Fritoque

First, some acting stuff. I need to play Patti Smith when “Just Kids” becomes a movie. She said she was thinking of Kristen Stewart but wanted a lesser known person.
That is me.
Please, world, if anyone has access to her, her agent, anyone who has anything to do with the movie this is my personal plea to at least get an audition.

Thanks for bearing with me. Here be the food:

I made Fritoqe.
Because it is fun to say anything that sounds like Frito. It is also fun to eat Fritos. In fact, next time I make this that is what l’ll use.
Dagnabbit. It is 9:30, and I am too tired to go get Fritos.

In case anyone is surmising, the Frito-lay enterprise is not my sugar-daddy.

Although, come to think of it, it would not be a big surprise to find me in bed with Fritos.

Anyway, I liked both the title and simplicity of this recipe, so I gave it a go. Then I added some spices because it was a wee bit too simple the first time around. And as I said, next time it is Fritos instead of regular, workaday corn chips.

Yessiree bob.

Frito-lay, if you are out there and would like to be my sugar-daddy, I will seriously consider.

Fritoque barely changed and reduced from the Tex-Mex Cookbook by Robb Walsh
1/2 c. Black beans, some slightly mushed
5-ish corn chips, crumbled
One slice of reduced fat cheddar
Pickled jalapeño slices
2 Tbsp. salsa
Cumin to your liking
Salt n pepa
Mix the beans, chips, and jalapeños, salsa and cumin, and put in a small oven safe bowl. Put cheese on top. Put in a 350 degree oven until sufficiently melty.
Chow. Add salt and pepper. Freshly grind that shiz-nit please. It makes a difference.

Curiouser and curiouser

This recipe made me hella curious as to whether it would be any good:

I really love reading Eden.
She doesn’t always post recipes but she almost always makes me laugh.
Like actually LOL.
I was going to wait until I’d tried a few more variations in this recipe to post it. But I decided to post it today because although I don’t know her personally, I’ve been keeping up with reading her blog and she’s dealing with an illness in her family and could probably use all the good thoughts she can get sent in her direction.
I’m a big believer in the power of positive thought, so check out her blog and send some love to Eden.

Now to those curious beans.

Cranberry Chili Fries? Say what? I love beans, ketchup is good, and cranberries are cool but I was not sure sure if these kids could get along.

Eden made this with pinto beans put it over sweet potato fries. I only had garbanzos, and I hate sweet potatoes(unless they are this kind which are totally different). I had butternut squash though so I cut it into logs, roasted at about Fahrenheit 425 for about a half hour, flipping once. Oh, yeah. Spray your roasting pan first. Add salt if you are so inclined. And these re “fries” so I say do it).
Top with the chili you created using this recipe and eat it up. Be happy. Do a little dance. Make a little love. Or at least tell someone you love them. Tell yourself you love you.

Wow, maybe I should have published this on Valentine’s day, but hopefully all that love stuff happened then too…

Getting Martha on your arse

Decided to make my own vanilla extract. That’s what Martha Stewart would do, no? Yes. The answer is yes.
I did not do this because I want to be Martha. Although I want to be a guest on her show and make pie with her while she interviews me about my acting escapades.
I made this partially to use a vanilla bean before it got old, and partially because the generic artificial vanilla I’d been using sort of sucked.
This is simple. One bean is halved, scraped, and added to a jar. All of it, pod and scrapings. Heat up some vodka and pour over bean. Vodka and beans. Yum yum. Put a lid on it. Shake every day for a week. Here is the extract day one:

And day seven:

And the finished product, jarred(in the bottle the bean came in-I don’t like to waste):

Thoroughly worth working up a sweat for. Plus it looks like a weird science experiment on your kitchen counter. I felt the need to explain it to anyone who came over that week lest they think I was keeping dirty twigs in jars. THAT would be special.

What is the most interesting kitchen experiment you have ever made? Inquiring mind of Ellen wants to know.

Menage a deux

RED AND WHITE FOOD FOR THE REDBIRDS: GO CARDINALS!!!

I was a bit puzzled why this was “boulangerie” fare. A boulangerie is a French bakery. Then I read my darling Mark Bittman’s blurb for this dish where he says it was traditionally cooked in a baker’s oven for hours. So I guess that’s the connection. Now that today’s lesson in French food words is done we can get on with it. Mais oui. Damn I want a croissant now. Avec beurre. Beurre makes everything better. Stop rambling Ellen. Okay.
French cooking can be remarkably downhome. Downright hippie. A glass of green tea with some of my SSSS ginger water would go well with this. Or some French wine. Take your pick. Eat this and you’ll be ready to go do things like wash your hair with baking soda. Which I do periodically and it rocks. Thanks for that hippie tip, Joy the Baker.
I played around a bit with this one…and it turned out well. I used red beans instead of white(Bittman says its ok, I did not peel my potatoes, and I reduced the recipe to serve deux and baked it in two individual pie plates instead of making a big casserole.
Of course, if you bake in disposable aluminum bakers you realize you cannot reheat these suckers in the microwave. But all can be unloaded onto a plate then zapped:

Now, time to menage a deux. It’s sexy to have a menage of two when it’s dinner.
Boulangerie Bean and Potatoes for deux(adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman, cookbook love o my life):
1 cup of cooked red beans
1/4 + 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
3 small Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
1/3 cup water
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. butter
Preheat oven to 325. Put divide beans between two small bakers. Stir in 1/8 a tsp. of thyme into each, then salt and pepper to taste. A goute as the French say. Layer taters over. Pour the H2O over. Dot with butter, sprinkle with remaining thyme, and some more salt and pepper. Cover with foil and cook for 45 minutes. Uncover and cook 45 more or until the potatoes are looking a bit brown.
Go wash hair with baking soda while its cooking. Your locks will be sqeaky clean.
AND GO CARDS!!!

Got any random beauty tips? What’s your favorite French food?

More work for Ellen=less words for gruel

I overbaked these a bit. The result of being really busy and distracted from what’s cooking. Acting and dancing does that to me. As it should. It did not ruin them, however.They turned out a bit crunchy on the outside. Nubbly goodness.
Beany and tasty on the inside. I don’t have much else to say on the topic. Except thanks Mark. I still love ya, Bittman. Even if you don’t like pie crust.
Cheesy Baked Red Bean Cakes(slightly adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman)
1 1/2 cups red beans
1 egg
2 Tbsp. grated low-fat cheddar
olive oil spray
2 Tbsp. minced red onion
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 Tbsp. whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mash beans, mix in egg and cheese. Spray pan with olive oil, heat, then stir in onion and garlic. Sautee until soft and golden. Add to beans with oregano, flour, salt, and pepper, and combine.
Form into four cakes. Bake for about 30 minutes but keep a watchful eye, don’t be distracted like me…