Garlic Is Love

I love a good tool

2011-08-25T03:44:00.000-07:00

Conventional kitchen wisdom says you only need a few quality tools in the kitchen to cook pretty much anything. I counter that certain tools, though "they" may call them superfluous, really do make it easier, and more likely, for the home cook to try certain things. That's been the case for me, anyways.

Take my food processor, for example. Once I got it, I made a lot more (and a lot better) pesto. Also, blended bean dips and other thicker dips made a more regular appearance at the table. There were just some things that my blender couldn't do very well.

My crock-pot allows me to cook when I don't have the time or the energy. I just put good ingredients in, turn it on, and walk away. It saves me time, and saves me from eating out and spending money.

Then there was the Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Since it's arrival, I'm much more likely to do a cake from scratch, to make frosting, and to make bread even when I'm super busy.

And, of course, I can't forget the knives. My first Wusthof, then my santoku, opened up a whole new world of effecicient, effortless chopping.

My most recent purchase was a large skillet with a wide bottom. It's heavy like a cast-iron, but non-stick. And, the large surface area makes reducing a breeze. I've made sauces in a snap, shortened cooking time on soups and stews, and have finally learned how to saute properly.

Though most of these--other than the knives--aren't essential for a kitchen, they are now essential for my kitchen.

Here's a quick recipe that uses two of my tools to make a fast, tasty, fresh pasta sauce.

Slow Cooker tomato sauce
Several fresh tomatoes
large handful basil
1/4 cup red wine
4 garlic cloves, peeled
salt and pepper to taste
You'll also need a slow cooker, a blender or food processor, and a wide-bottomed saute pan with a lot of surface area.

Cut the tomatoes into big chunks. Toss them into the slow cooker with the other ingredients. Turn to low, and go to work.

Come home, and stir. Turn off heat, open lid. Carefully put mixture into blender. Blend until smooth. Be careful as it will be hot so pulse the blender until you're sure the lid won't pop off.

Transfer sauce to wide-bottomed saucepan. Taste for seasoning, and adjust as needed. Go for a little less salty than you think you need since it will be saltier when you reduce it.

Turn burner to high, and heat sauce until it starts bubbling. Turn heat to medium low and cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce gets the thickness you want. For pasta, you'll want it thinner. For pizza, you'll want it pretty thick.
When the sauce gets as thick as you want, turn off the burner, and taste one more time, and see if it needs more salt or pepper. Here is where you'd add fresh herbs, a little more salt or pepper, some heavy cream, or even a shot of vodka.

Serve on whatever you like.

Improv Recipe: Chicken Agumba (corn, salsa, tequila, shallots, avocado)

2011-08-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

Chicken Agumba. It's my dad's faux-Italian shorthand for an improv chicken dish when you're short on time and money. The Mister and I were both this week--and the CSA veggies were threatening a refrigerator revolt. As always, sub whatever you have on hand.

1 large frozen chicken breast, thawed and pounded flat
2 ears corn, sliced off cob (canned is fine if it's all you got)
1/2 jar salsa (mine was medium)
1/4 cup tequila
2 shallots, sliced
1-2 T citrus juice
1-2 T oil
1/2 avocado.

Cut chicken breast in half and season.
Put oil in medium saute pan, heat up, add chicken. Cook 3 minutes a side, flip, cook another 3 minutes.
flip, cook another 3 minutes, flip, cook another 3 minutes.
Move to plate.
Turn off heat. Add tequila and deglaze pan.
Add corn and salsa and shallots. Cook for 2 minutes until liquid goes down a bit.
Add chicken breasts back in, cover Cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat.
Cut avocado into cubes.

To serve: Put chicken and some of the corn sauce on plate. Top with half the avocado cubes.

Hot under the (tuna) collar

2011-07-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

There are some foods I've never had that I know I'll love.

Oh, I plan to eat them someday, but either they are too expensive (caviar), too hard to find in my area (glass eels, sea beans), or I only recently learned they existed (black garlic).

Today, I crossed one off my list: Tuna collar.

It all started a few months ago, when The Mister and I discovered a great place for hot-smoked fish. They smoke their fish whole, so one of the items they sell--for cheap--is smoked heads and collars. Like, a pound of fish is usually $10-20, and the collars are a buck a piece.

There's not a ton of eat on them but there''s this insanely tasty layer of fat between the skin and the bone. They were so unctuous and delicious, I called them fish ribs.

And, three weeks later, when I saw them grilling tuna collar on Iron Chef, it clicked. Tuna Collar is just big fish ribs.

Today, at lunch, I had my first real tuna collar, deep fried, with a nice honey soy glaze. Just like the fish ribs, but bigger, no smoke, and a super crispy skin. Biss.

Delicious things

2011-06-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

I don't always appreciate the amazing food I have in my hometown. Like organic strawberries, soft as cream, only hours off the vine. Or Garlic scapes from--literally--my own backyard, the cut ends weeping garlic water.

But sometimes, I need an Ann Arbor fix.

In my current hometown, you must keep your eyes open to find the good things. But in Ann Arbor, you could put on a blindfold, spin around, go in a random direction, and find something delicious.

You'd even be safe from most cars, as the drivers are conditioned to avoid arrogant students.

We were in Ann Arbor on Saturday for aikido, so I convinced The Mister to take a side trip to Zingermans before we left. After all, I had a gift card to spend.

Zingermans lets you taste everything, and has plenty of people behind the counter to help you out. Poor fella, he offered to let me taste everything. I told him "I appreciate your willingness, but for both our sakes, I'm gonna stick to three cheeses and a couple olives."

I picked up several nice things, but my favorite was the Remeker, or as I like to call it, "Scotch Cheese." It's got a tangy, carmely, nutty flavor that reminded me instantly of a good lowland scotch. Because it was aged, it had that crunchy, crumbly thing going on that I usually equate with a good Parmesan.

I've got one more day of the cheese left. This is a beauty that doesn't keep terribly long, nor should it. Tomorrow, I'll be trying it with scotch after dinner.

So, I guess the moral of this post is to appreciate what you have locally, but don't be afraid to travel a bit to seek out new things.

Oh, and if you like aged cheeses, if you can afford it, and if you will be home to accept the delivery, get this cheese shipped to you.

Good morning, Sunshine - Smoothies

2011-06-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

While I was at the farmer's market picking up some local honey, the honey evangelist (and I mean that in the nicest way) gave me a couple booklets with recipes in them.

This Apricot Honey Smoothie was a standout. I tweaked it just a little bit, to the recipe below.

Apricot Honey Smoothie - Thanks, honey evangelist!
1/2 cup dried apricots
1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple in 100% juice - no sugar added
1/2 cup honey (I used buckwheat, which was awesome)
1/2 cup orange juice (or the juice from one orange)
1/3 cup buttermilk

Dump apricots into blender. Add pineapple. Wait five minutes until the fruit is soaked and soft. Blend briefly. Add the rest of the ingredients, and blend until smooth. Stick in fridge for at least an hour until cold. Or, if there's room, stick a couple ice cubes in and blend. Blend again right before serving.

I didn't have any on hand, but I think this would be great with a handful of almonds. This reminds me of my childhood, and the hippie granola kids cookbook I used to love. Still do.

Another win for Martha's Gang - Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

2011-06-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

So, I've mentioned before, I love the Martha Stewart Living: Food magazines. They're filled with proven recipes that are easy and fast.

I have been living off the buttermilk ranch recipe from the June issue all month. The base is just 2 cups buttermilk, 1 cup sour cream, a half cup of mayo, salt and pepper to taste. But then you add fun stuff, like Parmesan cheese, or fresh herbs, or avocado, or bacon, or whatever, to it, to make it your own.

I have been using this on every shred of lettuce in the fridge, coating cooked and cooled green beans with it, even dipping pizza crusts into it. What can I say, it's tangy, salty goodness.

The week in garlic - ending June 12, 2011

2011-06-12T09:37:00.001-07:00

* I went out to weed my garden today, and I found a lovely surprise: The scapes are sprouting! Garlic scape pesto is mere days away.

* I was watching Chopped--don't judge me, and one of the basket ingredients was Black Garlic. This started out as a health food, but the trendy chefs found out about it and it's taken off as the must-have ingredient of the new decade. It appears to be a cross between roasted garlic and pickled garlic, where the whole heads are kept at high temperature, pressure, and humidity, until they turn black and (reportedly) tasty. When I can get my hands on some, I will report back. I have some very fun ideas how to use it. Stay tuned.

Summer Stock

2011-06-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

It's 92 degrees, insane humidity, and am I churning out the sorbet with my Cuisinart ice cream maker?

Nope. I'm making stock.

Yes, I'm an iconoclast.

It was crock-pot stock, though. We'd been grilling, and I had a leftover leg of lamb and a chicken carcass, and I didn't want them to go to waste.

I have to say, crock-pot stock is the way to go. No stirring or skimming, the house didn't get too hot, and all the cooking happened while I was at work.

I suppose I should give you a recipe, but this is all estimate.

crock-pot stock
1-2 pounds meaty bones (I used cooked, but uncooked would work)
2 carrots, cut into large chunks
1 onion, quartered
6 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons of salt

The night before: Dump all ingredients into crock-pot.
The morning after, before you go to work:
Add water until everything is covered. Turn crock-pot on to low.
When you get home: Turn off crock-pot. Use a ladle to pour stock through a strainer into a shallow baking dish, 9X13 is good. The strainer will capture most of the solids and meat guts. You can throw the meat guts away, or pick them over and save the good bits for a casserole or sandwich spread if you are frugal.

You have two options now: You can salt the stock now, or later (before you use it). Either way, add salt a teaspoonful at a time and taste until you think it's salty enough.

When the stock is cooled somewhat, put into fridge or freezer. If you don't freeze, and don't use within a couple days, make sure to bring the stock to a full boil for 5 minutes before you use it.

CSA is a comin' so expect a more seasonally appropriate recipe soon.

Improv recipe: Rice with dates and brie

2011-03-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

Had an Oscar party. Made some baked dates stuffed with bits of brie. Had a bunch left over, so I decided to toss them into some rice. It was yummy.

Can't really give you the estimates, but it was about a dozen dates, and a couple servings of jasmine rice. Tossed it all in together to cook at once.

The dates kind of melted in to the rice, and the dates and the brie made things very, very sweet. It was very filling and tasty, but a little on the sweet side.

Soup's off

2010-11-10T17:12:00.000-08:00

Took a couple days off work to relax and renew. Of course, about halfway through the first day, I was itching to cook something.

I've got a lot of odds and ends, ingredients-wise, but I'm low on meat, and I don't have all my pantry staples. So, there's a plethora of black beans, squash, brown rice, but not too much chicken, stock, onions, or cheese.

Add that to the fact that I have a ton of hot peppers lying around that I don't know what to do with, and my soups have turned out...interesting, to say the least.

I've had some revelations about my cooking skills & technique during the process.

* I tend to use dairy and fat to cover a multitude of culinary shortcomings.
* There's only so far I can improv. After a certain point, it comes out strange.
* I use a LOT of onions. They are the glue of many of my dishes.
* I try to add too many flavors and textures to a dish, thinking complexity will equal tastiness. It doesn't (I've had this problem for years, actually).
* I have no skill using chilies. I constantly under- or over-estimate how much to add for the spice level.
* I'm not all that resourceful in the kitchen when I don't have my go-to ingredients.

Nothing's been inedible, and, miraculously, the soups have gotten better after they've sat a day or two. To tell the truth, a sprinkle of cardboard Parmesan has helped too (umami: I haz it!)

I'll keep at my vegetarian cooking; It's going to be a long, but necessary road, to do more meatless dishes. I'm bringing out my two best veggie cookbooks for further study. But, for now, if I'm faced with an abundance of veggies and lack of onions or fat, I'm gonna go ahead and make a pasta instead of a soup.

The cookbooks
These are old, and will be hard to find. But I highly recommend both of them.

Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites
Traditional flavors with a fresh twist. Easy recipes, and a fantastic lighter Mac & cheese.

The Vegetarian Hearth
Don't know what to do with your root veggies? You will after you read this. Lots of simple, tasty recipes which showcase winter's bounty. Bonus: A delightful section on hot alcoholic drinks, like mulled wine, and buttered rum, which are all wonderful and can be scaled up or down as needed.

Growing Garlic

2010-10-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous fall day out today. My tomato plants are pretty much toast, so I decided to rip out the garden, and start again.

I'm growing garlic this time. It's in the dirt, covered with some convenient leaf mulch, each clove marked with a chopstick or piece of scrap wood.

I've got a ton of garlic from recent farmer's market trips, and I'm hoping that it will hold me over until my home-grown garlic is ready to harvest.

I'm not sure how well this will work out--our soil is very clay-heavy, and I've not grown garlic before. But if it does work out, I've got garlic scapes to look forward to in April.

Overheard at Morimoto

2010-08-18T10:54:00.001-07:00

“I want to divorce you and marry this citrus crème freche.”
“Dude! A burst of chocolate just exploded on my tongue.” “You sound like a judge on Iron Chef.”
“The lobster claw was…like jell-o.”
“It’s soft, then crunchy, then the sweet of the mirin and soy, and then finishes up with the lingering aftertaste of tuna.”
“Just try the oyster. Trust me.”
“Why am I even mixing wasabi for this nigiri? Wait...is this real wasabi root??”
“Try this red paste…” “what the hell is that…miso mixed with…chipotle?”
“(giggles). It’s a baby beet…(giggles)
“This smells like something.”
“I’m sad because I know we’re getting to the end…”
“It’s so cute! It looks like it’s frolicking through the sea.”

***

Let me explain. No there is too much, let me sum up.
It was the best meal of my life.
If you ever dine at Morimoto, go with the omakase tasting menu and wine pairing.
If you can only afford one thing off of the menu, go with the whitefish ceviche.
If you can afford two things off the menu, go with that and the toro tartare
If you can afford three things off the menu, order a glass of sokol blosser Evolution with the whitefish ceviche.

I thought I liked sushi, that I appreciated sushi, but this experience opened my eyes. I never knew raw fish could be so…subtle.

Day 3: Must...shake...my...ass...

2010-08-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

I’m starting my fourth hour of dancing in less than two days. My feet should be aching but they're not. When the Philadelphia Funk Authority starts their final set of Musikfest, I am back on my feet, jockeying for position on the dance floor. I know from last night's gig that, if I don’t get up there now, there won’t be room for me.

George, usually the drummer, has come to the front of the stage for a song or two. Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer.” He’s a manic performer who knows how to work a crowd. The brass is bringing it. And we’re all singing it.

We’re so loud that—we find out later—the band can hear us up on stage. And they’re floored. It’s a perfect symbiosis of performer and audience. I turn away from the stage for a second. Even the thousand or so people in seats behind us, though not on their feet, are still bobbing their heads, swaying a little. It’s barely perceptible in some, but it’s there.

Groovy.

A big Thank You to Bruce Press for a. taking such awesome photos and b. for letting me use this one in my blog post. You rock, Icepick!

One of Us

2010-08-18T10:39:00.001-07:00

East Coasters have a reputation for being inhospitable. I have no idea why.

Our waiter at Otto’s—clearly a local—treated us like we were his kid brother and sister. He gave us tons of info on brewpubs along our route, gave us an extra sample when he wasn’t 100% sure if our beer flight was right, and ran our brewer’s newsletter out to us in the parking lot after we left it on our table.

When we got into Bethlehem, wet and without our umbrellas, Donna didn't simply let us borrow hers. She walked us down the block, umbrella in hand, and escorted us back to her studio like we were VIPs. Then she let us have the umbrella for the entire weekend.

And don't get me started about the inhuman (but very humane) hospitality of George Hrab and his ilk. After George gave us the grand tour of his apartment, and we were ready to join the Musikfest fray, he says “please don’t use the port-a-johns. Come to my apartment if you need to use the bathroom. The door’s open.”

Then, right before the big concert, the icepicks (Bruce, Julie, Allie and Ben) show up with literally a car full of snacks for the after party.

Perhaps it’s because East Coasters are brusque, even blunt at times, and may be it's perceived as rudeness. But this isn’t the same as inhospitable. In fact, there’s something very genuine about the vibe. It’s “come on in, have a beer, join the party.” You’re just assumed to be one of the gang. These are true friends: People who will call you out on bullshit but also go to bat for you without a second thought.

Day 2: Blandfast & Lunchbeer

2010-08-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

Pennsylvania is a freaking long state. Even though we crossed the border well before noon, we had another 6-plus hours to go.

It’s funny to see what the marketing department of each state comes up with as their slogan. We’ve got “Pure Michigan” and Tim Allen voiceovers. For Pennsylvania, it’s “Smile, You’re in Pennsylvania.”

We avoided fast food, but our approach to picking restaurants was haphazard. When hungry, we’d ask the locals for suggestions, and if we couldn’t find a place, we’d stop at the nearest pub or diner. This gave mixed results, as illustrated by our first choice, an all-you-can-eat buffet.

There are two things I expect from a buffet. One is variety. The second is speed. Variety they had. Speed, they did not.

There was plenty of food, but it was bland. Even the fresh-baked fruit pies were boring. The only two standouts were at the cold bar. There was some feta cheese in the potato salad, and the three-bean salad was a tasty balance of sour and sweet.

For a place where the food was hot and ready, which had maybe half a dozen customers, the service was glacial. We were invisible our first five minutes in the diner. In fact, we had to move tables before someone noticed us.

One last observation on the meal: The sausage and saukraut was disturbingly tender. If I applied any pressure with my fork tines, the sausage gave way. It was as if it was made for someone with no teeth.

Thankfully, getting some expert advice later in the day made for a much better meal.

Surfing the Web with my phone, I found a place near Penn State called Otto’s, which looked promising. Given our earlier meal, we wanted a second opinion. I tweeted a friend who’s a Penn State alumnus, and he seconded Otto’s. That cinched it. We took a 20-minute detour for beer and snacks.

We had fondue, crab dip, and two beer sampler trays. It was great pub fare: Not too fancy, but distinctive and delicious.

Otto’s brews their own beer on site—about a dozen varieties. The samplers were a great way for us to try many styles without getting sloshed.

The fondue was a beer-cheddar variety, served with chewy, crusty sourdough. I love this type of fondue anyways, but the added dill seed was unexpected and delicious.

Crab dip is so simple that it’s easy to mess up. This one was well-balanced: It started with a full block of cream cheese, plus a hefty portion of real crab, and a liberal amount of Old Bay. Spicy, creamy, crabby, and rich.

We left Otto’s, dreamily, our arteries leaden, the smell of hot mash drifting through our nostrils.

Day 1: MBC to Silent Hill, OH

2010-08-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

The Mister picked me up from the office Wednesday evening. We did not pass go.We did not collect $200. We did visit Michigan Brewing Company, however.

MBC is the second largest beer distributor in Michigan, after Bells. MBC’s beer is better, too. Sure, it tacked an hour onto the trip, but since we were splitting the drive into two days, we had some time to enjoy the journey. It also gave me a chance to pick up gifts for the friends we were visiting and try a riff on the sea breeze called a Summer Breeze. It’s made with house-distilled Valentine Vodka, fresh squeezed citrus juice, and a bit of Badass Beer.

Yes, that's Kid Rock's beer. Although it's not bad, it's not quite Badass either. ("It's a canoe beer," says The Mister.)

Our hearts were warm, our bellies were full, and we were feeling fine as we entered the Ohio Turnpike.

“Do we have change?” I asked, fumbling around the center console.

“I’m sure they take credit,” The Mister slowed down and reached into his pocket for his wallet. Before he could grab it, the tollbooth light flashed green and the gate raised.

It turns out that our Illinois I-Pass, which we got for visiting my folks, works on other tollways too! I checked it out, and you can use the I-Pass/E-ZPass in 20 states in the Midwest and New England, including Ohio and Pennsylvania.

If you do any driving in that area, get an I-Pass. It saves you at least an hour from tollbooth slowdowns and you won’t have to scrounge for change.

It had rained most of the drive. The Mister doesn't love to drive at night, or in the rain, but he was a trooper and pulled the entire shift himself. It was about 11 PM when we reached the exit for our hotel just East of Cleveland. The rain had become a fine mist and fog had started to rise from the ground. We saw a nearly-deserted strip mall, windows sealed with plywood, one lone Dollar Store the last tenant. It was depressing, and more than a little creepy to see the same setup repeated just a few miles down the road, then a few miles after that. I started to second-guess our decision to listen to “Dead Beat” in the car.

We eventually found our hotel, which was clean, if not comfortable, and got on the road bright and early the next day. Thus ended our side trip to Silent Hill and the least interesting part of the trip.

It gets better from here kids, I promise.

Carrie P’s Excellent PA Adventure (Also Starring The Mister)

2010-08-18T09:12:00.000-07:00

The Mister and I just got back from a trip to Philadelphia, PA on Monday. We wanted to blog the trip, but decided to wait until after the trip to write about it.

Strictly speaking, the trip is not 100% food-related. But we did make an effort to do the Road Food thing while driving, and a highlight of the trip was dining at a Very Good Restaurant. So, I think it fits for the most part.

I'll be posting every day or so, starting today. Entries will be mostly, but not exclusively, chronological.

For now, Be Excellent to Each Other, and Party On, Dudes!

Love, CarrieP and The Mister

The Chard

2010-07-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

If you're ever looking for a good idea for a Hollywood Horror story, I humbly submit the following:

It's pre-dawn. A young woman walks into her backyard, tentatively. She goes to a small, fenced in area. She carefully steps over the knee-length chicken wire, and digs her hands into the dirt.

She grasps the head of a green, leafy thing, and pulls. The object emits a sickening crunch. she does this again, and again. But no matter how much she pulls, she cannot eliminate...

The Chard.

Greens are great, because they are easy to grow, hard to kill, and produce like the dickens. But greens can also be a nuisance because they are easy to grow, hard to kill, and produce like the dickens. They can end up much like weeds if a gardener plants too many of them, and harvests too infrequently.

The best defense against attack of the smothering greens--once you pick them--is to cook them down. A bushel of chard melts down to a fraction of its size once you toss it with some fat and heat in a pan.

To this end, I plucked some chard this week and made Swiss Chard pies. This recipe is adapted from a Martha Stewart Everyday Food recipe, which can be found here.

I cooked the chard longer than the recipe stated--I prefer my chard nice and soft--and used the dough to make individual calzones instead of one big pie. I added a bit of wheat flour to the dough to add nutrition and give it a little more chew.

The original recipe called for assembling the pie, then freezing it dough, then baking it frozen. Since my calzones were smaller, I cooked them first, then froze them. In theory I should be able to warm them up in the microwave much like a Hot Pocket, but healthier and tastier.

For 1 1/2 pounds of chard, I made 8 pocket-sized calzones. I tried one right out of the oven, and it was pretty tasty. The dough was more like a pizza crust, rather than a flaky or tender crust, but it had a nice chew and a great flavor from the olive oil. The filling was spicy, savory, tender and filling.

Swiss Chard Calzones
Adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food Swiss Chard Pie

Follow the recipe for Swiss Chard Pie (Use the largest pan you have)with the following changes:

Cook the stems and the leaves separately until the volume has reduced significantly, then put them back together in the same pan and cook them for another 10 minutes, until the chard stems are pretty soft.

Make the following changes to the dough:
Replace half a cup of the flour with whole wheat flour.
When ready to roll, divide the dough into four quarters.
Shape each quarter into a flat disk, then roll out into a large, thin, circle. Cut the circle in half.
Lay out a 1/4 cup of filling in each half-circle. Press edges together, wetting seams with a finger dipped in water if needed.
Oil a large baking sheet. Brush calzones with egg yolk as directed in recipe.
Bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes, checking after 20 minutes. Pull when crust turns golden brown.

Eat at once, or let cool and freeze on a flat baking sheet. To reheat, microwave 2-3 minutes, checking doneness after 2 minutes.

The Steak Anniversary

2010-07-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

Is the sixth anniversary the steak annversary?

The Mister and I are planning our anniversary dinner. Last year, we vacationed in Chicago. I'm normally the one who picks restaurants, but that time, I completely bombed on picking our place to dine. Not only did the place not sell wine (BYO is popular in the city), I got food poisioning from my sea scallops. Considering we could have eaten at Alinea, one of the best restaurants in the US, it was an Epic Fail.

So, when a friend started gushing about Bourbon Steak, my ears perked up. Best steak he ever had, he said, and his wife was going on and on about the mac & cheese. The food is American Steakhouse, but very expensive, and apparently very delicious.

As in, their steaks average about $50, and everything else is a la carte. Their most expensive steak is $70.

I really want to do a good anniversary dinner this year, and this place seems to fit the bill. But I'm just not sure if I can bring myself to pay that much for a steak. There are other things we could spend our money on. On the other hand, I don't want to go someplace mediocre, again, for our anniversary.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

It isn't easy eating greens

2010-07-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

So, My summer CSA is in full force. I'm splitting the share with some foodie friends.

But I simply cannot keep up with all the greens they are throwing at me.

I know, I know, the early Summer is all greens. Nothing farm-fresh is ripe yet, locally, here in the Great Lakes region. But if they try to give me yet another variation of spinach, cabbage, and leaf lettuce, I'm going to scream!

To top it all off, I planted a dozen bunches of chard in my own garden. I have greens coming out the wazoo.

In a desparate attempt to get most off my greens off my plate (heh) before an upcoming 4th of July vacation, I pulled out all the stops last night. I made:

* Spinach & Garlic Scape Pesto
* Bok Choy and komatsuna (aka Japanese bitter spinach) stems sauteed in bacon fat and pesto.
* Roasted Kale chips (toss kale with oil to coat, splash of vinegar, salt. Roast at 250 for 10-20 minutes. Stir frequently, check every couple minutes after 10 to make sure they don't burn).
* Shrimp and coconut soup with bok choy and komatsuna leaves.

And in the morning:
* Chard braised in oil and wine, finished with Parmesan.

The kohlrabi will hold, but I'm not so sure about the baby beets and greens. The leaf lettuce may be a lost cause, but I'll toss it when I return.

If any thieves come while we're away, and steal some of my vegetable garden, I'll probably be grateful.

Food groove

2010-06-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

Planned some party food for a coed (clothed) bachelor party shindig this weekend.

We also did a late dinner at a fantastic local joint, but I wanted to make sure there were snacks for before and after.

Other than making waay too much food, it was a terrific success. Used lots of local produce from my CSA share, prepped almost everything 2 days in advance, and got a sweet deal on some pork butt.

Here's a rundown of the party menu plus some shorthand recipes.

Strained yogurt dip
1 tub plain yogurt
2-3 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
scant teaspoon lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients. Strain using cheesecloth and a colander (or, in a pinch, coffee filters and a colander) overnight. Unwrap, taste, adjust for seasoning, put in pretty bowl. Serve with assorted crackers and veggies.

Potted cheese

Spinach artichoke dip
fresh spinach
2 boxes cream cheese
2 jars artichokes, drained and roughly chopped
1 cup parmesan, shredded
1/2 cup mozzarella
1/2 cup mayo
1-2 cups leftover garlic scape pesto

Chop and boil the spinach briefly, drain and squeeze out water.
Microwave cream cheese for a minute or two until it's mixable.
Toss everything else in, mixing well. Pack it into a big oven-safe dish.
Refrigerate for a day or two, cook at 350 for a half hour until top is lightly browned and dip is rocket-hot.

Sweet Satan's Seed (aka sweet and spicy roasted nuts)

Pulled pork
6 pounds bone-in pork butt
assorted herbs, 1-2 Tablespoons, including fresh cillantro
1 Tablespoon grated orange peel
1 tablespoon crystalized tamarind
couple shakes of soy and worchestershire
1 tablespoon lemon juice
good handful of salt
2-3 crushed garlic cloves
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon black peppercorns, lightly crushed

mix into a paste. Rub all over pork. Let sit overnight if you have time.
Next day, toss the pork in a Crock-Pot and cover with
12 oz red wine
12 oz mountain dew
1 tomato, roughly chopped (or a can of tomatoes)
water or chicken broth as needed to bring liquid level 2/3 of the way up the roast.

Set on low for at least 8 hours, up to 12.
Drain liquid, let pork cool. Shred, mix with whatever BBQ sauce you like, or leave unsauced. Serve on good quality buns like yeast buns.

Chocolate Chipotle brownies
Box brownie mix plus ingredients to make the brownies (eggs and oil usually)
1 can raspberries in syrup
1-2 tablespoons dried chipotle powder
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.

Drain raspberries, reserve liquid.
Make brownie mix to package directions, using raspberry juice in place of any water that the recipe calls for. Mix in chocolate chips. Pour into pan, spread drained rasperries on top, swirling into batter with a knife.

Line a baking pan with oiled parchment paper. Bake according to package directions. You may need to bake a bit longer because of the additional liquid from the rasperries. These will never get completely dry because of all the liquid, so it's OK if they stay a bit squidgy. Remove from oven and let cool. Slice with a pizza cutter.

I did it again!

2010-06-04T05:36:00.000-07:00

Late Thursday night, while searching for a treat to make for my boss's birthday, I realized I had all the ingredients for this. So, in under 2 hours, and to the chagrin of all those chefs that swear by mise-en-place, I literally threw together a pineapple upside-down cornbread cake.

And it was awesome. A coarse, but sweet, crumb, and a sumptuous, sweet sugar glaze on top.

Maybe that's my calling, to show people how to throw together tasty meals with whatever's on hand. A cookbook of sorts. I'm not sure, though, can you write a cookbook if you have no formal training? Well, of course you can, but will anyone read it?

Trufflicious

2010-06-02T06:53:00.000-07:00

These days, I do more cookbook reading than actual cooking, although I’m trying to get back into the habit of experimentation. However, it means, practically, that I’ve got dozens of recipes I’d like to try, floating around in my brain, at any given time.

There are certain recipes that will appeal to me, and it may take me weeks, if not months, to finally get to them. The catalyst for making it might be a paycheck, the weather, a social event, or simply availability.

For the truffles I made last week, it was partly viability, and partly a social thing. I needed to bring a dish to pass for Memorial Day, and I realized I had all the ingredients on hand to make them.

These truffles are adapted from Sally Schneider’s book “A New Way to Cook,” which is sort of a healthy eating cookbook. Her philosophy seems to be threefold: 1. use quality ingredients, 2. use processed foods sparingly, and 3. go ahead and use tasty fats, but use the minimum amount possible for the maximum punch.

Now, these truffles aren’t healthy, but they are healthier. If you can limit yourself to eating only a few, they are even healthier. Much like my friend The Brass Chef, I’m of the belief that if it doesn’t taste good, it’s not worth eating, even if it’s “healthy.” So something like low-fat pizza (shudder) is really anathema to me. Better to limit myself to one slice, or better yet, just eat pizza less often.

Her truffle recipe uses chestnut puree to thicken and bind the truffles, so you can get away with using less chocolate AND whole milk instead of heavy cream. If you have a food processor, and you can find pre-roasted pre-peeled chestnuts, this recipe is pretty easy to make, as far as truffles go.

You basically simmer the chestnuts in some milk, on very low heat, until the nuts are tender and the milk has reduced. You add your chocolate, and process the bejeezus out of the mixture until the nuts are completely smooth and incorporated into the mix. You add some flavorings or booze at the end, then refrigerate for a few hours to let everything firm up.

Then, you roll the truffles, and coat in cocoa powder. Which is somewhat messy, but fun.

Once I put these out at the party, they didn’t last long.

Schneider talks about how the chestnut puree has a texture similar to a starch like potato starch, and also thicken like a starch. So I’m tempted to rework the recipe to use some other starches such as dried powdered potato starch (found some at my local Asian mart).

I’ve got the rest of the ingredients, other than the chestnuts, still sitting at home, so it’d be a no-brainer. Further updates as events warrant.

Pie Dreams (nightmares)

2010-05-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

The Journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. – Lao Tzu

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool. – Mark Twain

I’m gonna take this F-ing pie and throw it across the F-ing kitchen. – Carrie P

I am not a patient person. I prefer quick, improvisational recipes with simple steps and lots wiggle room.

As you might imagine, baking is not my thing. Quick breads and batter breads I can do, and I’ve spent the past few winters really getting a good handle on yeast breads and cookie making. But items that require an intense amount of precision and skill, and have little room for error, are still tough for me.

Like, say, pie crusts.

Pie filling is right up my alley. Take some nice fruit, toss it with spices, sugar, and a thickener, then bake it until it’s done. Easy as. But I’ve always had trouble with pie crusts, on several fronts.

First, I have trouble rolling out the dough. It sticks to the board, or is misshapen, or is too thick or too thin, or all of the above.

Second, I have trouble transferring the pie crust from the board to the pie pan.

Third, I’m not very good at blind-baking. The edges of the crust come out burnt, and the inside of the crust sticks to the foil lining and pulls away somewhat.

Fourth, the texture and flavor of my pie crusts are underwhelming. They are usually brittle and burnt-tasting, or tough and burnt-tasting.

So, I decided to practice pie crusts this year. Now that fruit is just starting to come into season, and my oven’s been mended it seemed to be the time to start. I picked up some strawberry, some rhubarb, and some tapioca starch.

My first crust of 2010 was a spectacular—but salvageable—failure.

I used a recipe based on Cook’s Illustrated’s “Foolproof pie dough.” I think it would have gone better had I had the whole recipe and accompanying text to go with it, but I had to make to with a shortened version.

The dough came together fine—it was particularly easy to make in the food processor—but the resulting dough, even after refrigerating, was extremely wet, sticky and soft. I used some, but clearly not enough, flour when rolling, for it stuck to my rolling surface in several places. I tried to use a fish spatula to release the dough, which worked somewhat well for the bottom crust.

I got the bottom crust together, and was able to press down to seal up the large number of holes, tears, and spots where it didn’t come all the way up the side of the pan.

When I blind-baked it, the parts that were draping over the edge of the pan started to burn.

The top crust I rolled out, then put in the fridge in hopes of getting it to firm up.

It was not to be.

To get the crust on the pie, I went with the band-aid method, and tried to move it from the plate to the pie as quickly as possible. In retrospect, I should have gone with the “Cake competition” method, and moved it very, very slowly.

The top crust fell onto my pie in a Jackson-Pollock pile.

It was at this point I uttered the quote above.

After I calmed down somewhat, I got the crust into something resembling a latticed funnel-cake style topping, which covered most of the top of the pie. No huge gaping wounds.

I tried to fashion a bit of foil to put around the edges of the crust so it wouldn’t burn, which, after more swearing (I’m my father’s child) eventually worked.

50 minutes later, I had pie.

It came out looking sort of like this, but with large spaces between the dough where the filling peeked through.

It was an ugly pie, but a delicious pie. The crust came out to be very tender, and flaky. It reminded me of a cross between sugar cookies and shortbread. The crust was almost too tender.

I think part of this was because I used a super-soft All Purpose flour. “They” say that using a soft (aka low-protein) flower helps tenderness because it’s the protein that causes gluten, and it’s the gluten that makes crusts tough. It’s also the gluten that gives them any stability at all, so using the flour may have made the dough softer than it should have been. The recipe I used almost certainly used a higher protein flour. Oops.

I will use this recipe again, with a higher-protein flour, but I will also seek out other recipes. Shirley Corriher has several pie crusts in her book Cookwise, and also a fair bit about the chemistry behind them. I will do some reading up over the next week and try another crust or two Memorial Day weekend.

My goal is not to learn how to make anyone’s specific pie crust recipe. What I want is to find a recipe that I can do (or learn how to do) fairly easy, with a crust that tastes pretty good. So part of it is practice, but part of it may be shopping around for a pie crust that “works” for the way I cook.

But most of it is practice.

Fondue+Grilling = Raclette

2010-05-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend I discovered Raclette. Raclette is a mild cheese from Switzerland, but it's also a style of dining, similar to fondue. In fondue, you either use oil broth as a cooking medium, or you melt cheese and wine together and dip fresh veggies and such into the mix.

For Raclette, you use a grill to get the meats and veggies toasty warm and golden,and a broiler to melt your cheese. You pour the unadulterated, melty cheese over everything, and drink wine with the meal.

It was love at first bite.

I think that nothing will quite replace fondue in my heart, but this method comes close. It has a few advantages over fondue, in fact. One, it's easier for a large number of people to cook their stuff. Just put it on the grill and turn it, no entangled fondue forks. Two, it's great for vegans or meat-eaters. The cheese is optional and you cook it yourself, so someone who doesn't eat cheese can still participate. Three, the meat (usually smoked sausage and hams) and veggies are all pre-cooked, so you're just warming it up, so there's much less of a concern about food safety. Four, you choose whatever wine you want to drink, and aren't forced into having a certain wine because that's the wine in the fondue.

Also, it's more summery than fondue, what with the grilling and all, and can be adapted to a variety of textures and flavors.

There are, of course, specialized Raclette grills and utensils and suchlike, but it wouldn't be too hard to adapt a barbecue grill for the same purpose.

For further research, check out Raclette grills at Amazon, and some traditional and non-traditional Raclette recipes.

Improv recipe: Butter, Scotch and butterscotch

2010-05-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

I was talking with a Facebook friend the other day, and he mentioned that butterscotch doesn't taste like butter or scotch. I disagreed. I thought it tasted a fair bit like butter.

Anyway, it got me thinking. So when the grocery store had butterscotch chips on sale today, I decided to pick up a bag and see if I could make a butterscotch sauce out of butter, scotch and butterscotch.

I only made about a half cup of sauce, and eyeballed the proportions, but, for the most part, it came out well. Well enough for The Mister and I to fight over the last of the sauce during dessert.

Just watch that you don't burn the butterscotch chips in the microwave. Also, make sure you add enough liquid to them. If you don't, it will get gritty and clumpy. If this happens it's an easy fix, just add a little more butter or scotch and stir until melted and smooth.

Butter and Scotch Butterscotch Sauce
Enough for 2 generous servings

1/4 cup butterscotch morsels
1-2 tablespoons butter
2-4 tablespoons scotch.

Let butter come to room temperature. Put butterscotch chips in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 20-30 seconds at a time, stirring, until butterscotch chips start to melt. Add 1 tablespoon of butter, and microwave for 10-15 seconds more, just until the butter is melted, stirring. Don't worry too much if it seems clumpy and grainy. Add 2 tablespoons of scotch and stir. If it's still grainy and isn't coming together, add a bit more butter and/or scotch until it gets smooth.

Serve over ice cream or pound cake.

My podcast (with recipes!)

2010-04-29T06:06:00.000-07:00

I've started a podcast, "Carrie P's Cocktail Party," where I will talk about, among other things, food and cooking.

My first episode, which will be out later today, gives basic recipes for both saganaki and mint juleps.

So, I figured I'd cross-post the recipes for the podcast here as well.

For those who'd like to check out the podcast, the link is here.

Becky’s Mint Juleps
8 cups water
4 cups sugar
2 tsp mint extract
Good Quality Bourbon (such as Woodford Reserve)
Fresh mint

Combine water and sugar in large saucepan. Bring water to a boil, stirring occasionally. When water is fully boiling, remove from heat and let cool. Add mint extract and store in fridge or for up to a week. When making the drinks, mix 2-3 parts sugar mixture to 1 part bourbon over crushed ice. Garnish with fresh mint.

Saganaki
1 8 oz square Kasseri cheese or Yanni Grilling cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup flour
1/2 shot grand Marnier
1/2 shot "Something Strong" (ouzo, bourbon, etc)
1/2 lemon

Hardware - cast-iron or flameproof pan, heatproof spatula, stick lighter

Cut cheese in half lengthwise, so you have two long, flat, slices. As if you were going to make a kasseri cheese sandwich. Dredge in flour evenly.

Melt butter in skillet. Add cheese. Grill on one side until bottom is golden brown and edges start to melt. Flip over, grill the other side until brown and the center is gooey. (poke it with your spatula to check this).

Turn off heat, remove pan from heat source. Pour in booze. Make sure you're not near anything that can catch on fire. Use stick lighter to light booze on fire, while saying OPA!

Let burn until flames start to die down, then finish them off by squeezing lemon on. Serve in the pan, with good bread.

Oven, Part 2

2010-04-14T06:55:00.000-07:00

I put some slightly higher rent food in the oven this week. Even so, My savory bread pudding is still pretty much peasant food.

I adapted it from a Cheese and Wine Bake in the “I Hate to Cook Book,” by Peg Bracken. It is a tongue-in-cheek relic from the 60’s and 70’s that is, as advertised, simple, filling recipes for a harried housewife.

I kept the basic recipe, changed up the cheese, removed the mustard, added some sautéed veggies and herbs.

This is literally a refrigerator Velcro recipe. You can change the type and amount of vegetables to your taste. It’s not elegant, but it is delicious.

Savory Bread Pudding

Several thick slices of bread, enough to cover the bottom of a 9 X 13 baking dish
½ stick butter, softened
2 cloves garlic
3 eggs
2 cups shredded cheese
1 cup of white wine
½ cup of broth
1 rounded cup vegetables (I used a half an onion and a package of button mushrooms. I’ve also added zucchini and red peppers)
1-2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Several grinds of fresh pepper
Salt to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Soften butter. Crush garlic cloves and mush into butter. Spread butter on bread. Put slices face down in baking dish.

Sautee vegetables in a little bit of oil and a pinch of salt, and any herbs you want. You want them to give up their liquid and then let that liquid evaporate off. (If you don’t do this, your end result will be waterlogged). Stir them every couple of minutes, over medium-high heat. Turn it down if it starts to burn.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs, then add broth, seasonings, and cheese. Stir to mix.
When veggies are done, spread them evenly over the bread. Top with wine-cheese mixture.

Cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes, until bread absorbs liquid, eggs set up, and cheese is nice and golden. Serve with a green salad and a small glass of wine.

My oven's fixed...

2010-04-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

...and the first thing I cook is a frozen pizza.

I shall fix this problem soon, hopefully with a fruit pie and from-scratch crust.

Ugly name, culinary magic

2010-03-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

I got some great compliments for my potted cheese dip that I made for the Elite 8 game last Sunday. Both the flavor of the dip—kinda a winey, feta-heavy cold fondue flavor—and my improv culinary skills in making the dip were praised.

Thing is, this dip was one of the easiest things I’ve ever made. I took some leftover cheese, a bit of some type of onion, threw it in a food processor, and added wine until it was the consistency I wanted.

I felt a little bit guilty taking all the praise for a recipe that is specifically designed to be refrigerator Velcro. But hey, I’ll take the credit.

And now, so can you.

Potted cheese

1 pound of leftover cheese (I used half feta, and half milder, other cheeses)
¼ cup of something oniony (onion, shallot, garlic, chives, or a combination)
½ - 1 cup of wine (I used red, red wine)
Couple tablespoons of herbs (something strong like thyme or oregano)
Pinch of cayenne pepper (for luck)
Salt and pepper to taste

Shred/crumble cheese. Place all ingredients in food processor. Blend, then add red wine in a thin stream, a little at a time, until it comes together and gets smooth. Taste, add more salt and pepper as needed. Put into nice serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to 2 days, before serving.

A world without cheese

2010-03-28T09:17:00.001-07:00

Although I called this blog "Garlic is love," if there's one food I couldn't live without, it would be cheese.

From feta to fontina, brie or baby swiss, its salty, tangy, rich mouthfeel is the ultimate comfort food.

Which of course, got me to thinking, what if I had to give it all up?

I don't think I'd want to have fake cheese substitutes. The quality's not the same, and it would only remind me what I was missing.

But there are other foods that have a similar mouthfeel, texture, or taste, that are enjoyable on their own. They don't try to be cheeese, but, if, God forbid, I could never have another piece of cheddar, I'd be eating these foods a lot more often to fill the gap.

1. Avocado.

The fatty, silky mouthfeel of avocado is delightful, and reminiscent of some soft cheeses. It's so smooth, in fact, that there are ice cream recipes that incorporate some avocado into them.

Like cheese, avocado can be eaten in slices, or cubes, and, like cheese, it can be turned into a spread. The flavor of avocado is subtle, so it's more like a cream cheese than a hard or aged cheese.

Recipe: Avocado Gelato(Gourmet magazine)

2. Olive oil

Olive oil, at least the very good ones, are complex like wines and cheeses. Like a thick, golden wine. I like a buttery olive oil as opposed to a grassy one, but both have their place. The nice thing about golden olive oil is that the color is similar to yellow cheese.

A simple snack of fresh bread drizzled with olive oil can help with a cheese fix.

ZeTune olive oil - amazing oil from a small family farm in Lebanon.

3. Hummus

Take the olive oil, add some chickpeas and perhaps some sesame paste, and you've got an extremely thick, creamy dip. Put in a little bit of lemon or garlic, and you could almost believe this was some kind of cheese dip.

Recipe: Carrie's Speedy hummus
1 can chickpeas
1/4 cup good-quality olive oil
juice and zest from one lemon
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
salt and pepper to taste.

Place all ingredients except for olive oil in blender. Pulse until chickpeas disappear, then add the olive oil in a thin stream, keep processing. Taste and adjust seasoning. Put into small, pretty bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve, covering with plastic wrap. Drizzle a touch more olive oil on the top just before serving.

4. Eggs

Dilbert once famously said, "eggs are like cheese from chickens." He's not far off. Both eggs and cheese can be used in similar ways, to thicken, to add body. And both can be nice and creamy.

Dairy-free Lemon curd (adapted from Sally Schneider's A New Way to Cook)
1/2 teaspoon gelatin
juice and zest from 2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg white
a few tablespoons of coconut milk (optional)

Take about a tablespoon of the lemon juice and put it in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over the small bit of lemon juice and let it absorb.

Fill a medium-sized saucepan halfway full of water. Find a stainless steel bowl that nests in the pan well, but doesn't touch the water. Nest the bowl in the pan.

Place everything except for the gelatin and coconut milk in the bowl, and whisk it all together. Turn the heat to high, and stir the mixture constantly for 5 to 10 minutes, until it starts to get quite thick.

Once it gets thick, add the gelatin in and stir until it's combined. Remove from the heat. Let cool for 5 minutes, then stir. Let cool another 5 minutes, then stir in a few tablespoons of coconut milk (optional).

Serve cold or at room temperature. Keeps for several days.

Pi(e) Day celebration

2010-03-14T16:52:00.000-07:00

Because I'm a geek and a food geek, I made a pie in celebration of Pi day, March 14th, 3-14. (Get it?)

I was hoping to work on pie crusts, but as our oven is still broken, I needed to focus on no-bake recipes. So I went with a Jell-O Pie.

Sure, Jell-O Pie is a marriage of 1950's convenience foods and 1960's science. But, at its core, it's Fruit, juice, gelatin, and cream. Mostly. What's not to like?

The traditional flavor is strawberry, though any variation of fruit, fruit juice, and Jell-O can be used. To make it a little bit interesting (and for my sister-she knows why), I made a Mango Tango Lemon Pie.

Mango Tango Lemon Pie
Most of the mango items can be found in the international foods aisle of your grocery store. You could use 2 fresh mangoes here, too, but the canned tastes pretty good and works just fine.

1 graham cracker crust
8 oz (smaller container) Cool-Whip Lite
16 oz canned mangoes (International Foods aisle at grocery store)
Juice and Zest of one lemon
1 packet Lemon-flavored Jell-O
Mango-flavored soda
Canned mango puree or juice
Red and yellow food coloring

Juice and zest a lemon. Add enough mango-flavored soda to make 1/2 cup. Add a half cup of mango juice to the mixture. Heat briefly over low heat until it's just boiling, then turn off heat.

Meanwhile, drain canned mangoes, and chop into bite-size pieces.

Dump lemon Jell-O packet into medium bowl. Add fruit juice, stir well. Add Cool-Whip, stir until all the lumps are out and everything is smooth.

Add 2 drops of red, and 4 drops of yellow, food coloring to the mix (optional).

Fold in the mangoes.

Dump it all into a graham cracker pie crust and toss in the fridge for a couple hours, until it's set.

I've found good luck sticking it in the freezer for an hour, then into the fridge. It means you get to eat it sooner.

You may scoff at Jell-O pie, but I dare you not to lick the bowl clean.

The Durian

2010-01-15T18:11:00.000-08:00

If Garlic is Love, then durian is...durian.

Squatting in the snow in my backyard, durian laid out in front of me on a pizza box, I tried to gather the courage to eat this mysterious and misunderstood fruit.

I saw it, frozen, at my local Oriental Mart. I was stunned. I'd heard of it before--on exotic travel and food shows--but thought it was only available in its native Asia, not my middling Midwest town. I had some cash in my pocket, and figured, for a little more than 5 bucks, I had little to lose.

I noted the packaging. Clear hard plastic case, shrinkwrapped in more plastic. Inside, two fruits were bound up in clear plastic wrap, like fat, cream-colored sausages.

I picked it out of the freezer case, tucked it under my arm, and did a little more shopping. After a while, I noticed a strange smell that seemed to be following me. You know how sometimes, if you have a dog, and the dog is laying down across the room, and all of a sudden, your'e on the couch and you get a whiff of dog fart out of nowhere?

A little like that.

I sniffed my hands. Amazingly, the durian smell had transferred through all three layers of plastic. It was faint, but distinct. And seemed to be getting stronger the more I focused on the scent.

The cashier at the counter wrapped the durian box in another plastic baggie. I smiled at her, and thanked her. I could still smell it as I put it into the trunk of my car. Four layers of plastic.

I thought of my friend Donna, a fearless, brilliant woman, who just had a milestone birthday. She wouldn't be afraid of a fruit. Even if it did grow looking like a big, spiky football that could kill you if it fell on you. I thought of all the other odd foods I'd tried--garlic and honey ice-cream, duck's blood soup, chocolate cheese.

I nearly threw the durian in the trash, unopened.

Now that I had direct experience with how fragrant the durian actually was, as soon as I got home, the whole package went directly into the snowbank in my backyard. We'd just gotten a good foot of snow, and the temperatures weren't getting anywhere near freezing, so it was the safest place for it. I had to shoo the dog away from it a couple times until more snow the following week buried it completely.

Just this week, we got a thaw. I looked out my window and saw the box, the pale yellow sausages staring at me. Taunting me.

There was no way I was tossing the durian, I decided, but no way I'd be eating it in the house. I scrounged in the kitchen for a plate I wouldn't mind getting rid of, a fork and a knife. I put my snow boots on and went into the backyard.

I held my breath, opened the layers of packaging. One, then two, then three, now slicing the end off the tube. I squatted down, dug out a hunk of creamy fruit, and chewed.

The taste was not nearly as strong as I thought it would be, considering the smell. Perhaps this was because it was still pretty cold, and the flavor was somewhat muted. It tasted like a very chewy cantaloupe, mixed in with a very runny and stinky goat cheese, with a little bit of onion character thrown in, especially on the aftertaste.

Even so, I only had one bite. I couldn't decide if I liked it or not, and I had absolutely no viable storage options for the rest of the fruit now that I'd opened it and the weather was warming up. So, still undecided, I closed the pizza box lid, and walked the whole thing across the backyard, to the garage, to the trash.

It would have been nice to figure out something else to do with the fruit, but small steps. I was proud that I'd tried it. The risk taker in me (such as she is) wins out again. And, if for a very short second, it was no longer winter in Michigan, but summer in Malaysia.

Now if I can just find a place nearby that serves Fugu.

2009 culinary recap

2010-01-07T17:45:00.000-08:00

I was so busy cooking in the last quarter of 2009, I had little time to blog. Here's a quick highlight of what I was up to between then and now:

* Hosted an epic Halloween party which included two types of punch (both with dry ice smoke), squid-ink pasta, roasted garlic with anchovy paste, and numerous other spooky bites.

* Wrote a 50,000 word novel in the month of November, using dining scenes for inspiration when I was stuck.

* Baked three different types of cookies, some chocolate chipotle brownies, cranberry sauces, green been casserole and saganaki (opa!).

* Got back on the scallops wagon six months after eating some bad ones while celebrating my 5th wedding anniversary.

* Improved my soup-fu (aka improv soup making).

* Made a halfway decent (and somewhat authentic) curry for the first time.

* Fell in love with saba nigiri (mackerel sushi).

* Re-created at home a roasted squash and bean hummus dip that I'd had at a fancy restaurant.

* Lost, then gained back, 4 pounds.

My food goals for 2010 are to:

* Consume wine or cheese older than I am

* Do another "Iron Chef" party with friends, but as a judge, not a competitor

* Master pastry crusts (I'm thinking just about the time that berries and peaches come into season).

* Eat more fish; get more creative with fish meals

* Have more fun with vegetarian food

* Find more fun and delicious local restaurants

* Enjoy food more; worry less

2010 should be a good food year.

Improv recipe: Roasted Curried Sweet Vegetables

2009-10-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

This is not the healthiest dish out there, but it sure is tasty. You could probably tone down the amount of oil used, and omit the butter entirely, if you are trying to be a bit healthy. You can, of course, make things less spicy if you don't do well with heat. Make sure to taste the mixture to see if it's to your liking before you slather it on your veggies.

One last note: Unless you are an expert with a knife, do not attempt this recipe without a sharp vegetable peeler. Acorn squash are kind of a pain to peel. You can substitute a small butternut squash, which is a little bit easier to peel.

Roasted curried sweet vegetables
Serves 4 as a side dish

2 sweet potatoes
1 medium acorn squash

¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup brown sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1-2 Tablespoons curry powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 cloves
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Peel vegetables, cut into 1 inch cubes. Combine the rest of the ingredients except for the butter. Taste mixture and adjust seasoning as necessary. Coat vegetables with mixture.

Put vegetables in large oven-safe dish or wide-lipped baking sheet. Dot with butter.

Cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, or until veggies are tender.

The Secret of Salads

2009-09-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

I may have finally discovered the secret to salads.

But first, a little background.

My grandma J was the salad making expert of the family. Anytime we got together for the holidays, she'd bring a crisp, veggie-filled layered delight. Every bite seemed to be full of mushrooms, radish, tomato or bell pepper. And her salads rarely had cheese. Which makes it especially surprising that I loved them so much.

I thought I hadn't gotten the salad making gene from her, for all my salads tended to be lettuce-heavy and short on veggies. Any veggies I did add were chopped small and tended to sink to the bottom of the bowl.

Last night, while making a salad, I had an epiphany. I must give much of the credit to the ingredients I had on hand. The salad was to be the main course, so I had procured some end-of-summer tomatoes, thick chunks of fresh-boiled chicken, two types of nuts, homemade croutons, and goat cheese. It's kind of hard to go wrong when you start with good ingredients.

For all these years, I'd been chopping my veggies much too small. Sure, that's how my mom did it, but she always portioned the lettuce first into bowls, then sprinkled the veggies on top. Thus, no sinkage. But for salad in the big bowl, if the bites were larger, they rest much better on top of the lettuce.

Comparing this salad to others I'd made, I realized I had put a lot more non-lettuce ingredients into this one. Increasing the amount of other stuff in the salad made it tastier and more interesting.

I also needed to layer like a lasagna. So, a layer of lettuce, then a layer of each of the other ingredients, before I got back to the lettuce. For my normal salads, I had been putting a layer of lettuce between each other ingredient, which meant too much lettuce, not enough other stuff.

With those concepts in mind, I have created a simple salad formula. I'm confident this formula will help me remember what I've learned, so I can create successful salads in the future.

Secret of Salads

1. Start with flavorful ingredients. At least one of the ingredients should be nuts, cheese, dried fruit, bacon, or some other ingredient that packs a flavor punch.

2. Make the ratio of lettuce to other ingredients 1 to 1. e.g. make sure the amount of "guts" of the salad (meat, cheese, nuts, veggies) is at least as much as the lettuce.

3. Ingredients should be in large bite-sizes.

4. Layer like a lasagna.

Here's the salad I made using those rules.

Hearty Chicken Tomato Salad
1 bag pre-washed lettuce
2 cups chicken breast, pulled apart into large bite-sized chunks
1/4 cup nuts
1 cup cherry tomatoes, split in half
2 ounces goat cheese
Bacon Salt croutons (recipe follows)

Put a small layer of lettuce in the bottom of a large bowl. Sprinkle with half of chicken, tomatoes, nuts, croutons. Crumble half of goat cheese and sprinkle on top. Repeat, adding the rest of the lettuce and the rest of the other ingredients.

Serve with large salad tongs so you can get pieces of everything in the salad. Dressing is optional.

Bacon salt croutons
half a loaf of Italian or French bread
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoons Bacon Salt (Click here to find Bacon Salt near you)

Slice bread crosswise. Cut into large bite-sized cubes.
Set bread aside and heat butter, olive oil, and bacon salt in a large skillet, over medium heat. Stir to combine.
Once butter is melted, add bread cubes. Stir, making sure that each bread cube gets a little bit of the bacon mixture soaked into it.
Stir frequently until cubes start to brown slightly. Remove from heat. Can store in an airtight container at room temperature for a day.

So long, CSA

2009-08-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday was the final week of my CSA. I had the good fortune to be in a year-round CSA run by the local university. With hoophouses and cold storage, they provided veggies for every single week of the year, except the short breaks between semesters.

Although I loved getting a new treasure trove of goodies, I could not keep up. The demands of a full-time job, maintaining a household, and cooking with oodles of fresh veggies each and every week just became too much for me. So, with much sadness, I've given up the CSA for now.

The CSA was both liberating and constricting. On the one hand, I was preparing more veggies than I had in my life. On the other hand, I was locked in to cooking with the veggies for the week. If I wanted leeks, and there were no leeks, tough cookies.
Also, anytime we takeout or went out to dinner, that meant losing a day's worth of veggie cooking time.

I'll be taking many lessons from my time in the CSA and applying them to my everyday cooking. I have a lot of veggie recipes now, and I know how to cook veggies-and how I like them prepared-in a way I didn't just two years ago.

I may still participate in a smaller, growing-season-only share from May to October of next year. And there's always the farmer's market. One just opened within walking distance of me, which I can now take full advantage of. And, I may plant my veggie garden for the winter so I can harvest some carrots, parsnips, and leeks in the spring.

So long, monster cloves of garlic. Bye-bye, basil. Sayonara, random bitter Asian greens (and, no offense, but good riddance).

You are gone, but not forgotten.

Epic win for appetizer party

2009-07-26T11:27:00.001-07:00

A good friend invited me to a party she was hosting, and asked if I could bring some appetizers.

I generally don't do the cocktail-party style of appetizers. It's just so time-consuming to make dozens or hundreds of little bites and then, if you have done your job well, to see them disappear in a matter of minutes.

However, she asked so nicely, and I had by chance just picked up a new cookbook chock full of appetizers, so I was game.

I used two recipes from the book, and one I invented on the fly when I saw that the local grocery store had apricots on sale. The recipes were time-consuming, but very easy to do and very flavorful.

Almond-Stuffed Apricots

Makes about 20-24 appetizers. Can easily be doubled.

1 bag fresh apricots (about 10)
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 cup raw almonds (no skins)
2 fortune cookies (can substitute any kind of crunchy cookie here)
2 large pieces, or 2 small pieces, crystallized ginger
3 tablespoons amaretto

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Take butter out of fridge to soften.
Cut apricots in half, removing pits.
Toast almonds until lightly browned and fragrant.
Break open fortune cookies, remove paper.
Crush fortune cookies and almonds into medium-sized pieces.
Mince crystallized ginger into very small pieces.
Add amaretto and stir to moisten everything.
Add butter and brown sugar. Mash until butter is evenly mixed in and there are no huge chunks left.
Add a touch of salt to taste.

Oil a baking sheet.
Place apricots on baking sheet, skin side down.
Fill apricot halves with amaretto almond mixture.
Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes.
Let cool slightly before serving.

Pesto Tomatoes

This is so simple, it's hardly a recipe. It scales up well, and can be made a day in advance. I made a pesto using garlic scapes (when they are in season) and almonds, but store bought pesto is fine here.

Cherry tomatoes
pesto (homemade or store bought)
Slice tops off of cherry tomatoes.
Scoop out seeds and flesh with a small spoon or melon baller.
Fill tomatoes with pesto.

Cheesy Quail Eggs

Adapted from a recipe in Appetizers, Finger Food, Buffets & Parties by Bridget Jones

Quail eggs taste just like regular eggs, but are adorably small. They are worth tracking down. Try an Oriental or Asian grocery store. Do not be scared off by the length of the recipe. These eggs are very easy to make, but they are a little time-consuming because there are a lot of steps involved. You’ll want to do a lot of steps in advance, and break up the cooking over two or three days.

2 dozen quail eggs
4 cups breadcrumbs
1 bag pre-shredded cheese (I used a mozzarella provolone blend)
1 leek
1 teaspoon powdered garlic
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
2 teaspoons mustard
½ teaspoon black pepper
Half a bunch of parsley
4 chicken eggs, separated like so:
4 egg yolks
2 egg whites
2 egg whites
¼ cup milk
¼ cup sesame seeds
bottle of neutral vegetable oil
20 basil leaves (optional)

In advance (a day or two before)

Boil and peel quail eggs

Add a splash of vinegar and a tablespoon of salt to a large pot of boiling water.
Gently lower half the quail eggs in and boil for 3 minutes.
Get rid of any eggs that immediately float to the surface—these eggs are bad.
Remove eggs to a colander, and repeat with the second batch. Let cool.
Crack bottoms of eggshells, then roll egg around on a clean counter to crack the rest of the shell.
Peel carefully starting at the bottom of the egg.
Rinse off in water to get rid of the last bits of shells. Set aside.

Make cheesy breading.

Take shredded cheese and, if it’s not super finely shredded, chop it up a little bit more on the cutting board.
Put cheese and breadcrumbs into a very large glass or metal bowl.
Chop white part of leek very finely and add it to bowl.
Chop and add parsley. Add mustard, salt and garlic salt. Add pepper.
Beat egg yolks and add to bowl. Stir until everything is well mixed.

In a separate bowl, beat 2 of the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Fold egg whites into breading mix, stirring well.
Let it rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or for up to two days.

To assemble eggs

Take a large handful of cheesy breading and squeeze it with your hands so it comes together into a ball.
Flatten to make a little hamburger-looking thing.
Place basil leaf on one side (optional) then place egg on top of leaf.
Carefully squish the breading around the egg, making sure there are no gaps. (You may need to grab a little bit more coating to fill in the gaps.)

Take the other two egg whites, and mix them with a little bit of water.
Get a small plate and put the sesame seeds on the plate. Add a little bit of salt and pepper to the sesame seeds.
Dip the breaded eggs into the egg whites, then into the sesame seeds.

When all eggs are coated, let them rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

To fry eggs

Fill a pan at least halfway full of neutral vegetable oil (canola, corn).
Heat oil on high for about 5 minutes, then turn the heat to low.
Fry eggs in small batches of no more than 3.
Turn eggs frequently while cooking.
When they look golden brown and delicious, remove them to a plate lined with paper towels to let them drain.

Wait at least an hour for them to cool.
Once they are cool, slice them in half and serve with mayonnaise or your favorite flavorful dipping sauce.
They are also pretty tasty by themselves without any dipping sauce.

Ren Fest Fun

2009-07-13T05:32:00.000-07:00

Went to my first Wisconsin Ren Faire yesterday. I've been to three others, two in Michigan, and have actually been going to Ren Fests since well before I could drive.

This one, the Bristol Renaissance Faire, was pretty nice. Most fests are the same, but with a few minor variations. This one was nice because there was more open space, so it felt less crowded. Also, flushable toilets, which was amazing. Anyone who says that flush toilets detracts from an authentic experience hasn't had to use a privy in a hoop skirt and a bocice.

But I digress.

The other interesting difference between my "home" fest and the Bristol Faire was the food. There were certainly some of the same items--giant turkey leg, soup in a bread bowl--but there were also a lot of different things on the WI menu.

Michigan	Wisconsin
Chili Dogs	Brats
Scotch Eggs	Cornish Pasties
Suffed, battered mushrooms	Grilled, Marinated mushrooms
Hummus and Pita	Butterfly Potato chip
Cheese sticks with marinara sauce	Fried cheese balls with mustard mayo and BBQ sauces
Root Beer Float	Sassafras

Some of the standout foots of both fests:
Scotch Eggs: Take a hard-boiled egg. Cover it with tasty sausage sphere. Bread and deep-fry. Split in half and eat. Recommended limit is 1 per lifetime, or else you shortenn your life.
Sassafras: A root-beer like beverage. Soft drink with a nice herbal, complex flavor, somewhat licorice. Very thirst-quenching for those who don't drink beer.
Fried cheese balls: Cremy, gooey fried cheese.

The beer selection at the Bristol Faire was also much more comrepehensive than my home fair. At my home fair you can get Guinness, Harp, etc. At Bristol, I had a Newcastle, a Hacker Pschorr, a Leinenkugel's, and a cider. They had two types of cider so I can't remember which it was. My home fair's selection is a touch more limited, and it's the same beer pretty much on any tap you go to. At Bristol, you've got to hunt around for the keg you want.

I'm sure I'm suffering a bit from the "Grass is Greener" syndrome, where my faire is routine to me, and this was new, therefore better. But I think there were some key places that Bristol shines through. I'll never give up my home faire, but I may be getting to Bristol once a year from now on, too.

Best. Drink. Evar.

2009-06-01T06:49:00.000-07:00

I hate to sound like I suffer from superlatives, but I would encourage you to try this drink recipe below before you claim I'm exaggerating.

This is one of those dangerous drinks, where the different components are so perfectly in balance that you can't really taste the alcohol. But the drink is also exceedingly complex and delicious, even though it contains only three ingredients.

I'm referring to a Watermelon Cosmopolitan. In my case, I made my own watermelon-infused vodka, which I think was the key to the drink's success. I'm sure you could also make this with a store-bought watermelon vodka, but I do encourage you to try to make your own. Not only is it very easy to make, you also get the bonus of alcohol-soaked fruit!

The drink was so good, when I offered a taste to my mister, he took the whole thing. High praise coming from a guy who usually prefers to sip scotch or a good microbrew.

Watermelon Cosmopolitan
1 part watermelon-infused vodka (recipe below)
1 part Triple Sec
1 part cranberry juice

Shake over ice. Strain into martini glass.

Watermelon-infused vodka
I used the rind of leftover watermelon, so I had a lot of the green part of the fruit that was soaking in the vodka. This gave my vodka a lovely cucumber vibe, in addition to the melon flavor.

Rind of one watermelon, with some red still attached.
750 ml bottle of your favorite vodka
1 gallon drink cooler, such as Coleman jug or glass Sun Tea jar

Take rind of leftover watermelon, that still has a little bit of red fruit on it. Peel waxy dark green skin off of rind and discard. Cut remaining rind and fruit into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces. Add to jar. Top jar with bottle of vodka. Save vodka bottle.

Let fruit and booze marinate for about a week, shaking every day or so. Strain vodka back into its original bottle using a funnel. You may wind up with a bit more liquid than you started with. If this happens, just pour the rest off into another container. Refrigerate until ready to use.

If you wish, you can keep the watermelon for eating later.

N-Ice surprise

2009-05-06T07:44:00.000-07:00

Rejoice, Daiquiri Ice lovers.

Due to popular demand, Baskin-Robbins has brought back the original recipe for their Daiquiri Ice sorbet. They had replaced it with a revised formula a year or so ago, called Lime Daiquiri Ice, and it just wasn't the same.

The B&R Web site has it listed under "Flavors of the Month," so it may only be available on-and-off, during the summer months.

But, if you are a fan of the flavor, make sure to go over to Baskin-Robbins and have yourself a scoop or two.

Or, you can always try my daiquiri ice clone recipe. I put this together a few years ago when Baskin Robbins first pulled the plug on the original recipe.

BASKIN-ROBBINS DAIQUIRI ICE CLONE VERSION
(this is NOT Lime Daiquiri Ice)

The key to getting the right tartness level is the citric acid powder. The amount of citric acid powder will need to be adjusted depending on how sweet (or sour) your limes are.

2 cups water
1 cup sugar
Juice of 1 lime (fresh squeezed, a little pulp is fine)
1 tsp imitation rum extract
Between ½ and 1 ½ tsp citric acid powder (sold under the brand name FruitFresh. Or you can go to a health food store or online for generic food grade citric acid)
1 drop green food coloring

Heat sugar and water just until sugar melts. Remove from heat and add ½ teaspoon citric acid. Stir until dissolved. Let mixture cool a couple minutes, then add rum extract, lime juice and food coloring. Taste, and add more citric acid powder as needed, a quarter teaspoon at a time. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Churn in an ice cream machine for 25 minutes. Spoon ice into freezer-safe bowl, and move to the freezer for an hour before serving.

Note: The recipe only makes a little over 2 cups, so you may want to double the ingredients.

M-m-m-my Samosas!

2009-04-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I had some pretty tasty samosas at a local restaurant, and was inspired to try making some myself.

The flavors seemed pretty straightforward: Mashed potato, cilantro, some coriander and curry powder. Nevertheless, I hit the library to find a basic samosa recipe I could adapt.

Mollie Katzen's Moosewood cookbook had samosa recipe that I used as a template. Because I was in a hurry (read: lazy), I used store-bought won ton wrappers and did not make my own dough.

I also baked my samosas, instead of frying them, to try to save a little bit of time and calories.

Measurements here are approximate, you'll want to taste your potato filling often and season it to your liking. If you use leftover mashed potatoes, make sure to add a little milk or other liquid, to get them smooth again.

M-m-m-my Samosas!
Ingredients:
Store-bought won ton wrappers
1 pound potatoes (russet's fine)
1 bunch cilantro
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon Curry powder (more or less to taste)
2 tablespoons oil
Non-stick cooking spray (like Pam)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
salt and pepper

Equipment:
Pizza cutter
Frying pan
pot for cooking potatoes
clean work surface
potato masher

Peel your potatoes. Chop them into medium pieces, toss them in some boiling salted water until they are cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. Drain, add a little bit of milk and mash until mostly smooth.

Meanwhile, while potatoes are cooking, chop your onions and garlic, crush the coriander seeds lightly. Add a little bit of oil to pan, fry onions and garlic with spices to bloom the spices, on low-medium heat, until onions are a bit soft and everything starts to smell awesome.

Take several springs of cilantro, but not the whole bunch, remove the center stems, and chop. Add onion mixture and cilantro to the potatoes. Taste, add additional salt, pepper, cilantro and spices as needed. While potato mixture is still hot, add the frozen peas, and stir gently. Try not to mash the peas.

Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray, liberally. (this is important. I forgot this step and paid for it).

To fill: have a pizza cutter, a small bowl of water, and a clean work surface.

Cut wontons in half from corner to corner so you have two triangles. Make sure the top of the triangle is pointing up. Put a tablespoon or two of filling into wonton. Wet edges of wonton, With the top of the triangle pointing up, fold over wonton so edges meet symmetrically as best you can. Press wonton together to seal. If filling oozes out, then use less filling next time.

Put wontons on baking sheet. Spray tops of wontons with cooking spray. Cook for 5 minutes at 375 degrees, then turn over, check after another 5 minutes. They're done when they are golden brown but not burnt.

Post-Oscar debriefing

2009-02-23T11:27:00.000-08:00

The final menu for the Oscar party deviated only slightly from what I’d planned. My friend B brought bacon salt dip, and gutless rumaki (bacon-wrapped water chestnuts). The squash soup was served sans greens, and the cheese plate was postponed. Also, no carrots.

The desserts went over well. I also had some ice cream to go with them for those who wanted.

I really enjoyed the broiled citrus topped with butter and brown sugar, in a shallow pan, broiled till browned and bubbly.

The poached pears also were pretty good. I tried a trick with them, and it worked pretty well. I did not want to spend forever peeling the pears, so I split them in half and scooped out the flesh with a melon baller. They were a little uneven, but came out fairly well.

Oh, the other thing I had was a champagne punch. This was based on a recipe I got 10 years ago but never made. I modified it a bit because there was no raspberry sherbert at the store, but otherwise it was pretty close to the original

Broiled citrus fruits
3 grapefruit
3 oranges
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Mix butter and brown sugar. Section grapefruits and oranges, reserving excess juice for another use. Toss sections into bowl to mix.

Spread fruit out in shallow baking dish so all fruit is in one thin layer. (can be done in advance to this point). Sprinkle brown sugar butter mix on top. Broil about 4-6 inches away from the heat for 5 minutes, or until the top is bubbly and just beginning to brown. Watch it carefully so that it does not burn. Serve warm.

Pear spheres poached in red wine
6 pears, firm, slightly underripe
1 bottle red wine
¼ teaspoon Chinese Five-spice powder
brown sugar or honey to taste, ¼ cup or more
orange zest from one orange

Cut pears in half. Using a melon baller, scoop out spheres, being careful not to hit the skin on the pears. (Can be done about a day aheadIf doing ahead, sprinkle with lemon juice and cover with plastic wrap). Add pears and the rest of the ingredients to large saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 45 minutes, letting the wine mixture reduce.

Using a slotted spoon, drain pears out of wine. Cook wine down a little bit more until it starts to get syrupy. Return pears to syrup, turn off heat. Serve warm, chilled or at room temperature. Can make a day in advance. Reheat or bring to room temp to serve.

Lemon Berry Champagne punch
Make sure all ingredients are chilled before you start.
1 bottle champagne
1 bottle rose wine
1 pint strawberry sorbet
¼ cup frozen lemonade concentrate
1 cup frozen raspberries

Mix all ingredients except for sorbet and raspberries. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop ice cream into punch. Stir to combine. Add raspberries and serve.

Oscars Party Planning

2009-02-19T11:59:00.000-08:00

Out of the trifecta of the Emmys, Grammys, and Oscars, the Oscars are my favorite. And not just because my good friend B and I host a party every year. There’s simply something glitzy and glamorous about them in a way that the other two awards shows aren’t, and I like that. It gives me a chance to put on airs, and show off a little bit.

Just putting the finishing touches on my Oscar party menu. I’m part of a year-round CSA and I got a turkey from some family friends in the area, so I have a ton of food on hand to play around with and use for the menu planning. Not only is it thrifty, since all the food’s already paid for, being a localvore is uber trendy right now.

Here’s my menu as it stands right now. I’ll post the final version the Monday after.

Roast Turkey with sage and garlic gremolata
Celeriac and New potato mash
Butternut squash soup with kale and assorted greens
Italian garlic bread
Orange maple ginger glazed carrots
Cheese plate: Smoked cheddar and jalapeno Monterrey
Poached pears in red wine sauce
Warm baked citrus fruits

Until then, please, enjoy some Oscar links, courtesy of Mahalo. These links will be updated to-the-minute on Oscar night.

Improv Recipe: Tangy, creamy, quickie custards

2009-02-05T10:39:00.000-08:00

I’ve been having some bad luck with egg-based desserts lately. Well, not bad luck so much as laziness backfiring on me. I haven’t been measuring ingredients.

Yeah, cooking catastrophe waiting to happen, I know. Two pumpkin custards in a row never set on me, and when I tried to wing it and estimate the amounts of a chocolate mousse, which didn’t go well.

But I had some leftover eggs from a souffle I'd made, half a carton of heavy cream, and I wanted custard, and I didn't want to have to find a recipe for it or be bothered with "measuring."

So I knew I was tempting fate here. However, I had learned from my previous mistakes and discovered a few rules:

1. Use a water bath, and use hot water. Doesn’t have to be boiling, but microwaving a cup of water until it’s good and steamy will work.
2. The ratio of eggs to other stuff is important. More eggs is better if you want a custard to thicken properly. When unsure, err on the side of more eggs. You might get something closer to sweet quiche, but at least it will be solid.
3. Baking the custard in smaller containers will help even cooking and setting. One large container will take forever to come to temperature and will cook unevenly. Several smaller containers will prevent this from happening
4. Add less liuqidy ingredients when you can. I added a half a cup of strained greek yogurt (essentially sour cream) to the custard mix to help thicken it up before I put it in the oven.
5. Use a trusted recipe. Even if you’re not measuring your ingredients, it will give you a proper ratio of eggs to liquid.

With these precautions, I successfully made an improve custard, which was quite good. The greek yogurt gave it a denser body and a nice tang, a little like a cheesecake.

Improv custard for two

3-4eggs (at least 3 egg yolks and 3 egg whites)
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons maple syrup
pinch of salt
½ cup of greek strained yogurt (or sour cream is fine)
¼ t cinnamon

Beat eggs until uniform and lighter yellow. Add other ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into ramekins or custard cups. Put cups in a high-sided baking pan or baking dish that will fit both of them without touching.

Microwave 4 cups of water on high for 2 minutes or until steamy. Be careful not to boil. Pour water around cups, but don’t get any into the custard.

Bake at 300 degrees until just set in the center. Check after 40 minutes for doneness. You want the edges to be set but the center to be a little wobbly. Turn off oven, leave custards in oven for at least 30 minutes, up to an hour. Serve warm, or cover and refrigerate.

Accidental Awesomeness

2009-01-30T12:26:00.001-08:00

Last night I had a hankering for an Amaretto Sour. As I was getting out the sugar, the container of Tang caught my eye.

Lemon juice is sour. Tang is sour. Sugar is sweet. Tang is sweet. Why not kill two birds with one stone and use tang instead? I thought.

I mixed, added a little more sugar for good measure, then, remembering an article from Imbibe magazine about eggs in drinks being trendy, tossed in an egg white to increase the drink’s frothiness.

I shook and shook. At one point, I poured the drink, but noticed the egg had not combined completely, so I poured it back in and shook again.

When I finally poured it out, it was a lovely light orange. I had made not an Amaretto Sour, but a Creamsicle.

The result surprised me, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected. I’d known from previous fiddling that a key ingredient that gives the Orange Julius its creamy froth was an egg-based product. Of course, if you are worried about salmonella, or pregnant, or thinking of becoming pregnant, or have a compromised immune system, or think the idea of putting a raw egg white in a drink is icky, you can get pasteurized eggs or you can powdered, pasteurized egg white at the grocery store. The powdered egg white will be somewhat gritty, so fresh egg is really best.

The Creamsicle
This really needs to be shaken well
2 oz Amaretto
1 teaspoon Tang
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 egg white (or 2 teaspoons powdered egg white)
ice
cocktail shaker

Put ice in cocktail shaker. Add the rest of the ingredients. Shake vigorously for at least two minutes. Strain into a highball glass.

Oscar Party Time

2009-01-22T08:25:00.001-08:00

Cross-posted at my other blog, The Manic Scribe.

Oscar nominees were just announced today.

I'm a huge Oscar fan. Not so much for the movies but for the social aspect.

I usually do an Oscar party with my good friend B. Last year I skipped it. I hope to get back into the tradition this year. I like to realy glam up the food I serve, but this year, I am just about partied out. Not to mention that I should be more budget-consious than I have been due to the current economic doldrums.

However, I've got a turkey in the freezer and half a lamb's worth of meat. And I've got a steady supply of root and leaf vegetables coming in weekly from my CSA. So I think I'll be able to put together a nice spread for my guests that won't break my budget.

Hm. Maybe I'll even ask them to bring some canned goods to donate to charity, make it something more than appletinis and red carpets.

Gratin Fail; Cast Iron Win

2009-01-22T08:09:00.000-08:00

Got a slew of root vegetables from the winter CSA that just started on Jan 8. Tried to make a gratin, which would have beek OK, except for a few issues.

One, I had not sliced the veggies thin enough. Also, since I made the gratin in advance and cooked it from the frigde, I wound up undercooking the thing.

Two, I'd forgotten to salt the layers. Now, the layers also contained some bacon, and I salted the liquid that I added halfway through baking. It was just a touch undersalted when all was said and done. Next time I'll use my common sense and actually stick a fork in the damn thing to make sure it's done.

In other news, I seasoned the cast iron skillets I got for Christmas/My Birthday. They're still in the oven, actually. I'm not 100% sure what I will cook in them. I've got a crowd coming over for my birthday this Saturday, but we're going out to dinner. I'll have to think of something really special to break in the pans.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

You know it's been a busy year when I don't have time to cook. I LOVE to cook. It's relaxing and therapeutic to me. But I simply haven't had time. Thus, the blog has suffered.

It was a great, but busy, 2008. Several trips out of state for family and for fun, picking up a second job, and getting my first ranking in aikido has kept my life full, but tiring.

I knew on an intellectual level that I was tired for the latter half of the year, but it was only after a good 5 days at my parents, with nothing to do but sleep in late, go shopping, read a book on wine and scarf down Company Potatoes, that I got perspective on how relaxed I felt, and how stressed I was before.

Coming back to reality, I know that I've still got a lot on my plate, but I've tasted the fruits of relaxation, and they will be a part of my diet from now on.

As a symbolic gesture of this, I actually cooked something fancy, from a recipe even, Sunday night. Pears poached in red wine sauce. The lovely thing about this recipe is it's very elegant, but can be broken up into several parts, many of which can be done in advance. It's a good example for me how I can still find ways to cook and relax in 2009 and keep a better balance of work, rest, and play.

Poached pears in wine sauce

Hardware
large, somewhat shallow, saucepan, big enough to fit all pears
Vegetable peeler
spoon or ladle
measuring cups

Software
1 bottle fruity red wine
1/2 cup fortified wine, such as port wine, or sherry (or 1/2 cup sweet wine plus a shot of something strong like vodka or rum).
1/2 cup sugar
4 pears, the ones with the green skins, slightly underripe if you can get them that way.
2 Tablespoons chai loose leaf tea (emphatically not the powdered stuff. It has to have twigs and pods and nibs in it. Can substitute 2 T mulling spices plus a 1 inch section of orange rind)

Keep stems on pears, but peel them. Cut off bottoms of pears a little bit so they stand upright. Heat all other ingredients in saucepan over low heat until sugar is just melted. Add pears. Heat mixture until boiling, then back heat down to a low simmer. Cook 30-40 minutes, turning pears every 10 minutes or so. Baste the pears with the liquid each time you turn them.

Remove pears, then turn the heat up and cook the syrup down until it is reduced to about a cup. Be careful here to make sure the syrup doesn't burn. When bubbles start to "stack" on top of each other, you're good to go.

Strain syrup, pour syrup over pears in a container with a tight-fitting lid. Bring to room temperature before serving. Serve by placing each pear, standing up, then spoon some syrup around. Can add whipped cream or ice cream if you want.

The coolest thing about this recipe is how the pears turn from pale green to ruby red as you cook. Talk about alchemy. Yum.

Transcendent Wings

2008-12-04T04:55:00.001-08:00

I drove out to play a couple games of pool (which I lost heinouosly) with a friend last night. During the games, my friend recommended that we order the wing dings.

I'm not a huge hot wing fan. In general, I find sauced wings one-trick ponies that rely exclusively on their sauce to impress. And the breaded-fried wings are usually nothing special, verging on insipid.

this particular friend is known in my social circle as the Brass Chef. He is a cook and foodie of some note. He combines the speed and practicality of a line order cook with the innovation of a Great Chef.

If he says to try the wings, I try the wings, though I wasn't expecting anything too special. They arrived at our table with little fanfare-8 breaded deep-fried wings in a paper-lined mesh basket. They seemed tiny, but they were golden brown and piping hot, plucked moments ago from the fryer.

After giving them a few minutes to cool off, I tried one. And all of a sudden my paradigm shifted.

They were on the small side, but every bit of them but the bone was edible. There was no gristle to be found on them, as evidenced by my friend stripping each of his wings down to the bone like a pirhana strips a cow.

The coating was hot, crispy and thin with just a touch of oil glistening. At the joints, there was a little bit of extra coating that was a little bit crunchier. The chicken was tender and juicy. The flavor and texture was a lot like eating teeny tiny pieces of excellent fried chicken.

The first flavor I could taste was something subtly but intangibly sweet, like cloves or chinese five-spice or curry powder. The sweetness quickly dissapeared as the spiciness began to bloom.

The heat of the wings was well-balanced. The spice developed at a good pace and never got too overpowering. This heat started while I was still eating the wing, and developed just a little bit more as an aftertaste. These are not super-hot, but the heat does build somewhat as you eat more of them.

The drummetes and wings were equally good, though the drumettes had more places where a little more extra coating could accrue. But since the batter was so light, extra coating was a joy, not a chore.

It was as if I'd been eating these wings for years. I even craved them just like someone who'd been eating these wings for years. It was like meeting someone new and instantly having a connection with them as if we were old friends.

I know this sounds silly, anthropormoprhizing wings. But don't laugh until you've actually tried these wings.

We got an order to take home with us. I'm planning to grab an order of the wing dings this weekend when I'm back in the area to satisfy a craving I never new I had.

Thanksgiving and Altruism

2008-11-26T09:53:00.000-08:00

I was out to dinner with my family for my husband's birthday, when my mom and dad got to talking about what they were doing for Thanksgiving. I'm won't be there--I'm visiting the in-laws, including the sister in law with the new niece--and my sister is visiting her boyfriend. So, my parents were to be empty-nesters for the first holiday ever.

My dad suggested that they volunteer at a soup kitchen, and do something to help the less fortunate. My mom heartily agreed.

My parents rule.

This Thanksgiving, keep in mind that there are a ton of people less fortunate out there, even more so in years past due to the economic downturn. These people need care and support, but not just food. They need hope, and to know that others care.

Maybe your budget it also tight this year, but if you can't give money, you can always give time. Maybe it's going to a soup kitchen, maybe it's donating food, or maybe not.

I don't have time this year, what with two jobs and a house to take care of, but I do have some money. The Mister and I will be making some donations before the holidays, and also will start to put charity as a line item in our budget for 2009.

Not to get too didactic, but there's surely something you can do to bring a smile to someone else's face and lighten their load. It will lift your spirits as much as it will lift theirs.

Here's some links to get you started:

The Hunger Site et. al: All you do is click on a link and ad revenue goes to charities. Super easy

How to donate food to a soup kitchen: An EHow article that gives the basics.

Look into microcredit: Microcredit is basically giving a small, short-term loan to someone whose needs are so small or who is so poor that they can't get bank financing. It's sort of like lending your sister $50 to buy books for college until her student loans come through, or giving your son $40 to start up a lemonade stand. Much, but not all, microcredit is for international purposes, so if you want to help peopole in your community this might not be the way to go. But it will directly help people.

Lovely lamb chops with cheesy bacon mashed potatoes

2008-11-20T16:30:00.000-08:00

I just had this meal not one hour ago, and it was delicious. Prep time was minimal. If you are a lamb lover, this is the only marinade you will ever need. I heartily suggest you drink a robust red wine with this meal.

These recipes make enough for about two servings, but can easily be doubled. I've found that you don't want to over-marinate the lamb, so 30 minutes or less will do fine. Prep time on this is minimal, but it is delicious. Not the fanciest of meals, but it will satisfy any lamb lover, and the mashed potatoes taste almost like cheesy potato skins.

Lovely Lamb chops with cheesy bacon mashed potatoes
Bottled lemon juice is fine here, but fresh garlic and fresh herbs are a must.

8 lamb rib chops, French cut style
salt and pepper
1/4 cup oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs thyme, oregano, or your favorite herb

Trim the lamb of excess fat if needed. Place chops on baking sheet. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, add oil and lemon juice. Crush garlic cloves and add. Strip the leaves off the herb springs, and add to marinade. It's OK if a few small stems get in.

Pour marinade over chops, directly on baking sheet. Turn after 10-15 minutes. Make sure to spoon some of the herbs and garlic on the chops when you turn them.

Meanwhile, while the chops are marinating, make the potatoes.

1 cup instant mashed potatoes
1 Tablespoon butter or oil
2 Tablespoons Bacon Salt
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 an onion
1/4 cup cheese
1 cup water
1/4 cup milk
scallions and cheddar for garnish (optional)

Chop onion to medium dice. Add to medium-sized saucepan with oil and salt. Cook until onion is translucent and fairly soft, stirring occasionally, over medium heat, about 10 minutes.

While onions are cooking, start to broil the lamb chops. Broil about 2-3 inches away from the broiler. For rare chops, broil 3 minutes per side. 4 minutes per side for medium. Remove from the oven and let rest.

Add bacon salt and stir to combine. Add water, stir, turn heat to high until mixture begins to boil. Turn off heat, add milk and potatoes. Stir until the mixture begins to solidify, then add cheese.

Serve 4 chops per person with the potatoes on the side. Drink with a robust red wine. Feel like a cannibal as you gnaw the lamb bones.

A trio of garlic breads

2008-11-14T06:51:00.000-08:00

I had a garlic bread so delicious last night that I had to share the recipe. As a bonus, I've got two other lovely garlic bread recipes, too.

Goat cheese garlic bread with roasted garlic

2 baguettes
4 oz plain goat cheese
1 head roasted garlic
1 small clove garlic, finely minced or crushed

Slice baguettes in half, lengthwise. Slice each half crosswise. Basically, One Baguette is now in four pieces. Put goat cheese, garlic and roasted garlic in a small bowl, use a fork to smash together until somewhat smooth. It's ok, in fact preferred, to have some texture from the roasted cloves. Add a little bit of salt and pepper to taste.

Place on broiler pan, and broil in the oven until tops just start to brown. Serve hot.

Tacky Italian Restaurant's sinfully delicious garlic bread

If you've been to this restaurant I'm clandestinely referencing, then you know what I'm talking about. If not, just know this is a crunchy, crusty bread with a powerfully potent, but not overpowering, garlic flavor. I swiped the basics for this recipe from Meemo's Kitchen, who has a great write-up on the recipe. I have modified it somewhat to clarify procedure and to add just a pat of butter, though the "authentic" recipe does not call for it.

The key to this is finding a good foccaccia to start with. Ideally, it should be a size that will fit into a 9-inch cake pan. You split it in half crosswise so you've got two round pieces half the thickness of the original. (You can always make your own foccaccia if you really want.)

"Buca’s" bread

Makes two loaves

1 loaf focaccia bread (rosemary and red onion if you can find it)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup canola oil
2 T butter
6 cloves garlic-minced (jarred is OK)
3 cloves garlic-sliced very thin
2 tsp oregano
¼ cup mozzarella (optional – variation)
3 Tablespoons Romano cheese

Advance Prep:

Cut loaf of bread crosswise so you end up with 2 circles, each about 1 inch thick. Let sit for an hour or two.

Slice garlic cloves thinly, set aside for an hour or two.

Make garlic oil. Combine minced garlic, butter and oils in a microwave safe dish or in a small saucepan. Heat in microwave for 30seconds to 1 minute until butter just melts. Do not let garlic burn.

***

To assemble:

Brush each round of bread--the entire thing--with garlic oil. Get the top, sides, and especially the bottom of the bread. Slice bread into 4-6 rounds using pizza cutter. Place bread in cake pans. Sprinkle oregano and Romano on top (and mozzarella if using). Top with garlic slices.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Bake for 10 minutes, until heated through. Remove from the oven, and turn on the broiler. Broil top of bread until garlic just starts to brown (if using cheese, when cheese is bubbly).

Remove from pans and add a little more oregano and Romano. Serve hot.

Slothful garlic bread

I think I've posted this before. It's the garlic bread I make when I don't have any butter at room temperature and I want garlic bread NOW.

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, pressed in garlic press
1/4 cup pre-shredded cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, whatever you have on hand)
1 small sub sandwich roll (4-6 inches) or 2 slices of bread

Mix mayo, garlic and cheese. Spread thickly on bread. Broil until it puffs and just starts to brown. Eat quickly before you have time to ponder that you've just made garlic bread using mayonnaise.

Election Day Libations

2008-11-04T15:42:00.000-08:00

(Cross-posted on Manic Scribe.)

Whether you're a Republican or Democrat, a teetotaler or a lush, there's a libation for you on Election Day.

I did an informal Twitter poll, and most people are drinking hard liquor, of all things. Gin, scotch, Tequila (if "their man" loses), Goldschlager and bitters (aka "Conservative's Tears."

I'm having a small party, two political junkie friends are coming over later, but mostly I'm helping Mahalo make sure that the election returns are updated as fast and accurately as possible.

If you want to avoid the Internet traffic disaster that CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC will be, check out these fun and fast sites over at Mahalo:

Electoral Map
Exit Polls

But I digress. I wanted to offer some drinks of my own for this election cycle. Although I've tested these drinks, or versions close to them (ask me about the "flaming kitten" sometime), Imbibe at your own risk, don't drink and drive.

The Obama
1 to 2 oz peaty scotch, like LaPhroaig
1/2 oz Kahlua or other coffee liqueur
1/2 oz banana liqueur
splash of heavy cream
Combine, stir. Serve on the Barocks.

The McCain
2 oz whiskey
Juice of 1/2 lemon, fresh squeezed
1 Tablespoon of sugar
Shot of Tobasco sauce or other hot sauce (for that Maverick-y edge)
Shake, strain, serve.

The Palin
Essentially a Cosmo, but make sure you make it with Russian vodka.
2 oz Russian vodka
1 oz Cointreau, Triple Sec, or other citrus liqueur
1 lime, fresh squeezed (or 1 oz lime juice)
1 oz Cranberry juice

The Biden (called the Hrab in some circles)
Diet coke in a highball glass over ice.
Biden is a teetotaler, you see.

Other options

*Are you a Joe (or Jane) Six-pack? Celebrate being a demographic with a six pack of your favorite beer.

*Make a red-white and blue layered drink called a pousse-cafe. The trick is to use a narrow glass and pour each layer over the back of a spoon. You can use any liqueurs for this, but you'll want to experiment to make sure they have different enough densities to separate.

*Drink wine. There's a company doing "red" and "blue" wines, but any red, white, or blue wine will do.

And a few drink ideas for those who don't (or won't, or can't) drink. AAA is big on mocktails, to encourage people not to drink and drive. Check your local state AAA group, and/or the links below.

AAA Oklahoma "mocktail" contest winners

20 Mocktails from AAA Wisconsin

Red, white and blue layered drink (nonalcoholic)

One final note on non-alcoholics: Infusing herbs like mint, basil, or any herb you like is a great way to impart flavor, and a touch of bitterness, into a drink without adding the booze.

Remember, drink early, drink often!

I think that's how the saying goes...

Improv recipe: Leek and Squash soup with beans and greens

2008-11-02T17:43:00.000-08:00

I roasted a butternut squash for this and cooked my own beans because that's what I had on hand. I've modified the recipe to take advantage of convenience foods. Canned beans and frozen squash puree should be just fine in this recipe and yield a similar quality of finished result.

The leeks just make this. Onions can be used if you can't get your hands on leeks. But do try to get leeks.

1 package frozen butternut squash
2 leeks, white and pale green parts only
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or other full-bodied, flavorful vinegar
1 can of pre-cooked white beans
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Handful of greens such as spinach or beet greens (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Microwave squash puree per package directions. Meanwhile, chop leeks and add to large saucepan with butter, and a teaspoon of salt. Sautee leeks on low heat for 5-10 minutes until soft and just starting to brown. Turn off heat and add the sherry vinegar. Stir briefly so the onions absorb the vinegar.

Add 2 cups stock to onions, stir. Drain can of beans, add to pot. Add thawed squash puree. Add greens if using. Stir to combine. Turn heat to medium and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soup is combined and greens are tender. Taste and add more salt if needed. Turn off heat and stir in cream. Serve with crusty bread or croûtons if desired. Serves 4.

Football Party Menu

2008-10-23T07:01:00.001-07:00

Le Cellier, Canadian Cheese Soup (Epcot World Showcase)
Traditional Shepherd's Pie made with tomato, lamb and sage
Hot Cheese Dip from Big Damn Chefs
Custard in baked pumpkins
Apple crisp
Assorted appetizers including olive tapenade, chips and salsa, French onion dip, baked Buffalo wings and hummus
Assorted wines and beers
Wassail

Go Blue!

Improv recipe: Baked oatmeal

2008-10-23T06:17:00.000-07:00

Today was the tailgating party for my office. We celebrate the yearly regional college football rivalry with a potluck. Actually, we celebrate pretty much everything with a potluck, but that's beside the point.

I'd gotten some steel-cut oats, so I decided to make some baked oatmeal. Steel cut oats are different then rolled oats. They are small little squares/cylinders instead of flakes, and they take longer to cook. But the texture is delightfully chewy, and the flavor is heartier. You can find them in most grocery stores, sometimes called Irish oats or pinhead oats.

Alton Brown's got a decent crock-pot oats recipe, but I wanted something i could transport easily on the bus, so I looked for recipes just for baking.

I found a couple good ones, but I didn't have all the ingredients, like raisins, on hand. So I took the basic requirements, 1 cup of oats to 4 cups of liquid, cook for 30 minutes at 325, and played around with it.

In the end, I came out with an extremely sweet, tasty and filling oats recipe, guaranteed to feed a crowd.

Spiced Baked Oatmeal
For the spice, I used a loose herbal chai tea mix that has actual pieces of chocolate beans, cinnamon sticks, or cardamom in it. If you can't find that, use mulling spices. The main thing is you want big pieces of stuff--nothing powdered, and you want flavors that will go well with sweet.
1 1/2 cups steel cut oats
2 1/2 cups milk
2 1/2cups water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 Tablespoons mulling spices or chunky chai tea mix
1/2 cup dried fruit, such as raisins or cherries (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix liquids together in large saucepan. Add spice mix. Heat just under boiling. Turn off heat, let steep for 5 minutes. Strain into bowl. Using saucepan, heat up 2 tablespoons butter. Add oats to butter, stir for a couple minutes until they start to smell toasty. Don't let them burn. Add milk mixture back to the pan, add dried fruit. Stir until combined.

Spray 9 inch square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place pan on cookie sheet to catch spills or drips. Pour milk and oats into baking dish. Cook for 30 minutes. If it's not done, cook for 10minutes more until it starts to set up. Stir to make sure everything is evenly distributed. Put a few dried fruit pieces on the top to make it look pretty. Serve warm.

This is extremely sweet and rich and doesn't need any brown sugar or cream on the side.

Magical biscotti

2008-10-16T06:20:00.000-07:00

I was home sick one day this week, and had some Amish Friendship sourdough starter that needed to be used up. But, since I wasn't feeling well, I didn't follow the recipe exactly.

I forgot to add the sugar.

Did I mention I wasn't feeling well?

I tried a piece, and it wasn't all that bad. The flavor and texture was OK, but the loaves were a little crumbly and not very sweet. I suppose I could have served it as a savory side bread, but it was kind of bland.

As I looked at the slice of bread, my illness-addled brain realized how closely it resembled biscotti in shape and texture.

Thus, magical biscotti was born.

I whipped around the kitchen to find a baking sheet. Since the bread-cum-biscotti needed something extra, I also made a quick chocolate glaze to drizzle on the finished product. I found some chocolate melts, some butter, some vanilla, and some orange oil, and I was good to go.

While the biscotti were baking, I microwaved the chocolate, then added the other ingredients until the sauce was dark, shiny and smooth.

As the biscotti cooled I went all Jackson Pollack on them.

The finished product looked awesome. They tasted slightly less awesome. The texture was a little off, and they tasted more like pieces of toast than actual biscotti. But I'd gotten my mind of my illness for a couple hours, and I'd discovered a good way to use up leftover quick breads, which are notorious for going stale. I'd call that a win.

Magical biscotti
Obviously, these are nowhere near authentic, and I sincerely hope my dead Italian Grandma will forgive me for this. The recipe works best with sweeter breads, like banana bread, zucchini bread, amish friendship bread. To use savory breads like cheese or herb bread, see the savory variation below.
part of a loaf of quick bread
1/4 cup chocolate chips
butter
chocolate chips
vanilla extract
1 drop orange oil

Preheat oven to 350. Slice quick bread into 1-inch slices. Cut slices in half, lengthwise, so you have roughly a finger-sized slice of bread. Carefully place on baking sheet, making sure the bread does not crumble.

Bake 10-15 minutes. You do not want the biscotti to brown. They will get harder once you remove them from the oven.

While biscotti are baking, Make sauce. Microwave chocolate chips until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Add a tablespoon of butter. Add vanilla and stir. If chocolate gets gritty, add more vanilla until it smooths out. Add one drop of orange oil.

While sauce is warm, drizzle over biscotti. You can also dip one side of biscotti completely into chocolate if you like.

Savory variation
5 minutes before end of baking, sprinkle biscotti with any shredded cheese of your choice--sharp cheddar, Gruyere, freshly grated parmesan, or a mix of cheeses would be great.

Oktoberfest Taste Test

2008-10-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

Oktoberfest beers are lagers, which means they are fermented at colder temperatures. They are technically harder to make than ales, and they have a different flavor profile. A little more subtle than ales, but still tasty. They tend to be a very clean, refreshing taste. If you've ever tried Red Stripe, that's a lager.

I actually tasted 4 or 5 Oktoberfest beers for this tasting, but lost track of which beer was which after the first few. So I've only got two full sets of tasting notes. Sorry. Oktoberfest is a strong beer, at around 5-6% alcohol, but it doesn't drink like one. After those two reviews, I will give my impressions, overall, of the other beers.

1. Weihenstephaner Oktoberfest Marzen
Nice head. Not too foamy, but it didn't disappear right after I poured it, either. The was a lovely amber color. I didn't get much smell from the glass, but once I tasted it, I could detect a good malt flavor. It wasn't very hoppy. The hops I did detect were at the front of the sip, the malt rounded out the back and provided a nice aftertaste. As I drank the beer, the hops built up a bit on my tongue and became more noticeable, but still a well-balanced beer. This was an easy drinking beer, and didn't feel like the 5.6% alcohol that it was.

2. Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest
Redder than the first beer. Not much head at all, and what head there was faded quickly. A roasted, toasted note at the front of the sip. A tad sour. Very little hops, but hops were at the end of the sip. Somewhat bitter finish. There was also a malty flavor I tend to associate with pilsner beers at the end, as an aftertaste. The only way I can describe this is like a Bud or a Labatt's finish.

I found it interesting that, though the flavor profiles were pretty much the same on these two beers, each beer expressed those flavors in a different way. Everything I was tasting was pretty subtle, and after a while, the beers began to blend together.

But all the other beers I tried were very similar. Perhaps more hops for one, different malt taste on the other, but all were medium- bodied or lighter, fairly carbonated, and easy to drink. I tended to prefer the German Oktoberfests, but this may have been bias on my part. Would be interesting to do a blind tasting at some point to see if this holds up.

In short, you can't go wrong with Oktoberfest, especially if you like lager beer. I'd suggest getting a few and trying them to see which you prefer, at least one German if you can.

And, as I've said before, if you can find an Oktoberfest on draft, done by a microbrewer, drink that. You will quickly learn what "fresh" beer really is.

Don't drink and drive kids, and have fun!

Oktoberfest

2008-09-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

You may be thinking to yourself, "Why is she posting about Oktoberfest when it is only September?"

Well, I'm actually posting this late. Oktoberfest actually starts in September and goes through to October. Oktoberfest is nearly done!

Let me 'splain. The ruler of Germany at the time thought the party was such a good idea and so much fun that he 1. Made the party last longer and 2. Made the party start sooner. My kind of guy.

What you need to know about Oktoberfest is below.

*Mahalo has two great pages about Oktberfest and Oktoberfest recipes
*Drink whatever beer you like, but think about expanding your horizons.
*If you want to be authentic, drink Oktoberfest. It is a golden, almost pumpkin-colored brew, strong on the hops, strong on the malt, strong on the alcohol. *
*Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest is the gold standard, but there are several other ones out there.
*If you can get to Schafly Brewery in St. Louis for their Oktoberfest on draft, do it. It is a transcendent experience.
*Lederhosen means leather pants. They are completely optional unless you are doing Oktoberfest in Germany.
*Food should be simple, hearty fare.
*Don't let a late start discourage you from having an Oktoberfest party.
*Have fun!

I'll try to get some Oktoberfest beer reviews up this week if I can get over to my local supplier who may have some bottles left.

What a view

2008-09-25T06:15:00.000-07:00

We hiked (OK, took the tram) to a mountain, then walked around it a bit. This was in Palm Springs, where apparently the rich are so rich they don’t need to, you know, expend energy to climb mountains. It was actually pretty cool, an amazing view during the tram ride.

Also, the trails at the top of the mountain were of many different challenge levels and could involve primitive camping for those who really felt guilty about it. It was clean, cold, dry, beautiful and the trees smelled like butterscotch cookies.

Dinner was offered at the restaurant at the end of the—er, top of the mountain.

Again, I ordered the filet, and again, I was burned. Or it was burned, rather. This time the sauce was fine, a red-wine reduction. The sauce, the scenery, and a glass of lukewarm red wine helped to make the hockey puck somewhat edible.

The view was spectacular, which made up for the lackluster and overpriced food. I’d do it again, but next time, go with the pasta.

I was reminded that there was once a time when well-done steak was the norm. My family didn’t start eating its meat rare until I was at least out of grade school. Possibly later. Of course, my father still likes his meat more well-done than my mother, but they can both enjoy a good medium-rare steak from time to time.

Thus ends the California food blog travel adventure.

Home cooking

2008-09-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

The best meals I had were those that were cooked for me by friends. The Mister is from LA, so this trip was largely to meet “family” that couldn’t make it to our wedding. Meeting new people and being welcomed into the fold made the food all that much tastier.

But the food itself was also pretty awesome. Two friends who had just returned from eloping in Hawaii had a post-wedding shindig at their house. The husband cooked a veritable feast: Meatballs, Curried potato gratin, Shepherd’s pie, short ribs and kimchee—from the local Korean place—I actually ate kimchee and liked it—and a rich, yet light, cake for dessert. It was a feast. I wish I was still there.

Le fondue, and sushi in the desert

2008-09-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

I like fondue, and will eat it every chance I get. What else can I say? So me, The Mister, and his childhood friend went out to The Melting Pot. I ordered an extra cheese portion for the table to ensure there’d be enough to go around, and I found a lovely Sauvignon Blanc to search for at home. Fruity, juicy, mouth-watering acidity, just how I like them.

***

I’ve come to the conclusion that in most any civilized place these days, you can get the exact same Mexican food and the exact same sushi. Not saying there’s anything wrong with strong margaritas, boisterous music, and cheese-drenched enchiladas. And I love a good California roll and a miso soup regardless of the state I’m in. But I was hoping, especially for the Mexican food, for something a tad more authentic. The margarita was quite nice, though, and the company was spectacular.

Dining at Disneyland

2008-09-17T06:26:00.000-07:00

We had a marvelous, spontaneous lunch at the Grand Californian Hotel’s, Storytellers Café. It’s not the uber-fancy restaurant at that hotel, so the prices were pretty decent. The styling was elegant, but relaxed. Green, and marble, but warmed up by some wood accents. The floor carpet was all letters and trains. A great place for both kids and adults to enjoy.

The food was fabulous. I had a simple soup and salad, but it was so flavorful and fresh that it was just lovely. My one beef with the vegetable soup is the menu said the veggies were to be “fire roasted,” but there was no roastiness to be seen or tasted in the soup. But, they floated a goat-cheese smeared crouton on top, so all is forgiven. The salad had bits of hard cheddar, and crunchy things that made it a taste and texture sensation.

Oh, and they had our anniversary wine. The Iron Horse Fairy Tale Cuvee, a sparkling wine bottled just for Disney. Lightly sweet, but not cloyingly so.

It is my very favorite champagne.

We went in the mid-afternoon, so the restaurant was very quiet. Also, going outside the park to eat, where it was nearly deserted, was a wonderful idea. No ticket needed to eat there. I highly suggest getting to the Grand Californian to look around and eat at the Storyteller’s Café if you get a chance.

My other meal at Disney was not quite as good. We lucked out and got walk-in tables at the Blue Bayou, the restaurant in the Pirates of the Carribean ride. So, it’s all decked out like you are on the banks of the Missisippi in New Orleans at the turn of the century at dusk. Nice ambience.

The filet itself was fine. Cooked properly. But the béarnaise, dear god, the béarnaise. I didn’t mention this to my dining companions, because I didn’t want to offend them, but the béarnaise tasted like it had been made with, not butter, but yellow paint.

Blech.

I ate around the béarnaise and otherwise enjoyed the steak and potatoes, but I was sorely disappointed about the butter sauce.

Burgers for breakfast

2008-09-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

Having never really been west of St. Louis, I had never had an In & Out Burger. So that was something on the “to do” list for our trip. Due to our packed schedule, the only time we could make it to In & Out Burger was for breakfast. Well…I was disappointed in my first In & Out Burger. Needed more salt, or more sauce, or something. I regret to inform you that I was too chicken to order it “Animal Style.”

The burgers I had at Hi Life were much better. The meat itself wasn’t as primo as the In & Out, but the thousand island was much better, and the bun was soft, fresh and sweet.

Ah, California.

2008-09-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

Went to California for 8 days. It was lovely. I really wasn’t in California for an uber-culinary experience. I was there to relax and have a good time, which I did. For once, meals were secondary.

Nevertheless, there was some good food, good times and good memories. Over the next week or so I’ll be rolling out several short posts.

Here's the first.

Dodger Dog and Blinky Beer
The first thing I ate when in LA was a Dodger Dog and beer from a hard plastic pilsner that pulsated blue light. It was touristy, overpriced, and delicious.

Uses for Pesto, part 2

2008-09-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

Update: Was on vacation in California. Food review of that trip forthcoming.

3. My garlic scape pesto is so concentrated with garlic flavoring that it's a great add-in when you need to, er, OK, I'll say it, kick it up a notch. Bonus: The scape pesto does not have a pronounced herby flavor like basil- or parsley-based pesto does.

I've used the pesto to enliven a bowl of canned tomato soup, to mix with sour cream for a chip dip, and as a topping for gaspacho.

4. Use it to make garlic bread.

5. Condiment for prime rib or other steak, instead of horseradish.

6. Add a little more olive oil, and use as green cocktail sauce.

It's good stuff. Next year, if you see those wierd curly-Q stalks at the farmer's market, dig out your food processor and give garlic scape pesto a try.

Uses for Pesto: Part 1

2008-08-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

These aren't recipes. Too easy, too much room for experimentation.
1. Alfredo noodles done al dente, with a few tablespoons of pesto mixed in. No meat need apply.

2. Good quality crusty bread-French, Italian, or sub sandwich bread. Spread one side thickly with pesto, then top with good mozarella. The kind you slice yourself, that comes in globes, not bricks. Slice tomatoes thinly, place on other side. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt and pepper. Bring two sides together. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or parchment paper. Weight down sandwich for 10 minutes, or let it sit for an hour. Unwrap and eat.

Garlic Scape Pesto

2008-08-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

The key to a really good pesto isn’t the freshness of the ingredients or the ratio of oil to nuts to cheese.

It’s a food processor.

Now, I’m sure that a large part of the reason that last night’s garlic scape pesto was so amazing was because the garlic scapes were locally and organically grown, the parmesan was real parmesan, and the olive oil was grown on a small family farm in Lebanon.

But the food processor was what allowed everything to come together quickly and homogeneously.

I tried to make pesto last year with my blender. Bad idea. The blades couldn’t stand up to the crunchy, chunky ingredients. And it made everything taste bitter. In fact, it was inedible, no matter how much parmesan I added into it at the end.

And as much as I like “slow” food, I wasn’t going to try the mortar and pestle.

If you’re going to make pesto, folks, a food processor is essential. Otherwise, don’t bother.

Now, onto the recipe.

Garlic Scape Pesto
A garlic scape is the shoot of a garlic plant which is cut off in early spring so that the garlic bulb will grow better. It’s kind of like a cross between a chive and a stalk of asparagus. It’s got a strong garlic flavor but is not as harsh as a clove of garlic. The scape season is pretty short, but they last pretty much forever if kept in the coldest part of your refrigerator.

A arge bunch of garlic scapes
about a cup of olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
two large handfuls of almonds
1/2 cup (at least) grated Parmesan cheese

Cut the ends of the garlic scapes. Make sure to remove the flowering end to avoid bitterness. Roughly chop scapes into 2 inch pieces or so.
Add scapes, almonds, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to food processor. Run processor until mixture is more or less uniform. While processor is running, drizzle in oil in a fine stream. Keep drizzling until the mixture starts to become more liquid and turns a lighter green in color. Stop the processor occasionally and check for thickness. Because the garlic scapes are tougher than, say, basil, this mixture will never be as smooth in texture as regular pesto. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Fold in grated Parmesan. Keeps about a week in the coldest part of your refrigerator.

If freezing, don't add the cheese. Put into freezer-safe container, and add a little bit of oil to seal the top. After thawing, add the cheese just before serving. (Cheese doesn't do well being frozen).

Expect some pesto recipes from me the rest of the week. I've got about 2 cups of pesto to use up, so we'll see what I can do.

Recipe: Polish Wonton Soup

2008-07-23T07:14:00.001-07:00

This started out as an improv recipe, but the results were so good that I've decided to write it up as a full recipe, and make it again. Thanks to The Mister for coming up with the recipe name.

Serves 4
1 pound pre-cooked Kielbasa polish sausage (refrigerator section)
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 mini pierogis, your favorite flavor
at least 2 cups of cabbage, or sturdy leafy green like kale, spinach, or collard greens
Splash of something alcoholic, like vodka (or the juice of one lemon)
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
sour cream and saurkraut for garnish (optional)

Heat chicken stock in fairly large pot. Meanwhile, dice Kielbasa into 1/2 to 1-inch cubes and roughly chop cabbage or greens. When stock reaches boil, add black pepper, kielbasa, vodka, and greens. Turn heat to low and simmer until greens are done, stirring occasionally. This may take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes depending on the green (Spinach cooks quickly, kale and cabbage take longer).

When greens are almost done, add mini pierogis to soup. Cook another 5 minutes. Add the sour cream (if using). Taste, and add a little more salt if needed.

Ladle into bowls. Try to get 2 mini pierogis in each bowl. Garnish with sour cream and saurkraut if desired.

If you can't get mini pierogis, use 4 regular sized pierogis. Cook them separately in water, then slice them in half before adding to the soup.

This isn't very Polish, or Chinese, but it's a filling, one-dish meal, and a great way to get your veggies. I made this in the heat of summer, but it's really more a winter recipe.

The Original Daiquiri Ice - clone recipe

2008-07-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

My husband's favorite Baskin-Robbins item is the Daiquiri Ice. Unfortunately, in 2007, we learned that the recipe had changed. It is now LIME Daiquiri ice, and has a LOT more lime flavor, and is WAY too tart.

I searched high and low for a clone recipe, but there were none. So, I came up with one of my own. It’s a pretty good clone of the original recipe, and a light, refreshing dessert for a hot summer day.

BASKIN-ROBBINS DAIQUIRI ICE CLONE VERSION
(this is NOT Lime Daiquiri Ice)

The key to getting the right tartness level is the citric acid powder. Usually, 1 teaspoon does the trick, but may need to be adjusted up or down depending on how sweet (or sour) your limes are. Err on the side of tartness, but not so much so that it makes your mouth involuntarily pucker. Of course, if you prefer things sweeter, use less powder to taste.

2 cups water
1 cup sugar
Juice of 1 lime (fresh squeezed, a little pulp is fine)
1 tsp imitation rum extract
Between ½ and 1 ½ tsp citric acid powder (sold under the brand name FruitFresh. Or you can go to a health food store or online for generic food grade citric acid)
1 drop green food coloring

Heat sugar and water just until sugar melts. Remove from heat and add ½ teaspoon citric acid. Stir until dissolved. Let mixture cool a couple minutes, then add rum extract, lime juice and food coloring. Taste, and add more citric acid powder as needed, a quarter teaspoon at a time. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Churn in an ice cream machine for 25 minutes. Spoon ice into freezer-safe bowl, and move to the freezer for an hour before serving.

Note: The recipe only makes a little over 2 cups, so you may want to double the ingredients.

I posted this on an anonymous food forum about a year ago. So, if you come across this recipe somewhere else on the Internets, it’s mine. This is a completely original recipe developed by looking at the ingredient list of the original Daiquiri ice, and by referencing Shirley Corrhier's Cookwise for information on how to set up a basic sorbet recipe.

Consider this recipe Creative Commons. Feel free to repost and redistribute, but please link to my blog or credit me if you do.

Chicken Agumba #2

2008-07-17T05:47:00.000-07:00

For backstory on the Chicken Agumba meme, see my post, Chicken Agumba #1.

Made a great Chicken Agumba yesterday, in the Crock Pot(TM). Even though I was bleary-eyed and not fully awake, it came out great.

Best guess at the recipe follows.

Chicken Agumba #2
3 or 4 frozen chicken breasts
1/2 can of roasted garlic salsa
a few tablespoons of olive oil (nothing fancy since it was gonna cook all day)
1/2 can of water
1/2 to 1 cup dried white beans
1 large (and we're talking large)onion, medium-to-large dice
Salt to taste

Tossed beans in first, then the liquid, then topped with chicken. Cooked in the crockpot about 8-10 hrs. Had The Mister stir it a couple times during the day.

The dish had a sweet, savory, almost a baked bean-y flavor. It was delicious. I'd add more liquid next time--probably a full can of salsa and a salsa can's worth of water. Maybe part or all of a beer if I had one lying around.

Pie Smoothie

2008-07-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

I'll be the first to admit I didn't come up with this idea. I stole it from a regional chain that specializes in pies.

A pie smoothie is made exactly as it sounds--with milk, ice cream, and a slice of pie, all blended together until it's smooth.

It sounds a little strange, possibly even gross to some, but it is delicious. I made a pie smoothie at home and was extremely impressed with the results. I used vanilla ice cream and a triple berry pie.

The berries in the pie gave the smoothie a nice, fruity flavor. The crust and crumb topping of the pie, when blended, gave the smoothie a wonderfully creamy, thick texture.

The only downside is it's a little bit rich, and is on the Frappuccino side of caloric count.

Pie smoothie - serves 2
2 large scoops vanilla ice cream
1 cup milk
1 slice of pie, your favorite flavor (I suggest berry pies)
blend all ingredients until smooth. Add more milk if needed.

Sanguine Sangria

2008-07-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

Zoë: You sanguine about the kinda reception we're apt to receive on an Alliance ship, Captain?
Mal: Absolutely. What's "sanguine" mean?
Zoë: Sanguine. Hopeful. Plus, point of interest, it also means "bloody".
Mal: Well, that pretty much covers all the options, don't it?
Mal and Zoe, "Safe" (Firefly, 2002)

Point of interest, Sangria also means "bloody."

But my good friend cannot drink red wine, the poor girl. Something to do with the flavonoids. But she can drink white wine just fine. So I whipped up two batches of Sangria today.

The infamous "blue" (purple, really) sangria has been banned for life.

There's really no recipe for Sangria--it's just wine, fruit, a proportion of hard liquor, and, if you want, a touch of club soda to lighten things up a bit.

Here's a few tips on how to make your own signature sangria without fuss.

* The sweeter the starting wine, the sweeter the sangria will be. The fruit that you add does not make the drink any more sugary, but it does give fruity flavor.
* Use a good wine, but not a great wine. By good wine, I mean a wine you like and enjoy drinking by itself. Don't go for the bottom of the jug wine just because you're going to add stuff to it.
* Always add some citrus. My ratio is one orange and a half a lemon per bottle of wine.
* Limes and grapefruits are bad, mmkay? Limes and grapefruits have skin that is very bitter-much more bitter than oranges and lemons-and will impart a bitter flavor to your sangria.
* Color-code the fruit to the wine. If you're doing white sangria, add white fruits, like peaches, pineapple, mango. For red sangria, use red fruits, like strawberries, cherries or mixed berries.
* Frozen fruit is fine, in fact it's ideal. Frozen fruit will act like flavorful ice cubes, helping to keep your sangria refreshingly cool before the sun sets.
* Brandy, orange, and rum are good, but pick one. Stick with liquors that will add complimentary flavors to the sangria. Orange liquors are especially good, like curacao or triple sec. I add about 1/2 to 1 cup of liquor per bottle of wine
* Add club soda, to taste, before serving. The club soda will add a touch of dryness, a touch of sparkle, and will lighten up your drink. If you don't do this, you run the risk of getting real drunk, real quick. If that's your aim, more power to you, but I told you so.

In honor of Independence Day, I now present to you red, white, and blue sangria. Can easily be doubled. (Again I implore you, do not drink the blue sangria. I only include it for sake of completeness.)

Red sangria
1 bottle red wine (Garnacha del Fuego is great)
1/2 bag of frozen mixed berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries), OR 1/2 bag frozen strawberries.
1 orange, sliced
1/2 lemon, sliced
1 cup Triple sec
1/2 cup rum
1/2 bottle club soda

Put fruit in the bottom of large pitcher or thermally insulated pitcher. Add wine and triple sec. Refrigerate. Before serving, taste, and add club soda, up to a half a bottle, as needed.

White Sangria
1 bottle fruity white wine, dry or sweet, as your preference
1/2 bag frozen peaches
1 orange, sliced
1/2 lemon, sliced
1 cup Triple sec
1/2 bottle club soda

Put fruit in the bottom of a large pitcher or thermally insulated pitcher. Add wine and triple sec. Refrigerate. Before serving, taste, and add club soda, up to a half a bottle, as needed.

Blue Sangria
1 bottle cheap red wine
1 cup blue curacao - must be blue
1 orange
1 lemon
1 bag frozen blueberries or mixed berries

Mix. Chill. Drink. Get drunk off your ass.

BBQ 5 - Epilogue

2008-06-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

Well, the meat was overcooked. So, I sliced it as thinly as I could manage, against the grain, chopped it into small pieces, and dosed it with a good store-bought BBQ sauce. I'll be serving it on toasted onion buns tonight, as a sloppy Joe-type sandwich.

I tried a few test pieces as I was chopping, and it's a bit chewy, for sure, but the flavor isn't bad. Hopefully it will pass muster with The Mister.

I should probably have had the meat thermometer out sooner. Even so, the excess of coals doomed me. Next time, I'll make sure to use fewer coals, which should make a difference. Live and learn. Such are the perils of semi-live blogging.

I did, however, have a pretty cool improv flash of brilliance after I took the meat off the grill. There was still a ton of heat left, so I cooked a peach pie! On the grill!

I spread the coals out into one layer, instead of being on one side. I tightly wrapped the pie in aluminum foil, making sure none of the edges were peeking. I also put the pie on top of a heavy baking sheet, to help diffuse the heat coming up from the bottom of the coals. Since this was a frozen pie, I let it cook for about 2 hours.

It came out pretty well. We got a tornado-producing thunderstorm halfway through the cooking time, so I didn't have a chance to uncover the pie to let it brown properly. So the top crust got a tad doughy. The bottom crust was pretty dark, though--not quite to burnt stage, but more summer tan brown then golden brown.

For the future, I'd probably leave out the bottom crust, and just do a pie crust or cobbler topping. Since this was a pre-made pie, I didn't have much choice in the matter.

This method is definitely something I'll try to perfect, and work on for the future. I was able to cook a pie without having to heat up my kichen, and when the weather's as hot as it has been this week, that's worth a lot. Look for some more blog posts about doing pie on a grill later this summer.

BBQ 4 - Hot

2008-06-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

I brought my meat thermometer out to check the brisket, and while I was out there, I decided to check the ambient air temperature. I stepped well away from the grill so I didn't skew the results higher.

According to my meat thermometer, it's 86 degrees out today. The humidity is such that, if I spend more than a minute ouside, I begin to condense a layer of sweat on my body.

My meat is also hot. Too hot. In my excitement with the coals--I can make fire!--I got too many going at once. So, even though it's indirect heat, the side of the meat closest to the coals is getting a fair bit of char on it.

The thermometer says it's at 195 degrees and climbing. Medium-Rare is 140. I'm hoping my thermometer's wrong, but I'm doubting it. The meat's been on for about 2 hours of the 4 I was aiming for. But I think there's no doubt about it--I gotta take the meat off.

***

Meat's off the grill. I'm gonna let it sit for a ten minutes or so, then cut into it and see what I've got. If I need to, I have enough hot coals to cook it some more.

At any rate, everyone who owns a grill should invest in a pair of welding gloves. They're long, so they cover more of your hands and arms, so you don't have to worry about getting burned. They work so well, you can manipulate the coals with your gloved hands!

http://www.google.com/products?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-35,GGLD:en&q=welding+gloves&um=1

BBQ 3 - The Mop, and authenticity

2008-06-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

I've watched enough Food Network shows and read enough books to know what the "rules" are barbecue are, more or less. The experts disagree on some points, but overall, you should:

1. Cook the meat Low and slow--the slower, the better.
2. Cook over natural chunk charcoal
3. Use some kind of wood for smoke flavor
4. Use a rub (and keep this rub a secret on pain of death)
5. Do not sauce while cooking. After cooking, sauce is optional and hotly debated.
6. Mop meat with flavorful liquid regularly to keep meat moist.

I'm following about half of the rules. I'm breaking some on purpose.

I'm cooking the meat low and slow, but since I'm using coals, and not a smoker, the heat is probably going to be higher than is ideal. There's not much I can do about this right now.

I'm not using natural chunk charcoal. I love Alton, but I gotta go against him here. The stuff is a pain in the ass to use. It burns out very quickly--we're talking minutes--it burns hot, and it flames up a lot. I might use it for grilling, sometimes, but I'll sooner get a smoker than use natural chunk charcoal to try to barbecue something.

I'm not using wood because I don't have any on hand. Well, I've got some pine, but that's not a good flavor to impart in meat, well, not in the states, anyways.

I am using a rub. But I am sharing the details. Caveat Emptor: I've not tried the rub before, so I don't know how it will be. I do suggest that you make your own rub, because it's just fun to toss stuff together.

I'm not using sauce.

I am using a mop. I'm basting the meat about every half hour with:

1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon paprika

The recipes I've found online usually include beer and/or coffee, vinegar, salt, and some spices. I had no beer, so I used a bottle of red I opened the other night. I wanted to keep the mop simple.

I've got a silicone basting brush I'm using to baste the meat, but some hard-core guys use an actual cotton mop for this purpose. Not my style. I'd probably use a clean cotton dishtowel if I wanted to get a similar effect.

I'm thinking I should probably dig out my meat thermometer to get a better idea when the brisket will be done. Be back soon.

Barbecue part 2

2008-06-08T10:46:00.001-07:00

Well, I've had my first problem.

You'd think a simple piece of equipment like a chimney starter would be a no-brainer to use. Not so. After the third attempt to light my coals, I called The Mister home.

I was stuffing the paper into the starter wrong. There's a grate at the bottom of the starter. I was putting paper above the grate. But it was supposed to go below the grate.

Oops.

But now that I've figured it out, I've lit another batch of coals all by myself.

Woo-hoo!

I've shoved the coals to one side of the Webber, and put the meat on the other side. It's been on the grill about a half hour.

For flavor, I put a spice rub on the brisket earlier in the morning.

I didn't really measure what was in the rub, but I figure the recipe below is a fair estimate of what all went into it.

1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
a few tablespoons each of:
chili powder
onion powder
celery salt
paprika
cumin
curry powder
celery salt
a little bit of
cayenne pepper
black pepper

I massaged all this into the meat pretty good and let it sit while I wrangled with the coals.

Off to mop the meat and check on the coals. What's a mop? Not something to clean floors, in this case. Stay tuned to the next installment to find out more.

Barbecue Part 1

2008-06-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

I've been stunningly busy this spring into mid-summer, and have not had much time to blog. As such, my energy to cook creatively has been fairly low, and I've been recharging my culinary batteries. But with the farmers' markets in full bloom, and my CSA share starting in less than two weeks, Cooking will soon become a necesity.

However, this weekend finds me at home. So I've caught up on laundry, tamed the jugle that is our front yard, and decided to do a bit of slow cooking.

I'm doing barbecue.

Not grilling, but barbecue. Where you cook something low and slow over coals, with perhaps a touch of fragrant wood sprinkled atop.

I have to admit, I haven't used the Webber all that much in the 2 years we've had it. It's been nice that The Mister likes to grill, so those days I sit out and let him have at it. But, as he said, 3-5 hours at the coals is a little too much for him.

So, after a quick lesson on grilling, The Mister went off to work and I'm alone at home with the dog, some Kingsford, 2 chimney starters, and 3 pounds of dry-aged highland beef brisket.

Further updates as events warrant.

You really wanna know what's in a mint julep?

2008-05-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

Update: Here's also a nice julep recipe from the awesomely named Wasabi Bratwurst. It is very classic and traditional.

http://www.wasabibratwurst.com/mint-julep-recipe/

A Mint Julep is one of those things, like czarnina, that sounds lovely, but the name masks its true contents.

The word "bourbon" is nowhere in the title of the drink, but bourbon is what makes up 99% of a julep. There is mint, to be sure, but it's a spring or two, muddled around in the bottom of a glass. Depending on your recipe, sugar, simple syrup, or soda water is then added to taste, and it's served in a shiny silver cup.

Clearly, the quality of bourbon that goes into a mint julep is key. Use top-shelf stuff for this if you even want to attempt it, folks, especially if you are not normally a bourbon drinker.

My friend, who dutifully drinks one Mint Julep a year, on her High Holy Day, the Kentucky Derby, uses Woodford Reserve bourbon. It's good stuff, but pricey.

If you want to try a mint julep, here's some recipes for you.

Becky's Mint Julep recipe at Blacktype Blog. She'll have this up before post time tomorrow.
Alton Brown's Mint Julep. He's a southern boy, so he should know his stuff.
Old Mr Boston's Mint Julep. A recipe from a classic tome of mixology.
The Official Mint Julep. From the Kentucky Derby Web Site.

Now, here's something strange. The official sipping bourbon of the Kentucky Derby is Woodford Reserve. But the official bourbon for the mint julep is Early Times. I've had juleps made with the former, but not the latter, so I can't speak to the quality of the Early Times, so I still recommend going with the best stuff you can afford, at least to start. It'll last you for at least a half a dozen Derby Days.

Improv recipe - blueberry orange cobbler

2008-04-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

Cobbler's always a great recipe to do on the fly because it's primarily pantry staples. And by pantry, I include fridge and freezer items. I had a half a bag of frozen blueberries, and some leftover grand marnier sauce that I'd used on ice cream, and a hankering for some cobbler. The orange flavors from the marnier and the marmalade are a nice way to sweeten up the cobbler while adding some additional flavor.

Serves 2

half a bag of frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons grand marnier
2 tablespoons marmalade
1 teaspoon cinnamon, or five-spice powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup rolled oats
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Celsius. Combine grand marnier, marmalade, salt and cinnamon in bowl. Stir to combine. Add frozen blueberries and stir to mix. Divide berries between two small oven-proof bowls or ramekins.

In another bowl, mix oats, butter, and brown sugar. Smoosh with fork until it's all crumbly. Top berries with oat mix.

Cook for 20 minutes until top is browned and berries are bubbly.

This will be a little runnier than your typical cobbler, so if you like your cobbler thicker, let it cool to room temperature before eating. If you don't mind it a little bit looser, dig in as soon as it's cooled enough to not burn your tongue.

"Sours" - The Dirty Little Secret of Mixology

2008-03-25T16:30:00.000-07:00

My friend Jeff points out that I've given equal time to wine and beer, but liquor, or liqueur if you prefer, has been given short shrift on this blog.

This post aims to even things up a bit.

There are really only two things you need to know about hard liquor.

One: Don't have a martini bar at a Sunday party, especially if your guests are used to beer and wine.

And two: If you no nothing else of drink making, learn how to make sours.

What's a sour? It's pretty self-explanatory. It's adding some kind of sour liquid, usually lemon juice, to hard liquor. Usually some sugar is also added to balance things out. Shake with ice, strain, and serve.

Fresh lemon juice is best for a sour. (What, you were expecting me to say using bottled juice is OK here? Well, you do what you feel is best.)

Instead of sugar, which can be gritty even after you've shaken it silly, you could also use a simple syrup, a mix of sugar and water heated until the sugar just dissolves. But sugar works fine, especially if you're not straining the dregs of the drink into the glass.

My advice for ratios is to make a couple sours, and find what ratio you like best. A good start is a half a lemon, and 1-2 tablespoons of sugar for each ounce of liquor.

Just make sure you taste the drink, and adjust if needed.

If you really must have a recipe, here's one that's good for an individual serving, and here's one from Ina Garten that's enough for a crowd.

Have fun, kids!

Belated Blarney - Irish Beer Tasting Highlights

2008-03-21T05:45:00.000-07:00

Meant to get this up earlier, but here were the highlights of the Irish beer tasting I attended St. Patrick's Day weekend:

Mickey's Malt liquor (served tongue-in-cheek) is apparently like mother's milk to college students. Somehow I missed out on this slice of college life.

There are Irish cream liqueurs out there that are wine-based. Like Baileys, but wine instead of whiskey. They are extremely smooth, and worth searching for.

There's really no strict rules for what makes up the "Irish beer" style. Generally it's Irish grains and hop strains, and there's some kind of roasting or toasting involved.

The biggest thing I discovered was the huge difference between light-bodied and full-bodied. Drinking so many beers side-by-side, I really got a good concept of body, better than I've ever had before. It was much easier to tell in beer than in wine. This is something that I will carry over to the wine world..

Guinness is not the least-bodied stout out there. That dubious honor would go to Murphy's. It was water-thin.

I really like Wexford. Toasty, a little sweet, very creamy because it has the can widget.

Even though I enjoyed myself, and had a good time talking to the store's beer guru, I didn't feel like I got my money's worth, which was disappointing. I could have done just as well doing a tasting at home for a lot less.

I was able to pick up a 6-pack of some overstocked Oktoberfest for a song, so the night ended happy.

Shake your Top Secret Shamrock

2008-03-19T05:11:00.001-07:00

A little past-due, but I had my first (and probably only) McDonald's Shamrock Shake of the season last night.

Now, I'll be honest. I drink Shamrock Shakes like most people eat Liver and Onions--not because it tastes good to me, but for the nostalgia value.

However, the shake I had last night was pretty darn good. Perhaps it was because it was late and I was hungry. Perhaps it was because I'd just left a sporting event where my team won. Or, perhaps it was because the shake was actually fresh and ice-cold, with the texture of ice cream rather than ice cream soup.

At any rate, it was good. So good that I would consider having another. But, I've only got till the end of the month before Shamrock Shakes, like Girl Scout Cookies, vanish into the ether for another year.

That's where Top Secret Recipes comes in. Top Secret Recipes was started by Todd Wilbur. He was a guy with not much cooking experience, who wanted to make clones of his favorite snack foods. It's grown to a brand franchise, including at least a half a dozen books, a comprehensive Web site, and frequent apperances on television. His recipes include fast food, snack food, table service recipes, and even beverages.

I've been a huge fan of Todd Wilbur ever since I was craving an Orange Julius but there weren't any stores in my state. His recipes are simple, straightforward, and taste pretty darn close to the real thing.

His Web site is pretty cool--all his recipes are listed in a searchable database, and you can buy a recipe cheaper than an itunes download. Just make sure to be nice and follow his usage guidelines--these recipes are copyrighted works.

And, he offers one recipe a week for free, which changes every week. This week it's Buca di Beppo's garlic bread, which is one of the best garlic breads ever.

The other cool thing is that many of his recipes are actually cheaper than buying the item at the store.

So, if you've got a hankering for a Shamrock Shake in July, or live in Maine and want a Carl's Jr. burger, or if you simply have an intellectual curiosity to make an OREO(TM), check it out.

As promised - the wine reviews

2008-03-09T15:48:00.000-07:00

I've decided to try my hat at wine reviews. Here are my impressions of some recent bottles I've been drinking--at the Big Fat Greek Dinner and at some informal get-together. If applicable, I've talked about where I got the wine, when I drank it, and if there were any food pairings.

Espiral Vinho Verde - Picked this up at Trader Joe's for less than a Starbucks Frappuchino. Very (but pleasantly) surprised when I opened it to find it was bubbly. Limes on the nose. Very acidic, fruity, maybe just a touch sweet. Served with Saganaki (flaming kasseri cheese). Was great as an aperitif. Going back to buy more of this.

Garnacha de Fuego - Medium-bodied red wine. Very smooth, mild tannins, good fruit, some nice spicy, peppery flavors. This was good on its own, and simply amazing with the lamb. A wine with broad appeal.

Boutari Retsina Wine - A white wine, from Greece! Apparently, this is a very old style of wine that was traditionally aged in containers (casks, bags) that were sealed with pine resin. As oak is to French wines, pine is to Greek wines. It's, uh, certainly piney. I'm not sure if I liked it. The pine pretty much overpowered everything else in the wine. I don't see this pairing well with food. Good wine for a sense of terroir, and an adventurous palate.

Verimonte Sauvignon Blanc 2006 Reserva - Fun and fruity. Like drinking a tropical fruit salad. Lots of grapefruit and tropical fruits on the nose. Nice and acidic. A Juicy wine, got my mouth watering while drinking it.

I don't know if it's because the weather has been so cold or if I just like the style, but I'm learning that I really enjoy dry or off-dry, tart white wines with a bunch of fruit flavors to balance them out. I'm definitely a bit tired of Chardonnay right now, especially if it's oaked.

My Big Fat Greek Dinner

2008-03-05T05:43:00.000-08:00

On Monday, I made dinner for my mom, in celebration of her birthday. The three-course Greek meal was a huge success, and one of the best meals I've ever made. Though there were a few things I would have done a little differently, here are the highlights of the menu.

Appetizer: Flaming kasseri chese, aka Saganaki, aka OPA! aka "Oh my God the food's on fire!" This is quite a common dish in greek restaurants. It's showy, with big, bright flames, and hey, who doesn't like melty cheese on bread. This was amazingly easy to do. I just dredged some kasseri cheese in flour, pan-fried it in some butter until it was all melty, removed from the heat, added the Grand Marnier, lit it, yelled OPA!(yes, this is a required step. It's much like yelling "FORE!" when playing golf), and doused the flames with a squeeze of lemon.

This was just as good as you get in a restaurant. The hardest part was finding the kasseri cheese. Next time, I would use only 2 tablespoons of butter, and use a non-stick pan.

Main course: Lamb rib chops marinated overnight in olive oil, lemon, oregano, and garlic. I broiled these to medium-rare. They were super-tasty, little morsels of savory goodness.

Lamb rib chops are hard to find, so I just took a rack of lamb and cut it into rib chops. I also learned not to be afraid of trimming excess fat and gristle off a piece of meat. Even though it was technically "wasteful," it made the meat much easier to eat, and much more tender. Next time, I would use a ratio of 2 parts oil to one part lemon juice--the chops were a little too tangy. I would still add at least head, if not a head and a half, of chopped garlic.

Side dishes: Brown rice with lentils, and greek salad. For the rice, I more or less improved, and it came out great. I fried up a chopped onion with some oil, oregano and cumin, then added chicken broth and a half cup of lentils. I let that cook for a while, then added some more broth and some instant brown rice. Very tasty, and the lentils were a nice texture contrast in the rice.

The greek salad used romaine lettuce as its base, then I added a chopped tomato, some thinly sliced onion, some good Kalmata olives, and a lot of feta cheese. I served a tangy greek dressing on the side.

Dessert: Walnut and pistachio baklava with vanilla ice cream. I've worked with filo dough enough to know that the super-fancy desserts are best left to the pros. Both of these items were store-bought. The baklava straight from the local greek restaurant. Greek yogurt would have been more traditional here, but it was a birthday party, after all.

Wine: Two different wines, both procured by my dad were served with dinner. A Greek white wine, and a Spanish red wine. The white was very wierd. It was very piney. Not bad, per se, but it didn't go terribly well with the cheese, and it took some getting used to. The red, on the other hand, was wonderful. Nothing too complex, but it was smooth, spicy, and meshed really well with the lamb. I promise to do a separate wine writeup sometime soon, with the names of the bottles and all.

The meal was great, not just because of the taste, but because it was easy to do, I could do much of the hard work in advance, and it was thematically consistent.

Cookbook review: AHA One-Dish Meals & Meals in Minutes

2008-03-03T11:52:00.000-08:00

I made some goals in 2008 to eat less, eat better, and exercise more. I was looking for a cookbook that had lots of healthy meals that I could make for a weeknight dinner. They had to be quick and easy to make, they had to taste good, and they had to be filling.

I found two cookbooks that fit the bill pretty well. They are American Heart Association cookbooks: Meals in Minutes, and One Dish Meals fits the bill perfectly.

I've got about a half a dozen recipes so far that I've tried, and most of them I'll be making again (and again).

Portion sizes on each of the recipes is pretty good. For dinner, main dishes are pretty filling, so long as you also provide a side dish of some sort.

The only place where this cookbook falls a little flat is in its design and cooking tips. They seem to be a little inconsistent, and not terribly helpful for me. Also, the cookbook is written in that "working mom" style--you know, where it tries to be cutesy and clever, but just comes off sounding silly?

The other problem is a problem I have with almost all cookbooks: the meals are fast, but the times given for prep are less than the actual time it will take you. Unless you are working in ideal conditions, the recipes will probably take you a little longer than what the recipe states.

Other than that, they're great books. They're not the most fun cookbook to read, but the recipes are what count.

Ultimate Recipe Showdown of Ultimate Destiny

2008-02-29T06:17:00.000-08:00

OK, Food Network. You’re being awfully sadistic these days. You know it’s been a pipe dream of mine to get on the Food Network, ever since the first season of The Next Food Network Star. But, you made it pretty clear that you didn’t want my kind—self taught home cooks. No, you wanted flamboyant food personalities for whom cooking was already their day job. Bam! Indeed.

Now you dangle another carrot in front of my nose—your new show Ultimate Recipe Showdown. You say this show is all about self-taught home cooks showing off their best recipes for fabulous prizes, of up to $50,000.

I could care less about the money. I just want to get on the show. And meet the Double Dare Guy. You know, Marc Summers? You hired him to do Unwrapped, and now, with Guy Fieri, he’s the co-host of the Ultimate Recipe Showdown.

According to your Web Site, you’re accepting recipe submissions for Season 2 of the show until March 31st. You say that I can enter as many recipes as you want.

Ah, but there’s the rub. I’m a good cook, but you know recipe creation is not my specialty. Ever since that strained yogurt-garlic sauce in the 6th grade that made my eyes water, I’ve tried to get better at creating recipes. And sure, I won First place at a college during a spring break recipe challenge with my Sunset Soup. And I was victorious in the Iron Chef Birthday Battle back in June of 2007. But I only have, maybe, a half a dozen original recipes. And maybe a quarter of them are Ultimate Recipe quality.

You’re not just getting my hopes up, are you, Food Network? Do I have enough original recipes to have a chance? Do I have enough time over the next month to do some serious experimenting? Are you going to break my heart yet again?

Garlic lovers' recipes - Garlic Honey Ice Cream

2008-02-27T06:45:00.001-08:00

I love garlic, as is clear from my blog's moniker, but I was a little scared of the recipe for Garlic Honey Ice cream in
The Garlic Book.

However, that didn't stop me from trying it a couple summers ago.

This is a good recipe because it's well-flavored with garlic, but the garlic is not overpowering. Most recipes call for poaching the cloves in the cream, then pureeing the mixture. But, in this recipe, you steep the cloves in honey, then remove them before you make the ice cream. So there's a distinctive, yet mild, garlic flavor.

The other cool thing about this recipe is its texture. Using the honey rather than the sugar to sweeten the ice cream makes it super-smooth. There's no grittiness from undissolved or recrystallized sugar granules.

The family members I was able to persuade into trying it couldn't identify the odd flavor of the ice cream as garlic right away. And my mother, God bless her, liked it well enough that she went back for seconds the next day.

I can't post the actual recipe here, because it's copyrighted, but you can buy a copy of The Garlic Book on Amazon.com. You could also try to make up your own recipe from the basic method I've outlined above, if that's your cup of tea, or, er, clove of garlic.

The book seems to be out of print, so you may need to check a used bookstore to get a copy, but it's worth buying for its other garlic recipes. There's a great garlic bread, a garlic and bread sauce, and chocolate-covered garlic. The cloves are poached in red wine and sugar to make them sweeter before they are enrobed in chocolate.

If you do try the recipe, I'd love to hear what you and your friends think of it. If you can convince your friends to try some. (It's not that strong a garlic flavor. Really. The coldness of the ice cream also mutes the flavors somewhat.)

Forget Chicken Soup for the Soul. I need chicken soup for me!

2008-02-22T08:43:00.001-08:00

I've been down for nearly a week with the flu. Remember: the flu shot is your friend. If I hadn't gotten one, I'd still be very, very, sick.

I'm finally back up, and back to blogging. Now that I'm back, I wanted to highlight some good chicken soup recipes.

Ma Cobb's Chicken Soup-Featured in Big Damn Chefs and on The Signal Podcast, this great chicken soup recipe has lots of curry, cayenne, and garlic.

The Barefoot Contessa has a great chicken stock recipe. I like this one because it tells you how much salt to put in the stock. Most recipes don't. For a novice cook, the hardest thing about making stock, is making sure it's got enough salt in it. But, don't discard the chicken like it says to. Pick the chicken out, dice up some carrots and celery, and use it for the soup.

Katie's lazy chicken soup-This recipe was invented by my younger sister. Still twice as good as what you'd get in a can, but so easy you can whip it together in a half hour, with very little chopping, even if you have the flu. Serves 2

1 carton chicken stock
1 small bag baby carrots
celery, roughly chopped (optional)
Box of seasoned pre-cooked chicken breast strips, Italian or Southwest seasoning.
1-2 cups egg noodles
1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning or Poultry Seasoning (optional)
2 cloves crushed garlic (optional)

Heat up chicken broth. Add carrots, garlic, and other vegetables if using. Simmer 10 minutes. Add egg noodles and chicken strips, and simmer another 10-15 minutes until veggies get as tender as you want them and chicken strips are heated through. Taste soup and add extra seasoning if needed, but the seasoning on the strips should be enough.

Cuddle up this Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T09:40:00.000-08:00

I think most people who use food to woo and wow their sweethearts on Valentine's Day either 1. Go for chocolate or 2. Go out for a fancy dinner. Maybe both.

But I'm going to suggest that you stay home for Valentine's Day, and avoid all the crowds. Instead, make a meal at home for your beloved, set the mood with candles and music, start a fire going, and have a much more enjoyable time.

Maybe it's my Italian Grandmother gene getting the best of me again, but there's nothing like a home-made meal to make people feel loved. If you're the one who does the cooking in the house, you already know this. Also, the quality tends to be better when you make it at home--better food for the same, or less money.

Now, normally I'm all about uber fancy meals and setups and plannings. But not for Valentine's Day. You want to do something tasty, but simple, so you have more time for, you know, canoodling.

So, if you are cooking the Valentine's Day meal this year, first think of your beloved, and what he or she would like. If you think crab legs are sexy but your spouse hates seafood, then crab legs with clarified butter 'aint the way to go. If they really love chocolate, then a creme brulee isn't going to impress them (unless it's a CHOCOLATE creme brulee!)

I've put together a list of amorous menu options for those who need ideas. I've included some basic instructions for some of the suggestions--not really recipes, but something to show you how easy it really is and to get you started.

Appetizers
Oysters - if you really like them. I don't. Otherwise, go for something like smoked salmon or shrimp.
Sliced french bread, topped with something tasty and savory - sauteed onions, roasted garlic, or goat cheese, or cream cheese. Even something pre-made out of a jar becomes special when it's spread on a toasted baguette slice.

Main Courses
Steamed crab legs with clarified butter - to clarify butter: melt a stick of butter in a saucepan over low heat until it's completely melted. Use the smallest saucepan you have. Either a. spoon out the white solids, or b. pour the clarified butter into a bowl, leaving the solids in the pan. If some solids sneak by, don't fret.
Steak - season with salt and pepper. Put over flaming hot grill for a few minutes per side. enjoy
Chicken in foil packets - add some diced veggies, some wine or chicken broth, bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Side dishes
Salad
Baked/roasted potatoes
steamed vegetables
dinner rolls
rice

Beverages
White wine, red wine - The gold standard. But what if your honey likes mead? or Beer? Go with it. There's nothing wrong with an IPA with a Valentine's Day meal.

Desserts
Creme brulee - seriously, this is really super easy to make. The gourmets will say "use a vanilla bean," but you can ignore them and just use real vanilla extract.
Cheater's chocolate lava cakes - make a batch of from-the-box brownies, but bake the batter in muffin tins instead of a brownie pan. Make sure to grease the tins, but do not line them. Check them about 10 minutes before the minimum cooking time on the box. You want them a little bit undercooked. Serve as-is or with a sauce.
Dessert wines - Wines like sweet, flavorful ice wine or strong, smooth port can be desserts in and of themselves.
Chocolate-covered strawberries - Melt chocolate in microwave. Stir every 20 seconds or so. Dip strawberries. Put on waxed paper in fridge for at least an hour. Heaven.

I'd love to hear from readers what they're doing for Valentine's Day, and what their favorite Valentine's Day menus are--fancy or simple.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! As Kaylee from Firefly would say "Have good sex!"

Mad (food) Scientist, Part 2

2008-02-11T09:21:00.001-08:00

It's alive, er, edible!!!!

The curried coconut-scented lentil-brown rice-black beans and tomatoes thing turned out really well! (I have got to get a better name for it...). The flavors all played well with others, and the result was a slightly sweet, slightly spicy, colorful pot of beans with good flavor and texture.

As I went to make the recipe, I realized one major error. I was going to use evaporated skimmed milk plus a little bit of coconut extract instead of coconut milk. I thought I had some in the pantry, but it turned out I had sweetened condensed milk. They are not interchangable. Not at all. However, it worked out pretty well. It gave a subtle sweetness to the rice, which would have been better had I used more curry powder.

And, I found another good use for the faux cream of coconut. It made a pretty good substitute for Coco Lopez, in the lovely drink called the Painkiller.

I still think that evaporated skimmed milk plus coconut extract would be a good, not-sweet, low-fat, substitute for cocunut milk, but I shall have to wait another day to actually do the experiment. Curses. Foiled again.

Tropical curried rice and beans
1 cup split lentils
1 cup instant brown rice
1 16 oz can black beans
3 cups chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 to 1 teaspoon coconut extract
2-4 Teaspoons curry powder, to taste

Put rice and lentils in a pot with a tight-fitting lid.
Mix together sweetened condensed milk and coconut extract. Stir to combine. Add coconut milk to rice and lentils. Add the black beans, including the liquid in the can. Add 2 cups of the stock to the pot. Heat to boiling, uncovered, sirring often. Once the mixture reaches a boil, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add a little bit of chicken stock if mixture starts to get too dry.

Uncover pot, add tomatoes and liquid. Cook for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add more salt or curry powder if needed.

Turn off heat and let rice and beans sit for 10 minutes. Uncover, stir and eat! Serve with Painkillers.

Mad (food) Scientist

2008-02-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

When crafting culinary creations, there's a fine line between improv recipe and insane (and inedible) food combination. I'm always fighting the impulse to combine too many flavors into one dish, which turns a potentially edibile meal into a Food Frankenstein's Monster.

Like anytime I go to Mongolian Barbecue. I always hate to go there, because I can never decide what sauce to have. So I usually mix them all up. And then my meal doesn't taste very good, either because the flavors don't blend together well, or there are so many competing flavors that it doesn't really taste like anything.

So, last night, when we went out to Mongolian Barbecue, I kept it simple. I went with duck for the meat, got a bunch of veggies, made curry powder the main seasoning, and and then did only a couple different sauces to round out the plate. It was very good, spicy, sweet, and well-balanced.

Tonight, I'm tempting fate. I'm making an odd dish at home, and I'm not sure if it will come out well. I'm trying to go vegetarian, and use up some pantry staples that I rarely use--like a bag of split red lentils that I've had for two years. I wanted to use coconut milk, but decided instead to use a substitute--sweetened condensed milk with coconut extract added. I'm not sure whether to also add some black beans or crushed tomatoes. Curry powder will be involved.

I'm a little worried that this will turn into a nightmare, but it could taste pretty good, especially for those who like those types of flavors. I'll keep everyone posted on how it turns out.

Bwahahahaha!

Improv recipe - brie puff bites

2008-02-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

I love brie and puff pastry, but sometimes, a big wedge of brie shrouded in pastry is just too dense and overwhelming, especially for informal parties.

So, I decided to see what happened if I used those exact same ingredients, but made them bite-sized.

I used a pizza cutter to slice some pre-made puff pastry into even squares, then used them to wrap little squares of brie. Then I baked them in a 350 degree oven on a cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes, until they puffed up.

I didn't think that the bites would stay open, and they didn't, but the brie stayed mostly in the puff pastry, and didn't leak out too much. After a couple minutes to cool down, they were ready to go.

This is a great, easy appetizer, and one that I would do again. The bites are a bit more work than just wrapping the entire brie in pastry, but they're more versatile, too.

I also found out that, before cooking, these freeze extremely well. So you can make a bunch, put them on a cookie sheet, toss them in the freezer, then put them in a plastic bag. So, if you have unexpected guests, you can just let them thaw while the oven is warming.

Wine tasting - the results

2008-01-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday was the mini-wine tasting. Four friends, two bottles of wine, a couple wedges of cheese, and some crackers. Since we only had two bottles to taste we chose to forgo the spit bucket, and just drink it up.

The first wine was a Robert Mondavi 2006 Woodbridge Chardonnay. Not rated that I know of, and about $10 a bottle.
The second wine was a 2004 Patz & Hall Chardonnay. The Patz & Hall was the $40 wine that was "rated" by one of those magazines.

The first thing we noticed was that these were two very different wines. The Woodbridge was very fruity, smooth, a little creamy, and had no spice or oak to it. The Patz & Hall was much leaner--less of the creamy mouthfeel--more acidic, and had lots of oak and spice flavors and aromas up front.

It's safe to say that there was more going on in the Patz & Hall bottle, that it was more complex than the Woodbridge. But it didn't make us like the wine any better. In fact, the acidity was a little off-putting.

When we went back to the Woodbridge, that's when the fruitiness really came out, and we found we liked it even more after drinking the Patz Hall wine.

Now, I'm not saying that I disliked the Patz & Hall. In fact, since there was some left over, I had a glass of it with some brie the other night, and it was rather nice. But it certainly wasn't $30 worth better than the Woodbridge, especially when there's so many decent Chardonnays out there.

My thoughts? One, more money equals more complex, but does not necesarily translate into more enjoyment. Two, the Chardonnays were actually fairly different from each other in style, so a little hard to compare. And, finally, perhaps my palatte is not developed enough to appreciate a great wine, or to distinguish it from a good wine. That's fine with me. There are still wines out there I like, that are quirky, tasty, and pretty cheap, (like Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc Viognier) and I can still enjoy those knowing that I'm not really missing anything by being thrifty.

Update: Checked the Woodbridge site, and apparently there is just a touch of oak-aged wine that they add to the mix. But not much.

Vampire sugar cookies

2008-01-24T09:55:00.000-08:00

My friend brought this recipe to my attention:

http://www.popularcookierecipes.com/Sugar.html

Just a simple sugar cooke recipe, right? Looks so on first glance. But look again.

Go on, I'll wait.

That's right, the recipe calls for 8 cloves of garlic. Chopped, as if it makes a difference.

Now, I'm all for using garlic in wierd ways. Chocolate covered garlic and garlic honey ice cream are two recipes that I've made, and enjoyed, before. But this has got to be a mistake.

If you look down in the recipe instructions, there's no other mention of the garlic. This makes it pretty clear to me that it's a mistake in the recipe--perhaps someone mixed up a garlic bread recipe with a sugar cookie recipe.

Just another reason why you should 1. Not trust every recipe you find on the 'net, and 2. Read your recipe thoroughly before starting. I've got to imagine that one or two unlucky people chopped up the garlic before realizing the error, or, even worse, actually used the garlic in the recipe.

In related news: I'm proud to say that if you type in the phrase "sugar cookies with garlic" into Google, my blog is the first search result that pops up. Makes me giddy.

Wine tasting: the experimental setup

2008-01-16T05:34:00.000-08:00

As I was thinking more about this wine tasting thing, I realized that, in addition to the fancy bottle of Chardonnay I bought, I still have an unopened bottle of Chardonnay from when I hosted Christmas dinner for my family.

So, I've decided to drink both of them, tasting-style, with crackers and a spit bucket and everything, to compare and contrast. My only problem is that I will need others to experiment with me. So, the tasting may have to wait a couple of weeks until I can get some friends together. But then, I'll have more data points with which to compare.

This should be fun!

The wine snob?

2008-01-13T18:35:00.000-08:00

I've never been accused of being a wine snob. But I do enjoy food. And I consider wine a part of food.

That's why I wish I was just a little bit better at tasting wine. I'm not a world-class wine taster, but I definitely know what I like to drink and what I don't like. I can tell if something is sweet or dry, acidic, tannic, and can detect floral and fruity aromas.

But the flavors, textures, aromas of wine, and how to pin them down, are still somewhat elusive to me. I need a better vocabulary. I need to drink more wine.

The other problem is my pocketbook. I don't have a lot of money to spend on wine, or on courses where somebody can tell what's a good wine. It's not that I need somebody to tell me what's good, it's just that I'm the kind of person that likes to pick apart everything food. I get additional enjoyment of waxing descriptive about my food when I'm eating it. (My husband calls me a "commercial" and laughs.)

So, as a birthday present to myself, I bought one of my most expensive bottles of wine. (My most expensive bottle is a champagne I sipped often on my honeymoon, which has great sentimental value to me, so it's priceless.)

The bottle cost $40. It's a chardonnay--I can't remember the name--and it was rated 92 by Wine Spectator. Or perhaps it was Wine Enthusiast. Wine Today? Vine?

So far as I know, this is the first "rated" wine that I will ever drink.

It will be interesting to taste the wine to see what the "professionals" consider a high-rated wine, and to compare that against what I usually drink. Maybe I'll be able to taste a difference, or maybe not, but the experience should be fun. I'll learn something no matter what.

Cooking Goofs For The Soul, Part 3

2008-01-07T09:07:00.000-08:00

I know I said I was going to do a poll, but one individual's cooking goofs are so clearly above and beyond the level of most mortals, I felt it was OK to make a unilateral decision.

Congrats to Dave, aka Stupid Reality, for his list of cooking nightmare stories, many which involved heat and/or chemical burns.

Runner-up status is awarded to Reggie for valiantly trying to burn down his school in his Home Ec kitchen, not once, but twice.

Both of you may redeem cookies from me by e-mailing me at themanicscribe at gmail dot com. You get your choice of one dozen Cookie Monster Cookie Dough Cookies, made by yours truly, or any cookies up to $15 in value off of Amazon.com

Thanks to everyone who posted their stories.

And, to wrap up this series of posts, let me share one last cooking goof with you all. This just happened last week. It was a comedy of errors.

I was trying to make a recipe called Maple Candy in the Snow. On its surface, it seems simple. Boil a pint of maple syrup until it hits 270 degrees Fahrenheit, then drizzle the hot liquid on some fresh, clean snow. The result should be chewy maple candy.

My first mistake? I used too small a pan, so every time I cranked the heat above medium low, the mixture would foam up and threaten to leap out the sides of the pan.

My second mistake? I used a meat thermometer to check temperature rather than a candy thermometer. For some reason, the temperature of my liquid stopped getting any warmer at 230 degrees. Well, a bit of critical thinking led me to why this happened. Meat is cooked to a much lower internal temperature than candy. Therefore, meat thermometers don't need to go to such high temperatures. So, I wound up guessing on the exact temperature of the syrup. I tried to use the method where you put some of the syrup in cold water, and feel for texture, but this wasn't working for me.

My third mistake? I didn't pack the snow down firmly. I just drizzled the syrup into the snow on my friend's back porch. Since the snow was light and airy and the syrup was thick and heavy, the syrup disappeared underneath the snow onto my friend's deck.

Bah. Just goes to show you that even a simple-seeming recipe can be complicated, and even an accomplished cook can have lapses in judgement every now and then.

'Tis the season for hot toddies...

2008-01-02T06:01:00.001-08:00

It seems like almost everybody gets sick this time of year. Whether it's the stress of the holidays, or the cold, dry weather that tends to keep us inside, it's hard to say.

At any rate, it's a good time of year, sick or no, for hot toddies. Here's a link to some great hot toddy recipes. Skepchick is normally not a food blog. However, some great hot toddy recipes and cold remedies have shown up in the comments thread.

My favorite of these is the recipe from a nun, which includes ice cream as a main ingredient. Yum. I think I'll try that one tonight.

One word of warning: Don't overindulge on these, and be very, very careful when mixing alcohol with cold medicines. A toddy a day at most.