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.
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. :)
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.
Are they kidding? How lazy have we become that we can't shake our own martinis? Waring Pro Electric Martini Shaker/Stirrer.
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.
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.
I can't say the recipe was all that inspired, but I do love this photo! More details to be found at Flickr, but in short for the click-phobic: needed more tomatoes!
Alright kids, I went and did it and made homemade blueberry pie. I also have one batch of blueberry jam under my belt and should have another done today too as these blueberries are on their last legs. Or, I will freeze them all I suppose.
I can't wait to crack into a fresh pint of vanilla ice cream tonight (didn't have time to make homemade ice cream, alas.)
I'm going to be busy the next day or two. On the menu: blueberry pancakes, blueberry cobbler, blueberry jam, blueberry pie, blueberry soup, blueberry ice cream, cantelope ice cream (what? I have three cantelopes and a whole watermelon to process before the end of the week! Cantelope ice cream it is!)
You can see photos from the trip to Heath, Massachusetts on my Flickr set: "The Great Blueberry Caper of Naught Seven".
The CSA has been giving us beets for the last few weeks, and alas, those beets have been sequestered in the bottom of the fridge; awaiting ... something. I don't really know what to do with beets; the only kind I had any exposure to growing up were the canned kind. All I can do with them is boil or roast, slice, and toss in a salad with either bleu or goat cheese. Meh, that gets old.
Via Flickr I've come across beet and blue cheese tartlets from Nami-Nami. Oh, AND, beet pesto. Thanks to the friendly Estonian! Now I can take a shot at making something interesting (and pink!)
The dish Remy prepares for Ego: Recipe: Confit Byaldi - New York Times.
Apparently, he has foretold our doom: Frobnosticate » The Mother of all Sammiches.
I am an impatient wine drinker; since I don't have a cellar, I can't abide by suggestions to let a wine cellar for three to five to thirty years. I am a picky wine drinker; if a label says "jammy" or "easy drinking" I almost immediately become irritated. Overly fruity easy drinking wines have only one place: Sangria. Otherwise, give me the tannins, the acidity, the complexity. Save the sugar for port. Or your aunt.
Tonight I wanted something interesting. Something I could drink myself without necessarily needing a food to carry it along. A short walk to the local boutique bodega and I pondered the selection. I gravitate towards reds; primarily burgundies, puglias, and primitivos. But it was hot... maybe a white? I'll drink rosè but only if I have a good recommendation. Ah, for $12.99, this caught my eye: Castell Del Remei Gotim Bru 2004. 50% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvingon, 20% Merlot, 10% Granache. This Spanish revelation arrived to my kitchen in an unusually long, thin bottle and a brief chill period. What surprised me was how the character of the wine changed as it sat in my wine glass. At first, it was tight, but pleasant enough with my peanut noodles with tofu and cilantro. But as it blossomed over the period of an hour of sipping it mellowed and released its aromas. I do wish it has a little less alcohol, but I think with the proper pairing it would not be an issue. Vanilla, raspberry, some blueberry, cocoa, and tar, and some wood. Maybe a little more berry than I had wanted initially, but in the end it was enjoyable. This is a drinking wine for me. Enough of this overly sweet Bully Hill Sweet Walter crap that everyone is passing off as 'drinking' wine. Give me some Castell Del Remei Gotim Bru. And at $12.99 a bottle, how on earth can you go wrong? Get a case, drink a bottle now, and if you can resist, cellar the rest to enjoy for a little while. You will not be disappointed.
In a desperate attempt to use the last of some really good local cream, I adopted this scone recipe from Leite's Culinaria and made breakfast scones. With scrambled eggs, turkey bacon and cheddar they are hearty enough to hold you until lunch (and even then you may only want a salad). I added some parsley because just meat and cheese looks awfully beige, added some sharp provolone to up the cheesy ante, and to the egg wash I added maple syrup with unfortunately didn't really come through in the end.
In the future I'll baste the turkey bacon with maple syrup before incorporating it into the dough. Chives or scallions would also be a welcome addition.
The amazingly yellow color brought to you by your incredibly generous neighbors who give you fresh eggs from their chickens.
The Amateur Gourmet recently posted an essay titled, "Ratatouille" & Jewish Assimilation (an essay, with spoilers). Jason Kottke, possibly influenced by Megnut, had an interesting take on the movie as well. I'm sure there are many others that I haven't come across. While some see the AG's interptretation far fetched and others find it dead on, I'm not terribly concerned with whether he is "right".
Interestingly, I find his take on the movie as further evidence that the story was successfully written. I've been thinking about the story quite a bit lately, how there are many things to see, learn, and hear and that one viewing isn't really enough. He sees it as an allegory for Jewish assimilation, which is to be expected perhaps because being Jewish is at the forefront of his mind. Jason, on the other hand, saw it as a commentary for bloggers and critics, which can be expected as blogging and food criticism is at the forefront of his wife's mind, and so surely has been brought up in their house. And to me, I saw the ending as a brush-off of Collette, a further minimizing of her important leap of faith and prior contributions to both Remy and Linguini's success in favor of a tidy ending for the movie. Why not show Collette as finally in charge of the kitchen, finally getting the respect she deserves? And that's probably because I've been thinking a lot about feminism lately.
The point I'm making is simply that there are many stories to be found in this movie and the fact that people find their own meaning suggests that the story was well written. All the opinions, takes, and lessons people glean from the movie are inevitably drawn from their own personal experiences. What you think about those opinions, however, is another matter entirely.
As an aside, AG asks:
(Is it a coincidence that the scurrying rats in "Ratatouille" look a lot like those in Hitler's propaganda films? And, for that matter, why does Django have a hooked nose?)I'm guessing that perhaps Hitler's propaganda films looked like rats scurrying, rather than rats scurrying looking like Nazi propaganda. Chicken, egg and all that. Also, the fact that Remy's dad has a big hooked nose doesn't really hit me one way or another because I know lots of people who have big hooked noses who aren't necessarily Jewish, (yours truly included) and because as most people get older their noses get bigger, so to show 'age' between rats, a larger nose and a larger body size would also denote age.
Now this is a neat idea from the crafty kids behind woot.com: Woot Wine : One Week, One Wine.
When you need to know how many cups are in a pint of strawberries, or other such odd conversions, consult PFG-Hale
. I don't know why it's titled "Announcemenets", but the conversion charts are awfully handy. Wish I'd had them before I eyeballed the strawberries for the ice cream, we had a minor overflow problem that was, thankfully, easily remedied with a few spoons and two quick-thinking humans.
If I ever have the chance to travel to Phoenix, Arizona I will be sure to check out Chow Down Phoenix! for good eats recommendations.
You'll need a whisk, a spoon, a bowl, a knife, a cutting board, a pan, and the following ingredients:
Directions:
Brilliant! Oh the culinary possibilities when you have a mat of bacon: instructables : Bacon Placemats.
Ah, cooking in the hands of the masses (and not just the <a href="http://www.goonswithspoons.com/Main_Page">SA Goons</a> :) Cookbook: Wikibooks, collection of open-content textbooks.
To wasabi or not? Chopsticks or fingers? Time out NY interviews the chaps who've got the answers: Raw and order.
Happy Happy Joy Joy!
The first pickup for the Foodbank Farm was today and the sense of RELIEF is unbelievable. I've been holding my breath all winter and through most of the spring waiting for this moment; nervously watching the weather forecast, worried that too much rain would put the Farm behind its schedule, wondering how things were going. And while I may do this for the whole summer (not a thunderstorm to pummell the strawberries!!!) recieving the first share was a welcome event.
The first few weeks are usually a little meager in terms of variety but I was surprised by the volume we got! That whole bin is the greens alone; we also got a head of boston lettuce, spinach greens, and a bunch of scallions. We have to eat that whole bin in one week.
To get a jump start on the eating I just enjoyed a big bowl of plain greens with some of the Tahini Rising salad dressing that is also made right at the farm, and it was delicious. Splitting a farm share is the best thing I could have done; $220 well spent for a whole summer (and most of the fall) of fresh, organic vegetables that taste amazing and make you feel good after eating them, and plenty of opportunities for preserving and freezing veggies for the winter. The e.coli spinach scare, the lettuce/green onion scare, those pass me by as I enjoy greens fresh from the dirt rather than the cellophane bag.
If you have a local CSA or community farm you can join do so! I love that I can shake the hands of the people who grow my food and highly recommend it.
Don't believe me? Here are a few very important and frightening statistics that we all should be aware of:
Read the whole report here at Eskimo.com. Scary stuff.
Holy smokin Moses, have I found my next batch of ice cream thanks to David Lebovitz and his Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream.
Today is free cone day at your local Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Shop. Get free frozen treats and make a donation to your local charity. MMM Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup!
I'm ready for it. For so long I've denied myself this treat for fear of the runny yolk, this apex of brunching culinary skill has been missing in my repertoire of Belgian waffles, omlettes, and hash browns. But I've slowly warmed up to runny yolks, and much like my gradual liking of tomatoes thanks to the farm, I'm ready to try them out and about.
Eggs Benedict, here I come.
(But only at a really good restaurant. With impeccable eggs. And real Hollandaise. And maybe a Mimosa. Or a Bloody Mary. Spicy.) Serious Eats: Eggs Benedict.
Follow the directions on the jar? Bah. Okay, so yeah it's jarred sauce, but since I don't know anything about Indian cooking, it's a safe bet.
Chicken thighs, poached with some potatoes until done. Remove liquid and chicken, add frozen spinach, a sliced onion, garlic, and fresh ginger and simmer until spinach is defrosted. Return chicken to the pot, add the jar of korma simmer sauce and 8 oz of the poaching liquid. Heat through, serve with bastmati rice that you made with a handful of black lentils that turned the rice purple. Yum!
While making dinner I pulled out a little sharp cheddar to nibble on while i was trying out Adam's Comfort Pasta Dish. I chopped the onions and the garlic and set the knife down next to the cheese. After getting the sauce ready and putting the macaroni in, I picked up said knife and cut a bit off to enjoy.
It wasn't until I got the cheese through the first bite that I got a pleasant and unexpected smidge of garlic and onion along with the sharp cheddar. It wasn't overpowering, the little bit of garlic and onion juice clinging to the knife blade offered the perfect counterpoint to the creamy texture. Hmmm...
So this got me thinking; wouldn't it be cool to do something similar with other cheese? For example, wiping the blade over half an onion before slicing some cheddar, or passing the blade through some liqueur before slicing a cake? You'd get the perfect little hint of an essence without overpowering what you're eating.
I'll mull this one over while eating my absolutely delicious and spicy Bucatini All'Amatriciana.
Not that additional proof was needed, but I think the Food Network has officially jumped the shark when Red Lobster is advertising on it.
And so, there is nothing better than a small glass of sangiovese and a plate of roasted chicken and roasted potatoes. And a cute adorable kitten who will curl up behind your knees when you go to bed.
From Leite's Culinaria: Meat: The Pleasures of Flesh by James Sturz. I'd say more, but my mother reads this blog. :^)
Tired of cream, sugar and cinnamon? Try this one for size: Savory Oatmeal - Home Cooking at Chowhound.com. Link courtesy of da xiang.
Oh heavens, don't visit the Blissfull Glutton at 9:00pm on a Tuesday when you have a bum broken toe and no place to get a Reuben sammich. Just spare yourself the torture.
/me wipes saliva from keyboard.
HOW can you go wrong with this?? WakinBacon at /mathlete/.
I first saw Bourdain on a show he was doing where he goes to restaurants and chats with the chefs and eats their food. And he makes a relatively boring premise spark because he's so ascerbic and smart and usually dead on. I then saw him as a guest judge on Top Chef and his characterization of Mikey as the love child of Julia Childs and Charles Manson was perfect! This guy calls it like it is, and his guest post on Ruhlman's blog is no less delicious. Read on to see Bourdain call out Food Network for it's glorious suckitude and give props to Emeril for reasons you can't deny: ruhlman.com: Guest Blogging: A Bourdain Throwdown.
In a pinch for what to do on Wednesday? Link: Serious Eats: A Valentine's Menu for Hard-Up Lovers. In particular, a chuckle was had at this little gem: "Champagne might say "I love you," but cava, Prosecco, sparkling Shiraz, and sparkling rosé will say "I respect you as a person enough not to blow the lease on the apartment."
This year, rather than pureeing and freezing as many tomatoes as one can pick, I will try this recipe from chez pim: Tomato Confit: oven-dried tomato in olive oil.
For those of us interested in learning some basics of Japanese cooking, check out Maki's website: Just Hungry | Pondering Japanese food, the food life of an expatriate, healthy eating, and more..
Michael Pollan wrote a lengthy (dare I say verbose?) article on food for the New York Times Magazine, and why we are getting continually fatter as the government and food companies try to control and dictate more and more of what we eat. It's chock full of history on food and food manufacturing, but the call to action is towards the bottom and it's advice well worth heeding. An excerpt:
1. Eat food. Though in our current state of confusion, this is much easier said than done. So try this: Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. (Sorry, but at this point Moms are as confused as the rest of us, which is why we have to go back a couple of generations, to a time before the advent of modern food products.) There are a great many foodlike items in the supermarket your ancestors wouldn’t recognize as food (Go-Gurt? Breakfast-cereal bars? Nondairy creamer?); stay away from these.
I'm starting to use Absquatulate as a repository for my random cooking creations that turn out well. I suppose in the interest of integrity I should post the ones that don't turn out well, but I guess I'll have to work on my ego for that to happen.
So, here's what you do.
Put a skillet on a medium-high burner. Add the butter. When the butter is good and melted, but not quite brown, toss in the mushrooms. The idea here is to get them nice and brown, even a little carmelized, so toss to coat with butter and then leave them be. After a minute or two, add the sliced garlic and a little sprinkle of salt and pepper and give everything a good toss every minute or so. Add the sliced chicken sausage and get everything good and browl on both sides, and the mushroom will begin to release the butter back into the pan. Turn the heat down a little and throw in the chopped oregano and parsley, toss, and be sure the herbs don't burn.
While the mushrooms are cooking, start the water for the raviolis and cook according to package directions, but shave a minute off the cooking time a little, because you'll finish them off in the pan with the mushrooms and sausage.
Take just enough of the pasta water to cover the bottom of the skillet and add it to the musrhooms (you can also use white wine for this task, but I didn't have any on hand.) Scrape up all the delicious brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Wait for almost all of it to evaporate then add a little more. Keep adding small amounts of pasta water until you have a little bit of sauce in the pan. You don't want the mushrooms to be drowning in the water and you don't want the sausasges to boil all their taste out, so keep a light hand with the water. You want just enough to coat the raviolis when you add them to the pan.
Take the raviolis out of the pan when they are just done with a regular spoon and add them to the mushroom/sausage mix. Mix everything together, season to taste, top with more parsley, then eat!
Augmentations: Some thinly sliced onion leeks added with the mushrooms, some white wine to deglaze the pan, a bit of bacon or pancetta thrown in with the mushrooms, a tiny bit of sharp provolone to sprinkle on top perhaps. If you try this, what did you do and how did it turn out? Any of your own augmentations to share?
A byproduct of having time to myself these days is that I've gorged myself on television. A whole year without one and I felt that I missed little. This year, with one *and* basic cable, I now go through phases of obsession. First it was Project Runway, then Top Model, now Top Chef, which I enjoyed the first season and was excited to see the second season.
Well the excitement waned over the episodes as Padma slurred her way through one dish after another and the contestants got increasingly petty. But the final nail in the coffin so to speak was not when Cliff was booted for manhandling Marcel but when I caught the end of the next to last episode last week and saw that Elia and Sam were sent home. Yeah, I think Eliah should have gone home because from what I saw and what the judges said; sure, she didn't quite rise to the challenge. But to balk at the fact that Sam made a dish with all raw ingredients and then was penalized for "not cooking" in a "cooking competition" is just dumb. Colliccicillioio complained that Sam didn't cook his dish and that "this is a cooking competition!" Bullshit I call! One can put together a gorgeous salad, or a delicious tuna ceviche, or whatever, and still be called a chef. Hell, even one of the quickfire challenges was a NO COOKING CHALLENGE. Come on people
So with that one comment the whole show lost me (much like the judges on Project Runway chastising Laura for being too much like herself. Give me a break.) To send a talented chef home because he didn't cook a dish but instead used raw ingredients in a dish that everyone loved is just plain crap. I agree with online commenters that the judges and producers didn't want another NYC white male chef to win like in the first season, so let's get rid of him and leave it to the two that hate each other the most. THAT will make for great TV, regardless of the food or skill. Bah.
Anyway, aside from abandoning Top Chef the week before the finale (way to go guys!) I primarily watched it to get some ideas for future cooking. And it came in handy when Catherine mentioned a gathering at her place before the start of the semester. She was making a chicken-lime soup she had during holiday in Mexico and I agreed to bring something to go along with it.
I figured a nice little munchy thing to eat with a glass of wine while we finished the soup would be just the ticket. I floated over to Leite's Culinaria and found a great recipe for Spiced Pork Meatballs with Guacamole and thought it the perfect start! I used turkey instead of pork to keep it light, and halved the recipe since I was only serving three people at most. But to finish it out I bought some round tortilla chips, put some guacamole on the chip, a hot meatball on top of that, then topped with with a little dollop of sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro to make a nice little appetizer. I borrowed this idea from Ilan's meatball on crostini during the restaurant challenge on Top Chef and fit it to the Mexican theme for the night. I loved the idea of a little meaty, crispy, savory thing to pop into your mouth while waiting for the soup. The idea worked, and it was a big hit according to everyone who had them (all three of us :).
Unfortunately, they were all eaten before I could take a picture. I would draw you one but I have a cold and now I'm going to bed. May you dream of meatball topped tortilla chips, because man, that's a good dream to have.
Mags has a good idea for leftover candy canes. I think I'll add some dark chocolate chunks too!
Link: A second life for candy canes... from the mind of mags.
Pim has made me crave pad thai like nobody's business. I think I'll head to the store in search of tamarind paste: chez pim: Pad Thai for beginners.
My sister and her husband, upon deeming my original birthday wish list "too boring" (what, a duvet cover is boring?? :) bequeathed to me a brand-spanking new Cuisinart ice cream maker. It sat in my tiny apartment on the floor for the last two months, languishing as I slaved over finals and holiday festivities. Finally, with a container of yogurt in the fridge and a bottle of Mexican vanilla that doesn't get nearly enough use I decided to break it in.
The first trick was getting the freezer bowl to freeze properly. It turns out I had my fridge/freezer turned up too high, that is, it was too warm despite the fact that ice cubes and everything in the freezer was frozen rock solid. Okay fine, here's hoping the greens in the back of the fridge don't freeze (they did. *Sigh*) Once it was frozen solid I spent about an hour putting together the base for vanilla frozen yogurt from Mark Bittman's seminal work, How to Cook Everything. Whisking, cooking, straining, cooling, who knew making iced yogurt was so much work? Unfortunately when I was cooking the egg yolk/milk/sugar mixture a few bubbles came up and I think that caused the mixture to get way thicker than it should have even though it took a long time to get to 180DegreesF. After straining, which took forever, there was about 0.25c of... well, sort of like curdled custard left over that wasn't going through the sieve. I added a little amaretto and put it ina ramekin and chilled it and enjoyed an impromptu custard, but I can't help but think that sugar should have made it into the ice cream mixture. I guess I'll find out.
The recipe called for two teaspoons of vanilla but I added a wee bit of almond extract because I'm a sucker for almond and thought it would be a nice sweet/tangy combination with the yogurt. Well it finally came time, about four hours later, to pour the stuff into the ice cream maker and get that sucker started.
I can't wait to see what happens in about 20 minutes, but in the meantime I may go deaf from the volume of this thing. I can't complain; how many people can make their own ice cream? And it was a very generous gift from my sister and brother-in-law but in my little apartment there's really no escaping the noise. However I bet once I taste this vanilla-almond frozen yogurt I'll forget the noise and settle into sweet delight.
More updates and photos as things progress!
Update: Well time flies when you're doing dishes. The frozen yogurt has been released from its icy tomb, packed and is 'ripening' in the freezer as we speak. First taste was tangy, but the more I ate from the churning arm (hehe, I couldn't resist) the fuller the flavor became. The almond isn't as pronounced as I would have liked, and neither is the vanilla, but that may be due to the fact that the yogurt I used was rather tangy and some of that sugar ended up in my little custard. No matter, it's still pretty damned good and we'll see how it sets up after a few hours in the freezer.
I've had a surplus of butternut squash over the last few months and I was starting to get tired of the usual winter squash bisque. Taking a cue from the caterer for my sister's wedding and wanting to use some winter vegetables before they turned, a pot of carrots, celery, onions, garlic, potatoes, parsnips, and butternut squash morphed into something different when I decided to add curry powder to the simmering veggies. A bizz with the stick blender, a taste, some seasoning, and dang, I had something.
But it was ... good, but not eyepopping WOW. It needed something else, a little undertone to bolster the punch of the curry and the sweetness of the butternut squash. Thyme? Rosemary? Allspice? No No No. What then? 
A can of lite coconut milk called my name from the cabinet and in it went (I figured the 250 calories added by the coconut milk distributed through 6 quarts of soup was an acceptable increase :^) and YES that is what it needed.
If you'd like the recipe email me, otherwise, be warned that Trader Joe's cans of coconut milk are dangerous to knuckles.
What better way to celebrate the arrival of Baby Jesus than with a batch of homemade bacon brittle? This is probably one of those ideas that makes most people say, "EW" on first thought, but then say, "YAY" should they ever try it. Much like sprinkling crispy turkey bacon onto a bowl of Frosted Flakes (thanks to Mr. Vedder for introducing this mind-blowing taste sensation). It's one of those "Trust Me" kind of food.
Today I had a craving for something vaguely Thai. Actually it's been several days longing for that delicious sweet and sour satisfaction that can only come from good Thai dishes. Since I'm on a budget eating out wasn't an option. However I do have access to large quantities of basil and cilantro and I thought I could at least pick some and figure something out later on.
A bike ride and an hour later I had a bag filled with basil and a good handful of cilantro, some small Thai chilies, and a pantry just recently stocked with rice sticks. Well, it's a start... what else did I have? Oh! Some peanuts, oh and this locally raised grass fed beef patties that I need to cook. Let's see what else? If I'm doing something with cilantro and basil I really need some limes, but I was not willing to go out again to get some. The bottled lime juice came through in a pinch. Okay, I have a vague plan, let's see where it goes to.
I started out by grinding some peanuts, basil, cilantro, garlic, two chilies, canola oil, salt and pepper in a food processor. I did it in two stages: Stage one was more or less dry and I tool out about three tablespoons of that mixture, then added the oil. Gave it a whirl and a taste. Needed something tangy! In goes a good squirt of lime juice, some rice wine vinegar, and a small splash of soy sauce (next time I go to the store I'll replenish my stock of nam pla). Pureed until almost smooth and mixed in the reserved paste to get a chunky dressing. I added in a little sugar and more oil and gave it a good stir. It's not authentic, but it was pretty good!
While waiting for the water to boil for the noodles I chopped up a cucumber, a red bell pepper, some extra cilantro for garnish, and put the meat in the pan to sear. I'd never eaten grass fed beef before and I was interested to try it out. In the pan it smelled amazingly good... I'm guessing it was 85% beef and 15% fat judging by the grease in the pan. Even so, what would have normally produced a very tender juicy burger with traditionally raised beef presented me with a toothsome patty that I rather enjoyed. The beef had a stronger flavor that complimented the spicy dressing of the noodles and the cool crisp of the vegetables.
I tried to take a picture on my cameraphone but it came out horribly. And I was hungry so I inhaled the dish maybe a little quicker than most doctors would recommend. It was a dish that I sat back and admired and thought, "Wow, I made this??" It was delicious. It still needs work of course; fresh limes of course, maybe some fresh ginger in the dressing, bean sprouts, marinated beef instead of plain. There is something to be said for planning of course but that wasn't my intention today. I wanted to wing it and see what I could come up with and dang, it was pretty good.
I had no intentions of creating such a meal when I set out on my little bike ride this morning. All I had was a vague notion and the flexibility to make it up as I went along. It is a process I find very enjoyable (at least I find it enjoyable when what I make turns out okay :^) and I hope that a few readers will jump away from the cookbook, take a minute to think about all the things they know how to make, then open their eyes and their cupboards and trust their instincts*!
* This usually only applies to cooking. Baking requires measurements or else you end up with inedible paste rather than a loaf of bread :^)
So rather than doing the work I should have started two hours ago, I'll tell you a little about my jam!
I cracked open a jar of the Cento Pectin version and was surprised that there was as much body as there was, although I deem it still not quite thick enough. I like the flavor, bright and sweet, although to my taste it's too sweet to put into yogurt (don't ask me why that is...) Good color and I like the mashed berries which adds to the consistency. All in all, it's not bad, but I love the simplicity of the Joy of Cooking recipe, so perhaps next year I'll try doing a mash with the JoC and see how that goes.
It'll probably take me a while to get through this jar (a girl can only eat so much toast!) but when another jar from another recipe is cracked open I'll let you know.
An old friend, N, came up to visit this weekend to see the new place and just catch up after 18 months between visits. We had such a blast going out and seeing the area that we didn't eat in at all! But how can a girl resist a HUGE strip steak at the local Argentinian restaurant?
So it was tonight that I acted upon inspiration gleaned from a local cafe (Cushman Cafe, for those of you in the North Amherst area) and used those delicious beets from the farmer's market in a goat cheese and beet salad. What I realized as I ate it was that I totally should have made this for her... I guess she'll just have to come back up won't she?
Should-have-been N's Salad:
Take four small beets and peel them. If you have the time roasting them in tin foil would probably be better but I didn't so I quartered and boiled them for about 12 minutes. While the beets are cooking cut up some veggies such as cukes, carrots, and a nice sweet onion (but slice this thinly!!!!). Get those delicious arugula greens from the fridge and give them a toss with some other greens and plate. Sprinkle on some finely ground salt and pepper. Throw on the rest of the veggies and slice up some herbed goat cheese and dot on the place. When the beets are tender remove from water and let cool for a little while. It's nice if they're warm because the goat cheese will soften and melt a little bit and get all deliciously scrummy.
On top of the salad drizzle some good balsamic vinegar. Olive oil? I wouldn't; the goat cheese does the work for you. Dig in and be sure to get some goat cheese with each bite of beet!
This salad gives me an outrageous idea for an appetizer... You'll have to stay tuned to see what it is!
It was WhitneyBee's post regarding salad days that got me to posting here again, so thanks W!
I made four pints of the Joy of Cooking Jam recipe and I wanted to type down some thoughts before I forgot.
The Joy of Cooking recipe for Red Red Strawberry Jam is a delight to behold in the pot. It is also a little easier. Essentially you put one quart of strawberries into a pot and cover with four cups of sugar. Gently stir the berries and sugar over medium heat until the berries "juice up". I assume that means that when the sugar melts and you have berries in a thick, grainy syrup. Then you bring to a full rolling boil and DO NOT STIR. Keep at a boil for 15-17 minutes. While it's cooking the jam smells like jam. The liquid was also much thicker and a darker red than that from the other two recipes. After that time, remove from heat and let cool. The recipe doesn't suggest skimming, but I did as I had a bit of foam. I deviated from the recipe here which was a little vague (and that's one of my beefs with the JoC; some of the steps just aren't entirely clear.) The recipe said you let the berries cool, sprinkle the juice of half a lemon over the top, gently stir a little and then let cool. (Cool twice?) Then you ladle the berries into sterilized jars, but it doesn't say if after that you have to process the jam. Since I don't have a canner and was using the inversion method to get a seal, I compromised and took hot jars out of the oven and filled them with the hot berries, then sealed, inverted for 10 minutes, then heard the pops. I hope this won't ruin the recipe!
As compared with the other recipes, I liked this preparation the best (we'll have to wait and see on the taste!) I liked working with smaller batches, although I'd like to have two pots going at once for productivity's sake. The other recipes worked with double the quantity but required pectin (and none of those jams have seemed to set. I'm not terribly upset by this, but I'd like to get one good set at least!) I felt the jam was much more fragrant and the liquid much more red and much thicker than the other two preparations, and it took half the time of the Mark Bittman method (which was also kind of loose with the instructions) but didn't require all the pectin of the Cento version nor all the stirring over boiling pots of sugar (which took less time.) I did like the crushed berries of the Cento version as the strawberry pulp was then distributed through the jam rather than a few whole berries floating to the top of the jar. I wonder if I could crush a few berries in the JoC version to get a similar effect, or if they would completely disintigrate in the longer cooking time. When I get the chance I'll take pictures of the jars to show you the differences. Viva l'experimentation!
Side note: Meg has a timely post about her family's tradition of making strawberry jam. (It seems they enjoy the Cento Pectin recipe with mashed berries, a quick cook, and the inversion seal method!)
A friend who happens to be in the know recently returned to his house with some organic, locally grown strawberries. He asked me to come over and help wash and hull them. What I was not expecting what the sheer quantity!
Yikes! We estimate it's about 50 qts. of strawberries, all of them delicious and ripe and too good to let go to waste. So aside from freezing, eating, pureeing, and eating, what else can one do? Make jam!
So I looked up a few recipes and went to work making jam, something I'd never done before. I'm two batches in and am staring down two more batches of strawberry jam tonight, and maybe a few more batches after that! I hope I didn't mess up the canning process and that they'll keep for about a year so that I can enjoy scrummy jam through the winter. No telling if they'll set yet, but I'm keeping an eye on them. I've tried the recipe from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman as well as the recipe from the Certo package, and tonight I think I'll try the Joy of Cooking recipe. Taste testing will be the best part!
Let this tale of woe and malaise serve as a warning to all my dear, wonderful, readers who aren't afraid of drinking their coffee strong, cutting up your own chicken, and making your own stock.
Never, ever again will I set foot in an IHOP. This morning I woke up and decided that I wanted to go get some pancakes. But as I was in a city I wasn't terribly familiar with, I thought, "Eh, IHOP! I know there is one around here, and I haven't been in ages. Fake blueberry syrup, here I come!"
I should have turned right over and gone back to sleep while that idiotic idea worked its way out of my head, but no, off to IHOP! I should have turned around when I saw how busy it was. I should have run back to the car and sped down the road to a little diner when I saw they were advertising the glossiest Stuffed French Toast topped with whipped cream that I've ever seen. But no, I sat and I ordered a pancake sampler and coffee.
The pancakes, hash browns, and eggs were entirely too salty, the coffee was entirely too weak (I wasn't sure if it was coffee or brown water), and the flavored syrups entirely too fake. Everything has this pre-packaged, pumped-through-with-sugar-and-fat taste and texture that I couldn't finish the plate of food in front of me and had to 'walk it off' outside in the parking lot before I could get in the car. And now I sit and feel this... mass... make it's way through my bloated intestines and I am seriously contemplating which would be the lesser of two evils: a) letting nature "take its course" or b) inducing regurgitation. I'm not sure which will be worse: the long term bloating and malaise, or the short term misery of worshiping the porcelain god.
Sure, some may say that I've gotten old and that I can't take that kind of food anymore. To them I say, "Old? HELL YES!" I like to think that I've opened my EYES to what real food is, what good food tastes like, and how much artificially sweetened salt we put in our bodies because we trust the food industry to do what's right. Old? More like wisened up to the fact that good pancakes, good coffee, and good eggs don't have to be shoveled out of a vat but can be made at home at a fraction of the cost and with control of what goes IN to the food that I use to fuel my body.
Never, EVER, let me into Trader Joe's when I'm craving chocolate.
I made it through Target with just a passing look at their candy aisle. Walked right past Panera and their scrumptuous baked goodies with hardly a second glance. I was so good in TJs, resisiting the bins of delicious cookies and scrumptous ice creams. But when I got to the check out lane my will dissolved into a puddle of desire. How could I resist dark chocolate *and* a praline filling? HOW I ask you? Yeah, you couldn't either I bet.
So I bought it, and bless you TJs, you always use high quality chocolate in your confections. A higher butterfat content, nice bittersweet dark chocolate, and smooth creamy fillings. And it's rich and satisfying enough that I'm not tempted to eat the whole package in one sitting.
And just what IS it about their checkout lanes? I can't resist picking something up while I'm waiting. I was >< this close to getting a package of chili-lime peanuts too! Stop & Shop I have no problems resisting their paltry selection of York Peppermint Patties and Kit Kats. But TJs? They get me every time.
With school taking up alot of emotional and intellectual power over the last year, I've been very lax in the food and cooking department. I've eaten lunch as school more times than I care to admit, and I can say that my waistline and health has shown it.
As soon as I turned in those last three papers yesterday, my passion for cooking was instantly rekindled (funny that!) And so I've started thinking alot about how I can better prepare lunch so that next year, which will be even WORSE than this year if you can imagine it, I won't be eating poorly. I rediscovered Bento Boxes, and I'm DYING for a system to organize my lunches this way! I haven't decided if a Mr. Bento (I like being able to bring soup or other wet entrees) or a Laptop Lunch (I like all the little containers and the space for silverware) would better fit my needs, but I love them, I love the idea of little numnums tucked away in containers, I love the visual feast you can create for yourself.
So here's to a summer of better eating. I can't wait for the local farms to get underway (this crazy weather hasn't helped much. Come on lettuce!)
okay no so really.
So I've been using Kosher salt for the last five years or so in all my cooking. And lately I've been thinking about how there's a reason why iodized salt is around and mandated by the government to be produced. I like kosher salt's clean flavor, and I can definitely taste the iodine in iodized salt. So now that I've more or less eliminated iodine from my cooking, should I be thinking about iodine in my diet? Is it possible that other prepared foods I eat (such as turkey breast cold cuts, or canned whatevers) have enough iodine in them so I don't have to worry? Because a goiter is really the *last* thing I'd like to worry about.
I wanted to post this before I forget how to make it. The past few days have been cold and dank, I was in the middle of Animal Farm, and I wanted something warm and filling to settle into that was simple, hearty, and of the proletariat. One trip to Stop & Shop later and I was in business. Thick, hearty, and not a drop of cream in it (unless you really want it!) makes it filling and somewhat healthy!
P
