I need to get into better habits

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

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?

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

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!

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

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?

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. ^_^