Ceviche de Soya

Welcome to lent: No-Meat Meals! I'm really excited about this, since I'm kind of tired of explaining that no, I'm not a vegetarian, and no, my church doesn't teach us not to eat meat, and no, I'm not allergic. I just don't like meat.
Regardless of your lenten habits or culinary preferences, I hope you'll enjoy this recipe. I personally don't like the fish version because the texture bothers me, but it's the more popular version, and is served in Mexico year round. Also, I'm feeling lazy about conversions, so good luck with that?

Soy Ceviche
serves 30
Ingredients:

• 1 kilo dried soy meat subsitute
• 8 laurel leaves
• 2 onions
• 1 kilo tomato
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• 2 bunches fresh cilantro
• 1/4 kilo limes
• 1 kilo ketchup
• 700mL orange juice
• 1/2 L orange soda
• 4 medium avocados
• 1/2 cup salsa Valentina OR diced green chiles to taste
• salt

Directions:

1. Place soy in with 1 slice onion, laurel leaves, and 2 Tbsp salt; cover with water and heat to rehydrate
2. Dice tomatoes, cilantro, and remaining onion
3. Juice limes and strain to remove seeds and pulp
4. Place tomatoes, cilantro, onion, oregano, lime juice, and 3Tbsp salt in pot and mix well
5. Drain the water from soy, remove laurel leaves; add to tomato mixture
   
6. Add ketchup, orange juice, orange soda, and salsa/chiles
7. Add avocados last, just before serving
8. Serve cold

To make the fish version:

• Substitute fish (like cod or talapia) for soy
• Increase lime juice to 1L
• Dice raw fish filets, and let sit in lime juice for 30-45 minutes before adding to tomato mixture as above

Cream of Carrot Soup

It's good to be home. It was good to be back on the border, and we had a fantastic retreat--I have many things I want to share with you in the weeks to come--but I also couldn't help feeling a sense of great relief when I stumbled through the door at 3 in the morning, Licha lying half-asleep on the couch, Ruti and Hervey snoring gently in their room, and my nephews each muttering different stories to each other in their sleep on Licha's spare bed. There is a certain kind of stillness in this noisy household that I missed more than I had realized.
Saturday I decided to enjoy that stillness by ignoring my computer, my cell phone, my camera--anything with a battery or a plug. I knit and read all day long. Except for the half hour I spent in the kitchen, learning to make my favorite soup.  I wanted to share the recipe with you, although it's a little out of season for most of you, I think.

Licha's Cream of Carrot Soup
Serves 6
Ingredients:

• 6 carrots
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1cm slice of onion
• 1Tbsp consommé powder
• water
• butter

Directions:

1. wash carrots, cut in 1/2inch slices
2. boil carrots in water with a pad of butter until soft, but not mushy; drain
3. blend carrots, garlic, and onion until smooth
4. add evaporated milk; blend again to mix
5. melt a large pad of butter in a pot; add carrot mixture and a can of water
6. add consommé powder and heat to serve
7. top with sour cream

You're a fool if you think I took the time to take a picture of my soup.
I am mostly in the business of eating, and not of making things look pretty.
This one belongs here.

Isn't that the easiest thing you've ever heard of? And it has the added bonus of being delicious and mostly nutritious.

ProTips:

• You can substitute any kind of milk you have on hand, but I'd advise using more milk instead of adding water for the sake of the texture. 
• You can also cut out the butter in the carrot-cooking step for less fat content, but the butter added to the soup helps the carrot not burn. 
• I have no tips for reducing sodium content, but maybe there's low-sodium consommé in the States?
• I can't get my hands on any here, but I have a suspicion that plain yogurt would be amazing instead of sour cream.

news from the tasting

Thanks so much to everyone who came out to the beer tasting on Tuesday night! It was a success, in my opinion, and I think--I hope--everyone had fun.
Anyway, I just wanted to share two recipes from the evening. I'm glad that the black bean hummus I made was a hit, and Kenny's "Cracked out Crackers" are probably the best thing ever, and they're both super easy recipes. So here ya go.


Kat's Black Bean Hummus

• 1 15oz can each chickpeas & black beans
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley
• 1 Tbsp fresh cilantro

Process spices, garlic, olive oil, & lemon juice as finely as possible. Then add beans a little at a time. Don't rinse the beans, or your hummus will be too dry. In fact, I'd save some of the water in the cans in case it's too dry anyway. That way, you can make it the exact texture you like.


Kenny's "Cracked out Crackers"

• 1 1/3 c canola oil
• 1 pkg dry ranch (1 oz)
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 sleeves saltine crackers

Put all ingredients except crackers into a 2 gallon ziplock bag and shake until fully mixed. Then add all four sleeves crackers to the bag and shake gently until fully coated. Let sit in the bag for two hours or so. When you take the crackers out of the bag, they should be pretty much dry. Just throw them in whatever serving tray you'd like.
Yep. I know. No baking. It's crazy. But it's true.

alles gute, meiner!

Conrad, one of the Quenzel's sons, turned thirty this week, so today is the big party. This is the moment the whole family has been waiting, for, apparently, b/c it's the debut of the renovations they've been doing in the "garden house." I'm realizing now that I've posted like no pictures of their house. Sorry.

Anyway, basically, their house is one of those that line the city walls, with big front doors to garages and bigger gardens. These were originally built for the city-dwelling peasant class, who needed to pull carriages off the streets, house horses, etc. So, we've got an awesome three-tier back yard - the main "Hof," a terrace, and the garden plot that sits right up next to the city wall and what is now the lowest part of the park. The Quenzels have lived here for a couple hundred years, and the house has taken on a couple different financial endeavors. The house in the garden was built during the time that Louisa had a brewery and bar here. When Christoph's grandfather became a doctor they cut out the brewing, but the house is still there, and has mostly been a workshop/storage space since Ruth and Christoph took over. Originally, they thought that when they got old and one of their children moved into the house they would move out to that second house, but it's fairly impractical since the ground floor doesn't have real living space, and they're worried about not being able to use stairs (although I know very few old Germans that can't tackle stairs), and are now planning on living in the first floor that is currently my apartment. So now, the garden house has become a party house. First Conrad's birthday, then Ruth's (next week), and Phillipp and Marion wanted to have their Polterabend (the party the night before their wedding) there, but have now changed their plans.

Well, I never saw the upstairs of the house before they started fixing it up, b/c it required climbing a scary looking ladder at least 15 feet and then doing a pull-up into the window, but it looks awesome now, and since the building was built just before the civil war, I'm thinkin' they had a lot to do. They built a new external staircase and porch on the back side, and it stays sunny up there until about 21:30 at this time of year, even though it's pretty shady in the garden by 20:00. We've been hanging out up there every evening this week, and tonight I think there's supposed to be 40 people or something coming to the party.

Been a while since I posted a recipe. I've basically been eating the same things over and over, or else I've been out of town and therefore not cooking for myself. SO.... The Quenzels asked me to bring a salad, which is not a big deal except that then they started saying how they're going to tell all the guests it's an American delicacy, and I felt pressured to make something quintessential. I thought about making homemade ranch dressing for a regular tossed salad, but I've never even thought about that before and it seemed like a daunting task. Then this salad was born. The Quenzels really like tex-mex, and I started off thinking about a bean salad because of that. The white limas (which, here at least, don't have that sweet taste the green ones do) take away from that a little, but I was trying to add color and size variation, and I think that although not typical tex-mex, I'm pleased with their addition.

Kat's "Ach, LEUTE!" Bean Salad
1 large can sweet corn
1 large can red kidney beans
1 small can jumbo white lima beans
2 small red onions
juice of 1 small lemon
1/2 head iceberg lettuce
cilantro, white pepper, sunflower oil to taste

Rinse beans and corn thoroughly with cold water. Combine beans, corn, onion, lemon juice, and spices beforehand to give the spice a chance to soak into the veggies (yes, I know beans are legumes but w/e). Let stand one hour. Chop lettuce in strips, wash, and add, with oil, just before serving.

I'll add pictures later, but I haven't made this look especially pretty yet, so I'll take pics of the final product. It's not ready yet b/c the party's not for a couple hours.

oh yeah.

I actually did cook a tiny bit while the groups were here... One recipe doesn't have a picture, though, and the other one came out gritty and grey. Sorry.

Mexican Tortellini
1 portion tortellini
1 can black beans
1 can sweet corn
1 small tomato
2 tsp cilantro

Cook pasta, drain. Warm beans, tomato, and cilantro over medium heat. Add corn but do not heat. Serve with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and salsa.
***

Indian Tuna Casserole
1 1/2 cups cooked pasta, any kind
1 can tuna in water
1 small can sweet corn, drained
1/2 small can sliced mushrooms, drained
2 cups light sour cream
2 slices Gouda cheese
curry powder, to taste

Cook pasta, drain. Fluff tuna with fork and add to pasta. (I decided to mix up the tuna and pasta before adding anything with liquid that would make the tuna sticky and clumpy again. If you like big ole chunks of tuna, skip this step.) Add vegetables and sour cream and stir over low heat. Add curry powder until sauce is just slightly yellow. Place cheese on top and bake for 25 minutes at 100*C.

Whatever. Not like you're gunna cook it anyway.

call me butterrrr.

I'm on a roll.

Yeah, okay, the brussel sprouts were a bit undercooked, but it was the first time in my life I have ever even eaten fresh brussel sprouts, I think (and even frozen ones I might've had five times ever), and I had to google for half an hour before I felt confident even pretending to cook them. I was pretty happy with this stuff.

Confession: I cheated. So, I'm not going to post a real recipe. That pork was delicious, but it was pre-cooked and pre-seasoned. All I did was set it in the oven for five minutes so it was a little above room temperature. And that rice? Uncle Ben's Minute rice. I heated it up and put it in a pot. The brussel sprouts, however, I boiled with a cup and a half of water, a spoonful of butter, and one garlic clove, sliced ultra thin. Added salt and pepper. Not bad, if I do say so myself. And it sure as hell looks tasty, even if I didn't cook most of it.

Busy, busy getting ready for the American invasion of Sachsen-Anhalt. Realized last night, after working for at least ten hours on the very very detailed itinerary that we couldn't take half the trains I had planned on, so I was up till 5am fixing it (thanks, OCD!). Pretty tired, and releasing my frustrations in vanilla-hazelnut pudding (also amazing) and paprika potato chips. But as for now, I'm going to eat dinner with one of my youth and her family in ten minutes. Write more later, maybe?

edit: Check out these shoes! They're not real comfortable, but how awesome are they? Possible for Jenn's wedding, maybe? Gotta decide in the next two days if I wanna return them, though.

fish stick eater

I might've mentioned at some point that it wasn't as cold as I had expected.

I take it back. It's freezing.

When I say "it's freezing," what I mean is, it is between -10 and -2C. That's, technically, a good bit below freezing. I have a cold, and it's not fun. It's difficult to make myself go outside, b/c it really is physically painful, but it's easy to get depressed around here if you don't take advantage of the sunlight when it's there. Man, tonight, for example, I had on my thermal top and pants, leg warmers (thanks, Amanda's mom!), jeans, a turtle neck, one of dad's ultra thick sweaters from MI, a scarf, hat, and my pea coat. I still wanted to cut my face off so it would stop hurting. There's simply no relief.

I'm excited that Furman gets here in like a week. I can't wait to see Mason, to get my camera back, and to have something to do all day. Granted, it will be stressful to have people here constantly for the next month, and I won't get a break at all, but you know... small blessings.

On an entirely unrelated note, I don't think I've ever in my life eaten fish sticks. I know mom never bought them for us, and I think I successfully avoided them in the school cafeteria. However, I have become a fish stick eater. They're not that bad, really, if you get the breading cooked real crunchy and put a little ketchup on them. Anyway, I just bring that up because I ate them today with my lunch, which, outside of this little foray into the trashy, I was really proud of.

Kat's tomato tomato tortellini
1 cup dry cheese tortellini
1/4 cup sliced sun dried tomatoes
1 small fresh tomato
basalmic vinegar, olive oil
black pepper, to taste

Boil tortellini in salted water with a bit of olive oil (to keep it from being sticky) for 10 minutes. Depending on volume, cook time may vary. Pasta should be just barely undercooked. Drain.

Heat a skillet and coat with olive oil. Place tortellini in skillet and fry, stirring constantly, until crunchy. Add tomatoes (both kinds) and a tiny splash of vinegar. Cook until sun dried tomatoes are rehydrated and soft. Lightly pepper.

Serve with fish or chicken.

Serves: 1.

food, cooking, surviving.

So, I'm not a very good cook. Compound that with the fact that grocery shopping here looks very different than in the states. Add the lack of desire to stock a nice kitchen when you're only going to be somewhere for a few months. You get lots of pizza and döner take out.

However, there are a few things that I can make tastily with some variation: pasta with just about any combination of vegetables and tomato sauce; tiny spicy hamburgers (without buns); fajitas with either chicken or ground beef; eggs; things that come from cans.

With this limited background I have been attempting to prepare food for myself (which, btw, is much more difficult for one person than for ten). There have been some minor victories. For example, I can pan fry potatoes like nobody's business. I now know how many grams of cheese slices I am capable of consuming in one week. I have discovered the joys of zucchini and plain white rice. But my greatest victory thusfar, since I've mostly been spending a lot of time cooking individual foodstuffs with very little attention to spices and even less to making sure they fit together, was this soup.

Naturally, I paired it with potatoes, because it's what I love the most, but I only had one left, so I also ate some bread with this deliciousness. This was the first time I got thin-cut potatoes cooked through but not burnt, as well (I usually cook chunky potatoes). I took a regular ole can of tomato soup, added zucchini slices and some leftover gnocchi from the day before, and voila! it was delicious, if I do say so myself. And warm! Oh, boy, was it warm!

For those of you who like recipes, and ingenuity, I'm going to start adding stuff like this, so that you can try to eat like me--poor and away from home!

Kat's Rainy Day German Tomato Soup
1 can plain tomato soup
1 medium tomato
1 small zucchini, sliced not-that-thin
1/2 cup leftover gnocchi
1/2 cup lowfat milk
salt
white pepper
oregano (to taste)

Let tomato soup (not thinned) and diced fresh tomato simmer over medium heat. Heat sliced zucchini covered over low heat with a splash of water (just enough to keep it from burning) and some butter for 5 minutes or until water is almost evaporated. Add gnocchi, salt, white pepper, and milk. Cook until gnocchi is hot. Add to tomato soup. Let cook all together 2 minutes, flavoring as desired.

Serves: 2

TRY: substituting leftover rice, pasta, or potatoes for gnocchi!