The End?

Hello everyone again! Though I've deviated from my original vision for this blog in some ways, I loved being able to chronicle my journey and getting to share good food and poetry with all my readers. To those who recipes I could not get to in the time slot, I deeply apologize, and leave you with the promise of food someday in the future! If you've been a consistent reader (you know who you are) I will be baking up a lovely batch of baked goods to hand out to you next Monday, please, try to contain your excitement. If you have any criticism, comments, or concerns please feel free to contact me either on this blog or through my email at afnan1@illinois.edu. Thank you all so much for making this a fun hobby, and who knows, I might just continue blogging!

Much love,
Tanisha

Cookie Jar

I hope everyone is recovering from fun times and food with their families at Thanksgiving! I know I've been verrry lazy with updating my blog, but am finally back with a new post! This post is dedicated to Gloria Ha who asked for a chocolate chip cookie recipe. While this recipe will not get you a whole batch, this single-serving ramekin cookie is perfect for those nights in when you just wanna cuddle up with a warm dessert just for yourself. I found this poem while on the prowl, and though its not anything particularly special, something about it stuck out to me. What do you guys like best about it?

Cookie Jar

By Robert Mayy

If you were close and not so far away
I would bring you a cookie from my 
Cookie Jar
Hoping you would take a bite,
                                                                       Love 


                                                              at first sight!
( a dedication to ladies)


What you will need:



2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoon sweet cream butter
1 or two drops of vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
A pinch of salt
2 tablespoons semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and set aside a 6 ounce ramekin.
2. Either in the microwave or on the stove, melt your two tablespoons of butter. In a medium bowl whisk together the sugars and the melted butter.
3. Add the yolk and then stir in your salt, flour, and baking soda. Mix everything together until combined.
4. Fold in your chocolate chips and then pour the batter into your clean ramekin.
5. Bake in the oven for 12-16 minutes. 
6. Enjoy :)

Tomatoes

Hey everyone! Its your friendly neighborhood blogger with another recipe and poem ^_^. My friend Sierra requested the poem 'Tomatoes' by Stephen Dobys, and let me tell you...this poem is definitely quite unique. Despite its overall creepy tone, once you get past the lurid imagery and dramatics, you'll find that this poem is somehow oddly relatable. (P.S. I know it might seem long, but trust me, its worthwhile.) (P.P.S. here's a sneak peek of the recipe)

Tomatoes

By Stephen Dobys

A woman travels to Brazil for plastic

surgery and a face-lift. She is sixty

and has the usual desire to stay pretty.

Once she is healed, she takes her new face

out on the streets of Rio. A young man

with a gun wants her money. Bang, she’s dead.

The body is shipped back to New York,

but in the morgue there is a mix-up. The son

is sent for. He is told that his mother

is one of these ten different women.

Each has been shot. Such is modern life.

He studies them all but can’t find her.

With her new face, she has become a stranger.

Maybe it’s this one, maybe it’s that one.

He looks at their breasts. Which ones nursed him?

He presses their hands to his cheek.

Which ones consoled him? He even tries

climbing onto their laps to see which

feels most familiar but the coroner stops him.

Well, says the coroner, which is your mother?

They all are, says the young man, let me

take them as a package. The coroner hesitates,

then agrees. Actually, it solved a lot of problems.

The young man has the ten women shipped home,

then cremates them all together. You’ve seen

how some people have a little urn on the mantel?

This man has a huge silver garbage can.

In the spring, he drags the garbage can

out to the garden and begins working the teeth,

the ash, the bits of bone into the soil.

Then he plants tomatoes. His mother loved tomatoes.

They grow straight from seed, so fast and big

that the young man is amazed. He takes the first

ten into the kitchen. In their roundness,

he sees his mother’s breasts. In their smoothness

he finds the consoling touch of her hands.

Mother, mother, he cries, and flings himself

on the tomatoes. Forget about the knife, the fork,

the pinch of salt. Try to imagine the filial

starvation, think of his ravenous kisses.

Now I personally always associate tomatoes with Italian food, and I thought what better recipe to share than a classic tomato sauce on spaghetti. Once you start making homemade tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes, I can guarantee you will never go back to the jarred kind!

You will need:

• 10 fresh roma tomatoes
• 8 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic (crush and chopped)
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• Add enough salt to your taste (not sure how much I put in!)
• 1/2 a large onion diced finely
• ground meat of your choice to your taste (optional, but I love turkey sausage!)

1. Boil your fresh tomatoes (after making slits in the skin) for a good minute. Take them off heat and immediately plunge them into ice cold water. Allow them to cool, then peel the skin and dice them.

2. In a skillet, heat up your olive oil. Add in your chopped garlic and sautee them for a few minutes. Add in the chopped onion and sautee them alongside your garlic, roughly 3 minutes. 

3. Into the same skillet, add in your diced and peeled tomatoes. Let this cook for about 5 minutes before you add in all your spices. After you have added all your spices in, feel free to add in some extra olive oil too.

4. Serve over spaghetti noodles (or any pasta of your choice!). This sauce stores well in the fridge for a week or so.

Wrapping dumplings

Recently my friend Max requested sesame rice balls, but because of a lack of poems about them, I defaulted to his second choice of dumplings, or jiaozi. While looking for poems about dumplings I encountered a sweet haiku simply titled 'Wrapping Dumplings' written by Matsuo Basho, a poet I'd never been familiar with before. After a little digging I discovered that Matsuo Basho is more commonly known as the 'master of haikus' and I knew I just had to put his work in here.

Wrapping Dumplings
By Matsuo Basho

Wrapping dumplings in
bamboo leaves, with one finger
she tidies her hair

Aaaand here comes the part with actual dumplings! Before you dive in, as always, please feel free to make any poem or recipe requests to help shape my blog along its journey.

*Note* Please buy premade dumpling wrappers as this recipe does not explain how to make the dough!
For the filling:
1 lb. ground turkey (minced pork is definitely more traditional, I just like turkey because it's so lean)
6 chopped shiitake mushrooms
4 cloves garlic crushed and chopped
2 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. black pepper
A pinch of salt
1 small piece of fresh ginger (minced)
2 scallions chopped
A pinch of red chilli flakes (optional)

For the dipping sauce (optional but highly recommended):
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
A squirt of lemon juice
1 tsp. fish sauce
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. red chilli flakes

1. Stir all the ingredients for the filling together in a large mixing bowl until all of it is thoroughly combined.
2. Pour some water onto a tiny dish. On a clean flat surface lay out ~4 of your wrappers. 
3. Spoon the filling into the center of each of the wrappers. Then, dip your fingers in the water and wet the outer edges of the wrappers.
4. With the moistened edges, bring the sides of the wrapper together and seal the dumpling by pinching along the side. 
5. Repeat until you run out of wrappers or filling! Steam the dumplings (if you don't have a steamer you can use a colander over a pot of boiling water under a tight lid) for 15-20 minutes.
6. While the dumplings are steaming, make the dipping sauce by whisking together all the ingredients in a separate bowl.
7. Enjoy!

This is Just to Say

Hi everyone, I hope I can redirect you from the drudgery of Monday with another little poem post. William Carlos Williams has always been sort of personal role model for me because of the way he reconciled his passions for medicine with his passions for poetry while still managing to enjoy both lifestyles. 'This is Just to Say' is arguably his most famous poem, one of my personal favorites, and also my first poem request (props to Nicholas)!

This is Just to Say
By William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox 

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

 I will begrudgingly admit that plums are best eaten fresh (preferably cold!), but they partner up well in a bunch of desserts too. I love trifle-like sweets so here's an easy recipe that looks nearly as delicious as it tastes.

 For the pudding:
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 tsp. fine salt
2 1/2 cups milk (whole milk is best!)
2 tbs. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract (or vanilla bean which is even better)

1. In a small saucepan, stir together the sugar, salt, and cornstarch.
2. Slowly add in the milk a quarter of a cup at a time, allow the mixture to come to a boil.
3. Take the mixture off heat and add in the cold butter and vanilla. Stir together and chill in fridge.

For the plum preserves:
4 cups plums (pitted and chopped)
3 cups sugar
3/4 cups water
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. honey

1. Add all the ingredients into a small saucepan.
2. Bring the liquid to a boil while continuously stirring to dissolve the sugar
3. Let it simmer for 20ish minutes, allow the mixture to thicken. Make sure you don't let the sides stick to the pan!
4. Take off heat and store in your preferred container.

For the actual dessert:
Vanilla pudding
Plum preserves
A pinch of cinnamon

1. In a glass of your choice, alternate layers of pudding and preserves until you reach the top.
2. Sprinkle the cinnamon on top. Enjoy ^_^

Pizza and a Poem

I hope everyone is doing really great this Thursday! Sometimes we need to get back to basics so I'm keeping things short and sweet with my pizza and poem today.

flour on marble

blooms into flames crisping dough  

bubbling cheese cools

— N.H. Liao

I've always had a soft spot for haikus, something about how they translate grand ideas into the smallest of syllables just really excites me. I could not find the title of this particular haiku but it still remains one of my favorites. The poet does a really great job of creating sensory details the reader can feel. Who knew three lines about pizza could be so deep? Coincidentally I like my poems deep and pizzas thin, and finally have figured out how to make a tasty classic thin crust pizza. Hope you guys like this recipe as much as I do, and as always please request food and poems that you'd like to see!

For the crust:

Erm, I was going to include my own personal favorite thin crust recipe but it ended up taking up a whole page so I will just link it here instead (feel free to use pizza crust mix and follow the directions instead)

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2013/07/31/thin-crust-pizza-recipe/

For the pizza:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin oil, plus more for the pan

4 garlic gloves (crushed and minced)

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves

1 tablespoon dried basil leaves

Sea salt and black pepper

As much mozzarella cheese as you want 

8-12 cherry tomatoes halved

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

1. Start with your prepared crust. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. In a small bowl mix together the olive oil, crushed garlic cloves, and herbs. Brush this mix onto the prepared crust.

3. Thinly slice shreds of mozzarella cheese. Use as much as you want, but at least enough to cover a good majority of the pizza. 
4. Top your pizza with the halved cherry tomatoes and the cheese. Sprinkle with the salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. 
5. Bake in greased pan for 15-20 minutes, checking periodically until the cheese is slightly browned and bubbly.

In case you haven't noticed I usually like to omit tomato sauce when I make pizza just because I like eating the olive oil and garlic mixture as a base. The cherry tomatoes burst and make for a really sweet little make-shift sauce, but definitely feel free to add a sauce if your tastes require it ^_^

                                 

Hemingway Dines on Boiled Shrimp and Beer

Hi lovely readers, this blog will be chronicling my attempts to merge together two of the greatest things ever; food and poetry! Every so often I will be sharing some of my favorite food themed poems along with some of my favorite eats and my own food photography. I would love any (and all) feedback, please feel free to suggest any of your favorite food poems, submit your own food themed-poetry, or request certain recipes. Without further ado, I present to you the first of many posts!

Hemingway Dines on Boiled Shrimp and Beer
by Campbell McGrath

I'm the original two-hearted brawler. 
I gnaw the scrawny heads from prawns, 
pummel those mute, translucent crustaceans, 
wingless hummingbirds, salt-water spawned. 
As the Catalonians do, I eat the eyes at once. 
My brawny palms flatten their mainstays. 
I pop the shells with my thumbs, then crunch. 

Just watch me as I swagger and sprawl, 
spice-mad and sated, then dabble in lager
before I go strolling for stronger waters 
down to Sloppy Joe's. My stride as I stagger 
shivers the islands, my fingers troll a thousand keys. 
My appetite shakes the rock of the nation. 
The force of my miction makes the mighty Gulf Stream. 

A huge seafood lover, this poem always appealed to my inner foodie with its raw description of shrimp. I came across this recipe once when I realized I honestly only had a few ingredients on hand but a killer craving for shrimp. Easy to make, the buttery-garlicky goodness of this meal really hits the spot. Pairs well with any side dish really; here in my photo I matched it up with some sauteed broccoli.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Raw Shrimp, Deveined, Shells On (or off, I prefer not dealing with the mess)
• 2 sticks Cold Butter Cut Into Pieces
• 1 teaspoon Salt (I like sea salt!)
• 5 cloves Garlic, Peeled 
• 4 tablespoons Dried Parsley (I have also substituted dried basil  before)
• 1 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
• 1 whole Lemon, Juiced

Directions

1. Rinse your frozen shrimp in some warm water (make sure to separate them as they have a tendency to stick when icy!). Arrange them on a baking tray and preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. In your food processor, pulse the butter, garlic, parsley, red pepper, salt, and lemon juice together until they make a uniform mixture. 
3. Take clumps of the butter mixture and scatter them across your pan of shrimp. Bake in the oven until the butter and garlic starts to brown, it will smell delicious.

Recipe adapted from http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/12/spicy-lemon-garlic-shrimp/