Chez Shai

I have been posting from www.chezshai.com/Food for a few months now.
It's awfully boring to look at, but the material is good and the look will improve eventually. You should check it out!

Shaina

What's a cook to do?

I'm living in temporary housing for the next two weeks and after catching up on all of my cooking blogs, I'm starting to go a little crazy. Nearly all of my kitchen stuff is in boxes. I was planning on purchasing paper plates and plastic cutlery but I haven't gotten around to it yet so all I've managed to scavange up is four bowls, a plastic fork, and a plastic knife. Needless to say, we've been cooking dinner at friend's places a lot lately. Last night for dessert, Brian was eating some gelato and I was eating my favorite breakfast/snack/dessert these days; Traderspoint Creamery yogurt (which comes in a wonderful glass bottle, above), sprinkled with granola, dried cranberries, and a little bit of honey. To accomplish this feat of eating concurrently, we had to pass our one plastic fork back and forth, licking well to clean between bites. Eventually I resorted to just going at the bowl with a finger. Quite barbaric.

Some of the things I want to make right now, but can't: Coq a Vin, Boeuf Bourguignon, and Tarte Tatin. Why so many French dishes? Well, maybe because I saw Julie and Julia yesterday. Or maybe just because they're delicious. Hopefully in two weeks I can work on sending some more dishes your way- light summery ones and buttery French ones alike!

Last week I was in Maine where I valiantly attempted to love fresh lobster (I get psyched out by their little faces) and got some cooking tips from a couple of deliciously domestic ladies in Brian's family. I also baked up a storm despite the heat wave that has been boiling the East Coast lately. I made my latest favorite, the Wining Hearts and Minds cake again as well as Bobby's Caramel Cake. I hope to get more creative and develop some of my own recipes some time in the near future, but right now I'm caught up in everyone else's delicious ideas and without the proper equiment to execute any recipes at all!

In Other News...

I'm moving!!

I've decided to purchase a domain name and make a real website to feature my cooking, travels and photography. This website will be called Chez Shai, but don't try to visit it yet- there's nothing there!!

When I figure out all this web hosting and design stuff, I'll let you know!

Spaghetti Pie and More!

It's been way too long but I still don't really feel like blogging. I'm sorry!! I've been keeping busy volunteering for the fabulous Community Servings until my classes begin. I'm still cooking, I'm just a bit behind on writing about it.

As promised, here are some pictures of my spaghetti pie:


Flaky and delicious.

Some veggies would really make this tasty!

Other things I've been baking:

Orangette's Winning Hearts and Mind's Cake - a deliciously decadent cake for chocolate lovers.

And some cute little berry cobblers by the Pioneer Woman!

These are some of my favorite food bloggers. I hope you like their stuff!

Dinner Tonight: Spaghetti Pie

I was entranced by a meal that I had at Brian's sister-in-law's house one night a year or two ago and that meal was the deliciously carb-ful Spaghetti Pie. It was a flaky brown drum sized crust surrounding steaming spaghetti and meat sauce. Since then, I have been looking online for something similar but have only come across spaghetti al forno (baked spaghetti), spaghetti casseroles, and worst of all, some kind of pie with cheese and marinara filling and a spaghetti crust! Hmm...

Luckily, after I pulled a few google tricks out of my sleeves, I found a recipe on vegweb for a crusty, spaghetti-filled "pie". The recipe, which can be found here, was not so much a recipe as a set of guidelines which when distilled reads:

1. Make/Buy a crust
2. Put half the crust in a casserole dish
3. Fill the dish with cooked pasta, sauce, seasonings, and veggies/meat
4. Cover with more crust
5. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown (30-45 min)

There werent even amounts for most of the ingredients! The exception was the crust. This came in handy because my local grocery store was out of the pre-made kind. I made the crust in about 3 minutes using the recipe listed:

7/8 c. oil
1/2 c. ice water
3 c. self-rising pastry flour
(I never buy the stuff- For each 1 c. all-purpose flour, add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder & 1/2 tsp salt.)

I filled it with spaghetti and meat sauce and it's currently baking. I hope it's as good as my first one!

Photo Quality & Artichoke Dip

I should really edit my pictures before I post them here. The difference may be subtle, but food definitely looks more professional and more tasty when edited! Here's an example of some artichoke dip I made a couple days ago for lunch. Before:


After:


And the recipe...

Artichoke Dip
All measurements are approximate.

Dip:
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 c. mayonnaise
2 oz. softened cream cheese
A few dashes of red pepper
salt & pepper

Topping:
a handful of grated cheese
a sprinkling of breadcrumbs

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Spread in a pan or cute little ramekins for individual portions (pictured). Top with topping. Bake at 350 degrees until warmed through and browned on top.
Serve with your favorite chips.

Use Your Noodle!

I can't believe I haven't posted about my noodle experiments yet!

Since Italy, I have been driven to make various kinds of noodles, mainly out of curiosity and also because fresh pasta is delicious and requires very few ingredients. Brian got me a pasta maker back in December but I only got to use it once or twice before skipping town so I'm trying to make up for that now.

With a pasta maker, noodles can be as simple as mix thoroughly (2 c flour, 3 eggs), roll (insert pasta maker here), and roll again to cut, but for some reason I like to pick the really difficult kinds of pasta...

Like penne. With the penne noodles I had to mix, roll, cut into squares, and roll each square point to point around the back of a wooden spoon.

The result, covered in some doctored up tomato sauce from a jar, was pretty good but only moderately better than the $0.80 boxed kind and a LOT more labor. Still I was proud.

Then I made gnocchi. This was actually slightly less arduous then the penne but even less rewarding. I used the method in Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Basically, you boil 1.5 lbs small potatoes until tender (about 20 minutes), peel off the skins while hot, rice the potatoes (I don't have a ricer, so I grated), mix with up to 1.5 c flour, then roll into long cylinders and cut into 3/4" sections. Roll each noodle on a fork while making an indent on the other side with your index finger. That step may be optional. Boil for 10 +/-3 seconds and consume.

The result seemed right on the outside but was sort of mushy and gummy on the inside. Brian and I agreed that this probably wasn't my fault and is maybe just how homemade gnocchi turn out sometimes. He said the ones he ate at Julienne in Santa Barbara a few weeks ago weren't too different. (I highly recommend Julienne, by the way, except maybe for their gnocchi.) We left the rest out to dry overnight to see if that helps, though I'm not counting on it.

Anyway, I didn't want to eat them or make him eat them either, so we went with some boxed pasta instead. It was the perfect compliment to my homemade pesto (recipe to come)- much more fitting!

Summer Produce

Shopping in the summer is so fun & cheap! Yesterday for dinner I came home with a huge honeydew ($2) and 5 ears of corn ($0.32 each).

Brian was not exactly thrilled with my idea of produce for dinner, but we boiled the corn, made some chicken with maple chipotle grill sauce, I whipped up a quick (and sort of mediocre) pasta salad and sliced the honeydew and we actually turned out a great summery meal!

I'll try not to forget the protein tonight to avoid any more grumbling.

Roasted Butternut Squash Ginger Soup & Roasted Broccoli

As I'm sure I've mentioned on here before, I don't usually cook with recipes and I find that this makes it much harder to keep up with this blog. It's easier when I bake and can simply link to an outside recipe. However, I have to try because otherwise what good am I? Just know that all measurements are approximate...

A few months ago I read my middle school friend Kayli's blog about roasted broccoli (above) and just how easy it is to make. I have been hooked on adding roasted vegetables to every dinner since. The other day, on a whim, I bought a lovely pale orange butternut squash thinking that I could make it in to soup, or in a pinch I could just roast it. In the end, I decided to do both.

Tonight for dinner I made that broccoli and the soup while Brian cooked up some pre-breaded Mustard Panko chicken from Whole Foods. I looked at a bunch of recipes before I made this soup (notably this one and this one), but I can't really give credit to just one because in the end I made something that was super simple and all mine.

Roasted Butternut Squash Ginger Soup

1 butternut squash
butter or olive oil
salt & pepper
paprika
red pepper
1/2 small onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger, minced
2 c chicken broth
croutons

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Halve butternut squash and scoop out seeds and stringy area. Place in a baking dish.
Brush with melted butter or olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, red pepper, and paprika.
Bake in the oven covered for 20 minutes, remove foil and continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tender. (You can do this several hours ahead of time if you'd like.)
While the squash is cooling put a glug of olive oil or a pat of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and ginger and let brown. Scoop squash from skin and add to saucepan. Add chicken broth and more salt, pepper, paprika, and red pepper to taste. Let simmer covered for approx. 15 minutes. Puree. (Immersion blenders are the easiest and least messy way to puree soups.)
Garnish with croutons (No boxed croutons please; they offend me!) and serve.

This soup has a strong ginger taste so it's not for the faint of taste buds. Curry or cinnamon might make a nice contrast to the sweet squash. I tried to bring out the smoky paprika and spicy red pepper but the soup still wasn't as punchy as I might have liked.
Try new things! Have fun! Make it yours!

PB Cups

I made peanut butter cups a couple times in Italy (including once for a class pot luck, pictured alongside some brownies below) and I'm currently in the last step of making them right now (freezing). They always go over well because A) they seem impressive but are shockingly easy to make and B) they are a perfect one or two bite sweet treat to pop in your mouth!

I use this recipe, though this time I used half milk and half semi-sweet chocolate. I also found Italy to be lacking in mini muffin liners, so there I made them with small plastic cups, about the size of Dixie cups. The cups lacked the cute ridged look of a muffin liner but it was easier to paint the chocolate on because the plastic was so much sturdier and the pbs were easier to remove from plastic than paper. I also don't have a paintbrush, but I find that the back of a spoon works just fine.

Good luck with your cups!

Breakfast!!

Breakfast is my favorite meal! Today I even ate it for dinner!! I love the simplicity of the ingredients and the creativity that can be applied. Here's a couple of breakfasts I have made recently...

Breakfast tacos! This can be done in any number of ways. This time I sauteed some onions and spinach and put them in warm tortillas topped with shredded mozzarella, scrambled eggs, and a little salsa. Delicious!

For dinner tonight I wanted to be sort of creative so I opted for a breakfast dinner. I made a big batch of Buttermilk Pancakes (the leftovers of which should last a few weeks) and Alton Brown's lemon curd to go on top.
The buttermilk pancakes were delicious and fluffy, though I would have liked a little bit more crispiness. I also didn't cook the lemon curd quite long enough so it didn't thicken up. It was still very tasty and I don't feel too bad since it was my first attempt at emulsifying anything. Maybe I'll try it again with the rest of my bag of lemons. Or maybe I'll move up to an aioli and make some bangin' sandwiches. We'll see....

Bobby's Caramel Cake

I was in Italy and in Italy I was inspired. I made up recipes and ate new things. My roommates were happy to be fed. Here are a couple of simple dishes:

But one thing I missed was baking. For the first 2.5 months in my apartment on Via del Cane, I thought the oven didn't work. However, with a flick of a switch from the dark-haired, over-sized housing assistant who rode up to the house on her moped, it suddenly functioned again. However, it was finicky and powerful and left my brownies covered in a layer of burnt char. I had to stick to less precise foods like lasagna and one of my signature dishes there, chicken and eggplant rolontini, so baking was simply not an option.

Upon my return to Boston, I took a while to settle myself, and once I did, I celebrated by baking a big cake. I'm personally not a huge cake fan because for many the cake is too dry and the icing is too sugary and it all becomes a dry spongy mess in your mouth when you eat it. I chose this one by Paula Deen because the caramel icing sinks into the simple white cake layers to make them moist. The frosting was extremely spreadable but still pretty sweet so if you make this cake, you'll need to pour yourself a big glass of milk.

Apple Picking and Pie!

It all started about two weeks ago when my co-workers decided we should go apple picking. We picked a day and a time and I was all set to go meet them when Brian said, "My roommates are going to a corn maze."



As you can imagine, I was torn. Both were Fall activities I had been lusting for. Then Brian told me the farm with the corn maze also had apple picking, and I was sold. A corn maze AND apple picking? My fall dreams had been answered.



Arriving home with a peck of apples and a bunch of stress about the upcoming semester to relieve through bake therapy, I set about to do the first thing and stressed person with apples would: Make an apple pie.



Recipe to come!

Quick Update

I have been baking a lot lately. It's probably the stress of new things manifesting as deliciousness, but I'll get to that later this weekend. For now, a quick stash of PhotoBooth cooking pictures I have been hoarding...


Classy Campfire Food:
Potatoes, ground beef, onions, and butter toasted in a puff pastry.
A hearty, steamy treat.



Barbara Sawyer's Stuffed Peppers (as made by Brian Sawyer):
Green peppers filled with beef, rice, and seasonings, sprinkled with breadcrumbs and roasted in marinara sauce.


Barbara Sawyer's Goulash (as made by Brian Sawyer):
Macaroni, ground beef, tomato, spices, and lots of chili powder.


Sideways Chicken Pot Pie:
Cream of chicken soup, frozen mixed veggies, and shredded chicken, baked in a pre-made crust.

Because Brian and I are both working full-time (and then some) we have learned to appreciate the joys of simple cooking. We use a lot of quick cooking meats like ground beef.
He likes to stick to his mom's recipes, while I like to improvise. It's been fun having a standard routine because it makes it easier to fall into a pattern where cooking is commonplace.

This weekend I will post some real recipes with pictures from my real camera!

turkey meatballs

i stole this recipe from molly over at orangette (love her!) in fact, if anyone is looking to buy me a gift (my half birthday is in a few weeks - i know, who buys someone a gift for their half birthday?? whatever, it's the only occasion i could think of) you can preorder her book for me :) normally when i steal someone's recipe i tweak it a few times until i think it's just right, but this one is perfect as is.



turkey meatballs with all kinds of tasty surprises in them - toasted pine nuts, golden raisins, cilantro, etc. she recommends a lemon and cumin yogurt sauce to dip them in, but i think they have such great flavor already that i wouldn't want to take away from it. here's the recipe. and some more photos of my meatball making process!

Potato Leek Soup: A 30-Minute Meal with Shaina Shay

A lame picture (taken by my MacBook), but a delicious and shockingly simple soup for 2.

Directions:
Have your boyfriend peel and cube 4-5 fingerling potatoes.
Boil potatoes in one can (14.5oz) chicken broth for 15-20 minutes, covered.
Turn heat to low and mash with a potato masher or puree with a nifty SmartStick, like Brian got me. (You can leave some potato cubes intact.)
Saute one large sliced leek in butter. (Try not to forget about it and let it burn... Ahem.)
Add sauteed leek and 1 c. cream or half & half (I used cream and it was cream-ay!) to the potatoes and liquid.
Stir.
Add salt and pepper and french fried onions if you wish, and enjoy!!

The whole thing took about half an hour and it was very filling and yummy!

oatmeal pancakes!

I know I'm usually so health conscious that it's annoying to my less conscious friends (thanks for passing that on, mom!), but then there are those times when you catch me finishing off a bag of kettle chips all by myself or occasionally even heading to the drive-thru for a double-double and fries from In-N-Out. I'm a hypocrite, I know. I admit it! My excuse is always the same: I didn't have time for breakfast this morning, so I didn't eat anything. Now it's mid-afternoon and I'm so famished that I'm just going to eat the quickest, easiest thing I can find because I absolutely can't wait another minute. Usually I'm so hungry at this point that I eat way more food than necessary, at a much faster rate than I normally would. Which almost always results in a stomach ache.

You would think by now I would have already figured out the whole correlation of cause and effect here, since it's pretty obvious. The truth is I've always been totally aware of my bad habit of skipping breakfast, but up until recently I've never done anything to correct it.

Enter the oatmeal pancake.

My friend Danielle gave me this recipe (if you want to call it a recipe) awhile ago - I was complaining to her about how I was so sick of regular old oatmeal, so she told me that her mom makes a really tasty oatmeal pancake that I might like to try. Her mom also makes really yummy dairy-free ice cream and a matzah brie dish that's to die for, but more on those later...

After a little bit of experimentation, I created my own version of the oatmeal pancake. I've passed the recipe on to a lot of friends, all of whom make their pancakes a little bit differently than me. There's one thing we all agree on, though: it's the perfect quick breakfast for any day of the week. Here's my version.

I start with 1/3 cup quick oats, and add an egg white. I then dump in some cinnamon and flax seed (probably about 1/4 t. of cinnamon and 1/2 t. of flax seed, but I never measure) as well as a splash of soy milk. Sometimes, if I feel like experimenting, I'll add a little ginger, or cloves, or whatever else I grab from the spice cabinet. Then I mix it all up with a fork and dump it all in a pan. It's usually a little thick so I use a spatula to kind of guide it into round, thin, pancake-like shape. I let one side brown and then flip it and do the same for the other side. It only takes a few minutes to cook. After that, I top it with whatever I'm in the mood for - usually yogurt (soy yogurt in my case) and lots of fresh berries (I prefer strawberries and blackberries).

It's the perfect breakfast because it only takes a few minutes to make, it's yummy, and it's totally a well-rounded meal. The oats and flax seed give you fiber, the egg white adds some protein, yogurt gives you a serving of dairy, fresh fruit helps you reach that five a day, and cinnamon is an extra added bonus - there are studies saying that it lowers cholesterol, aids digestion, and even reduces your appetite. Sounds pretty perfect to me!

wild mushroom pasta

tiffany and i tried out a new recipe awhile ago, i kept forgetting to post pictures until now though. it's a pasta with all kinds of mushrooms- white button, portobello, and an assortment of wild. white wine, chicken broth, garlic, shallots, and lots of fresh herbs made the sauce complete. it was kind of a lot of work - lots of slicing, chopping, mincing, etc. but it was really yummy. tiff even liked it, and she's not a fan of mushrooms at all!

here's the mushroom sauce simmering on the stove...


add pasta, and chicken...


...final product!

4th of July Feast (No Picture)

Sorry! I didn't think to take a picture of this one...

Living in the dorms, I always thought of my lack of grill as a huge impediment. Steaks and kebabs could never be as good when prepared stovetop. However, on the suggestion of a co-worker I looked into broiling.

Following this link to a tee, I produced some of the best steak I've ever had in my own home. Really!! I bought two rather pricey Boneless Rib Eye steaks from Whole Foods and put a very basic steak rub on them. They were flavorful, tender, and more than enough for the 3 of us.

I also made mashed potatoes: 2 very large potatoes, a stick of butter, a dash of pepper, and an excess of garlic salt, and a House Salad. Brian took care of the garlic bread.

All that and a nice red wine and we were in business for a fabulous Fourth of July feast. If only the fireworks had been as nice as my cooking!

the best cookies ever!!!

i love peanut butter. in my mind, pretty much anything that combines peanut butter and chocolate can't be wrong. these cookies are pretty much the epitome of pb chocolate goodness because they have peanut butter, reese's pieces, chocolate chips, AND reese's pb cups. i was tempted to also add some peanut butter chips but i thought that might be overkill. :) seriously though, these are my favorite cookies of all time... whenever i make them i can't keep them in the house because i have no self control - i'll eat the for breakfast, or if i've already had breakfast i'll have them as a breakfast dessert. bad, i know.

i've baked these bad boys quite a few times and kept tweaking the recipe and i think it's finally just right. i made them recently when emily and ramos came down for the day and i think they devoured about a dozen of them... in a very short period of time too. and then after em left she called me to get the recipe and made them at home that night! i think that's a pretty good testament to how delicious they are.



here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (i use half light and half dark)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup reese's pieces
- about 20 mini reese's peanut butter cups, cut in half

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Unwrap the reese's peanut butter cups, cut them in half, place them on a plate
and put it in the freezer while you make the dough.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, white
sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then
stir in the vanilla.
4. Combine the flour and baking soda in a separate bowl; stir slowly into the peanut
butter mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips and reese's pieces.
5. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and roll into dough balls.
Remove the frozen peanut butter cup halves from the freezer and press a piece onto
the top of each dough ball.
6. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Let cool for 1 or 2
minutes on sheet before removing, or they will fall apart.

It's ok if they seem a little but under-cooked when you take them out - the peanut butter in the dough definitely affects the texture to make it seem that way. Besides, if you take them out when they're still a little mushy, after 2 minutes sitting on the hot tray they'll be perfect. That way, when you go to eat them the next day they'll still be soft and chewy, not crunchy. There's nothing worse than a crunchy cookie.