Check out the Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival on May 31st in Little Chute, Wisconsin.

The post Food Festivals Summer 2013 Calendar appeared first on The Campus Companion Kitchen.

By the Thursday prior to exam week, my term papers are all submitted, and there’s this easy feeling about campus – for most people, finals don’t start for another four days or so, and it’s easy to forget the storm that’s coming.

I usually haul my books to the pool and laze in the sunshine, devoting equal attention to pre-exam revision and pre-summer bronzing.  Frustrated by Spanish phonetics?  Dive into the water and float in the deep end for a moment: buoyancy is an even better remedy than post-yoga Zen.

But hitting the books can hurt, and I adamantly believe that (good) food is restorative.  Beyond that, eating with (good) friends is a ritual.

Be a little kinder to yourself.  Gather the people you’re closest to, pool a bit of cash, and venture to the supermarket.  Plan a picnic, plan a feast…savor some simple peasant food and then try to sleep easy.  There’s time to stress, and these are your last days to enjoy the people you love at your university before you have to leave it.  Ready as you are for a rest, you’re going to miss them during these next three months.  (Especially if they decide that after those three months, they are going to study abroad in Argentina for ALL of fall semester.)

But the maker of such a decision is blameless, because Argentinians know barbeque.  Theirs is simple cuisine at it’s best: some worthy meats, a decent loaf of bread, and a nice, piquant chimichurri; and what you find is the science of culinary balance, perfected.  Last year my friends and I barbequed on a grander scale – actually venturing to our dorm grill to try our hand at open-flame cooking – but since this year it was just two of us, we redesigned the end-of-semester choripán tradition for personal ease.  (We also ate much, much more.)

My roommate insists that she can’t cook, but the method we used to prepare the sausage is hers, and she introduced me to the concept of choripán over a year ago.  (She did drop a sausage through the rack to the bottom of the oven – but we respect ourselves too little and our food too much to let good chorizo go to waste.)

What You Need:

For the Chimichurri:

8 cloves garlic

1 bunch fresh basil

1 bunch fresh cilantro

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the Choripán:

1 crusty baguette

5 fresh chorizos

What You Do:

For the Chimichurri:

Leave the skins on the garlic and toss into a skillet over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and fry until the skins turn a deep golden brown and the garlic is fragrant.  (This works like roasting the whole head, but quicker: caramelizing the garlic and mellowing out the flavor so the chimichurri won’t taste acrid.)  Remove from the heat immediately, and with a spoon scoop the garlic from the skillet – reserving the oil.  Skin the cloves (the skins should now be quite loose and slip off easily), give them a rough chop, and add to a blender with the oil used for frying.

Stem your cilantro (or, if you’re lazy like I am, give the leafy bundle a firm twist and tear off all the leaves in one go) and toss into the blender; then add the stemmed basil leaves – but reserve the basil stems, chop them up, and toss them in with the herbs.

Pour in your remaining 2-3 tablespoons olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a few healthy twists of salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Blend until the herbs break down and form a brilliant emerald paste, and test for seasoning.  Adjust amounts of salt and pepper to taste – and depending on how acidic you like your chimichurri, you might want to add a splash more balsamic, or a drizzle more oil and honey to ease the tang.  Scoop into a jar and set aside.

For the Choripán:

Cut your loaf of bread into four (or five, if you’re more abstentious than I) even pieces, and then open the pieces up by splitting lengthwise, leaving one long side attached.

Arrange your chorizos on a baking tray and pop into a preheated oven at 350 degrees F.  After about 10 minutes, check the bottoms of the sausages, and when they look nicely browned, deeply pierce them three or four times down their lengths with the tines of a fork so some of the liquid can escape.  Flip and continue to cook until both sides are browned, about another 10-15 minutes, or 20-30 minutes total.

Slather a generous helping of chimichurri all over the inside of the bread, split the sausages lengthwise and nestle into the bread, and press.  You’ll notice there is one extra sausage – unless you are boring and chose to split the bread into five, rather than four pieces.  This extra sausage is whatever you want it to be.  Feast.  (Full disclosure: I ate two of these sandwiches, and half of that extra sausage as an interim palate-cleanser.  Go for a run tomorrow; you’ll be fine!)

Your hands will smell like basil and garlic long after the last bite and you’ll have to spend at least an hour at sobremesa with your ‘date’, recovering from gustatory pleasure overload.  But I can’t see why you’d want to complain about any of that.

Serves 4-5 people, or 2 quite shamelessly greedy gorditas.

The post Keep Calm and Choripán: Choripán con Chimichurri appeared first on The Campus Companion Kitchen.

“Yes, baby?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“You want pancakes for dinner, don’t you?”

“…Yes.”

This is a common exchange in my apartment, and although I should mention that to my knowledge I currently have no biological children, I do have two beautiful roommates whom I love to spoil.  (I certainly brag about them enough to rival their mothers, anyway.)  So when they make dinner requests I’m more than likely to oblige, and I often find that they have better ideas than me.

This is how I realized that a humble bowl of soup is, in so many ways, the perfect food.

What kid doesn’t have fond memories of mom’s homemade soups and stews?  In one pot, you have a vehicle for tons of nutrient-packed vegetables, perhaps a protein, some cream if you’re lucky, and when you add cheese and are feeling fancy enough to have fresh bread on hand… Well, damn.

I have learned that everything – absolutely everything – is right with the world while a steaming bowl of broccoli cheddar soup is staring me down.

Especially when I have enough day-old homemade baguette to make floating islands out of cheese toasts.

What You Need:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 large heads broccoli, chopped (including all but the very end of the stalk)
• 2 medium carrots, grated
• 1 cup sharp yellow cheddar, grated
• 1 cup sharp white cheddar, grated
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

What You Do:

Boil your carrots and broccoli in the chicken stock until the broccoli is quite tender and becomes a vibrant green.  With an immersion blender, puree the vegetables and stock until smooth.  (Note: if you don’t have an immersion blender, you can puree the broccoli-stock mixture in a regular blender in small batches.)  Test for seasoning, and return the puree to low heat, keeping an eye on it while you prepare your béchamel.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the olive oil and add the onion.  Sautee until the onion becomes translucent, then add the garlic and continue to cook until the onions just begin to brown – taking care not to let the garlic burn.

Whisk in the flour until a thick paste (roux) forms; then, in a steady stream, whisk in the milk and continue whisking until you have a thick, creamy béchamel.  Turn down the heat and add the cheese, stirring until melted and smooth.

Add the cheesy béchamel to the vegetable puree, and give it a final pulse with the immersion blender – or inside a regular blender – until the texture is silky and thick.  Give it a final test for seasoning, and serve in heated bowls.

And if you have someone to impress: slice up a baguette into rounds, and combine three parts parmigiano reggiano cheese to one part olive oil, add a few grounds of fresh black pepper and perhaps a few cloves of minced garlic and some nice chopped herbs, smear over your bread, arrange on a tray, and pop into a preheated 350 degree oven until the cheese melts and bubbles and the bread is toasty and golden.  Float these cheesy islands over the top of the soup with a sprig of something green and get ready to bury your face in scalding liquid.

The post But MOM! Broccoli Cheddar Soup for the Homesick Soul appeared first on The Campus Companion Kitchen.

1. Leave your door open while you’re in your dorm room.  People will enter.  Trust me.  (Disclaimer: you might want to lock it while you’re sleeping.  Otherwise you might meet a few people who are already strangely familiar with you.  True story.)
2. Study in the common room.  Interesting things happen in there when you least expect it, like games of Indian Leg Wrestling.  There is no better study break.
3. Be the kid with the coloring books and the sidewalk chalk.  Someday somebody’s going to want them, you’re going to have them, and boom: instant friends.
4. Put on that bathing suit and tan on the lawn behind your dorm when you have reading to do or flashcards to memorize.  People will yell “Force times distance that body!” from open windows and you may get hit with a soccer ball, but if it’s a nice day, before long somebody’s going to work up the nerve to join you.
5. If it has Nutella in it, make it.  Make it NOW.

Nutella found me more friends in my freshman year than I could feed in one batch of cookies.  But a few of those turned out to be more lasting friendships than others.

Those lasting friends are – obviously – the ones you keep; the ones who make you cups of tea and tell you stories when you’re dying for human interaction.  They feel comfortable letting themselves into your room and taking naps in your bed without asking, and are equally likely to offer you their own.

If you have a jar of Nutella, grab a few spoons and offer some to those friends.  Make them one giant Nutella cookie, because even the campus convenience store sells chocolate hazelnut spread, and those kinds of friends will stay even after the last jar is scraped clean.

What You Need:

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup Nutella
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 9 oz. chopped dark chocolate, 60% cacao or higher

What You Do:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F, and grease and line a nine-inch round spring-form pan with parchment paper.

Cream together butter, sugar, ½ cup of the Nutella, and vanilla.  Add egg and mix to combine.  Sift in dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated; then stir in the chopped chocolate.  Gently swirl in the reserved Nutella, and press the dough into the spring-form.

Bake until the top is set but the center is still quite squidgy, about 20-30 minutes.  Let cool completely, cut into fudgy wedges, and serve.

If it’s somebody’s birthday, decorate the top of your Nutella Cookie Cake with Pretzel M&M’s – because what the hell – and some candles.  Blow out the candles, save them, and reuse them for the next birthday, because you are in college and that either means you’re poor or pretending to be.

The post How to Make the Undergrads Love You: Nutella Cookie Cake appeared first on The Campus Companion Kitchen.

Eating out is pretty much a staple of the college experience. The plethora of options at the dining hall can only sustain you for so long until everything starts to taste like the same processed crap. But while you may have settled for a few favorites (au bon pain’s caprese sandwich and Bagel Gourmet’s burritos were personal favorites), don’t miss out on some classic college food experiences that will prepare you for the real world…no seriously.

1. Sushi

If only to learn how to use chopsticks, eating at a sushi restaurant is a must. At some point in your career you will end up at some type of Asian restaurant where chopsticks are essentially mandatory. It will be you, your boss, all of your co-workers, and possibly some clients from Japan or China. You WILL look like a fool when you ask the waiter to bring you a fork. So, you might as well start practicing with a large roll of rice and fish in college in front of your inevitably sloshed friends.

What makes the sushi experience an experience is going to a place where you’re required to take your shoes off and sit on the ground criss-cross applesauce. It’s also all about going with a large group of friends so that you can get the boat. That’s right, the boat. At any sushi joint there is bound to be some kind of impressive wooden boat that will hold your raw fish, and it will probably make your evening. That and the fact that most sushi restaurants are BYOB.

2. Ethiopian Food

What Indian food was to the ‘90s, Ethiopian food is to the ‘10s. But, don’t let the fact that hipsters are super into it turn you away from what has to be one of the most satisfying and unique food experience out there. Similar to the sushi experience, eating Ethiopian food requires a large crowd–up to 12 of your closest friends. Order enough so that you can eat family style. What will usually end up happening is that your waiter will bring you several large plates that have all of the meat and veggie items that you’ve ordered. You will also get loads of this awesome bread that serves as a kind of edible utensil for the meat and veggie globs.

Ethiopian food is truly its own entity, and it’s really not like any kind of food out there. While not at all spicy, it’s extremely flavorful and you’ll definitely start to crave it the way people have cravings for Thai food. I will say this though…part of what makes eating Ethiopian food so enjoyable is the sense of community involved in the consumption and the total contentment from having a full belly.

3. Hangover/Still Drunk Pancakes

It doesn’t matter if you drink or not. What matters is the experience of spending all night out on the town and returning back to campus at 5 AM early enough to catch the early bird special at your local diner or breakfast joint. Nothing quite beats consuming a stack of chocolate chip pancakes after total sleep deprivation and bad decision-making. It’s as though the pancakes are soaking up your night of debauchery and replacing it with some kind of cathartic quasi-nutritional goodness.

4. 1 AM Food-truck Run

I find it hard to believe that anyone has missed out on this one, except perhaps the hyper-focused who get their work done and aren’t night owls like the rest of us. Particularly when you’re stressed, it’s great to just sink your teeth into a greasy hot quesadilla made by a greasier guy in the back of his food truck. Part of you needs the comfort from the food itself, the other part of you hopes that you’ll get food poisoning so you can end up at Health Services and get some kind of mandatory extension. Plus, standing in line for 1 AM food is a great way to catch up with people you haven’t seen around campus in a while, and usually some of the defining moments happen while you’re waiting by the food truck.

5. Mooching from a Club Meeting

We all know that college clubs hit upon something golden when it comes to acquiring membership:  if you feed them, they will come. As a result, we’ve all gone to club meetings we would have rather bunked to do reading in order to get dinner. So, to check this one off of the list, the mooching has to be blatant—like if you’re a scrawny little girl who shows up to an info session for boys’ rugby. Even better is if after the meeting for a club you have no intention of participating in you end up taking home the leftovers. Triple points for anyone ballsy enough to walk into a meeting and walk straight out with a takeout container of food.

The post 5 Food Experiences You Must Have Before Graduating from College appeared first on The Campus Companion Kitchen.

Well folks, we’ve made it to mid-Winter. It was a bit touch and go up in the Northeast where I’m situated, especially after Nemo and Plato (whoever devised the names for winter storms is clearly a boss). Depending on where you’re located, you very well may have had enough of snow and bitter coldness to last you for a few years. At this point, you’ve been doing all you can to stay warm, which probably means you’ve been consuming copious amounts of soup to the point where you’re sick of every broth, cream, and lentil variety (hard to believe, but it happens).

Enter Channa Masala, a sweetheart of South Asian cuisine. Any Pakistani or Indian restaurant you’ve ever been to has surely featured this chick-pea soup on its Apps list (for an unreasonably high price). This dish is extremely hearty and also very easy to make. Really, requires minimal effort on your part…and it will give you  your second wind to help you survive the second half of winter.

Ingredients:

1. 1 Large Can of Goya Chickpeas

2. 1/2 a Large Onion – chopped

3. 2-3 Roma Tomatoes – chopped

4. 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

5. 1 Teaspoon Salt

6. 1 Teaspoon Red Chili Pepper Powder

7. 2 Teaspoons Cumin Powder

How to Make It:

1. Grab a large pot and dump the entire can of chickpeas in, including the water. Add an additional cup of water and then set the stove on high to bring the chickpeas to a boil.

2. After the water has boiled for a few minutes, add the salt, red chili pepper powder, and cumin powder. Mix well and put the lid on the pot to allow the chickpeas to boil in the spices quicker.

3. Once the chickpeas soften, add the lemon juice and stir. Test the Channa Masala and adjust any spices to suit taste.

4. As soon as you can easily mash the chickpeas with a ladle, shut off the stove. Then proceed to add the onions and tomatoes. Let the Channa Masala stand for 10-15 minutes and then consume.

Serves 2-3.

The post Channa Masala for Cheapskates appeared first on The Campus Companion Kitchen.

Being a foodie in college is sometimes hard, when your meals consist of monotonous dining hall chicken. A few quirky appliances can take any boring plate of chicken to the next level. Not only that, but try spicing up your dorm room with some food festive items. Here’s what’s on my food lovers Christmas list for 2012.

1. Mini Microwave Oven

This gift is an easy way for a college foodie to be creative because it serves to reheat and toast dorm room snacks

2. Single Serving Ice Cream Maker

Buy a pack of flavored mix-ins to accompany the machine flavor and any college foodie has a cool creamy treat within reach of their college dorm.

3. Single Sandwich Panini Press

Sandwiches are the perfect college meal, so why not heat them up during the cold months! Can anyone say grilled cheese? Also, try using as a mini grill.

4. Personalized Frozen Ice Cube Tray

Pick out you favorite shapes or design your own online. Customize your college foodie’s name, favorite food or sport so that they can freeze ice cubes and juices with a personal flavor.

5. Pattern Red Plastic Chopsticks

Reusable plastic forks can get pretty grimy. Chopsticks are easy to clean, and come in a variety of fun colors.

6. Metal Tea Bag

Loose-leaf tea is becoming more popular, especially at farmer’s markets. A Metal Tea Bag is a staple for a college foodie to brew an array of herbal teas.

7. Assortment of Extracts

Vanilla, almond and toffee oh my! What a great way for any college foodie to spice up a holiday cookie.

8. Clear Glass Ornament

These are cheap to buy and can be found at any department store. Add in green and red M&M’s for a homey holiday gift to decorate the Christmas tree!

9. Customized Cookie Cutters

Similar to the personalized ice cube trays, this is a great gift that can be customized online and can define their baking during the holiday season.

10. Holiday Flavored Coffees, Jams and Fruit Preserves 

Try an array of different flavors that a college foodie can use in their baking or enjoy on their own, such as  Robertishere.com for products that ship anywhere.

These gifts will satisfy any foodie during the holiday season and for year around use. Plus their prices range to match any shopper’s budget. Treat your friend to one of these gifts, and their dorm will have a little extra foodie flair.

The post Top Ten Holiday Gifts for the College Foodie appeared first on The Campus Companion Kitchen.

Before my sister had an identity crisis a few years ago, I never really believed that vegan desserts could be moist and flavorful; I just figured that most desserts are made with dairy for a reason, so without it, how could they compare? But, boy was I wrong.

While I still hold onto the belief that some things are better with smooth cream, rich butter and fresh eggs, some vegan desserts are even better than their lactose-filled counterparts, and this is one of them. The Pumpkin Crumb Cake With Pecan Streusel from Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero’s Veganomicon cookbook is the perfect place for a non-vegan to start. With velvety pumpkin – the season’s star ingredient – crunchy pecans and silky, sweet molasses, you don’t miss the dairy at all.

So go ahead, step out of your comfort zone and try something a little different. At least you can say you tried.

Vegan Pumpkin Crumb Cake with Pecan Streusel

What You Need:

Pecan streusel

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 Tablespoon canola oil
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Cake

• 1 15 oz can pureed pumpkin
• 3/4 cup soy milk
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 Tablespoons light molasses
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon  ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

What You Do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

Prepare the streusel

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar and spices. Drizzle in the canola oil and mix with your fingertips until crumbs form. Add the pecans and mix.

Prepare the cake

In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, soy, milk, oil, granulated sugar, molasses and vanilla. Mix well. Add roughly half the flour, the baking powder, salt and spices, and use a fork to fold everything together. Add the remaining flour and mix gently until combined. Don’t use a hand blender for this, as pumpkin can get gummy if it’s mixed too aggressively. Blending with a fork helps maintain the texture.

Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and spread it out with a spatula. Scatter the streusel on top as evenly as possible. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a knife inserted through the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven, let cool and cut into squares.

The post Vegan Desserts are Delicious Too: Pumpkin Crumb Cake with Pecan Streusel appeared first on The Campus Companion Kitchen.

While I am all for putting on a production, when I have the time and money, sometimes I just don’t feel like it, and I turn to dishes that are ridiculously easy to make: ridiculously easy and delicious.

I discovered this little gem a couple of years back, and it is still as simple and satisfying as ever. And because it uses pre-made ravioli that you just need to heat up, it is perfect for beginners.

So the next time you just don’t feel like standing in the kitchen for hours, whipping up some spectacularly impressive dish, or if you’re just looking for something easy and tasty, keep this recipe on hand; it is the perfect quick-fix.

Ravioli with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon

What You Need:

• 1 lb cheese ravioli (fresh or frozen)
• 6 slices bacon
• 3 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped, or walnuts if you’re cheap like me
• 1/2 lb Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
• Grated Parmesan, for serving

What You Do:

Cook the ravioli according to the package directions

Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and break into pieces when cool.

Wipe out the skillet and heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat. Add the pecans and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly toasted, 2-4 minutes. Add the Brussels sprouts, salt and pepper and cook, tossing occasionally, until just tender, 3-4 minutes more; stir in the vinegar. Add the bacon and toss to combine.

Serve the Brussels sprouts mixture over the ravioli, drizzle with the remaining oil, and top with Parmesan, if desired.

The post Dinner in Minutes: Ravioli with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon appeared first on The Campus Companion Kitchen.

The leftover turkey sandwich is a Thanksgiving staple to any festive foodie. Although sweet and savory, by my third bulky roll it begins to lose its appeal. What is one to do with all the  dishes full of slice turkey breast, garlic mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce clogging your refrigerator? Instead of chucking the Thanksgiving leftovers, store them in compatible glass jars. This savvy trick is versatile as a single serving ready to go, a festive gift to a friend and easy storage!

This project requires one simple step- layering. Choose your favorite Thanksgiving dishes and layer them in the jar. Try these quick tips while constructing:

Bottom Layers:

1. The creamed foods, such as mashed, potato, sweet potato pie, and creamed onions tend to seep to the bottom. Either layer towards the bottom or in between absorbing ingredients, such as stuffing.

Middle Layers:

2. For sauces, such as gravy, cranberry sauce and mustards, layer them in between your favorite traditional meals. They bring together the whole dish, just as the would on the plate! Try doubling up on the layers to create a sense of pattern within your layered serving.

Top Layers:

3. As you approach the top of the jar, use  looser sides such as loose grains, sugared pecans or dried fruit. To create a polished look, try adding a savory leaf to garnish your jar similar to a plated dish. Cover the lid to seal in an air tight container for ultimate freshness.

Decorate:

Decorate with your eclectic mixtures of turkey stickers, orange ribbon and sparkled glittered. Its a simple seasonal treat! When enjoying, make sure that your glass jar is microwave safe or that you transfer to a microwave safe dish!

Thanksgiving leftovers are now compacted into a simple serving meal garnished in fall flavors and decorations! Try this trip with all your holiday party leftovers and even pre-baked (dry or wet) cookie dough! This works as a special gift to family and friends instead of the usual chocolate truffles, cheese and fruit baskets.

You are now equipped with your own mobile mirror into the holiday season.  As a college student, it is truly possible to bring mom’s Thanksgiving dinner back to your college dorm room. With a zap in the microwave, you back home for the holidays! Pop off the lid and unles\ash the holiday spirit wherever you are this year!

The post Thanksgiving Glass Jars: A New Way To Recycle Leftovers appeared first on The Campus Companion Kitchen.