Here It Comes Now

Stolen from the Interwebs

Although The Strokes' fifth album The Comedown Machine isn't officially released in its entirety until March 26th of this year, they have released two songs off of the album that I would love to share with you all.  On a completely unrelated side note, I started thinking of what a fifth album would be called in terms of class year.... you know: first album, sophomore album, junior album, senior album.... then what?  I think it should be called a "PG album" (i.e. post graduate album).  Do you think that will fly?  Cause when I Googled "PG album," the first searches I got were for Peter Gabriel albums.  Maybe a fifth album release should just be called "Peter Gabriel albums" because he's pretty terrific.

Back to The Strokes.  They are my favorite band.  Not because I love every single one of their songs (believe me, there a couple dogs in there... cough Fear of Sleep...cough. Seriously, it sounds like Casablancas is piss drunk and couldn't come up with more lyrics than "fear of sleep" after a certain point), but I love the drunkenness-falsetto-rock-man-thing.  Julian Casablancas wears it well under his big ole sunglasses.  Secretly he works at Sunglasses Hut and gets drunk and sings with his friends... or at least that's what I dream he does.  WOW. OKAY.

Also from the internet.  I only wish I was this close to them.

So the two songs that have been released off of their new album The Comedown Machine are "All The Time" and "One Way Trigger".  "All The Time" sounds like an outtake from their sophomore album Room on Fire since it has an uptempo "driving in a tour bus" vibe going on.  What I've noticed about The Strokes as their sound matures is that their uptempo beats have aged as well.  Even when one of their songs is fast paced, it seems that they are still going in slightly slower motion than some of the younger albums' songs.  It's like listening to a radio version of a song and then listening to the original, only to realize it's supposed to be played slower.  You just got so used to the version you initially heard that the slower "regular" version just sounds weird to you now.  It's not a bad thing or a good thing, it's just a noticeable difference.  

With both songs you hear the lads dealing with more mature issues.  In "All The Time" Julian questions the stability of a relationship by singing, "Do you want what I want too?  All the time in the world is all that's necessary."  It's not mere coincidence that in both released songs, he battles long-term relationship woes.  In "One Way Trigger" Casablancas croons in his falsetto, "Find a job, find a friend, find a home, find a dog, settle down, out of town, find a dream, shut it down" and  I can't help but wonder whether he and his bandmates are getting pressured by their significant others to "shut it down."  They are rock n' rollers and will do no such thing.  The fact that this approach to their writing is so different from the penetration-romance genre that I initially fell in love with makes me nostalgic for the good old days.  They're all older, in relationships, and contemplating their 30's.  It only seems reasonable that their music should echo this.  I guess this just depresses me because like romances, their albums were so exciting and unpredictable in the beginning.  I only hope that the boys stick in one or two songs about going to the bathroom to poon a lady.  That being said, I wait with baited breath for the rest of the album.  Also, I will forever love The Strokes.  The end.

Good Morning, Good Morning

Ahhhhh breakfast.  The best meal of the day.  Turns out it's not the most important meal of the day (it's supposedly lunch), but I still love making breakfast the most.  I'm just really into cooking eggs.  I'm a perfectionist when it comes to frying and poaching them.  One of these days I'll do a post all about poaching eggs (I can feel your excitement from here).  But in the meantime, I'm just gonna share a recipe that's uber easy, delicious, and healthy.  

Strawberry & Banana Muffins

yields 6 muffins or 12 mini-muffins

1 banana

2 eggs

1 handful of strawberries (you can also trade out strawberries for blueberries, blackberries, snozzberries, Berry Berry Kix, etc.)

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Blend banana and eggs together. 

3.  Put cupcake liners in tins, and fill cups up about three quarters of the way up.

4.  Chop strawberries into very small pieces and distribute the berries evenly amongst the cupcake tins.

5.  Bake muffins for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are just starting to turn golden brown.

Simple. Healthy. Delicious.  I feel like Gordon Ramsay saying that. Good times.  

Diabetes

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!  Calm down.  Today we will be baking! Yay V-day!  If your boyfriend is allergic to dairy like mine is, then you sit in bed next to him eating a giant block of cheese while watching Chopped.  Also, you tend to bake more dairy-free things so that you're not eating all the cookies alone. In a corner. Because you're an asshole.  SO.  My favorite thing to make my lover is snicker doodles.  They're his favorite type of cookie, and I've perfected this recipe.  And it makes me happy that I know at least one recipe by heart (besides my chili).  I did something slightly different by cooking them in a heart-shaped cupcake tray that I got at CVS.  If you have a heart-shaped cookie cutter, then that works too.

Snicker doodles
Bitch, I did this myself. (Yields 40 cookies.  I know, right?)

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
1 pinch baking soda
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons cinnamon
sugar and cinnamon to roll the dough balls in before baking

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix butter, sugar, and eggs together in a mixer on low speed.

3.  Mix in baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

4.  Add the flour (in small batches) to the mixing bowl.  Mix all ingredients on low speed until combined.

5.  Mix equal parts sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

6.  Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Using your hands, mush the dough into the cupcake tray hearts (or just place the dough balls on a baking sheet if you're not feeling the hearts).

7.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges just start to turn golden brown.

You can never go wrong with butter and sugar... and cinnamon.  Cinnamon is up there.  Happy Valentimes!

Let's Pretend We're Healthy

Hello everyone.  So I've been experimenting with kale lately... you know, making salads, stir-fries, smoothies, and chips.  I'm a lot late on the whole "kale is cool" boat, but whatever.  Who cares?  Anyway, today I am sharing a recipe that I found while surfing the internet for a savory way to cook kale.  I kind of want to try salt and vinegar kale, but that might be disgusting. Or genius. But this recipe is pretty good.  You might have to season the bejesus out of the kale in order to achieve the taste you want, but here you go.

Barbecue Kale Chips
adapted from The Food Network

1 bunch kale (washed and dried thoroughly)
olive oil
1/4 cup paprika
2 tablespoons chile powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.

2. Remove kale leaves from stem and tear the leaves into big bite-size pieces (the kale will shrink a little as it cooks in the oven).

3. Toss kale in a bowl with olive oil so each piece gets an even coat.

4.  Lie the kale out on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, tossing the kale halfway through.  Kale is done when it is crispy and browned on the edges.

5.  Mix the paprika, chile powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and dry mustard together in a bowl to create BBQ seasoning.

6.  Sprinkle (or in my case pour on) the barbecue seasoning, and toss kale in a bowl.

Now curl up on your couch with those kale chips and read that book that you haven't read, but your mom gave it to you.

Pardon The Hiatus

Well hello again.  Although it has been almost 9 months since I last posted, we're going to ignore that and continue as usual.  I'm sure you're so glad I'm back! Really I just missed talking about recipes and finding eco-friendly ways to document new ones.  In addition, there's a lot of new music coming out.  Like. A LOT.  Also, this is in existence:

A jubilous Thom Yorke

So happy day to that.
Now that that's over, I've made something for you all. So gather around the kitchen counter, and watch Chef Lindsay amaze you with the culinary arts.
A recipe that is great and delicious (and easy to make) that I found recently comes from a blogger who I heavily enjoy. She makes beautiful food and she's got a great sense of humor.  So I changed a couple things in the recipe, but it's still healthy and filling and doesn't taste like it would be.  It's some good shit.

Off we go!

It's like Halloween...

Vegan Butternut Squash & Curry Soup

1  small-medium butternut squash, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
5 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons powdered ginger (or freshly grated if you've got it)
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 teaspoons sugar
cinnamon
salt and pepper

It's a butthole...

Warm olive oil, salt, and pepper in a large pot over medium heat.  Add onion, and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally.

Add squash, ginger, curry, sugar, a dash of cinnamon, and 4 cups of vegetable broth to the pot.  Mix together, and turn the heat up to high.  Once boiling, bring the temperature back to medium to low heat. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes or until squash is cooked through.  Remove from heat, and allow it to cool slightly.

Working in batches, puree soup in a blender until smooth and creamy.  Once blended, return the soup to the pot and add the remaining 1 cup of vegetable broth.  Stir to incorporate, while reheating the soup.

Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon, paprika, and pepper.

In the words of Julia Child, "Bon Appétit!"

Also, I'll catch you guys soon.  My belated New Year's Resolution is to be more diligent in my writing.
Beaucoup de bisous!

Red-y for Summer

Ah, yes.  It has been over a month since my last post.  I almost forgot I decided to do a blog.  Oops.  Oh well.  I'm back.  I know you've missed this.  Anyway, let's get on with it. 

Red Curry Recipe
adapted from Thai Kitchen

1 tbsp olive oil
1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk
2 tbsp red curry paste
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 lb chicken breast
1 cup (or more if you're feeling super healthy) assorted vegetables
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp fish sauce

1.  Put the olive oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat.  Cut the chicken into strips or small chunks.  Once the oil is hot enough (when you flick water into the oil and it sizzles) place chicken in pan and cover.  Cook chicken for 7-9 minutes on each side, or until mostly cooked through.  Set chicken aside.

2.  Cut up assorted vegetables into large bite-size pieces and place in skillet.  Cover, and cook vegetables for 7-9 minutes.  Set vegetables aside, and dispose of leftover oil.

3.  Bring coconut milk to simmer in large skillet (or wok) on medium heat.  Stir in curry paste and sugar until well blended; bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes.

4.  Stir in chicken and vegetables.  Cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes.  Stir in basil leaves and fish sauce.

5.  Serve with rice (Jasmin or long grain white rice).  Garnish with additional basil, and add Sriracha for heat (if so desired... I always desire it).

Although I realize this recipe is the opposite of summer since it's curry, this recipe is so darn easy and delicious to make that you won't really care.  As long as you have an air-conditioner unit or a fan blowing, you'll be able to enjoy this curry sans heat exhaustion.  The difference between my curry and the Thai Kitchen recipe is that I enjoy using red, orange, and yellow peppers as the "assorted vegetables."  Also, you don't need to cook the whole dish for 15-20 minutes, I just like the chicken and veggies to soak up all the coconut milky flavor and turn into kind of a curry stew.  The longer you keep the dish simmering, the richer the flavors will become, and the more tender the chicken.  This dish reminds me of the shining sun in the summertime.  Now that it's hot out, we can all enjoy the delightful weather and the NYC garbage smell emanating from the sidewalks.


Happy (almost) summer everyone.  Here's to the last summer before the world ends... apparently.

Easter meets Passover... meets Good Friday

Happy Monday to you all... this means the fresh start of a new week.  Sunday doesn't count.  You can now accomplish new things this week, folks... and all because it's Monday.  Anyway, I contemplated making eggs in some creative fashion as a nod to both Easter and Passover (Seder plate) and then putting it up on my blog, but then I thought maybe I should do something I haven't done in awhile: post an outfit.  After all, this is a multifaceted blog.  Yes... I should explore my horizons and whatnot.  I promise I'll still cook things and post pictures of delicious food finds, my devoted readers (all 6 of you).  For today, I wanted to put up a picture of an outfit that is a nod to "mid-western meets ballet"... or (in this case) "Easter meets Passover.... meets Good Friday"...what? These holidays have passed, you say?  Well, good riddance.  Sometimes I confuse Good Friday with Ash Wednesday, but then I realized that I didn't see anyone on Friday who looked like they fell asleep in a fireplace. 
On that note...

American Apparel skirt, Target for little girls white tights in a large, Longchamp bag, My mother's belt, White button down shirt stolen from my sister, Forever 21 sweater, Forever 21 necklace, Xhiliration for Target "leather" jacket

On that note, I'm off to Pinkberry.  May you never confuse one holiday for another, therefore offending a religion.

Oh, you fancy huh?

Hello there!  So, this will be kind of a short one because I made a promise to myself to go to sleep before 1 o'clocky tonight.  And I took a sleeping pill, so hopefully this recipe remains more coherent than the St. Patty's Day one.  All right!

Goat Cheese and Arugula Pizza with Caramelized Onions

1 (8 oz.) package of goat cheese
2 small handfuls arugula (also known as "rocket")
1/2 red onion (roughly chopped)
3-4 basil leaves
olive oil
1 pizza crust (or you can make your own if you're not lazy)
pepper

1.  Preheat the oven to the temperature your pizza crust package tells you to turn it to.  Mine said 425 degrees.
2.  Put the oil and onions in a medium skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and caramelized, about 7-10 minutes.

 3.  Put pizza crust on a pizza pan or baking sheet, and lightly brush the edges of the pizza crust with olive oil.

4.  Sprinkle goat cheese all around pizza, but leave about an inch to an inch and a half uncheesed around the edges.  Then sprinkle the arugula (rocket), basil leaves, and caramelized onions all over the pizza.  Crank some pepper on that puppy.
5.  Bake the pizza for about 8-10 minutes (or whatever the pizza crust package tells you) and enjoy!

 

This is so effortlessly, deliciously awesome.  And it's so easy to make.  And it's really not too unhealthy for you... as long as you're sharing.  Goodnight you princes of Maine, you kings of New England.

A Literal Irish Car Bomb

Top o' the mornin' to ya!  Let me preface this entry by saying that my baking this past evening was not a success.  I tried to do something delightful and St. Patrick's Day related, and it kinda blew up in my face a bit.  Firstly, if you decide to follow this recipe you will almost certainly end up with some rock cupcakes that taste like beer.  On that note, at least they came out pretty, and the frosting was goodish.

Artistic

Blarney Stone Cupcakes (i.e. chocolate stout Guiness draught cupcakes)
adapted (loosely... very loosely) from Food Network

3/4 cup hot cocoa powder (poor choices)

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch fine salt

1 bottle tall can stout Guiness Draught beer (poorer choices)

1 stick butter, melted

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs

3/4 cup sour cream

Oh, hello poop

Such poor choices

Okay, I am not going to write the steps because, as my friend and I were making these cupcakes, we (or rather I) did a poor job of following the directions.  I used hot cocoa powder instead of unsweetened cocoa powder, and draught dark beer instead of stout.  Stout is the only kind that should be used for baking- the end.  In addition, I don't really recommend following this person's recipe from foodnetwork.com because his recipe makes the cupcakes very runny (and the frosting he makes is runny and terrible as well... BAD RECIPE).  During the prep process I decided to add more flour and hot cocoa powder because I wanted to thicken up the batter.  Although the batter did thicken, once the cupcakes came out of the oven, they turned into little muffiny weapons.  Epic fail texture-wise, but flavor-wise they were okay.  At least the frosting was okay. Live and learn, people.

Bailey's and Cream Cheese Frosting

3-4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Liqueur

1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

 

So you just mix everything together in a mixer for a couple minutes... that's about it.  I screwed up.  I'm sorry.  So I made something pretty instead:

 Yay!  Well, maybe I should branch out from cooking and have a good long hard think Winnie the Pooh style.  Goodnight... er good morning.  Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Spring Rollin' in The Deep

Hello friends!  Recently I was trying to think up some sort of dish that would best represent Leap Day.  Frogs' legs is out of the question because a) I've never eaten them, and b) I wouldn't trust myself with cooking them.  It's important to build up your culinary technique until you've reached the whole frogs' legs/hog roast/whatnot shenanigan skill level.  So, as I was cruising a delightful Vietnamese restaurant in midtown, I spontaneously decided to purchase spring roll skin.  Since I had made a stir fry earlier on in the week, I already had spices and veggies needed to create some splendid spring rolls.  So... without further ado.... let us SPRING into March!!!....puns are fabulous. Shutup.

Chicken and Veggie Spring Rolls

1 pack spring roll skins
1 chicken breast
6-8 basil leaves (minced)
3 medium sized carrots
1/2 red onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
soy sauce
paprika
garlic powder
ground ginger
light vegetable oil
Sriracha  (optional)

1. Heat a wok or large sauce pan to over medium heat, and drizzle about 2 tablespoons of the oil into the wok/pan.  Allow the oil to heat up before placing the chicken breast in the pan.  Throw a few dashes of paprika, garlic powder, and ground ginger over the chicken.  Allow chicken to cook for 7-8 minutes on one side before flipping it.  Season the other side of the chicken.  Once chicken has cooked all the way through (another 7-8 minutes), remove the chicken from the pan, and place on cutting board.  Then chop the chicken breast into very small pieces.  Coat chicken with 1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce and let it set for 5 minutes.

2.  After washing and peeling the carrots, use the peeler to peel (so much aPPEAL- HA!)... use the peeler to peel off small skinny strips.  In the same pan that you were just using to cook the chicken, add 1 1/2 tablespoons oil.  Don't worry about cleaning the pan, the remnants of the chicken and its seasoning will add to the flavor of the veggies.  Add basil, onion, carrot, and garlic to the pan/wok.  Stir occasionally for about 8 minutes, and then add the chicken into the pan.  Cook together (and season more) for a few more minutes.

 3.  Heat a separate frying pan over medium high heat, and add about 1/3 cup oil to the pan.  While you are waiting for the oil to heat up, start wetting some of the spring roll skins.  This is important because, in order for the skins to have elasticity to form into a spring roll, they first need to be moistened, and then laid out to dry on a flat surface for about 2 minutes .  Do not pile the wet spring roll skins on top of each other or you will have a gluey rice mess and you will probably still be hungry.

4.  Once the spring roll skin has dried (is no longer wet, but the skin is loose and elastic) scoop a heaping spoonful of the chicken and vegetable mixture onto the far side of the circular skin.  (Also, try not to include too much of the liquid left in the bottom of your wok/pan).  Make sure to spread the chicken/veg mixture out into a log shape.  Fold the bottom of the wrapper up over the filling and gently press down.  Fold in both sides of the wrapper, and gently press to seal.  Continue rolling the spring roll up towards the top of the wrapper.  If the wrapper won't seal, then sprinkle the top with a little bit of water.

Some rolls are bigger than others

 5.  Place the roll(s) in the heated frying pan.  Cook both sides of the roll for about 4-5 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove rolls from pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels.  This will drain the spring roll of its excess oil.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Serve with duck sauce, soy sauce, hot chili sauce, hot mustard sauce, peanut sauce, Thai chili sauce, or (my favorite...you know it) Sriracha.

Having a moment with my love... Sriracha

Cooking the spring rolls was a little bit more difficult than I had anticipated... mostly because I made the recipe up while cooking, and mostly because I wasn't sure how much oil was appropriate to use.  I must note that I used a lot less oil than you're supposed to use while making spring rolls because I wanted a kind of healthier version.  Also, deep frying things over a gas stove and open flame terrifies me.  Goodnight!