Pumpkin Pancakes

I woke up on Wednesday morning to a lovely Cambridge covered in snow.  My roommate and I had a hard time getting ready to go to work since it was so nice indoors all cozy and warm and not outside.  You know.

Ever since I moved to Cambridge where I've had access to a kitchen, I associate snow with pancakes.  Last year I made during the only other snow storm Cambridge saw other than the Halloween surprise storm. I had enough to make the pancakes but no syrup.  It was so nasty outside I decided to get creative and make my own syrup.  That was fun and maybe some other day I'll do it again and write that up here.

This time around I had been craving pumpkin pancakes for some time and I knew I had a can of pumpkin puree still hiding in my cupboard.  So Wednesday morning I got to work.  Looked up a few recipes and went with a modified (by me) version of an already modified (via comments) recipe.

Pumpkin Pancakes (yum)

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups milk

1 can pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions: Mix all the dry ingredients together in one bowl.  Mix the milk, puree, and oil separately.  Add the egg and beat well into the mixture.  Mix the contents of both bowls slowly until you've gotten rid of the lumps of flour but it's not too mixed.*  On an oiled pan over medium-high flame, pour ~1/4 cup of pancake batter (or however much you want).  Flip once bubbles are noticeable on top of the batter and the edges come off cleanly.  Continue to cook until ready.  Eat while you're preparing the other ones.  Maple syrup, butter, or other toppings are optional and totally up to you.

I basically ate pancakes for all three meals and snacks on Wednesday....and breakfast on Thursday.  Good times!

I'm experimenting with the recipe layout.  I sort of ditched the lab notebook idea just because it takes a bit longer to write (although it is fun so I might revisit it).  I'm considering numbering the instructions.  I'd also like to work out the type for the titles, ingredients, directions, etc.

When life (or my fridge) hands you lemons...

Every time I try a new recipe that involves lemon or lime, I buy several.  My idea is often that I'll probably make it again.  The last time I used a lemon it was only for its zest, so it was sitting in my fridge for a week or two all sad and neglected and bald.  But still juicy! So I decided to make lemonade.  In addition, I prepared simple syrup from water and sugar.

Lemonade
1 cup sugar
1 cup water (for syrup)
2-3 cups water, or as desired (to dilute)
3 lemons, juiced (can use more or less)

Directions: Place the water and sugar in a heavy saucepan.  Heat with occasional stirring until all the sugar has been dissolved. Meanwhile, procure the juice from the lemons.  In a bottle or desired container, pour the syrup, lemon juice*, and begin to add water.  Continue to dilute the juice by taste.  Shake up, and serve.

*feel free to strain the lemon juice, but I kind of like it when it has pulp and seeds in it.

Because I want to start taking fancier photos (props, instagram), I decided to coat the rim of my glass in sugar.  All I did was run the glass under water for a bit and then turned it into some sugar poured out onto a bowl.  Klassy.  With a "K."

Coquito

Well, this one has been an adventure.

Coquito is a Puerto Rican "version of eggnog" so good those who try it never go back to the store-bought carton.  I'm sure eggnog is as easy to make as coquito, but I definitely had to jump through way more hoops to get a good recipe.  I started off following a recipe my mom which she got from a local chef.  My mom didn't follow it word for word, and I certainly didn't.  Had I followed her instructions exactly, it would have been quite liquid (and not as boozy).  What Chef Rosita did include was a spice tea, rather than chucking in a whole bunch of spice powders.

The spice tea is tricky--you're essentially pouring very flavorful (super spicy!) water into your beverage, which will, obviously, water it down.  The key then is to concentrate the tea further (advice from my godmother).  Nevertheless, my original version used Chef Rosita's spice tea recipe:

Spice tea:
2 cups water
4 cinnamon sticks (doesn't have to be four, seriously)
8 whole cloves (also a ton! but it's good)
4 or 6 star anis
3 1" ginger pieces (peeled and mashed)

Heat the water over a medium fire and let the spices seep for 20 minutes.  Strain and let cool.

I wasn't too concerned with making sure my ginger was perfectly peeled (I also had little ginger left), especially since everything else is in it's whole form.  I did try to smush it a bit in a mortar and pestle (I am a chemist, after all!). In terms of the heat, I'm quite impatient and not very disciplined so I just turn up the heat until I feel it gets hot.  You should be careful not to let it boil since the internet tells me this could produce an odd bitter flavor.  You can also include whatever spices you want but these are the ones traditionally used in Puerto Rican desserts (so don't skip the anis!).

After much searching and head scratching I decided to merge Chef Rosita's recipe with that of Chef Daisy Martinez.  I found Daisy's recipe on TheKitchn.  TheKitchn offered a "light weight" recipe (ie. awful) followed by Daisy's recipe for a chocolate version.  I eliminated the chocolate and heavy cream from her recipe but took the quantities of eggs.
Lo and behold, the only recipe on the internet that might actually work (it is party-approved as well).

Coquito:
1 can coconut cream
1 can evaporated milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup spice tea
1 cup of white rum (or to taste)

Pour the coconut cream, evaporated milk, and condensed milk into a bowl and mix.  Continue by adding the eggs and beating them well (aim for frothy, but it'll be good either way).  Finally add the cinnamon and rum.  Beat until frothy once more, pour into bottle and store in fridge.

That's pretty much it.  It was a smash hit at our holiday party!  Delicious.

One note: I did have a non-alcoholic version (also did not have eggs) that I left in the fridge over winter break.  I think it might have fermented.  Thus, I conclude that either the alcohol or the eggs (which have anti-microbial properties for all you salmonella-fearing wimps) prevent these beverages from going bad.  The boozy version didn't make it past the party but my parents have bottles of these that have been sitting there for months and are still good.

Black Beans

The last time I made beans was about a year ago from a can of pre-seasoned red kidney beans.  I don't like going for the pre-seasoned variety, but at that point when I was living in the graduate dorms I would have had a tough time making beans taste better than straight from the can.  I decided tonight to revisit my roots.  I had a ridiculously unproductive day at work (probably because I accidentally took sleep medication in the morning) and I felt that I needed to do something.

In the past I've asked my mom for help and I swear I have several of her red beans and black beans recipes floating around either on paper or on email.  She's also photocopied recipes for me from her cookbook.  This time around I knew I'd be working with limited amounts of material.  I have some plantains I mean to cook this week but nothing to eat them with until I remembered the unopened bag of brown rice and a can of black beans I had in my pantry.  I looked at some recipes and took the bits and pieces of each that made sense to me based on what else I had.  Without further ado, I give you my hybrid, low kitchen stock recipe for "Cuban" black beans.

Ingredients
1 can black beans*
1 can water
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon (or less) cumin
dash of adobo
dash of salt
sprinkle of ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh cilantro**

*I used Goya's low sodium black beans.  On the can it said to add 3/4 cup of water, unlike some of the other recipes online.  Not sure how things would have turned out otherwise.
** My cilantro wasn't so fresh.  I simply took the sprigs that looked greenest and tossed them into the pan.

Directions and Observations
The ingredients listed above were added to a medium saucepan and left to boil.  The mixture was stirred over time to ensure none of the beans became stuck or burnt on the bottom of the pan.  Once the bean mixture began to boil, the heat was turned down to a gentle simmer.  Mixture was left simmering for 7-10 minutes.  Saucepan was then removed from the heat.

After cooking, the beans still maintained their shape and a softer, yet still firm texture.


Sources
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-black-beans/
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/spicy_citrusy_black_beans/
Goya Black Bean can


Like my lab notebook procedure?  It's funny how instinctive this way of writing is now.

Why I try to cook

I can't say I've always been a fan of reading cooking blogs.  In the past it has been frustrating to see delicious creations which are ever out of my reach.  Throughout college and the first year of gradschool, I didn't have much access to a kitchen.

BUT NOW I live in this awesome apartment, which sure, is a bit small in some regards but is just right for two people.  And of course, we have a kitchen.  It doubles as a dining room which is where it starts to feel small (try cooking and serving food for guests...it gets crowded).

Anyway, when we first moved in I would try to cook with whatever was around.  Usually some meat with vegetables and rice.  Soon I ran out of rice and realized that everything I cooked tasted the same (culprit was probably an old bottle of cheap olive oil that I used to cook with).  Then came traveling and research and the beginning of the semester.  My laptop was stolen, I had several explosions and accidents in lab (thankfully none inherently dangerous), and after a brief time when research was going really well, it all suddenly went to poop.  Then the semester started, and teaching, and it turns out that it doesn't get easier and first semester freshmen are super needy.

One thing I did realize was that I did feel better about myself, if only because I was keeping myself busy and occupied.  I was making progress in some area of my life even if it was little by little.  But I felt like some enjoyment and social interaction was missing.  Social stuff I'm still working on, but I decided that quality of life is definitely better with good food so I began to make more of an effort with the meals I was preparing.

Also, I was getting sick of inevitably having to eat pizza about 4 out of 7 days a week.

What I'm doing now, as opposed to the approach I was taking when I first moved in, is following actual recipes instead of trying to put something together with whatever it was that I had in my fridge or that was about to go bad (this resulted in a lot of banana bread).  And I have to say, that now Smitten Kitchen is one of my favorite sites to read.  I mainly focus on the recipes but I also read some of the post and then comments.  Instead of trying to start from the very beginning or trying to establish a kitchen before I started cooking, I'm now picking recipes that sound good ahead of time and going out to buy the ingredients necessary.  My kitchen is getting pretty stocked now! Spices, oils, vinegars, herbs, nuts, etc.  All stuff that I had left over.

Now, if I had a better way of saying that I meant to write about a recipe I tried tonight but I would rather start watching TV than finish composing a well-written blog post, I would.  But I do want to watch some TV and then look at this post looking all pretty as a second post on my new blog : >

Mission Statement

avoid insanity while in grad school

cooking, crafts, home improvement, tv shows

photos, friends, music

I'm trying to pick up hobbies and good habits as alternatives to the reality of graduate school.

One day I'll flesh this out, I swear.