Happy Halloween!

In honor of all the grim, grinning ghosts and such . . . I made mummy dogs and chili for dinner tonight!  The first Halloween that Adrianne and I lived together we decided to have mummy dogs and queso for dinner while we handed out candy (the idea was that mummy dogs were spooky and queso was orange. I think we may have had carrots too but let's face it, Halloween isn't exactly a healthy holiday). Well, I had class and didn't get home until after dark and, more importantly, after Halloween kick-off.  So, it fell to Adrianne to make the dinner, which she did and it was great.  However, when I got home Adrianne turned her back for 5 minutes to open the gate (or something like that) and when we got in the kitchen there were only 2 mummy dogs left!  My angelic dog had eaten six mummy dogs in less than 5 minutes, off of the counter no less. Tonight Lucy didn't get any mummy dogs but Dudley ate one when I wasn't looking and I had to check with him to make sure that Lucy wasn't up to her old tricks!  Anyway, a mummy dog is basically a giant pig in a blanket (I think people might call them hogs in blankets??) but you cut the crescent roll dough with a pizza wheel to make thin strips that look more like a mummy's bandages.  I love pigs and blankets & I love mummy dogs.  I'm a fan of theme dinners in general and hopefully there will be more of them in the Singleton's kitchen. So, there you have it.  Not gourmet, but cute!  Happy Haunting!

Here's a (bad) picture of my pumpkin!  It's the first year that I carved one all by myself.  We got the pumpkin at the pumpkin patch when my mom & dad visited.  It's cute!  

Hank's Lasagna

OK, I love Italian food but lasagna isn't my favorite.  Don't get me wrong, I like it, but given the option I will usually go for some other variation of pasta, meat/veggies, and cheese.  However, if none of you have noticed, it's gotten cold (!!) and last Thursday I was seized with the inspiration to make lasagna.  Usually I will look up a recipe in a cookbook or online but I knew that I had to call Hank for this one.  Hank is a great experimenter in the kitchen and our styles are radically different but he also has several "go-to" recipes and lasagna is one of them.  So, I called Hank to get a little refresher course on lasagna a la Hank and here's what I learned:

• 1st, you make a bechamel (once again, a wonderful, and easy, base for a lot of great recipes) with butter, flour, and milk.  I seasoned mine with salt, pepper, and a teeny tiny bit of nutmeg.  Then you add your ricotta cheese to the bechamel.  For all of you in the cottage cheese camp, I cannot go there and I remain firmly in the ricotta camp.

• In the meantime, get the meat sauce going as well.  I made mine with onion, garlic, red bellpepper, tomato sauce, ground beef, some sundried tomato chicken sausage that I had in the freezer, and spinach.  I don't really like spinach in my lasagna but I find that it's much better (read:  less noticeable and offensive) if you mix it in with the meat sauce. Alternatively, my mom mixes hers with the cheese which is also very acceptable (it is still spinach, after all).  Add secret herbs and spices till your heart's content.  Hank did make sure to remind me that the most important thing when making lasagna is that each individual component is well seasoned.

• Layer meat sauce, cheese mixture, and lasagna noodles in the pan.  For those of you in the uncooked noodles camp, I also can't go there for this lasagna.  In some lasagnas I think that uncooked noodles work ok but not in this one.  And, yes, it's an extra step and an extra dirty pot but as long as you're spending the time in the kitchen making everything else, I don't think it takes that much extra work or time in the long run.  Repeat the layering process as space in your pan will allow.  Make sure that you finish with sauce and then top with cheese.  I think that mozzarella or provolone in standard.

• The verdict:  it made a ton of lasagna but I was sort of aiming for that because I wanted Dudley to be able to have leftovers while I was in Boston with my parents and he was watching Lucy for me.  If it were truly singleton lasagna I'd cut the recipe down a lot.  However, as you may have noticed, there isn't really a recipe per se.  That's standard with Hank recipes, by the way.  It's very Amelia Bedelia, a little of this and a pinch of that and there you go!  I liked it as much as I like lasagna and I wouldn't change a thing! Hank dominates the lasagna!

Yummy Cauliflower!

Those are two words I thought I'd never say together.  So, I know that all of you have been waiting in breathless anticipation for the results of the Great Cauliflower Experiment.  Now, without further ado, I give you (drum-roll please):  Cauliflower  Macaroni and Cheese!

I found this recipe on another food blog, Food Blogga, under the heading:  "This Macaroni and Cheese Tastes Like Doritos."  Do you understand why I decided to give it a looksee?

• First, boil one head of orange (or white, I suppose) cauliflower for about 10 minutes.

• Next, puree the cauliflower with about 1/2 cup of milk in a blender until you have what looks like an Orange Julius (but smells like cooked cauliflower).  

• In the meantime, make a bechamel sauce.  If you don't know how to do this, it's very easy and it makes your life in the kitchen so much better, so I recommend that you look it up and get going.  
• Once you have your bechamel sauce, add the pureed cauliflower to it.  Then add cheese (as much and any kind that you like).  I also added Greek yogurt (big surprise there!) because I think that the tang is very good at counterbalancing some of the cauliflower taste.  Season liberally with salt and pepper.  The recipe on Food Blogga called for fajita seasoning, I used Penzey's Salsa Seasoning because that's what I had available.  

• By now you should also have cooked between 1/2 and a pound of dry pasta until it's al dente.  Combine the pasta with the cheese/cauliflower sauce and place the mixture in a prepared dish.  Top with breadcrumbs and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

• The verdict from a cauliflower hater?  I liked it.  I could taste the cauliflower but I think that's because I knew it was there.  If I hadn't made it I would know that it tasted "different" but I think I'd still like it.  It will never replace the Barefoot Contessa's mac & cheese but it's nice for a change.  It's also much lighter so you don't feel as bloated after you eat it (overshare?).  

Dupont Circle Farmer's Market

Woo hoo! Farmer's Market Day!  It was brrrr shiver cold here this morning so I cheated and took the bus over to the market.  I walked home though and I thought to myself that the better option would be to walk to the market and then, after I'm loaded up with goodies, take the bus home.  You can see I loaded up with the usual goodies:  tomatoes (yes, still at the market!  But some of them are greenhouse tomatoes.  I asked specifically for field tomatoes and supposedly that's what I got.  I'm not sure though . . . they feel awfully firm for a field tomato.  Oh well, I'll try them this week and if they're bad, I'm done), apples (Northern Spy & Cameo), carrots, peppers, onions, and purple and regular potatoes.  The eggs that I got last week were great and I only had one (!!) left as of last night so I went ahead and purchased some more.

So, did anyone notice my adorable head of orange cauliflower in the center of my melange of vegetables?  I saw it a couple of weeks ago and thought to myself:  "It's too bad I hate cauliflower because that is so cute!" For the record, I loathe cauliflower of any color; however, I came across a recipe on another food blog that called for, of all things, orange cauliflower, and it looked like it might be ok.  I'm going to make it for dinner tonight and with any luck you all will get a new blog post describing the outcome!  That's all I'm willing to spill about my top-secret cauliflower experiment.  Oh, side note:  apparently orange cauliflower is even better for you than normal cauliflower because it has suped-up amounts of vitamin A.  

Stay tuned for the great orange cauliflower experiment!

"Please, sir, I want some more."

"So, they established the rule that all poor people should have the alternative to (for they would compel nobody, not they), of being starved by a gradual process in the house, or by a quick one out of it. With this view, they contracted with the water-works to lay on an unlimited supply of water; and with a corn-factor to supply periodically small quantities of oatmeal; and issued three meals of thin gruel a day, with an onion twice a week, and half a roll on Sundays."  -- Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

I have a love-hate relationship with Dickens but a post about oatmeal is sort of crying out for a reference to Oliver Twist.  I don't think that you could call my oatmeal gruel though (which, as I understand, wasn't precisely oatmeal).  I made cinnamon apples with all of the apples that we picked when my mom and dad were here exactly for the purpose of putting them on my oatmeal with a big dollop of Greek yogurt.  Maybe I should turn this into the Greek yogurt blog, I'm starting to feel like I'm advertising for them.  These are steel cut oats because the Safeway by my house, where I bought them, doesn't have much of a selection.  Steel cut oats are "the best" and apparently they're a little bit better in terms of "cleaning you out" but I tend to prefer rolled oats.  It's a texture thing . . . but I'll eat and enjoy both of them all winter long.  I can't really think of a better winter breakfast.

Kiss My Grits

I usually start to get hungry at about 4 o'clock.  I personally think this is because my stomach knows, even though I will it not to, that the gouter, if you're in France, or the custom of tea, if you're in England, is spot on.  For that matter, there's also what my dad refers to as "the finest hour of the day," by which he means the cocktail hour.  At any rate, if I don't already know what I'm going to have for dinner that evening, when 4 o'clock rolls around I start to think about dinner.

So, today at 4 o'clock I pondered dinner.  I knew that I had leftover cheese grits, I knew that I probably wanted to make chicken, and I knew that I had some tomatoes that I needed to eat. There you have it:  chicken and grits with tomato sauce.  

Grits are fantastic.  I am an unabashed carb addict.  I will never willingly give up my carbs and I love all of them.  For those of you who think that you don't like grits . . . all I can say is get some stone-ground grits and try again.  Nothing against the Quaker man, but stone-ground grits are 100% better.  In my very humble opinion, Anson Mills makes the best grits because they're very coarse and they have a great  texture when their cooked.  Hank is responsible for turning me on to Anson Mills and I am very thankful for that.  Grits are great, they're a wonderful vehicle for flavor.  I love them.  Try them.  

Cheese Grits

1 c. stone ground grits

2 c water (or chicken broth if you want it to be extra rich)

2 c milk

CHEESE (any sort you like, add to taste)

In a medium sized pot (~ 4 qts), heat milk & water.  Add about a tablespoon of salt (very important.  Paula Deen says that if you don't salt your grits in the beginning, you'll never get the flavor right.  I believe her.  I mean, she definitely knows more about grits than I do and I'm not going to take my chances on under-seasoned grits).  Add grits and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover grits, and simmer for at least one hour (but if you stretch it to about 2 hours it'll be even better), stirring occasionally to make sure that the grits don't stick to the bottom of the pan.  Add cheese (or sour cream, dairy products are great here) and stir the cheese into the grits until it's thoroughly combined.  Season with pepper and serve.  

They take awhile to cook but it's a great recipe for someone like me, who reads a lot, because I can cook them while I'm studying.

On to the sauce!

Onion, garlic, and red bellpepper, sweating it out, waiting for my tomatoes.   

I made the sauce with my remaining third of my red tomato and my green zebra tomato.  I know that tomato sauce is really not a fitting use for such a pretty tomato; however, it really needed to be used and the flavor of it's great, and it's my tomato, I'll use it how I want to!  The fresh tomatoes start out as a watery mess when you make the sauce but if you go low and slow, it turns into an excellent tomato sauce with a great flavor.  A little tomato paste never hurt anyone either!  

So, there you have it:  chicken and grits!  Delish!

Autumn is the year's last, loveliest smile.

You can thank William Cullen Bryant for that poetic thought.  I'm not sure if I agree or not.

But, the leaves have been changing color here and it's the first time I've lived in a place where there are red, orange, and yellow leaves all over the place and I will say, they're very pretty.  I just don't like the cold weather that's behind all of it.  I took these pictures last weekend, the leaves are even better now, as you might think.  There are trees all around the tidal basin (but not the cherry trees) that are brilliantly showy and beautiful right now.  

Adrianne's favorite season is fall (but I think that's mostly because of college football), my dad loves it, and so does Suzy.  So, because I wish that all of you were here to see the changing leaves with me, I thought I could at least post pictures for you to see.  

Greek & Leek Noodles

I'm having trouble coming up with a fun and creative name for my yummy dinner that I made.  I was excited because I finally had eggs and I also had some egg noodles that I wanted to use up . . . and I got a leek at the market . . . et voila!  I'm not really sure why I decided to bake it.  Possibly because when I was looking up recipes for egg noodles kugels kept coming up.  This isn't kugel but you might say that's what inspired me.  

1/2 lb egg noodles

1 leek, cleaned and sliced

1 yellow bellpepper, diced

salt & pepper to taste (very important!)

1/3 c Greek yogurt

1/4 c sour cream

2 eggs, lightly beaten

goat cheese (or cheese of your preference)

optional:  fresh, chopped parsley, fresh chives

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease an 8x8" baking dish.  Boil the noodles according to the directions on the package.  Drain, rinse, and set aside.  Cook leek &  bellpepper together with a little bit of olive oil or butter until the veggies are wilted.  Season with salt and pepper!  In a large bowl, combine noodles, veggies, yogurt, sour cream, eggs, and parsley.  Place noodle mixture in prepared baking dish.  Top with chives and cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes.

I really liked this.   I don't think it's anything extraordinary but I love leeks and I loved their flavor in the noodles.  I actually think that it would be just as good to omit the eggs and stir the rest of the ingredients into the hot pasta.  The nice thing about baking it was that the noodles on top get a nice crust to them and the eggs make it sort of like a custard.  I'm also a fan of any dish that can be changed at will to suit the ingredients at hand and this definitely fits that bill.

Noodles ready to go into the oven.

Dinner.

Back From the Market

I didn't get a whole lot this week.  I still have leftovers from last week to use up.  Notice anything different this week?  Give up?  I got eggs.  This is a big deal.  I understand where food comes from and I know that my meat doesn't magically arrive butchered and ready to go.  But, anyone in my immediate family can tell you, farm eggs gross me out.  Thank you John Steinbeck -- 8th grade, The Red Pony, I'll never be the same.  Funny how I read The Jungle and I can still eat meat but that one scene in The Red Pony scarred me for life.  But I digress . . .

Where was I?  Oh, the eggs.  So, last night I realized that I didn't have anything for dessert and I decided that I'd make brownies; but, alas, I went the the refrigerator and there were no eggs.  Luckily, I hadn't started melting butter and chocolate yet so all was not lost.  And, I could've gone to the store but I decided I'd wait and get my eggs at the market this morning.  I have it from reputable sources:  PerPer, Hank, and Martha (of course!) that farm-raised eggs are far superior to those that I buy in the store.  So, I'm going to crack some eggs, hope that the red dot eludes me, and make some brownies!  Or something else that requires eggs.  TBA.

You might also notice my gorgeous heirloom tomatoes -- yup, there are still homegrown tomatoes at the market, yay!  Every week I think that it might be the last week and then, low and behold, the next week there are still tomatoes to be had.  I think that it helps that we've had fantastic tomato weather up here.

I also got Northern Spy and Crispin apples, a leek, and kohlrabi.  I told my mom I got kohlrabi and she said "eewwww."  And I said, how can you say that?  I didn't know what it is until today, how can you know what it tastes like?  Apparently they grew kohlrabi at Van Riper's.  Here's the catch, my mom said she doesn't think that she ever ate it.  I'm excited to try it.  I almost (I was so close) got cardoon but I'm going to save that for another week.  Baby steps, you know?

Lazy J Pasta Salad

Cooking has been a little scarce around these parts because we seem to have an *ahem* vermin problem.  I don't know what kind of a critter has been wreaking havoc in my kitchen but the latest theory (courtesy of my friendly pest-control man) is that it's a squirrel who likes to come visit at around 6 am every morning.  And, I know that you're wondering:  no, Lucy has not done anything to help with the situation.  I thought about forcing her to sleep in the kitchen but then I decided that I needed her upstairs to protect me.  At any rate, supposedly the problem is under control and I've moved a test box of food back into the pantry so we'll see what happens tonight.

In the meantime, tomorrow is Sunday and you know what that means!  (What, Jessica, what does this mean?)  Well, in addition to the hum drum, it's Farmer's Market Day in Dupont Circle!  So, I haven't been cooking which means that I haven't used up my goodies from last week which means (in theory) that I can't go tomorrow.  As the market is the high point of my week (I know, some of you must think that I lead a very dull life if this is my high point) I would hate to miss it.  So, I have combined my lovely green beans, carrots, and (the last half of) my lovely tomato to make my Lazy J Pasta Salad.  It's lazy because I'd originally thought that I'd make a sort of pasta primavera (or pasta di autunno if you prefer it to reflect the season that we're in at the moment), but I don't have cream or very much pasta and I didn't feel like standing in line at Safeway for one thing.  So, Lazy J Pasta Salad it is!

Green beans, tomatoes, carrots, a little salami di toscano, and chevre round it out.  Much to my chagrin, I overcooked the carrots.  Blugh!  They're still ok as long as you get something else in your mouth with them.  That way it's not as noticeable that they're no longer crunchy.

Yes, it's as good as it looks!  The goat cheese is a fantastic addition. Mua!

Flied Lice?

Ummm . . . so this was my dinner on Monday night and while I have been really busy with school this week, I definitely could have posted this earlier.  The problem is, the picture stinks.  I don't have a fancy shmancy camera like Hank but that's ok because I love my little Elph.  Anyway, the picture definitely does not do justice to my dinner.

I had purchased some beautiful fresh ginger at the farmer's market on Sunday and I was (am!) going to make apple chutney with it but in the meantime I decided that I wanted to make some peanut sauce as well.  So, voila!  Lemon chicken with sate (peanut) sauce and fried rice (because I had leftover rice and veggies so it seemed like the perfect thing to make).  

The chicken was actually really good.  It's the first chicken that I've made in this house that I actually enjoyed and didn't end up feeding at least half of it to Lucy.  If any of your were at my parents' Christmas party last year, I was trying to recreate the lemon chicken sate appetizer on a larger scale and it worked out wonderfully!  I pounded the chicken thin (with a sauce pan), dressed it with some lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then I sauteed it.  The peanut sauce is awesome, the recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook, it just looks a little funky because I only had chunky peanut butter and I was too lazy to blend it.

The "flied lice" wasn't really  fried but it was good!  I don't think I realized how easy it is to make with leftover rice.  My recipe is adapted from the Joy of Cooking.  On a side note, JoC is a great cookbook.  I had always heard that it's essential (and a classic) so I asked for it for Christmas.  I hadn't really used it until I got here but it's quickly become my go-to cookbook.  It's better than the internet for looking up a recipe!

Fried Rice:

leftover (cooked) rice

2 eggs

pre-cooked veggies (any sort, I used carrots, peas, and green beans)

Soy sauce

In a large pan (or a wok if you have one) scramble the eggs.  If you are particular about your eggs, you should remove them from the pan while you heat up your rice.  If, like me, you like your eggs on the extremely cooked side, go ahead and leave them in the pan.  Add the rice and soy sauce to the pan.  Note, JoC said to add peanut oil first and then the rice.  I didn't have any peanut oil and I was using a non-stick pan so I just threw in the rice and it was fine.  I think that this is why my rice wasn't exactly "fried" but it was still good.  Add your blanched vegetables, stir everything around and season to taste with soy sauce (or oyster sauce, fish sauce, whatever you like).  There you go!  Flied lice at home!  

I am so impressed with recipes like panzanella, bread pudding, and fried rice that make excellent use out of ingredients that are "past their prime."  In my (very humble opinion) these recipes that use a stale ingredient are often better than the original, fresh ingredient on it's own.  That's probably because there's usually a fair amount of butter or cheese involved!

It's a Wonderful Waldorf

As you all know, we went apple picking when my parents came to visit a couple of weeks ago and a good time was had by all.  All together, we picked 1 1/2 bushels of apples.  My parents took home a bushel and I had a half bushel here all to myself.  So, what's a girl to do with all of those apples?!  I made apple sauce, I ate countless apples out-of-hand for snacks, and I made delicious cinnamon apples too but I have to say that Waldorf Salad "a la Jessica" is my newest favorite way to eat apples.  Something about the sweet of the apples mixed with the bitter of the celery and the richness of the almonds just speaks to me.  Now, I don't like mayonnaise so I make mine a little bit differently.

3 apples, diced

2 ribs of celery, diced

1/2 c toasted, slivered almonds

1/4 c dried cranberries

~ 1/3 c of Greek yogurt

squeeze of a lemon

salt & pepper to taste 

Mix it all together and enjoy!  I love Greek yogurt and I have since I spent the summer in France (weird, I know, because I didn't spend the summer in Greece but the horrible cafeteria that we ate in every morning only had plain, Greek-style yogurt).  It's great for any number of things but I particularly like it in this salad in place of the traditional mayonnaise.  I ran out of it and the Safeway by my house doesn't carry Greek yogurt so I substituted half sour cream and half plain yogurt and that was very good as well!

to market, to market

Sunday used to be my least favorite day of the week but now that I get to go to the Farmer's Market in Dupont Circle on Sundays I love it!  October is the last month that it runs on "summer hours" and then I think it officially moves into winter (which might not be such a bad thing because maybe then there won't be so many people?).  I was particularly happy to go this weekend because I didn't go last weekend and I had eaten almost all of the apples from the Great Apple Picking Weekend.  In short, I was very, very low on food.  So, there are still tomatoes and other summer fruits and vegetables but there were also fall vegetables this week. My haul is pretty pedestrian -- nothing too exciting here except that it's all super fresh and fantastic.  Maybe in the dead of winter when the pickings are slimmer I might be forced to branch out into "scary" vegetables but for now I'm just going to soak up my favorites.  I will say, I saw the most beautiful yellow Swiss chard today and I was tempted . . . but I'm going to wait for Hank to come and visit before I officially foray into greens again.  

Fresh ginger (isn't it pretty?), onion, haricots verts, a log of goat cheese, tomatoes, apples (Macoun, Crispin, and Winter Banana), celery, carrots, Greek yogurt, and mozzarella.

Another view of all of my fantastic food!

Two all beef patties, special sauce

lettuce, cheese, pickles, on a sesame seed bun! 

I actually don't like Big Macs at all.  I'm more of a Whataburger kind of girl but I remember that ditty from the McDonald's commercials when I was little.  When Hank was about 5 years old he could dominate a Big Mac.  

What's the point?  Friday night I found myself craving a burger and fries.  There's a great burger chain here called 5 Guys where you can get really fantastic burgers and very acceptable fries.  However, I don't get out much these days and it's so much more fun to try my hand at making delicious food myself.  So, what's a singelton to do?  

First order of business:  figure out the buns!  I've been pondering making hamburger buns for awhile now.  I'm generally not a big fan of the bread around my sandwiches because I find that it detracts from the flavor of what's inside.  I have noticed, though, that when the bread is good, it's soooooo good and it makes for a much better sandwich experience.  I know that some of you are thinking:  duh!  I found a recipe for hamburger buns that was super simple:  you mix the dough, shape the buns, let them rise for about 45 minutes and pop them in the oven!

The buns brushed with an eggwash and dusted with sesame seeds, ready to go in the oven.

Isn't this screaming for an all-beef patty?

So, the verdict on the buns?  They were good.  They were a little on the heavy (doughy?) side and not quite as light as I'd like.  I think that I knew that they'd come out like that given that it's an egg/milk/butter dough.  For the time and effort required to make them, I give them 2 thumbs up.  Oh, as is to be expected with egg/milk/butter dough, the flavor is great and I made a mini pizza with one of the leftover buns tonight.  I know, I know.  It's hardly a worthy followup to my burger greatness but what do you want?!  

Pardon the pictures -- they're not really my strong suit but I think that you get the general idea. I also had yummy oven-baked sweet potato fries with it . . . delish!  Oh, here's a new fact:  Lucy likes sweet potatoes!  

I Can't Believe I'm Doing This!

I think all of you know that I'm anti Facebook, MySpace, blog, whatnot.  I'm determined that I'll be the last person communicating by means of pencil and paper.  BUT . . . they say a picture's worth a thousand words and I'm inclined to agree.  I've gotten slightly addicted to the food blogs on the internet and I've been battling the urge to create my own and now I've given in, I have a blog.  

I'm calling it "A Singleton in the Kitchen" because it's about cooking for . . . ME!  And Lucy too. I'm no longer cooking for all of my favorite people in Texas (at least for the present) and just in case you might accidentally forget about my kitchen endeavors, I'm going to post them to this blog so that you won't!  

I have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself.  I haven't gotten takeout once since I moved to D.C. This means that in almost 2 months of living here I've made myself a lot of dinners.  Some of them have definitely been better than others (getting home from class at 8:30 on Wednesday nights does not make for great dinners).  I think that this blog should hopefully keep my dinners on the creative side -- that way I'll have new things to share with you.

Miss you all!  Visit my blog and keep in touch!