Sniffle

We had a wonderful housewarming party last weekend, but somewhere between there and Wednesday, I picked up a bad cold. What ever is a girl to do? Of course, I made matzo ball soup.

There are many variations on matzo ball soup. Some people add parsley and other fresh herbs to their matzo balls or stock. And don’t even get me started on the sink or swim debate over those little kneidlach. (Mine are swimmers.) Add garlic, add a teaspoon of tomato paste, make it vegetarian/parve, change up the veggies, and on and on. But when I’m sick and just need something that requires minimal thinking (not to mention the fact that I can’t taste anything anyways), this is the recipe I refer to:

Ahava’s Penicillan (aka basic matzo ball soup):

For the matzo balls:

• 1/2 cup matzo meal
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbs stock
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt, pepper

1. Mix together all ingredients, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

For the stock:

• 1 quart stock, either veggie or chicken
• 1 medium white onion, diced
• four carrots, diced
• 1 medium head of celery, diced
• 1lb chicken, cubed, optional
• olive oil
• salt, pepper

1. In a dutch oven or large pot, heat olive oil over med-high.
2. (optional) If you’re using chicken, brown on all sides, then remove from pan and set aside.
3. Add onion and a pinch of salt, cook until soft and translucent.
4. Add the celery and carrot, cook for another minute or so
5. Add 1/4 cup or so of the stock, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to pick up any bits from the bottom.
6. Pour in the rest of the stock, return the chicken to the pan.
7. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer.
8. Take matzo meal mix from fridge, then use a small ice cream (cookie) scoop to drop balls of the matzo mixture into the soup.
9. Cover and simmer for 40 mins or more. Of course, the longer you let it simmer, the more flavor it will have.
10. Eat and feel better.

 

Linky Linky

The recipe for these double chocolate oatmeal cookies comes from Everybody Likes Sandwiches. Last night, while surfing the web, because Friday’s are So Exciting around here, I stumbled on this recipe and headed straight to the kitchen for cookie goodness. They are good and easily Pareve/Vegan too! (Use margarine instead of butter, which I do almost by default anyways.) The dough has a very different consistency than other doughs. It has no eggs and so is not wet. I worried that they might crumble in the oven, but they held. Of course, I had to add a roasted hazelnut to each cookie. Mine didn’t spread like those pictured with the recipe and I’m not sure why, but I like them this way.

Here are some other recipes I want to try:

• Cheryl’s Yummo Eggplant over at Belle Epoque
• Fried Okra from This Vintage Chica
• Refrigerator Pickles at Happy Things

With a break from the rain today, perhaps we will have a picnic…

 

Frozen Dinner

Cooking for only two adults, we usually end up making about two meals during the week and eating leftovers the rest of the time, which can get boring fast. I’m always looking for ways to avoid an entire week of lasagna. Last night, we* made soba noodles with bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, and chicken. It was good and relatively healthy, but we had an abundance of noodles (thanks Costco). So, I put a trial portion in the freezer. For lunch today, I just popped the portion in a bowl in the microwave for a minute and a half and it came out as well as it would have had it not been frozen. I think I’ve found my new frozen dinners.

* by ‘we’, I mean that I actually let Boy into the kitchen. I had no choice as it’s pretty difficult to chop with only one hand. It is not easy for me to hand over my kitchen and Boy doesn’t have much experience in that domain of the house anyways, so I stood over his shoulder critiquing his method. He actually did pretty well, even if he was a bit of a cry baby when it came to chopping onions.

 

Frittata Schmittata?

I woke up this morning to a recipe in my inbox for a spinach frittata from allrecipes.com and I suddenly knew what to do with some of the sunchokes we picked up at the market this weekend.

Recipe: Sunchoke Frittata

• Saute over med heat, until tender:
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1/4 C diced onion
  • 1 t minced garlic
  • 1/2 cup diced sunchoke with skin
• Optional: Add
  • 1/4 C shredded turkey (lunchmeat)
• Mix in:
  • 1/2 C torn baby spinach
  • 4 beaten eggs
  • 1/4 C shredded cheese of choice (I used parmesan and gruyere)
  • 1/2 t hot paprika or chili powder
  • salt and pepper to taste (Keep in mind that the cheese will be salty, so not much, if any, extra salt will be needed.)
• Cover and lower heat. Cook until eggs are finished (firm but not dry).
• Rub a slice of crusty toasted bread with garlic and drizzle with hazelnut oil (or olive oil)

 

Lovely Seattle

Post Alley, across from Pike Place Market

One of the things that I absolutely love about Seattle are the outdoor/farmer’s markets, especially Pike Place Market. It can be a bit touristy, but it’s absolutely worth navigating the crowds. The Saturday before last, we went down there in search of the spice store, World Spice Merchants. The store is actually below the market on Western Ave, but my mind seemed to misplace that fact. After searching through the market and finally consulting a directory for the first store with a reference to ’spices’, we ended up at Market Spice. I’ve been there before, in fact it’s where I usually buy my looseleaf tea, though I’ve never tried their spices. (By the way, they have a wonderfully helpful staff. I’m sure they were amused by my novice spice buying and whatnot.) It worked out in the end, we went home with five lovely spices that do not often frequent our cupboard.

Oh, they smell divine. From bottom left, clockwise: turmeric, harissa, chipotle, hot paprika, zaatar

Sunday, we had salmon rubbed with harissa and oil and baked on asparagus spears, onions, and a colorful array of bell peppers, all from the market. My boyfriend was happy with the results, but I thought the harissa was a little too strong for the salmon. I’ve used the paprika on potatoes and I plan on making a goulash sometime soon. For the rest, I don’t really have any plans and my google-foo is turning up, well, foo. I’ve still got mostly an ounce of each spice, so much experimenting will be done over the next few months.