Culinary Experimentation

I got home last night from a very pleasant (albeit somewhat scary due to the weather) car ride from Boston to New York. After I had thoroughly thrown my belongings all over the living room, I was famished. So I went into the kitchen and lo and behold there was nothing. Well, I shouldn't say nothing... just that there was less than something in the fridge and cabinets. With what little things I did find though, I made something akin to an ok and not too unhealthy meal (I hope).

Here's what I had available:
1 can of cannellini beans
1 sprig of drying rosemary
1 box of baby arugula
3 oz of chevre
3 small onions
1 shriveled lemon
2 cans of chicken stock
verge of being stale Ziploc baggie of crostini
an almost empty box of Kashi shredded wheat cereal
a half full box of oreos (Costco sized)
1 pint of cream
1 pint of milk (1 day away from expiration)
various condiments and spices and baking supplies

Needless to say, I've got a nice little beggared kitchen going on post Thanksgiving. I am also quite loathe to purchase any additional groceries cause I'll be going home to the Lone Star state next week... Anywho,

Here is what I made out of all of it:

Arugula and goat cheese salad with a sherry-mustard vinaigrette
Cannelini bean dip with crostini
Almost frozen cereal cookies n cream

This being a blog that starts with the word nosh, I thought I'd write out the little recipes as I've seemingly been lagging in "nosh" notes. Please bear with me as I just threw this together without measuring a thing... give it a whirl if you've got the time! And, I've got to take pictures of these things as proof!

Let's start from dessert:
Almost frozen cereal cookies n cream
I remembered this article I read about Momofuku Milk Bar's cereal milk softserv that they have there. It sounded so weird but also like the perfect treat. So I gave it a go with what little concept I had.

Ingredients:
5 oreos - crushed into bits
6-8 pieces of Kashi shredded wheat cereal - crushed
1 cup - milk
1 cup - cream
about 3 Tb of sugar
pinch of salt
dash of vanilla extract

Dissolve the sugar and salt completely in a mixing bowl with the milk, cream and vanilla. Add the oreos and cereal. Mix thoroughly.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer. I did about 2 hours.
Mind you I have an ice cream attachment for my Kitchen Aid but sheer laziness for correctly making ice cream led me to just freeze the whole thing. I started freaking out a little bit as I realized this may taste like the worst thing in the world. Also, it looked a little weird when I pulled it out of the freezer, what with the lumps of shredded wheat.
VERDICT: Tasty, sweet, visually unappealing but holy jeez it was like eating breakfast for dessert which I have to say is awesome. I think next time I'd like to properly assemble it all with the ice cream attachment.

Cannellini Bean Dip
This was something I had made for Thanksgiving so I just went with the flow.

Ingredients:
1 can of cannellini beans (drained)
1/2 sprig of rosemary - leaves removes and minced
1/2 cup of chicken stock
about 3-4 Tb of onions - minced
about 1 tsp of lemon zest
about 2 tsp of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for sauteing + a little for the end

Saute the onions and rosemary in a small pot until the onions are tender. Add the chicken stock and beans. Simmer on the stove for about 10-15 minutes until the beans are completely heated through and the stock has reduced a little. In a blender or with a hand blender, puree the mixture. Add lemon juice and zest and a dollop of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Serve with crostini or sliced french bread.
VERDICT: Absolutely yummy! And very filling which is a good thing. If I had pita, I would have used it like hummus. This recipe is usually quadrupled for gatherings as an appetizer.

Arugula and goat cheese salad with a sherry-mustard vinaigrette
A very simple salad that combines all my favorite things - cheese, arugula, mustard. I like my salad dressings on the more acidic side so you can tone down the mustard and other tart things if you want.

Ingredients:
About 2 cups of arugula
1 oz of goat cheese (chevre)
1 Tb - mustard (preferably something grainy or deli style)
4 Tb - olive oil
1 Tb - sherry vinegar
1 Tb of minced onions
salt and pepper to taste

For the vinaigrette, combine the mustard, vinegar and minced onions with a whisk. With the bottom of a wooden spoon, mash the onions in the mixture. While whisking the mixture, slowly add the olive oil until fully incorporated. Add salt and pepper to taste.
In a mixing bowl, toss the arugula with the vinaigrette. Top with bits of goat cheese.
VERDICT: Seriously, how can you not like a good salad? The chevre really adds a little something to the arugula and dressing. It's so savory and filling!

Overall and in the end, I'm pretty happy with the random nature of the meal last night. And, I had leftovers of the dip for me to snack on at lunch the next day. I also can't wait to try some more of that Cereal Cookies n Cream tonight. I mean hey, I could have done worse. Like, ordering out. :)

What do you think? Could I have made it better? Worse? Different dishes all together?
What was your favorite impromptu meal?

And yes, I know I'm playing with fire when I make ice cream with milk that has one day to go....