Swiss Chard Pancakes

After my earlier disaster (which actually turned out ok), I needed some cheering up. I had been eyeing some Swiss Chard pancakes from the new Dorie Greenspan book. Savory, warm pancakes. I knew those would cheer me up. They would turn my sad onion-y frown upside down.

I love chickpea flour pancakes. I love buckwheat pancakes. I love potato pancakes. And I love them crepe-y with sugar and lemon, too. I love pancakes. For dinner.

These pancakes were really delicious and different. Onion-y and hearty. Perfect with a salad. JA said she wanted to live inside her pancakes. I think she liked them.

Recipe here. I’d use less oil next time.

Shrimp Salsa. Or, Feral Uses the Food Processor

I think I’m crying from the onions. It might be that I’m mad at myself.

The plan was to make this simple Shrimp Salsa from Pioneer Woman. Easy, chop, chop, done. Right? But before JustAwesome left for work she said, “Be careful with the food processor.” WHAT? I wasn’t planning on trying that crazy contraption on my own, not without a grownup present. Clearly it was a challenge.

Pioneer Woman’s Shrimpo de Gallo

Fast forward. Tears are pouring out of my eyes and instead of “Red Onion, Diced Finely,” I have onion soup mush and shrimp that I’m not even sure about*. What to do? Do I start over? I’d have to separate and re-rinse the shrimp, and use a yellow onion because I’m out of red. Or do I toss this crap out and move on?

I’ve decided to keep going. (And toss it out later if it is gross. When it is gross.) With my luck, I’ll touch my eyes with my jalapeño hands (I didn’t) and really have a good cry. How do I chop these things at around the same size when my onions are mush? Oy.

My Shrimpo de Gallo and

apologies to the Pioneer Woman.

The verdict? Not gross. Nothing I’d serve to company, but ok for alone snack. But now I have to clean the freakin’ food processor. (I know, it can go in the dishwasher). The results are no reflection on the recipe. Next time I’ll make by hand.

*I bought the shrimp already cooked from WFs. They taste salty. I rinsed them in cold water, hoping they’re ok. Never again. Lesson learned.

Mini Pizzas with Mini Me(s)

I don’t see what the big deal is about kids. They’re so easy! Honestly, I've never watched my niece and nephew (age 5) before, not even for a half hour, so I was a little nervous. And they were so excited—asking my sister about when they were coming—everyday. For weeks. My feeling? They were going to disappointed. Very disappointed. Too much build up. It was their first sleepover, would there be tears in the night?

Plans:

Ride subway to Jacque Torres for hot chocolates (we spoke to a police officer on the platform)

Play with Scout the dog

Play wii

Make pizza*

Do arts/crafts

Read Beezus and Ramona

Go to sleep

Make Batter Blasters pancakes (letters and shapes are hard!)

Walk dog

Play in Playground (awesome one on Hester St)

Eat dumplings

Go home

Play wii again

Say goodbye

Take nap

*I gave them 3 choices for dinner: liver and onions, anchovy soup, or pizza

Oui, s'il vous plaît

This Feral household is très excited about Dorie Greenspan’s newest book, Around My French Table. Her Baking book never fails and so far, so good with this one. To date we’ve tried a very simple cauliflower soup with which we made the most scrumptious gougères ever. (We froze most of them since we’re planning on lots of soups this winter.) And tonight I made moules marinière. My first mussels ever. And definitely not my last. (Even JA kept dipping bread in my sauce, even though she doesn’t really eat shellfish.) Délicieux!

Gorgeous Gougères

Moules Marinière

I love how the book is written. It feels very casual, like she is talking to you, but there is nothing casual about it. No guess work. No wondering what she means. It is all spelled out and easy to follow. I find myself reading this cookbook. I never read cookbooks. Seriously.

What to make next? I vote for swiss chard pancakes.

Grab and Go!

Burrito. To go.

JustAwesome is always trying to think of healthy, easy-to-grab options to take for breakfast and/or lunch. Tonight she assembly-lined some burritos filled with sautéed onions, mushrooms, yellow pepper, jalapeños and cumin. Tossed in some black beans. Added some salsa, cheddar, cilantro and lime—and voilà—six easy meals in the freezer! She is almost excited to go back to work on Tuesday. Well, maybe not.

Assembly Line

Ready for the Freezer!

Happy New Year!

Welcome back, Feral readers. I hope you had tons of decadent times—eating, drinking and being merry—I certainly did. I’m ready to stop the constant party, if you want to know the truth. I crave vegetables.

I have a few New Years’ resolutions:

First: we ate with friends at their apartment and were served a warm salad. What? I want in. Please. Tell me about your favorite warm salad and I’ll try it. I love salad. This is blowing my mind. I have none in my repertoire.

The night my world was rocked

Second: we got a food processor. We watched the DVD and are raring to go. What to make, what to make? (No seriously, what should we make?)

Third: get real. Two is enough. I don’t want to set myself up for defeat! And I want to have a great year... I loved 2010. Let’s see if we can top that!

A happy and a healthy to all!

—Feral