Absquatulate

homemade chocolate wafers + icebox cupcakes | smitten kitchen

homemade chocolate wafers + icebox cupcakes | smitten kitchen.


They are just as delicious as you might think.  So go get your food processor out and make some!

Finally, proper ice for whiskey.

Sweeten the Pot

I admit it. I've lost my edge. That culinary edge that is. Is there an excuse? Maybe working 45-50 hours a week means I come home and have little energy for pursuits that don't involve Dranei or Neal Stephenson or Heian Yondan. But when I was chatting with one half of the Good Drs. Eirich it made me a little whistful for the days when I would actually post recipes here.

Despite the fact that today is a Saturday I still didn't feel like cooking. I talked the talk ("It's a gorgeous fall day, great for roast chicken, mashed potatoes, maybe creamed spinach!" much to the delight of the boy) but as the day went on and my office got more decorated and organized all else fell to the wayside. The boy could only muster up a "I don't know, a pasta thingie?" and I was stuck.

A flip through Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen by Pino Luongo and Mark Strausman and I had some ideas, but a limited pantry. So I glosssed over 5 or so recipes, and little bits of each got stuck in my brain like poppies from a bagel in your teeth. Hm, I have this, and can substitute that, and add this, and it just... might... work!

Since what I made was less recipe and more make-it-up-as-I-go, I'm not going to trouble you with a full blown recipe but rather the stream-of-consciousness that happened while I was at the stove.

Start with three or four cloves of garlic and mince them and set aside. Take a whole onion and dice. Throw some good x-virgin olive oil in a pan and heat. Remember you have turkey bacon in the fridge and dice up four or five slices of that (dear GOD, if you have pancetta or real bacon, please do indulge!) Once the pan is going and the oil is shimmering, throw in the bacon. Let fry up for a bit, then add the onion and garlic. Saute on medium high for a little bit, then lower the heat to somewhere between medium and medium low. Then leave it alone for about 8 minutes. When you remember what you were doing, set a pot of water on to boil and add a good pat of butter to the bacon/onion mix that's sauteing away in the pan and about two to three teaspoons of anchovy paste. Shake it up to mix everything together, then add a pinch of salt, a bit of thyme, and some pepper. and let everything fizzle for a bit, until things start to become golden brown on the edges.

Lightly drain a large tin of diced tomatoes (just pour off the excess liquid from the top) and prep a tin of tomato paste. Add half a can of tomato paste (about two rounded tablespoons) to the bacon mix and incorporate. Once it's all blended together, add the tin of diced tomatoes and the remaining juices. Let simmer on low for a while as you put the linguini in the pot and boil.

Taste the tomato sauce and adjust seasoning as necessary. If it's a bit too thick, add a bit of pasta water. When the linguini is done, plate, top with sauce, and add shaved asiago cheese. Enjoy with a glass of red and try to be dignified as you lick the bowl clean.

Trouble

If the #1 ingredient is tomato paste and the label says "General Tso's Sauce" chances are you are having a bowl of suck for dinner. Damn you Target.

It Never Really Happened

It's okay that I ordered boneless Shanghai chicken wingies at Chili's because I did so on Feb. 29th, which is more or less a fake day, and all that happens during that day doesn't count. Towards revoking your Upstate NY Buffalo Wing Certificate of Eats. Just saying.

Thai Green Curry with Shrimp

Corey and Susan both asked what I was having for dinner, and then Corey threatened me if I didn't post the recipe, so here we are!

Thai Green Curry. I probably would never have made it myself if I hadn't stumbled up on Mom's House in Amherst. El Steve asked to return after I dragged him there a few weeks ago so that we could spend some time pouring over the incomprehensible packaging and varieties of dried shrimp in the hopes of finding something fun. And when I saw the tub of Thai curry, I knew I'd found my little package of fun.

Okay, so I didn't make my OWN green Thai curry... What can I say? This was a great foot-hold into Thai cooking, which I've found incredibly daunting should I attempt it myself. The brand says Maesri (I love the translations on this site!) and the majority of the writing is in Thai, so I'm not sure what it says aside from the brief English instructions on the back. That's what I had to go on, along with the aforementioned Thai cookbook, and I made it up based on what I remember from Pattaya and the The King and I in Rochester, NY. I would KILL for some Thai Sticky Rice with coconut and mango right now, but I guess some Pocky will do.

So I put into a heated wok four tablespoons of the curry paste and stirred until fragrant. I then stirred in a can of coconut milk and heated to a simmer. I took a taste, and almost immediately added a can of water. Holy SMOKES this must be the real thing, or something like it, because it was spicy. I then added a melange of frozen veggies (as it is winter, after all), peas, broccoli, tri-colored peppers, and then some shrimp and simmered. I then made some rice noodles, portioned, and topped with the curry and shrimp. Garnish with lime, cilantro, and basil and enjoyed by girl and boy alike.

Enjoyed with a glass of white wine (that's for Susan. :)

For Corey

Dinner tonight was what I have come to call a "French Mess": two eggs scrambled with sauteed diced red peppers, chopped fresh herbs, and cubes of brie cheese melted on top. Accompanied by water crackers, a cup of tea kindly provided by Niss that was *AMAZING*, and chased by two teaspoons of cough medicine laced with codine, it was just the perfect dinner for the night.

It is 9pm, I'm off to bed.

Sur La Table: Sucking art & soul out of cooking

Are they kidding?  How lazy have we become that we can't shake our own martinis?  Waring Pro Electric Martini Shaker/Stirrer.

Strawberry Tomato Gazpacho

A quick trip to Serious Eats to reference the excellent idea of using bacon mats for the mother of all BLTs led me to a recipe for strawberry and tomato gazpacho. Interesting, but I was hesitating. In the comments I found a soul who tried it in person and they liked it, even if it got a little boring. I like this idea for a soup, especially since I have about two gallons of pureed strawberries in my freezer that could use a good home. Topped with a little feta and basil and it might be a staple while it's hot out.

Happy Couple

Necessity is the mother of invention.

Threatened with two very, VERY ripe cantelopes on the table something simply had to be done, if for no other reason than to get rid of the pervasive cantelope smell that had saturated the kitchen. Flipping through the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Book I found a recipe for cantelope ice cream. Brilliant! I set out making it, straining the cantelope pulp, refrigerating everything, making the sweet cream base. I mixed it up and was ready to pour it into the ice cream maker when I thought I should taste it before I put it in. Subtle, creamy, cantelope scented rather than flavored and that was okay as I'm not sure a stronger cantelope taste would work. But it was almost too cloying. It needed something to act as a counterpoint.

As the ice cream was churning I tossed in a handfull of frozen blueberries into the few tablespoons of ice cream mix I couldn't fit into the churner. A sip and a bite, and I found what I was looking for: blueberries! The recipes calls for the addition of the cantelope pulp to the ice cream just before it's finished. Instead I cut the cantelope pulp with 3/4 c. of frozen blueberries. I'm happy to say that the result is delicious! Creamy, fruity, smooth and a great foil for blueberry pie. It's a different twist on plain old vanilla that you aren't expecting. And I got to put more of those berries to good use and the cantelope didn't face a horrible fermenting death on the counter. In the future: figure out how to do a blueberry swirl and add more cantelope pulp at the end to boost the flavor a little.

And a la mode on the blueberry pie? Delicious! A quiet, yet different pairing that is a nice change of pace from the usual vanilla. Single Guy Chef, this is the little thing I had in the works! From now on I think I'll "deconstruct" the pie first, add the ice cream, and serve the crust end as a cookie on the side or crumbled on top. It's a little unwieldy in a martini glass.