Homemade Ingredients: Basil Lemon Garlic Oil

Oil, complete with everything shown here

In my first post I mentioned using lavender oil to cook with. Flavored and scented oils are a fun organic chemistry hack to use in the kitchen. The molecules that carry flavor and scent dissolve very easily in fats, so oil is a great way to carry flavors. To make the lavender oil I put lavender and canola oil in a glass bottle and set it on my window sill. The next day I pulled the lavender out and kept remaining oil to use in my cooking. You can also speed up the process by heating the oil, which was what I did this time. I cut up basil, garlic, and lemon peel, cooked them in extra virgin olive oil for about fifteen minutes, then poured the oil into a glass bottle.
The oil is fragrant and delicious. My favorite use for it so far is sauteing zucchini.

Crying in the Infant: A Guide to Differential Diagnosis

As a new mother I often find myself faced with a crying infant and no idea what's wrong. So I run through my list; dirty diaper? hot or cold? hungry? tired? 
Recently I noticed, however, that different people will jump to different conclusions when my son cries. His grandfather always thinks that he is cold. My husband always thinks that he is hungry. It was when I realized that I always think he is tired that I had my epiphany. We all assume that whatever bothers us the most must be what's bothering him. I'm not sure where his pediatricians advice that his fussiness is likely gas fits into this theory, but I'd better go. The baby is crying because we need a nap. I mean, he needs a nap.

Summer Squash Soup with Cardamom

 Bitterer than they look!

I recently signed up for Full Belly Farm CSA. I'm enjoying the CSA program. It's a cheap way to get really fresh produce and since I never know what I'm going to get it provides a great opportunity to improvise in the kitchen (which I love, as discussed in my first post) with seasonal ingredients. For three weeks in a row I have received summer squash and I've been trying different things every week without success (until now!). The squash taste very bitter to me. Several different people have told me summer squash shouldn't taste bitter, but there you have it. They look so much like zucchini, which I love, that I have been trying to cook them like zucchini. One friend even suggested I try making zucchini bread with squash substituted. This was a train wreck, the whole thing ended up in the garbage. This week I saw a recipe for squash soup and decided to try it, but with my own twist of course!
The squash, potato, stock, and milk are the bones of this recipe. The original recipe also called for onion, but I really dislike onion so clearly that was out. These past couple weeks I had been trying to cut the bitterness of the squash with maple syrup (I grew up in upstate New York so real maple syrup is one of my true loves) so that was definitely in. I also decided to use some cardamom, and ginger was a last minute addition. The recipe follows:

1 lb summer squash

1/2 lb potato
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons real maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup sour cream

I peeled and cut up both the squash and the potato, then melted the butter with the cardamom (this is incredibly fragrant, as a cardamom fan I was drooling!). I sauteed the squash and potato in the butter until it had softened a bit, which took five or ten minutes. Then I added the stock, milk, syrup, and ginger, covered the pan, and started on my next project. As usual I didn't time how long it cooked, but I decided it was done when the potatoes were tender. Then the whole thing went in the blender with the sour cream until it was smooth.

Yum!

Both my husband and I really liked this. This is a very sweet soup to serve as an entree, but both my husband and I love sweet entrees. I might cut back on the maple syrup a bit if I were serving this to someone with less of a sweet tooth. I served it chilled with ham, which made it perfect for the incredibly hot summer day that I spent in the kitchen, and since it's good cold it makes a super easy left over. The salty richness of the ham balanced the soup very well. Adding extra potato might make it a bit heartier.


I felt this was a great success. I'm really glad I finally found something to do with these squash!

Improvisational Cooking: Lamb Meat Loaf

I love to cook but I hate using a recipe. I always thought it stemmed from my previous work as a research scientist. A science experiment is basically just a recipe in which all the ingredients are toxic, and coming home after a day of work to follow another set of numbered instructions was just irritating, so more often than not I found myself just winging it. Now I find that cooking is a great opportunity to practice some creativity.
 
I recently checked out "The Improvisational Cook" by Sally Schneider from my local library and the following is the first dish it inspired.

I love ground lamb, and after reading Ms. Schneider's section on meat loaf I decided to try a meat loaf with lamb as a base. I had recently made lavender infused canola oil and was wanting to try it in a lamb dish. Ms. Schneider recommends using a dairy ingredient and I have always thought soft goat cheese is a great combo with lamb. The recipe follows:

1 lb ground lamb
2 Tablespoons lavender oil
2 egg whites
1/4 cup goat cheese
1 cup bread crumbs

I stirred the oil, egg whites, and cheese together with a fork until the mixture was smooth. Then I incorporated first the lamb and then the bread crumbs using my hands. (it's worth putting the lamb out an hour or two ahead to warm up so you don't freeze your hands doing this). Once it was smooth and uniform I formed the loaf and baked it at 350 degrees. With my typical lack of foresight I did not time how long it was in there. I will guess about 45 minutes? If anyone knows a good way to make sure meat loaf is done without just cutting into, please let me know!
 

I served this with mashed potatoes and green beans.

I really liked this, and so did my husband (until the baby is a little older he's my only outside reviewer!). It gets well away from the stereotypical cafeteria meat loaf with the lamb and subtle lavender flavor. My one problem was how greasy and rich it was. The lamb was pretty fatty on its own and the extra oil from the lavender oil and cheese certainly didn't help. Since it was so rich anyway I might consider cutting down on the cheese next time. I'm not sure how to get away from the lavender oil as I don't have any idea how fresh lavender is used in cooking. I might try substituting half a pound of pork in to make it a bit lighter. Mostly I would like to try incorporating a vegetable, but I can't think what. My first thought was carrots, probably because that's my go to filler vegetable. Maybe spinach? Any other thoughts are welcome!

Over all I liked this and would definitely try it again. I also like it because you can make a lot at once, and being a new mom I'm the left overs queen! It's always fun when a kitchen experiment turns out.