Anne Can Cook

Happy Belated Xmas, Happy Boxing Day, Happy Kwanzaa, etc. I am pro holidays in pretty much every regard (except for National Puppy Kicking Day...that one I can do without).
Because of my AmeriCorps job, I can't really talk about my religious affiliation or lack of religious affiliation. That suits me fine. In regards to December, I believe that it should be a month long party in which everyone celebrates everything.
Anyway, good news for Anne Can Cook. I know this blog is pretty pedestrian. It's pretty much my own trials and errors and stuff. However, my pedestrian blog will now be fortified with PICTURES courtesy of my totally rad new camera.
My other plans (or you can call them New Year's Resolutions) have to do with content as well. Especially when I'm visiting my parents, I feel very confined. No one wants to eat balsamic glazed carrots or flan here. So I end up eating way too much junk food and processed food etc. The point is that I plan to branch out more once I get back to my apartment. I look at the amazing things being made on other food blogs and I immediately think, "I could never make that." I'm starting to ask myself, "Why?" Why don't I think I can make complicated things? What's holding me back? The answer is: myself. There is no real reason that I can't attempt some of the wonderful things out there (and you all should too)! Therefore Resolution Number One is to branch out and cook whatever I think looks awesome, regardless of the process.
My other content issue is more specific. I have a kitchen phobia and it's embarrassing to admit. Ok. Here goes: I'm afraid of bone in chicken. It intimidates me! It's not the cooking it. I'm sure cooking it is no problem. In stews, I'm assured, everything just slides off the bone. The issue is eating it. I'm intimidated by eating meat off the bone (unless it's pork ribs or crown roast or something simple). Resolution Number Two, therefore, is to conquer my fear of bone-in poultry. Maybe by the end of the year I will even roast a Cornish game hen, something I've always wanted to try but have been too frightened to. (So many bones! And innards! Ew)!
I have offered to cook dinner while I stay here at my parents' for the holidays. If I actually do, I'll post about it. Otherwise, I'll be back in 2010 with my favorite curry recipe.
So Happy Everything! Love, Anne.

My good friend Carolyne came across this recipe last year, and it is has already become a winter time staple amongst my friends and family. I believe the original calls for whole, smoke-flavored almonds. I actually prefer it with sliced almonds. It's incredibly easy and incredibly delicious. I've given this as a holiday gift to many a person this year.

1 package of dark chocolate chips (I recommend Hershey's Special Dark if you can find them)
1 small package (about 1 cup) of sliced almonds
sea salt

In a microwaveable bowl, melt the chocolate in intervals. I usually do a 1 minute interval to start with, and follow it with 20-30 second intervals. Stir the chocolate between each interval until smooth.
Once the chocolate is completely melted, stir in about half of the almonds. Pour the mixture into some sort of baking dish. I usually use an 8" x 8" glass pan lined with parchment paper.
Shake the dish to settle the bark evenly. Sprinkle the top with the remaining almonds and the sea salt. Just eyeball the sea salt amount. You want the grains to be visible, but you don't want it to be too salty. You'll know when it's right.
Place the dish in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Once the bark has hardened, you can break off pieces as you go or you can take a sharp knife and break the bark into chunks.
If I'm giving this as a present, I usually lay the bark between layers of parchment paper in a tin.

A lot has happened since I updated last. I was camping out in my coworker's living room for about a month and a half. While we did some cooking together (mostly the mock Alfredo and some stir fries and things), I haven't really added anything new to my repertoire.
Last Friday, I moved into a new and massive apartment by myself. I love it. I even love it's imperfections (uneven floors). Most of all, I love the kitchen. It's huge, there is a ton of counter space and storage, and the oven works! What more could I ask for.
I broke in my new kitchen by eating a take and bake pizza from the local grocery store. That thing fed me for two whole days. By the end of the weekend, I was ready to start cooking again. As luck would have it, the glory that is StumbleUpon and the brilliance that is my friend Carolyne sent me a recipe for Cheddar-Thyme Potato Knishes. I have already declared my love for mashed potatoes, and so putting them in a pastry seemed like an excellent idea to me. The recipe is from BrokeAss Gourmet :

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten, divided
• 1 tsp salt, divided
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling and dusting
• 2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed and diced with peel intact
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 tsp fresh thyme (about 2 twigs)
• 1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the over to 325F. Lightly coat a baking sheet with olive oil, set aside. Combine 2 beaten eggs, 1/2 tsp salt, baking powder, vegetable oil and flour in a mixing bowl. Stir together until a soft dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead 8-10 times, until dough becomes slightly elastic. Cover dough and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes.

While dough rests, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add diced potatoes and cook until very soft, 12-15 minutes. While potatoes cook, heat butter in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and thyme and cook for 5-6 minutes until onions are lightly browned and very fragrant. Remove from heat and scrape into a mixing bowl. Once potatoes have cooked, drain them and add them to the bowl with the onions and thyme. Add cheese and mash with a fork or potato masher until potatoes have very few lumps. Add remaining 1/2 tsp salt and fresh ground pepper to taste and set aside.

Once dough has finished resting turn it out onto a floured surface. Knead a few times and form dough into a cylinder, about 8” long. Cut dough into 8 equal pieces. Use a rolling pin to roll each piece into a 4-5” circle. Scoop 3-4 tbsp of the potato mixture into the center of of each circle and pinch the ends together, so it looks like a little bundle.

Beat remaining egg together with 1 tbsp water. Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the tops of the knishes with the egg wash.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until knishes are golden brown.

Serve hot, with sour cream if desired.

When I made this recipe, it called for two tsp. of vegetable oil for the dough. So my dough never got elastic. It was flavorful to be sure, but it was also heavy and awkward. Anyway, I commented on the recipe at BrokeAss Gourmet and they have since changed it to the proper proportion. Good job, folks.

The knish filling is marvelous. Cheddar-y, thyme-y mashed potatoes. Yum. I added about a tsp. of garlic powder and used Penzeys Shallot Pepper instead of freshly ground. I also added about a tsp. of Penzeys Bouquet Garni to the onions while they were cooking. More herbs, more better in my opinion.

Would I make these knishes again? Yes. Definitely with the update to the dough and maybe with a little cream cheese added to the potatoes. They are very comforting and kept pretty well. I had two for dinner the night I made them and two leftovers last night, plus leftover mash.

Well, things have been pretty crazy here in Podunkville...or rather, Slightly Less Podunkville. I moved rather abruptly last weekend and am resided with my coworker on campus. Luckily, she also likes to cook and has a decent sized kitchen.
Last night we made Mock Alfredo, a recipe we adapted from Going Solo in the Kitchen. Here is what we did:
A little olive oil for cooking
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup of fresh spinach (approximately)
Several ounces of thin spaghetti (enough for the two of us plus a little leftover)
2 ounces of cream cheese
6 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
Pepper to taste
Grated Fontina to taste
A little milk for texture

In a small pan, sweat down the onions and garlic in a little olive oil. Meanwhile, bring water to boil for the pasta. Boil pasta until done to your liking and drain. Return to heat and stir in the cream cheese. Add milk if it gets too thick. Stir in the Parmesan, one tbsp. at a time.
Add the spinach to the onions and garlic and wilt them down. Once everything is cooked to your liking, add the onions, garlic, and spinach to the pasta. Stir until incorporated. Pepper to your liking. Grate some Fontina on top (if you want).

Serve and enjoy! It is filling and surprisingly flavorful. It's also sooo easy to make, and easy to adapt. The original recipe doesn't include the garlic, onions, and spinach. We just like those things a lot.

I like hummus. It's one of those things I never thought I'd like because I don't like beans or bean dip, really. Since hummus doesn't bring either of those things immediately to mind, I find I like it quite a bit.
I've made my own hummus a few times. Well, maybe "chickpea puree" is more appropriate, since I don't use tahini. I don't have anything against tahini, I just don't happen to have any in my pantry. So. Here is my hummus recipe. It should be pretty easy to alter if you want to add tahini or season it differently.

CHILI LIME HUMMUS
1 can of chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), drained
a splash of chicken broth
2 Tbsp. lime juice
Several cloves of garlic (I like garlic a lot, so 4-6 is modest for me)
Salt and pepper to taste
Approximately 1 Tbsp. chili powder (I used Chili 3000 from Penzeys)

Dump everything into a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Eat.
Adjust flavors and texture as desired.

I find, too, that it's better after being refrigerated overnight. The flavors marry yadda yadda it's tastier.

The last few weeks have been kind of insane. I haven't spent much time in my apartment and even less time cooking.
I've been ogling the turkey in the latest Penzeys Catalogue (http://www.penzeys.com). I love turkey and chicken a lot, and I happen to have the Bangkok Blend that they recommend as a turkey rub.

It is equally good as a chicken rub. This is what I did:

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 Tbsp olive oil (approximate)
Penzeys Bangkok Blend (or similar Thai-style seasoning)
I washed the chicken breast and cut off anything that looked questionable (fat, etc). Preheat the oven to about 400F. In a small baking pan, place the chicken (Note: I did not grease the pan because the excessive olive oil was sufficient. It probably wouldn't hurt to grease your pan, however). Pour 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil on the chicken, rub in, sprinkle with seasoning until coated, rub in, flip chicken, and repeat.
I baked the chicken for nearly an hour, flipping about midway through. Use your best judgment. I am a little paranoid about chicken, so I almost always cook it longer than necessary. Regardless, this chicken is flavorful and juicy. The Bangkok Blend is just a little spicy and very tasty.

I also made up some jasmine basmati rice with basil, garlic chives, and a little bit of Thai red curry sauce.

Fabulous dinner and TONS of leftovers. I have missed cooking, but I'm back with a vengeance!

My favorite food in the entire universe is mashed potatoes. I love them even more if they are garlic-y, and I love them most when I make them from scratch. The problem with mashed potatoes is that they are time consuming to make, so I cheat a lot and buy instant. Not a terrible substitute in my estimation, but they really do not compare to the ones I make from scratch.

I had poached chicken again this week (with lemon thyme, rosemary, and lots of smashed garlic), and I did some quick instant mashed potatoes to go with it. Those packets of instant mashed, though, provide enough potato to feed a small army (aka a family of four). I always end up with leftovers that I'm never entirely sure what to do with, as they get sort of stale tasting when I leave them in the fridge.

I am of the opinion that you can make soup out of anything. All you need is some liquid (stock of some kind is preferably, but in a pinch you can season some water or do a bouillon cube), and some other stuff. Voila! Soup! It's also been getting colder here, and so soup weather is upon us.

I had never thought about mashed potato soup until one Thanksgiving, when my grandma said something about turning the leftover mashed potatoes into mashed potato soup (although I find it incredulous now to even think there were leftover potatoes). It seemed like this really brilliant idea, and I kept it filed away in the back of my brain until this week.

This is a really informal recipe. As I said, you can make soup out of anything and you can make it in any proportion. I made enough soup for two bowls full, which was perfect for hungry me. Here are the rough estimations:

1 cup (or more) organic chicken stock
1/2 cup frozen broccoli
5 or 6 roughly chopped cloves of garlic
A dash of soy sauce
A dash or two of hot sauce
1 cup (or more) leftover instant mashed potatoes
Cheese
Pepper to taste
Paprika for garnish

Boiling the chicken stock. Toss in the broccoli and garlic, until they're cooked through. Season with soy sauce. Add the potatoes and stir until incorporated. I found this took a little while, since my potatoes were stored in the fridge. Let the soup bubble and thicken. Season with hot sauce and pepper. Grate on a little cheese (I used a marbled jack). Garnish with paprika--do other families do this? At holidays, my family always garnishes potato anything with paprika.

Turn burner down to low, ladle your soup in a bowl, and enjoy. I think I made some garlic toast to dip in the soup as well.

It turned out souper (haha) well. It was flavorful and potato-y and seemed to obliterate that stale flavor instant mashed taters get when left in the fridge.

I love mashed potatoes. I love soup season. I love the marriage of the two.