This short article about my research appeared in the September 28th issue of this magazine on page 58. If you can’t access the magazine, email me, I will send you the magazine as a PDF.
September 28, 2009
September 26, 2009
Easy way to cook cauliflower
Simple recipe for cooking a sometimes not-so-tasty vegetable.
Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower (separated into florets)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 deg F.
2. In a large bowl, toss cauliflower pieces with olive oil, garlic and shallots
3. Spread out in a roasting pan or baking sheet with sides
4. Roast in the preheated oven until toasted and tender (30 min).
5. Transfer cauliflower (and charred pieces of shallots and garlic) to plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
ENJOY!
September 23, 2009
Fall vegetable recipes
The first two recipes are adapted from the Joy of Cooking. The common theme in these recipes is a lemon that can be used for all three recipes. While you’re at the store, you should also pick up a shallot.
I. Swiss Chard Sauteed with Garlic:
Ingredients:
1 bunch of swiss chard
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
salt
1/2 lemon
Instructions:
1) Cut stems of chard into 1/2 inche pieces, Coarsely chop the leaves; rinse well but do not dry.
2) Heat olive oil in pan over med-low heat.
3) Add garlic and heat for 1 minute until garlic is beginning to color.
4) Add chard stems (ONLY stems, not leaves).
5) Season with salt (maybe 1 tsp)
6) Cook, stirring occassionally until stems are nearly tender (2 min).
7) Add chard leaves and cook, partially covered until both the leaves and stems are tender (3-5 min more)
8) Season with juice of 1/2 lemon.
II. Sauteed beet greens
Ingredients:
beet greens
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large shallot (finely diced)
salt
lemon wedges (garnish)
Instructions:
1. Remove the stems and wash the greens.
2. Leave greens whole if leaves are small. Otherwise, cut them into wide ribbons.
3. Shake off as much water as possible.
4. Heat olive oil in large skillet.
5. Add shallot and cook over medium heat until softened (2 min).
6. Add beet greens and sprinkle with salt to taste (approx. 1 tsp).
7. Cook greens, tossing in pan until wilted and tender (3 min).
8. Serve with lemon wedges.
III. This beet recipe is adapted from Annie Somerville’s Everyday Greens:
Roasted beets
Ingredients:
beets
Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 400 deg F.
2) Trim off greens and use for recipe II above.
3) Rinse beets under cold water and place in a small baking dish with 1/4 in. water.
4) Cover with foil and roast until tender (35-40 min, depending on size).
5) When you test for doneness with paring knife or skewer, there should be no resistance. If there is, they will be difficult to peel.
6) Cool and peel. Then slice them into wedges. To make peeling easier, set up a small bowl of water and wet your fingertips. Then use your moistened fingers to slip the skins off the beets.
7) Seasonings you can use if desired: salt or ground pepper to taste. You can also toss with 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp chopped fresh parley and lemon juice to taste.
September 18, 2009
Apples tomorrow
I am doing some research tonight on the types of apples that will be available at the Farmer’s Market tomorrow morning. I will look for ginger gold and perhaps try matsu or fuji. I enjoyed the gala apples last week. Someday I will visit the actual orchards and perhaps pick some apples.
Maryland Apple Varieties
Empire – McIntosh apple crossed with Red Delicious for unique taste. Crisp and excellent for snacks, desserts or salads.
Fuji – Very firm and unusually sweet. Red and green stripes. First discovered in Japan; a new favorite here.
Gala – Sweet and very flavorful with orange-striped skin and yellow flesh. A favorite for snacks and salads.
Ginger Gold – Outstanding early season, fresh from the orchard. Sweet, juicy and firm.
Golden Delicious – Sweet and mellow. Excellent for snacking, salads and all cooking purposes.
Jonagold – Blend of tart Jonathon and sweet Golden Delicious. One of the world’s most preferred varieties for flavor.
Jonathon – Moderately tart. Delicious for snacking, salads, and cooking.
McIntosh – Juicy and slightly tart. Great for eating fresh and baking.
Mutsu (Crispin) – Sweet and juicy, very firm in texture and crisp white flesh. Excellent for snacking and cooking.
Red Delicious – Sweet and juicy. A favorite for snacks and salads. Best for eating fresh out of hand.
Rome – Firm and slightly tart. Excellent for baking and all cooking purposes. A great keeping apple.
Stayman – Firm, rich flavor and mildly tart. Great all-purpose apple.
York – Crisp, firm and tart. Excellent for eating fresh and all cooking purposes.
September 13, 2009
Crabs
I went to a picnic hosted by the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at Druid Park. It is a beautiful park and the weather was great. I can’t believe it is so close to Johns Hopkins and I didn’t even know it existed. The crabs we ate were from Conrads Crabs. I was told that the crabs probably aren’t from Maryland. I was a little disappointed. But they still look cool.
September 12, 2009
After the rain
An abundant harvest.
I went to the Waverly Farmer’s Market today. It feels like the beginning of winter, but actually the harvest has just begun. It’s still early in the apple season. I got a nice spread of fresh produce for $11 (including a little breakfast treat). I will use the potatoes and ginger to make another round of curry. I just need to find some place that sells fresh meat. The FM had one stand that sold meat but I was intimidated by the lack of signage and I wish I could read instructions online about how to order the meat ahead of time. As for the apples, I chose gala apples this week even though they had 10 other varieties. I was worried they would be soft/spongy and I don’t like to eat those types of apples. They had honeycrisp, which are my favorite, and a variety that they called “early season fuji” but I stuck with gala for today because they looked fresh and I know what to expect regarding flavor. If these are good, I will try something different next week. I was worried that the FM in Baltimore is suffering due to the bad economy and the cold, rainy weather, but I needn’t worry. It was bustling and busy at 8 am on a Saturday morning. Lots of young people in their 20s-30s. I was pleased. Also, I finally ate breakfast on the porch this morning (haven’t done that since early August). A chocolate chip scone, 2 fried eggs, and a mug of coffee. It was cold and dreary still but fabulous. Now I’m off to school to do some stop flow experiments! And lots of data analysis. (Update at 7 pm EST: Gala apples are wonderful. Just ate one after a long Saturday at work).
September 11, 2009
Friday night thoughts
1) I don’t like it when the stitching on my umbrella rips. It makes me sad to buy a $15 umbrella at the Rite Aid and have it start falling apart within 3 months. Wish someone made sturdier umbrellas. I bought a $20 Totes umbrella from Macy’s in Chicago and that one also broke after just a few months of use.
2) I had a lovely dinner. Cooked kale (prewashed, came in a bag) with some sauteed onions and garlic. Added some balsamic vinegar at the end. Also ate 1 raw green pepper and 1 raw tomato (free from DoGEE). My dessert was a peach and some french vanilla flavored Stonyfield Farm yogurt.
3) I’m seriously considering getting up at 7 am tomorrow morning to go to the Waverly Farmer’s market. I don’t really have any produce that I need but I love fall fruit and would like to get some potatoes to make more curry. I also have to go to work tomorrow (and the selection isn’t so good after 9am) so I want to get to the market early.
September 10, 2009
did you know?
I read this in the UIUC safety manual:
Perchloric acid: If perchloric acid is heated above ambient temperature it may
evaporate and condense on ductwork in the form of explosive perchlorates. Hence,
when heating perchloric acid above ambient temperature, a perchloric acid fume
hood with a water wash down system or a local scrubbing or trapping system must
be used.
Another useful chart of how resistant various types of gloves are towards different chemicals is listed here (glove_info). Not comprehensive, but interesting.
September 7, 2009
Wine of the week
One person drinking a bottle of wine is difficult for me. It takes me about a week. Good thing I have a nice vacuum pump.
This week’s wine was chosen because of its screw top (I didn’t feel like uncorking the other bottle of Merlot that Ben bought me).
2008 Gotham Cabernet Sauvignon
The color is very dark. Fruit flavor. I like it! No bitter aftertaste or weird woody/plastic-y complexity. I would buy this Australian wine again.
Labor Day Blues
It’s 6:20 pm and it just started pouring rain outside my apartment. This is a good thing because my car (92 blue volvo) has bird poop on the windshield and needs a good soaking.
I have learned that taking the light rail both to and from BWI airport from my apartment is very painful. I don’t think I will do it again. It’s a 30 minute walk from my office at Johns Hopkins and a similar distance to get home from the Woodberry stop. Cost is only $3.20 while driving to/from the airport costs $7/day for parking plus a $1 to $2 tip for the driver of the shuttle each way not to mention the cost of gas and wear and tear on the car. However, despite the cost, I don’t think I will take the light rail to the airport anymore.
I’m in a blue mood tonight. My hope is that cooking a big pot of curry chicken will make me feel better. The act of cooking is cathartic for me. The end result is often not that important. I can get lost in the act of chopping vegetables and throwing them together in a pot and watching the chicken brown in a hot pan. Helps distract me from my sad thoughts. Another source of catharsis for me is writing letters. Not emails or text messages, but hand-written letters. The act of writing (not typing) is helpful for me. I like focusing on making each letter look legible and organizing my thoughts into a longer piece of prose, using proper capitalization and subject/verb agreement. Lastly, knitting often makes me feel better when I’m down. It’s still too warm to knit, but when winter hits, I like to make scarves (the only thing I know how to knit) in preparation for the holidays.
I don’t have a TV in Baltimore and I try not to watch too much junk on the internet. I feel that TV shows and short articles in the NY Times trains me to have a very short attention span.
Grace’s Curry Chicken Recipe (adapted from my mom’s)
5 chicken legs
1 small piece of ginger (peeled and cut into slices)
1/4 cup of sherry wine and 1/4 cup of soy sauce (for marinating the chicken) along with ginger slices
First, marinate the chicken pieces for 30 minutes or more.
Cut up 1/2 onion (I’m saving the other half for black beans I want to make tomorrow), otherwise, I would use the whole onion.
Chop 4 carrots, 3 red potatoes into 1″ pieces.
After browning the chicken in some canola oil (you can also throw in the onions before adding the chicken), put them into a pot along with the marinade sauce left over and 2 tbsp of curry powder (my mom brought me a bag of powder from China or Taiwan).
Then add the carrots and red potatoes. Add 2 cups of water and cook for about 30-40 minutes until the potatoes and carrots are tender.
