A Hungry Bear

the bread bible’s pizza

13. March 2009

You know how you start noticing something all the time only when it becomes important to you? Like you never notice different styles of roof shingles until you need to roof your house, or you really start noticing people’s glasses when you find out you need them yourself? (Maybe it’s just me.) The same thing happens with food. I’ve been spending my Sunday afternoons trying out new recipes from Rose Levy Berenbaum’s “The Bread Bible”, and have made her pizza dough several times. It seems like now I’m noticing everyone has their own favorite pizza dough, or that a lot of people are experimenting with it at least. I’d like to start a little experiment, trying other people’s favorites and see how they compare and what I can learn in terms of pizza dough techniques. To start with, let’s look at Beranbaum’s recipe, that will be our control.

And by the way, it’s very hands off, and only takes a few minutes to put together. It tastes best if you let it slow-rise in the fridge for anywhere between 4-24 hours. Just stir the ingredients together and pull it out of the fridge an hour before you want to eat it.
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cream of wild mushroom soup

11. March 2009

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This recipe has been in my bookcase since… college maybe? I remember the first time I made it, transferring batches of the soup into my blender, thinking I was being so efficient by filling the blender to the brim, only to have cream of mushroom soup explode all over my little rental apartment. No wonder it’s been in the bookcase and not out on the counter for me to cook for so many years. Now that I have a little more cooking common sense (okay, at least I have a stick blender now), I’ve finally gotten over my fears. I bet no one cares about this mushroom soup today, as we’ve had a few days of warm weather and a preview of spring… but just remember this soup recipe when it’s cold and rainy next week. It will carry you through the cold parts of March, I promise.
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red velvet cupcakes

10. March 2009

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I would have made a great 1950’s housewife. It makes me obscenely happy to bake desserts for A - so much so that I can get in trouble for it. At first he loved it, coming home to have a chocolate kahlua cheesecake baked for him for no apparent reason. Then, maybe 10 pounds later, I could tell he was feigning excitement just a little when I presented him with the second pie of the week. So what do I do? Stop baking “just because” cakes and “Tuesdays are special too” pies? Of course not. It’s all about portion control. I’ll only bake *cupcakes* because I can make just 12 of them, and A isn’t staring down a 3 tier cake. I’m considerate like that. This recipe was adapted (halved, actually) from one of my favorite food blogs, Pinch My Salt. The original is here; I’ve included the half-batch amounts in this post.
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steak with olives and parsley

9. March 2009

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I clipped this recipe out of Gourmet a year ago, and stuck it in my “food ideas” binder with all the other recipes I intend to try at some point. I honestly can’t believe it has taken me a year to get to this - it’s steak, it’s fast, and the few ingredients are pantry/fridge staples. A nicer cut of meat wouldn’t need the adornment, but it’s just enough salt and kick to dress up a sirloin or even a flank steak. (more…)

caprese couscous salad

8. March 2009

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I had planned on making a pizza last week, but things fell apart (meaning: jobs/school got stressful and we ordered a papa john’s pizza to cope - yes, really). That left me with some fresh basil and tomatoes to use up - why not throw them in couscous for a light side to roast chicken? (more…)

roast chicken with pancetta and olives

7. March 2009

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Whole chicken legs (drumsticks + thighs) are so inexpensive, but I don’t know too many ways to prepare them that don’t involve breading and frying. There’s always braising, which is more time consuming, and is so rich that it reminds me too much that I’m not eating a healthier all-white-meat chicken breast. This recipe, adapted from January 2009 Gourmet magazine, is the best of both worlds: crispy skin with juicy meat (but from roasting instead of frying), and the rich, complex, salty flavor typical of braising, from the pancetta, olives and roasted garlic. I should also mention - it took less than an hour to make, start to finish. (more…)

spinach simmered in yogurt

5. March 2009

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I made this spinach alongside my Indian-inspired yogurt marinated steak kebabs. It reminded me of one of my favorite dishes that I ate several times when I was actually visiting Mumbai, possibly called saag paneer (but I could be completely wrong about the name). It’s also a creamy yellow spinach dish, but with cubes of cheese simmering in the mix. We were already out a limb with using a new spice - which, by the way, will leave behind a yellow turmeric film on your pan requiring you to wash it at least 5 times - so I skipped cheese cubes. The slight spiciness from the red pepper flakes was offset by the creaminess of the yogurt; with the steak and rice it was a great first-time foray into “Indian” cooking.

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yogurt-marinated steak kebabs with lemon butter

5. March 2009

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Wouldn’t it have been so catchy if I had posted this the day after the Oscars, and made it some sort of tribute to Slumdog Millionaire? Well, I’ve been busy. So this will just have to be a generic post about how I tried to make Indian-inspired food for the first time. Fortunately it was delicious, if not particularly witty. I found a collection of recipes in February 2009 Food & Wine, and picked the 2 that appeared most tame. I still adapted them somewhat to make them more bear-friendly (steak instead of lamb, skipped the grilled lemon peels), but I was proud of us for trying something new. (more…)

bison burgers with cabernet caramelized onions

3. March 2009

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New blog design, new burger recipe. This one was adapted from an article in February 2009 Gourmet, featuring 100+ ways to eat green. I’ve always liked bison, not because I knew it was environmentally friendly, but because I’ve heard it has the same high-protein and low-fat nutrition stats as a boneless skinless chicken breast. I can’t validate either argument, but I do know this burger was almost as good as the famous Libba Burger. (more…)

pigs in blankets

2. March 2009

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Working on the blog update has kept me so busy I’ve had to resort to some faster recipes. Pigs-in-blankets are a childhood favorite, although my mom always made them with Bisquick mix. I could have used a standard biscuit recipe, but I found this recipe on Epicurious instead - kind of a like a biscuit, but faster. I have to admit, the dough wasn’t quite as fluffy as I remember mom’s being, but it was surprisingly fast. (more…)