OPP (Other People's Posts... oh I'm so funny...)

I read Slashfood regularly and I love it. I do feel, however, that postings have slowed a bit. Or they do sometimes... or maybe that is just an indication that I have too much time on my hands. Anyway, it also helps to notice who is writing the post; I'm sure you will find your favorites after awhile. One of my favorites is Sarah Gim, as I feel like it's important to get Asian American perspectives on Asian food. (The perspective of someone from Hawai'i would be even better, as I know sometimes we have our own kind of Asian food, but... I know that is asking a lot.)

Anyway, Marissa McClellan, whose frequent posts I also enjoy, posted a link to the urban vegan, of "101 simple vegan meals ready in 10 minutes or less." I'm nowhere near vegan, but I do appreciate a healthy meal and I definitely appreciate the 10 minutes or less part. I haven't looked through this whole list but it looks pretty promising.

Ricotta Pancakes

I had some leftover ricotta and remembered that I had seen a recipe for ricotta pancakes. I think the one I originally saw was fancier, but this one looked fine.

As always, I adapted--soy milk for cow's milk cuz that's what we have in the house. I threw in an extra egg white I had in the fridge.

The egg whites probably didn't get as stiff as they should've. This was my first time beating egg whites. I used our new stick blender and it got foamy on top but not so much underneath. (I first tried doing it with a whisk. That was silly.) Still, the pancakes were pretty light. Compared to regular (Bisquick) pancakes, they were more moist, maybe eggier.

They're good, but I don't know if I'd go out of my way to make them. Maybe only when I have leftover ricotta. Or maybe this is one of those foods that will grow on me--I don't think much of it now, but in a month or so I'll be craving it. I'll let you know.

Florentine Cannellini One Pot (off a can of Bush's Beans)

This is one of the recipes Kea and I have in rotation, truly off a can of Bush's Beans. It's quick, easy, yummy, and full of fiber.

4 slices bacon, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (14 oz) can chopped spinach, drained*
3 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
1 (15-16 oz) can of EACH drained and rinsed: cannelini beans,** dark red kidney beans, light red kidney beans
1/2 c. sun-dried tomatoes, cut in thin strips
1 t dried basil
Garnish: shredded parmesan

Brown bacon over high heat in large stockpot, about 8 minutes.*** Add garlic and onion, saute 6 minutes. Add spinach, saute 2 minutes. Add beans and all remaining ingredients. Simmer 10 minutes.

*I use frozen spinach because canned spinach seems gross to me.
**I use something called Northern beans because cannelini's cost more and they look the same.
***My onion pieces were about twice the size of my bacon pieces so the bacon got burnt. So you probably either want to throw the garlic and onion in earlier or make sure the bacon is not chopped too small and the onion is not chopped too big.

Savory Pancakes

Kea and I got this idea from Rachael Ray's $40 a Day, when she went to Europe (either Amsterdam or Belgium--can't remember which episode it was). Rachael was introduced to savory pancakes for lunch.

She told the chef, "You know, in America we usually only think of pancakes as breakfast food."

And he looked at her like, "You Americans--you're stupid."

I tried finding recipes for savory pancakes and found these: Cheddar Chive Pancakes (you may have to scroll down), Corn Pancakes, and Ham Pancakes. We decided to go the easy route, however, and just mix in some savory ingredients in our typical Bisquick pancake mix.

We put in a cup or two of shredded monterey jack, some bacon (cooked and chopped, not too much, just enough for some meatiness), a handful of fresh spinach, and a couple handfuls of frozen broccoli (just cuz we didn't have much spinach). The batter was pretty thick by the time we put this all in, which made for thick pancakes. We first tried making big ones--the size of our non-stick pan, but I lack the skill to flip those so we went back to ones just about three inches in diameter.

I think the version on $40 a Day was thinner--more like crepes, with the filling done more omelette style, but I knew there was no way we could pull that off. Ours tasted good though--a little reminiscent of biscuits or quiche.

We'd like to experiment with this more in the future--especially adding some spiciness.

New Year's

A friend from my program had a New Year's party. It was sort of a random mix of people around for the holidays. One of our guests, however, from a different program, noted that, for grad students, our parties have good food! This is the second time I've heard that so I'm starting to believe it!

I made Spinach Rolls and Spam Musubi. Spinach Rolls are so easy and always a hit. I feel like they're boring, but people always like them. Spam Musubi is more hit and miss but I knew there were a few of us who would really appreciate them anyway.

There was a lot of great food but one of my favorites was a Dutch New Year's donut. The guy who made it said it is only eaten for New Year's. It was so good that I had to look it up: it's apparently called Oliebollen. They reminded us of andagi and malasadas, which made us Hawai'i folk very happy! They seemed less greasy though and tasted great even after sitting for about an hour. The fruit inside was also different and really good!

30 Minute Shepherd's Pie via Rachael Ray

This recipe has been in my file for like a year. It looked kinda labor-intensive--I generally like recipes where you do the whole thing in one pot. I decided to do it now though since school's out.

It wasn't bad, though I did dirty a lot of dishes. It was my first time making mashed potatoes, my first time making shepherd's pie, maybe even my first time eating shepherd's pie. I don't think I even heard of shepherd's pie until high school or college, but it sounded good!

I used chicken broth rather than cream in the potatoes, but I think I would try it with cream next time. Cooking with cream is just foreign to me. Cooking with butter is even kind of new for me. I think I was a vegetarian when I first started cooking.

I couldn't find sweet paprika, so just used regular, but I think that's just for looks anyway.

We also threw some parmesan on top since the mashed potatoes were a little bland.

I would also put the onions in earlier than it says because I ended up overcooking the meat while waiting for the onions to cook.