Eat Gallerista Eat

Beets & Carrots

What could be better than beets & carrots? The combination is simply heavenly and so easy to prepare, not to mention healthy. 

Ingredients

• 3 medium sized beets
• 5 carrots
• 1 head of red onion
• 3-5 garlic cloves
• 1 cup of frozen corn
• salt & pepper to taste 

Start off by cutting the top greens off of the beets and place them in a medium sized pot. Cut the top greens off of the carrots and slice into 2” pieces. Peel and dice the red onion into long slices and peel the garlic. Pile everything into the pot and enough water to cover everything. 

Cook on medium heat with the top on for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the beets are tender (you can test them by gently pushing a thin knife or tooth pick into the center of the beet). 

Once cooked remove the beets and the carrots and continue to simmer the rest, adding 1 cup of frozen corn. Continue to cook for 8 minutes. Remove from heat and combine….and you are done! 

Mmmm enjoy!

Mini Pumpkin Pies

The other night I noticed that I still had 4 cans of Libby’s Pumpkin in my cuboards and instantly I got a craving for mini pumpkin pies. Mmmm….

I searched online for easy and low-cost recipes and put together the following from two websites.  I started off by making the dough which took about 15 minutes to mix and 30 to cool in the fridge, and then the pumpkin pie filling took about 20 minutes to prepare. Baking took approximately 1 hour but it was all well worth it and not just becuase the kitcen and the house had the nicest aroma (which I hope will stick around).  Enjoy!  xx

Pie Crust

*adopted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, chilled
• 3 cups all-puprose flour
• 3 tablespoons white sugar (I used brown)
• 1/3 cup ice water

I started by melting my butter over low heat and adding the brown sugar so they would combine better. I then added the mixture to the flour and mixed it well before adding water. I kneaded the dough in the bowl and formed two balls, which I then chilled in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

*adopted from lilie in the city and slightly modified

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups brown sugar (next time I will use 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 txp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger (I realized I forgot to add this! LOL oops!)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp all-spice (I used my pumpkin pie spice)
• 2 cups pumpkin, pureed (I used 1 can of Libby’s Pumpkin)
• 1/2 Tbs dark molasses (I didnt have it so I skipped this part)
• 1 1/4 cups soymilk
• 2 large eggs
• +1 unbaked pie crust (I made from scratch)

In a large bowl mix sugar and spices. In a separate bowl mix the pumpkin, soymilk and eggs. Add wet ingredients into dry and stir. Preheat oven to 425F and start rolling out the dough which should have been chilling for at least 30 minutes in your fridge. Mold into the container of your choosing (either mini porculain dishes or cupcake pan) and pour in the pumpkin pie mix.

Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce oven to 350F and bake until the center is set, approximately 45 minutes. For cupcakes this time was okay, the ceramic dishes took an extra 5 minutes. I made three pies in the ceramic dishes, and three in the cupcake holder and placed the leftovers in the fridge :)

*if you choose to make cupcakes don’t use the paper holders, the mini pie will stick to the paper and tear as you try to eat (LOL clearly I’m speaking from experience), instead take out the mini pies while still warm and cool on a dish - and then enjoy! :)

Kitchen Sink Series, Installment One: Seafood Fried Rice

It’s the end(ish) of the month and I’m perilously close to having already breezed through my groceries budget. How is it possible that I’m eating doubletime during a three weeks long heat wave? NO idea…but these are the true facts - so…being a proactive member of the eating world I’ve decided to try to make something not horrible out of what I have in my cupboard, freezer and fridge…here is what i’ve settled on: Thai style Seafood* Fried Rice!!

These are the ingredients, some of them are kinda exotic but so is this heat so it’s a perfect match.

Homegrown thai peppers (courtesy my mom)

Most of the rest of the ingredients…!

Cooking-wise, here is the recipe i’m using, keep in mind this is a total improvisation of what I *think* should happen and what a totally questionable rendition of thai fried rice according to…about.com! lol…..

Stir Fry Sauce:

• 1.5 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1.5 Tbsp. soy sauce
• pinch white or black pepper
• 1 tsp. chili sauce (see below) - omit for mild rice
• 2-3 green onions
• 1 sliced thai red chili (they are tiny and pictured above)

Make this sauce first and set it aside for later

Stir Fry

• I carton chinese take out rice (this equals over two cups of cooked rice and is a budget loving $1)
• 1 tbsp veg. oil
• 1/4 c. red onion minced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 3 tbsp rice cooking wine or left over/new regular white wine

Start with these things - Take the oil/garlic/onion and cook it in a wok. Once it smells great add the wine and cook the onions until they are soft.

• seafood (however much you want, i think i’m using 3/4 cup?)
• more veg. oil
• 2 eggs

Add the seafood and cook till it’s not translucent - then you want to push all that stuff to the side then scramble the eggs in there. You can add more oil to scramble the eggs in, I didn’t have to because the eggs scrambled in the puddle of rice wine at the bottom of the wok. Do what ever you want though.

• Rice
• 1/4 c. peas
• 1/4 c. cashews

Add the rest of the stuff then pour that sauce you made in the first step over top what you have in the wok. Cook until everything is hot and if it doesn’t taste salty enough you can add more fish sauce, or actual salt :) I put the raw green onions (scallions?!) in after I had finished cooking the dish, they added color and crunch.

So, that’s it and it’s pretty delish. If I were to do it again I would have used only shrimp and would have added more veg’s - green beans, carrots and possibly a red/yellow/orange pepper to the mix :)

[truth be told I intended this to be with shrimp only but all I had was some frozen mixed seafood - seeing as shrimp are the peanuts of the sea most of the mix was comprised of baby shrimp!]

New York Pretzels

Hi all,

this past weekend, for Lauran’s BBQ I decided to try my hand at homemade NY pretzels. Let me tell you…they are worth the effort.

Here is what you will need

• 1 table spoon sugar
• 1 package (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
• 3 3/4 to 4 cups of all purpose flour (a bit more for dusting)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten for glazing (or you can use honey!)
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt to coat pretzels with

Stir together, in a small bowl, sugar, yeast and 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water and let stand until foamy (about 5 minutes). if you dont see bubbles discard and start again, the dough wont rise unless the yeast is activated yo!

In a larger bowl whisk together the flour and 1 tablespoon salt. Add yeast mixture slowly until it forms dough. Dust counter with flour and knead dough for about 8 minutes (dough will be slightly stick, that’s ok).

Return dough to large bowl and cover with a dishtowel. Allow to stand at room temperature (I like to place mine on the stove for some heat) for about 45 minutes. Take dough out again and cut into pieces. I cut mine into 24 for small hand sized pretzels.

Using your palms, roll one piece at a time until it’s about 24 inches long and then shape into pretzel. Tuck the sides under and let stand for about 20 minutes uncovered. In the meantime…..get a medium sized pot of water boiling!

Using both hands carefully place two to three of the pretzels into the boiling water and cook, turning over once with tongs, until pretzels are puffed and shape is set, about 3 minutes each. Take out and let cool for a bit before placing on an oiled baking sheet.

While you are working on the remaining pretzels pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once the oven is ready arrange the pretzels on the baking sheet and brush lightly with some egg and sparkle with coarse salt.

Bake until golden brown and lightly crusted, about 35 minutes. Cool for 15 (and use this time to rest your arms! ugh your guns will be hurting trust me) and serve warm with some amazing Thomy Mustard.

*this recipe was adopted from Epicurious.com

homemade bread….mmmm, carbs

Hello, Galleristas! Megan here!

Lately I’ve been trying out a new lifestyle: the one in which you make your own bread and your alarm clock means “i know it’s still dark, you just have to knead the bread and then you can go back to bed”.  As it turns out, it’s a very enjoyable lifestyle!

It was my sister - who put in some time as a gallerista herself - who got me started on this one.  Apparently, while I was under some rock, the NYTimes made a splash about No-knead bread from Sullivan Street Bakery, and everyone seems to know about it. The link to the original recipe is here: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/how-to/how-to-make-noknead-bread-home-hacks-109343: this one calls for a Dutch oven and yields a lovely loaf the shape of your pot.  If you like sandwiches - and let’s admit, all galleristas spend some time in line at Bottino - there’s a handy hack here to bake in your loaf pan: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/noknead-bread-hack-how-to-make-a-sandwich-loaf-instead-105248.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients

3 cups of flour - white flour or bread flour, not self-rising

3/4 teaspoon of yeast - i used dry active yeast

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups of warm water

Equipment

Mixing bowl

Plastic wrap

Cooking spray or olive oil

Oven-safe pot with lid, Dutch oven, or just a loaf pan

Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the water. The dough will in fact look “shaggy”, which I think is an amazing description of bread dough and is exactly what thekitchn told me to expect.  

Spray the top of the dough with cooking spray, or brush lightly with olive oil, then cover it with plastic wrap and a damp warm kitchen towel and leave it in a warm corner for 6 to 8 hours. I did this right before bed.

Come back, pour out the dough onto a floury clean countertop, and knead it just once or twice. Put it back in the bowl with plastic wrap for another hour; meanwhile, turn on your oven to 450* and let the pot warm up in the oven. Come back to the dough, which will have risen again, form it into a ball, and drop it in the pot.  Put the lid on, and let it back for 30 minutes.  After that, take off the lid and let it keep baking for another 15-20 minutes.

Here’s a loaf I did in a loaf pan:

Mmm.  Even though this photo looks like an Ode To My Toaster, this is actually a cinnamon-walnut-raisin loaf that turned out perfectly, if I do say so myself.  I added 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup of raisins before stirring in the warm water.

This is an easy crowd or friend pleaser! Enjoy, and be sure to share any delicious variations!

Eat, gallerista, eat!

Quinoa salad…

I just got introduced to this amazing food!

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa). Very high in protein, great source of fiber and for those of us counting carbs the perfect pick.

The following is a Quinoa salad with avocado, baby corn, bamboo chutes, , and yellow and red cherry tomatoes, covered in juice of one freshly squeezed lemon and olive oil. Mmmmm….

What you will need:

• one avocado
• one cup of red Quinoa (I mixed 1/2 cup of red and 1/2 cup of regular)
• one can of baby corn (use as much as you like, feel free to cut them up)
• one can of fancy bamboo chutes (can also be cut up to your liking)
• medium to small bundle of fresh kale
• 7 red, 7 yellow cherry tomatoes (can be cut in half or into 1/4 pieces)
• one large bowl

Directions:

1. Start with the Quinoa. One cup will feed 4 people. Wash and drain out the desired amount and place in a pot filled with 1 1/2 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for approximately 15 - 17 minutes (fluffing and stirring with a fork).
2. While the Quinoa is cooking, wash and dry off your batch of kale. Cut into bite size pieces (or as short/long as u desire) and bring about 3 cups of salted water to a boil. Place the kale in the boiling water and stir every so often for about 10-12 minutes.
3. Next is the easy part! Take one avocado, cut in half, take out seed and cube. Place in large bowl.
4. Take your cherry tomatoes and cut as you want (I like to cut mine into 1/4 pieces and salt, then let drain for a few minutes to get rid of all the liquids and keep the salad from being too ‘wet’).
5. Cut into pieces your baby corn and bamboo chute.
6. By now the kale should be ready and you can drain it for a few minutes as you check up on the Quinoa.
7. When the Quinoa is done combine with the drained kale, avocado, tomatoes, bamboo chutes and baby corn.
8. Take the juice of one fresh lemon and combine with about two table spoons of olive oil. Pour over your salad and season to taste. You will find that just salt is necessary.

ENJOY! :)  (I’m having mine for lunch today!)

Healthy dinner (after a night of wine)

Wine is amazing. We love wine! however…sometimes a girl’s had too much and the day after should follow up with a healthy dinner.

What you will need:

one small to medium avocado

a bunch of thin asparagus

one egg

a lemon

oil or butter, salt, pepper and Sriracha Hot Sauce.

On low to medium heat heat up some oil or butter.

Snap off the ends from the asparagus and break off into 2 inch long pieces.

Add to skillet or pan and cook for about 5 minutes or as crispy as you want

sprinkle some salt

Cut avocado in half, take out the seed and slice up into cubes.

Drizzle with some lemon juice and salt to taste

Take out asparagus and crack one egg into the pan.

As it cooks add some amaziballz Sriracha Hot Sauce (again to taste or as sober as you think it will make you hahaha) and salt.

Assemble all on a plate and enjoy

:)

Mmmmm….being a gallery girl who cooks and eats has never been so good!

mac attack

i would just like to take a minute to post this fact: india does not have mac and cheese - in fact, they do not have cheese!

an ode to mac n cheese

Throughout the years, mac n cheese has found it’s way into our emails like red on Christian Louboutins. Here are some of my favorite lines about this inexpensive joie de vivre anonymously listed below:

Annies parmesean peace pasta mac and cheese. I usually cook up some shallots and mushrooms to throw in there and yo, that’s no joke delicious!

Plus glass of red to hopefully make me forget (insert annoying work related activity here)

There is nothing as pleasing to dudes than Fried ____ or Mac n’ Cheese

And (insert loved one’s name here) will think you made it if you add sauteed onions and some garlic powder

I’m standing by my recession mac and cheese, although i might have to save up for the gruyere

Pop that Corn…

Thats right hotties…Pop Corn is an amazingly affordable choice of snack that can be kicked up in a variety of ways.

The next time you Pop consider sprinkling the following spices on that Corn…

1. cinammon

2. fresh pepper

3. brown sugar & ginger powder

4. dill & garlic powder (ONLY if you are not around a loved one…)

5. really any odd spice you can find in your cabinet

It will make your ‘snack’ into an instant hit. You might even end up having it for dinner (…UGH!!! dont remind me!!!).