manzana chile verde!

oh man, i have been a bad blogger lately - no posts that involve actual cooking on my part in the last few weeks. i deserve to be shamed in front of the whole blogging community: bad blogger, bad.

ok, that's over. i actually have four posts saved up, which i will thoughtfully and cleverly dispense, now.

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today's entry is manzana chile verde, which is from the ever-popular (in my kitchen) veganomicon. i wanted to try a chili that was a total departure from anything i'd ever done before, and this one fit the bill in every way: 1) its green 2) it contains apples and 3) my first time cooking with tomatillos.

this recipe falls under the ever-present category of "i followed this exactly from a popular, copywrited cookbook, and so i don't feel totally comfortable re-posting it," but someone else didn't have the same quandries, and posted either the recipe, or something very close to it.

instead, i offer you pictures:

chili verde is a mixture of mostly green with bits of white. one must begin by parboiling little bits of potato and setting them aside.

then, there is prepping of many green things: poblano peppers...

a few jalapenos...

and, my first introduction to tomatillos. hello, tomatillo.

let's see what you look like on the inside: little. green. different.

and here we have some saute action of various green and white items. first comes onions and peppers:

and then comes the spices, white wine, and tomatillos.

next up we have the secret ingredient, which, as veganomicon points out, is not a secret if you can read spanish:

who knew? you add the apples to the mix, along with crazy things like veggie broth, scallions and cilantro and simmer.

next up was a tricky step - pureeing this stuff in the blender. i keep telling myself that i need an immersion blender and...i think i am right.

afterwards, add the potatoes, some white beans and lime juice.

and put it in a shallow bowl and add fun garnishes: cilantro, scallions, and most importantly, avocado. i am not ashamed to admit that i was quite proud of my presentation. this dish is totally worthy of TOP CHEF'S color challenge from top chef masters. and, as a side note, i am sad that philly jen is gone from last week, but i am pleased that i like all three of the finalists. i think i am voting for either nice brother voltaggio or gimli kevin, simply because other brother is sometimes mean, and he clearly has a good career already going.

but i digress. this was a really interesting chili. i'll have to make it again to get used to the flavors and texture; it was definitely good, but i'm used to something so different that i shocked my system. i have a feeling that the second time i make it i'll think its the best thing ever.

and this is where the post should end, but instead, children, we are going to have a little talk about how one shouldn't cook with hot peppers. one shouldn't, for example, brush one's hands up against the jalapenos in a constant manner when chopping. this is because the oils and seeds from the HOT peppers get into one's hands, and that means bad news bears for you later on.

how bad, you ask?

let's just say that i rejoiced that i had dairy milk in the fridge. because i poured a cup, and stuck my right hand in it for half an hour. my hand. in a cup of milk. i learned all about the neutralizing effects of milk from watching an episode of alton brown, and, while i'd never actually used it on anything but my throat, i can verify it does work on hands as well. i thought about taking a picture, but then i didn't, because that would have been humiliating. the end.

st. louis food: part 3!

if i were to subtitle this post, it would be this: dessert and animals!

the dessert part is for this place...

at a gelateria there is really only one thing to order...gelato. mine was a mix of fancy vanilla and caramel. it wasn't the same as my beloved hometown capogiro, but it was quite nice. i'd eat it again. and again.

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now, for the animals portion of this post...basically, i went to the st. louis zoo, which is awesome and FREE, and i wanted to share a couple of pics of cute animals. yes, i know this is a food blog, and so i am hereby stating that these are animals that i have never eaten, do not currently eat, and do not plan on eating, unless i am in a very strange, unforseeable circumstance in a different country where not to do so would mean horrific disrespect or an apocalypse.

so. in no particular order, i give you...

a hippo! this pic isn't even cropped. the hippo swam next to the glass where i was and waited for me to take a picture, and swam away. we are now BFF, like me and neko case.

asian elephant! who doesn't like elephants?

giant tortoise! i have always loved turtles and tortoises. when i was younger i wanted a turtle, but they were illegal, and i got a turtle keychain instead. the end.

this is a monkey. monkeys are the best.

this gorilla's name is joe. he was lounging.

and this is a baby orangutan named ruby. she was playing hide and seek right before her nap. this is her behind. you can tell i like the primates.

some fun bird that stared at me...

a penguin from the new penguin exhibit. i think he's posing...

and then there's the peacock. when i was 2 or 3, my mom took me to the zoo. i looked pretty much the same -- big blue eyes and short -- except i was technically littler. i was shy and quiet and didn't speak out of turn. story goes it was a busy day at the philly zoo, and when we walked in, the first thing we saw, amidst the throngs of people, were some peacocks walking about. i got very excited, pointed to a peacock, and shouted for all to hear, "look, mommy, a buffalo!" people stopped. laughed. stared. my mom looked kindly at me and at the people. she said, nodding towards me, "she doesn't get out much." aww.

28 years later, i still enjoy glimpsing the mighty buffalo.

st. louis food: part 2!

while in st. louis, i had pizza from two different establishments. and when i say two different establishments, i mean it in every sense of the word.

first up was late night take-out from imo's (note the arch on the box):

for those of you who haven't had imo's (which, i'm guessing, is a lot) - its more than a chain: its an enigma. this is because they use a little something called provel. I would have written provel cheese, except its not technically cheese; its a pasteurized "cheese product."

yup.

go back to the highlighted link, click on it, and read all about provel. its definitely an acquired taste. but, if you're from st. louis, you love this stuff. even vegetarians who eat lots of vegan meals and don't eat processed foods, try to buy organic, etc., become happy in the presence of provel, just because they grew up with it. i have seen it happen.

and, apparently, imo's is the way to go...

note the very thin crust and the numerous square cuts. lets go in for a closer look, shall we?

now, for me, this is just fine...if i don't think of it as pizza. because i'm from philadelphia, and i know better. instead, its a fun type of flatbread melt. and, in that mindframe, its really not so bad. these are tiny, and light, and given the chance, one could eat the better part of one pizza. so, in the words of en vogue, free your mind, and rest will follow..

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and now, in the other corner, we have pi.

at pi, they have have t-shirts that say "no provel" on them. that should just about say it all. instead, they are a self-profressed green restaurant. they are organic and local. they have cloth napkins!

and they have fancy schmancy menu options. they have to, in order to impress the president enough to snub his native chicago and order a deep dish style pie from this place (and by the way, i plugged "obama, pi, pizza, and st. louis" into google, and over 100,000 hits came up. its kind of insane how controversial a couple pizzas can be, isn't it?). the pie we chose consisted of fresh tomato sauce, olives, non-provel cheese and zucchini. and we ordered the famous cornmeal deep dish crust - which is really not a crust in the traditional sense but actually a flaky pastry. here she is:

the thing about deep dish is that they are incredibly sneaky; they don't look like much, but this fed four adults.

yup - two of these slices was all i could handle. and... i'd go back again. actually, to both, just to say i did.

thank you very much, st. louis.

st. louis food: part 1!

i was in st. louis over thanksgiving break, and i can testify that it is a wondrous place. this, like any city, is in part because i had really good tour guides, who knew where to take me. and, who knew where to eat.

not including traveling, i spent three full days there. the following include some of the places i ate, and where i would be happy to eat again. first up is...

in addition to pancakes, uncle bill also likes tudor-style buildings...

of course, i had pancakes, because otherwise everything would feel wrong. i chose german-style potato pancakes with applesauce on the side, because st. louis has a big german population. i discovered they are like very thin latkes, mixed with flour. yes, please.

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next up we have....

pho grand is authentic vietnamese cuisine. if you don't believe me, you can visit their website, which is so cool it has an intro complete with authentic vietnamese music. i must admit, this restaurant made me sad to reside in BG. in BG, we cannot get veggie spring rolls with sweet chili dipping sauce..

and we cannot get pho xao chay AKA rice noodles with tofu and veggies.

and we certainly don't have fancy coffee with condensed milk out of a rube goldberg machine that starts out looking like this...

and ends up like this.

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and, finally, i give you this restaurant...

here at mokabes, i had what was probably my favorite meal (vegetarian / vegan brunch) and took my worst two pictures. don't believe me? take a looksee...

ok, first of all, it was a buffet, and second, it was dark, and its embarrassing to take a flashy pic of one's food in a hipster restaurant. but let me say that this was absolutely amazing.

some of the things on my plate include vegetarian biscuits and gravy, quiche, stuffed french toast, veggie sausage, eggs, and cranberry chutney, and the first little seiten cutlet i've ever enjoyed. there was also lots of fruit, tofu scramble, banana bread, blondie brownies, and, to drink, orange/strawberry juice...

here is the link to their website. their slogan is, 'you should be at mokabe's,' and they are right.

tomorrow, pizza review of st. louis. one word: provel

leftovers and tetris!

here is the bottom of the fridge. it contains tupperware and pyrex-filled leftovers.

i can't decide whether to eat them or to play tetris with them. they both hold equal appeal.

tricky.

tricky.

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in other news, 'nosh' is going on its first roadtrip! that's right - tomorrow, i'll be heading to st. louis, and will be there through sunday. i have big plans to take pics of lots of all things culinary with my crappy camera and crappy phone camera - and share them with everyone here. although, i feel i must point that, oddly, thanksgiving dinner may not be a part of this, since i'll be spending it at the house of people who have never met me, and i think the first impression of a girl who cares more about taking pictures of her food than anything else might be too much.

but then again, maybe not! life is an adventure. i've only been to st. louis once and, while really fun, was only for 24 hours. so, i'm looking to up the experience. on the food agenda this time is the pizza place the obama's shipped out from....i'm excited already.

happy thanksgiving y'all :)

three sisters stew / bountiful vegan thanksgiving!

a few weeks ago i was surfing one of my many beloved food blogs, and i came across the small e-cookbook 'a bountiful vegan thanksgiving.' its technically a compilation of 65 recipes, although over the half the recipes are by nava atlas. it was only $9, and all the profits go to charity. i like cookbooks and i like charities, so it seemed like a win-win situation.

if you're still looking for recipes for this week - or just want some fun fall recipes - you should (click here) and check it out yourself.

last night, i finally got around to trying the 'three sister's stew (three sisters being the native american trio of corn, squash, and beans), and it was pretty good. nava has posted the recipe on her website, which you can check out (here)...

to begin with, you have to roast butternut squash. this, of course, means cutting the thing in half and dumping it in the oven. i was impressed that i was able to do this myself and not hurt myself.

the trick is roast until soft but still firm, so that you can then cut up the squash into little cubes when it is cool, like so...

then they sit aside for a second while you cook (wait for it).... onions and garlic.

now the squash can go back in...

plus tomatoes...

plus corn, chiles, peppers, beans, veggie stock, and spices.

here is what it all looked like before half an hour of covered simmering...

and after, which is kind of the same. some of you may be wondering what i do during such simmering periods that don't really require much except occasional stirring. this time, it was dishes. that, and an exciting random playlist. i had just finished transferring some random songs from old computer to new computer to ipod, and so i was treated to such delightful random old-yet-new songs as digital underground's 'humpty dance,' joni mitchell's 'help me,' and joseph arthur's 'honey and the moon.' all three are pretty good songs, if i do say so myself. anyway.

here is how i served the stew, which was pretty good, although i must remember to add red pepper flakes next time.

and, as proof that i do actually buy them, here is a baguette, which was eaten on the side. that is all.