A Student's Dinner

This has been a pretty frequent meal for me, of late. When you're a cash-strapped grad student, you have to keep it simple, but you don't need to sacrifice flavor and nutrition in doing so. Ok, so this isn't AS nutritious as it could be (I'll admit it, I'm guilty of excessive cheese-ing), but it's completely delicious and filling for a cold winter's night!

Whole wheat spagetti
Baby spinach sauteed with olive oil, garlic, dried basil and oregano
Healthy sprinkle of fresh grated parmesan
*Pro tip: in lieu of fresh minced garlic, go for a jar of pre-minced garlic - it's quick, just about as good as fresh, and doesn't leave that lovely garlic scent on your hands for days (although, this would be a convenient added benefit if you're being stalked by a vampire)

The Cellar: Small Plates Come to Evanston

Last Friday, I trudged through the snow with a few girlfriends to check out one of Evanston's new additions to the gourmet dining scene: The Cellar.

The more casual sister of the elegant Stained Glass (which I have yet to visit), The Cellar did not disappoint. Iterating on the small plates trend with great success, the diverse American and European menu was perfect for sharing and grazing with a few friends and glasses of wine. Each of us ordered 2-3 dishes, and left completely satiated - wishing only that we'd left room for dessert. I'm sure that before the snow melts we'll be back to sample some of the sweets.

Star dishes of the night included:

• The French Onion Soup (the classic - perfect for a snowy night)
• Acorn Squash Ravioli (candy-stripe beets, caramelized walnuts, brown sage butter)
• Butter & Salt Flight (Parmigiano Reggiano butter with fleur de sel/Goats milk butter with Himalayan pink salt/Truffle butter with truffle sea salt)
• Baked Truffle Mac & Cheese (Gruyere, cheddar, orecchiette pasta, yum, yum, yum)

Can you taste the cheesy goodness? It's every bit as good as it looks... (via Clover Eats) 

Gougeres: Easy, Cheesy, and Classy

I got a pastry bag for Christmas, and over the holidays my mom taught me to make choux pastry - also known as puff pastry. It can be filled to make cream puffs, sliced and stuffed with ice cream for profiteroles, or baked with cheese for a savory treat - called gougeres. To make the pastry base, all it takes is butter, flour, eggs, and a little water, salt and sugar (for sweet ones). You can put the dough in a pastry bag and squeeze it out for a nice shape, or you can just drop it by the rounded spoonful on a buttered baking sheet.

For a gathering this past week, I made gougeres using the recipe for choux pastry in James Beard's "Theory and Practice of Good Cooking", and added gruyere cheese and fresh chopped chives. A half recipe made about a baking sheet's worth of golf-ball size puffs, which was perfect for the small gathering I was headed to. I think next time I'll try a cheese with a little bit stronger flavor, like parmesan - but they were delicious nonetheless!