Brian and I spent most of our time in Philly in the Old City. We did a ton of walking in that area alone. However, I couldn’t quite resist making the hike to Center City to see Reading Terminal Market. How could I forgo checking out “the best, freshest and liveliest public market since 1893″?
In short, it was everything I hoped it would be. Tons of vendors, amazing looking fresh food, variety, ethnic cuisine. I very nearly decided to move to Philadelphia for the market alone. It was a good thing we didn’t have a cooler with us or a fridge in our hotel because I would’ve spent a fortune on food. I’ll stop rambling and just get to the photos, because they express my feelings much better:
Reading Terminal Market: definitely a Philadelphia foodie must see.
It seems almost unbelievable, but my spring break is just about over. It’s Sunday night, I’m watching Iron Chef. “Battle Butter”?! I should go to bed, get back in the “school routine” and work towards getting over this cold, but I’m too intrigued.
My Man and I didn’t cook as much as I intended to over break (actually, we didn’t do several things I intended to–breaks apparently aren’t as long as they used to be). We did create one great olive-tomato-and-cucumber salad (all his idea) and we made broiled polenta with cheese on top. I’d never have polenta before, and it’s not bad. Definitely worth considering various ways to use in the future.
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Lots of good conversation was had during the past week about food and related issues. How we want to shop, what we want to eat, local vs. organic vs. quanity of produce. Eating was a lot simpler when I didn’t know anything. Now every shopping trip is filled with questions and options. I know I’m not doing as well as I could be and I remain hopeful that living with someone whose tastes and food interests are more similar to one and playing more of a direct role in the shopping and cooking will improve things. I’ve finally started reading Food Matters by Mark Bittman and it’s really eye opening, but sometimes having so much information is overwhelming and guilt inducing. But I remind myself again, doing something (eating meat one less time a day, purchasing grains in bulk, eating more produce) is meaningful, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
In other news, 2 months until the wedding :)
In 2000, my family and I moved from New Jersey, where we’d spent the previous 15 years, to Maine. I’d be hard-pressed to go back, though I could be tempted by the fact that @afoodcoma tweeted “north jersey becoming “foodie focal-point” as basically every major gourmet/organic food chain moves in” with a link to this article yesterday.
But that aside, I honestly don’t miss it much. Until I saw this delicious article from Endless Simmer’s tvff about Taylor’s Pork Roll.
If you have never been to New Jersey and had Taylor Pork Roll, you should go. Now. I haven’t been back to New Jersey since 2003, but suddenly I’m considering a trip. It used to be that whenever friends of ours were coming north to visit, we’d have them bring us Taylor Ham, not to mention some good rolls. Good bulkie rolls simply do not exist in Maine, not the way they do in Jersey. Good stuff.
Thanks tvff for reminding me what I’m missing. Maybe I’ll ask some of the wedding guests to bring some up this summer, screw the registry.
The New York Times printed an article yesterday titled “It’s Organic, but Does That Mean It’s Safer?” The article is really interesting; it’s a good question, and the answer’s a little scary. The article explains the common misconception that food marked with the “certified organic” seal is safer than other products. However, even organic foods were tainted by the recent peanut butter/salmonella mess and being certified organic doesn’t necessarily mean that food is safe. The article notes,
“Because there are some increased health benefits with organics, people extrapolate that it’s safer in terms of pathogens,” said Urvashi Rangan, a senior scientist and policy analyst with Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports. “I wouldn’t necessarily assume it is safer.”
So…here I am. Once again trying to define what it means to eat better. Does it mean eating less meat, because Americans consume more meat than is needed for good nutrition and meat production adversely affects the environment? I’ve stopped eating meat at lunch and I’m feeling good about it and not even really missing it, but I need to add more fruits and vegetables and eat less carbs. I have a friend who gave up processed sugar last year, extolling the health benefits, should I do that? I’m a bit of a chocoholic; I don’t think I could do that. Does it mean eating more? A nurse recommended to me last year that I put on some weight (I’ve always been thin).
Should I only eat locally grown food? Obviously, local doesn’t mean organic either. It’s all very confusing:
Some shoppers want food that was grown locally, harvested from animals that were treated humanely or produced by workers who were paid a fair wage. The organic label doesn’t mean any of that. (also from the NY Times article)
At this point in my exploration of food, I’m more concerned with eating complete meals, increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables and decreasing my meat intake. But articles like this one make me wonder if I’m doing all I can and should be to improve my health and use my purchasing influence for the right causes. I’m hoping Mark Bittman’s Food Matters will shed some more light on the subject, but I suspect it will be a while before I get it from the library; every copy in the system is checked out. At any rate, his interview on The Colbert Report yesterday was pretty good. Check it out.
Thanks to Serious Eats for the NY Times link.
Despite last week’s baking near-miss, I gave it another shot this week. If my students will eat half-cooked brownies, there’s probably not much I can do wrong. Generally speaking, I don’t think baking is my thing; I’m not really into eating baked goods, so spending lots of time making them doesn’t make tons of sense to me. But I feel like its a skill I should hone and I suspect high schoolers aren’t too into vegetarian pasta dishes as an after school snack. I may as well practice on people who will enjoy whatever I create.
Once again, I got my weekly ego boost. I could really get used to this. I made really simple white cupcakes from my mother’s old Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and it was really easy and went really well! I did “cheat” and use canned frosting, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. At least someone is raving about my food (I know high school boys eat anything…but they don’t always dish out compliments!)
In summary: I can bake after all–from scratch even! If I can do it, you can do it. And I’m making cookies for our next meeting.
My apologies to those who are pretty sure I’ve made this recipe already…olive oil, garlic, canned tomatoes…I’m sure its starting to sound familiar to any frequent readers of my blog. Nevertheless, that’s the direction this recipe’s headed; I’m just warning you. However, it does satisfy my new promise to myself: vegetarian lunches.
This recipe is adapted from The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook: 350 Essential Recipes for Inspired Everyday Eating by Jack Bishop. I borrowed the cookbook from the library, but may have to purchase soon because I really like it. It’s different from other vegetarian cookbooks I’ve used because none of the recipes include tofu, tempeh, or seitan, which I’m sure are all well and good, if you like them, but my foray into vegetarianism hasn’t quite gotten that bold. The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook is full of variations of normal sounding food made with normal sounding, generally ordinary and accessible ingredients.
Anyway, without further ado: Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Olives and Capers
You’ll need:
Extra-virgin olive oil (about 3 tbsp.)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried hot pepper flakes (or to taste)
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped*
1 3.8-ounce can sliced black olives
1 tablespoon capers, drained and rinsed
1 lb. spaghetti (I used whole wheat spaghetti)
Salt, to taste
*The original recipe lists canned whole tomatoes, chopped but if I make this recipe again I may use canned diced tomatoes because chopping the whole tomatoes was a rather messy experience. But its up to you.
- Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and red pepper fl
akes and cook over medium heat until the garlic is cooked, about 2 minutes
- Add the tomatoes, olives and capers to the skillet. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes soften and the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.
- Toss the spaghetti with the tomato sauce and mix well.
- Serve.
As you may be able to tell from the photo, my pasta turned into little one inch sized pieces by time I was done cooking it and then reheated it once (timing was a little off at my house). I don’t know why, perhaps because it’s whole wheat pasta? Or I overcooked the pasta? Anyone else ever have this experience?
A couple of my students came in the other day with bags of popcorn. “Try this kind,” one student urged. “She’s already tried them all,” countered the other, a summer employee of Coastal Maine Popcorn Co., one of my favorite places in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.
It’s true, since the store opened last spring, I really have tried almost all the flavors they sell. The gourmet popcorn shop boasts over 20 sweet and savory flavors of popcorn including Toasted Coconut, Dill Pickle, Chocolate Pudding, Salt and Vinegar, and Buffalo Wing. Additional flavors are added to their list all the time-I went in yesterday and they’ve added barbecue! They insist on giving samples to aid you in making your decision and, given my wealth of tasting experience, I can highly recommend them (I’m a big fan of Parmesan and Garlic).
Their prices are reasonable and they ship if you’re “from away”. I’ve realized over the past year that this unique popcorn also makes a great gift: hostess gifts, party snacks, thank you presents…I even just sent some off as a Valentine’s Day gift! So if you love popcorn, check out Coastal Maine Popcorn Company…and if you don’t love popcorn, you will!
My lunch on Tuesday was a frozen (well…I microwaved it before I ate it…) Hot Pockets panini.* What’s my excuse? Turns out my wallet was at home, precluding my ability to go food shopping after work. At any rate, it was fairly edible, if you like that sort of thing. I’m really not picky about what I eat in practice, though I like to complain a lot about it.
At any rate, I have plans to go create something else for lunch for tomorrow before the day is out. I don’t like cooking for just myself…or an ambivalent audience. But I need to get over that.
Okay, I’m done whining now. For real. Because despite my occasional cooking and writing block, its wonderful to be part of conversations that could involve an “epic internetborne foodsplosion,” as mentioned in this mental_floss post about the fact that everyone in food blogger land is writing about bacon (except me, of course). Mostly, I just couldn’t resist working that phrase into this entry.
*Apparently, Americans are all wrong and the correct singlular word for such a sandwich is a panino, panini is plural. At least, that’s what my uncle told me, and Wikipedia backs me up, so it must be true.
Some days I feel better about my eating and cooking (and this blog) than others. I’ve made some good meals over the past month with no real failures. I’m much more comfortable in the kitchen and plan to continue improving my skills.
At the same time, I’m still torn about the purpose and function of this blog. My most popular posts are ones discussing television shows, which puts me in an awkward place. Do I just post about television, and “give an over generalized recount of events on a given television show,” as one commenter phrased it? It’s clear from my stat reports that is what gets my visitor count up. Only one of my top 8 viewed posts isn’t connected to a show. So, should I spend more time in the kitchen, creating and sharing the results, even though no one’s going to read it? What’s the point of keeping a blog if no one’s going to read it? It’s a difficult situation.
All that said, I’m obviously running out of steam in the kitchen. This morning there was nothing of interest to bring for lunch, so I grabbed a frozen burrito on my way out the door. Sitting down to lunch in the teacher’s room, another teacher commented, “Do you actually like those, or was there just nothing else in your house?” And it made me think–I mean, they’re certainly edible but they’re definitely not good for you and obviously not vegetarian. I can eat better than this and I should be eating better than this. It isn’t that hard to make something decent to bring to school; I just have to be intentional about it.
I’ll be stopping at the supermarket on the way home to remedy this travesty. No more frozen burritos.
In my search for pizza recipes, I found many crusts which required kneading, waiting for the dough to rise and letting the dough rest. This recipe needs none of the above.
You’ll need:
Dough:
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
1 and 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons oil
1 and 1/12 tablespoons cornmeal
Other ingredients (amounts vary based on personal preference):
Tomato/Pizza sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Toppings of your choice (I used onion, mushroom and green pepper)
Basil and oregano (optional)
Equipment:
food processor
pizza stone or baking sheet
measuring cups and spoons
small bowl (which is easy to pour from)
- Combine the yeast and sugar in the warm water in a bowl (or Pyrex measuring cup, in my case). Stir to dissolve and let stand for 10 minutes.
Note: make sure your bowl or measuring cup is large enough to hold the yeast when it expands. This is a lesson I learned the hard way.
Use the 10 minutes to prepare toppings (cut up vegetables, grate cheese, etc.)
- When the 10 minutes have elapsed, insert the blade attachment into your food processor and add the flour and salt to the bowl of the processor. With the food processor running, pour the yeast mixture in through the feed tube and process for about 45 seconds, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Add oil through the feed tube and process for about 60 more seconds. If the dough is still sticking to the sides of the bowl, add more flour 1 tsp. at a time and process for 10 seconds after each addition.
- Remove the ball of dough from the food processor bowl. Hand stretch and shape the dough into a disc. Sprinkle pizza stone with cornmeal and place the dough onto the stone and roll out with a rolling pin.
The dough should create a pizza crust of roughly 14 inches. It won’t be perfect, I promise.
- Place pizza crust in 425 degree oven for 6 minutes. Spend the 6 minutes to finish prepping toppings, if you need to.
- After 6 minutes, carefully remove the pizza stone (it’ll be hot!) . Spread the crust with tomato sauce (leave an area around the edges as crust), cheese and vegetables…or whatever toppings you’re in the mood for. Return the pizza to the oven and bake at 425 for 18 minutes, or until the rim of the crust is golden brown.
- Enjoy!
As you can see, my pizza baked a little unevenly, but I’m sure that’s my oven’s fault. The crust is thin and crispy and the pizza tasted excellent. I really appreciated the fact that the dough was quick and easy to make.
I confess: I used preshredded mozerella and jarred tomato sauce, but that gives me something to work towards in the future…I just wasn’t up for making the tomato sauce from scratch that required 15 tomatoes! Pizza is the perfect meal to make if your family is picky or can’t agree-its easy to put different toppings on each section of the pizza. Plus it can be vegetarian!
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