Dining and Opining

One of the recipes I included in the homemade cookbook I made for my college roommate's wedding a few months ago ( see yesterday's post ) was this recipe from Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals , which was appropriate in this particular cookbook for many reasons. Here is the recipe, along with JSF's commentary: Here’s a classic Filipino recipe I recently came across. I haven’t tried it myself, but sometimes you can read a recipe and just know:   “First, kill a medium-sized dog, then burn off the fur over a hot fire. Carefully remove the skin while still warm and set aside for later (may be used in other recipes). Cut meat into 1” cubes. Marinate meat in mixture of vinegar, peppercorn, salt, and garlic for 2 hours. Fry meat in oil using a large wok over an open fire, then add onions and chopped pineapple and sauté until tender. Pour in tomato sauce and boiling water, add green pepper, bay leaf, and Tabasco. Cover and simmer over warm coals until meat is tender. Bl...

A few months ago, my college roommate, MC, got married to her long-time beau, BC, in a stunning Kentucky vineyard wedding : When it came time to think up a gift to give them for their wedding, I knew that no simple set of dishes or sheet set--no matter how high the thread-count--would do. Because MC and I have long shared recipes and food and conversations about vegetarianism, it seemed like a homemade cookbook would be just the thing.  So, I compiled recipes from the couple's friends and family, sending out multiple email requests to the guest list, encouraging everyone to share recipes of all sorts--old family recipes, quirky college microwave meals, favorite comfort foods and so on. I browsed the internet, searching far and wide to find cookbook software I could use to put the recipes together in some professional manner. The top two contenders after my weeks of searching, based on cost and ease of use, were Tastebook and Blurb . I ended up going with the former, and produ...

There's a hot debate going around our house these days about what to call our favorite non-meat loaf that shows up in our kitchen from time to time, ranging in ingredients, but always tasty and satisfying. Veggie Loaf? Neat-Loaf? Nut-loaf? Regardless of its name, this dish is a flexible entree that also makes great leftovers for sandwiches.  Here's our most recent incarnation turned into a sandwich the following day, topped with sauteed cabbage and jarred tomato sauce: Although I have a general set of guidelines in my head for how to get the proportions right for this kind of loaf, I really love this "Magical Loaf Studio" made by the blogger over at Vegan Lunch Box .  You choose your preferred protein, grain, nut, vegetables, binder, seasonings--based on what you have on hand or your favorites--and out comes a recipe for a veggie loaf! Magical! Give it a try. The approximate recipe I used this time around looked something like this: Veggie Loaf 1 box firm s...

One of the new happenings in my life that I hope to write more about in this space is a new small job I've taken on as a Food Programming Liaison for the University of Wisconsin's GreenHouse , an environmental living community on campus. The GreenHouse is located on one floor of a campus dorm, and has around 50 students (mostly freshmen), who are all interested in environmental issues, and who engage with these issues on a daily basis in their living space.  There's a faculty sponsor (an awesome professor in Community and Environmental Sociology who embodies what it means to be an academic with one foot solidly outside the ivory tower), and several other interns and staff members who have experience in food justice, agriculture, and activism. I'm really excited about being part of this. (So excited!) One of the main responsibilities of this job is running this Global Food for Thought Meal Series, which is basically a one-credit seminar that involves cooking and eat...

Last September, Justin and I attended a talk by Renegade Lunch Lady, Ann Cooper , at Madison's annual Food for Thought Festival .  Chef Ann is well known for re-making the school lunch systems in several cities across the country, especially in Boulder, Colorado. At the talk, everyone in the audience was given a copy of the calendar that the Boulder Valley School District parents had received that included the weekly lunch menus (hopefully these were just extras that were left over, rather than ones they'd printed for us). This calendar had some beautiful drawings of food by a local Colorado artist.  I saved this calendar after the talk, thinking maybe some day I'd get around to using those drawings. Well, this winter, that day had come. Towards the end of getting some new wall hangings in our house, I cut out each of the drawings and arranged them in a large frame that I had found by the trash near our home (and that I'd also been saving for some time--notice a theme...

A couple of months ago, we visited the kitchen of the co-op where a few of our friends live, and left with  some serious pantry envy. The organization and riches of their bulk items were a true sight to behold. And so, when we finally found time for some deep cleaning and re-organizing of our home over the winter break, one of the top priorities was figuring out a way to structure our pantry items to make them more accessible and visible. So, along with the help of some re-used food containers and a few purchased ones we turned our back shelves in our kitchen (which had previously held various appliances and hardware items) into a bulk food display: Looking at this makes it easy to see what we could make for dinner, what we're running low on, and what we could be inspired by.  So much food potential in one place!

The only meaty dish I missed after becoming a vegetarian was my Mama's Chicken Marbella, a dish she learned from our best family friend (who happens to be the mother of the Root Cafe founder). But then, sometime a few years in to my vegetarianism, inspiration struck: why not just replace the chicken with tofu or some other substitute?!  Ever since, this dish has been a firm part of our hearty, "American"-style repertoire, and has even earned a spot in the kitchens of many friends. Here is one of my closest friends after she prepared the dish for another friend who had just had a baby: And here is the lucky recipient of this recipe during a recipe exchange a few years back showing his appreciation: And here is the recipe, for all of you to enjoy! Tofu Marbella 2 blocks firm tofu, cut into 1.5" cubes (or substitute a bag of Quorn chicken tenders for one of the blocks of tofu, or if you eat chicken, you can use 10 chicken breasts whole) 1 head of ga...