With all this need to eat healthy & low-fat lately, I’ve been experimenting with ways to keep meals interesting, easy, and good for me. Here’s my breakfast cereal recipe:

• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
• 2 cups mixed-grain hot cereal of your choice, or a mixture of whole grains of your choice (such as rye and barley flakes)*
• 1/4 cup toasted milled flax seed
• 1/3 cup unprocessed bran (oat or wheat)
• 1 cup unsweetened dried fruit, chopped if necessary (I like tart currants or mixed berries)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (or other nut of your choice, walnuts or almonds should work well)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup raw cane sugar (optional)

Stir well and store tightly closed. If you don’t expect to go through it quickly, store it in the freezer. When you want breakfast, put 1/2 cup of mix in a microwave-safe bowl, add 1 cup water or skim milk (I prefer the milk), and microwave for 2 minutes 30 seconds on high, or until done (depends on the microwave). You can also do larger or smaller amounts as long as you keep the ratio roughly the same (2 parts liquid to 1 part cereal). Make sure the bowl is large enough to accommodate the bubbling up of the cereal!

If fresh fruits are in season, consider chopping some and adding to your cooked cereal.

I find I need a tiny bit of sweetening (the dried fruit and small amount of sugar), but you can leave it out if you want to. Another alternative is to leave the sugar out of the recipe but add approximately one teaspoon agave nectar to the cooked cereal; agave nectar is a very slow-absorbing natural sweetener with a low glycemic index.

If you want a quick, easily-transported lunch, make a batch of this the night before, chill in the fridge, and toss a container of it into your lunch box; it’s very good cold.

Variation 1: Add 1 tablespoon cinnamon and 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice.

*As long as they’ll cook in the microwave in roughly the same amount of time as oats, they’ll work. This is why I use pre-packaged 5- or 7-grain multigrain cereals from the hot cereal aisle, because they’re usually designed with quick cooking in mind.

Mmmmmm. I reviewed Michael Turback’s Mocha this morning. Good stuff. For various reasons the review also links to two other reviews in the blog: one on Turback’s Hot Chocolate, which I also highly recommend picking up a copy of, and one of a particular variety of Swiss Miss cocoa. The latter might seem an odd thing to review, but I do recommend reading Jeffrey’s accounting of it, as it’s quite hysterical.

In totally unrelated thoughts, since I don’t have much brainpower these days I’ve been playing a bit more EVE Online. It took me a while to find a corp. I tried one based on chatting for a while with the guy who was running it, but quickly discovered that while he was a decent guy, some of the other folks in the corp seemed to think it was a guys’ locker room in there. Things that guys won’t say in front of women in person because they’re far too offensive just fly past online; it often seems like when online, most guys assume everyone they run into is just like them in terms of age and gender, and speak on that assumption.

So, I dropped that corp. Not that the NPC corp was much better, but at least there it was easier to ignore people. I figured if I held out long enough I’d find something decent, and I think I finally have. My husband and I just ended up in a corp started by some retired military folk. Funny how I always end up gaming with military and retired military people. By and large so far they tend to be relaxed-yet-focused, and fun without being juvenile and offensive. After all, I don’t mind swearing and trash talk; it’s misogyny, racism and the like that I won’t stand for.

Edited to add: Courtesy of my new corp I’ve been introduced to the delights of 1,001 things Mr. Welch can no longer do during an RPG. It’s tough to pick excerpts with which to convince you to go take a look, because nearly every other item on the list is pretty damn funny. But these are my favorites of the last five minutes, so here you go:

412. I will not try to skip to the main boss dressed like a singing telegram.
521. I will not convince the entire party to play Amish for the cyberpunk campaign.
552. If my character’s drow wife finds I let my neice appear in a Gnomes Gone Wild Video, my death will not even warrant a saving throw.
579. “Pimp out my Death Star” is not a real show, and I’d better believe Grand Moff Tarkin knows this.
616. Even if they are the same cliched acid for blood aliens, can’t load my shotgun with baking powder.
727. Cannot singlehandedly make Starfleet Academy the #1 party school in the Alpha Quadrant.

This is my alt

We’ve started in on the recipes from the whole grain bread cookbook we’re reviewing. I’ve definitely eaten whole grain breads that were quite delicious, but it’s true that it’s much more difficult to make whole grain breads at home that are light and flavorful. What Reinhart’s book claims to do is show us a method for making whole grain breads that solves both of these problems.

The background science is thorough and I’ve learned a lot from the pre-recipe reading. We made the first recipe yesterday, from the basic whole wheat master recipe. I deliberately used entirely standard whole wheat flour—no white wheat strain or other flours—because plain whole wheat is my least favorite of the whole grains in terms of texture and flavor. I figured if he could make that come out well I’d be pretty impressed.

So what do we have in the fridge? A smooth, gorgeous whole wheat boule. It’s downright fluffy in texture, which is something you just don’t see every day. And oh, yes, it IS delicious.

I look forward to making more of these recipes and reviewing this cookbook! This is one book I won’t be handing off to the library when I’m done with it.

Speaking of books, I have two new reviews up: Tara Moss’s thriller Split, and Tobias Buckell’s SF debut Crystal Rain.

We made tilapia last night. We used a simple recipe that provided an easy sauce to pour over the fish; then you sprinkle with paprika and microwave for four minutes. The result was divine, and I say that even though for the most part I’m not a fish fan. The sauce was tangy (from such delights as raspberry vinegar, dijon mustard, and lemon juice) as well as sweet (honey!).

There was just one problem. For some reason, the fish blew up.

You think I’m joking. Even though we had a microwave lid on the plate, there was a ring of fish strands around the microwave that took a bit of cleaning. The entire underside of the lid was covered in shredded fish. When we lifted it off, we could see where entire sections of fish fillet were just gone.

At least it wasn’t dangerous, like the inimitable bananas foster recipe. But it was certainly exciting!

I don’t know why the idea of exploded fish leads me to this—maybe because it just sounds gross—but today I reviewed a rather unusual book that I never expected to be reading: Matt Pagett’s What Shat That? Enjoy!

I’ve posted my review of Dr. Jean Harvey-Berino’s The EatingWell Diet. It’s a good, solid book, and my only real problem with it was that much of the food in the cookbook section was too bland for my tastes. I have to admit, though, that when you have the attention span of a flea on crack (as I do), the concept of trying to consistently note your food and calorie intake is daunting, to say the least. Still, if I can even do it for a day or two here or there, I get a much better sense for how many calories I’m taking in and how much I need to cut out of my diet.

Perhaps more importantly, I learned that I really can’t expect much. If I look at the amount I’d need to cut from my diet in order to lose a whole two pounds a week, it dips below the minimum 1200 calorie diet recommended for good nutrition. Which means that, realistically, I can’t eat well and lose more than a pound a week unless I start getting some very serious exercise. It’s good to know this, because it means I’m less likely to get frustrated and feel like giving up if I go a month and only lose, say, three pounds.

A while ago I happened to read Dressing Up Tomato Tarts from Food and Paper. It mentioned the interesting idea of using an orange flavor to add zest to tomato:

Good recipes tend to be well accessorized, too. A drizzle of fruity olive oil, a generous pinch of sea salt, a scattering of basil leaves…these are tried and true ways to freshen up many a dish, especially one made of a pastry crust filled with a cheese custard and topped with fresh tomatoes. I’ve done it before and I’d do it again. But I’m not sure I’d do it again any time soon without adding a certain accessory I picked up from Mr. Tyler Florence. Orange zest. And not just a little. A whole orange’s worth. I never knew it before, but orange zest and tomatoes make a chic ensemble.

That little tip stuck with me, apparently, when I ad-libbed the following aside to a quick meal:

Ingredients

• One large seedless cucumber, peeled and sliced
• A half-pint of grape tomatoes, washed and halved
• A drizzle of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar, honey, or other liquid sweetener (such as brown rice syrup or agave nectar)
• 2 tablespoons Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar (or other orangey vinegar)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and allow to sit for a few minutes; stir a few times to dissolve the sugar or sweetener. Serve.

This doesn’t make a lot—maybe two decent-sized side salads or three to four small servings. It has a wonderful sharp, colorful, sweet, tangy taste, and it looks nice too.

Upcoming book reviews:

• “The EatingWell Diet,” Dr. Jean Harvey-Berino, Ph.D., R.D.
• “Deep Fathom,” James Rollins
• “A World of Dumplings,” Brian Yarvin
• “Fondue,” Lenny Rice & Brigid Callinan

I’ve also found a good handful of book review blogs to add to the blogroll over at Errant Dreams Reviews so you’ll have more sources of good reviews!

Yes, that’s right, two book reviews in a row: The Vermont Cheese Book by Ellen Ecker Ogden is today’s delectable offering. I highly recommend that you check it out if you, like me, love cheeses. Although it’s intended as a celebration of Vermont’s artisanal and farmstead cheese offerings in particular, it can teach you a great deal about cheese appreciation and making in general.

In honor of that, here’s a rough recipe courtesy of last night’s dinner:

Chicken Fingers with Eggplant-Tomato Sauce and Feta Cheese

• Chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
• Buttermilk
• Equal parts corn meal and all-purpose flour
• A spice mix of your choice (I prefer a quality curry-based mix), at a rate of 1 1/2 teaspoons for each cup of flour/cornmeal mix you use
• High-temperature-friendly oil plus a tablespoon of butter
• One medium-to-large eggplant, skinned and diced
• A tablespoon or two of olive oil
• Two cans (undrained) diced tomatoes flavored with garlic and olive oil
• One shot of dark rum
• 1/2 cup finely chopped macadamia nuts
• Crumbled feta to taste

Chicken fingers: Cut as many chicken breasts as you feel like into strips of roughly equal thickness. Heat a large pan over medium heat; once it’s hot, heat a very thin layer of oil with a tablespoon of butter added to it until the butter is melted and foaming. In a wide bowl, mix the corn meal, flour, and spice mix.

Dip strips of chicken into the buttermilk and then into the seasoned flour mixture, placing them directly into the pan from there. Once one side is thoroughly cooked and browned, turn and cook until cooked through. Repeat, adding more oil to the pan between batches and adjusting the heat up or down as necessary, until all the chicken fingers are cooked.

Sauce: It’s best to have one person cook the chicken while another cooks the sauce; otherwise, cook the sauce first and reheat when ready. Heat a second pan; add olive oil and heat through. Add the eggplant and cook until it begins to brown and soften. Add the two cans of diced tomatoes (including liquid), shot of dark rum, and finely chopped macadamias. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened—you should be able to draw your spoon through the sauce and see the bottom of the pan without the liquid immediately filling the empty space. Remove from heat.

Serve: Put a large spoonful of sauce on a plate, add a couple of chicken fingers, and top with crumbled feta cheese to taste.

I had the idea for the above recipe last night when I was trying to figure out how to incorporate both the chicken breasts we’d gotten on sale this week and one of the cheeses we’d picked up as a result of our review-book-inspired cheese experimentation. The first thing I realized was that I wanted some sort of coated pan-fried chicken to top with the cheese. We happened to have some buttermilk left over from some sort of baking, and Alton Brown has previously recommended it for use before dredging when coating things because of its wonderful thick, clingy texture, so that was an easy choice. I like the crispiness cornmeal lends, so mixing that into the flour was another easy choice. My husband tells me these are the best chicken fingers he’s ever had and I don’t think he was just trying to butter me up, so they definitely came out well.

As for the sauce, it started out as a way to use the eggplant we happened to pick up this weekend, and I love eggplant with tomato, so that explains the canned tomato. From there I set my husband loose on it, meaning the rum and macadamia were his inspired additions. This resulted in a semi-sweetened sauce with a delicious dark undertone that I can’t quite describe. The dish just wouldn’t have been the same without it, and honestly it was my favorite part of the whole thing. I also gave my husband the task of picking which of the many cheeses we bought this weekend to try overtop. I don’t know that I would have picked feta, so I’m glad I left that task to him—it turned out to complement the whole thing perfectly.

Healthy Food
Doesn’t have to suck

I’m fascinated by the combination of chocolate and chili. I first experienced it for myself when I reviewed Michael Turback’s Hot Chocolate. He included several highly unusual recipes, some of which involved hot spices, and I felt it wouldn’t be a fair review of the book if I didn’t try at least one of them (even though I was somewhat… dubious, let’s say). The combination of chili and chocolate was surprising and unusual, but more than that, it was absolutely addictive. One of the theories behind this is that the capsaicin in the chili creates an endorphin rush, which combines with the usual good feelings created by chocolate’s own pleasurable chemicals in a wonderful manner. Well whatever it is, I love it—and it’s definitely catching on!

Next I may have to make some chocolate chili bites (found from Chocolate Chipped, my new favorite source of chocolate decadence)—they sound absolutely delightful. Or I could try some Mayan Chocolate Cupcakes (also found on Chocolate Chipped)—more complex perhaps, but stunning and oh-so-tempting!

There’s a reason coffee and chocolate go together so often, and it’s related to the above, in a manner. Coffee, like chocolate, is an incredibly complex phenomenon and swirl of flavor components that can lend itself to either savory or sweet concoctions. Of course, I bring it up today because I’ve finally reviewed my next book—The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Coffee & Tea. I loved the book for the level of detail, but as a CIG book it left one or two things to be desired.

Up next: I’m reading The Vermont Cheese Book for review, and am about 2/3 done. YUM! Speaking of ingredients that can be used in both savory and sweet manners…

We picked up a roughly 2lb package of ground beef this week, and both my husband and I independently decided it was time to make meatballs, which we haven’t done in forever. I was too lazy to look up a recipe, so last night I made with the improvisational cooking. I’ll have to make this recipe over again so I can measure things and put up an actual recipe, but in case you feel comfortable with loose amounts, here are the guidelines:

Ingredients:

• 2lb or so of ground beef
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon horseradish
• A liberal dash of chili oil—tabasco or other hot sauce should work as well
• A liberal dash each of white pepper, black pepper, and Italian seasoning—if I were forced to guess at an amount, I would say 1/4 to 1/2 t each
• 3/4 to 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons corn meal
• 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats

Instructions

Mix everything well with your hands (mixing with your hands is a good way to keep everything from becoming overly-squished together, which tends to lead to hard meatball-pucks). Form into meatballs no more than one inch in diameter.

Heat a large pan to the point where a few drops of water dripped into it skitter across the surface and immediately evaporate. Add a small drizzle of grapeseed, canola, or other high-temperature-friendly oil to the pan, wait a moment for it to heat up, and start adding meatballs until you run out of room in the pan.

Brown the meatballs on one side, turn over to brown the other side, and add a small amount of hot water to the pan (just a couple of tablespoons). Lid the pan and cook for eight minutes; split one of the largest meatballs to make sure they’re done and remove to a plate with paper towels on it. By now there should be plenty of liquid in the pan for any remaining batches; remove excess if necessary and repeat until done.

These were very flavorful and had a wonderful crispy “crust” to them. I came up with the idea of using cornmeal and oats because we didn’t have any bread crumbs on hand and I was too lazy to manufacture them. My first thought was to use cornmeal for the kind of crispy texture I thought it might create, but I was concerned that the fine texture would encourage hard meatballs; hence the addition of oats as well to soften them up a bit. I like the results so much that I think I’ll do it this way from now on. We ended up eating these with a homemade tomato sauce (a simple mix of some canned garlic-flavored tomatoes and cannelini beans) and whole wheat pasta; the flavor of the meatballs stood up quite well to those other flavorful components.

I’m not often impressed by recipe blogs, but the other day I stumbled across Kalyn’s Kitchen–and the recipes actually made me hungry. Not just one or two of them, either. Here’s a surprising one: roasted radishes with soy sauce and toasted sesame seed. I never would have thought of that (either the roasting of radishes, or the pairing of them with soy sauce and sesame), but it looks absolutely fabulous! Kalyn includes suggestions for recipes to pair it with, as well as notes on which South Beach phases it works with and other blogs’ radish suggestions. Now that’s helpful.

Kinda-sorta in the health vein, last night we were bad and decided to try out a Chinese & Sushi restaurant nearby. The simple fact that it paired Chinese food and Sushi probably should have been warning enough, but oh well. The sashimi was the wrong color and texture, for gods’ sake—raw tuna shouldn’t be grayish. The dried shredded beef dish was way too dry, and the pork in the fried wontons tasted… wrong; anything that can cause me not to eat my fair share of fried wontons is notable indeed (I have a weakness for the things). It was a quiet day and yet the waiter forgot our tea and forgot to wrap our leftovers (not that we’re shedding any tears over that last part). Then I spent an hour and a half in the middle of the night running back and forth to the bathroom, and I don’t think these things are unrelated. We are never going back.

We generally skip really cheap or terrible looking restaurants, so we rarely have truly negative experiences with them. The worst we tend to get is, “you know, that restaurant just isn’t as good as it used to be; let’s stick to this other one instead.” This does, however, remind me of the Chinese restaurant in Boston where we’d gotten delivery and were pouring some dumpling sauce onto a plate only to have a dead roach float out of it. I wish I could say this was before we’d used the sauce at all.

There are supposedly some good Chinese restaurants in the middle of Annapolis where things tend to be more upscale and—god help us—trendy, so we’ll try those next and skip the stuff on the outskirts from now on.