Tonight's loaf of bread comes courtesy of Heidi at 101 Cookbooks; I found her blog through a Google ad, and I love it. She posted this recipe for brown Irish bread, and since my latest obsession is "making my own ____", I figured this would be a good start. (The real truth is that I'm about to run out of bread and I am too freakin' lazy to go back to the store, even though I am now also out of garlic and milk-- the latter because I decided to make my own bread.) I varied the recipe slightly, mostly because I didn't have whole wheat flour; I used 3.5 cups of unbleached white flour and added some steel-cut oats and a handful of flaxseeds. I also didn't have buttermilk (are we sensing a trend yet?), so I used milk mixed with lemon juice. Hopefully it all worked-- we'll see in about 10 minutes.
But it smells HEAVENLY.
The amazing part was that the bread was in the oven and dinner was simmering, all before 7pm. I got home at about 6:25 or so; put on a pot of brown rice and started sauteeing vegetables. Tonight's dinner was a chicken tikka masala over brown rice-- I used tikka masala from a jar, which I don't usually do, but every once in a while I like the "authenticity" of a jar of Patak's sauce. I sauteed onions and mushrooms in some oil, then I wilted some baby spinach, added a chicken breast cutlet (cut into chunks), added some sauce and about a cup of water and simmered. While that was heating, I made the bread.
I also got flour on my black linen skirt, but no worries.
(Ooh! Bread is out of the oven. A knock on the bottom of the pan feels hollow, just like Heidi said it should. Yay!)
I had the tikka masala and rice with a side of a cucumber-yogurt salad that I make all summer long. I can't really call it a raita, but it's close:
- 2 Israeli cucumbers, peeled and chopped (I use my vegetable chopper)
- 1 7-oz. container of low-fat Greek yogurt (or drained low-fat yogurt)
- cumin, fresh mint, pepper, garlic, lemon juice, salt
Scoop yogurt into a container and stir until very smooth. Add cucumber; stir to
incorporate. Add other ingredients to taste and mix well. Chill for at least 2 hours-- the
longer the better!
Serve with crackers and hummus, as an accompaniment to curries or as an addition to a
green salad.
* * *
So. This brings it all to me. I decided to start writing a food blog because I'm at one of those crossroads in my life. No, honestly. I started thinking about things I enjoy doing; I cook (and eat) often and kind of obssessively, so that's taken care of, but what I really miss is writing. So, I thought, why not incorporate the two? I have a personal journal/blog, and it's fine, but sometimes I'm overwhelmed by the minutiae of my life, so I figured I could get the writing thing taken care of if I write about something I think about on a regular basis.
Food.
I'm partly inspired by the aforementioned Heidi, and I hope she doesn't mind. I guess I'm also inspired by my 3,080th reading of Heartburn by Nora Ephron, which is my favorite book to read when I'm feeling blue; you could say that Heartburn is to me what mashed potatoes are to Rachel (the narrator). If Rachel were a real person-- or even a character in a novel-- these days, she would definitely have a blog, and it would definitely be about food. She might even throw in a recipe or two. She is a woman who uses food to fight the lonelies, she uses food to give herself focus, and she uses food as a structure around which she can tell a story. My kind of woman.
Besides the literary stuff... I go by Mitzi. It's a nickname, but I only answer to it when my grandfather uses it. I live in a very nice neighborhood in Queens, which is part of New York City, except Manhattanites roll your eyes when you remind them. I cook. A lot. More than any of my friends. Oddly, however, I have never cooked for my friends-- not a full, sit-down, well-researched and -crafted meal-- because a) I don't have a table (just a coffee table) and b) no one wants to shlep out to Queens just so I can cook for them.
Their loss.
In real life, I work in television, but it's not nearly as glamourous as it sounds. I am originally from Baltimore, home of the Steamed Crab in Old Bay, and I'm Jewish (but I do not keep Kosher; see the part about the steamed crab). The Judaism factors much more in my cooking than the Baltimore, because I have spent hours trying to replicate my family's stuffed cabbage, brisket and chicken soup recipes (I have been successful), and I also make treats for every Jewish holiday, so my co-workers get fresh latkes and homemade hamantaschen and chocolate-covered matzah. I live alone in a good-sized studio with a decently-sized apartment kitchen (all of the appliances are small-scale, but I do have some counter space). I grow herbs on my window sill. I take a great deal of pride in my living space, so I clean regularly. I don't have a boyfriend and I don't date much these days, so don't ask. I am a film buff. I like to read. I sing semi-professionally. I watch way too much TV.
And I cook. And I eat. And I pay attention when I do both of those things. I hope to share them all with you.
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