What to eat after a final.

A final for a class called "Plagues", no less.

It's no secret that I'm crazy for legumes. At the moment, my kitchen contains four types of canned beans, two types of dried beans, dried split peas and five types of lentils. Five types of lentils! I never claimed to be sane. But of all the uses for all the legumes, this might be my favorite.

The French green lentils are key here. I made this once with black beluga lentils, which are gorgeous and worth trying, but this dish is worlds better if you use the real thing. The quality of the sausages is key too. I use hot dogs, but not just any hot dogs. They come from my absolute favorite place in the whole city of Chicago--Gene's Sausage Shop. Seriously, this place is over an hour away and if it weren't for school I would go every other day. Actually, if I didn't go to school in Hyde Park I would move to Lincoln Square just to be closer to Gene's. They make their own meat everything, and stock awesome (and amazingly priced!) Eastern European beer, liquor, and groceries. Actually, my lentils came from here too. Anyway, if you're lacking a place like Gene's, use some kielbasa or other high quality smoked sausage.

We ate this with roasted brussels sprouts (probably the last of the season!), but it makes a pretty good meal on its own, and is also good cold. I've tweaked the original recipe quite a bit, adding more sausage, decreasing the lentils by a third (the first time I made it, we never got through the leftovers) and upping the mustard in the dressing.

Warm French Lentil Salad with Smoked Sausage (adapted from Use Real Butter)

serves 4

-1 cup French green (de Puy) lentils

-1/2 lb smoked sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces

-3 sprigs fresh thyme

-2 smashed garlic cloves

-2 bay leaves

-black peppercorns

-1 small onion, peeled and halved

-1 small carrot, halved

-1 and 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

-1 tablespoon dijon mustard

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 tablespoon walnut oil (or replace with more olive oil, if you don't have walnut oil around)

-1/4 cup chopped parsley

-2 scallions, chopped

-salt and pepper

1. Put the thyme, garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaves into a cheesecloth pouch or spice bag. Place in a saucepan with the lentils, onion, and carrot and cover with about 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, and simmer 30-40 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, brown the sausage in a cast iron skillet, and make the dressing. Whisk together the vinegar, mustard, and oils. Add salt and pepper and more of oil or vinegar, to taste.

3. When the lentils are tender, drain and discard the spice pouch, onion, and carrot.

4. Mix together the lentils, sausage, parsley, scallion, and dressing. Serve!

Chicken, Bread, Cookies

Yesterday, I woke up to some very sad and unexpected news. I took off work but figured that I'd best keep busy, so I did the only thing that I knew would distract me--I cooked and cooked and cooked. There are unfortunately very few pictures in today's post, as I was too busy cooking, stuffing my face, and cooking more things to stuff in my face, but I do have three fantastic recipes to share.

Chicken in Milk (adapted from Jamie Oliver)

The idea of this sounds kind of gross, and to be honest, the result looks pretty gross too. The milk curdles with the lemon peel, making a strangely chunky, yellow sauce. But I promise that it is delicious. In order to make it more visually appealing, I took all the meat off the chicken and pureed the sauce with my handy immersion blender (thanks, Mom). I made a few changes to the original recipe, including stuffing the chicken cavity with the skinned lemons and leaving the lid on the pot. This was my first time cooking a whole chicken, and it was surprisingly stress free.

-3.5 lb chicken

-1/4 stick of butter

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-2 lemons, zested

-a large handful of fresh sage leaves

-1 pint of milk (I used 2%)

-10 garlic cloves, unpeeled

-small cinnamon stick

-salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Wash and season the chicken on both sides, and stuff the cavity with pieces of the skinned lemon. Heat olive oil and butter in a large, oven-safe pot with a lid, and brown the chicken on both sides. I needed a third hand to turn the chicken over in my deep pot.

3. Remove the chicken to a plate, and pour off the excess fat. Return the chicken and all of the other ingredients to the pot. Cook in the oven for an hour and half. I took the lid off for the last half hour, but next time I'll leave it on, as the breast got a little dry and the skin wasn't great anyway.

4. Tear the cooked chicken into small chunks and serve, topped with the sauce. I pureed mine, but it's completely optional.

This was great with some fresh bread to spread the garlic over and dip in the sauce.

Reliable, Homemade Bread (adapted from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day)

Making bread is easy, especially on Sunday. The rising times can be adapted to suit your needs--if you have to be gone all day, just put the dough in the fridge for the first rise. A long, slower rise will actually make the bread even better. This recipe makes four small loves, which are an ideal size for two. I baked two (one for the neighbors) and put the others in the freezer. To bake the frozen dough, thaw it overnight or all day and then proceed to step 5. Please don't be intimidated by the number of steps! Most of this is inactive time, and really, there's only about five minutes of kneading in the whole thing.

-6 1/2 cups flour

-2 3/4 cups water, at "body temperature" (I always microwave bread water for 20 seconds)

-1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

-1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

-1 tablespoon salt

1. Combine water, yeast, salt, and sugar in a large bowl, and add flour a cup at a time. If your dough seems too wet to work with (mine often does), add another cup of flour by half-cups.

2. Stir/knead until the dough in moist throughout and completely uniform. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 2 to 5 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.

3. Punch down the dough and knead it a few times, then divide into three or four portions. To freeze some, form into balls and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.

4. Form the dough into loaves, and let rise another 40 minutes, or an hour if using frozen dough. If making pan loaves (my preference), roll the dough out to a large rectangle, and roll the rectangle up into the shape of the pan. Pinch all the seams, and tuck the ends under.

5. Let rise another 40 minutes to an hour, and turn the oven on to 450 degrees.

6. Here's the trick. A few minutes before you are ready to put the bread in the oven, place a roasting pan on the bottom rack. After you put the bread it, pour a good cup of cold water into the hot pan (which should be below the bread), and immediately shut the oven door. The steam helps a good crust to form.

7. Bake for 30 minutes or so. Check halfway through--if the crust is already browning, lower the temperature to 350 degrees for the duration of baking. The bread is done when the bottom sounds hollow when tapped (I grab it with an oven mitt and tap it with a wooden spoon).

Austrian Raspberry Shortbread Bars

The only change I made to this recipe was halving it (which I'm now regretting), so I'll just link you to the original post by the fantastic Smitten Kitchen. All of her cookie recipes are great.

Coming up on The Off-Campus Gourmet:

-Finals week! Finals are coming, but, hopefully, the blog won't go silent. I intend to share some of my most trusted (and FAST) last-minute recipes, as well as one or two huge dishes that can be frozen in anticipation of a busy stretch.

-More in organization and time management. I have a few days between the end of finals and a trip to New York, in which I hope to share more about my kitchen, the way that I plan meals and organize a pantry, and my general approach to cooking.

-Some recipes with these exciting new ingredients! Thanks, Mom & Tim.

The Best Curry I've Made

I've been sick. I haven't posted in a while. I'm sorry. I've been living mainly on oatmeal and a basic potato-leek soup that I had the foresight to whip up before it got bad. Poor David has been scrounging tacos and nachos and thai food. Yesterday, however, I started feeling better and up to cooking.

I went through a serious curry phase a few months ago. It was delicious and I learned a lot, but there was one thing I could never get exactly right--curried lentils. I tried at least three recipes, before giving up. In every case, something was wrong. Too spicy, too bland, to mushy. I tried Mark Bittman. Eh. I tried Madhur Jaffrey. Eh. So I called it quits, until last week, when, bedridden, I became mildly obsessed with the idea of a red lentil and sweet potato dish. So I made one. It's fantastic, if I do say so myself.

Lentil and Sweet Potato Curry

serves 3-4

1 cup red lentils

1 medium sized sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon (or more) fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1-2 serrano chiles, seeds removed, finely chopped

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 can light coconut milk

1/2 cup to 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground with mortar and pestle

1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground

1 and 1/2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

cooked rice, plain yogurt, and cilantro, for serving.

1. Boil sweet potato until tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a large, heavy saucepan and cook onion, stirring, until soft and just browned around the edges. Add chile, spices, garlic and ginger, and cook for another minute or so. Add lentils, coconut milk, and 1/2 cup of stock (save the rest to thin the curry at the end, if desired). Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes.

3. When the lentils are tender but not mushy, add the sweet potatoes and more stock if desired. Heat through, stir, and serve with chopped cilantro, yogurt, and rice.

Notes: The whole spices are important here. If you have to use pre-ground spices, use the best and freshest that you can find. Also, the yogurt topping is pretty great; don't leave it out. I use 2% greek style yogurt. Like most curries, this one reheats well.

Winter Vegetables

Winter in Chicago is long. Really long. By the end of January I go crazy for sun, and right about now I'm seriously craving the glorious vegetable bounty of summer in the Midwest. But I'm trying hard to be positive. I recently re-started ordering produce boxes from Fresh Picks. I used to get them regularly in the summer and early fall, but stopped once school started. I figured that I wouldn't have time to use up all the veggie, plus I didn't want what I imagined would be box after box of potatoes.

As it turns out, I'm cooking even more now than I did in the summer. I've also spent the last couple of months learning to love a lot of new vegetables, ones that I hated as a kid. Of particular note are brussels sprouts. I used to gag at the thought of them, but these days, we eat them at least once a week. Like many winter vegetables, they are glorious roasted, and pretty icky cooked almost any other way.

Getting to the (recipe) point. I started getting Fresh Picks deliveries last week. In my box, in addition to some beautiful lacinato kale, arugula, and cauliflower, was this huge bag of assorted root vegetables. As you can see, they are a far cry from the mounds of potatoes I had feared. At first, I wondered what I would do with three pounds of roots, but it has been going great so far. I made a big batch of chicken stock with some of the carrots and parsnips, enjoyed a beautiful celery root salad (more on this later), and, last night, we had this awesome dish. I happily took a large jar for lunch today, and I hate to eat the same thing two meals in a row. You should make it before winter ends.

Roasted Root Vegetable and Wheat Berry Salad (adapted from David Lebovitz)

serves 4

-1 and 1/2 pounds assorted root vegetables (I used purple carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, and turnips)

-1 cup wheat berries (or barley, quinoa, etc.)

-1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

-1 cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

-large handful arugula, washed and roughly chopped

-1/2 cup dried cranberries

-1/4 cup olive oil + more for coating the roots

-squeeze of lemon juice

-1 tablespoon walnut oil (optional)

-salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425

1. Bring about 4 cups of heavily salted water to a boil, and add the wheat berries. Cook until tender, about 40 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cut all the root vegetables into small, uniformly sized pieces, toss with a little oil and salt. Spread the vegetables out on a baking tray and bake for about 20 minutes, turning halfway through, until they are tender and browned.

2. Drain the cooked root berries, and toss with 1/4 cup olive oil, dried cranberries, onion, arugula, walnuts, and salt. Mix in the root vegetables.

3. Drizzle the walnut oil on top, squeeze a lemon over the whole thing, grind some pepper on, and serve. You may want to add a little more salt at this point, as the wheat berries taste odd if not sufficiently salted. We crumbled some feta on top, but that's completely optional.

Zucchini Fritters and A Dinner Party.

Dinner parties are everywhere. Or, at least, they're all over my news feed. Not a weekend goes by without some vague acquaintance posting an event, a photo album, or a status about the dinner party that they/their girlfriend/their friends hosted. Most of these seem to be potluck style affairs. Dinner parties are great, and they're really doable, especially at a college where many students live in apartments. A "party" may seem like an intimidating place to showcase a dish, especially if you are a new cook, but I would argue that it's just the opposite. College dinner parties are incredibly low-pressure. If you don't love your dish, there will tons of other things for you to fill up on. Chances are, there will be someone who loves what you made. And, most importantly: hungry college kids are not a difficult crowd to please. Host one. Attend one. Bring something simple, or something complicated that you've been wanting to try. Chances are you'll try a new dish or learn a new recipe.

Zucchini Fritters

I made these little sandwiches for a recent, "veggie burger" themed potluck. As it turns out, there were no veggie burgers, but there were falafel, whoopie pies, latkes, and home-made onion rings. Awesome.

Makes 10-12 small patties.

6 small zucchini (I know, they're out of season. In the summer, you will only need 2 or 3 big ones), grated

1 cup crumbled feta

1 onion, grated

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 to 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1-2 eggs

parsley, mint, or dill (optional)

oil for frying

1. Grate the zucchini and the onion, and squeeze out all the excess moisture. This is difficult, and I never feel like I've squeezed enough. I usually use a terrycloth washcloth or towel lined with paper towels.

2. Mix in the feta, garlic and herbs, and start by adding 1 egg and the smaller amount of breadcrumbs. I have made these three times now, and each time they've required a different combination of breadcrumbs and eggs for the patties to form.

3. Form the patties, adding eggs or breadcrumbs at your discretion. I usually grab a small handfull of the mix, and squeeze it between my hands, forcing out a little additional water, and (hopefully) getting them to solidify.

4. Heat enough oil to generously cover the bottom of a large, heavy, cast iron or nonstick skillet. Fry the patties, a few at a time, until they are dark, golden brown on both sides and warmed through.

I served these particular fritters inside mini pitas from Whole Foods with tzatziki.

Tzatziki, the way I like it.

1 16 ounce container of greek yogurt, whole or 2% milkfat

1 small cucumber

4 cloves of garlic, minced

a handful of mint leaves, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Cut open and peel the cucumber, and scrape out the seeds. Mince the remaining parts, and mix with all other ingredients.

Mushroom Stew

I love mushrooms. They are way up there on my list of favorite foods, up there with lobster sandwiches, roasted brussels sprouts, and hanger steak. I love them prepared in all sorts of ways: cooked slowly in butter, stirred in risotto, grilled. This preparation is probably my favorite, since it allows me to make a complete meal of mushrooms. I recently served it, with egg noodles, at a vegetarian dinner party, and it was a hit.

Mushroom Stew (adapted from Smitten Kitchen's Mushroom Bourguignon and my dad's beef stew)

Serves 4 or 5 as a main dish, or 8 as a first course.

2-3 lbs portobello mushrooms (if I have other mushrooms in the fridge, such a shiitake, I throw them in as well), sliced thickish (about 1/2"), stems removed
2-3 large carrots, diced
1 large yellow onion, or a handful of shallots, minced
1 celery rib, diced
3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1-2 cups pearl onions, peeled
1 cup of red wine
2 cups of broth (beef, chicken and vegetable all work)
2 tablespoons sundried tomato paste (or regular tomato paste)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 and 1/2 tablespoons flour
a few sprigs of thyme
salt and pepper

1. Heat a large high sided skillet or a dutch oven over high heat, and add two tablespoons of olive oil. Sear mushrooms on both sides (about a minute or two per side). You don't want them to release any liquid, but to just brown. Remove and set aside.

2. Add the third tablespoon of olive oil to the pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrots, and thyme. Once the onions are translucent, add the garlic and cook for another minute or so.

3. Add the wine to the pot and scrape to deglaze. Bring it to a boil and let it reduce by about half. Then add the broth, bring it to a boil again, and lower the heat. Simmer for 25-30 minutes, adding the pearl onions at the 20 minute mark.

4. Melt the butter and mix in the flour with a fork to form a paste. Mix the paste into the stew, and simmer until it reaches desired thickness (I'm usually satisfied at 8-12 minutes).

Serve over egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

Another Food Blog.

An introduction:

I believe that everyone can cook and eat well. No matter how limited your time and money, if you want to, you can. When I told my parents I wanted to move out of the dorm and into an apartment, one of the first things they asked was "What will you eat?"

This is my response.

I cook dinner for myself and my boyfriend (and sometimes a roommate or two) four to five days a week. I have a typical inexpensive apartment kitchen (with the ubiquitous weak gas stove), and not very much time. This quarter, I am taking the full number of courses, plus auditing a second language, and I have a job (at a cafe) and an internship (at a magazine).

Cooking is a priority for me. If you decide that you want to and like to cook, make it a priority in your life as well. Cooking gives my afternoons and evenings structure, and makes me feel accomplished every day--even if a paper or an exam has gone badly.

This is what I love. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.

-Helen.