Misoliscious

So, I made miso soup for breakfast/lunch (no work = sleeping in). I didn't actually use an instant mix, though I've had that particular kind before. The instant kind is okay, but I can't imagine it's terribly healthy for you. I read the other day that eating three bowls of miso soup a day "significantly reduces" the risk of breast cancer. Here's the thing though, that's a lot of miso soup. I don't ingest anything three times a day. Like, not even the same liquids.

Also, my goal in cooking is flavor, and then health. The idea is that if I can train myself to crave only healthy things I will ruin my mouth for industrial foods (Micky D's and so on).

Anyway, my soup's broth was made out of konbu, a "sea vegetable" that you find dried into strips. I think the strips are supposed to be universally the same dimensions, like butter sticks. I used four cups of water with the strip of konbu, and added two tsps of wakame which is another "sea vegetable" but this comes in little shreds that really expand when cooked. I added some of those dried fish flakes (bonito) again on the other side of a mesh strainer. After about five minutes of boiling these things, I removed the bonito flakes. Then I dissolved about two tsp of red miso in the soup. I like my miso salty, so you might use less and taste.

At the last second I added silken tofu chunks (which jiggles in an initially discomforting way. The jiggling grew on me.), and chopped green onions were the garnish. I had already cooked some salmon the night before, so I heated that up while cooking some rice.

Really, there should have been more veggies in the meal, but there were five natural colors (white rice, brown broth, red fish, dark green wakame, bright green onions). So, it should've been pretty healthy, right?

If you've tried making miso before, let me know!

The Almost Daily Sarah

So easy, even a Sarah can do it!

So, I went on a "let go out of town for a couple hours!" kind of date to Yakima. The main reason was to go in search of kitchen shears that separate (as I have raved about in the last update). I'll be upset if I have to go to Seattle just to find them. Very upset :(

Anyway, while we were there, we went to a restaurant called "Super Mongolian Grill". The food wasn't great. The soup was pretty bland, the desert item (aside from cut fruit) was bananas in strawberry syrup, and the build your own BBQ itself was less than tasty. Yes, it was my bad decision to put Polish sausage in a stir fry, but they were the ones who made it an option. The Boyfriend and I were both disappointed. Also, a man in a backwards Pac Man hat (which was pretty rad) and a "God'z Gang" jacket (I disapprove of intentional mispellings) came over and tried to sell us a Christian rap disc and was pretty hard to shake. He kept going on about how if you give them God will make you "win the lottery tomorrow" and citing how when he gave a homeless person $20 his aunt who never gives him money gave him $300. The owner was standing within ear shot of all of this and should have told him to stop soliciting her customers, but I'm not sure if her English was good enough.

So, after a disappointing shopping/eating trip (though we did get some fun things like socks and stuff) it was nice to be home. I made some dinner by making rice, boiling sausage and making a vegetable gratin (sort of).

It was kind of a half gratin, because after prepping some vegetables (cutting Brussel sprouts in half, trimming asparagus, quartering carrots, and wedging a tomato) I tossed it all in salt and oil, then broiled it with a little Jarlesburg cheese grated on top. According to the interweb, a gratin must also have bread crumbs. I suppose it was really Légumes Gratinee (vegetables with cheese). When the veggies were fork tender, I grated a little more cheese on top, then scooped it all into a white bowl for serving. Like the title suggests, it was super easy.

The Boyfriend doesn't really like tomato, so I should have cut the pieces smaller, but it's okay that we have left over veggies. I'll just cut them into smaller chunks and make omelettes with the left overs. Maybe I'll toss them with garlic and pepper first. That sounds tasty.

oh yeah... updating!

So, I have been drawing comics, I just haven't been cleaning up/scanning them, so that explains their absence.

I have, however, become the proud owner of a brand new, pitch black, multi speed immersion blender. It's just been soup city baby!

See, the beauty of the immersion blender is that you can get thick creamy soups without adding actual cream. I've made a batch of butternut squash soup that I wouldn't have made otherwise (adding boiling soup ladle by ladle into the standing blender? That's way too time consuming and messy). I will say however, that I need to become the owner of a splatter guard. I saw Alton Brown (Aruten samaaaaaaaa!) make one out of a frisbee into which he had drilled a hole with a slit to allow the blender inside.

Here's a recipe without a comic (yet?)

Butternut Squash soup

tools:

baking sheet
soup pot
blender (I like immersion, but you can make do with a standing blender)
spoon
basting brush (they make them out of silicone now, so they're easy to wash)

ingredients:

1 butternut squash
3 to 4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp nutmeg (fresh ground if you've got it)
salt (if your broth isn't salty enough)
melted butter/oil for baking

Preheat the oven to 350 F
Cut the squash in half. Be careful because it will fight you, and it's a knife fight.
Scrape out seeds (if you're adventurous you can clean and bake them for an edible garnish)
Put the squash onto the baking sheet.
Brush the squash with the melted butter.
Bake for approximately one hour or until tender

When the squash is tender, scoop out the meat and place into the pot. (If you wait a few minutes for the squash to cool, this step is much easier).
Add the chicken broth to the squash. Reserve about a cup.
Turn your burner to medium high heat.
Add tsp of nutmeg.
Cook squash until mushy.
Take the blender to it.
If the consistency is too thick, add more broth and stir.
If the consistency is just right, congratulations, you have butternut squash soup.


I like it with chicken and steamed brussel sprouts.