Chocolate Soufflé

Back in middle school and high school, I played a decent amount of basketball.  In the beginning, I had practice regularly two nights a week.  One night I threw on my practice jersey, put on my shoes, and prepared to get into the car with my dad.  We shouted our goodbyes up the stairs and opened the front door as my mother cried out a semi-hysterical and shrill, "What?!"  I ran back up the stairs just in time to see my mom pull a perfectly-crisped and puffy cheese soufflé out of the oven.

my chocolate soufflé

Soufflé, for those of you that are not familiar, is a light baked dish made up of a base and whipped egg whites.  The base is made out of la roux (milk, flour, and butter), egg yolks, and flavored with anything from cheese to chocolate to Grand Marnier.  The two parts are then folded together and baked so that it rises... and falls after 5 to 10 minutes out of the oven.  My mom makes a killer souffle.  It is one of those favorite and famous meals in my family.

egg whites

chocolate and egg yolks

So there we all are in the kitchen as my mom carefully extracts the most impressive and puffy soufflé she has ever made.  And we have to leave just as the soufflé hisses its hiss of deflation and falls.  This is one of the great tragedies in our family lore - that we could not enjoy .  In my first attempt, I decided to make chocolate soufflé.

just before the oven

Chocolate Soufflé

from The New York Times Cookbook

2 tbs butter

2 tbs flour

3/4 milk

pinch o' salt

2 oz unsweetened chocolate

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbs cold coffee

1/2 tsp vanilla

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

4 egg whites, stiffly beaten

whipped cream (if desired, which is should be)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a small pot, melt the butter, add the flour and stir with a wire whisk until blended.  Meanwhile bring the milk to a boil and add it all at once to the butter and flour.  Combine with the whisk and add the salt.

Melt the chocolate with the sugar and the coffee over hot water (...or in the microwave).  Stir the mixture together and add it, plus the vanilla, to the butter, milk, and flour.  Beat in the egg yolks one at a time and let it cool a bit.

Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.  This step has the greatest possibility for messing up your soufflé.  The goal is to mix everything together without beating out the little pockets of air bubbles in the egg whites.  When I did this part (with my mother looking over my shoulder), I folded just until everything was mixed, but there were still little flecks of white egg whites throughout.  Butter and sprinkle with sugar a 2-quart casserole dish and pour in the soufflé mix.  Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until everything is puffy and brown.  Serve (immediately) with whip cream.

***

Making a soufflé can be stressful, especially for the first time.  As my roommate knows well, Barry Louis Polisar's "All I Want Is You" is a song that always helps me release stress.  Barry is a children's songwriter and author for things like Sesame Street (what up, Cookie Monster?):

Claiborne, Craig. "Chocolate Soufflé." The New York Times Cookbook. New York: Harper & Row, 1961. 605. Print.

Chickpea Curry

My father is a little weird.  He likes categorizing things and he has all sorts of systems.  (And he does not respond well when the system changes.  But that is a whole different story.)  Lately, I've been flipping through a lot of my mom's cookbooks, and there are tons of dishes that are really delicious and cheap, at least once you purchase the basic ingredients.  These are what my father would consider and file under "start-up costs" - it is kind of self-explanatory, but these are the things that are maybe kind of expensive, but once you have them, you're set for awhile.  (I said he was weird.)

Anyway, my mom was craving Indian food, so we decided to make Chickpea Curry, which is a really cheap thing to make, especially once you have all the spices.  We got also got this giant bag of roti-chapatis from Costco (does anyone else think of Bend It Like Beckham when they think of chapati?  And Mrs. Bhamra going on, "What family will want a daughter-in-law who can run around kicking football all day but can't make round chapatis?"  No?  Just me?  Okay.)

dinner!  it smelled SO GOOD

Chickpea Curry

from This Essential Vegetarian Cookbook

2 onions

4 cloves garlic

1 tbs ghee or oil

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp tumeric

1 tsp paprika

1 tbs ground cumin

1 tbs ground coriander

28 oz canned chickpeas, drained

14 oz canned tomato pieces

1 tsp garam masala

Finely slice the onions and crush the garlic (using the flat of a knife will do).  Heat up the oil or ghee in a medium pan over medium heat and add the onions and garlic and cook until soft while stirring.  

Then add the chili powder, salt, tumeric, paprika, cumin, and coriander, and stir and cook for one minute.  (It is going to get a little dry there for awhile, but it helps the spices get really hot and releases the flavor.)  

Add the chickpeas and tomato pieces and stir to combine everything.  Cover the pan and let everything simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.  Make sure to stir occasionally.  

After 20 minutes, add the garam masala and cover the pan again.  Stir every once in awhile and let it cook for another 10 minutes.  

Try heating up some chapati or naan and wrap the curry inside if you can.  (The packaging should give directions for heating.)

my army of spices

sliced onion

the onions, garlic, and spices
it got really dry and I started to freak out a little

the glorious curry

the chapati cooking - sadly, I never got the desired puffiness
maybe next time

once again, the finished product

As we all know that I like themes, B21 is a bhangra band from England.  (Bhangra is from the Punjab region in India.)  They won a lot of awards around the turn of the millennium until one member of the band decided to pursue a solo career.  Yeah... Some unreleased music by B21 was stolen and it was kind of a mess.  Here is B21's "Darshan":

"Chickpea Curry." The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook. Vancouver, BC [Canada]: Whitecap, 1997. 134. Print.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Ever since I got home, I have had this incredible hankering for rhubarb.  It is kind of still in season - it's about $3/lb in the Bay Area right now.  I flipped through this dessert cookbook that my cousin helped out with.  It is called Rustic Fruit Desserts and the recipes are phenomenal.  I adopted their recipe, "Apple Crisp with Brandy-Soaked Currants" (which also looks REALLY good, but I sadly do not have the ingredients at home).

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

adapted from Rustic Fruit Desserts

Crisp Topping:

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Fruit Filling:

1.5 lbs strawberries (this is about two containers strawberries)

1 lb rhubarb (about 4-5 stalks)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tbs flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Butter a 9-inch square baking pan.  Make the crisp topping by combining the brown sugar, flour, salt, and cardamom in a bowl.  Add the butter and mix it around so it forms crumbly clumps.  Put the mixture in the freezer while you prepare the fruit.  Make the filling by washing the fruit, cutting it up, and thoroughly mixing the sugar and flour.  The poundage of the fruit does not really matter, but it should almost fill the baking pan before adding the topping.  Put the pan in the oven and cook for 50 minutes.  Serve with cream if you know what's good for you.

***

Crisps are one of my favorite desserts to make during the school year because it is a great dish to make with some friends.  One person prepares the fruit, another the coating for the fruit, and one or two other people can make the crisp topping.  Usually I make some kind of apple crisp with an oat-based topping, but the strawberry rhubarb crisp turned out really well.  The intense red from the berries and the rhubarb rises and bubbles up to stain the crisp topping.  It is actually a kind of striking contrast between the little islands of browned sugar.

There is nothing quite like cooking to some really great jazz music.  And because I can't find any of my cousin Dave's music online (I'm going to try to change this soon), here is Benny Goodman doing a version of Jelly Roll Morton's "King Porter Stomp":

Schreiber, Cory, and Julie Richardson. "Apple Crisp with Brandy-Soaked Currants." Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles Buckles, Cobblers, Pandowdies, and More. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed, 2009. 138. Print.

Watermelon Juice

I'm not actually a big fan of watermelon juice, but I have managed to place it on this huge pedestal in my mind because if I did really love it, there is huge money-saving potential here... Instead of buying the incredibly expensive juice, buy the watermelon and blend it!  So simple!  So brilliant!  So much fresher and tastier!  Nevertheless, I bought a whole watermelon (the first one I think I've ever purchased).  Do you have any idea how much watermelon is in a watermelon??  So after slicing all these bite-size chunks, filling an entire platter/bowl/serving thing with fruit, and surveying the remaining half of the watermelon, I made watermelon juice.

Watermelon Juice

bits of watermelon

1 lime

In case you didn't get it above, blend a bunch of watermelon in the blender, which is where the blending happens.  I added the lime juice from one lime to add a new flavor-dimension to the juice.  If you don't drink it immediately, watermelon bits will separate.  You can strain it if it bothers you.

***

I think I'm trying to channel summer through my beverages.  Anyway, here is The Muff's "Kids in America"..  Yay 90's music!

Salsa Verde

So I have a ton of chicken leftover from making the Chicken Noodle Soup, even after putting half of it in the soup.  Here is a recipe for Salsa Verde that goes perfectly with some chicken.  I suggest drizzling a bit on a cold piece of poached chicken breast.  (The sauce is meant to be served cold.)

chicken and salsa verde

Salsa Verde

from The Art of Simple Food

1/3 cup coarsely chopped parsley

grated zest of 1 lemon

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tbs capers, coarsely chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup olive oil

ground pepper

Mix everything together and then let it sit for awhile so all the flavors can meld.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  

"meld" is such a great verb

***

This is actually the first time I have ever tried, let alone made, salsa verde.  I have no idea how I let that happen, but it adds a whole dimension of flavor to the chicken as I imagine it would to any simple dish.

It turns out that salsa verde is (another) green Italian sauce made with olive oil, but unlike pesto, this one is usually also has capers, garlic, and parsley.  It is not just Italian as there is a French version and a German version.  ALSO, in case you were wondering, like my sister and I were, capers are actually flower buds that are not ripe yet.  They come from this prickly plant that is native to the Mediterranean (among other places).  Capers are even mentioned in ancient Sumer's Gilgamesh.  Yay mythology!

I am currently watching Saved!, a classic for anyone who has a decent sense of humor (actually some people reeaaallllly don't get it...), and its soundtrack seriously impacted me during my years of musical development.  Here's one song called "Flowers in the Window" by Travis:

Waters, Alice, Patricia Curtan, Kelsie Kerr, and Fritz Steiff. "Salsa Verde." The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2007. 45. Print.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

So I realize it is no longer winter, but homemade chicken noodle soup is a classic, especially when you finally have access to the stock pot in your mother's kitchen.  The first time I made this soup was the first time I had ever handled a whole chicken by myself.  Definitely an experience...  Here's a tip: don't name the chicken something like Cluck before you cook it.  It makes the cooking process a bit more emotional than it needs to be.

Mr. Cocky, my sister's rooster

Chicken Noodle Soup

from College Cooking: Feed Yourself and Your Friends

1 whole chicken (3 - 4lbs)

salt and pepper

2 carrots

2 stalks of celery

8 oz uncooked noodles

1 tsp nutmeg

Remove the innards from the chicken and thoroughly wash the chicken.  Put the bird in a large stockpot and season it with salt and pepper.  Fill the pot with water so that the chicken is completely covered with water.  The less water, the more flavorful the broth BUT the less broth.  I know, it's a struggle.  Also, the water should be cold so it will do magical things to the chicken as it heats up.  Simmer over medium heat for 1 hour.

this is a more ingredient-intensive version
where I used onions, parsley, and garlic to season the broth as it boiled

Skim off the impurities up on the top.  Remove the chicken and let it cool until you can handing it without causing serious burns or discomfort.

Peel the carrots and slice them.  Cut the celery and add them both to the soup.

Remove the chicken from the bones.  Add what you want to the soup (I'd suggest the dark meat) and save the other meat (the white meat) for sandwiches and snacks and all that good stuff.  Go ahead and discard the skin and bones.

Add the noodles and nutmeg as well.  And hell, throw in some more salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally for as long as the noodles need to cook.  Take it off the heat and eat.

***

The first time I made this, the pot was just barely big enough to fill with water and cover the chicken.  I ended up cooking the chicken longer because I wanted to flip it over to make sure the meat was all cooked.  And then, as I tried to remove the chicken, it completely fell apart.  And I mean completely.  I spent the better part of 15 minutes removing all the various chicken bits (how does it not sound yummy when I put it like that??).  Honestly, before I made the soup I knew how homemade broth was made, but the whole process made me a little afraid to eat the soup.  For whatever reason, I was terrified that it was not going to taste good.  But it was pretty much fantastic, so I don't know what my problem was.

more of my sister's chickens...
this could have been my problem

Plus, I love this cookbook.  It's is fully of super simple recipes and Megan and Jill Carle (the sisters who wrote the book) always deliver a cookbook with recipes for complicated things that actually really easy and really delicious.  My sister has another one of their books, which is how I found this one.

Over the weekend, when I made the soup a second time, I took a couple tips from another cookbook.  This time, I boiled the chicken for an hour, removed the breasts for later, and boiled the rest of the chicken for another 3 hours.  Plus I had an onion and a bunch of garlic in there.  For broths, you can pretty much add whatever sounds good to you for seasoning, but you have to make sure that you don't over-season it and ruin the broth.  Also, if you don't want to eat the soup immediately, you can refrigerate it.  The fat is going to separate from the rest of the liquid and solidify, making it really easy to lift it off and remove.

I pretty much just listened to this song because the title has the word "bird" in it.  AND it's a great song.  Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds":

Carle, Megan, and Jill Carle. "Vegetarian Chili." College Cooking: Feed Yourself and Your Friends. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed, 2007. Print.

Sol Food

I don't know what they do to their food.  It's unbelievable.  You really haven't lived until you've eaten here.  Sol Food has two locations in downtown San Rafael, one at Lincoln Ave. and 3rd St and the other on Lincoln right next door.

take-out brings SO MUCH joy to my life

This is the only place in San Rafael that's open past 10pm, not that that is the reason to go here.  Sol Food is a Puerto Rican place.  The entire restaurant (both of them) is colorfully decorated with bright doors, old photographs, long wooden tables and benches.  It's really a lot of fun.

The rice is delicious.  Order pretty much anything.  I recommend the shrimp, chicken, pollo sandwich, all of the plantains, the salad (they have the best salad dressing ever - it's like an oil-vinegar-lemon thing).  Also, try the limonada fresca, a really tart sparkling limeade.  Sadly, the prices aren't as low as they could be, a meal costs anywhere from $12-$18.

Take home message?  Go here.