This Blog’s a-movin’!

Hey, everyone! I hope this post finds you all well! In order to condense my online presence (and so I can send people to my cooking blog without having to explain “well, yeah, Missus Madness is my handle for lots of things, so that’s why it’s called Madness in the Kitchen. It’s all actually pretty organized. . .”), I’ll be moving all the posts from this blog to my new blog, Lucie Does Things!

Lucie Does Things will have all the fantastic recipes I have here (plus many more!) along with other media content. I hope to record some recipe videos, and I already have a few Vines of my recipes (search for Lucie Eytch!). I’ll also be sharing my sewing projects and some French lessons, along with other interesting things that I’m doing, hence the name!

As always, if there’s a recipe or crafty project you’d like to see me tackle, please let me know, and thank you all so much for the support. I originally started this blog to catalog all my recipes and to send them to my mom (Hey, Mom!), but there are several of you out there who really enjoy what I post, and you inspire me to cook more! I hope you’ll consider following Lucie Does Things to keep up with my adventures! If you like, you can also follow me on Twitter, @LucieDoesThings

 

xoxo,

Lucie

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

1 sweet onion
2 cloves garlic
3-4 sardine fillets, packed in oil, not salted
1 28oz can San Marzano tomatoes (or other whole tomatoes in sauce, but really, San Marzano’s the best)1 28oz can tomato sauce
4 oz sliced black olives
4 oz capers and their brine
1 tsp Cayenne (at least! I added lots)
1 glug red wine (I dunno, 1/4 cup? You know a glug when you do it.)
2-ish tablespoons chopped basil (I used two good branches of my cute boxwood basil)

Finely dice the onion and saute until the edges begin to color. Finely dice the garlic and add it, along with the sardine fillets*. Break up the sardines as you saute the garlic, and when it breaks into tiny pieces, add the tomatoes and sauce. Let it cook for a minute, smashing the tomatoes a bit, then add the olives, capers, cayenne, and wine. Let simmer for at least 10 minutes while you cook the pasta. Right before serving, add the basil. Don’t you *dare* skimp on the sauce when you serve it!

I am so amazed at how freaking good this ended up being. Like, I assumed it’d be a typical tomato sauce, but it is so much more. SO. MUCH. MORE. I don’t know why, but the combination of the sardines, capers, and Cayenne is just perfect together. Puttanesca means whore in Italian, and the story is that the sauce got its name because it’s hot, quick, and easy, but either way, it’s an excellent meal, fairly light if you don’t eat a pound of it, and the sauce reheats well, too. Next time, I would definitely add more olives, but I know this is going to become one of my regular recipes.

*Traditionally, puttanesca uses anchovies, but I wasn’t paying any attention when I picked up my groceries because I was tired after finals, but I don’t think it suffered from the fish mix-up.

Zucchini-Potato Fritters

2 zucchini
2 medium potatoes1/4 c bread crumbs
2 eggs, plus 1 egg white
1/4 c Parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Shred the zucchini and peeled potatoes using a box grater or mandoline with a julienne plate. Squeeze the extra liquid out of the veggies, then add a teaspoon or two of salt, then set aside to let the salt pull out even more moisture. After 10 minutes or so, squeeze the extra moisture out, quickly rinse, then squeeze again. Set it on a paper towel to take out any remaining moisture that’s going to come out. I’ve done the fritters without draining them well, and 1: they pop all over the place in the pan, and 2. they taste watery to me, so it’s really worth draining them. Mix the veggies with the rest of the ingredients. Grease a skillet and heat over medium. Place a heaping tablespoonful of the mix on the pan, spreading it out a bit. Don’t overcrowd the pan! When one side is golden brown, flip and cook the other side. Serve hot.

NON-RECIPE: Look at my garden!

I miss having a garden, but I don’t have any outdoor space in my apartment, so I decided a vertical garden was in order. My wonderful boyfriend made me a shelf for all the plants to live on, so they all get lots of sun in the afternoon, and it doesn’t take up any extra floor space, already so precious in New York.

Top row: sweet mint, strawberries

Middle row: boxwood basil, flat Italian parsley, Cayenne peppers

Bottom row: sage, thyme

 

Anywho, thought you might be curious to see my cute little garden! The mint is wonderful, though a bit more like spearmint than I was expecting. I’ve harvested two strawberries so far, and they are so deliciously juicy. The basil’s the big surprise of my garden. I don’t use a ton of basil, but I love how strong the flavor is from these tiny leaves. Also, I don’t have to cut them up. I’m very excited to see if the peppers actually grow, because y’all know how I love my Cayenne. I’d make my tongue numb for a week if I had my own fresh Cayenne peppers! The parsley, sage, and thyme were what I was expecting, and I’m now a little sad I didn’t get rosemary, but I’ve not been super into rosemary lately.

Ritz Chicken

1 lb chicken tenders
1 c sour cream
1 stack Ritz crackers
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
dash of Cayenne

Take the crackers and spices and blend them in the food processor. You can also just crush and mix, if you don’t want to dirty your mixer. Set up a dipping station with sour cream on one plate and the cracker mix on another. Dredge each tender in sour cream, then coat completely with the crackers. Place in a greased Pyrex dish, trying not to overlap too much. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.

I love this recipe way more than I thought I would. It’s crunchy on the outside but so juicy inside. The sour cream really keeps in the moisture. I was inspired by a recipe my grandmother and mother make, using mayonnaise and Italian breadcrumbs, but I didn’t have mayonnaise, so I used sour cream, and it grossed me out less. I mean, the original recipe is delicious, but I don’t like handling mayo by itself.

Eggs in Chickpea Hell

1 c tomato sauce (I used vodka sauce because I always have it)
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 pinch each of clove, cinnamon, and ginger
1 egg
1/4 c Parmesan cheese

Heat the tomato sauce over medium heat. Add the chickpeas and spices and cook for 10-ish minutes, or as long as it takes to shower. You’ve had a long day and need a shower. Crack the egg into a ramekin to make sure you don’t break it or get any shells in it, then slowly pour it into the sauce. Sprinkle the cheese over the egg, then cover and cook for 3 minutes. Can be served over rice or as-is.

Mario Batali has an “eggs in hell” recipe that’s a lot like this, but I wanted chickpeas in mine, so . . . this recipe got a very clever name . . .

Fisherman’s Pie

4-5 Yukon gold potatoes
3/4 c milk (This is the biggest stab in the dark ever.)4 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

11 oz spinach (the big box at the store)
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
2 c milk
fresh thyme (I used a good-sized branch from my plant.)
salt and pepper1 lb cod or other meaty, mild fish

Peel and dice the potatoes, and get them fellers boiling in salted water. Wilt the spinach and set aside. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan, then add the flour. Cook at medium heat until it smells like a cooked pie crust. Slowly add the milk. You might want to switch to a whisk to reduce lumps, but as Chef John always says, hot roux, cold milk, no lumps! Add the thyme, salt, and pepper, and cook, constantly stirring, until the sauce had thickened. After around 30 minutes, the potatoes should be cooked, so drain them, then return them to the pot, add the butter, and mash ’em! Add milk until you get proper mashed potato consistency: spreadable but still able to hold its shape when plopped.

Preheat the oven to 350. Oil an 8×8 glass dish, then salt and pepper the bottom. I know I sound insane, but trust me*. Place your fish on the baking dish (See?? Now it’s seasoned!) in a single layer. You might have to cut your fish a bit. Salt and pepper the top of the fish. Add the spinach in an even layer, then pour the white sauce over the top. Spread on the mashed potatoes, then bake at 350 for around 45 minutes or until the fish flakes. (You’re allowed to dig around in there.) Let the casserole rest for 10 minutes before serving. I recommend making this when you know it’ll all get eaten that night, as this doesn’t reheat particularly well.

*I lied, you’re trusting Chef John again, as this is totally his recipe. Search for it on Youtube if you doubt me!

 

 

 

Baked Stuffed Mushrooms

4 large portobello (portabella? I have no idea what the correct spelling is, and neither does Firefox) mushrooms
1 onion
1 clove garlic
2 cups spinach (about half of a 5 oz pack)
1/3 c Panko bread crumbs
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/3 c mozzarella cheese.
salt and black pepper to taste

Scrape the gills off of the mushrooms and cut off the stems, if there are any. Preheat the oven to 375, drizzle the mushrooms with oil, and bake them for 10 minutes while you prep the filling. Finely dice the onions and garlic and saute in a large wok-ish pan oil until translucent and aromatic. Add the spinach and reduce heat to low. Once the spinach wilts, add the bread crumbs, vinegar, salt, and pepper, then turn off the heat. Add the cheese and stir until just combined. Take the mushrooms out of the oven and spoon the mixture into the center of each mushroom. Return to the oven and bake for 15 more minutes.

 

 

Non-Recipe: Bag-Bag

So, I’m trying to organize my life and do some spring cleaning, and I’ve just been keeping all my extra plastic bags in a giant Duane Reade bag, which works, but it’s very bulky and not attractive at all, so I decided to make a bag-bag! It was super easy, too!!

You need:
1 canvas bag
14 inches of thin elastic
a sewing machine / thread and needle / fabric glue / hot glue / staples (just something that will make cloth stick together)

Cut the bottom of the bag so that it’s open. Fold over 1 inch of fabric from the open bottom, and pin in place. Sew near the edge (or glue/staple) so that you leave a track of at least 3/4 inch. Make sure to not go all the way around so you have a spot to thread the elastic. Cut the elastic in half, and thread it all the way through the track you created. An easy way to do this is to use one safety pin to hold the end of the elastic at the opening and a second attached to the threading end of the elastic as a needle. Tie off the ends with a few knots once you’ve made it all the way around.

Check out the top of the bag. It should have a hem around the top a lot like the one you just made. Use a seam ripper or cuticle nippers to take out a few stitches in the hem and thread the other piece of elastic through in the same way. Now ball up some plastic bags, throw them in, and hang up your bag! You’re able to pull baggies out of the bottom and add more to the top whenever you have them. Hooray!!

Note: that bag is a total liar. I tried to switch to wind power, but they don’t offer it in my neighborhood. They gave me the bag anyway.

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

1 spaghetti squash
oil

1 sweet onion
1 large can diced tomatoes
1/2 c stock
1 sprig basil
salt and pepper

1 lb ground beef
1 clove garlic
1/2 c bread crumbs
1/2 c stock
1 tsp salt

Slice the spaghetti squash in half. Drizzle with oil and bake for 50 minutes to an hour at 375. While that’s baking, dice the onion and saute in a large pot until translucent. Add the tomatoes and stock. Chop the basil, and add that, along with the salt and pepper. You could totally add some oregano or parsley, too, if you’re into that. Let it simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Mix all the meatball ingredients until well combined. Put tablespoon-sized dollops in the sauce to poach. Don’t worry too much about how they look; they’ll break apart when you mix everything anyway. Put the lid on the pot and cook on medium-low for another 30 minutes or so, until the meatballs are cooked all the way through.

Once the squash is cooked, let it cool. Once it’s cool enough to handle, scrape the inside with a fork. The strands will come off looking like noodles. Separate any chunks of squash and mix it with the hot sauce. Again, the meatballs will kind of fall apart, but I don’t mind. If you do, then mix a little sauce in with the squash and serve the rest on top of the squash. It might be fun to serve this in the shells of the squash, if they don’t fall apart, but mine totally fell apart, so I didn’t.