Soul and Sumac

Mercimak Cabosi. Turkish Red Lentil Soup. The fluffiest, earthiest soup I've ever slurped out of a mug on a gloomy pre-midterm Sunday. The toasty flavoring was brought out really well before any water even hit the lentils.



recipe, :
http://www.ecurry.com/blog/soups-and-salads/turkish-red-lentil-soup-with-sumac/

Changes: I left out hot pepper flakes and mint, didn't add carrots, used water, not stock.
I used a medium-sized tomato, cubed, instead of tomato paste. I recommend it.
I also added juice from half of a little lemon. Mmmm.

I thought I would have a problem with not adding salt or pepper, but this is not the case! I love this soup! I'm going to send my mom the recipe.



Special hint: Make it when you're ready to serve to mouths. Don't hold it for a week, days, or even half a day. It gets goopy and discolored, and loses some roasted flavor.

I'm probably not going to start posting songs with every recipe like Amanda does (I can see myself getting frustrated if I can't find something), but because I'm obsessed with this S. Maharba video, and it fits my mood, I'll post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHh76JY9_jA .

-Anna

I like Molasses!

But these aren't my favorite brans. See "muffin in the rough," ça c'est très bien. Cette recette a été au dessous de mes attentes.



Cependant, c'est bon.

I got it from this book from the seventies (like everything else in my parent's kitchen) called Laurel's Kitchen.

Her recipe is for apple bran muffins, but we didn't have apples, so I used strawberries and blueberries instead.

She recommends eating these muffins with cheddar.
I say no.


Recipe: Bran Muffins
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 TBS grated orange rind
1 cup apple ( I subbed blueberries and strawberries)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped nuts/seeds ( I left out.)
juice of one orange
scant 2 cups clabbered milk!
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
2 TBS oil

1. Preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix flour, bran, salt, soda, and nutmeg together. Stir in rind, fruit, and nuts if using.
2. Pour juice of orange into a 2 cup measure, fill the rest up with the clabbered milk. Add to egg, molasses, and oil and stir it all together a lot.
3. Combine, but not too much.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Should make about 2 dozen small muffins

This is what I do.

-Amanda

Tofu Tumble

This recipe really endears itself to titles. So that's what this post will be.
Pistachio Flavored Anger Management.
Fennel FT(RAW)W
Good morning Masala
Don't Cry Over thinly chopped onions.
Don't Cry Over spilled mint!
Cilantro is for sissies, try mint instead!



Courtesy of here.

This is dish is to scrambled eggs like this song is to A Milli.
-Amanda

Muffin in the Rough

Muffin went for a hike and found a maze. Actually there were two kinds of muffins. Muffins with just raisins (à la recette) and muffins with goozed banana, blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry.



These are moist and the best bran so far. And they're rugged!


-Amanda

The End of Canned Beans

I used canned. Don't. Skip the walnuts. Obviously.



Oh and I forgot the Parmesan. Silly.
-Amanda

To Start July Off Right

Mushroom Ricotta Orzo !

Baked :)

Bad news: I ate it too quickly to take a photo.


The beauty of going home for the weekend is that I have no choice but to use up goods before I leave.

Boil somewhere from 1/2 to 1 cup of whole wheat orzo for 8ish minutes (al dente). Simultaneously, chop up about 3 cups of mushrooms into little uneven bits, and add them to a frying pan which already has some minced garlic (I used 5-7 cloves) fusing with some olive oil. I let it brown the slightest bit before adding the mushrooms. Oh right! The mushrooms had some fresh thyme in them, and while they were on the frying pan, I added salt, pepper, and half a lemon's-worth of juice. You let that stew in it's juices for a while (10 minutes? Maybe less. Until you get impatient. At that point you scoop half of the mushroom mixture into an oven dish (8 inches by 4 inches, somewhere there). Pile the orzo on top of that. Spread 1/2 pound lowfat ricotta over that (this was VERY difficult. Fingers were involved). Then top it off with the rest of the mushroom. Pop it in the 400F oven, take it out when your house smells good. Gahhhrlic. Have I already recounted my tale of the visit to the Garlic Shoppe? Awful. Don't ever, and I mean EVER, put garlic ice cream in your mouth. Not worth it. The taste will not leave. Noo it's back. Sorry, I have to leave and go ingest antigarlic now. And also check on the oven.


TL;DR put shit in the oven, don't follow my recipes unless you want to get lost.

-Anna

Don't Burn the Nuts!

That's what I did. Not pretty, but still yummy. I left out the green onions and dried cranberries recommended in this recipe. The green onions because ours had gone bad and the cranberries just because I'm not a fan.


Also I would have used less feta. But yummy dressing. I didn't feel like getting my hands garlic-y smelling so I just used a nice dose of garlic salt instead.

I've been waiting so long for this.



-Amanda