Flavor Country

A Certain Alchemical Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T20:45:00.000-08:00

Part 2

Turkey is soaking in cold water, the final stages of thaw. One slight snag was that we couldn't see the opening of the neck in which giblets are to be removed. So we called Mother-in-law. That aside, it makes me wonder why those gross things are in a bag. Why not remove them all together? Why not leave them in untouched as nature intended? Wife explains it's because some people eat that stuff. Why? To gain a turkey's courage? Its tasty courage?

A Certain Alchemical Thanksgiving

2010-11-23T20:29:00.000-08:00

Part 1

Tonight, I embark on a perilous journey. The deal breaker, it seems. My first real test as some poor jackass who thinks he can cook. The last Thursday of November and with it, THE meal for most American families. Am I up to the test? Does it matter, as I'm only cooking for four/five? Maybe. But I'm not stupid. Let's prep ahead tonight.

Step one is the bird, which I admit, is typically dry and in desperate need of canned gravy whenever my beloved relatives (Two of them, both dead. God rest their souls.) cook one up. Though, my Aunt Marie was a clever bird and stuffed hers with peeled oranges prior to roasting. Yum. But anyway, how am I to tackle this and not leave the holiday disappointed? Hopefully, Alton Brown will come through for me again, as he suggests a brine. Check his recipe for full details but I didn't have everything. It came out to:

A gallon (or so. It was eight cans) of vegetable broth.
1 cup salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
The black pepper, rosemary and sage I just eyeballed. Though I guess it's a lot.

It's in the fridge now to cool. Ice is on standby tomorrow.

Stuffing was next on the list and while I originally had plans to buy some fresh loaves from Panera, no time was found. Wife ended up buying pre-cubed pre-dried stuff. Two bags full. So tonight, I plan on roasting three carrots, three celeries, and two onions tossed with olive oil and more salt and pepper. 450 degress for 50 minutes. I'm stirring occasionally, noticing some black around the edges. I hope that's fine.

That's it for tonight, though. All the cooking I plan to do. Part two tomorrow.

Chili Knight

2010-11-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's chili again. This time though, such a big change! I actually measured things! Except for the olive oil. Eyeballed again. That and a pinch or two of salt. It was just for the onion roughly chopped and three cloves of garlic finely minced.

After that, about a pound and a quarter of ground turkey, which the wife says we should try out now. It went in once all the other stuff got soft and brown and flavorful. A funny thing, too: I tossed in the seasonings early. Usually I wait for all the liquids but I figured, what the hell. Here's where I measured.

One tablespoon each of chili powder and adobo, one teaspoon of cumin and three big pinches of basil. Once browned, for fun, I tossed in a quarter cup of beer. One full can of chili beans in their special sauce went in. And because wife likes it this way, one thirty two ounce can of diced tomatoes. Because I like it this way, two thirds of a cup of salsa. After seven shots of Worcestershire sauce, the lid went on and I simmered for... a while, actually. Maybe three hours. Now, for ME, I usually toss in Cayenne and lots of it. Sadly, wife likes things mild. So absolutely zero went in. I kept my pallet happy with hot sauce though.

That's it. For the first time, an ACTUAL recipe and not me just saying "Hurr durr everybody in the pool".

Colonol Mustard

2010-11-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

If it's one thing everyone I know knows about me, it's that I love mustard. I have since I was little. My late uncle introduced the stuff to me on a salami sandwich back when I was very wee. My darling wife took me to a museum about the stuff in Mt. Horeb Wisconsin. I have always admired mustard's strong flavors, how well it goes on any meat imaginable, how... not bad it is for you and how astoundingly little goes into every jar. When I visited the museum (Hey, I should post those pictures I took!) I bought a little book on the subject. Upon reading, one of the first things it mentions in the recipe section was how stupidly easy it was to make. So, today, finally, as I was constantly talking about it for AGES, I got off my ass and did it. Sure enough, it took me fifteen minutes.

Quarter cup each brown and yellow mustard seeds, ground as fine as I could.
Half cup apple cider vinegar.
Three tablespoons turmeric.
Quarter teaspoon salt and sugar.
I also eyeballed garlic powder and adobo, which I put in everything.
Also, to smooth it out and not make it look like library paste, I added ten teaspoons water, added one at a time, because I was eyeballing it.

The flavor? Almost unpleasant. The vinegar is very overpowering. I think I also added too much turmeric? There's another flavor that really socks me in the teeth, which COULD be mustard doing it's mustard thing, but I don't know.

I'll do research, make more batches. I WILL make a mustard I can love.

Ramen

2010-10-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, we went to Manhattan for the day. I shall post the main reason later. But once the sun set, it was off to dinner time at a little place in Union Square.

http://www.ippudony.com/

These guys. And let me just say, they're wonderful. Aside from great atmosphere and an eager staff with lots of fighting spirit, the food was WONDERFUL. I have never had genuine ramen before. Now instant just doesn't compare. My entree was Shiromaru Hakata Classic topped with Kakuni. Heaven in a bowl. An absolute symphony of flavors, all dancing merrily together. No amount of bitter or sour or salty or sweet overplayed the other.

The appetizers too! Hirata Pork Buns were wonderful! The meat was sweet and spicy, topped with lettuce and mayo, as these were more of a sandwich than a true bun. The "bun" was SO spongy and light and fluffy! A perfect vessel! They even offered a special that night: Philli Cheese Steak Egg Rolls. Exactly as it sounds. Came with a spicy lemon ketchup. Heaven.

Go there. Now.

Something short

2010-10-17T17:58:00.001-07:00

I would just like to say quickly, that nothing makes me happier than consistency. I made the broccoli and mushroom casserole again, as stated in an earlier post. Today, I just used bagged broccoli and oriental flavored ramen. That's all. Still good. Just sayin'.

Two things I forgot about

2010-09-16T19:39:00.001-07:00

One, I made a casserole the other day. Broccoli and Mushroom. Wife loved it. I really don't feel like posting the recipe. Luckily, it's one of Alton Brown's. Surprise surprise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWI1qKV8sS0

Yeah, it's there. Only difference is, when we went to a Super Wal-Mart, I accidentally got 8oz of mushrooms, not 12. So I added an onion. Came out wonderful.

Secondly, today, I baked cookies. I'm still lazy. Here it is.

http://crepesofwrath.net/2009/11/16/olive-oil-chocolate-chip-cookies/

The lady was right. They ARE super moist and chewy! This may guarantee a spot in my pantry for extra virgin olive oil. Typically, I cook my veggies in Country Crock.

G'night.

I need to get into better habits

2010-09-10T15:17:00.000-07:00

Remember when I used to post here? Remember when there were recipes on a regular basis? Yeah, me neither. But with the year ever so slowly drawing to a close, I think I should fill this. More 2010s than 2009s. Maybe. So let's get things started with Chicken Fried Steak, which I'm making tonight. I had it once at an IHOP, and it was terrible. Bleh. Darling wife assured me that it's not always like that. So I try it myself. She found for me a few slabs of meat from A&P all perforated (because I don't know the actual word) and ready to go. All they need is love.

Personally, I plan on using two eggs and a cup of milk for the wet stuff. Maybe... another half cup if I don't think it's enough. Into flower, I'll be adding... well, I dunno what I'm adding yet. I always season by the seat of my pants.

I'll be going Wet + Dry + Wet + Dry. Yes, wet first. Yes, double dipping. I tried this once before and it came out great so shaddap.

They'll be cooking in Fay. Things should go according to plan.

Update:

Two eggs and one cup milk looked fine. I didn't measure my AP Flour but it was enough to fill a 9x9 casserole up about a third/quarter of the way. In it I dumped a tablespoon of salt/baking powder/garlic powder and a whole bunch of grinds of black pepper. The steaks got a gentle sprinkling of Adobo. Now we wait for Fay to heat up.

Closing statements: Delicious. I made yellow rice and red beans to top it off. In the beans, I added a can of sweet corn for no reason. To season, I tossed in the remainder of my BBQ rub.

New York Renaissance Faire

2010-09-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

Deep fried Oreos. Need I say more?

My first onion blossom. Good, but a little under-seasoned. Also, I had no idea this was supposed to feed six.

This. Now this, sadly I didn't think to take a picture of before I dove into it. The booth called it a Barbecue Sunday. Three layered treat, this was. At the bottom were sweet and tangy baked beans. In the middle, creamy Cole slaw. At first, I was skeptical at this choice, but then I remembered I love Cole slaw anyway. The contact was wonderful. The top layer was pulled pork! There was bark and everything! So soft and tender and full of flavor! The three were heaven in a cup! Completely worth the six dollars. Oh, and it was topped off with a little cherry tomato. Awww, it's cute.

So everyone knows, nearly the entirety of what we spent that day ($95) was for food. Aside from, y'know, getting in to see the astounding attractions. We saw a bronze bell show. Beautiful and soothing. The sweet music, along with a cool breeze nearly put me to sleep in the grass. Dexter Tripp also blew himself up. We kept him from burning alive by throwing water balloons at him. There was Nun-related stand up comedy. Lots of things. But not food related. So I won't post about that anymore.

Oh, Hamlet, how camest thou in such a pickle?

2010-08-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. Ages. I know. Life sucks. So do I. But guess what! Today, I finally have something to post about! Koolickles! I saw them on Good Eats. I read about them in AB's Feasting on Asphalt book, which happened to be in bargain at my store. I gauged reactions in my store. Finally, one week ago precisely, I tried them.

Two packets of cherry, unsweetened Kool-Aid, two and a third cups sugar and an 80 oz jar of Vlasic Kosher dills, quartered. That's the recipe, aside from letting them sit in your fridge for a week.

All I can really say is that these are heaven. Still crunchy. Still sour. The cherry blends so nicely, you still get little hints of garlic. This is heaven. A perfect summer snack. Try them now or else your life will be without meaning.

No recipe today

2010-01-16T22:56:00.000-08:00

I need to overhaul this thing. For starters, I'm not fourteen and this isn't live journal. Black background? What the fuck. More importantly, I can come up with something way better than what this looks like now. Garbage I tell you. On behalf of my beautiful and loving wife, I should also blog more. Weekly segments, I thought would get me in the habit. I was thinking "Iron Man Monday" to celebrate my shiny new pan. Maybe. I dunno yet. Maybe "Roserade Recommends". Also I dunno yet. I'm thinking. But it's time for a change.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T20:36:00.000-08:00

Over low heat, melt half a stick of butter. Add a quarter cup of sugar and half of a little can of evaporated milk. Whisk like crazy. When boiling, add a quarter cup to a half cup of chocolate syrup to taste and two cups of regular milk.

Serve with ice cream at the bottom or whipped cream on the top. And be sure to share it with your loved ones. It makes three to four servings.

Merry Christmas!

Cooking for One

2009-12-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

After the doctor, suddenly I feel absolutely terrible about eating the soup I made. I feel like I'm stealing Wife's medicine. Weird, I know but that's so she can get through Lap-bandy things easier. So I cooked just for myself. Another steak was my dinner. They were little, in a pack of three and cost 3 bucks. They were little. But the big thing I noticed was for one of my side dishes. I chopped up one carrot, since I figured that's all I needed. I added a tablespoon of butter and a pinch of salt, then browned them in a pan. Next, once again recalling the carrot episode of Good Eats, I decide to braise. Since I had no Ginger ale and hate the stuff anyway, I used...

Cherry cola. Just enough to cover the pan, so it was an eyeball. I slow cooked with the lid on until most of the liquid was down to a syrup then served. Amazingly, it was very very good.

Orange you glad I didn't say apple?

2009-12-21T21:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm going in order now.

Step one is www.bookcloseouts.com. They're awesome. Stupidly low prices and damn decent shipping. I love them.

Step two is this.

It too is awesome. From soups to smoothies to sauces to purees. It has a hollandaise recipe for God's sake. In fact, as I cracked open the book to find the proper spelling, through magic I landed on just that page.

Step three is my wife. I watched get a Lap Band fill today. I also talked with her awesome doctor and am now under orders to give her the tough love she needs.

Step four, the result of all this is Creamy Carrot soup.

1/4 cup (or one half stick) butter.
1 onion, finely chopped
1 leek also finely chopped
3 and 1/4 cups grated carrots
1 tablespoon AP Flour
5 cups hot chicken or veggie stock
2/3 cups heavy cream

Now, I didn't have leeks. I had them, didn't post about them and now they're gone. I also made soup. But for this, a second onion. Yay. I also didn't have heavy cream. Half and half instead. That gets used more. Heck, I'd use that in my hot cocoa. Oh! That reminds me. I also have a hot chocolate recipe for you guys. But later.

Butter cooks with the onions. Five minutes until soft, just the way wife likes. Then in goes the carrots. By the way, I don't mind saying, grating all those carrots is really hard work. Sheesh. The heat gets lowered then, on goes a cover and five more minutes.

Flour gets sprinkled in, then we stir for a minute or so. Then ever so slowly, we add the broth. We bring to a boil, then simmer for eight minutes.

Then we let cool for a smidge before sending it to the blender to die. Simmer more. Add cream. Season. Personally, I used cumin and curry powder. According to my idol Alton Brown, it's best to season carrots with botanical relatives to the carrot. Came out very very yummy. Wife, who doesn't like carrots by themselves even thought so.

As for that Hot chocolate, I'll post that later. That way, I have an excuse to make another post instead of one long one. Happy eating. I had my soup with steak. ^_^

Flying by the seat of my pants

2009-12-12T19:25:00.000-08:00

Wife continues to enjoy it when I bullshit my way through the kitchen. So BS I do. Oh, and I know I promised dear meat to... whoever the Hell reads it. But I dunno yet.

Today was pork. I'm not sure what kind of pork. It was maybe a pound or less, all cut into six chunky strips. I seared first in a little bit of oil and a quick rubdown with salt. Once crisp on each side, out they went to rest. In the meantime, in all that oil and porky goodness went some roughly chopped onions. They were pretty big, actually. Mostly rings that I broke apart in the pan. I also tried to scrape all that porky goodness into the onions as they got nice and soft. Once done, onion and oil went into a little casserole. A nice bed for later, that was. Next came my braise. It was a cup of chicken broth and brown sugar. I'm not sure how much brown sugar, because it's rock hard and I just bashed it against my head and dropped chunks into the piping hot liquid. Garlic powder and black pepper in next, then mustard and Worcestershire and honey. Once into the casserole with pork and onions, it got to cook at 450 for a half hour.

The bell rings, then I separate the pork. It rests some more and all that liquid flavor goes back in the pan with three tablespoons of flour. It made a wonder sauce once wife added a bit of adobo in it.

As for flavor? Well, the pork came out nice and juicy. There was also nice pork on pork action thanks to the sauce. Wife was happy. So I'm happy. She made a nice cheesy veggie/rice mix topped with french fried onions. I liked it. But it's her recipe so she should post it.

Pan Fried Chicken

2009-11-14T18:43:00.000-08:00

I am not ashamed to say that the first time I tried to pan fry, I failed. Not terribly, but I failed. First on the list, I didn't have a big enough pan. No where near enough to cook enough of them at the same time. This time is different and a heavy aluminum vessel under my protection is indeed big enough to support four drumsticks at once.

Next comes the oil. I knew how much I was supposed to use, though I think I overdid it a wee bit this time. It was heating said oil. You see, I have no thermometer. So, aside from guessing, I had no idea when it was time to cook the bird. Luckily, you can find everything on the internet.

Drop a grain of rice into the oil. If it floats to the top and starts popping and cooking, it's ready to go. If it sinks, wait a little longer. Big hint for the potential readers of this blog.

As far as the chicken itself was concerned, I soaked them all in heavy cream beforehand. Maybe thirty minutes. Heavy cream as I had no buttermilk. And I have to say, touching uncooked and slimy chicken as its soaking in that stuff.... bleh. Felt like finger banging a dead woman. But anyway, I used Adobo, like I do in everything. I used a lot. A lot a lot. They were bright orange on both sides before they hit the All Purpose Flour. Oh, and a pinch of salt, some more adobo, a bit of cayenne and a half a tablespoon (maybe) of baking powder. They rested until the oil was ready, then fry.

Twelve minutes on one side. Flip. Turn heat up to medium. Another twelve minutes. Drain. Rest. Nom. I have gravy on mine.

Coming up next: deer meat.

Potato Chip Chicken

2009-10-29T22:50:00.001-07:00

First off, I'm upset that I can't think of a more clever name for today. But I suppose that all my smarts were drained into tonight's meal. Second, I really really need to post here more. But anyway, onto dinner.

Potato Chip Chicken, which I first heard on an episode of King of the Hill, is stupidly easy to make. I was astounded. I mean, yeah, I know how to bake a chicken breast but all the prep work was seasoning my cutlets (Adobo, as always), dipping into melted butter, then coating with smashed chips. I was amazed though, as most fancy breast recipes call for a more traditional dredge of flour-egg-bread crumb. As for the potato chips, I used Sour Cream and Onion. Yum. It took more than a simple smash though. A heavy pot, a plastic bag and years of unresolved aggression towards my mother did little to create the fine grains of powder I'm used to. In order to defeat them, I sent them off to my little food processor to put the spurs to them. And that was it. Bake until white on the inside. Boom. Done. Big deal. Very very good, though. They tasted basically fried.

But this is the important part. I have been itching time and again to try and create a homemade sauce. Don't care which one. Just wanna. I figured now was my chance. With a potato chip flavor, I thought some kind of dip accompaniment would be best. Luckily, on hand was a packet of french onion soup. So flavor was not an issue. But how to build? As I recall from a leek soup recipe which I promise to post soon, butter + flour does the trick as a base. I was impressed with All Purpose's thickening power. So with... I think half a stick (I'm guessing) of butter and two tablespoons (I measured this time), I was on my way. Maybe... a quarter cup of that chicken broth went in once things looked gooey and then I started to whisk like hell over low heat. Next, a half cup of mayo and a full cup of sour cream I had combined beforehand. In they went, with much more stirring. In fact, I was a little panicky as I mixed, afraid of... I dunno, anything. I had never done a sauce before. But oh well, must truck on. In went that onion pack and a few shots of Worcestershire. Amazingly enough, it came out really really good. Very proud of myself, I am for this feat.

Not as proud as that leek soup. But that's another post.

Wow, been a while.

2009-10-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

To start things off, I haven't posted in a while because I haven't cooked in a while. Nothing new anyway. I had a high school drama club revival and AMVs and all sorts of noise. But anyway. If I didn't mention this 68 recipe book by Pillsbury we got at Walmart, then I slipped up. Because now that I think about it, I made some bubble pizza from this as well, whatever that is. But anyway. It's monday, time for alchemy.

This is what they call Greek Chicken and Pasta. What I ended up making is not Greek in the least.

2 Cups uncooked penne pasta. No penne, used rotini.

1/4 cup butter or margarine. Easy. Though I admit, I eyeballed it.

1 large onion, chopped. Duh. There isn't a day when I have onions in the house.

1/4 cup AP flour. I should get more.

1 3/4 cups Progresso chicken broth. Didn't have it. Had leftovers of the White Wine and Herb stuff. As it turns out, it was chicken based. Hurray.

1 cup shredded feta cheese. Didn't have feta. Don't even like feta much. Used mozzarella.

3 cups chopped chicken. Wife brought these little bags of precooked rotisserie chicken on manager's special. I used two bags. Looked like it was enough.

1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained chopped. Ewww. I used a can of vegetable medley.

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained, chopped. I wish. I used a can of diced.

1/3 cup sliced kalamata olives. What?

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley. What?

Preheat oven to 350. Cook pasta. And oh crap, I forgot to grease my baking dish. Oh well, looks like it didn't need it. Melt butter, cook onion. Stir in flour, cook and stir half a minute. Add the broth, more stirring, heat until boiling. At this part in the game, I really noticed the flour thickening into a nice sauce. Behold the power of All Purpose. Remove from heat, stir in cheese. Gently stir in... everything else.

Bake for half an hour. Nom.

Personally, I like what I did. It's chunky, milk flavors all around, nothing bad. Wife added more cheese. She mentions if I had COMPLETELY BSed a chicken and pasta casserole, she would have liked it a lot better. Because I followed a recipe, it only gets a B-.

Chicken Salad

2009-08-25T21:54:00.001-07:00

Once again, I have Sams Club to thank. Wife brought home these extra yummy chicken salad wraps and by golly, you know me. I just HAVE to see if I can make it myself. As it turns out, I can. Four chicken cutlets (which we have a lot more of frozen in a bag) got cooked and made friends with the food processor. So did four stalks of celery, which I did for Wife's sake. I don't mind big chunks of crunch at all though. Next, because I'm so daring, in went a packet of onion soup mix. Mayo next obviously but I eye-balled it as I so often do. If I had to guess.... maybe a third of a jar? Quarter? I dunno. Looked like a cup or so. And, now this was Wife's idea, finally went in ranch dressing. Added a tang and a zip I greatly appreciated.

All this made its way into a wrap again. Wife is skilled with tortilla wrapping. I added lettuce to mine. Yum.

This is also lap band friendly, kiddies. So go nuts. I think I'll have some now.

More alchemy

2009-08-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

On sale, Wife got this big ole hung of turkey sausage. Yay! I didn't know what to do with it. Not yay. Time for research and time to BS. After skimming around in some cookbooks at my store for research, I stumbled upon this one casserole book that thankfully contained some stews. They got chopped and charred a little, as did a nice platter of peppers we got for two bucks. Contained all the colors of the traffic light. Added were my typical onions cooked soft and sweet in margarine. One can of about 30 oz diced tomatoes. None of the liquid though. Finally, some secret ingredients. First was a chicken broth mixed with white wine and herbs, made by College Inn. Damn good. Next, my sole spice was curry powder. I used a fair amount, wanting to experiment. Wife enjoyed and so do I, now that it's cool enough to eat. Wife also says it's Lap Band friendly so enjoy.

Sonic

2009-08-09T19:33:00.000-07:00

There are none in New York. There are, however, some in New Jersey. About 40 minutes away. Worth the drive. VERY worth it. Juicy patties mix well with mayonazed burgers, as well it should. Chili cheese fries were heaven, but the portions could maybe have been bigger. However, the large cherry slush with grape.

ULTIMATE FLAVOR.

I now have a reason to not hate New Jersey.

Pantry Raid

2009-06-29T17:18:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, we run out of food. It happens. There's this downtime in our kitchen that happens right before another trip to Walmart or Sams. It is during these times that my title as Food Alchemist shines through: my competence, my knowledge and my ability to completely and utterly BS my way through a recipe.

I had little available, so it was time to scavenge. And, since I had so little available, as casserole was in order. Plenty of ground beef was ready to go, so that was no issue. Neither were the onions I still had. Cream of mushroom soup was plentiful. But that was it at first glance. At second glance, I found some cornbread stuffing mix. Hello yummy crust for casserole. More scavenging revealed a few carrots left. They were sprouting a little but some quick surgery removed any gross parts. Aha! A teeny can of mushroom heads and stems. Wife would enjoy those. My aromatics were complete. Those were given a cooking in a teaspoon of butter and a pinch of kosher salt, which we're running out of. After a bit, they picked up some nice color and the whole kitchen smelled wonderful so off the heat.

Cooking the beef, which is about 1.75 pounds of the stuff (as it's half of a roughly 3 pound package), was easy. At this stage, I was trying to figure out how to stack everything. Adding the soup to the veggies I thought might thin things out too much and defeat the purpose of a binder. As I'm busy stirring, I think, "Boy am I stupid" and dump the veggies into the beef for a second quick simmer. More mingling flavors, including Adobo.

Speaking of the binder, CoM Soup I thought lacked a smidge in the flavor department. There was also not enough room for adding cream of celery soup. More thinking, and as a nod to Salisbury Steak, Worchestershire sauce went in, along with some Cumin and more Adobo.

The crust was too easy. Follow instructions on the box. Except... oops. No milk. Half and Half tagged in. The goo went on the bottom. Then the meat and veggie mix. Then soup. Then a bag of hash browns we had left over.

But uh oh! How long do I cook this for? Both Wife and mother of friend agreed a half hour on 350. I topped it with shredded cheddar 25 minutes in. Then poof.

Wife inhaled it, despite my protests. And now we have a reasonably stocked fridge. So all is well.

Wok you like a hurricane

2009-06-23T19:16:00.000-07:00

For the second time in my life, yesterday, I tried to make fried rice. For the first time though, it worked. Four cups of long grain brown rice and... some oil. I'm not sure how much. It was more than two tablespoons, which is what the recipe demanded. I just felt very nervous tossing all that rice around in Wife's nice big pan. I was so scared of it sticking.

In the rice went some soy sauce, three lightly scrambled eggs, some cooked onions, two big ole slabs of chicken cut into chunks (and adoboed) and maybe... a third of a bag of broccoli, all cooked in oil as well. I figure that way, I can do things faster. Wife insists it came out okay. I think now they could have been cooked longer. Maybe. I dunno. I've never done this before. But now we have it reheated with more of those pot stickers some few posts back.

Who needs Yummy yummy?

Backlog

2009-06-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

I have a lot to write about. I however, do not want to write about it all tonight. Meh. So I'll start off easy. Carvel. I grew up with these guys as my main ice cream supply store. I even worked for them one summer as a lad. Tonight, I went there with a hankering for a frozen dairy treat. I see something called an Iceberg, which was apparently a blended root beer float. I think 'sweet!". And boy, I couldn't have been more right. Too sweet, in fact. I couldn't finish it. I could barely finish a quarter. So I left that Carvel six dollars poorer but six dollars wiser. Me have heap big buyers remorse.

The good news though, I went to this local bar and grill with my aunt today. Naturally, I ordered wings. Extra hot was on the menu so extra hot would be on my plate. This time, I certainly did not regret it! Mmmm, were they good! Meat fell right off the bone and the sauce was rich and flavorful and still with plenty of
Capsaicin

to knock me off my seat. Finger licking good and with no blue cheese. A little sad and they could have used a cooling agent besides celery but hey, they were superb.

Coachmen's, if you're ever on Katona Avenue in Woodlawn NY.

This Afternoon

2009-06-11T14:37:00.001-07:00

The Nickleback song, by the way. Don't ask.

But anyway, we have some nice big hunks of pork in the oven right now for a little less than an hour now. What first I did, technically, was steal some latex gloves from my job just for this job. THEN I remade my rub. Alton Brown recipe again, folks. Eight parts brown sugar, three parts kosher salt, one part chili powder. That last one part (From Pork Fiction) I cooked up myself with Cumin, Onion and Garlic Powder, Cayenne, Adobo and Black Pepper. The braising liquid I kinda BSed and now I hope for the best. A cup of Red Wine vinegar, some hefty shots of honey and Worcestershire sauce, and finally a single shot of hot sauce. Hopefully, nothing too terrible will happen with the added acidity and it'll reduce to a glaze still. I also realize as I type this that I forgot to add the cloves of garlic.

Rats.

More later when things come out of the oven.

Soup Da Whoop

2009-06-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

First off, I'd like to say how much I hate putting this off.

Second, this post is for the Lap Banders out there, so get your fill. The pun was about 75% unintended. Don't ask.

Now, on with the show. My wife has the Lap Band. I've probably mentioned this before. Because of this, I've had to adjust my cooking to meet her special needs, and that includes post-fill mushy diets. Luckily, I prepared for it ages ago and hunted down a soup cook book that would surely have some ideas in store. "Is it Soup Yet?", by Dot Vartan, 9780740743016 is the product number, I say as I work in a bookstore, and I highly recommend it. One recipe in particular I and the wife greatly enjoy. "Potato Corn Chowder", on page 114.

2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/8 tsp ground thyme
2 (15 oz) cans whole potatoes
2 (15 oz) cans whole kernel corn
1/2 cup half and half
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
Optional: 1 cup julienne cut smoked ham
Parsley flakes

Now I summarize: Boil the broth with onions and carrots and thyme. Reduce the heat then simmer for 10 minutes. Drain potatoes and chop a full cup, then set it aside. The rest go in a food processor (I used a bar blender) with 2 cups of the broth. Puree until smooth. Add the new goo to the pot, stir and add... everything else. Boil again, reduce again, simmer again, this time for 5.

For liquid diets, you can sub out kernel corn for creamed corn. You can also just blend the lot of the potatoes into a delicious ooze. For an added kick, toss in some handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese. Be sure to do it during the final simmer phase. Add one handful, stir and melt, THEN add more. Only until all the current cheese is melted do you add more.

OkayIloveyoubuhbye!

Big edible bowls

2009-06-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

It is not the first time I've been to Panera's. First time, I admit, I was a little intimidating. Everything was shiny and new with its light brown and sepia atmosphere. All I could really order was chicken noodle in a bread bowl. It was all I felt safe getting. And I had no regrets, really. It was acceptable, as chicken noodle is hard to mess up. The same thing was true maybe... 3 months ago? We had went again. Thankfully, my soup palette had grown and I thoroughly enjoyed my bowl of French Onion soup. Mmmm mmmm.

My discovery of French Onion soup happened last year at a Morton's steak house in White Plains, but that's another post.

To save Angel some money, and to feel a little fuller, I got a sammich this time around. One of their cafe versions, whatever that means. Simply Ham and Cheese, as, once again, I didn't feel truly safe ordering anything fancy. Again, passable. Quite yummy, in fact. As simple as Ham and Cheese is, they got it right. Gulden's mustard made it heavenly.

Then came last night. I was feeling bold, and Wife pointed out that not much would change if I got a hot sandwich instead of a cold one. So I ordered what Wife ordered: Turkey, bacon, cheddar and some sort of sun dried tomato mustard.

HEAVEN.

Now I know why she orders this every time. I shall be following suit. Wife was even sweet enough to give me the last bite of her sammich. I wubs her so.

Cheesecake!

2009-05-29T22:29:00.000-07:00

Today, in my local Barnes and Noble (which is where I happen to work) cafe was a new item. You clever readers out there have probably already deduced that it's a form of cheesecake. Give yourselves a gold star. No, really. Anywho, its selling point is that it's Oreo cheesecake. My memory isn't what it used to be, but I'm sure this is unlike the Oreo cheesecake they sell at a certain restaurant with Factory in it's name. This product, after an in depth analysis (translation: I had a slice), seems to be nothing more than a plain old cheesecake with a few cookies cooked in and a chocolate crust. First off, I'm disappointed that the crust itself wasn't Oreo. Second, I'm just overall disappointed. Most Oreo based deserts are... memorable, instead of a cheesecake with Oreo in it. It could have been much more than it was. Get it if you must give it a try, but you're not missing out on anything breathtaking if you don't. I'm sure the Cheesecake Factory version is superior.

Oh, right. I write in this.

2009-05-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

I really don't feel like it right now. It's late. Video work tomorrow. So I'll sum up.

First off, I have terrible luck with eggs. Dunno why. Just do. If I'm cooking them in a pan and not scrambling them, they end up scrambled. Last Sunday (at least I think it was Sunday) was different though. Once again, at Sam's, we picked up 3 dozen eggs. Better use while we have them, right? No hesitation. So a big 4 egg omelet was on the menu for breakfast. Research (Good Eats episode French Flop) told me that the best tool for the job was a rubber spatula, which Wife was against. She insisted on that big flat plastic one so often used for flipping burgers and chopping ground beef.

I gotta say, for the first time in God knows how long, my omelet looked like it was supposed to. It tasted like it was supposed to as well. Four eggs, one tbsp of milk per, some adobo (but that's another entry), sauteed onions and some nice chopped spam. Yum.

This brings me to my second peice. Spam. Almost everybody I know either has never had it or hates it. Meanwhile, I could inhale the stuff. It's meat, so shut up. Maybe it's scraps or less than desirable cuts, but it's still meat! It still fries and grills and makes a mean sandwich or as a chunky player in salsa con queso. It's good cold or hot. Heck, it's good in chili.

I love spam. Shut up.

Chili and me

2009-05-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

Wow, I almost forgot to write in this tonight. Thankfully, wife reminded/insisted.

First, a history. Chili and me go back to my first apartment, with my first roommate. Hormell, if that's actually the brand name, was one of the staples in the pantry. It was quick to nuke, it was hearty and one bowl was more than enough to tide one of us over. It was also great for corn chips and dipping. In fact, that and ramen noodles were all I ate most of the time. Sad, isn't it?

I notice this happens with a lot of favorite foods of mine, but eventually, I wanted to make it myself. Most online recipes seemed similar enough, so aside from a big mess of ground beef, I just threw together what was lying around in the kitchen. Eventually, we began to stock up on most things with chili in the name: beans and powder. My love of...

Capsaicin

kept hot foods: sauces, mustards and powders on hand. Though, sadly, as I cook for both me and my wife, cayenne and tobasco needed to be toned down and tomato content needed to go up. But, more or less, aside from ground beef and a can of beans, my chili recipes are never ever the same every time. Every pot has some crazy new ingredient that I throw in on impulse. Tonight was Worchestershire and BBQ sauce. Also new tonight were chopped up hunks of beef: the leftovers of my pot roast mound. They left a lot of liquid in the pot once they were done cooking, which made my chopped onion very happy. For the first time, I didn't need butter or oil.

Selling Out

2009-05-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

For starters, I would like to say that the pot roast reheated nicely. The ability to retain quality after making friends with both the fridge and the nuker is the true measure of a food.

Anyhow, as I didn't truly feel like cooking tonight, I got some of these.

Eight dollars, more or less at Sam's Club. We've been eying them for a while and that one day, we finally buckled down. Five packs, a dozen to a pack. They're stuck in this substance called "EZ Ice". Maybe it's ice. I dunno. They cook in a skillet for 12 minutes, then scrape 'em off, then eat 'em with a tangy dipping sauce they provide.

The filling is supposed to be chicken and veggie. I'm not sure if it actually tastes like that. Still good, though. For the price and the prep time, I'd say they're worth it. They're certainly not a main dish though. Try it and you'll go through the whole box.

As a final thought, mainly to see whatelse I can cram in here, Lay's Stax. They're thicker than Pringles. Depending on your tastes, this may be a good thing. I use the Salt and Vinegar as an example, since the flavor is awfully strong. In the Stax version, you get less of the S&V and more of the potato. I think it's a step up. But that's just me. G'night.

What's for dinner?

2009-05-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

We went to Sam's Club the other day. Among the other things we bought in bulk was this big slab of beef, a cut I didn't remember the name of. The wife believes it's bottom round roast. Originally, I had planned to chop it into hunks for chili, along with some pork we bought along side it. Due to it's size though, I figured more could be done. Pot Roast was the first thing that came to mind and wife said she's never had it.

A challenge!

First, off came the big round top. Second, off came this big ugly sheet of fat at the bottom. My slicing wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Somewhere in the middle got a little thin. Eih. Next came a hefty rubdown of kosher salt and cumin. The pan I used (which I guess to be about 16 inches) was good and hot for the searing the meat got, two minutes on one side, three on another. The crap stuck to the bottom, once the meat was out of the pan and onto a plate to rest, met with a whole chopped onion, maybe two tablespoons of veggie oil and five cloves of garlic.

I always use whatever's available to smash garlic. Today was the bottom of a jar. Usually, it's another pan.

I stirred and cooked and scraped on medium heat until things got shiny and brown. Tossed the garlic. Next came that jar. It was half full of Rinaldi's Hearty Mushroom, Pepper and Onion pasta sauce. Yum. Third of a cup of salsa, a small handful of jalepenos, shots of Warchestershire and A1 were next. More stirring and scraping until things were combined and delicious, then out came the peppers before they blew my wife's head off.

In a basket made of lots of aluminum foil, in went half the sauce, the meat and the rest of the sauce. I didn't have the time for a real slow cook, so for about two hours it went in, at 350 degrees.

Wife assisted in getting out all the liquid that collected in the bottom of the foils, which made a wonderful gravy. The meat itself was a little weak, but I think it's because of the faster cooktime. The resulting gravy more than made up for it, though. As I think about it, Adobo could have went in. Lord knows I put it in everything else.

Let's get it started in here

2009-05-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

I notice that, since I was wee and hovering behind my dear Gramma Betty in the kitchen, that I liked making the things I put in my mouth. Maybe it was because her daughter, my mother, was a God awful cook. Short order, my aunt would say. Everything, and I mean everything, needed piles of salt or ketchup or mustard or, in my later years, hot sauce. I also noticed that, being the psychotic that she is, despite all the times she would ask for help in the kitchen, she'd never accept it. The best I could do was wash dishes afterward.

To stay on topic, I shall skip the awkward moments of my life and simply say that I moved out. No more "home cooked meals", not that I was missing much. It was a step in the right direction. The second step came from, and don't laugh, the Food Network. Specifically, the show Good Eats. Alton Brown speaks to me in a language I can understand: science. Being the hellish nerd that I am, the hows and whys make more sense to me than the whats that most cookbooks will offer. So, as a warning, you may see some recipes that closely resemble what you see on that show. Bear with me. Lastly, I'm married now. My wife, or DW as she'd put it on HER blog, has the lap band. This means, to me at least, that to help her, I need to ever so carefully control her "input" so as not to break any of her sensitive insides.

To sum up, now I NEED to cook.

Some of it's traditional and some of it's some psychotic combination that my friends still don't let me forget about (salsa con queso and spam). Some of it is a healthy alternative and some of it took a trip through the deep fryer my sister got me for my birthday. Some of it's a good idea. Some of it... uhm...

Well, anyway, welcome to Flavor Country.