Oh hai!

Hi KDP-ers (Mom), 

It's been a while....

So, heads up, I moved to Romania. You can read more about my travels here. 

Here in Bucharest, I live in an attic with a half kitchen, so for the past 4 months, I've made all meals with a microwave, toaster, coffee pot and water heater. 

Therefore for the past 4 months, I've eaten a lot of: popcorn, bread, hummus and raw vegetables. 

Just recently I figured out how to steam broccoli in the microwave. It's a whole new freakin' world. 

Microwave Steamed Broccoli

Take your puny, not sharp, trick knife and hack at the head of broccoli until it's in semi-smaller pieces. 

Put the broccoli trees into a too small bowl. 

Fill the bowl with the most water it'll fit without spilling. 

Put it in the microwave. Refill with the water your clumsy ass spilled. 

Put a plate on top of the broccoli bowl. 

Cook for 2 minutes. 

Turn all of the broccoli over, so the dried sides can sit in the water. 

Cook for another 2 minutes. 

Drain the water. Gently place some cut up cheese on top. You can half ass it even more and not melt it, as seen here. 

Bring on a new wave of KDP in 2014!

Watch Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations Romania episode for a better idea about Romanian food. (Side note- he pretty much hated the country, I'm having a better time). 

There is too much good music happening right now, but I'm currently in my "It's winter and I sort of miss home" phase and my constant "sit in a hammock, listen to country music, drink PBR and cry" mood, which together makes the completely radical playlist of a lot of sad (usually) guys, playing acoustic instruments, like:

David Wax Museum's Everything is Saved

Chris Thile's Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol 1

Tom Brosseau's Grass Punks

Noam Pikelny's Noam Pikelny plays Kenny Baker plays Bill Monroe

Inside Lleywn Davis soundtrack (or the best reason to never date a musician) 

The Mipso Trio's Long Long Gone

and round it all up with 

Keaton Henson. 

And, in keeping with the Romanian culture, this: 

Baby Birthin' Stew

Becca, of B's Bakery and Bistro fame, became the first friend to HAVE A BABY.

Everyone is growing up, buying houses, getting married and spawning.

I, on the other hand, have fit all of my belongings into two bags and moved across the world. I might get another tattoo too, on my face.

So, here we are, launched from the world of making drunk cornbread into making food for friends to freeze as they lose sleep for their poop monsters.

Becca requested something healthy and freezable. I was inspired to make something that looked like the baby poop that she'll be bathing in for the next 18 years.
Lilah (who is actually super cute and old now) also took a while to get here and apparently spicy things help pregnant ladies pop.

Therefore...

Moroccan Stew

You'll need:

Vegetable oil
1 onion- chopped
1 zucchini- chopped
1 yam- peeled and chopped
1 can of chickpeas- drained
4 cloves of garlic- minced
3 cups (or more) vegetable broth
1 tsp of each:  cinnamon, cumin, dried thyme and chili powder
1/4 c creamy peanut butter
1 c chunky salsa
2 cups of spinach- roughly chopped.

Thanks to George for the Haines grown zucchini

To do:
- Heat oil in a pan, add the spices, cook for about a minute, until fragrant. Add in the onion and garlic, cook for another minute or so. Throw the yam into the mix, cook for about a minute. Throw in the zucchini, cook for another minute.

-Add in the vegetable broth, salsa, peanut butter and salsa (if you want it to a stew, use less vegetable broth, for a soup, use more). Let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
- Throw the spinach in right before you're about to serve, just so it wilts a little bit.
- Serve over couscous

- have that baby.

*Reheats, freezes and doubles very easily.

Spotify thinks that I listen to too much bluegrass and is trying to get me to branch out, so it started playing The Belle Brigade.
Spotify robots +1
All other robots -1

A little bit pop, a little bit rock, a little bit country. "Losers" is pretty amazing and a good drink PBR, cry and dance it out jam. But my cold cold heart was first warmed by this gem:

They make me want to start a band with my brother, but would end, tragically, with audiences bleeding out through their ears. The Ingram-Wolf kids aren't musically gifted.

Israeli Salad

I spent 10 days in Israel and now consider myself an expert on Israeli salad. As one does.

But David Lebovitz had some pretty good ideas about it too.
I mean, how could you not with a name like Lebovitz.

Israeli Salad (from David Lebovitz)

You'll need
1 ripe tomato
1 cucumber
1 carrot- peeled
2-3 tbsp red onion- chopped
1 small beet- peeled
arugula
1/4 c parsley or cilantro- chopped*
2/3 c mixed nuts and seeds (walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds etc...)- chopped
1/3 c feta or goat cheese- crumbled
2-3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and pepper

* If you want to get crazy, try mint, chives, tarragon... every country claims this salad as their own.

-Chop all the vegetables into tiny tiny cubes. Slice the arugula.
-Toast the nuts in a skillet (no oil), over medium heat and shake the pan frequently so they don't burn. Stop when they are a little brown and you can smell them.
-Mix all of the vegetables, nuts, cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

-Serve pretty quickly, no one likes old salad.

Spotify has changed my life again by introducing me to LP

It's common knowledge that I'm a sucker for whistling.

Solgrrrrr Hummus

Liz gained a Mister Sol Grr!

The wedding was a beautiful redneck shit show, in every way that you expect an open bar wedding in Juneau Alaska to be.

And in true Liz fashion, I was informed two days before that I was bringing the hummus.

For 300 people.

Now, to most people, this isn't a huge deal. You throw a bunch of chickpeas in a food processor with some tahini and let it do it's thing.
But I'm not actually most people. I'm on a mission to create the smoothest hummus possible, which means peeling
every
single
chickpea.

"But Hannah!" you cry, "That's just crazy talk!"

Well, yes. It is, but it's also true. Taking the tiny layer off of every cooked chickpea leaves you without clumps and without hummus farts. It's a win win.

For two days I became a hummus making factory.
This is my story.

Super Traditional, Super smooth hummus (perfected by Hannah)

You'll need:
1 lb dried chickpeas
2 or 3 lemons- juiced
1/4 c tahini
7 or 8 cloves of garlic- chopped
olive oil
paprika, salt and pepper

-soak the dried chickpeas over night
-Boil the chickpeas the next day, for about an hour, or until they are soft. Drain, rinse etc... SAVE THE WATER.
-Peel the chickpeas. The best technique for this is to pinch the rounded end with two fingers and let the skin pop off. It's satisfying for the first ten, then it gets tiring, then it gets boring, then you get tennis elbow.
-Put all of the chickpeas in the food processor. Process them until crumbly.

-Put the lemon juice, the garlic and tahini in the processor, while it's running, slowly add in the reserved water, 1 tbsp at the time, until it's smooth and dip-able. Season with salt and pepper.
-Put it in a bowl, pour olive oil on top and sprinkle with paprika.

-Get drunk at a wedding.


No music this week.... Well sort of, I'm super into:
Milk Carton Kids
Steve Gunn
Chris Thile's Bach album
so more of the same.

But on a completely different note, I'm spending the next 9 months in Bucharest Romania on a Fulbright Grant!
I'll continue to post here, probably at the same frequency as I already do. But you can track my adventures in Romania at this blog:
Romania plus Hannah equals Blog

Power Ballad Eggs

When I saw the recipe title for Company Eggs, I thought it was going to be some cute thing with eggs that have a buddy, say of bread (side note, I'm going to go make Eggs in a Pocket now) and presented in a way that makes you never want to eat eggs without the buddy again. 

This isn't that, it's simply eggs that work well for company. They are glorified baked eggs.

No problems on this end though, but that might be the mountain of cream and cheese speaking. 

Company Eggs! (from Bon Appetit) 

You'll need:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion- sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt and Pepper
2 bunches of Swiss chard- backbone and stems removed, leaves chopped.
1/2 c heavy cream
6 large eggs
2 oz sharp white cheddar cheese- grated

You'll need to:
-Preheat oven to 400. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat, throw in onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until the onion is soft, about 8-10 minutes.
-Throw the chard in the skillet, let it wilt a little. Cook/toss until tender, 8-10 minutes. Add cream and simmer until thick, another 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
-Lay the chard down in a baking pan, make 6 little dips in the chard and crack 1 egg into each. Season with more salt/pepper (or a little paprika, if you're into that). Sprinkle the cheese over (think heavy dandruff).

-Bake until the egg whites are almost set and the yolks are runny, 15-18 minutes. Pull it out when you are still a little worried about the whites, because they'll still cook for another 5 minutes when you let them sit before serving.

SO INTO: 

Typhoon's new album "White Lighter" (on NPR First Listen).

I'd never heard of them before this and I'm hooked. It's intense and emo, with a horn section. They rock out to power ballads about joy. This album feels all the feelings at a 10 and instead of scoffing at them, I head bob along. 

Be careful of swaying while cooking though, it can lead to some disasters. 

"Chikin" Salad

I'm sensing a trend in my posts. I blog about how much I miss a various meat product and then I try to recreate that with vegetables, tofu, seitan or tempeh. And also ignore the needling comments about how eating meat again would make everything much easier. 

Usually these experiments fail, but this "chicken" salad is a winner!

It should be noted though, the only reason why I like chicken and egg salad is because of the mayo, and this has that!

Winner Winner "chikin" dinner!

Tofu Salad (From The Moosewood)

1 cake firm tofu

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp Braggs Amino's

1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

3 tbsp white miso

3 tbsp tahini

1/3 c mayo

2 tbsp Dijon Mustard

1 1/2 c carrots- peeled and grated

1 1/2c red bell pepper- dices

1 1/2 c celery- diced

1/3 c green onion- chopped

1 tbsp fresh dill

salt and pepper to taste

- Crumble the tofu (it helps if it's been frozen and then thawed). Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook the tofu, stirring constantly, until dry, about 5 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce and lemon juice and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. 

Someone got Instagram...

-Whisk the miso, tahini, mayo and mustard in a bowl. Add carrots, bell peppers, celery, scallions, herbs and tofu. Let sit and get juicy for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 

-Try not to eat it all at once, it's supposed to last for a weeks worth of meals. 

Right before my Spotify (now it's just like Pandora..epic fail) trial ran out, I listened to Citizen Cope's newest album, One Lovely Day

I vividly remember my first (and only) Citizen Cope concert. It was at WWU, everyone was embracing the dreadlocks and expressing themselves through the hippy bump and grind. I couldn't dance (still can't), wasn't brave enough to dread my hair and remember being appalled and scandalized that people were smoking INSIDE! 

I wasn't much fun in college. 

So his new album shows that he has aged into the urban folk category. It's pure, updated Americana, a mesh of RnB, acoustic, blues and folk. It's a little slower, more laid back and more complex sounding than his earlier stuff. One Lovely Day now solidly rockets Citizen Cope into into the DSSJ category (ask Val what that means). 

It's a good summer album, it's perfect for grilling on a deck, rocking the day drunk and experimenting with your own hippy bump and grind. I may not have gotten better at dancing, but I've learned the art of not giving a damn. 

Not the best food blogger.

Welcome to the dark, seedy underbelly of the food blogging craze. 

Sometimes I don't eat homemade, vegetarian, healthy and highbrow meals. 

Sometimes I make myself string cheese and toast for dinner. 

Didn't even melt it. 

In other news, I'm in an intensive workshop and haven't had time to cook, much less post. 

But never fear! Things will happen soon. 

Kimchi- the introduction

I was at my neighborhood grocery store (called Food Ranch and for some reason open for 24 hours, which is strange, no one in Forest Hills walks the streets after 10pm (not because it's dangerous, but because they're all in bed)) and noticed that they sold kimchi.

I'd never had kimchi before, never cooked with it, not quite sure what it was. But it was late, I was tired and thought to myself "ADVENTURES IN FOOD?!?"

So here is the low down:
Kimchi is a Korean fermented cabbage.
I've broken some cardinal rule by buying it instead of making my own, burying it in a glass jar and letting it ferment for years in the backyard.
Korean food tends not to be very vegetarian friendly.
Unless properly packaged, the kimchi juices will get EVERYWHERE.

Against these odds and through some crafty Internet research, I found some recipes for kimchi noodle salad and decided to try my own.

Kimchi and Soba Noodle Salad


10 oz kimchi- chopped (save the left over liquid).
1/2 head red cabbage- chopped
1 english cucumber- sliced into thin pieces
3 green onions- chopped
5 basil leaves- chopped
1/2 onion- chopped
1 package soba noodles- cooked
3 Tbsp braggs liquid aminos
3 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp rice vinegar
sesame seeds
cashews

-cook the noodles. Rinse in cold water.
-put the vegetables, oil, vinegar and braggs in a bowl. Mix around.
-add the noodles to the bowl, use your hands to mix it all together.
-garnish with sesame seeds and cashews

Couple of things:
You are going to have really rank breath after.
The salad gets better (or worse?) over time. More fermented, more juicy, more bad breath.
When handling kimchi, don't touch your eyes!
Legit, pack a mint. You're going to have really, really bad breath.
All in all, I'm pretty happy with this. I think I'll leave the kimchi handling to the pros, but this curiosity didn't kill me (this time).

I am way behind in music land. There is a ton of stuff that has come out lately that I've loved loved love. 

Instead of trying to play catch up and write about Norah Jones and Danger Mouse, Sara Watkins, Eliza Rickman or  Steel Wheels , I decided that this space of the Internet was better used talking about David Bowie!

This man can do no wrong. He marinates like tofu, he just gets better with age. 

My love for Mr. Bowie goes so far to include semi-embarrassing and totally awesome dance parties whenever my phone rings ("Oh You Pretty Things") to dressing up at the Goblin King from Labyrinth for Halloween (complete with 2 socks as stuffers). 

But seriously, a living artist who has a period classified as their neo-classicist era?! How can you not love that. 

I could listen to David Bowie for every event in my life. I'm going to walk down the aisle to "Suffragette City" (just to stick it to the man). 

This blog post is a paltry attempt to convey my love. I'm failing at that, so I leave you with this:

and this:

I could spice things up with red pepper flakes... or with you.

And that's when food pick up lines took a weird cannibalistic turn. Game over. 

My parents spent 5 weeks in Thailand over this past winter, where among other exotic things, they took cooking classes.
They brought me back a scarf.
I'm not jealous... at all.

Yoga Steve then came to New York and tried to show me the ropes.
It turned out okay.
I think I'll just have to go to Thailand to learn for myself. The sacrifices I make for KDP.

Kitchen Sink Thai Stir Fry with Rice Noodles

You'll need:
1/2 yam- peeled and chopped
1 potato- chopped
handful of snap peas- washed
couple of bunches of bok choy- wash, chop off the ends so they're in single leaf form
1 inch ginger- peeled and minced
1 Serrano chili- remove the seeds and mince. DON'T TOUCH YOUR EYES.
4 garlic cloves- minced
1/2 head broccoli- chopped
1 red onion- chopped
handful of cilantro- chopped
2 tbsp Thai paste (depending on how spicy you want it)
red chili flakes- couple shakes
1 c vegetable broth
2 Tbsp Braggs Liquid Amino's
1 tsp corn starch
2 Tbsp sesame oil
8 oz tofu- marinated over night in braggs and Thai paste.
1 handful rice noodles- cooked 1/2 of the time listed on the package and rinsed in cold water

-Chop and prepare everything before you're ready to cook- wash and chop all vegetables, cook noodles, lay everything out within arms reach. Trust me.

-Mix vegetable broth, Braggs and cornstarch in a bowl, set aside

-Heat sesame oil in large wok over high heat. Add potato, yam, garlic, onion, broccoli, pepper, Thai paste and ginger in wok. Cook for 3 mins, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn.

-Add in the noodles and tofu, cook for about 2 mins

-Add bok choy and peas, cook for about 2 mins

-Pour in the vegetable broth mix, add water if there isn't enough. Cook until it thickens slightly, so it's a sauce, just a few minutes longer.

-Be warned, it's a sinus opener.

SHOW ME WHERE YOUR NOMS AT!

Val sent me this very text the other night:

"I know there is a shark on the cover art, but if you haven't already been listening to Dry The River's 'Shallow Bed' you need to. Right now." 

I am terrified of sharks, but very rarely do I disobey Val. 

Here's the backstory- they're an English folk rock band, formed in 2009, with a hardcore and punk background. This album was released on April 17th. 

Folk rock sometimes rubs me the wrong way. I have to be in the exact right mood. It can too slow and sad for everyday listening, too hard for a "sit in a hammock, drink PBR and cry" session, but folk rock can often make me want to lie on my living room floor and stare at the ceiling. 

But this isn't that. sort of. 

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around Dry The River's solid and sweeping soundscape. In one moment it feels a little too whiney for my tastes, but I also can't stop listening. Their sound is pretty unique and tells strong, lyrical and sad stories.  

Val describes it as "civil war-y, but not so twangy." 

Epic and sweeping are the only words I can scramble for to describe their sound. 

I'm going to spend some time marinating with them. the more I listen, the more it grows on me. 

Sure, I want to stare at walls (or the rain) while listening, but there's nothing wrong with that. 

If I were a bettin' gal, I'd put some money down on these guys getting big. 

Here is a stripped down version of their song, BIBLE BELT (they explain why). Give it a whirl, then listen to the full version. It's very different, but each holds it's own. 

 

Packing a fiber punch.

Who doesn't love Lara Bars? 

They're simple, delicious and so organic you can still taste the dirt. 

The only downside is the cost, at $1.30 per bar or over 20 bucks for a box of 15, these once were a special, "I've been a good girl", "I went to the gym today (yesterday, last week, will go tomorrow etc)" treat. 

But no longer!

I figured that with so few ingredients, they would be pretty easy to make. 

Year 2 means a new leaf with the KDP experiments! They work!

I also had some awesome cookie cutters, of the ninja and Alaskan animals variety. 

So now my afternoon snack is made even better by being in the shape of a whale. 

Almond Cookie- makes 6 ninja's
1/2 c pitted whole dates
1/2 c pitted whole prunes
1/2 c almonds
1 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp coconut oil
dash of sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

Cuckoo for Coconut- makes 6 whales

1/2 c pitted whole dates

1/2 c pitted whole prunes

1/2 c almonds

1 tbsp flax seeds

1 tbsp coconut oil

dash of sea salt

1/4 c dried coconut

Pumpkin Pie- makes 6 squirrels

1/2 c pitted whole dates

1/2 c pitted whole prunes

1/2 c almonds

1/3 c pumpkin seeds

1 tbsp flax seeds

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

dash of sea salt

-Place the dates and prunes in the food processor, blend until it's a paste and put in a bowl.
-Add the nuts and seeds to the processor and blend until finely chopped (stop before it's a flour). Dump in the bowl
-Add the nuts, sea salt, coconut oil and spices to bowl, Knead the nuts into the paste
-Transfer to a surface covered with plastic wrap. Shape into bars (I used cookie cutters, you can also roll into a ball, if you aren't as awesome as I am). Wrap individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to eat (Let set for 20 mins in the fridge before eating).

Be warned, the process does make a mess. 

That's a porcupine. It's an Alaska thing.  

The flavor options are endless. Here are some of the other Lara flavors, but you can really throw whatever you want in there. Just get some dried fruit, spices, nuts, nut butter, chocolate chips and go to town.
Apple Pie
Banana Bread
Blueberry Muffin
Carrot Cake
Cherry Pie
Pecan Pie
Tropical Fruit Tart
Peanut Butter Cookie
Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie
Ginger Snap
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Lemon Bar
Coconut Cream Pie
Cashew Cookie


Get your kitchen dance on to this:

Carolina Chocolate Drops new album, Leaving Eden came out in February.
I'm still listening to it everyday.
Now granted, the sounds of the CCD's are completely and utterly my jams, but there is a raw, unprocessed, jam session quality to this CD that is really lovely. It really takes me back to being at the Alaskan Folk Fest, a Juneau relic that I missed and pinned for this year.
They are experimenting more and more with meshing their old time, black string band sound with beat boxing. It's interesting and gives them an update, I just fear that this gimmick will become too over used.
Check them out, they are definitely on the cusp of the bringing back the Americana Roots movement, with a modern spin.

Swamp thing smoothie

My 25th birthday is tomorrow and I still eat cereal for breakfast every.single.day. About a year ago I switched from skim milk to unflavored almond milk but I still eat fairly sugary crap for breakfast = no bueno. With some gentle guidance from Renai and Val I recently undertook one of those damn hippie cleanses from The Herbalist, no I don't wanna talk about it, yes it was traumatic, yes I cheated on like day 5, no I don't need you to judge me. ANYway I did learn something from this cleanse and that was the way of the breakfast smoothie. I jammed out with the breakfast smoothie throughout the whole 10 day (5 if you paid attention about my cheating) cleanse. Just this week I decided to have a smoothie instead of cereal for allllll of my weekday breakfasts. A big change for this adult child but that's just how awesome the breakfast smoothie really is! You really can't argue with getting some of your 5 fruits and veggies a day first thing in the morning and I stay full until lunch so that's a lot win-win in your mason jar!

Did you know that your average blender blade attachment thingy fits perfectly on your average mason jar? Cuz I didn't until Pinterest told me. It's true, I'll wait while you go try it on for size....done? Ok. Now how effing cool is that anyway? It cuts the amount of dishes needed to make and enjoy a smoothie by half! Half! Math! So what I do is prep most of my smoothie at night before I go to bed and it goes something like this:

Breakfast Smoothie:

- half of a peeled orange, chopped up

- half of an average carrot, chopped up

- some kale or chard if I have any, it really adds that nice green color to your brekafast

- a handful of hand-picked, frozen, wild Alaskan blueberries (what you don't have those? store bought will do)

-small portions of any other random fruit you have laying around, I normally toss in an apple slice or a couple strawberries, and 1/2 a cucumber is a super refreshing addition. We get a Full Circle Farms box every other week so I almost never buy fruit or veg from the store and end up just using whatever random stuff I have before it goes bad.

1. At this point I just put the blade thingy on it and stick it in my fridge

2. My roomie wakes up right when I leave so I wait until just before I leave to toss in the rest of the ingredients and blend it up cuz I'm nice and I want him to have a good day/ not hate me for waking him up before his alarm. Love me some not-cranky Joel Ion!

Second half of ingredients:

-a teaspoon of chia seeds

-probably about 1/4 cup of soy or almond milk

-6-8 ice cubes

3. blend like the dickens. My blender is rad but the little thing is just a blender, I know fancier folks have those vita mix thingies, and more power to them but kitchen redundancy and whatnot so I make-do with my 2nd hand blender. I make a royal racket blending because I don't like my smoothie to be really liquiddy, I prefer a more gelatinous mixture (thanks chia seeds) so it's just harder to grind down at first, turns out great.

4. put a lid on it and you're done! I like to drink mine at work straight out of the jar, it really grosses my boss out, he's the one that calls it a swamp thing.

Listening to: The sweet sound of my blender when I make my brekkie and my favesies playlist on Spotify when I'm sipping on it at my desk.

combine with latte from The Rookery and you're good to go!