minced (never a mistake to add more)

-red pepper flakes to taste

-2 tsps fresh rosemary, chopped (didn't add this because it was raining outside and I was too lazy. lemon-thyme was closer so added that)

-2 cups broth or water 

-1 15oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

-3/4 cup chopped cherry toms

-1/2 cup orzo

-a bunch of greens (kale, spinach)

-salt and pep

-scallions, chopped

-lots of finely grated parm 

 

Step 1:

Heat the evoo over medium-high in a large pot. Add chopped carrots, fennel, and onion. Cook about 5-7 minutes until tender. Add garlic, red-pepper flakes, rosemary (if using) and cook for another few minutes. Pour in broth/water, plus 2 additional cups of water and bring to a boil.

 

Step 2:

Once boiling, add chickpeas, tomatoes and orzo. I'd add some salt here as well. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the orzo is tender. Uncover and stir in greens (do this earlier if using kale) and simmer about 2 minutes until soft.

 

Step 3:

Add more water if you prefer more of a soup, and season with salt and pep. Ladle into bowls and top with scallions and parm. A drizzle of olive won't hurt either.

Upside Down Dirty, courtesy of Bob

On the drinks train, Bobert, as Gail would say, typed this up for me. Also, I am back in Oakland and what??? What is my life?


RECIPE:

Add 3 dashes lemon bitter. 

2 tsps pickled onion brine. 

2 Oz dry vermouth

1 Oz gin to a mixing glass filled with ice. 

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Twist a strip of lemon over glass and discard. 

Garnish with a pickled cocktail onion. 

 

 

 

Prost!

Summer nostalgia cocktail: Beeeeee Sting

Late December - when not even the winter solstice and the promise of incrementally increasing daylight seems good enough. (For those of you curled up in extra wintery places, please forgive my current west coastness... I remember what ice and snow plows look like. Solidarity.)

How about a lovely distraction? During a(n ongoing) tequila kick, the interwebs led me to the following delicious cocktail, the Bee Sting! It has been tested and approved of by persons such as large groups of my friends, older radical lesbians, and significant others' family members. Suffice to say: vetted. And while special tequila is a delight, it is not a requirement. Give it a whirl! Also, super boozy.

The Bee Sting

Official Ingredients (per single cocktail, expand as necessary):

1.5 oz (reposado) Tequila
.75 oz honey syrup
.75 oz lemon juice
jalapeno chiles (serrano or other green chiles also work)

Non-binding instructions:

1) Make a honey syrup by blending honey and water in a 1:1 ratio over low heat on the stove. Stir until the two have completely blended, and set the mixture aside to cool. Honey is a miracle and doesn't go bad, so you can make this concoction ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for whenever you want to whip up a cocktail or dose a pot of tea.

2) Juice a bunch of lemons and get rid of the seeds.

3) Slice and de-seed your chiles, and add a few to the bottom of your shaker/mason jar/improv container. Mash these around with a muddler or a wooden spoon.

4) Add the tequila, honey syrup and lemon juice to the shaker, along with some ice.

5) Shake!

6) Taste! (I always add more honey syrup here, but perhaps you are more h-core than I.)

7) Pour into glasses using a strainer, add a slice of chile to each glass, and serve!


Recipe from Rachael Davis of Lucy's Fried Chicken in Austin, Texas.
Accessed from seriouseats.com, and photo credit to Melody Fury.

Mushroom risotto

I had the most amazing mushroom risotto recently, which immediately went home and copied. It went something like:

regular mushrooms, cut into bite-size but chunky pieces
fresh shitakes, take off the hard part of the stem and cut to same size
fry with butter until yummy

in a separate pan...
fry onion in butter
add arborio
add white wine
then add chicken stock one ladle at a time, waiting until, as tamar adler describes, when you push the rice aside, liquid does not immediate fill the hole
at some point add finely chopped woodier herbs like rosemary
then later add finer herbs like thyme
when it's done, add parm and a squeeze of lemon, and salt and pepper to taste

THEN! make this amazing thing called gremolata by chopping together on a cutting board a clove of garlic, some lemon peel, and parsley. spinkle over each individual serving.

I love you all!
xox Squarechess

aubergine daal

hello! this is fancypants' sister, doorpants.

last night i made a delicious DAAL with my roommates for our weekly documentary sunday. we watched 20 feet from stardom which is about some ballin' and enthrallin' back-up singers (mostly women) in the music biz. i wish i could sing.

the daal recipe is courtesy of one mr. jamie oliver and fancypants recommended i share it here. you can do it on the cheap and it is very warming and hearty. perfect for cold, wintry nights. i subbed cauliflower and zucchini for eggplant because that's what was in my fridge - i'm sure it'd be delicious either way. also didn't have some ingredients to make the chapatis or the crispy topping but if you want to you can find the instructions in the original version of the recipe.

Ingredients:
- 1 large aubergine or 1 head of cauliflower and 1 zucchini
- 1.5 red onions
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger
- 5 tb curry paste
- vegetable oil
- 500 grams yellow split peas
- 1 veg or chicken stock cube
- basmati or brown rice

Method:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Cut up your eggplant/cauliflower into chunks, peel and slice the onions and garlic, peel and finely grate the ginger
- Put this all into a large roasting tray with the curry paste and a lug of oil, toss until well coated, then roast for 20-25 minutes or until sticky and caramelized (takes longer with cauliflower then eggplant I believe)
- Chop up the zucchini and set aside
- Remove 3/4 of the roasted veg and put in a pot to start your daal, return the remaining veggies to the oven to keep warm (turn off the oven so that they don't dry out)
- Place the pot on a low heat and stir in the split peas, crumble in the stock cube, toss in the zucchini, and add 2 litres of boiling water
- Simmer for around 1hr30mins with the lid on, or until the daal has really thickened, stirring occasionally and especially during the end so it don't stick to da bottom of da pot
- Add splashes of water to loosen if needed
- While the daal is cooking, put 1 mug of rice and 2 mugs of water into a pot and cook dat shiettt up
- When everything is finished, load up your plate with some rice, some daal, and garnish with the remaining roasted veggies from the oven
- Top with greek yogurt, hot sauce, cilantro, etc.

Original recipe: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/aubergine-daal/#7YUY6tj5si7RxU5O.97

:):)