Carrie Murphy

My boyfriend R and I have decided to embark upon a weeklong paleo eating challenge.

My love of bad clipart has never left me, apparently. 

In case you're not familiar with the paleo, or paleolithic, diet, it's basically eating the way cavemen (or, to be a bit more PC, hunter-gatherers) did. That means meat, vegetables, nuts and fruit. You can also have seafood and eggs, but no grains of any kind, legumes, or sugar, and dairy is generally frowned-upon, too.

People that eat paleo are very into it. I hear amazing things all the time about weight loss, energy levels, all that kind of stuff. Neither R nor I are really trying to lose weight, but I think we could both benefit from paying more attention to our food and how it makes us feel. So once R's exams were finished (he's a PhD student), we decided to go for it! The challenge starts next week.

It's going to be tough. I already eat largely gluten-free, so that part won't be too hard, but I eat lots of dairy for protein, and I eat candy ALL THE TIME. And quinoa, rice, and beans are also huge staples of my cooking. It's only a week, but I'm wondering how strict I really want to be. Can I really give up my daily apple with peanut butter? Even for a week? R basically lives on cereal, sandwiches, and pasta, so it'll be a challenge for him too.

I'll document some of the experiment here, but I'm also looking for tips. Do you have any great Paleo recipes? Any tips for eating only fruits, vegetables and meat? I can do this for a week, right? HELP!

If you're having a bad day, make this sandwich. It's gooey and sweet and fresh and a little bit salty and I bet you $10 it will make you feel better. Seriously, if you're having a crap day and this sandwich doesn't make you feel better, write me an email. I'll Paypal you $10. 

I got the inspiration for this recipe from a sandwich I ate a couple of weeks ago at Miss Shirley's in Baltimore. It's my mom's absolute favorite place to go for lunch or brunch, and I ordered a grilled goat cheese with spinach and strawberries. It was good, but I felt like it needed something. A little bit more flavor, a little bit of a punch, you know? So, I thought try roasting the strawberries before putting them on the sandwich and VOILA! This recipe was born (and wolfed down straightaway). Oh and bonus? The bread, cheese, strawberries and spinach were all purchased at my local farmer's market.

Roasted Strawberry & Spinach Grilled Goat Cheese

makes one sandwich

total time: 25 minutes

total hands on time: 7 minutes?

What you'll need:

2 slices of thick-cut bread

a couple of pats of salted butter

2-4 oz of fresh goat cheese (softened or not)

about a handful of fresh spinach

6-8 strawberries, leaves removed and sliced lengthwise in half

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

lots of black pepper

What you'll do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Slice the strawberries and toss them in the vinegar and oil; sprinkle with a ton of good quality black pepper.

3. Roast for about 15 minutes. The strawberries should hold their shape, but smush easily when pressed with a spoon.

4. While the strawberries are roasting, very lightly toast the bread. I think this adds a necessary crunch to the sandwich.

5. Once the strawberries are done, assemble the sandwich, you know the drill: bread, cheese, spinach and strawberries. You can butter the bread itself, but I usually heat the butter in the frying pan and do it that way. 

6. Cook for two or so minutes on each side, flipping frequently and carefully. 

7. Slice and eat!

Further suggestions: make sure you use a really hearty bread, nothing thin or flimsy. Think thick, grainy, healthy; you need a strong slice to hold the weight of the strawberries. Also, using salted butter really adds a nice dimension to the flavors, I think. I didn't get my sandwich too dark on the outside, either, but I'm not sure how much of a difference that makes. 

Here's the little dude who kept me company while I cooked:

And another shot of the deliciousness:

I actually made this black bean hummus earlier this week, but I've held off on posting about it because I was looking for a clever "angle" for the post. if you're a food blogger or even just a blogger, maybe you know what I mean: it seems like there's a pressure to make every post feature some hilarious anecdote, some larger story or joke or fascinating tale of how you came up with the recipe. But you know what? There really isn't one. I wanted to make this hummus, I made this hummus, and it was good.

This black bean hummus recipe is easy, healthy, and delicious. I'm actually going to make it again today because I have some friends coming in town for a concert and I'm making some appetizers for before the show. I rarely get to cook for anyone other than myself and my boyfriend R, so I'm kind of excited. Is it sad that I'm excited to cook for people? I don't know. It isn't sad that I'm excited for the concert itself, which is The Avett Brothers!! They're one of my all-time favorite bands and I haven't seen them live since Bonnaroo 2008, before I moved to New Mexico. Of course, as soon as I moved away from New Mexico they played in both Albuquerque and El Paso, TX (an hour or so from Las Cruces, where I lived). They are so so so so so good live and I'm so excited to just rock out and dance and sing and scream. Wait. Did this post just turn into an anecdote about the recipe? I think it did!

Listen to these songs while you make the hummus:

Black Bean Hummus

makes about 3-4 cups of hummus

total time: 7ish minutes

total hands on-time: 7ish minutes

What you'll need:

2 tbsps tahini paste

1 can black beans, rinsed (or 2 cups cooked black beans)

1 can green chile (or 2 tbsps chopped green chile)

1 tbsp olive oil (plus more to drizzle on top)

2-4 garlic cloves

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp cumin

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

salt to your taste

What you'll do:

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Try it and add more seasonings, especially salt or cumin, depending on your taste.

That's it! Feel free to omit the green chile if you don't like it or if you think it might be too spicy for you. I think the hummus tastes better when it's chilled. I ate mine with tortilla chips and baby carrots, but it'd be great with sliced peppers or some kind of spicy toasted pita bread, I think.

I came across this beautiful and intimates series of photographs yesterday via Food52. Photographer Juliette Tang takes pictures of books with meals. Here are a few I especially like:

More on Tang's Flickr, including dozens of pretty book related photos without food.

I've always been a reader-while-eater, although these days I'm more likely to be reading Google Reader rather than a real printed book. But here's my version, snapped this morning (with Instagram, of course; if you'd like to follow me my username is carriemurph) and featuring chai tea, greek yogurt with granola, and Maureen Thorson's book of poems, Applies to Oranges (guest appearances from my dog Pablo's tail and my new purple pedicure).

This is the fifth entry in my Writers Eat series. I'm asking writers I admire to share their favorite recipes and/or foods here on Plums in the Icebox. The food will sometimes tie in with the writer's work, but sometimes not. If you're a writer and you're interested in participating, let me know!

When I met fellow poet and food blogger Autumn Giles in New York last month, I basically accosted her and was like LET'S TALK ABOUT THE WEST (I was more than a few glasses of champagne deep, I should add.) As a Montana girl, she was pretty accommodating as I rambled on how weird I feel being back on the East Coast. We knew each other from food blogging and from Twitter, but it was such a pleasure to meet her in person. Did I mention she has the coolest vintage glasses ever? Because she does.

The next morning, I headed to her super cute apartment in Sunnyside,Queens (complete with living room rug that looks just like a picnic blanket) to be interviewed for Autumn's Alphabet Soup podcast. Autumn is the creator and curator of the Alphabet Soup podcast, which "makes conversation about the intersection of food and language with folks who eat, talk and think too much" (not sure a more perfect podcast for me exists, by the way, unless it somehow happened to include vintage clothing and babies), and I was SO EXCITED to be a part of it. You can listen to my episode here, if you're interested.

We had a great long chat about eating and writing and everything in between, including MFA progams and not loving Sylvia Plath and first cooking experiences and how to live a fulfilling creative life. Although we didn't really nail down our own relationships to food and writing, Autumn's awesome poems definitely have a bit of a foodie mindset: there's "quince" and "raspberry" and "orange pizza grease" in her ambivalent hymn to New York, "Love, Yonkers." I love this "shakey and sugary" one from La Petite Zine, "Kids These Days." And "Brontosaurus Soup?" Yep, brontosaurus soup. She's tried to write recipe-poems, she said, but never really been able to succeed. I wouldn't be too concerned about that if I were Autumn, because her poems are lovely and her food blog, Autumn Makes and Does, is amazing. She's gluten-free and she's a crazy creative cook (see some of my favorite posts of hers after the recipe). 

**

Autumn says: I had a really hard time deciding on a recipe because a lot of the nonsense that I cook for myself often doesn't necessarily have a recipe... Let's say this is a favorite recipe of mine. And I feel kind of bad choosing this because I know you're a healthy eater, but it's the "never fail" fudge recipe from the back of the marshmallow fluff jar. I love it because I think it reminds me of a lot of stuff that makes me happy. My grandmother makes us fudge every year and mails it in check boxes (always check boxes). I was a huge fan of fluffernutters as a kid and know I shouldn't want to eat marshmallow fluff as an adult, but I do. So, I'd say it's a sentimental fave definitely. And, bonus, it means you get to look at the marshmallow fluff website, which is a GEM.

**

Never having made fudge before, I was TOTALLY FINE with trying out this recipe. Plus I really liked the idea of cooking a recipe that had such warm associations for Autumn. Grandmothers and happy feelings? Sign me up.

Never Fail Fudge

reprinted from MarshmallowFluff.com

makes 2 1/2 lbs of fudge

total time: about an hour

total hands on time: maybe 20 minutes?

What you'll need:

2 1/2 cups of sugar

1 7 oz container of marshmallow fluff

1/2 stick of butter or margarine

1 5 oz can evaporated milk

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 bag of semi sweet chocolate pieces

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

What you'll do:

1. Grease a 9 in square baking pan.

2. Combine sugar, marshmallow, salt, evaporated milk and butter in a large saucepan. Stir over low heat until blended.

3. Once blended, bring to a boil over medium heat. Don't mistake escaping air bubbles for a boil..it needs to be a real, rolling boil. Boil for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

4. Try the Soft Ball test. If your mixture is ready, stir in the nuts and chocolate, stirring continuously until the chocolate is melted.

5. Pour mixture into pan and cool until set. Here's mine chilling in my fridge:

I followed the recipe on the Marshmallow Fluff website pretty much exactly to the letter, except I did add a dash of cinnamon. For some reason the walnuts weren't that well distributed, so I think if I make it again, I'll add a bit more of them. I also didn't have a square pan, so I used a circular one.

I have to tell you guys that almost half of this batch of fudge disappeared in about 36 hours. That's a pretty shameful admission, especially considering that, in a two-person household, I'm the only person who even eats fudge. Sooooooo, yeah. This no-fail fudge was somehow light and rich all at once, and so so so sweet. Yesterday I wrapped all the fudge into individual pieces and put it in the freezer so I can stretch out the delicious enjoyment of it for a while longer. We'll see how long I last.

Check out Autumn's incredible food blog, Autumn Makes and Does, where she makes innovative recipes I could never even dream of dreaming up. Exhibit A: Grapefruit Hibisbus Curd. I mean, wow. Right?! Some of my other favorites are her Avocado Paletas, Tomato Water, Sweet and Salty Brownies and (of course!) Chile Rellenos with Potato and Anchovies. Autumn is also a canning maven, so I highly recommend checking out her canning section, as well. You can also follow her on Twitter and subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

A big thank you to Autumn for participating in Writers Eat, for introducing me to this great fudge recipe, and for the delicious homecooked treats she gave me after our interview. My hungover belly was very happy on my bus ride back to DC.

I set out to make banana bread, but this ended up so incredibly, amazingly, wonderfully moist that I decided to call it a cakebread instead. Because it's kind of like a cake! Get it? Cakebread! Because it's sort of a bread but it's also sort of a cake. 

Of course, one of the factors that contributed to this cakebread being so moist was that I incorporated strawberry preserves into the recipe. I knew I wanted to make banana bread, but I also wanted something a little more interesting than plain old banana bread. Strawberries and bananas always go well together, thus, strawberry banana bread (or, little did I know, cakebread. Have I beaten the cakebread thing to death yet? No? Cakebread.)I didn't blend the preserves up very well because I was hoping for some sticky oozy ribbons of strawberry throughout the bread and that's exactly what I got. Exhibit A:

Yummmmmm.

This recipe is gluten-free, but it's based off of my old-standby banana bread recipe that contains gluten. So that means you can use the same amount of GF flour as you can regular gluteny flour.

Strawberry Banana Cakebread

makes 1 loaf

total time: 1 hour 15 minutesish

total hands on time: 15 minutes

What you'll need:

1 3/4 cups GF all-purpose flour mix (I used Arrowhead Mills)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup applesauce

3 ripe bananas, mashed (I don't mash mine completely because I like some thicker banana parts mixed in)

3/4 cup strawberry preserves or jam

What you'll do:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2.In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well.

3. Mash bananas an

4. Whisk eggs with sugar.

5. Add egg mixture to the wet ingredients and mix well.

6. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients and mix very well, making sure all dry parts are totally incorporated. It is a VERY thick and sticky batter.

7. Pour into a pan and bake for about 45 minutes to an hour. Mine took closer to an hour.

I'm not terrific at vegan baking, but I think this recipe would still turn out if you omitted the eggs. Any vegan bakers want to weigh in?

It's also a very sweet bread, so I bet you could even omit the 1/4 cup of sugar I used. 

I'm eager to try this again using different kinds of jams or preserves. Such a simple addition to the banana bread batter, but so delicious.

Here is a special National Poetry Month edition of EATS and READS. It's pretty heavy on the poetry-related reads, including a bunch of links to poems I like.

And, because I feel these EATS and READS posts need some kind of visual accompaniment, here's a picture from when I attempted to make candied violets and they didn't turn out that well so I didn't blog them.

EATS:

Follow along with my friend (and writer featured in Writers Eat) Christopher Newgent as he embarks on a meal planning adventure. 

Foodieism as Youth Culture via NY Magazine

Fascinating review of Gustavo Arellano's new book, Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America via Slate

A unicorn cookbook was found at the British Library. A UNICORN cookbook!

All you need to know about icing, frosting, and glaze via CakeSpy

Good dessert recipes for one or two people via The Kitchn

READS:

What does tension mean, in poetry?

Yucca Mountain by Aubrie Martin in Sink Review

Say When by Sophie Klahr in PANK

Every Cupcake is an Act of Violence by Matt L. Rohrer in GlitterPony

I Don't Burn by Kevin Young in A Public Space

I have done a very half-assed NaPoWriMo this year (I've written maybe 12 poems so far for the month), but go check out Maureen Thorson's thoughful prompts if you want to write a poem but are feeling stuck. 

Different poets (part 1, part 2) answer the question "What kind of poems do you write?" via The Poetry Foundation's Harriet Blog

Also, my collection of poems, PRETTY TILT, has been released! It's available on my publisher's website and was just released on Amazon, too!

I went on a very mini reading tour last week and read in NYC with lovely Birds of Lace authors Rohin Guha, Niina Pollari, Jason Helm, and with Birds of Lace editor, poet, and my friend, Gina Abelkop. Gina, who you might remember from her Writers Eat post, just had a book of poems, DARLING BEASTLETTES, come out with Apostrophe Books. Gina and I also read in DC with Joe Hall and Eugene Cross. Then we hopped a plane and read in Durham, NC with Kate Zambreno (who put us up in her airy, gorgeous house, fed us a delicious vegan breakfast and has the cutest puppy ever).

Welcome to the latest installment in a very intermittent series of posts where I share food products I enjoy (and that I think you should eat). 

My latest obsession is Spike Original Seasoning. On a whim, I picked up a jar of this stuff at my local organic grocery store and I am totally hooked on it now. It's just the perfect all-purpose seasoning mix, and it's "natural" and "gourmet" to boot. According to the company's website, there are 39 different herbs, spices and veggies blended up in here, including salt, cayenne, parsley, tarragon, curry, dill and kelp. The kelp and curry are a surprise to me because all I know is that this seasoning blend makes every dish I cook with it taste amazing. Plus I like the bold name of Spike, you know? Seriously! Give it a try.

I have a regular weekly recipe gig with my Eat of the Moment column on Hello Giggles (today's recipe is a zingy springy green pea and edamame dip), but I've been cooking elsewhere around the web, too. Here are some links, if you're interested!

Asparagus and Chopped Egg Salad for The Chalkboard, a web magazine dedicated to living a healthy lifestyle.

Chia Seed Banana Yogurt Parfait for The Chalkboard

Community Grains is a California company that offers local, completely whole grain products like pastas, beans, and polentas. I really believe in the philosophy of their company, so I was so happy when they asked me to develop some recipes with their beans!

Mexican Minestrone

Crispy Beans and Greens with Tomatoes

I still have some Community Grains polenta that I'm excited about cooking up into something good. 

And last but not least, I did a guest post for one of my favorite food blogs, Big Girls Small Kitchen, about cleaning out your pantry and spice cabinet for spring. I actually cleaned out my own cabinets while writing the post and, as someone born and raised in Maryland, I was pretty mortified that my Old Bay was TWO YEARS PAST EXPIRATION DATE. Look at the bottoms of your spice jars, guys!

I'm also happy to say that Plums in the Icebox was also Foodista's Food Blog of the Day this past Saturday, April 7th! They featured my roasted grapes recipe. 

I'm a lot more on top of posting this kind of stuff on the PITI Facebook page, so if you're on Facebook, you can "like" it here. 

So, I suddenly like mustard. I have a long history of disliking condiments of all kinds, although strangely I will eat my most-hated ones within certain contexts (AHEM deviled eggs, tuna salad). Anyway, I've always really despised mustard, but I recently found myself liking snooty mustard. You know, honey mustard, dijon mustard, those fancier types of mustards. My palate is apparently snobby, because I still hate the squeezy yellow bottle mustard.

This was our Easter dinner. Mustard-dipped, pretzel-coated chicken breasts. Simple, salty, good. I would say "so salty, so good," because that phrase is a weird inside joke from lunch period circa 11th grade (And I'm sitting here cracking up. I still remember. I know you do, too, Emily Berman! Raise the roof, 2001 Towson High lunch table. RAISE. THE. ROOF.), but it wouldn't even be true. These aren't that salty! Depends on the pretzels you use, I guess: I used Glutino pretzel twists, which are my preferred GF pretzel. I can also speak to their deliciousness when dipped in Nutella.

Pretzel-Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken Breasts

adapted from Food and Wine

makes 2-3 chicken breasts

total time: 30-35 minutes

total hands-on time: 10 minutes

What you'll need:

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 cups pretzels, crushed

1 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp honey

1/4 cup canola oil

a few healthy shakes of garlic powder, salt and pepper

What you'll do:

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Place the pretzels in a plastic ziploc bag and crush them with a heavt object; I used the bottom of a glass. I liked having some chunkier pieces of pretzel in the mix but if you want a totally uniform crust, you might want to use a blender or a food processor.

3. In a small bowl, whisk vinegar, mustard, oil, honey, salt, pepper and garlic powder until well-combined.

4. Spread the crushed pretzels out on a flat surface: a plate, some tinfoil, a paper towel. Your call.

5. Dip the chicken breasts into the mustard sauce and then coat on both sides with the crushed pretzels. You'll have a little bit of mustard sauce left over...save it!

6. Bake the chicken for about 20-25 minutes. The pretzels will brown a bit.

7. Slice and serve with more mustard sauce on top.

I served the chicken alongside some sugar snap peas sauteed with oil and garlic. It was a satisfyingly crunchy dinner.