Lazy Holidays

I haven't really been cooking much in the last few days, surely all based in seasonal laziness. The things that I have cooked haven't really been beautiful things or anything new, so they don't get pictures or entries. Here's something interesting, though:



My little brother is a big fan of broccoli and picks it up nearly every time he goes shopping, and I had some prosciutto that needed to get used (and still do) so I steamed up the broccoli and threw it in with the pasta after it had been drained. A couple of sundried tomatos, a lightly cooked prosciutto and, and a grate of Parmesan later and this dinner is good to go.

ICSA XXXVIII

I finally made it into an Iron Chef Something Awful competition, even though I was kind of pushing the time limit a little bit.

ICSA XXXVIII: My Ricer needs new turbos

Butterscotch Whipped Cream

I had a vision, A VISION I TELL YOU of this confection. I riding in the car on the way back from Thanksgiving and I set my phone down for a moment and just sort of gazed forward, and suddenly: WHAM! The cosmos presented to me a luxurious field of twisted light brown fluff in the shape of Churro. "What is that?" I pondered about this lovely sight that had flooded my inner vision. Then, it suddenly came to me. BUTTERSCOTCH Whipped Cream. Destiny is soon to be at hand. But I'm not about to try to make whipped cream by hand again, so it will have to wait. Besides, I'll have to think about what to use it with...Hmm...

Vanilla Extract

The holiday season has arrived, and the best gifts to give are ones you make yourself, so let's start some projects, shall we?

Good Vanilla Extract is very expensive in stores, as are Whole Vanilla Beans...but the same is not so on the wonderful World Wide Web. For the same price as two beans at the supermarket, you can have your self one of these luxurious 1/4th lbs packages:



So, now that you've got that, here's what else you'll need:



Small Bottles (I've got an old Balsamic Vinegar Bottle I cleaned out, and some old Watkin's Vanilla Extract bottles)
Vodka (You can probably use something cheaper, but I'm a believer in 'Better Ingredients, Better Product')
Whole Vanilla Beans
Sharp Knife
Happiness
Helicopter
Breitling Navitimer



Step One: Cut seeds lengthwise. You can leave them attached at the little curve for added flair.



Step Two: Scrape out the little seeds (called 'Caviar') and deposit them in your bottle



Step Three: Stuff those bad boys in there. Fold them up if you need to (you need to.)



Step Four: All that lovely flavor has to go somewhere. How about into some Vodka? Yeah, that works.



Step Five: Shake it every day for the first week, and then just whenever you open your pantry for the next two months. Sure, it won't quite be ready by Christmas, but the recipients will have the fun of watching it complete its conversion. Refill as necessary for the next six months, and then extract the beans and toss them in with your sugar for Vanilla Sugar.

Mad Face McBreakfast!

Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed.



DON'T CHEW WITH YOUR MOUTH OPEN!! Where are your MANNERS?

Sun-Dried Tomato Omelette
Whole Wheat Biscuits
White Bacon Gravy

Cook, Eat, Share - Kyle's Departure Party Part 1

One of Cook, Eat, Share's members is soon to be leaving for Korea to teach English to youngsters. We've got to see him off the only way we know how: with a full belly.



It's looking like a wonderful turn out. I can't tell you want everything is, but I do know that the dark noodles dish is Thai Yakisoba, and below that is fried rice. Over to the right is Pumpkin Bread. I'm not sure what the other dishes are called. I'll try to get the cooks to fill in the blanks.



You want some of this?



Let me dish you up. (I made the Brussels Sprouts, some steamed and some Roasted [not pictured])



Oh, looks like someone beat you to it!



Early eaters get the shake down for their misdeeds!

It was actually the first potluck I've had at my house, and I felt it was very successful. Luckily, Kyle isn't leaving quite as quickly as expected (so I hear) so we'll get to see a bit more of him in the coming days.

For Father

I haven't seen my father in some incredible amount of time, perhaps even in excess of a year. So, when I was present with an opportunity to spend some time with him very near home (In my brother's house, actually) I was very excited about seeing him, and being able to show him the progress I'd made in my cooking skill. I decided to make some dishes that I thought he would be craving having not had them available to him in quite some time. Steak is thought to be a luxury meal in the states, no? So, that choice was natural, and I'd been wanting to make a green peppercorn port sauce for a while, so that was easy enough to decide on. And, the moment I spotted a recipe for this Roasted Leek Potato Soup, I knew I had to make it my own.



Of course, I had to add some bacon in with those shallots. No potato is complete without bacon. Mmm...bacon. I think I stuck to the recipe for the most part, besides. I forgot to bring my immersion blender and had to use this wacky little drink blender that Kevin had and do it in about five different batches. It wasn't incredibly difficult, but it was tedious.



This was incredible. It was everything I could have hoped for. The salt-denaturing worked its magic so well that we could cut our steaks with a butterknife (which was good, because Kevin didn't have any steak knives). I made a garlic, rosemary and bleu cheese butter to put on these, and then forgot about it. The port sauce could have been thicker, but that will have to wait for another day. The shallots and green peppercorns worked out wonderfully, especially with me just guessing at how much to use, as I lost the recipe some time ago.

For desert, I was going to serve the rose crackies, and I brought all the ingredients for them, with the exception of the rose petals...so, they had to wait. Luckily, there was a pecan pie in the car from a local Dutch Bakery (run by the local Amish!) that was wonderful, and I used a bit of the Lemongrass Whipped Cream to enhance it. It couldn't have been better.



Happy Campers!

Prociutto Arugula Pasta with Sauteed Mushrooms

Gotta use this prociutto...gotta use this Arugula. Why did I have Arugula? Oh yeah, it went in the Roasted Potato Leek Soup. That's up next.

I used two different kinds of noodles, for kicks. This was inspired by This blog that reminded me of all the different pastas used in that movie scene. I think it's a habit I'll adopt more often.

Cook, Eat, Share - Now it's my turn!

The Cook, Eat, Share club, which I've mentioned in the past, has assigned each member a meeting to which we are supposed to make and bring whatever we'd like. I initially wanted to make a five course meal out of it, but narrowed it down to three after a rash of non-creativity. I had some potatoes I'd been meaning to use, which I made into Indian Potato Cakes, which are basically hashbrowns with garam masala. As for the proposed amuse bouche, I was drawn toward the idea of candying flower petals.



It came out that I used a pink rose, compliments of a friend from a local flower shop, with a Lemongrass Whipped Cream, and little bits of pineapple sauce. The idea was based loosely off of a sort of desert 'shot' that I found online, which I reworked into the form I wanted. I attempted to whip the cream by hand, but it got to be too tedious after about 10 minutes, and I walked over to a neighbor's house (who happens to be the sous chef of Ravine) and he presented me with a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer to do the job. Which it obviously did wonderfully. But, I left out the sugar and ended up having to overmix it slightly. I don't remember much about the pineapples sauce, other than it containing brown sugar and orange juice. I've still got a bit, which goes good the the mostly failed rose crackies I made a few days later. And I think I just realized my error when looking back over the recipe. But anyway, on to desert... or mignardises.



These little treasures, known as "Chocolate Earth Balls" came my way via a Whole Foods Market Recipe app I got for my iPhone. (Original Recipe Here) However, I changed it up as I first made these balls for a Sesame themed vegetarian potluck, so I use 1/2 cup of PB and 1/2 Cup of Tahini for that little something extra. I've debated about putting habaneros in them and changing the name to Chocolate Thunder, on a friend's suggestion. But, we try to tone down the spiciness for our presented dishes in the group, so now isn't the time. But soon...very soon...

Muffin Mastery

When I look through snack items in the grocery store, I always find myself passing them up under the thought "I can probably make something better, healthier, and cheaper than any of this stuff". So, in my quest for making some snack foods to tote around, I have arrived at muffins. I've got a ton of frozen bananas that are starting to take up too much space, so we start there. Also, a lot of leftover coconut from the Chocolate Earth Balls (which will appear in the Cook, Eat, Share entry. Sorry about everything being out of order lately. I doubt it really affects you that much, anyway.) So, Banana Coconut Muffins it is.



They were wonderful, but I think they could do for being a little less dense. Maybe I'll add a bit more baking powder and see if that gets more rise out of them.

Ravioli Challenge

I ran into some friends on The Square one night, and I'd yet to invite this particular set to dinner. One was tied up on the target date, but the other was up for the event. After discussing for a short time about what he was interested in, he felt it would be a decent test of skill you challenge me to making Ravioli. The first thought that came to me was a friend's comment that ravioli is incredible time consuming... But I'm not the type to be detered by such minor adversity. Naturally, I accepted.



The process was indeed arduous, but quite enjoyable for both of us. There will ne a breakdown of the process in the comming Tortellini post, seeing as it is nearly identical. The completed Ravioli were boiled, then given a light pan frying, then tossed with sautéed rattlesnake peas and shallots. I bought some prosciutto to go with it, but forgot to include it. Not a mistake I would make again.

The Ravioli were stiffed with a mix of:

• Ricotta


• Parmesian


• Asiago


• Romano


• (Some other cheese)


• Basil


• Spinach


• Nutmeg

Crash Recovery

Losing a hard drive on my desktop was the initial setback that held up the blogging, and then the general laziness took over. But, luckily, the computer is back in action and better than ever, I uploaded the pictures and now it's time to present them. Also, I think the plastic funnel I've been using to fill up my water bottles is killing me. It's got to go.



Another addition on the Pad Thai run, this version included a tamarind paste made out of some dried tamarind I found at a local Mexican supply store. It still needs something...

Tortellini Alfredo

I overestimated how much cheese filling I would need for the Ravioli in the previous entry, so naturally it needed to be used. I wanted to make some lasagna with it, but never got around to it. I did, however, have a great deal of fun making Tortellini



Step 1: Roll out the dough (after having formed and rested a dough ball) and cut it into little 1" or so bits, then roll into balls, then flatten.




Step 2: Use some sort of circular object (here, a wine glass!) to cut out a disc



Tada!



Step 3: Dallop some filling in the center, then brush egg wash on one side and fold up into whatever shape you'd like.



As for the Alfredo and Veggies, start by sauteeing some onions, followed by garlic and mushrooms, then add your cream and cheese (but not cream cheese. That wouldn't end well.) and then some sun-dried tomatoes, frozen peas, and prosciutto. Salt and Pepper, of course, never go amiss.

Herr's Baby Back Ribs Potato Chips

Engaged in my courses and knowing that I had only mere minutes available to me in which to solve my developing problem: a sudden rising hunger that was becoming more and more difficult to resist pushed me in a direction that is incredibly rare for me to venture. The Vending Machine is an incredible monument to the American lifestyle: the constant availability and partaking of unnecessary junk. Bith Min Nguyen wrote about how processed foods characterized america for her. America was a land of factories and automation and standardization, seen most readily in the mass produced food-like ingestibles we find so readily on market shelves, and in this case, encased in yet another machine for consumer-side distribution. It is very rare that I find myself in the position to use such a machine, and even more rare that I would willingly eat processed potato chips... But had you seen what I saw at that moment, you would find yourself making a great deal of personal compromises, as well. Behold:



I had to know. I had to. There were other things in the machine that I would hav prefered, perhaps, but those were no longer an option. This came before all other things. It had to be experienced. I soon found that the bill acceptor, which generally gobbles dollars as greedily as the typical patron gobbles the snack foods behind its alluring window, was not working. I then made the trek to a crowded campus café just across the street and snuck to the front in hopes of aquiring coins with which I could meet my fate, but it was not to be so. Instead, I left with a larger bill broken into the small denomination I would need were I to find another, more operable machine that carried the same good. What luck would have it that the building neighboring my original destination would have a string of machines, one of which housed Herr's Artificially Flavored Baby Back Ribs Potato Chips (Finger lickin' RIB flavor!). Having made my purchase (Plus some Peanut M&Ms, for good measure) I was ready to make my assessment.

The first disc of crispy matter that was probably less potato and more something else was not entirely shocking in terms of flavor. The second, however, brought forth everything desired: a lush complexity of flavors, met by an intense smokiness that spoke of foods roasted over warm coals. It seems to me, when I study these selections more, that 'potato chips' have been growing to accomidate the flavors of many popular american foods, most notably pizza and cheeseburger flavors. Is there a steak flavor? Surely. People once dreamed of a day when a small pill would replace a whole meal, with an explosion of flavor mocking some particular dish. Perhaps that day is much nearer than we expect. Perhaps it is already here in a form we never predicted. If we found a way to blanket the chips in nutrition, we might truely have created something wonderous. And, at the same time, created something hidious and evil.

Vegetable Soup, Veggie Meat Balls

Every once in a while a wrench gets thrown in the cogs and dishes that were planned never come to fruition. This can become a problem when the dishes have perishable ingredients that are wasting away in the kitchen. This sort of event calls for ingenuity, or more often just throwing them all together in a pot. An excellent vegetable soup was constructed using Broccoli, Asparagus, Red Potatoes, Mushrooms, Carrots, Barley, and Onions. I think there were actually a few more ingredients, and I've just forgotten them.

As for tonight's dish, we had a simple Tomato-Basil pasta using fresh basil from the garden and some fancy olive oil and balsamic vinegar that are printed all in Italian, so the only thing I can tell you about them is that they're delicious. Along with the other ingredients were Kalamata Olives, meatballs made out of some 'Gimmie Lean' meat impostor that Dustin picked up on a whim. They turned out very well, but still with room for improvement. There's always room more improvement. Always. Go improve.

Don't lose your momentum

It is difficult to conquer a hill on a bicycle when starting from the bottom, as opposed to the top of another hill. Much the same is it difficult to blog about dishes I cooked a week ago. Here we feature two dishes in one entry, both made a number of days ago. My first attempt at making gumbo can be seen here. I feel satisfied with it, but would prefer to use better sausage the next time around. I'm curious about trying a gumbo z'herbes, which I feel I might make in the coming days when fortifying dishes are demanded to help us fend off the ills of winter.



In days beyond, I decided I'd finally use some lentils that have been sitting tidy in my pantry for many cycles. I thought that partnering them with barley would make an interesting dish, and a little inspiration from recipes pointed me in the direction of pressing them over caramelized shallots and then baking them in the same dish used to make the former. This came out with an interesting texture, but felt a little dry and could certainly benefit from more salt. The toasted walnuts would add a nice texture contrast if the beans were to be a little more mushy, which I'll shoot for next time. Dustin pointed out that toasted walnuts taste like popcorn. He was right. I'd never noticed.

Roasting Roots, Vegetable Soups, Shivering in yur boots.

The most wonderful thing about the weather changing is the way out cuisine moves along with it. Once the leaves touch ground and a chill touches the skin, we're ready for such a thing that will warm us slowly, starting by delivering complex sensation the mouth, then, from our very core, washing us over with radient warmth and providing us with strenth and power. These are the days that meals must be crafted with care to combat that what we are up against - an enemy that constantly shifts form, reshaping itself to take advantage in the holes in your defenses...but it shall not succeed in these days, for we know where a good defense begins.

Within the earth we find life begins lower than we might expect. Buried beneith layers of soil, and perhaps a few misplaced pebbles, we find the gift of the soils: tubers, edible root sytems, suppliments, sometimes, to their surface side counterparts. Here, a collection of beets, potatos, parsnips, carrots, cellery root, and a rew other items that I fail to recollect were roasted to delicate crispness on the exterior, with a smooth soft interior. Vidal Scott was to thank for this wonderful addition to our health. But we have no even gotten to the heart of this evening's meal.

In days prior, Zac and I made a collection of intensely powerful and fresh vegetable juices, ranging from Kale and Salad Greens on one side to Carrots and Sweet Potatoes on another. His masticating juicer delivers back all the dry pulp that it has extracted all the juice from, and we set to making vegetable stock with these items, with thr helpful addition of a little Thyme, Bay, and an Onion. The stock was frozen away for the week while business held us apart from what we so eagerly craved. But the day finally came that our base could once again bath us with nutrients. It would not, however, go unassisted. Joining our contender in the chamber above the fiery pit were none others than:

• Carrots


• Green, Yellow, and Red Peppers


• Yellow and Red Onions


• Leeks


• Garlic


• Purple Potatos


• Sweet Potatos


• Cellery Root


• Parsley


• Bay


• Thyme


• Cayanne Pepper


• Crushed Red Pepper


• Quinoa


• Lemon Zest

And hence came together a dish of such power, such magnitude, that we shall surely be fit to stride from the halls of our fathers into the fields of Valhalla and lay waste to all our would-be agressors, until at last the entire universe has become aware that we will not be stamped out: for we know how to eat.

Salmon Corn Quinoa

I've got a friend who goes crazy for Quinoa, and we were both in the 'empty the storage' mode, so he brought over this salmon that was marinated in a bunch of stuff that I don't even remember. After taking the picture I decided to drizzle some balsamic vinegar over the setup, which brought a wonderful element to the dish.

Chorizo Thyme!

It's been a while, no? Mostly, I haven't been posting anything new because I've just been making old dishes lately. But, I've had a few days of improve here while I'm trying to clean up the rest of my pantry before restocking, so here's what I came up with:



There is a sausage making / pork curing place on the outskirts of the county know to passers-by as 'Stan's Country Store'. I finally decided to stop there when last I passed it, and picked up some Boudin and Chorizo, both of which are wonderfully delicious. I mated it with some items laying around in the fridge and pantry for this delightful dish. I had a good bit of fresh thyme that needed to be used, then some carrots and celery. All of those things got steamed in order, and then mixed with saffron basmati rice and parsley for a simple and filling dish.

Invurtle

This little treat was born of a desire to stuff some sort of dessert in a Wonton shell. My first thought was about what shape to make it, and when I thought about shaping it with the four corners poking out, I imagined them as little feet, and then... a Turtle! And what better way to make a turtle than the classic Pecan - Caramel - Chocolate combo? And a little Vanilla Bean Ice Cream never goes unwanted.

Caramel:
3/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Heavy Cream
3 Tbsp Dark Corn Syrup
3 Tbsp Butter
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp Salt

Chocolate Ganache
1 Bar Bittersweet Chocolate
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
1 1/2 Tbsp Dark Corn Syrup
3/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/8 tsp Salt

Next Addition: Habaneros - Snapping Turtles!

Sweet Potato and Broccoli Soup

This is one of those spur of the moment 'hey, what's left in the fridge' sort of dishes. So let's get right to it:

1 Sweet Potato, Cubed
1/2 Red Onion, Chopped
1 Head of Broccoli, stems chopped off completely
3 Cups Water
3 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
1 tsp thyme leaves
1/2 cup chopped chives
3 slices of bacon

Cook the onions in a little oil (I actually just used the grease from the bacon), toss the potatoes in until their coated, then add the next four ingredients and cook until the potatoes are soft. Toss in the herbs, and it it with an immersion blender until it gets to a consistency you like. Top with more chives and bacon.

Mojito Grilled Chicken

A friend gave me a magazine that had a section devoted to dishes that prominently feature herbs. When I saw a recipe that made heavy use of mint, I had to jump right in. I can't get enough of it.

The chicken was fairly straight forward, you just make shoddy mojitos and marinate the chicken in fluids, then grill them. I'll probably add more salt to break up the protein next time around.

I put a lot more work into the black beans, with which I was very satisfied.

1 Cup Black Beans
2 1/2 cups water
1 sprig fresh oregano
1 bay leaf
1/2 red onion
3 cloves garlic
cumin
juice of 1/2 a large orange

I know I put other stuff in it, but sadly, I cannot remember what. I really should write these entries when I make the food.

First Quiche Ever

I made it wrong.



But it was still tasty.

Pirate Ships!

I came up with this idea while trying to think up some entries for a cooking competition. I ended up not submitting my stuff, as I felt it got to be a little over the top for our criteria, but it was still delicious and fun to make!



Get yourself started with some ingredients, for starters.



Turn up the heat on the allspice, cumin and coriander seeds until they develop that wonderful toasty aroma



The last few pieces of Canadian Bacon make a good starting place for this dish



A day has never come that these two have let me down.



Get the goodies in there, make 'em sweat.



Those spices need to be much smaller.



Much, much smaller.



A little rum, chicken broth, and two bay leaves later, and you're well on your way to something delicious. get it boiling.



When the beans are nice and soft, strain the liquid into a small saucepan and reduce it, then recombine them.



Hit it with a wedge of orange juice for that little something special



You'll need something over which to serve all this lucious dark goodness. Coconut rice will do the trick. Boil equal parts Coconut Milk, Water, and Rice.



These ships aren't going to anywhere without sails, and the sails aren't going anywhere without masts.



Get those masts firmed up with a little bath in hot butter.



Dropping the onion sails in there will make them similarly delicious, but can get a little messy.



And here we have the the complete ship, ready to set sail for the burning sea in your stomach.



And a smaller ship, for shorter trips.