Travel Cooking

My family likes to stay in places where there are kitchens when we travel, both to reduce the cost of food and to be able to make healthy meals. Right now we are staying in a condo in Hawaii with a full kitchen. Last night my sister and I cooked Marlin for the family to enjoy.
The problem with marlin is that it is extremely tough - a "game fish" and the chunks we got of it were very thick - which we did not cut down.
Marlin is not a common fish on the east coast, leaving me blank on how to prepare it - and even my father said he had never had it before - it wasn't terrible, but I won't cook it that way (see the recipe for Salmon) again. Instead, if you are going to cook marlin, I recommend:
1.) Not cooking marlin
2.) Pan frying small chunks of marlin and mixing them with some kind of tropical fruit salsa
as a topping

Waffles!

I've talked before about how everyone should own the Joy of Cooking, and one of the many reasons is because when you wake up in the morning and realize that you're out of pancake mix and you have no internet, you can turn to the pancakes and waffles section and find many many great recipes for waffles, from scratch. This is their classic one, and I've halved it to make the perfect amount of waffles for two people - one and a half each.

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2. 1/4 plus 1/8 cups white flour
   
3. 1/2 tbsp baking powder
   
4. 1/2 tbsp sugar
5. 1/2 tsp salt
6. 1 egg
7. 1 egg white
8. 1/4 cup oil
9. 3/4 cups milk

Equipment:

1. 2 mixing bowls - one small, one large
2. 1 waffle iron
3. 1 spatula

Procedure:

1. Plug in waffle iron to heat it up.
   
2. Mix all dry ingredients in the large bowl.
3. Mix wet ingredients together in the small bowl and pour into the large bowl.
   
4. Mix all ingredients until combined.
   
5. Pour 1/3 of batter into waffle iron. Allow to cook for ~5 minutes.
   
6. Eat. Enjoy.
   

Equipping the Kitchen

So - lets talk measures. Measuring is important when it comes to cooking, although I've been cooking long enough that I'm able to Rachel-Ray a lot of things and approximate. But for baking in particular, I do like to measure.
My boyfriend and I just moved in together and decided to buy good measuring cups, cutting boards, and a few other good items.
We went with these measuring cups and these spoons, both by OXO. The measuring cups are great because not only do they come with a 3/4 cup and 2/3 cup measures, they have half-measures marked on them, making it particularly easy to halve a recipe, particularly one that calls for 3/4 of a cup of something. They are really good - I highly recommend them to anyone who is looking to upgrade their measuring cups.
We also picked up some bamboo cutting boards - one large, one small. I love a good wood cutting board - because they take the chopping action much better then a plastic one and feel better.
We also picked up a slow cooker at Value Village for $4 - brand new, still with instructions - don't ever forget to look in strange places for lucky finds like that :-).

Calzones

Sometimes I can't make stuff well. One of those things is Calzones. I've tried once or twice to make them, and what happens is well, they don't come out right. Mostly because I like to make them healthier with whole wheat flour. This works really well in pancakes and chocolate chip cookies, recipes I'll post later.
But don't do it with calzones. Otherwise, this recipe will be pretty good - try substituting any of your favorite pizza toppings for the stuff.

CALZONE

PIZZA DOUGH: 1 env. active dry yeast 1 1/2 c. warm water (105-115 degrees) 4 c. all-purpose flour 1/4 c. olive oil FILLING: 2 c. pizza sauce 1 lb. Mozzarella cheese, diced 1 c. mushrooms, sliced 1 green pepper, chopped 1 sm. can olives, chopped 12 sq. slices boiled ham Salt and freshly ground pepper Olive oil Oregano For pizza dough, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup water and let stand 10 minutes. Combine flour and salt in large bowl. Make well in center and pour in yeast mixture, remaining water and oil. Mix with fingers or fork until dough can be gathered into ball. Transfer to floured board and knead until smooth, shiny and elastic, about 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and damp cloth and let rise in warm draft-free area until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Punch dough down and divide into 6 equal parts. Roll out 1 part at a time (keep remaining dough covered with damp cloth) into 10-inch round. Spread 1 tablespoon pizza sauce over half circle and sprinkle with 1/6 of the cheese and mushrooms. Lay a small amount of peppers, onions and olives on. Cover with 2 squares ham and season with salt and pepper. Fold turnover fashion and pinch edges together to close. Repeat for each calzone. Bake directly on oven racks until nicely browned, about 8-10 minutes. Brush each hot calzone with remaining pizza sauce and a few drops of olive oil. Sprinkle with oregano and serve immediately.

Alas, it has been awhile.

It has been awhile since my last post, but in the meantime I have graduated from College and moved. So, it is justified that it took me so long.
This is an easy, quick and dirty, soup-from-a-can recipe. I recommend using Trader Joe's Roasted Red Pepper soup that comes in a 32-oz box.
Ingredients:
1 box roasted red pepper soup
1 1/2 cups rice
1/2 block tofu
1 cup frozen peas or other vegetables
salt
pepper

Equipment
Cutting board and knife
Large pot

Procedure

1. Pour box of soup into pot - if you like less sodium, use less soup and add water.
   
2. Bring soup to a boil. Add rice. Cover and allow to simmer.
   
3. Cut tofu into thin strips, add to soup.
   
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
   
5. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Add frozen peas.
   
6. Allow to simmer an additional 10 minutes, or until soup is ready.
   

Vegetables

I have a new thing - mushrooms. I've been starting to eat them slowly, usually preferably marinated in some balsamic vinegar or something. They're still slimy and the same Kingdom as the stuff that grows between your toes, but every once in awhile I do like to try something new.
But here is a good roasted veggie recipe for the mushroom, pepper, and onion person in your life.
Ingredients:

1. 1/2 lb mushrooms
2. 2 red peppers
3. 1 sweet onion
4. 2-8 cloves garlic (depending on taste)
5. Garlic powder
   
6. Balsamic vinegar
7. Olive oil

Equipment:

1. Oven at 350
2. Jelly roll pan
3. Cutting board/knife
4. Bowls for marinating
5. Saute pan

Procedure:

1. Wash all vegetables.
2. Chop mushrooms and put them in the bowl.
3. Combine 1/6 (eyeball it) cup olive oil and 1/6 cup balsamic vinegar and pour over the mushrooms. Turn mushrooms to coat and allow to marinate.
4. Chop red peppers. Put in a bowl and coat with a little olive oil. Set aside.
5. Chop onions and garlic.
   
6. Prepare a saute pan and pour in some olive oil.
   
7. Saute onions until fairly tender, but not brown. (Transparent is good.)
   
8. Combine marinated mushrooms (with the marinade), red peppers, and onions in jelly roll pan.
   
9. Spread vegetables to be about one to two vegetables thick.
   
10. Bake in the oven at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until tender, delicious and the red peppers have become yellow-orange in color.
    

Salmon

So every once in awhile, I do make myself a piece or two of fish, because it is good for you and it is easier to be a vegetarian who eats fish - I still haven't managed to reconcile the two behaviors, and after four years of being a vegetarian, letting fish back into my life does not feel like too terrible a thing to do, because I do not eat it daily or even weekly. But either way, this delicious recipe from the Food Network's episode of the Paula Dean show - Dean Family Cookoff - comes out perfect every time and is so easy to make.
Ingredients

1. 1 lb piece of salmon (this is not important - if you use more fish, use more seasoning and butter, if you use less fish, use less)
2. lemon or lime juice
3. 6-8 thinly sliced pats of butter
   
4. salt
5. pepper
6. garlic powder
7. 2 tbs Olive oil

Equipment

1. Glass baking dish
2. Oven @350
3. Knife & cutting board

Procedure

1. Slice salmon into approximately 4oz pieces (it is most important that they be equal)
2. Pour olive oil into the bottom of the pan.
   
3. Place salmon skin side down on the pan.
   
4. Drizzle lemon juice over tops of salmon
5. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic powder on salmon to taste.
6. Top off with pats of butter, 2-3 per piece of fish
7. Bake in oven at 350 for 25 minutes.

Enjoy!
Really delicious served over rice or cous-cous.