maggots michael, you're eating maggots-- how do they taste?

if you're anywhere near as nerdy as me, you'll get that reference and realize that i'm about to talk about the awesome noodles i made. and if you don't get that reference i won't embarass myself further by telling you what movie it's from-- there may or may not be vampires in it, it has BOTH coreys, and i've seen it no less than 100 million times. oh, and i'm about to talk about the noodles i made for the kickass carcass soup.

this was my first venture into noodle cookery. i subbed 1/2 the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour and subbed milled flax seeds+water for one of the eggs. my kitchen counters were accommodating enough-- i made a small batch of dough and didn't roll them out quite as 'paper thin' as betty crocker suggested (in retrospect though-- i like my noodles thick, but i wish i hadn't made then quite as thick as i did. a) i'm lazy and got tired of rolling, and b) i had already used up all clean rollable surfaces and was more than happy to call it good). i was a bit nervous about how long they took to cook, but they were pretty good in the end.

overall critique of the soup-- i wish i had allowed more time for the stock to become stock. it was good and pretty flavorful, but you didn't feel it down in your toes like i wanted. i still have 1/2 a carcass so i guess this was just a trial run.

observation> like cake, noodles are freaking easy to make and they taste so much better than crap from a box. i need to find me a rich man so i can stay home and cook all our meals from scratch...

jive turkey

kickass carcass soup
i scored a turkey carcass to make kickass turkey soup with homemade noodles. i'm a bit apprehensive about the actual carcass itself, but the boy promised to handle it for me (i.e. in and out of the soup pot)-- he's getting soup out of the deal so i look at it as win-win-- plus he's not nearly so squimish and girly about bones, etc. i'm excited about making noodles but a little freaked about my ABSOLUTE LACK of counter space suitable for rolling out what i can only assume will be ACRES of thin flour-y dough (? is it called dough?). i've clearly watched too many situation comedies with hilarious kitchen-related mishaps. damn you i love lucy.

on a related note- i had two thanksgivings this year-- i was a guest at thanksgiving #1 (wherein i scored the aforementioned carcass) and hosted (hostessed?) #2.
#1- crazy mix of vegetarians, meat-eaters, and raw foodies. the spread was insane. full turkey and all the rest- sprouted salads up the wazoo, and about a million assorted pies etc. the turkey was un-freaking-believable. huge and juicy as a grapefruit (give me a break. i'm eating a grapefruit right now) and cooked by a vegetarian who later was all up in that turkey up to her elbows pulling it apart for me. what a great lady.

#2- 17 people crammed elbow to elbow in my apartment and a slim keg of delicious amber beer chillin' on the porch. dinner was mostly potluck. we had a turducken (i love louisiana. seriously.), 3 different kinds of dressing (two of which were made by yours truly-- i made one batch a'la dad -- basic cornbread dressing with LOTS of sage and black pepper. i ran out of sage making the first pan and subbed with zatar for the second as i have that by the bucket. both were good i thought), carrots (glazed?), green bean casserole, french bread, cranberry relish, bouef with beer, an assload of desserts (including a righteous tiramisu) and of course beerbeerbeer (and later cocktails till 4am, but whatever). it was awesome to have some many people there each with their own special dishes (ps- i dirtied EVERY dish i own plus all of my neighbors dishes).

aside from that- i made a great dal last week (i'm finally putting a noticable dent in the 8 POUNDS of yellow lentils i bought (huh?). they were like $2 at the patel bros grocery. anyway-
DAL
*1/2 small onion- diced fine
*1 TBish veg oil
*1TBish diced red chili
[alright- here i have to admit that in place of the oil/diced chili ingredients i used a big spoonful of diced cherry peppers packed in olive oil. i think cherry peppers pack a pretty good heat]
*4 med carrots- cut chunky (the recipe called for grated sweet potato, but i didn't have any. i'm all hot to make it with sweet potato though. i thought the sweet of the carrots would be a good sub)
*1 c lentils- rinsed
* 1 can diced tomatoes (with liquid)
*2t each- cumin and ground coriander
*1t tumeric
*2 cloves garlic- smashed
*it also called for fresh ginger, but i didn't have any on hand

saute the onion, carrots/sweet potato, garlic (and ginger if you got it), and chili together until onions are translucent. add lentils and spices-- stir to coat. add tomatoes and 4 c of water. simmer (no lid) for 25ish minutes (keep an eye on the level of the water and add more if needed). i gave it a whir with ye olde immersion blender and ate it the freak up with a dollop of yogurt and some flat bread. mmm. lentils.

i'm also loving these new sweet potato pancakes-- grated sweet potato w cayenne, toasted cumin seeds, cilantro, s&p, and a bit of cinnamon all bound up with egg and fried up in a cast iron skillet. served with labneh (which i recently discovered. y u m) . i could eat these forever.

so tomorrow i'm making the kickass carcass soup. just your garden variety carrots/celery/potatoes. i'm so pumped about the noodles though. wish me luck and pray for the counter-top fairy to magically expand my kitchen by tomorrow.