Stocking Stuffer

How cool is Coolio?? I am excited to find out, when I read his new cookbook!

If excerpts from Cookin' with Coolio are any indication, the book should be a staple in any poormet kitchen..

Reasons:

1. The self-styled "ghetto gourmet" or "kitchen pimp" promises to provide 5-star meals at a 1-star price (I'm all ears!)
   
2. Coolio has found his voice, is AWESOME at cleverly changing standard cooking terms (Ghettalian) and the book's got chapters like "Salad Eatin' Bitches" and "It's Hard Out Here For a Shrimp"

I should have at least 3 reasons if I am going to make a list. But I am going to have to read this book first...

In the meantime I like Shaka Zulu! as an alternative to shouting BAM! every time I crack black pepper.

Happy Bday, Mom!

My mom taught me from a young age that Finest, Giant and any other generic store brand product is "just fine, thank you very much."

Lifted straight from my inbox, this recipe convinced my engineer dad that my mom was a spicy and interesting graduate student in the late late 1970's and she's been baking it ever since. THANK YOU very much, Mom.

"Here's a recipe for you.

Ingredients

• Several heads of broccoli (cut off the bottoms of the stems and then cut the rest into bite size pieces)

• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (generic is fine)

• 1 c. mayo (light is fine)

• 2+ teaspoons curry powder - to taste

• Pepperidge Farm Herb Bread Crumbs (as much as you want with a little extra on top)

Cost - no clue - you can figure that one out :)

Preparation:

1. In an ovenproof container you can mix all ingredients and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

With no oven, you could try this on the stove top - just won't get crispy.

Let me know if you get this email - not sure about your email address."

Mom, thank you for the Tupperware full of this delicious casserole and again, happy birthday!!!

Celebrate Vegetables and Side Dishes

Great article to get you thinking about a turkey-free Thanksgiving.

Gobble, gobble.

Tupperware News Bulletin

From coverage of genocide in Darfur, early childhood development and education, child trafficking in Southeast Asia to America's unhealthy eating habits and TUPPERWARE warnings, Nicholas Kristoff is an unbelievably productive journalist who can always be counted on for an interesting read.

This piece is from last week and warns about BPA, a synthetic estrogen found in plastics and canned foods. Scientists have linked the stuff "— though not conclusively — to everything from breast cancer to obesity, from attention deficit disorder to genital abnormalities in boys and girls alike." And, it's been found in 92% of American's piss...

Sythetic estrogen, or BPA, is "a key industrial chemical used to make polycarbonate, a raw material found in hundreds of plastic household goods and other products," according to Tupperware's website.

Dill Weed and I were just discussing the Yellow-5 scare-- when boys and teenagers across the county found out that "Doing the Dew" meant that your sperm count would drop-- and 95% of us decided that the future of our gonads was more important than enjoying a 44 oz. Mt. Dew to wash down our Laffy Taffys and Cow Tails after school. We stopped drinking it, and PepsiCo was forced to make other, more gut wrenching but not yellow, flavors of Mt. Dew.

But what other options are there in the world of food storage? Believe me, I am no more interested in consuming synthetic estrogen than I am colloidal silver, but I need to store my week's worth of lentil stew, red pepper chili, or ratatouille pasta in SOMETHING. I've rationalized that I am no longer microwaving my Tupperware containers, even if it cuts down on the dirty dishes.

Maybe Congress needs a reminder that when BPA was given to rats in clinical trials, they experienced lower sperm counts and decreased testicle weight... The little boy in all of them (save Sen. Feinstein) will cringe, even if they are being paid off by Tupperware lobbyists.

Any suggestions on ways to store and transport foods would be greatly appreciated.

Hearty ButterNut Squash Soup

It's been nearly a week since my last recipe-cum-sports commentary, and like many others in Philadelphia I've been in a state of subdued, introspective quiet following Game 6. We've taken a break from braggadocio uncharacteristic of Phillies fans.

Yep, we got taken down a peg- and that's not such a bad thing.

In fact, with all of this talk about the exorbitant spending it took to make the New York Yankees champions again, people seem to be receptive to thrift and moderation ($9 Million for Cliff Lee is a DEAL). Poormet recipes, anyone?

Hearty ButterNut Squash and Ginger Soup: 45-60 minutes, $5.00, 4 bowls, $1.25/serving

Ingredients:

• 1 Large Butternut Squash-- I bought one of these guys at the Italian Market last week for $1.50/piece, instead of at a supermarket which charges by the pound. Look for more width in the neck of the bnut, since the bulb is hollow.
  
• 1 medium onion
  
• 2 large carrots
• 2 stalks of celery
  
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 Tablespoon of minced fresh ginger
• 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 overflowing Irish pint of water (22-24 ounces)
  

Preparation:

1. Butternut Squashes are these weird, phallic vegetables that can be tricky to cut. Take your 7 inch santoku and cut off the tippy top of the stem. Next, separate the bulb at the bottom. Next, place the Bnut standing upright and cut off the skin of the main section. Then, cut off the skin of the bulb. There are seeds in the bulb, so cut those out as well. Then, cut the main section into 8-10 discs 1/2 inch thick. Then, andrew DICE clay everything. Set aside.
2. Heat up 1 Tbsp olive oil in a spaghetti pot.
3. Dice onion, carrots and celery and add to pot. Cover. Cook on medium for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.
   
4. Mince garlic and ginger and add to pot. (1 Tbsp of ginger is about the size of your thumb-as long as you don't have thin thumbs. If you've got a fat thumb, you're in luck, because your soup will taste extra fresh). Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Add diced Bnut, 1 tsp of salt, 0.5 tsp of pepper, and the other Tbsp of olive oil. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
6. Add water, COVER and cook for 25 minutes. Heat on medium. Should bubble a little bit.
7. If you have a blender (not a bad investment- saw one on craigslist for $10), turn off the heat and let the soup cool for 10 minutes or so. Then, blend it up and eat with some hearty bread (recipe, Ian???). OTHERWISE, I just ate a lumpy version of the soup and it was tasty.

Enjoy!

Phils in 5... in 2010.

NY Style Art-o-choke

Cheesecake and pizza? Forgetaboutit! The delicate and subtle new trademark for New York cooking is the art-o-choke...

A vegetable in the same family as the sunflower, artichokes are familiar to most of us in the form of a cheesy spinach dip which, while delicious, is both heart-stoppingly bad for you (watch out under-insured poormands!) and really expensive.

TIP: Get rid of the spinach and cheese, you are left with a healthy snack!

T-I-P: Buy 4 small artichokes at the Italiam Market for $1.00 RIGHT NOW! Seriously, 4 of them for $1.00 total. 25 cents-a-piece!

Don't be intimidated by its killer reputation. Step-by-step instructions on how to cook and eat the flower can be found here.

(Cutting the tips of the leaves is a nice touch, but not necessary... Also, Bay Leaves and Lemons are tasty additions if you have them, but definitely boil the artichoke with garlic and salt... Finally, eat the stem-which is attached to the heart. It's fibrous, but still very good)

Eat artichokes with a friend if you are still scared.

Phils in 7!

-PH