• Not Gezellig!,  Recipes,  Vegetarian Recipes

    Biscuits? Meh.

    biscuits of meh

    I mean, they look okay (despite some truly lackluster photography on my part). My husband said they were good but I found these biscuits dry and bland.

    I won’t link directly to the recipe I adapted from (for fear of starting an intermural food blog smackdown), but it went something like this:

      – 2 cups flour
      – 2 teaspoons baking powder
      – 1 teaspoon dried herbs
      – 4 tablespoons butter
      – 1 cup of shredded cheese
      – 1/2 cup sour cream
      – 1/2 cup milk

      Combine flour and baking powder; cut in remaining ingredients.
      Mix and drop by teaspoonfuls on greased baking sheet.
      Bake at 450 degrees for 12 – 15 minutes.

    Having learned my lesson from the last time I made biscuits, I did my best to handle these as little as possible. I made the dough in the food processor, patted them out gently and cut them into circles with a drinking glass. The dough felt pretty moist from the cheese and sour cream, which is why I’m so baffled as to how they came out so dry. And damn, were these bland. There was a hint of cheese to them, but nothing nearly like what I expected.

    So where did this go wrong? Did I screw it up somehow or was the recipe flawed to begin with? Or both?

  • Doing More With Less,  Life in Maison Gezellig,  Recipes,  Vegetarian Recipes

    When life gives you frozen corn, make chowder.

    Okay, I haven’t been a very good food blogger of late. Truth be told, there’s been some belt-tightening going on in Maison Gezellig. Nothing dire, just finding we need to cut back on some expenses and food is one of the easiest places to start.

    Unfortunately, making dinner out of whatever you find hanging around isn’t a recipe for exciting food blog posts.

    Or, as it turns out, for especially alluring food photography.

    corn + potato chowder

    Which is a shame, really, because this corn and potato chowder was one of the best things I’ve made recently. Even my kid, who usually can’t even remember where she left her shoes an hour ago, saw me editing this photo from last week and remarked on how good this soup was.

    The soup was born from the packages of frozen vegetables that my husband always brings home from the grocery store. There are a few exceptions, but in general, I hate frozen vegetables. They’re always a sad reminder of how they once were before being frozen. Fortunately, for me and my freezer, this soup makes up for it.

    Corn and potato chowder

    Mince one medium onion. Saute in two tablespoons butter until onion is soft. Peel and grate one medium potato. Add about 2 cups broth, enough to cover the potato and onion. Simmer potato and onion until both are cooked through. Meanwhile, dice two more peeled potatoes and a couple stalks of celery. Thaw and rinse one 10 oz. box of frozen yellow corn. Once the potato/onion mixture is soft, puree with a stick (or regular) blender. (This makes the soup creamier without adding actual cream, which I never have on hand.) Add the remaining vegetables, 2-3 cups of milk, a couple bay leaves and a big pinch of nutmeg. Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently to be sure the milk doesn’t scald to the bottom of the pan. Salt to taste. Serve as is, or with a little grated cheese.

  • Product Reviews

    My latest food obsession:

    crazy preserves

    I’m loving these buckets of jam from the Russian specialty store (Food Palace, on Broadway and W189th) near me. It’s a pretty tiny store; more than five people in there and it gets almost impossible to navigate. They also have excellent pickles.

    The photo doesn’t really give a good idea of the scale of these containers: that one is slightly bigger than a pint of sour cream, and that’s the smaller of the two sizes they sell. The other one is about the size of big tub of yogurt.

    The sheer volume of preserves you get really allows you to lavish it on —- and to start rooting through your cabinets, thinking, what else can I eat this on? So far, this cherry jam (and its mixed berry predecessor) has made it on to various toasts and English muffins, been paired with that awesome sharp Cheddar, and even been stirred into cups of strong tea instead of sugar.

    The downside to this jam: I’m trying to limit myself to one at a time (and I’m really ready to move on to apricot or plum next). So… suggestions?

  • Cheese Is The New Wine

    Cheese Is The New Wine: Tickler Fabulous Extra Mature Cheddar

    Tickler Fabulous Extra Mature Cheddar

    So, here’s the thing about Murray’s Cheese.

    First, the people behind the counter always give you their full attention. Not most of it or kind of looking at you but also kind of looking off in the distance with a bored look—their full (without being overwhelming or creepy) attention.

    Then, after slicing the cheese you wanted, they very carefully wrap it up in their special cheese paper. Square, round, wedge-shaped; it doesn’t matter to these guys. It’s like cheese-paper origami.

    And then, when you get it home and are about to unwrap it (with a small amount of sadness, knowing you will never ever wrap it back up again as neatly), you realize the sticker holding it all together doesn’t just say CHEDDAR $12.99/LB BEST BEFORE 10/29. It says something like: Raw cow’s milk is harvested from the lush Devon milk fields and taken to the Tickler creamery in the UK’s Taw Valley. After the 40-pound blocks have been made with traditional cultures, they are aged a full 18 months, during which an unusual depth of tangy, sweet flavor develops.

    And yet, all that perfect awesomeness from Murray’s is nothing—NOTHING—compared to the total frigging awesomeness of this cheese. Yes, this cheese has reduced me to the level of a 13-year-old describing a Michael Bay movie. WHOA IT’S FRIGGING AWESOME YOU GUYS.

    At its most basic level, it’s a sharp Cheddar, but it’s so much more than just sharp. Like the sticky label says, it’s genuinely tangy with a lingering sweet finish. It’s got a lovely dry, slightly crumbly texture, interspersed with little crunchy bits of crystallized salt.

    Okay, it’s taken me more than an hour to write this post, simply because I can’t stop picking at this cheese as I write. Just go buy some already.

    Ingredients: Raw milk, rennet, salt.
    Country of origin: England.
    Aged: Eighteen months.
    Price: $12.99/lb. at Murray’s.
    Final verdict: AWESOME LIKE WHOA DUDE.

  • 101 Simple Meals,  Greenmarket Grub,  Recipes,  Vegetarian Recipes

    Photo Friday: Washington Heights Dinner

    washington heights dinner

    Ingredients:
    Avocado from a guy selling them two-for-$1 out of crates on Broadway
    Tomatillo and cilantro from the 175th Street Greenmarket
    Queso blanco from the new Mexican greengrocer on St. Nicholas Ave.
    Limes from a street vendor on W181st Street
    Black beans from Key Food near W187th

    Halve avocados and scoop out some but not all of their flesh. Roughly chop and toss with black beans, queso blanco, cilantro, chopped tomatillos and lime juice. Serve in the meaty avocado shells.