Cast Iron Maiden

Change of Location

2010-04-06T17:11:00.001-07:00

Hey ya'll!

I've started a new blog over on Wordpress because, well, it's prettier than blogger is. Check it out and update your bookmarks and RSS feeds. :)

Hi

2009-12-15T00:06:00.000-08:00

I'm hoping to get this blog up and running again now that I have finally finished college. Here's a taste of what's to come!

Witch's Brew

2009-10-22T17:37:00.000-07:00

I'm helping plan to the menu for a Halloween bash this year. I'm really pushing for this spooky witches brew that was featured in the October 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living. Doesn't it just look amazing?

It's a green curry coconut soup, and I feel like it really captures the creepiness of the holiday while still looking delicious. Taste is something that seems to be sacrificed way too frequently in Halloween cuisine. I'm hoping to see more recipes like this in the future.

Halloweeners

2009-10-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

Halloween was not one of my favorite holidays as a kid. My mom would always make me these amazing, creative, homemade costumes and I hated them. I just wanted to fit in with all the little girls in crappy, store-bought polyester princess costumes. One year I had this awesome spider costume. Made of black felt, it had six false legs (three on each side) that were connected to each other with fishing line. The top leg on either side had an elastic band that went around my arms. When I moved them, the legs moved as well. The costume was undoubtedly one of the best I'll ever have, probably one of the best in the history of all costumes, but my youthful insecurity kept me from fully enjoying and appreciating its weirdness. Thankfully, as I've grown, I've learned to accept and enjoy weirdness in costumes, in myself, and as I've done so I've learned how to enjoy Halloween.

I am really looking forward to Halloween this year, as it is on a Saturday. My entire weekend is already filling up. The night of Friday the 30th the UO Cultural Forum is organizing a free concert by Natalie Portman's Shaved Head. Nate is a pretty big fan of NPSH because they have a song titled "Beard Lust". He might have some other reasons he likes them but I think it is mostly just that they share his appreciation of a good beard. Here's a fan video for "Beard Lust".

I'm not holding my breath that this concert will take place after the disastrous cancellation of the Passion Pit concert earlier this month, but I'm hopeful that this concert will happen and that it will be good. NPSH will be a free concert and open to the public, so if you are in the Eugene area on Friday the 30th, you should go. It will be on the U of O campus in the EMU ballroom.

Saturday night I will be going to a costume party, where I am hoping to influence the DJ with my wiles until he/she plays some songs by Dead Man's Bones. I posted this video on facebook a few days ago, but I feel like it deserves to be posted again.

Dead Man's Bones is made up of Zach Shields and Ryan Gosling (yup, of The Notebook and Lars and the Real Girl fame). The band was created to showcase their mutual love of the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland and Doo Wop music. Some of the songs are spookier, and thus more suited for Halloween, than others, but I enjoy them all. I will definitely be playing "My Body's a Zombie for You" at my bash this year. In fact, I'll probably just put the album on repeat.

One last thing I would recommend that you check out before October 31st rolls around is this new collection of scary stories titled Half Minute Horrors. It features short stories from a variety of well-known authors and artists, including Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket and (shout out to my childhood) R.L. Stine. You can get a glimpse of the insides of the book at the link. It is currently only $9.35 on Amazon.com, and part of the proceeds go to an organization that gives books to children. I'll be picking up a copy when I have a chance.

America is okay I guess sometimes

2009-10-19T19:41:00.000-07:00

I'm always looking for good, regularly updated web comics to read. Something about cheesy puns and wacom tablet drawings just tickles my fancy, I guess. Right now, my favorite comic has to be Pictures for Sad Children. It's drawn by some guy named John Campbell. I don't know anything about him besides that he draws this comic. I've been reading it for a while now, although I don't remember how long. Maybe a year. I don't know.

Links to some of my favorite comics from Mr. John Campbell:

Something about his combination of dry humor and depressing truth just gets me. I guess I love this comic because, when I read it, I never know whether to laugh or to weep. Also, feel free to buy me his book (autographed please) and/or this t-shirt.

If you don't already read it, click on over to Pictures for Sad Children, dang it. Also, if you have recommendations for web comics I should add to my RSS reader, leave a comment!

Beer Pairing Resource

2009-09-27T19:19:00.001-07:00

Oh my lord, this blog has been neglected. Maybe that will change, maybe it won't. For now, here is what appears to be a great resource to use to decide what beer will pair best with tonight's (or any night's) meal. Check out the Beer Sommelier on GreatBrewers.com! I will definitely be referring to it often...

Hot and Sour Soup

2009-03-15T01:50:00.000-07:00

I've been super swamped with school and the blog has been incredibly neglected. I hope to remedy this over spring break, but for the time being, here is a recipe for hot and sour soup that I modified and made for dinner tonight. I had tried making the original recipe a while back, which was considerably more complicated and called for some really hard to find ingredients. It also called for dried mushrooms, which it turns out I am not a very big fan of. I decided hot and sour could be done better and easier with fresh mushrooms and ingredients you can find at any supermarket. So here is my recipe, which I think is easy, delicious and it's vegetarian!

Ingredients:
6 cups water
1 small can of bamboo shoots, sliced thinly
1 and 1/2 cup sliced small mushrooms (white button or crimini)
tofu (amount is up to you, 1/2 of a block should be enough), cubed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp corn starch dissolved in about 1/3 cup water
1 egg, beaten
White pepper and chili oil to taste
Bring the water to a boil in a medium sized sauce pan. Add bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Stir, and add tofu. Return to a boil. Add salt, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and oil. Let simmer for a minute, and adjust seasonings to taste.

Stir the cornstarch and water, then add to pan, stirring constantly. Return to a boil, then remove from heat. Slowly pour beaten egg while stirring in one direction. Add white pepper and chili oil to taste.

Evergreen's Chicken Tikka Masala

2009-02-07T15:39:00.000-08:00

The Eugene Weekly's seasonal printing of "Chow: Guide to Food and Restaurants" is well known in these parts. In my opinion, it's the best printed resource for finding the new and tasty places to dine at that you've been missing. The Winter 2009 issue came out a few weeks ago, and this time they included some of the best recipes from local restaurants. The recipes varied from the relatively simple salsa verde to the WTF-worthy braised short ribs with mashed celeriac. But there was one gem that really stuck out.

Everyone in Eugene and Corvallis knows that Evergreen is the place to go for lunchtime Indian buffets. And it would be my guess that they all know that the thing to get is the chicken tikka masala; it's definitely the dish of choice for all of my friends. So to say that I was happy to see the recipe for it printed in the EW would be a serious understatement.

Here's the recipe, typed up by me for your enjoyment.

Chicken Tikka Masala from Evergreen Indian Cuisine
(Photo by Michael Hays and yoinked from Wikipedia)

Evergreen owner Meeraali Shaik came to the U.S. in 1990 and worked as a cook for nine years before opening Evergreen Indian Cuisine in Corvallis in 1999. The Eugene location opened in April of 2007. Manager Usha Shaik says this dish is one of their most popular. They grind and prepare all of these spices fresh each day.

Part A:
2 lbs of boneless chicken breast, cut into 4" pieces
1/4 c yogurt
3 tsp ginger paste
3 tsp garlic paste
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp each: cumin, coriander, curry powder, garam masala, turmeric
3 tsp lemon juice
4 tsp vegetable oil
2 tsp salt
Skewers

Part B:
3 tsp butter
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp garlic past
2-3 cloves
2 cardamom pods
2 green chilies (they use chopped jalapenos)
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tomato
5 oz tomato sauce
10 oz tomato puree
salt to taste
2/3 c cream
1 c milk
handful of chopped cilantro
Whisk all of the ingredients in part A into a large bowl (the ginger and garlic pastes can be made in a blender) and add the chicken. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day, put the chicken on skewers and cook in a tandoor (clay oven) for 10 minutes. (If you don't have a tandoor, cook in your home oven at 350 degrees until chicken is cooked through.)

While chicken cooks, make the sauce. In a pot over high heat, add the butter and chopped onions from part B. Fry the onions until golden, then add the ginger and garlic paste. Cook for one minute, then add the cloves, cardamom, green chilies and everything from part B except the cream, milk and cilantro. Cook on low heat until the sauce thickens. Add the cooked chicken, milk and cream to the sauce and stir. Cook for another 4-5 minutes.

Serve with hot basmati rice and nan bread. Garnish with the cilantro leaves.

I have not yet made this recipe, but if it really is what they make at Evergreen, I can say without hesitation that it warrants some delicious grub. I hope to get a chance to make it sometime soon.

Hummus Variations

2009-02-02T22:33:00.001-08:00

Hummus is the chameleon of the culinary world. There are infinite possibilities of delicious dips based on the simple concoction of chick pea, tahini, lemon and garlic. Really, the sky is the limit when it comes to hummus. And I love to eat them all.

I talked briefly on the phone with my mom on Sunday and she told me that she had made her own version of the cilantro and jalapeno hummus you can get at Trader Joe's. I haven't been able to think of anything else since then, so I made some myself to have as a snack between classes for the rest of the week.

Making hummus is the opposite of baking. It is an art, not a science. I never get hung up on amounts when I make it. Everything is done by eye, and by taste. Put in a little more lemon juice. Taste. Add more garlic. Taste. Salt and pepper. Et cetera. For this particular batch of hummus I decided to replace your regular, everyday garlic with some pickled garlic that my mom gave me. It gave the hummus a subtle flavor that I like.

Cilantro & Jalapeno Hummus
1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded
5-6+ cloves pickled garlic
2 limes, juice of
2 14 oz cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 T tahini (sesame paste)
1-2 handfuls of cilantro, roughly chopped
salt and pepper
Process jalapeno, garlic and lime juice in food processor until finely minced. Add chickpeas and tahini and process until smooth. Add cilantro and process until well incorporated. Taste. Adjust ingredients and add salt and pepper to your taste.

I will be eating this wrapped up in a whole-wheat tortillas with a sprinkling of feta cheese and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Yum! I think it could stand to be a little spicier, though. I can't decide if I should use two de-seeded jalapenos next time, or just leave the seeds in the one...

Have a favorite hummus variation of your own? Share plz!

Shellfish link

2009-02-02T22:17:00.000-08:00

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has a great online resource for finding out the status of recreational shellfish harvesting being allowed on the coast. You can find it here. Keep in mind though that the website is not updated as often or as rapidly as the hotline.

I'm so glad to see that toxin levels are back down to normal levels! Now to find a bucket and my waders...

Obama's Inauguration!

2009-01-20T16:32:00.000-08:00

This isn't supposed to be a political blog, but it would be impossible for me to not mention today's inauguration of the 44th President of the United States. In celebration of the occasion, my mom and I made Obama logo sugar cookies this past weekend using the recipe in the America's Test Kitchen cookbook. They're so delicious, they're almost as good as freedom.

Sauerkraut

2009-01-19T19:19:00.000-08:00

I didn't think this day would ever come, but I've finally used the last of the massive amount of sauerkraut I made this autumn. Most of it went to friends and family as Christmas or anytime gifts, but there was still plenty left over to accompany a number of sausages, pork chops and Reuben sandwiches. While at times it felt like the 'kraut wasn't worth the amount of space it took up on the fridge, now that it's gone, I miss it immensely. I'll be making another batch as soon as possible (and hopefully posting a related blog post)!

Roast Chicken

2009-01-15T17:31:00.000-08:00

There's something a little magical about cooking a whole bird. For some reason I feel a satisfaction when roasting and carving a whole chicken that I just don't get from cooking various pieces. Cooking the bird whole is more rustic and authentic, I guess. And it's far more cost effective when compared to buying your chicken in pieces. With the right recipe, it's really tasty too.

What is it, then, that keeps people from roasting a whole chicken?

When I was younger, digging out the giblets hidden in the bird's cavity was a real turn-off. I have to admit that there is still something rather unappealing about sticking my hand in a cold dark cranny to pull out strange bits of squishy meat. If you're feeling squeamish, you can get most of it out by turning the chicken head end up and giving it a good shake.

The idea of "trussing" the chicken may intimidate some. Trussing a chicken just means tying the carcass with butcher's twine so that it will cook more evenly, keeping the legs and wings from drying out. It's not as difficult as it looks.

The last time I cooked a whole chicken, I didn't have any butcher's twine. I just tucked the wings under like you can see in this video and it turned out just fine.

I tried this recipe out this past Sunday. I can't wait until I can make it again.

Thomas Keller's Favorite Simple Roast Chicken Recipe
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.

Salt and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird. Trussing is not difficult, and if you roast chicken often, it's a good technique to feel comfortable with. When you truss a bird, the wings and legs stay close to the body; the ends of the drumsticks cover the top of the breast and keep it from drying out. Trussing helps the chicken to cook evenly, and it also makes for a more beautiful roasted bird.

Now, salt the chicken—I like to rain the salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 tablespoon). When it's cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt baked onto the crisp skin. Season to taste with pepper.

Place the chicken in a sauté pan or roasting pan and, when the oven is up to temperature, put the chicken in the oven. I leave it alone—I don't baste it, I don't add butter; you can if you wish, but I feel this creates steam, which I don't want. Roast it until it's done, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove it from the oven and add the thyme, if using, to the pan. Baste the chicken with the juices and thyme and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.

Remove the twine. Separate the middle wing joint and eat that immediately. Remove the legs and thighs. I like to take off the backbone and eat one of the oysters, the two succulent morsels of meat embedded here, and give the other to the person I'm cooking with. But I take the chicken butt for myself. I could never understand why my brothers always fought over that triangular tip—until one day I got the crispy, juicy fat myself. These are the cook's rewards. Cut the breast down the middle and serve it on the bone, with one wing joint still attached to each. The preparation is not meant to be superelegant. Slather the meat with fresh butter. Serve with mustard on the side and, if you wish, a simple green salad. You'll start using a knife and fork, but finish with your fingers, because it's so good.

This recipe was amazing. I read a suggestion in it's comments that I would highly recommend. Use a broiler pan instead of a traditional roasting pan. Line the bottom of it with tin foil, and then lay slices of a potato out over the foil. Return the top part of the broiler and place the chicken on top of that. Because you are cooking the chicken at such a high temperature, it is likely that the grease may burn and fill your kitchen up with smoke. The potato slices will absorb the grease, keeping it from burning and setting off your smoke alarm.

I think this would be great served with Mom's garlic mashed potatoes and a salad along side. I can't wait!

Flex your Mussels! and other shellfish stuff

2009-01-02T20:54:00.000-08:00

One of the things I find most enjoyable about living in the Willamette Valley is being so close to the Oregon coast. It only takes an hour in the car before you can hear sea gulls and breathe in the salty sea air. Growing up, trips to the coast usually entailed exploring tide pools and munching on clam chowder and garlic toast at Mo's. Picking out various kinds of saltwater taffy to bring home as a tasty treat was another favorite activity. However, these days the thing that gets me most excited about the Oregon coast isn't sweets or chowder, but the vast amount of easily accessible wild foods.

Since late 2007, I've been really excited by the idea of digging clams. The word "clam" can refer to any kind of bivalve mollusk, but usually in the United States it refers specifically to those that burrow in mud and sand. Lucky for us Oregonians, there are six kinds of delicious clams that can be found on our coast! The Oregon clams are:

The Razor, the most delicious and most difficult to catch
The Gaper, also called the Empire clam, which can grow to weigh up to five pounds
The Softshell, a non-native clam that was transplanted to the Pacific coast in the late 1800s
The Cockle, a large clam known for its ridged shell
The Littleneck, a small clam that is also known as a Steamer
The Butter, the most scarce of the clams found in Oregon

Digging clams is a low-cost activity that provides good fun and great food. A digging expedition requires just a few things. Probably the most important is that everyone in your party purchase a shellfish license. You can get a shellfish license at most sporting good stores and at stores like BiMart. Be sure to bring in your driver's license, and you will need to know your social security number if you have never had a hunting or fishing license before. An Oregon shellfish license costs only $6.50 for residents and is good through the end of the year. You will also need a shovel or a rake, depending on the kind of clam you're going after, and a bucket to store your clams in. Rain gear and weather boots are always recommended for outdoor activities at the coast. Wear clothes that can get muddy!

Clam beds, the areas where a bunch of clams are hanging out, can be found up and down the Oregon coast. If you find yourself at the coast and are interested in digging clams, probably the easiest and best way to find out where the clam beds are is to ask a local. Ask around and someone will be able to point you in the direction of the biggest and tastiest clams. I would recommend going after softshell clams, as they are relatively easy to dig and can be found near most of Oregon's main coastal towns.

Acquired your gear and located a clam bed and now wondering what to do? Tromp down to the bed an hour before a minus low tide. On the exposed mud you should see some small holes, about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. These are likely clam shows, or the hole the clam sticks its neck through to feed. To make sure that this is a clam show, stick your finger in the hole. This will disturb the clam if there is one, and you will feel its neck retract.

Now start digging! Start approximately 6 inches from the clam show. You may have to dig down as much as twenty inches, but eventually you should see the clam shell. Try not to break the shell with your shovel, as sharp shell edges can cut fingers. When you are able, pull the clam out of the mud and place it in your bucket. Be sure to grab the clam by the shell and not by a protruding neck, as this might damage the clam. In Oregon, the softshell clam limit is the first 36 dug up per person. When digging softshells, you must take every clam you dig up, as softshell clams are not able to rebury themselves.

Once you've dug all your clams, fill the bucket with sea water until they are covered. If you don't plan on eating them right away, you can add a handful of corn meal to the water and the clams will pump out any silt themselves. After a day, use them in your favorite clam recipe; softshell clams are great for steaming and frying, or can be used in clam chowder!

This weekend, Nate and I had been hoping to head to the coast to get some mussels. Mussels are similar to clams, only they aren't buried in mud. Instead, they attach themselves to tidal rocks with threads called a "beard" or "byssus". This makes them far easier to collect, and just a few twists with your hands will free the shell from their rocks. Mussels are filter feeders, which means they can possess small particles including deadly toxins and organisms. Usually this is only found during the summer months, which leads to the saying, "only eat mussels in months with an R". Fortunately, Nate decided to call the state shellfish hotline anyway. This winter there are unusually high levels of toxins in the mussels here in Oregon and collecting them is restricted. Hopefully the toxin levels will decrease before May so that we can enjoy some mussels this season!

The Oregon state shellfish hotline number is (503) 986-4728.

I want to wrap this post up with a link. Here is a really cool tutorial on how to make a homemade camping stove with soda bottles. Maybe you could even use this to cook your shellfish in the field?

Note: I referenced an awesome book for much of this post, Clam Digging & Crabbing in Oregon by John A. Johnson. I would highly recommend it if you are interested in clamming. It can be purchased at Englund Marine Supply stores, or by sending a check or money order for $12.95 + $1.00 shipping and handling to:

Adventure North Publishing, Co.
P.O. Box 1601
Waldport, OR 97394
(541) 563-3743

iCookbook!

2008-12-30T18:18:00.000-08:00

I've been checking out a lot of cookbooks from the library, and have a scanner. What does that mean? Tons of scanned-in recipes and no virtual cookbook to keep them in. That all changes now. I just created cookbookmonster, a virtual repository of all my scanned-in library book recipes (and some of my faves from cookbooks I have at home).
Since TECHNICALLY posting copywrited material on the internet without permission is illegal, you'll need to sign up for a wordpress I.D. (wordpress.com/signup/only create ID) and comment to this post if you want to be added in the "users who can see this blog." Furthermore... let me know if you want to be part of the cookbookmonster project too! The more content we have, the cooler our virtual cookbook can be! (And who knows... someday we could blow outta this virtual popsicle stand and maybe get a website that is better than a blog for this particular purpose.)
Happy almost New Year, and sign up for a wordpress account!
xo, Caroline :)

**Edit: comment with your Wordpress ID's! Then I'll add you, and you will be able to see all my hard work ^_^

Smokin' Hot!

2008-12-28T19:08:00.000-08:00

I decided that ye olde Cast Iron Maiden blog deserved one more post before 2008 comes to an end. I feel bad that this blog has mostly been ignored since its conception, especially since the blog has such a clever and witty name. Cast Iron Maiden?! C'mon, it doesn't get much better than that.

Recently I've been pretty much obsessed with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage series of TV shows and cookbooks. Hugh is a British celebrity chef known largely to his "back to basics", "real food" campaigning. He's a large supporter of buying only free-range or organic meats and practicing nose-to-tail eating philosophies.

Basically, he's a cooking bad ass.

In an episode of 2007's River Cottage: Gone Fishing, Hugh fashions an on-the-go smoker out of an old tin bread box. Personally, I've always thought smokers to be complex things which only should be handled by the manliest of men, the BBQ Kings. Smoking meat seemed to be right there with muscle cars, cheap beer and lawn maintenance. Imagine my surprise to see Hugh, with his glasses and luscious locks of hair, smoke a freshly caught fish without batting an eye lash. Obviously, smoking meat wasn't just for the BBQ Kings.

In fact, slow drying in the sun or by a fire has been used for food storage in cultures the world over. While today we largely use smoking to enhance flavor and texture, prior to refrigeration it was immensely important in preserving perishable foods. Humans have been smoking meat and fish for as long as we've been doing just about anything. You can read more about the history of smoking here.

Seeing that my ancestors were probably smoking meat successfully hundreds and hundreds of years ago, I decided to give it a try. If cavemen can do it, so can I, right?

It turns out that, for once in my life, I was right. Smoking is really really easy. When you get down to it, smoking food is a pretty simple concept that only needs a few key elements. You need a heat source. You need something to smoke. You need a container to contain your smoke. It turns out that building a homemade smoker is really easy too. In the episode of River Cottage: Gone Fishing that inspired all this, Hugh fashioned a smoker out of an old metal bread box which he placed over a fire. My smoker has a few more parts, but not many. My container is a metal trashcan (new, in case you were worried). I used a hot plate for my heating element and purchased some hickory wood chips to provide the smoke. Drill a few holes and add a BBQ rack, and you too could have a homemade smoker. While I didn't follow the directions on this website, the smoker here is almost identical to the smoker I made.

Upon completing the smoker, I smoked a pound and a half of salmon and two turkey thighs. Getting them up to temperature (150 F for salmon, 165 F for turkey) took several hours but the taste was sure worth it!

If you decide to do some smoking yourself, here are a few tips:

Soak your chips! Unsoaked chips will not smolder and smoke as well as wet ones. Soak chips for at least 30 minutes prior to smoking. If you don't use your chips all at once, keep them in water. They will dry out and leave you smokeless when you least expect it!
Think salt! Smoke and salt are a match made in heaven. Consider the salt content of the meat you're about to smoke. Turkey, which is injected with a salt water solution, will be tasty placed straight in the smoker. Other meats may need to be salted, cured or even brined. Check out this smoked salmon recipe from Alton Brown for an example of curing!
Experiment! Keep in mind that humans have been successfully smoking meat for centuries without recipes. Don't be afraid to try something new!

Redneck Recipe

2008-06-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here's proof that I haven't gotten nearly as far away from my kin in the Midwest as I would like to believe. This is recipe is so easy and the ingredients are all in your pantry. Seriously. Stephen, if you're reading this, even you could make this without difficulty.

Not only is this easy, but it's surprisingly good tasting.

White Trash Casserole

Ingredients:

Butter (just a tad)
1 Box of Jiffy Cornbread Mix
1 Egg
1/3 cup Milk
1 to 1 and 1/2 cups Chili (homemade would be awesome but mine came from a jar)
1 cup grated Cheddar Cheese (approximately)
Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)

Toppings:

Guacamole
Sour cream

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 12 inch cast iron skillet with butter and place in the oven.

Whisk the cornbread mix, egg and milk together in a small bowl. Mixture should look somewhat lumpy. Add the chili, cheese and red pepper flakes. Don't worry about measuring, this is an art, not a science.

Wait 10 or so minutes after the oven has heated up to make sure your skillet is nice and hot. Pour batter into skillet. Cook for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Cut into wedges and top with guacamole and sour cream. Best accompanied by cheap beer and served on paper plates. Use plastic cutlery. Paper towels should be substituted for napkins for authenticity.

Wanna make it even more white trash? Slice a hot dog or two into bite-size pieces and add them in with the chili.

Allergies, schmallergies...

2008-05-19T12:43:00.001-07:00

I suppose a bit of groveling is in order to make up for the utter late-ness of this posting, but I do have a good excuse... sort of!

To make a long story short... I've been having digestive issues for the past year that I finally (about a month and a half ago) sought medical help for. Turns out... it's IBS (better known as Irritable Bowel Syndrome... yummy, I know...) and that the likely culprits are a wheat and dairy allergy. I went completely wheat and dairy (and corn, peanut, citrus fruit and strawberry) free for a month, and felt about 150% better. The process of re-introducing foods back into my diet began about a half a month ago, and now I am back to being simply wheat and dairy free.

And I started eating fish.

What does all of this mean?

I had to, more or less, completely re-think the way I cook. Out goes anything with wheat or gluten. Out goes anything with dairy or casein. More or less I was not eating too much dairy before this whole food allergy fiasco really came to a head, but now I'm religiously reading labels. It just makes my whole body feel better to avoid them. No more seitan burgers on whole wheat, no more hefeweisens with pizza smothered in cheese... but that doesn't mean I just eat rice and vegetables (well, atleast not ONLY rice and vegetables!)

For instance... I have been eating delicious vegan sushi with a creamy spicy tempeh filling...

...or an assortment of delicious roasted vegetables (from the Saturday Market no less) made into gluten-free pasties !

So I'm updating to say that MY trajectory with this blog will be shifting course to document my discoveries in delicious gluten-free, casein-free cuisine. So check back and I will be posting recipes, pictures, and hopefully not too much whining about missing my beer and pizza.

My Apologies

2008-05-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

Oh Blog, I never meant to neglect you for this long. I'm ever so sorry. You see, I've just been busy with school. I suppose I've also been distracted by margaritas and the decent weather we've finally begun to have. But I've been unfair to you. I hope you'll forgive me.

I don't have much to post now, but I will let you know that I've learned of a fab way to jazz up your every day coleslaw. Just add a few dashes of Frank's Original RedHot Sauce to your regular slaw dressing for a little pizazz. You'll like it, I swear!

More posts to come soon.

M.I.A.

2008-04-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

Here is another link for you to check out until I'm feeling well enough to post something with substance.

The art of photographer Carl Warner painstakingly captures all forms of food in a series of still lifes with edible ingredients he raided from his kitchen cupboards to design a series of dreamy landscapes and homey domestic scenes that appear scrumptiously good enough to eat.

Check out more images at the source.

Source: Food Art

How To Cook Anything

2008-03-13T06:10:00.000-07:00

This is just too cute not to post a link to.

SuperCook

2008-03-05T17:30:00.000-08:00

How often have you stumbled home after a long day, exhausted and starving, and wished you could only find a delicious recipe that only used ingredients you already had lying around the house?

Last night I was stumbling around the internet when I happened upon what appears to be a rather ingenious website, SuperCook. Register an account and enter the ingredients that you currently have on hand in your kitchen. The site will then build lists of entrees, desserts and hors d'oeuvres that contain the ingredients you've listed! Talk about handy! The site will also list recipes that you have almost all the ingredients for and will suggest a future shopping list.

There does seem to be a problem or two with the site. For instance, there is no way to specify things like vegetarianism or food allergies, which would really help to make the shopping list feature more personalized and accurate. Still, it seems like SuperCook has strong potential to be a really helpful website. You should definitely check it out!

Tofu Jambalaya with Mississippi Red Beans

2008-03-03T23:04:00.000-08:00

Tonight Eric was craving creole food, so I looked up the ingredients for a tofu jambalaya and found a fabulous recipe at Fat Free Vegan. In order to make it a whole meal, I also improvised a recipe for Mississippi Red Beans. The whole meal was really easy to make, filling, and super tasty and good-smelling.

Caroline's Mississippi Red Beans

1 c. dried kidney beans (or probably 2 cans of kidney beans)
4 c. H2O (or 2 cups h2o, 2 cups veg broth)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped and sauteed
1 bell pepper, chopped and sauteed
1 tsp. liquid smoke (or to taste)
2 tsp olive oil
cayenne to taste
cajun spice to taste
salt to taste

To start, I used dried kidney beans so I had to sort through them to remove any split or damaged beans. Here are my pretty red beans on a plate:

Next, I rinsed them and put them in the pressure cooker with a dash of olive oil and seasoned the water with liquid smoke, salt, bay leaves, and set it to pressure cook for 25 minutes. In the mean time, I chopped up one medium onion, one green bell pepper and 4 cloves of garlic:

Which I then sauteed until soft. As soon as it was ready, I set it aside with a lid to keep it warm and waited until the beans were done to set them aside to de-pressurize.

Next, I worked on the jambalaya. Here's the pretty lineup of the ingredients:

It was a very simple recipe which involved chopping up a giant onion, orange bell pepper, and 2 ribs of celery and then sauteeing them in a stock pot. Here's the veggies:

I added one cup of white rice (the recipe even specifies that brown rice is not very good with the jambalaya... I ALWAYS use brown rice but the white rice was the perfect texture when all was said and done) and four cloves of chopped garlic and fried the rice a little bit with the veggies. Finally, I added 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 1/2 a cup of vegetable broth, and some liquid smoke. Then I added this delicious mountain of chopped tofu:

Let this whole mixture simmer on low heat for over 30 minutes until the rice is soft. Then you get this delicious combination in my bowl, all ready to eat:

...tofu jambalaya and Mississippi red beans! It was a definite hit!

Chilaquiles with Soyrizo

2008-03-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

This is a modified version of the chilaquiles recipe found on page 253 of my trusty Laurel's Kitchen cookbook. Nate made it for the first time a few weeks ago, adding some soyrizo for added flavor and protein. I liked it so much, I asked him to make the same thing today for a late breakfast!

Ingredients:

12 Corn Tortillas, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 T Vegetable Oil
10 oz. can Enchilada Sauce
1 and 1/2 cups Cottage Cheese (lowfat is a-ok)
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Chili Powder
1/2 pack of Soyrizo
4 Radishes, sliced
1/4 Onion, chopped
Cilantro, coarsely chopped

Heat oil in cast iron skillet. Add tortillas, stirring frequently. Meanwhile, place enchilada sauce and cottage cheese in food processor. Blend until smooth.

Once the tortillas appear soft and lightly coated with oil, pour the enchilada/cottage cheese mixture over them. Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese and chili powder as desired. Cover and cook over medium heat until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.

Meanwhile, heat some oil in a small skillet. Add Soyrizo and cook until preferred crispiness is reached. Or, cook according to directions on package.

Serve chilaquiles topped with soyrizo, cilantro, onion and radish, with a side of rice and beans.

Enjoy!

Adventures in Pastamaking

2008-02-26T19:18:00.000-08:00

It's the end of the month and we are down to next-to-nothing in our cupboards, but I was still craving something special for dinner tonight (more special than "random vegetables with rice" or "fend-for-yourself"). I craved a certain something... carb-y, delicious... pasta! I wanted to make my own since I have never done it, and I was worried I would be a little inhibited without a pasta making press. Fortunately, I tried out this recipe and it worked great! The noodles turned out kind of funky-shaped, but I'll explain that more along the way.

Homemade Noodles (Yield: 4-6 servings)
4 eggs
1/2 c. durum or semolina flour
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt

First, I put the eggs in my trusty Cuisinart food processor and whipped them up until they were completely blended.

Then, in a bowl, I combined the dry ingredients and mixed them well and added them, 1 cup at a time, to the egg mixture and pulsed with the food processor until I had a thick, non-sticky dough.

I tranferred it to my well-floured counter to knead it for about 5 minutes. Look at the cute dough blob:

After I kneaded it, the ball sat for about 10 minutes under a rag before I started to roll it out. And let me tell you... if you don't have a pasta machine, this is where your arms get involved. Like, really involved. It took me a long time to roll these suckers out. Below you can see yours truly huffing and puffing away while desperately trying to get the dough as flat and thin as possible:

Finally, I decided to cut the dough into two pieces and work on each one separately to try and get them thin. Here's a cross- section to show you the dough-y goodness:

Cutting it in half made it much easier to get the dough fairly thin. I first rolled it out into a long sheet like this:

Then I rolled it up like a big jelly roll and used a sharp knife to cut thin ribbons out of the jelly roll (you just need to cut slices and they unroll into noodles!)

Then I wound up with a bowl full of mutant-shaped noodles like this. Actually I prefer the term unique and beautiful, or atleast rustic.

The cut noodles need to be kept under a cloth since they dry out quickly, and should either be prepared immediately or dried and stored. Before I could cook the noodles I had to make some kind of a sauce to put with them, so I threw this little baby together:

Caroline's Lentil-y Tomato Sauce (Yield: 4-6 servings)
2 tsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic
6 mushrooms
1/2 c. red lentils
3/4 c. water
1/2 tsp. each: basil, oregano and rosemary
dash cayenne (or more if you want it hot!)
dash curry powder
salt to taste
Can of tomatoes
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Basically, I heated the oil over medium heat in a medium-sized sauce pan, sauteed the garlic and mushrooms, tossed the lentils around in the oil, then added the water and spices. Bring it all to a boil and then cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until the lentils are soft. Once they are soft, add the can of tomatoes, tomato paste, and vinegar and stir it all up. Toss it with the noodles!

Cooking the noodles was super easy, just bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil and drop the noodles in for 3 minutes, until they are al dente. Here are the noodles in their hot bath:

And finally, here is Eric's plate: steamed asparagus, a big spinach salad, and the noodle/sauce combination topped with parmesan and some pine nuts. YUM!

Now I can happily digest for a while and make room for another one of Meggie's kickass truffles...
(Mad props to Stephen for being the main pornographer here as I cooked... your camera kicks ass)

Welcome!

2008-02-26T13:04:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Cast Iron Maiden, a simple blog about some friends on the culinary adventure that is life.

Caroline and I recently decided it was time for us to begin recording our great food successes (and occasional disasters) so that they might be shared with the masses. My hope is that this blog will give us the opportunity to share a little bit of our daily lives with family and friends, as well as provide us with a chance to discuss one of everyone's favorite topics: food!

While this will technically be a food blog, don't be surprised if you find a dash of personal ranting and a pinch of funny youtube videos mixed in with the recipes and food porn. We might even throw in some crafting for good measure. After all, we are people of many talents and our blog should definitely reflect that!